2nd Annual Slow Food Tufts Brew-Off!

Yes, spring is in the air. The piles of gritty snow are finally almost gone, brave tulip and crocus shoots are poking up, and yes, the smell of freshly-brewed, and quietly fermenting beer is in the air. Or at least it is in my closet, where I have my freshly minted batch of homebrew fermenting away, just in time for this year's second annual SLOW FOOD TUFTS STUDENT HOMEBREW COMPETITION!

Calling all brewers and brewer-curious folks in the Tufts graduate student community! Get your worts started now, as submissions to enter the brew-off are due April 1st! More details on how to enter are below (and in case you missed the fun of last year's competition, I've included a brief write up and photos of the event).

Slow Food Tufts Brew-off and Beer Luck!

Thursday, April 28

5:30 to 7:30 pm

Jaharis Cafe - Boston Campus

What is a brew-off?

A brew-off is a fancy name for a student home-brew competition- ALL Tufts graduate students, including Slow Food Tufts members, are eligible to enter. Don't have your own equipment? Collaborate and enter with a friend! Beer will be judged by a panel of expert brewers and beer aficionados. Prizes go to judges' and student favorites. Brewers must submit at least 1- 6 pack or 3- 22oz bottles of their home-brew, but are encouraged to bring more to share!

What is a beer-luck?

SFT's twist on the traditional potluck - instead of a dish to pass, bring your favorite beer to share with others!

How to enter the competition...

In order to officially enter the brew-off, email your name, school/program and type of beer you'll be brewing to rachael.kirk@tufts.edu by APRIL 1st! Any entries received after this date cannot be guaranteed entry into the competition.

Sarah Kasten, Rachael Kirk, Bridget McElroy, Juli Obudzinski

Brew-off committee

Highlights from Slow Food Tufts 2010 Brew-Off...

Over 100 graduate students from the Frieman, Dental, Medical, Fletcher and UEP Schools crammed crammed into the Jaharis Cafe on the Boston campus on April 29, 2010, for our first ever graduate student homebrew competition! Even former Dean Irwin Rosenberg showed up to partake in all the beer tasting festivities!

The brew-off started with a general tasting, where students, accustomed to the nature of Slow Food events, filled up their own tasting mugs/thermoses/mason jars/dixie cups with 2oz samples of beers that were entered into the Brew off. Students also brought various and sundry beers to contribute to the Beer-Luck, so rest assured, there was plenty to imbibe in.

18 homebrewers entered a total of 16 beers in the competition, which were judged in 3 separate categories.

Group 1: Ales, Pilsners, Blondes (India Pale Ale, Honey Blonde, Classic American Pilsner, California Common, Pale Ale and an India Red Ale)

Group 2: Belgian/Wheat (Belgian, Ginger Wheat, Belgian Triple, Weizenbock, and Heffeweizen)

Group 3: Darks (German Alt, Porter, Altbier, and Gingered Pale Ale)

Our esteemed panel of judges included Randy Baril, owner of the Modern Homebrew Emporium in Cambridge; Joe Connolly, beer buyer at Gordon's Liquor in Watertown; David Lytton, certified beer judge and tour guide at Harpoon Brewery; and Bert Boyce, beerologist at Samuel Adam's Brewery in Jamaica Plains.

Beers were judged on aroma, flavor, appearance, mouthfeel and overall impression. The winning brews included the Pale Ale, submitted by Friedman students Vladamir Kustanovich and Jesse Roberts, the Belgian Triple, submitted by Dental School student Scott Recksiedler, and the Gingered Dark Ale submitted by UEP student Alex Reisman.

Prizes included Samuel Adam's merchandise, a selection of collectors edition craft brews, gift certificates to the Cambridge Brewing Company, Lord Hobo, and the Modern Homebrew Emorium.

Last year's brew off was an absolute blast, and proved to be THE perfect way to wind down an otherwise chaotic spring semester. So mark your calendars for this year's competition - THURSDAY APRIL 28TH, and if you're thinking about brewing, submissions are due the week after spring break on FRIDAY APRIL 1ST.

Let the brewing begin!

Welcome Back!

Save the Date for Slow Food Tufts Kick-Off Meeting!

Thursday, September 16 @ noon in Jaharis 118 (Boston Campus)

The heat and freedom of summer may well have passed, but things at Slow Food Tufts are getting ramped up for the exciting activities we have planned for the fall semester!

If you're new to Tufts, or new to Slow Food (or both!), here's a brief description of who we are, what we do, and why you should consider becoming a member.

Who we are? Slow Food Tufts is an official student group at the Friedman School at Tufts University. SFT formed in 2009, and evolved out of the FOOD Group, a discussion circle started at the Friedman School. Most of our members have come from Friedman, but we are open to all graduate students at both the Medford and Boston campuses.

Our Mission? Through its understanding of the connections between gastronomy, politics, agriculture, and the environment, Slow Food Tufts seeks to become an active player in agriculture, ecology and local cuisine. Slow Food Tufts links pleasure and food with awareness and responsibility. Our activities seek to defend biodiversity in our food supply, spread the education of taste, and link producers of excellent foods to consumers through events and initiatives.

What we do? Slow Food Tufts strives to provide a forum for students interested in issues of food, agriculture and politics to engage in dialogue, learn from each other and connect with local food producers. We meet once a month while classes are in session and try to host a few potlucks as well. We also host guest speakers and lectures, organize film screenings, facilitate skill share workshops, and plan field trips to local farms. Other big events we've organized in the past include a Slow Food Trivia Night and a Student Homebrew Competition.

Here are a few potential slow food activities we have in the works for the fall...

• Mozzerella making workshop with local cheesemakers
• Canning fall produce skills share workshop
• Tour of meat CSA farm and small-scale poultry farm with mobile processing unit
• Chocolate making workshop
• Bee keeping presentation

Also, we are pleased to announce our premier event of the fall: Slow Food Tufts welcomes Carlo Petrini (founder and president of Slow Food International) to the Friedman School on Wednesday October 6th at noon to discuss the future of food and the importance of biodiversity in our global food supply. This is sure to be a stellar event, and we could think of no better way to kick off the fall semester!

Lastly, we will be hosting our 2nd Annual Brew-off and Beer-luck in the Spring. This graduate student homebrew competition was such a success last year that we had to commit to making it an annual event. We will be looking for co-chairs to organize this event, so stay tuned, or contact Juli.Obudzinski@tufts.edu for more info.

Why become a member? So now that we've shared all the riveting food-related activities we have planned for the upcoming semester, this is the part where you ask how you can become involved. Easy - you can become a member of Slow Food Tufts! This is as simple as showing up to our monthly meetings and getting on our email list so we can send you invites to Slow Food events and other activities. As a member, you get first dibs on all SFT hosted events, and get to play an exciting role in planning future activities. We're always looking for great ideas for Slow Food Tufts and volunteers to help make our events possible.

And don't forget our Fall Kick-Off Meeting will be in Jaharis 118 on Thursday September 16th at noon. No need to RSVP, just bring your lunch and join us!

Hope to see you on Sept 16th!!

Slow Food Tufts officers:

Ronit Ridberg, Co-Chair
Jesse Appelman, Co-Chair
Julia Simons, Treasurer
Juli Obudzinski, Administration

Brew-off and Beer Luck tickets!

Tickets are now officially on sale for Slow Food Tufts upcoming Brew Off and Beer Luck - the first ever student homebrew competition and beer tasting! Enter your own brew, or just come to taste (and judge!) your fellow students' concoctions. 

Visit our event on facebook! 

Slow Food Tufts Brew Off and Beer Luck

Thursday April 29 - 5:30 pm

Jaharis Cafe & Patio (weather permitting)

150 Harrison Avenue

Buy tickets at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/104802

Admission is $5 and includes entry into the event, homebrew samples, edible beer/food pairings, and a chance to talk beer with your talented Tufts homebrew community. Expert judges include brewmasters from local breweries and other beer aficionados who will also be on hand to indulge your brew knowledge. Plus, you'll be able to vote for your favorite brew and nominate a students' favorite!

And don't forget...

DEADLINE TO ENTER IS THIS THURSDAY, APRIL 1ST. Send an email with your name, school, and beer you'll be brewing to Juli.Obudzinski@tufts.edu.

Happy brewing!

Brew off!!

Click on the image to read more about the awesome upcoming Brew-off & Beer-luck:

Slow Food Tufts Brew-off and Beer-luck
Thursday, April 29
6:00 to 8:00 pm
Jaharis Cafe - Boston Campus


Let the brewing begin!

Come to Slow Food Trivia Night!

Please join us this Thursday, December 10 at 5pm in Jaharis Café for Slow Food Trivia Night, in honor of Terra Madre Day.

There will be great snacks, fun facts and some of the coolest food scholars around... Please bring your own beer or wine, as well as dishware/utensils.

Come on down to our potluck dinner!

This coming Thursday, September 17, we'll be hosting our first event of the school year at 60 Brookside Ave., Apt. 2 (map), the home of our gracious Administrative Officer, Jalal.  It's a potluck dinner from 6-9pm, and since it's a Slow Food event, we ask that you do your best to bring food &/or drink that is good, clean, and fair. 

What does this mean?  To us, it means that the food tastes good, is good for us, and, to the maximum extent possible, (1) is produced in a clean way that doesn't harm the health of humans, animals or the environment, and (2) that those whose work went into producing it are fully and fairly compensated.

We also ask that you remember to bring your own utensils and dishes to eat & drink from to minimize waste and lighten the load for our host.

We hope that you'll join us on Thursday evening -- it's sure to be a delicious time! If you'll be attending, please click here to RSVP.  (Follow the blue "edit this page" link at the bottom right to add yourself.)

Thanks -- we look forward to eating with you!

Welcome Back!

Happy September to all! Our first meeting will be held in Jaharis 156 on Tuesday, September 15 from 12-1 pm. Bring your lunch and please be ready to participate!

Slow Food Tufts was formed last year, out of the remnants of the former student group, FOOD.  We seek to be active in politics, agriculture, food systems, ecology and local cuisine, to defend biodiversity in our food supply, spread the education of taste, and link producers of excellent foods to consumers through events and initiatives.  And of course, to eat and drink together in the spirit of gastronomy and conviviality!

 On behalf of Slow Food Tufts, thanks for checking out our blog.  We'll be updating it more frequently this semester, and hope that some new members will be interested in writing as well. See you Tuesday!

Formaggio Kitchen Cheese Cave Tour

Please join Slow Food Tufts this coming Saturday, May 9 at 4pm for a tour and cheese tasting at Formaggio Kitchen. We will be led by Kurt Gurdal, the owner and cheesemaster, who will tell us about the first

cheese cave in New England (theirs!) and their aging process.  The store has literally hundreds of varieties of cheeses from all over the world, and this is a great opportunity to learn about and try some of them.

The tour and tasting will be $10 per person (cash, please).  Friends and family are welcome to join; if you plan to attend, please RSVP to Jessica by Friday, May 8 and include the number of people you'll bring.  For directions please click here.

Slow Food Tufts Meeting this Thursday

This Thursday April 23, please join us in Jaharis room 156 at 12pm for an all-member Slow Food Tufts meeting.  We have some exciting and important agenda items to discuss -- the new Jaharis garden, greening & sustainability efforts at the Café, and shaping the future of Slow Food Tufts.  

We'll also talk about our final event of the semester -- a private cheese tasting and tour of the cheese cave at Formaggio Kitchen with Kurt, the cheesemaster!

Don't forget to bring your lunch - hope to see you there.