F.O.R.D Crest Ye Olde Brew News F.E.R.A. Crest
February 2004 Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsmen Volume 12 Number 2
In this issue:

 February Meeting

The next meeting will be held back at Bailey's Pub 'N Grille in Dearborn on Tuesday, February 24. Bailey's is located on the southeast corner of Michigan and Mason. Their address is 22091 Michigan Avenue and their phone number is 313-277-3212. As usual, the thirsty hardcore 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.

The club meetings will still be held at Bailey's in Dearborn, but we will be meeting in the lounge in the basement.  Management at Bailey's has asked us to try to use the door closer to Michigan Ave on Mason. This door is right by the stairs to the downstairs lounge.



Competition Results


Kathy Loftus

January's All Grain Beer competition results are tabulated below.

All Grain Beers (Must be at least 50% all grain)
Place Brewer Style Points
1st Doug Geiss & Chris Frey Belgian Trippel
44.67/50
2nd Tyler Barber Doppelbock
39.67/50
3rd Mike Arend & Kathy Loftus Choc. Porter 38.33/50
HM Steve Close APA
34/50

This month's competition is Mead and Cider BJCP Category 25 & 26 . The Mead competition is another AHA competition The details for the club only competition can be found on the appropriate AHA web page. Bottle and entry forms (useful for non-AHA competitions) can be found there too.

The BJCP style guide can be found at http://bjcp.org/style-index.html .   Rather than reprint the guides, I'll just provide the links to the BJCP categories. For Mead the specific category can be reached at http://bjcp.org/styleguide25.html . For Cider the category guide is at http://bjcp.org/styleguide26.html  .

Competition Scoring


1. Each beer must be labeled in some way with the brewers names and the beer style category name. If possible, use the F.O.R.D. Bottle ID tag and attach it to the bottle with a rubber band.

2. Points:


3. If you have multiple entries in a competition, you will only be awarded points for your highest scoring beer.

4. The club will pay the entry fee for each of the 1st place winners in our competitions to enter their winning beer into the Michigan State Fair competition.  So be sure to save 3 bottles of your winning beer.

5. Results of local and national homebrew competitions will be considered only as tie-breakers for the F.O.R.D. "Homebrewer of the Year" award.




News Items

March Meeting

Chris Frey

Ken Schramm will be speaking at the March 24th meeting. He'll address the most important steps to making great meads: how to insure fast fermentations, good recipe formulation, must handling, etc. He will talk for about 30 minutes, and then sell and sign copies of his book, "The Compleat Meadmaker" (2003, Brewers Publications, Boulder, Colorado, $19.95). There will also be samples of different honeys to taste and compare.

Ken has been brewing and making mead since 1988, and has worked to uncover the ingredients and processes that will enable even novice brewers or winemakers to quickly and repeatably craft tasty, inviting meads. He is a home orchardist, as well, cultivating more than 100 varieties of fruits at his home in Troy, MI.  The combination of the two hobbies has led to a strong affinity for melomels, occasionally containing absurd amounts of fruit.




Next Month's Competition

Next month's competition has the broad competition category, Extracts.    The beers that are entered in this competition can be from any BJCP categories,  but must be at least 50% extract.  It is an AHA competition





Five Years Ago in Ye Olde Brew News.

Five years ago  Chris and Gabi reported on  a F.O.R.D. pub crawl  (Sue  Merritt  took pictures which aren't captured here.  How many of these pubs are still in business ?

We met at the Ford World Headquarters in the parking lot on a sunny yet crisp afternoon. Marvin, our driver from Royal tours was waiting with our bus and Tyler had loaded up the pony keg filled with Bell's Amber Ale. The 29 of us were all on the bus by 4:00 sharp and we left at 4:01, as advertised!

Bo's Bistro & Brewery, 51 N. Saginaw, Pontiac, 248-338-6200

Our first destination was Bo's. Tyler Barber, our intrepid organizer told us that the proprietors came from a family with 3 generations of good beer drinkers! We got there by 5:00 and lined up for the group shot in front of the bus (thank you Sue!) and then went upstairs. We were greeted by pool tables and darts (real steel-tipped ones, not those plastic tip jobs).

Most of us split out time there between darts, pool, appetizers and the beer sampler. The first brew we tried was their Blonde, a clean, light, refreshing brew, low in hop character, and what one would expect from this style of beer. In fact, all of their brews were clean and defect free. Next up was their wheat, which had a tad bit more hop bitterness (cascades?) than one might expect from this style, but we dubbed it an American wheat and enjoyed it. Their Pale was the only real disappointment at Bo's. Tyler had warned us that as of a week prior, they had only 3 beers available, but that they would have five by the time of arrival. We figured this one was one of the later 2, as the hops were mild (cascade again) and overall the ale tasted more commercial and less stylistically pleasurable (read: it was hurried a bit).

Their Red had a nice caramel taste to it that blended nicely with the other malty flavors - definitely balanced more toward the malt than the hops, but very good! The Pumpkin Stout was my personal favorite, Fall flavored (as in nutmeg, cinnamon and other pumpkin pie spices).Lovely light roast flavor, medium body - an Irish dry stout with the great pumpkin stuffed in! Appetizers were OK, maybe we should have ordered something other than the blooming onion and the wings.

Rochester Mills Beer Company, 310 Water Street, Rochester, 248-650-5080

Our next stop was Rochester Mills, a roomy, well-lit and modern brew pub. High tech, wide aisles, nice atmosphere. You are able to carry on a conversation here without having to get loud. Fully stocked bar, tons o' taps, TV's strategically placed, music subtly in the background... overall nice impressions! These people like beer! Pilsner Urquell, Sierra Nevada Celebration, Motor City, Atwater, Bell's, Guinness, Lindeman's Framboise, Spatan Optimator and others were on tap.

Their Watchtower Ale was decent, and their Rochester Red was very good. My favorite here was their Hoppy New Year IPA, and at 7.2%, it was a good thing that both Gabi and Sue were helping me with samples. Of course, I couldn't resist a Bell's 2-fisted Ale on tap, so I lost track of taking notes on their other styles. Their brewer, Pat Scanlon, also gave us a tour of their 15 barrel system. Afterwards, I spent some time with the proprietor, Mike, and Rex Halfpenny and they offered the club the use of their 1-barrel experimental mashtun! I will definitely be following up on that.

North Channel Brewing Company, 30400 23 Mile Road, Chesterfield Township, 810-948-2739

Onward, we head to North Channel. The moment we walk into the pub, the head brewer (Doug Beedy) shepherds us right into the brewery for the tour and sticks 29 Anchor Bay Pale Ales into our hands. Hey, bribery will get you everywhere! This was the best, baddest, greatest...OK, it was just one beer. But it was an awesome American Pale Ale, full bodied and nicely hopped. You could almost chew the hops! Their St. Clair light was properly named, clean, crisp, low in both hops and malt, very smooth. Their Wheat had a nice malt and honey background. Their Valentines special, Sweetheart Stout (chocolate & cherry flavored), was very good, medium bodied with a nice roast flavor note to it with a definite sweet chocolate taste and a slightly sour cherry flavor in the background. Their porter had a very light roast flavor, nice bitterness, with a light hop flavor. These people brew good beer, make good food and we all enjoyed our time there. But then it was time to move on to...

Atwater Block Brewery, 237 Joseph Campau, Detroit, 313-393-2443

We were down to our last brewery on the road. Attempts to sing "99 bottles of beer on the wall" were quickly stifled and the keg was drained, so we were ready when Marvin pulled up in front of Atwater. For several of us, coming to Atwater was a bit like coming home. Most of us have been here (several times) and we have come to expect their excellent beer, awesome facility and decent food. We arrived just in time to view the last few minutes of the Michigan State vs. Minnesota basketball game on the big screen just above the cigar lounge.  The Krausen Hell was light bodied with a light clean malt background and a spicy hops bitterness at the end. The Krausen Rost had a slightly caramel malt flavor and a slight smokiness balanced well with a light hops aftertaste. The Krausen Dunkel had a complex, clean chocolate malt flavor with a lightly bitter hops aftertaste. The Kölsch was light and refreshing with a touch of residual sweetness balanced well with a light spicy hops bitterness. The Weizen had that typical cloudiness with a clove and banana flavor (mostly clove) and a slightly sour finish. Their Porter was a bit light for the style and had a chocolatey, roasted burnt flavor, but it was lacking in character. All of the Atwater beers had a very clean flavor. For your info, Tom Majorski will make a trip back from Germany for Atwater's 2nd anniversary, which is St. Patrick's day. Go figure.

Everyone was pretty tired by the time the bus arrived to take us back home. It was a long day, but everyone seemed to have a great time. All of the brewpubs were very accommodating to our big group and showed us a good time with great beers. In fact, I can say this for all four locations - they love their beer. Our fair state is producing some excellent brews and we should consider ourselves lucky to have so much variety so near. A big thanks go to Tyler Barber and Jim Rice for organizing our first Fermental Brewpub Crawl. Tyler wants to continue to do this every two months or so, and he is planning on invading Kalamazoo next. So let him know if you are interested ($20 reserves your seat), and we will all met again on the bus! Leave the driving to Marvin...



beergalss Beer Events, Meetings & Competitions bitter

Bob Barrett


February, 2004 Monday, February 16th Entry deadline for War of the Worts IX HB Competition


Near Philadelphia, PA


http://www.keystonehops.org/wotw




Tuesday, February 17th Entry deadline for Kansas City Bier Meisters 21st Annual


HB Competition - MCAB qualifier


http://www.kcbiermeisters.org




Friday, February 20th Entry deadline for America's Finest City 11th Annual


HB Competition


Sponsored by QUAFF - 2 time AHA Club of the Year


http://www.quaff.org




Tuesday, February 24 F.O.R.D meeting at Bailey's Pub and Grille

5:00 PM for dinner 22091 Michigan Ave, Dearborn

6:00 PM for meeting Corner of Michigan and Mason-*Basement Lounge*


Phone 313-277-3212


AHA Club Only Competition Style -  Mead (club only comp) and Cider - BJCP category #25 & 26




Friday, February 27 Entry deadline for Reggale and Dredhop 11th Annual


HB Competition - MCAB qualifier


Denver, CO


http://hopbarley.org/dredhop/

Saturday, February 28 Entry deadline for Bluebonnet Brew-off 2004


HB Competition - MCAB qualifier


http://www.bluebonnetbrewoff.com



March, 2004 Wednesday, March 3 - 7th Annual Real Ale Festival

Saturday, March 6 Chicago, IL


The festival has been reduced to a party due to an issue with


the venue's "on premises" license.


http://www.realalefestival.com




Saturday, March 13 Entry deadline for the 6th Annual Drunk Monk Challenge


HB competition - MCAB qualifier


Near Chicago, IL


http://knaves.org/dmc




Wednesday, March 24 9th Annual Winterfest Beer Tasting


7 - 9:30 pm in the VisTaTech Center


Sponsored by The Gourmet Club and Merchant's Fine Wine


Contact Schoolcraft Community College for tickets


All tickets are pre-sale only




Wednesday, March 24 F.O.R.D meeting at Bailey's Pub and Grille

5:00 PM for dinner 22091 Michigan Ave, Dearborn

6:00 PM for meeting Corner of Michigan and Mason-*Basement Lounge*


Phone 313-277-3212


AHA Club Only Competition Style - Extract - All BJCP categories, must be at least 50% extract



April, 2004 Thursday, April 8 Entry deadline for AHA Club Only Competition


Mead


http://www.beertown.org/homebrewing/schedule.html




Friday, April 16 Entry deadline for American Homebrewers Association - Mead Competition


National Homebrew Competition


Entries due April 7-16, 2004


First round judging April 23 - May 2, 2004




Tuesday, April 27 F.O.R.D meeting at Bailey's Pub and Grille

5:00 PM for dinner 22091 Michigan Ave, Dearborn

6:00 PM for meeting Corner of Michigan and Mason-*Basement Lounge*


Phone 313-277-3212


Club Competition Style - Bitter and English Pale and Irish Red Ale - BJCP category #4 and TBD.



May, 2004 Saturday, May 1 7th Annual Big Brew

National Home Brew Day I'm sure Chris Frey will have his usual extraveganza!!!


Stay tuned!!




Thursday, May 13 Entry deadline for the AHA Club Only Competition - Extract Competition


Extract Brews


http://www.beertown.org/homebrewing/schedule.html




Wednesday, May 26 F.O.R.D meeting at Bailey's Pub and Grille

5:00 PM for dinner 22091 Michigan Ave, Dearborn

6:00 PM for meeting Corner of Michigan and Mason-*Basement Lounge*


Phone 313-277-3212


Club Competition Style - Belgian (No Wit) - BJCP categories #18 and 19, (no 19b)



June, 2004 Thursday, June 17 - Beer and Loafing in Las Vegas

Saturday, June 19 26th Annual National Homebrewer's Conference


Riveria Hotel and Casino


Las Vegas, NV


http://www.beerandloafing.org




Tuesday, June 22 F.O.R.D meeting at Bailey's Pub and Grille

5:00 PM for dinner 22091 Michigan Ave, Dearborn

6:00 PM for meeting Corner of Michigan and Mason-*Basement Lounge*


Phone 313-277-3212


AHA Club Only Competition Style - Wheat  - BJCP category #17  and 19b & 3b



July, 2004
AMERICAN BEER MONTH




Wednesday, July 28 F.O.R.D meeting at Bailey's Pub and Grille

5:00 PM for dinner 22091 Michigan Ave, Dearborn

6:00 PM for meeting Corner of Michigan and Mason-*Basement Lounge*


Phone 313-277-3212


Club Competition Style - European Lager - BJCP category # 2



August, 2004



Friday, August 20
Entry deadline for the AHA Club Only Competition - Wheat Beers

Tuesday, August 24
F.O.R.D meeting at Bailey's Pub and Grille

5:00 PM for dinner 22091 Michigan Ave, Dearborn

6:00 PM for meeting Corner of Michigan and Mason-*Basement Lounge*


Phone 313-277-3212


Club Competition Style -  SMOKED BEER BJCP category 23 (AHA club only competition) and LAWNMOWER BEERS.




September, 2004
Wednesday, September 22
F.O.R.D meeting at Bailey's Pub and Grille

5:00 PM for dinner 22091 Michigan Ave, Dearborn

6:00 PM for meeting Corner of Michigan and Mason-*Basement Lounge*


Phone 313-277-3212


AHA Club Only Competition Style - IPA BJCP Category 7 and Local Club Competition Style - APA BJCP Category 9



October, 2004
Tuesday, October 26
F.O.R.D meeting at Bailey's Pub and Grille

5:00 PM for dinner 22091 Michigan Ave, Dearborn

6:00 PM for meeting Corner of Michigan and Mason-*Basement Lounge*


Phone 313-277-3212


Club Competition Style - Porter & Stout - BJCP Category 15 & 16



November, 2004
Wednesday, November 10
F.O.R.D meeting at Bailey's Pub and Grille


22091 Michigan Ave, Dearborn


Corner of Michigan and Mason-*Basement Lounge*


Phone 313-277-3212


Club Competition Style - Holiday Ales





December, 2004 Tuesday, December 14
F.O.R.D meeting at Bailey's Pub and Grille


22091 Michigan Ave, Dearborn


Corner of Michigan and Mason-*Basement Lounge*


Phone 313-277-3212


Club Competition Style - Strong Scotch Ale, Russian Imperial Stout, Barley Wine - BJCP Categories 11b and 12




Ye Olde Brew News
published by the F.O.R.D. Homebrew Club
Editor:
Tony Tantillo

Contributors:
Kathy Loftus
Chris Frey
Bob Barrett
Gabi Palmer

Club Officers:
Chris Frey,President
Kathy Loftus, Vice President
Howard Klix Jr., Secretary
Doug Geiss, Treasurer
Tony Tantillo, Newsletter Editor
Mark Stavenga , 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: (586) 779-1445
Email: raistlin@wideopenwest.com

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

current circulation... 125