Ye Olde Brew News - February 2001

The next meeting will be held at Sisko's in Taylor on Tuesday, February 27. Sisko's is located on Monroe (between Telegraph and Southfield), just south of Van Born. Their address is 5855 Monroe and their phone number is 313-278-5340. Sisko's also has a website at http://www.siskos.com/. The competition for this month is Stout. As usual, the thirsty hard-core who want dinner will start arriving around 5PM, people will drift in for an hour or so, and we will start our meeting around 6PM.

Kathy Loftus wrote, "Just a reminder that Gabi is putting together a beer trivia game with prizes for the February meeting. She's checking with Sisko's about using their big screen TV. Contact Gabi if you need more info."

This month's competition will be stout , BJCP categories 12c & 16a-d . The BJCP style guide is listed below. It is a AHA club only competition.

Aroma: Fruity esters, reminiscent of dark fruit, merged with intense roastiness and maltiness. Hop aroma is usually also present.

Flavor: Intensely fruity and malty, backed up by balancing roastiness and prominent hop bitterness and flavor. A "burnt currant" character may be present, along with a suggestion of cocoa or strong coffee. Alcoholic strength should be evident, along with a deep, complex malt flavor. The finish can vary from relatively dry to moderately sweet, usually with some lingering roastiness and warming character.

Mouthfeel: Very full-bodied and rich, with intense flavors and perceptible alcohol presence. Carbonation is relatively low.

Overall Impression: An intensely flavorful beer. Roasty, fruity, and bittersweet, with a notable alcohol presence. Dark fruit melds with roasty, burnt, almost tar-like sensations.

Comments: Brewed to high gravity and hopping level in England for export to the Baltic States and Russia.

Ingredients: Well-modified pale malt, with generous quantities of roasted grain. Flavor and aroma hops should include English varieties for authenticity. Alkaline water would balance the abundance of acidic roasted grain in the grist.

Commercial Examples: Samuel Smith Imperial Stout, Courage Imperial Stout, Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, Rogue Imperial Stout, North Coast Old Rasputin Imperial Stout, Victory Storm King.

Aroma: Coffee-like roasted barley and roasted malt aromas are prominent. Esters low to medium. Diacetyl moderate to none. Hop aroma low to none.

Appearance: Deep garnet to black in color. Clarity is irrelevant in such a dark beer. A thick, creamy, long-lasting head is characteristic.

Flavor: Moderate acidity/sourness and sharpness from roasted grains, and medium to high hop bitterness, provide a dry finish. Balancing factors may include some creaminess, moderate to low fruitiness, and medium to no diacetyl.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light to medium body, with a creamy character. Low to moderate carbonation.

History: The style evolved from attempts to capitalize on the success of London porters, but originally reflected a fuller, creamier, more "stout" body. Modern versions are brewed from a lower OG and no longer reflect a fuller body than porters.

Comments: This is the draught version of what is otherwise known as Irish stout. Bottled versions are typically brewed from a significantly higher OG and may be considered foreign extra stouts.

Ingredients: The dryness comes from the use of roasted unmalted barley in addition to pale malt, moderate to high hop bitterness, and good attenuation. Flaked unmalted barley may also be used to add a creaminess. A small percentage of soured beer is sometimes added for complexity. Water should have high carbonate hardness.

Commercial Examples: Guinness Draught Stout (also canned), Murphy's Stout, Beamish Stout.

Aroma: Mild roasted grain aromas. Fruitiness can be low to high. Diacetyl medium to none. Hop aroma low to none.

Appearance: Very dark amber to black in color, which makes clarity essentially unimportant. Creamy head.

Flavor: Dark roasted grains and malts dominate the flavor as in dry stout, though there is medium to high sweetness. Hopping is moderate and tends to be lower than in dry stout, emphasizing the malt sweetness.

Ingredients: Lactose is sometimes added to provide additional residual sweetness. High carbonate water is all but essential.

Commercial Examples: Mackeson's XXX Stout, Watney's Cream Stout, Samuel Adams Cream Stout, Tennent's Milk Stout.

Aroma: Mild roasted grain aromas. Fruitiness should be low to medium. Diacetyl medium to none. Hop aroma low to none.

Appearance: Black in color. Thick creamy head. Dark color will likely obscure any clarity.

Flavor: Medium sweet to medium dry, with the complexity of dark roasted grains prominent. Medium hop bitterness with the balance toward malt. Diacetyl low to medium. May have a slight nuttiness.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied, smooth, silky, with an oily or even mealy texture from the oatmeal.

History: A variation of sweet stout that is usually less sweet than the original.

Ingredients: Pale, caramel and dark roasted malts and grains. Oatmeal used to enhance fullness of body and complexity of flavor. Hops for bitterness only. Ale yeast. Water source should have some carbonate hardness.

Commercial Examples: Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout, Young's Oatmeal Stout, Brew Moon Eclipse.

Aroma: Roasted grain aromas prominent. Fruitiness medium to high. Diacetyl low to medium. Hop aroma low to none. Occasionally has the aroma of alcohol.

Appearance: Very deep brown to black in color. Clarity usually obscured by deep color.

Flavor: Can range from sweet to dry, with roasted grain character obvious but not sharp. Fruitiness can be low to high, diacetyl medium to none. Hop bitterness can be medium to high.

Mouthfeel: Medium full body, creamy character. May give a warming impression.

History: Originally high-gravity stouts brewed for tropical markets. Some bottled export versions of dry or sweet stout may also fit this profile.

Comments: These beers possess a stronger alcohol content than other stouts except the Imperial Stout.

Ingredients: Pale and dark roasted malts and grains. Hops for bitterness. Ale yeast.

"Friday afternoon, I will be undergoing neck resection surgery. The doc will remove some of the lymph nodes on the left side of my neck. I expect this to be the last major procedure I go through before returning to work. There is an expected 3-6 week recovery from this. Surgery is scheduled for 2:30 and will take about 2 hours. I'll be in the hospital (UofM Ann Arbor) for 3-5 days following and home next week."

"I still have soreness in my throat from the radiation treatments and am still on an all liquid diet ( supplements). The discomfort in the throat is getting better and hopefully will be gone in another week or two, though total healing may take a couple of months."

"I stopped by Al's home this morning to wrap up some old club business, and while he is certainly lost some weight, he looks good. In fact, he stated that he only wants to pack a few of the missing pounds back on! His hair is back and he even believes it is thicker than it was before chemo. He is recovering from surgery last week and plans to be back to work by month's end. He is even hoping to make the next meeting. His prognosis is about as good as they can give - lymph nodes are clean. I certainly look forward to seeing him and his porters again!"

From: Christopher Hadden [mailto:chadden@contecrayon.com]
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2001 7:06 PM
To: rbyrnes2@ford.com
Subject: Proposed Usenet newsgroup for mead making

I thought your homebrew club might be interested in learning about a proposal for a new Usenet newsgroup for mead makers. If any of your members make mead and have access to Usenet, information about this proposed newsgroup is available at http://mead.contecrayon.com/resources/usenet.html.

This will come to a vote soon. We would really appreciate your help in spreading the word.

--
Christopher Hadden
Proponent - rec.crafts.meadmaking
http://mead.contecrayon.com/resources/usenet.html
chadden@contecrayon.com

Instructions for voting are just before the ballot itself. Please read them before voting. If you have questions about the voting process, ask the votetaker.

This CFV is to be distributed only by the votetaker. It is not to be posted to newsgroups, or mailed to mailing lists or individuals, except by the votetaker, and it is not to be placed on the World Wide Web. Ballots or CFVs provided by anyone except the votetaker will be invalid.

This vote is being conducted by a neutral third party. Questions about the proposed group should be directed to the proponent.

Mead making is discussed on a regular basis in rec.crafts.brewing and rec.crafts.winemaking. Mead-related discussions are difficult to find in these groups however due to high traffic levels - there are anywhere from 200-300 posts each day between rec.crafts.brewing and rec.crafts.winemaking. Cross-posting rarely occurs between these groups. For this reason, those making mead find it difficult to wade through this volume to participate in discussions and find mead-related information.

In addition, the making of mead is discussed in a variety of other newsgroups including rec.org.sca, rec.food.historic and alt.beer.home-brewing. Consolidating the discussion of mead making into one group will facilitate discussion and make it easier for people to find information on this topic.

While there are many similarities between the making of mead, wine and beer, there are also substantial differences. The differences in the ingredients require different techniques and processes. It is for this reason that cross-posting rarely occurs between rec.crafts.winemaking and rec.crafts.brewing. Likewise, this is the reason why rec.crafts.meadmaking is being proposed at a peer level to rec.crafts.winemaking and rec.crafts.brewing. In theory, there are many similarities between the making of mead, wine and beer but when the rubber hits the road, the person making mead only wants to know the details specific to mead making. Hence the current awkward situation for mead makers and the need for a separate group at a peer level to rec.crafts.winemaking and rec.crafts.brewing.

A straw poll was taken during the week after Thanksgiving of 2000. The poll asked whether the respondent would read or use a group devoted to meadmaking; the result was 42 YES and 3 NO. Based on news.groups projections from this poll and statements of support generated in response to the Request For Discussion, there appears to be enough readers to make this group successful.

According to a search at deja.com, there were 1,003 posts between June 30, 2000 and December 31, 2000 containing one or more of the following keywords: mead, melomel, hydromel, pyment, cyser, rhodomel, morat, braggot, metheglin, or hippocras. These keywords are different types of mead. This is approximately 6 posts per day. A cursory analysis of the search results confirmed that the vast majority of these were on topic

By consolidating the currently crowded and splintered discussions in rec.crafts.winemaking and rec.crafts.brewing, and by consolidating all mead-related discussions elsewhere in Usenet, it is expected that traffic levels will increase. Since many brewers and winemakers also make mead, the readership for rec.crafts.meadmaking will draw from strong existing Usenet readerships.

Rec.crafts.meadmaking is an unmoderated newsgroup dedicated to the art of making mead. Appropriate topics of discussion include, but are not limited to, the mead making process, recipes, and the history and lore of mead making. This newsgroup is open for the discussion of all types of meads including melomel, metheglin, and braggot. Advertisements are discouraged, the only exception may be one's signature (.sig). Binary postings are discouraged except for small binaries such as PGP signatures.

alt.beer.home-brewing
alt.hobbies.beekeeping
rec.food.historic
rec.org.sca
sci.agriculture.beekeeping

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"This is an old poem called John Barley Corn which I found in the book "Beer for Pete's Sake" by Pete Slosberg. It's about planting, growing and harvesting barley and making beer. It's a neat poem. Some may remember the 1970 song by the English rock group Traffic called "John Barleycorn Must Die" which was based upon this poem. Being a big Traffic fan, I always liked that song, although I now know that I had no clue what the song was about."

John Barley Corn

By Robert Burns

There were three kings into the east,
Three kings both great and high,
And they have sworn a solemn oath
John Barleycorn should die.

They took a plough and ploughed him down,
Put clods upon his head,
And they have sworn a solemn oath
John Barleycorn was dead.

But the cheerful spring came kindly on,
And showers began to fall;
And John Barleycorn got up again,
And sure surprised them all.

The sultry suns of summer came,
And he grew thick and strong;
His head was armed wi’ pointed spears,
That none should do him wrong.

The sober autumn entered mild,
When he grew wane and pale;
His bending joints and drooping head
Showed he began to fail.

His color sicked more and more,
He faded into age;
And his enemies began
To show their deadly rage.

They’ve taken a weapon, long and sharp,
And cut him at the knee;
Then tied him fast upon a cart
Like a rogue for forgery.

They laid him down upon his back,
And cudgelled him full sore;
They they hung him up before the storm,
And turned him o’er and o’er.

They fulled up some darksome pit,
With water to the brim;
They heaved in John Barleycorn,
They let him sink or swim.

They laid him out upon the floor
To work him further woe;
And still as signs of life appeared,
They tossed him to and fro.

They wasted, o’er a scorching flame,
The marrow to his bones;
But a miller used him worst of all,
For he crushed him ‘tween two stones.

And they have taken his very heart’s blood,
And drunk it round and round;
And still the more and more they drank,
Their joy did more abound.

John Barleycorn was a hero bold,
Of noble enterprise;
For if you do but taste his blood
‘Twill make your courage rise.

‘Twill make a man forget his woe;
‘Twill heighten all his joy;
‘Twill make the widow’s heart to sing,
Though the tear was in her eye.

Then let us toast John Barleycorn,
Each man a glass in hand;
And may his great posterity
Ne’er fail in old Scotland.

Hey groovy guys and groovy girls. Just to let you know about a terrific new plan Ford has made available to us Ford employees. It's called the X-plan. Where we have the A-Plan (basically dealer cost), we now have the ability to offer our friends and neighbors up to 4 x-plans a year. While not as strong as the A-Plan, it allows us to generate a authentication number for you to purchase any Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Mazda, Land Rover or Th!nk product at 4% over the dealers actual cost - no haggle, no issues.

While most of you are Ford employees, several of you are not. And I consider just about everyone in the club to be my friend, and so far I have utilized 0 of my benefit here, so let me know if you are in the market, or plan to be in the market and we can help Ford and yourself have an easy, hassle free experience. Ciao!

"To all of you palm pilot'ers, here is some free software for your brewing sessions..."

Product Description: This TinyByte was developed for home beer brewers to use in recording information about each batch, recipes, and in scoring each beer. Enjoy!

Requires thinkDB 2.0! ThinkDB 2.0 is a free database manager for PalmOS handheld devices, and is available for download from our website at: http://www.thinkingbytes.com. .

Sheesh, where do I even begin, let's just say we made HISTORY last month. We packed Chelsea's from the entrance to the back wall, all told there were 60 members and guests in attendance a definite all time high! The meeting was a bit chaotic yet we managed to accomplish a number of things, notably:

with the help of Chelsea's Karaoke system (and we all promise to work on the feedback squeals, sorry!) we managed to put on quite a speech. Neal started off with an introduction and then turned the mike over to Tim Tepatti to give the results of the Hail to the Ale competition. This was a feat to pull off if ever there was one, 10 beers were judged at Neals house before the meeting (more on that later)

Neal the talked on the proposed changes to our charter in order to comply with FERA (And for those of you that notices our section of the FERA bulletin board has disappeared, all clubs without an approved charter have temporarily lost their bulletin boards until their charter is approved) The entire change proposal will be posted on the following pages. Neal then proposed a beer judge study group be put together and Dave Dahl and Johanne Wilson have volunteered to be co-chairpeople of the study group, to date 17 people have signed up. Contact Neal Petty for more info. Tim then talked about committees that need to be formed, most important being National Homebrewers Day, the Pig Roast and the Dearborn Homecoming, several people volunteered to help out with that and if anyone else is interested please contact Tim Tepatti. As these committees start progressing towards each event we will have regular updates in the paper. I then spoke about the T-shirts, thanking Pat Babcock for tackling this monumental project. Pat put a lot of effort into designing the order, using statistical methods to determine how many and what extra shirts need to be bought, our initial order was for 150 shirts including the free shirt for each member, any extras members wished to purchase and about 50 extra for future reserves. Pat was also the inspiration behind our logo, I took a logo pat worked on and made a couple minor changes to come up with our final logo (which actually Jim Anderson did the artwork on, our logo as submitted to Jim was quite crude in comparison) The T-shirts were passed our to everyone that let Pat know would be at the meeting, this month Pat will be bringing all the shirts so whoever is there can get their shirts if they haven't already done so.Steve Robertson from Merchants Dearborn finished the evening by talking about the new grain bins and hops/yeast cooler Merchants is putting in, if you haven't been by there recently you should check it out, the homebrew section is coming along quite nicely. If anyone has suggestions for Steve leave a note for him on his desk in the homebrew section or E-mail him at srobert667@aol.com. His management has really listened to the suggestions we have been giving him (well, all except the 75% discount idea but I'm still trying for that one!) Merchants is also hosting a tasting at Schoolcraft College on Feb. 29th at 7pm. There will be over 100 beers, and the food is provided by the Schoolcraft College Gourmet Club (culinary school). Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the student activities office or by calling 462-4422. I've heard rumors about a 2nd tasting at the Jefferson War Memorial sometime in early March but no confirmations as of yet.

It was great to see all the new members and first timers sitting across the table from the veterans discussing the hobby, people really just jumped into it and when I left at 9:30 there was still a crowd talking shop.

F.X. Matt II dies at age 67

This article was in the Modern Brewery Age dated January 22, 2001. The obituary stated that Matt died of complications from pneumonia although he had been fighting cancer. Frances Xavier Matt II was chairman of the Matt Brewing Company of Utica, New York. The Matt brewery brewed Utica Club and Matt's Premium beer, but is known to many homebrewers as the brewers of the Saranac line of beers. Matt's brewery also does contract brewing too.

Genetically engineered corn sent to brewers

This was also in the the same issue of Modern Brewery Age. Some of the StarLink brand of genetically modified corn was converted into flaked corn intended for brewery use. The error was detected and the flaked corn withdrawn by the maker before it reached consumers. StarLink is not approved for human consumption, and was the brand that was involved in the taco shell recall.

The Other Budweiser Makes It to the U.S. Undercover

This article was in the What's On Tap Newsletter, specifically the January 2001 issue. For the first time since 1939 the Czech Budweiser is being sold in the U.S. as Czechvar. There has been a nasty trademark war going on between Anheiser-Busch and the makers of the Czech Budweiser. In England both versions can be called Budweiser. In France and Belgium, the Czech beer can be called Budweiser. In the U.S. of course, only the Anheiser-Busch version can be called Budweiser. Anheiser-Busch trademarked Budweiser, the "King of Beers", in 1876. The Czech Budweiser, long known as the "Beer of Kings" wasn't trademarked until 1882. The Czechs argue that Budweiser is a generic name based on geography - Budweis is the German name known today by the Czech name Ceske Budejovice.

March's competition style will be "Brown Ale". The BJCP categories 10b, c, & d. The BJCP styles are given below.

Aroma: Restrained fruitiness; little to no hop aroma. May have a caramel aspect to the malt character.

Flavor: Gentle to moderate sweetness, with a nutty character. Balance is nearly even, with hop flavor low to none. Some fruity esters should be present; low diacetyl is acceptable.

Overall Impression: Drier and more hop-oriented that southern English brown ale, with a nutty character rather than caramel.

History/Comments: English brown ales are generally split into sub-styles along geographic lines.

Ingredients: English mild ale or pale ale malt base with caramel malts. May also have scant amounts darker malts. English hop varieties are most authentic. Moderate carbonate water.

Commercial Examples: Newcastle Brown Ale, Samuel Smith Nut Brown Ale, Adnams' Nut Brown Ale.

Aroma: Malty and moderately fruity, with some mild malt, brown malt character common.

Flavor: Gentle, moderate sweetness. Malt dominates the balance, but hop bitterness is sufficient to prevent an overly sweet impression. Hop flavor is low to non-existent. Malt flavor will be present, but sharp or roasty flavors are inappropriate.

Overall Impression: A malt-oriented version of brown ale, with a caramel, dark fruit complexity of malt flavor.

History: English brown ales are generally split into sub-styles along geographic lines.

Ingredients: English pale ale malt as a base with a healthy proportion of caramel malts and often some darker malts. Moderate to high carbonate water would appropriately balance the dark malt acidity. English hop varieties are most authentic, though with low flavor and bitterness almost any type could be used.

Aroma: Hop aroma, often citrusy, is mild to strong. Esters and dark malt aspects are mild to moderate.

Flavor: Hop bitterness and flavor dominate the malty richness that is a characteristic of brown ales. Slightly drier than English versions, with assertive hop presence (bitterness, flavor, and aroma).Although malt flavor plays a supporting role, some toasty malt character(or even restrained roastiness) should be evident.

Mouthfeel: Medium body, with a dry, resiny impression contributed by the high hop bitterness.

Overall Impression: A bigger, hoppier, dryer version of brown ale, typically including the citrus-accented hop presence that is characteristic of American varieties.

History/Comments: A strongly flavored, hoppy brown beer, originated by American home brewers.

Ingredients: Well-modified pale malt, either American or Continental, plus crystal and darker malts should complete the malt bill. American hops should be used in generous quantity. Moderate to high carbonate water would appropriately balance the dark malt acidity.

Commercial Examples: Pete's Wicked Ale, Brooklyn Brown Ale, Hart's Pacific Crest Ale, Smuttynose Old Brown Dog, Il Vicino Tenderfoot Brown, Shipyard Moose Brown.

Ye Olde Brew News
published by the F.O.R.D. Homebrew Club

Editor:
Tony Tantillo

Contributors:
Bob Barrett
Gabrielle Palmer
Jim Racine
Tony Tantillo
Chris Frey
Don Parisot
Rich Byrnes
Kathy Loftus
Howard Klix, Sr.

Club Officers:
Doug Geiss, President
Howard Klix, Sr, Vice President
Howard Klix Jr., Secretary
Chris Frey, Treasurer
Tony Tantillo, Newsletter Editor
Gabrielle Palmer, Webmaster
Sue Merritt, Photographer/Historian/Beer Mooch
Kathy Loftus, Photographer
Mike Arend, Librarian
Jim Rice & Tyler Barber, Special Events Coordinators
Tyler Barber, Equipment Manager
Rich Byrnes, Business Manager

F.O.R.D. is a private, non-profit organization of homebrewers. The main goal of this club is to promote awareness and appreciation of the quality and variety of beer; to share information regarding technique, equipment and skill required to brew quality homemade beer; and to encourage responsible use of beer as an alcohol-containing beverage.
Howard Klix Jr.
24737 Cushing Ave
Eastpointe, MI 48021

Phone: 810-779-1445
Email: raistlin01@home.com

Visit our website at: http://www.be.ford.com/brewers/
or external to Ford at: http://hbd.org/ford/

current circulation... 125

Name of Competition
Place	Name	Style	Points
1	Richard Hampo	Munich Dunkel	35/50

Ford's new X-Plan

F.X. Matt II dies at age 67

Genetically engineered corn sent to brewers

The Other Budweiser Makes It to the U.S. Undercover