The Woodbridge Homebrewers Ale and Lager Enthusiast Society
The WHALES is an AHA registered homebrewing club based out of Central New Jersey. The club aquired its 60th member in October 2009 which marks the largest membership in its 13 year history. Despite the beer-centric name, the club is also equally involved in the production of mead (fermented honey), ciders and wines. The club promotes an ongoing education of various brewing techniques through brewer presentations (both peer members and professional brewers alike). Membership is also encouraged to develop their palettes through regular tastings of home brewed and commercial examples of all the BJCP recognized styles. Many of the members regularly achieve at least bronze medals in regular brewing competitions and a WHALES cider project even took a gold medal at the 2009 NHC. While most of the activities are geared towards promoting and growing the home brewing hobby, it remains a great social network for folks who share at least one passion; taking a hands-on approach to the beverages we love.
JJ Bittings brewpub (Main Street) in Woodbridge, NJ h
as been the WHALES home base and meeting location for about 10 years. We are grateful to have such generous hosts. Regular club meetings occur the 3rd Tuesday night of every month at 8pm. Depending on the agenda and the number tastings we do, most members filter out by 10:30pm. Official business usually takes an hour or so.
The club also meets for club projects at various members’ homes and has been known to move a meeting or two to a surrounding brewpub for a temporary change of scenery and an excuse to drink more beer.
Membership consists of people from all walks of life, all ages (21+ of course), and many areas of professional expertise. We’re happy to say that we also have two BJCP certified judges in our midst.
NOTE: As the club grows in size, it's especially important for new visitors to introduce yourselves to someone so that you're not lost in the shuffle. It would really help to show up at about 7:45 before the bulk of the membership arrives.
The WHALES encourage you to please enjoy homebrew responsibly. For more information about alcohol consumption, please visit the CDC website.
If you'd like more info about the club, don't hesitate to contact us.
2012 March Meeting #161
- Details
- Written by Joe Jannuzzi
- Hits: 57
The March 2012 WHALES Brew Club meeting was attended by 34 members this past March 20th, 2012.
Bobby started off the meeting discussing Keith's Story's 4th Annual Big Beer night. A great turnout of about 25 members and guests enjoyed a large flight of 8%+ ABV beers. JD's 22% DFH 120 Minute clone made an apparance. Brad and Jen treated us to a 5, er 4 year Sierra Nevada Big Foot vertical tasting from 2005-2008. Both were some of the favorites of the night. Fnally, one of the last known bombers of the Heavyweight Wee Whale was consumed. Thanks to Keith for keeping the tradition alive. For newer members, this event was previously held in Luke's garage back when NJ used to have cold winters. It was called Big Belgian night back then. Everyone made it home safely, and that's the important thing.
There are always some beer related events happening near and far. Here are some of the upcoming events:
April 20th: Maloney's in Matawan, NJ is hosting their 3rd annual Allagash beer pairing and tap take over. Tickets are $55 and reservations are required. These events fill up and are well worth it. Arrive by 7:15pm to start at 7:30. Check their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Maloneys.Pub.and.Grill) for the food/beer listing.
May 5th: AHA Big Brew Day. There is currently a poll on the home page to pick pick the site for this year's event. Thanks to everyone who has volunteered for us to destroy their lawns and turn their yard into a mud pit.
June 21st-24th: AHA National Homebrewer's Conference and Competition in Bellevue, WA. Our President, Bobby is the sole attendee, but will get to meet up with honorary WHALE Jody who got displaced to the area for work a couple of years ago. Passes to the conference sold out in 48 hours this year.
June 30th: Looking way ahead, the 2012 WHALES Picnic and BBQ will be held on June 30th this year. Keith Story booked the grove in Warren Park. It was $100 just like last year. This June has 5 Saturdays, so the last Saturday happens to be the 30th.
Bobby then brought up the recent issue a (now former) WHALE had with the club and wanted to address how the issue was handled. Without re-hashing everything, the member did not like the direction the club was headed and felt left out of the decision making process to help shape the club. Bobby reinforced the fact that everyone in the club has the power to make an impact on it's direction. It's all about how it is handled. If you do not like how the club is being run, come talk to officers and steering committee. We're here for your input and suggestions. You can talk to other members and get their support as well. Know that nothing changes if you are silent. We're all here to have fun, so let's get back to it!
The steering committee got together at the begining of the month at the Southside Grille in South Bound Brook, NJ. It was mostly a drink and chit-chat type meeting this time around. If you have any suggestions for topics for the committee to discuss, please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Wee Whale II shares have all been distributed. A big thanks to Keith Story for hosting the brew day and babysitting the barrels for the entire run. Also, thanks to Gary and Joe S for getting the project off the ground.
The second run of the Bourbon Barrel RIS is being hosted at Craig Easton's house. This batch is going to sit in the barrel for several more months. Batch 1 is getting its first public exhibition at the first round of the NHC along with its Palo Santo infused brother.
Bobby and JD are each hosting an oak barrel filled with Framboise (Raspberry Lambic) that will be distributed sometime in May. The club got an early sampling of Bobby's at the February meeting and most feedback was positive. This went to the first round of the NHC and took first place. Congrats!
We need to decide what fills these barrels after they are emptied. Post a message to the forum if you have an idea.
The Boyles dropped off about 2 dozen entries into the first round of NHC. By this point everyone has gotten their scores back. So far we know that Bobby's ration of the club framboise has moved on to the second round. Further results will be known closer to May.
April's Club Only Competition will be Category 9: Scotish and Irish Ales. The entry form is on the home page. Please register your entry as there will not be any accepted at the meeting.
We had 5 items entered into the flight this month:
Joe M, Hefeweizen
Ron W, Brown Ale
Steven S, Hoppy Red
Mark S, Smoked Porter
Brian E, Robust Porter
-Joe Jr.