F.O.R.D Crest Ye Olde Brew News F.E.R.A. Crest
March 2005
Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsmen Volume 13 Number 3
In this issue:

 March's Meeting

We will meet again at the Tenny Street Roadhouse (http://www.tennystreet.com/) on Tuesday March 22, 2005. We will meet in the back room.

Tenny Street Roadhouse is located at 22361 West Village Drive in Dearborn, Michigan. The building is a former post office, located one block south of Michigan Avenue and one block east of Military. Phone. It is about two blocks west of Baileys.

As it has been in the past, as owners begin to see our club members as friendly, courteous and paying customers, they will in turn be gladder to see us in the future and may be more receptive to stocking a few more "specialty" brews that we may request.


Competition Results


Jim Rice

Tyler Barber won the sour ale competition in February. His entry will be representing us at the AHA club only competition

March's competition is EXTRACT Please bring your entries to meeting Tuesday at the Tenny Street roadhouse or contact me at pegasus@provide.net .

Tyler Barber won the "HOMEBREWER OF THE YEAR" award based on the results shown below.

HOMEBREWER OF THE YEAR
F.O.R.D. 2004 MONTHLY COMP RESULTS
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total
Barber, Tyler 4 4 4 5 5 4 5 5 4 5 5 0 50
Loftus, Kathy 3 5 1 5 0 5 0 0 3 4 0 5 31
Arend, Mike 3 3 1 5 0 5 0 0 3 4 0 5 29
Geiss, Doug 5 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10
Tantillo, Tony 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 4 0 7
Close, Steve 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 6
Frey, Chris 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
Hansen, Mark 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 5
Klimkiewicz, Kurt 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 4
Zolkowski, Bob 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 4
Kriner, Paul 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
154
2004 Year-End-Totals 22 12 14 15 5 14 5 12 15 17 9 14 154


News Items

THE TRIP TO BELLS HAS BEEN CANCELLED

Jim Rice

Due to lack of interest. We were unable to make the minimums for the group discounts for the hotel and train. Without the group discounts the hotel would be $188 per double and the train now would be at least $52 or more per person roundtrip, depending upon date purchased. That is $100 or more per couple.

Any checks that I receive will be returned.



Mugshots

The web edition gets to see snapshots of January's meeting.


Next Month's Competition

Next month's competition styles are to be determined.


Five Years Ago in Ye Olde Brew News.

Five ago we had this report on February 2000's pub crawl. The writer, Kathy Zorn, was not a Ford member and provided an interesting perspective.

An Evening wasted with F.O.R.D

Kathy Zorn, intrepid pub crawl guest

PUB CRAWL? Did I want to go on a Pub Crawl? Images of dank mossy stone pubs, hosted by gnarled innkeepers with crooked teeth and bad breath immediately came to mind. I suppose it might be fun, something different. I had to weigh out the decision carefully: a Saturday night curled up on the couch with a good book and my favorite feline companion; or nine hours riding around on a bus with a bunch of beer-swilling louts. Not a tough decision! Much to my consternation and surprise, I found myself on the bus with the soon-to-be- drunken louts.

In an attempt to yank me out of my self-imposed social exile, Crispy and his wife, my best friend, Kathy invited me along on the FORD Pub Crawl. Perish the thought, but I have never been much of a beer aficionado. Picnics and ball games have always been the extent of my consumption of fermented grain-based beverages. So here I was on this chartered bus with a bunch of people I didn’t know, and drinking beer. Well, one must always take advantage of an opportunity to try new things! Somehow, I don’t think this is exactly what Mom meant by that phrase…

Our first stop was the Michigan Brewing Company in Webberville. A small simple building with a rustic exterior, perched on the edge of the freeway, next to a gas station and a truck depot of some nature. Inside it was Luau Night, the spartan interior decorated with cheesy Hawaiian party décor. Huge fermenting vats dominated the warehouse-like interior. Heat was pouring out of ceiling heaters, and the air was tropically humid thanks to the astounding Beer Fountain in the back. Roast pig, brisket, and chicken kebobs were served along with gingered rice. FORD members eagerly sampled the various brews available: IPA (“Eeepah!”), Belgian, and Pumpkin being the most memorable. Pumpkin beer?

Our second stop was the venerable Tuba Museum in Okemos. The name of the brewery alone was enough to bend the mind; but the sheer number of tubas and sousaphones in the small one room place was almost too much. “Heavy metal” according to Tony. When the proprietor began to accompany the bluegrass ensemble with his tuba, I thought I had indeed heard and seen it all.

Our third stop was, oh my, I can’t even recall the name of the place, or where it was (Editors note: I can’t either, but it was in Lansing. Was it Harper’s or the Blue Coyote?). Not too memorable, too much alcohol for this drunken lout. It was pretty slick, though. Seemed like a popular hang out, a “meat market” if you will. Sorry, but I can’t tell you much at all about this place…

We finished off the evening back at the Michigan Brewing Company. Tie-died shirts, sandals, shorts, tinny Hawaiian music, and more pumpkin beer. The plastic leis were fodder for many off-color comments. The bus ride back to where we left our cars was somewhat like a bus full of rowdy sixth graders at summer camp. Really rowdy and drunk sixth graders. Really rowdy and drunk sixth graders, having fun telling raunchy jokes and lasciviously grabbing anyone bold enough to dance down the aisleway. I hope someone remembered to tip the tolerant bus driver!

Things I learned on the Pub Crawl:

IPA stands for Indian Pale Ale. Despite its watery consistency, it is really quite bitter and “hoppy”; as the British traditionally added lots of hops to preserve the beer on the long trek from England to India.

Yes, they really do make pumpkin beer. Why, I don’t know.

It is ok to goose your best friend’s husband IF you are sufficiently sloshed, AND you tell her that you did it.

FORD members are quite creative in their uses for coolers. Motion-sickness vessels would not have been first on my list; but, hey - these folks are creative!

I had a great time, thanks for including me on the journey!


beerglass Beer Events, Meetings & Competitions bitter


Bob Barrett
Tuesday March 22 F.O.R.D meeting at Tenny Street Roadhouse 22361 W. Village Drive, Dearborn ...in the back room! Phone 313-277-3212 Club Competition Style Extract Beers - All Categories
TBD Entry deadline for the AHA Club Only Competition Category #17 Sour Beers From the new 2004 BJCP Style Guidelines http://www.beertown.org/homebrewing/schedule.html
Friday Entry deadline for American Homebrewers Association April 15 National Homebrew Competition http://www.beertown.org/events/nhc/index.html Entries due April 5-15, 2005 First round judging April 22 - May 1, 2005
Tuesday April 26 - F.O.R.D meeting at Tenny Street Roadhouse 22361 W. Village Drive, Dearborn ...in the back room! Phone 313-277-3212 Club Competition Style TBD
Tuesday April 26 - Entry deadline for the AHA Club Only Competition Extract Beers for all BJCP Categories #1-23 Extract must make up more than 50% of fermentables http://www.beertown.org/homebrewing/schedule.html
Saturday National Home Brew Day May 7; http://www.beertown.org/events/hbc/index.html
Tuesday, May 24 - F.O.R.D meeting at Tenny Street Roadhouse 22361 W. Village Drive, Dearborn in the back room Phone 313-278-3677 http://www.tennystreet.com Club Competition Style TBD
Thursday - June 16 - 18 - Saturday 27th Annual National Homebrewer's Conference Baltimore, Maryland http://www.beertown.org/events/hbc/index.html
Tuesday, June 28 - F.O.R.D meeting at Tenny Street Roadhouse 22361 W. Village Drive, Dearborn in the back room Phone 313-278-3677 http://www.tennystreet.com Club Competition Style 16. BELGIAN AND FRENCH ALE




Ye Olde Brew News
published by the F.O.R.D. Homebrew Club
Editor:
Tony Tantillo
Contributors:
Bob Barrett
Jim Rice
Kathy Zorn


Club Officers:
Rich Sovoda,President
Jim Rice, Vice President
Shelila Rucinski, Secretary
Chris Frey, 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