Happy New Year, comrades (and all you other heathens, too)!  A new year brings with it a (partially) new slate of KGB officers and with that, you get (not eggroll), fresh homebrew.  Yep, just see any new officer and ask him for your free glass of whatever creation he has on hand.  He is statutorily obliged to hand it over.  Really!

Get a look at these fresh new patsies faces by perusing 2012’s first KGB Files.  It’s just sitting there waiting on you.  What are you waiting for?  What, you think it’s going to wait there forever?  Get real.  You’re on a deadline.  Act now or be cursed for the entire year.  It’s just that important.

Guess what.  "What?" you say.  The December KGB Files is ready.  You know what that means, right?  "What?" you say.  Don't be a dumb ass, comrade.  You know what that means.

Sure, there’s a new KGB Files out there, and you’re welcome to download it right now, but before you do, let me please reiterate that the Smörgåsbeerd is on the 19th, not the 12, as originally scheduled.  Okay, now that that’s out of the way, here’s a link to the November KGB Files.

Okey dokey, comrades.  Here's the latest KGB Files.

Pizza.  Again.  Yep, we're heading back to Ray's place (that's Brew-It-Yourself, dingus) for pizza and beer.  Again!  Ain't it great?  Get all the scoop that fit for scooping in this month's KGB Files.

Thank goodness the days are getting shorter.  This heat can not go on forever.  Till then, there’s the latest issue of The KGB Files.  GS Robert chronicles his recent travels and comrade Andrew Elliott continues his quest for BBBB domination.

Get yours, today!

July is typically a slow month here at KGB Files Headquarters, and this month is no different—for the KGB officers.  But comrade Andrew Elliott has begun what promises to be a very interesting series of articles in which he sets us up to inundate next year’s slate of Big Batch Brew Bash judges with an onslaught of hop-dominated black ales.  Check it out in this month’s KGB Files.

Oh, and a belated “Happy Independence Day” to you, comrades.  Brew free or die!

And “End the Fed!”

Get ready for the Steak Out, comrades, and don’t head over to the wrong house.  The venue has changed for this month’s meeting, so pay attention and you won’t be disappointed.  Read all about in in this month’s newsletter.

Comrades, there’s been a slight change of  plans.  Due to circumstances beyond our control, the June meeting will now be held at Don Sajda’s house.  You’ve all been there before, so there’s no need to point you to it, but I’ll do it anyway by cleverly pointing you to the event and telling you to click on his name to see a map.

Or something like that.

Today was a good day to be a Foam Ranger.  All five ribbons went to FR members, and among 107 entries, that ain’t bad.

The Ken Rich Memorial Award went to first-time entrant Britton Quinn of the Tin Shed homebrew club.

And by the skin of its collectivist teeth, the KGB kept its tenacious grip on the Heavy Hitters award.

Congratulations to all!

Score sheets that weren’t picked up after the awards ceremony will be mailed out in the next couple of days.

The style for next year’s 17th Annual Big Batch Brew Bash is Black IPA.  As there are no “official” style guidelines for type of beer, we are coming up with the Big Batch guidelines for Black IPA in the near future.  We will let everybody know when we’ve finalized everything, so keep an eye on this site.

I’ve had a few requests from folks to know the entry numbers, so I added them to the table, above.