Head Kahuna Korner
------------------

Mike Hall

The January Atom Mashers' meeting was bittersweet, and I'm not just referring
to the beers. We met at Geoff Reeves' house, and tasted thirteen bottles of
German beer that Reiner Friedel and Geoff self-imported. A couple of them
had not weathered the trip well, but most were very good and several were
excellent. I especially liked a Maibock brewed by Einbecker that Geoff had
saved since spring 97: they only brew it in the spring. It was a deep golden
color and was strong without being overly sweet, with that wonderful rounded
malty character that only comes from triple decoction mashing. Much thanks
to Geoff and Reiner!

That was the sweet part -- the bitter part was that it was Sandy James'
last meeting. Sandy served as our newsletter editor for two years, and in
fact has edited our newsletter more than any other person so far. Many of
you will remember her as the host of our annual Holiday Bash, which she has
agreed to continue hosting if we want to make the trip to San Diego. The
Atom Mashers will miss the spice she added to our meetings.

Alas, another female in the New Mexican brewing scene is leaving: Laure
Pomianowski is moving to California. Laure left her job as the masterbrewer at
Blue Corn Brewery -- she had already sold her business at Alewife Homebrewing
Supply -- to follow her husband's job. We wish the best of luck to Laure and
her family.

A couple of timely concerns... first, now is the time to pay your yearly
dues.  Contact our treasurer, John Stewart, for details. Second, it's
not too late to brew something for the Spring Thing Competition, with
an entry deadline of April 4th. We'll probably make some arrangements to
collect entries here, so contact me (or Bootlegger's Supply or Victor's
Grape Arbor in ABQ) if you want to enter. Full information is on the web at
http://www.swcp.com/~aaron/beer/spring_thing.html. They will also need judges,
so contact Jeff Graves (505-884-4335) if you would like to have some free beer.

A couple of weeks ago Ray Tell, Evan Rose and I went to a Grainful Heads
meeting in Santa Fe at Dick Masterson's house. The reason I mention this
is to call attention to the fact that he provided food -- lots of good food
(brats, kraut, potato salad, etc.) -- at the meeting. Maybe we should consider
doing this at some Atom Masher meetings. Also, I should mention that Grainful
Heads (or Dukes of Ale) are welcome at our meetings. I figure if you make
the drive up to LA, we'll supply the beer! We're trying to work out a joint
meeting with the Grainful Heads for our March meeting, and it will probably
be located at Santa Fe Brewing on a Saturday (7th or 14th).

There are two breweries of the month this month: Alvarado Brewing (formerly
Rio Bravo) and San Ysidro Brewing. Both are located in Albuquerque on Central,
just a couple of blocks apart (around 4th to 6th Streets). Alvarado has been
recently sold, and the new owners are waiting to be licensed so that they can
start selling beer again. I'm sure ABQ DoA member (and former president) Mike
Campbell is ready to get back to brewing. Things have also been changing at
San Ysidro, where long time DoA supporter (editor, competition organizer,
etc.) Guy Ruth is now the brewmaster. I haven't been by yet but if their beers
are anything like Guy's homebrews, you should definitely stop in.

Time for a cold one...