HOME BEER-MAKING SUPPLIES - Steve Robertson, manager of the beer sales and home brew department at Merchant's Warehouse on Michigan Avenue at Howard, works on the store's display for home brewers.
If Santa's lucky, Tyler Barber of Dearborn heights will put a bottle of his home-brewed raspberry stout right alongside a plate of cookies on Christmas Eve.
If it gets a thumbs-up back at the North Pole, the jolly old elf will have Barber to thank and the Dearborn-based FORD, the Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsmen brew club that inspired Barber's first attempts to brew beer at home.
Barber found the FORD brew club through a demonstration the group sponsored at Merchant's Warehouse, 22250 Michigan Ave. in Dearborn, to mark Octoberfest. "Everyone was having a good time. I thought it was harder to make your own beer than what it was," Barber said. Barber loves Belgian ales and planned to attend the group's December meeting for some hands-on advice. With more than 60 members in the club, there's bound to be someone who will be able to help.
Membership in the Fermental Order is open to anyone interested in brewing.
The FORD acronym is a tribute to the Ford Motor Co. and the club's home town.
The brainchild of Ford employees Rich Byrnes and Mike Preston, the group is 2 years old and currently seeking affiliation approval through the Ford Employee Recreation Association.
Whether or not Barber or other brewers join the club, the Octoberfest demonstration is considered a success. Merchant's Warehouse sold a lot of brewing kits and, as Pat Babcock, the Order's business manager explained, "Every time a new brewer is brought into the fold, not necessarily our club, it means the craft will survive and we'll be able to buy our supplies because people will want them."
Like the automaker, FORD's membership is in contact with home brewers anywhere from Sweden to Japan. Via the Internet, Babcock and the club members may receive anywhere from two to 50 e-mail comments and questions a day.
The Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsmen, which includes female members, meets regularly every fourth week on alternating Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The groups most recent meeting was Dec. 12.
However advanced the new technologies, home brewing dates back more than 4,500 years. It begins with unbrewed beer, or a wort. Pronounced "wert," the concoction is a solution of fermentable sugars provided by ready-made kits or a mash of ground grains soaked in hot water and strained.
After 90 minutes or so of boiling the mixture, hops are added to give the solution its distinctive bitterness.
When wort is cooled, yeast is added and the liquid is put into its first fermentation where the sugars are converted into alcohol.
Next, it's transferred to another container for a secondary fermentation.
Finally, sugars are added to start the carbonation and the mixture is bottled or kegged.
Brewing beer is a very creative process, Babcock explained. "You've got cooks and you've got chefs," said Babcock. "With beer, you can mix and match the different base ingredients and different profiles. It can be cookbook if you use a recipe, but you can express yourself more readily through beer making. It is very much like being an artist."
In addition to selling kits, Merchant's Warehouse provides the brewers with inspiration. With almost 400 different beers to try, there's a taste to tempt any palate. The vast beverage selection is a natural lead into home brewing.
Steve Robertson, manager of the beer sales and home brew department at Merchant's Warehouse, is also a homebrewer. Until the FORD club could meet, Robertson helped with advice as Barber tweaked his raspberry ale recipe.
"Steve taught me just about everything I know," Barber explained.
The beer selection and the home brewing equipment and supplies Robertson sells complement one another. "I don't know what would happen if I were to have this great collection of ales and take away the home-brew department," Robertson said.
The hobby is definitely on the rise. Brew clubs are also growing, with the Downriver Brewers Guild meeting since April at the Brew-It Yourself Center in Southgate.
Brewers at all sites agree, however, that brewing isn't an opportunity for excess. With the process comes a certain discrimination. "You like to keep a beer around and see how it evolves. It's going from walking through an art museum to taking an art appreciation course and taking that walk again," said Babcock.
More informalton about the meeting or club is available by calling Rich Byrnes at (810) 558-9844. Anyone who likes to raise a glass is welcome to attend.