June
2005 |
Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsmen | Volume
13 Number 6 |
The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 28th at the Tenny Street Roadhouse. 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 results from last month's competition will be in the next newsletter.
June's competition is Belgian and French Ale, BJCP category 16.
Jim Rice with input from Chris Frey
It's all set!! The Club meeting on Tuesday, July 26 will be in Levagood Park in Dearborn. It's located on Silvery Lane and Wilson St. in West Dearborn. We have a Park Permit, including alcohol, from the City of Dearborn. We will have the normal meeting start time of 6pm, with people arriving from 5pm on. We can stay until 9pm.
Directions: From Telegraph and Ford Road, go South to Cherry Hill. Right (West) on Cherry Hill to North Silvery Lane, the 2nd light. Right (North) on Silvery Lane 2 blocks on the right side, across from Divine Child Church and school. The parking lot is just before Wilson and we are the first Picnic area, left side.
Bring your brews and food and also bring perspective new members.
Chris Frey will be bringing the "Same Wort - Different Yeasts" presentation to this meeting. 18 bottles of Dragonmead's Final Absolution, each inoculated with a different yeast strain, will be opened, one at a time, with tasting notes taken from his presentation at the 2005 National Homebrew Conference recently held in Baltimore. While kegging up these 18 separate beers, Crispy and the kegging crew insured one complete set was available to the club for sampling.
Next month's competition style is BJCP Category 3, European Amber Lager.
Rich Hampo wrote this piece on 12 Swedish Beers five years ago. It is republished here without the pictures though. - Ed.
Last year, I had the opportunity to visit Gothenburg, Sweden on business. This was a unique opportunity to sample the local tastes and even though I was only there for 2 days, we sampled several of the local favorites. The Pripps brand appeared to be the most popular brand, and it came in several styles, from a non-alcoholic (served in the Volvo Engineering cafeteria with lunch) to a 7% alcohol export version. I didn't take any notes from tastings while I was there, but I did manage to sneak away long enough to visit the state-run (the only kind allowed) liquor store. Anyone who has been to Canada would recognize this layout very similar indeed. There was row after row of different beers. I estimate that the store had upwards of 125 different beers, quite a difference from your local party store here in Michigan. Due to the limitations of my luggage, I was only able to carry back 12 half-liter beers. Boy was my garment bag heavy on the long trek through Amsterdam's airport that was required to make a connecting flight. Since I don't read Swedish, I had no idea what style the beers were going to be, but I picked out a variety based on random factors like how cool the label was and what the alcohol content was. So here they all are, with a few tasting notes I made while drinking these over the span of several months. If anyone in the club can read Swedish and would like to translate the labels, I have kept the bottles and cans and would love to know how the brewer described each beer.
Name | 1828 Premium Export Lager by Pripps |
Alcohol Content | 5.0% |
Aroma | Slightly skunked |
Appearance | Great color deep golden. Weak head, no lace. |
Flavor | Good hop balance. Very slightly medicinal. Probably did not travel well. |
Body | Appropriate for style |
Drinkability | Good balance, not too light, not too heavy. Clean finish |
Name | Zeunerts 1837 Merke |
Alcohol Content | 5.3% |
Aroma | Slightly skunky |
Appearance | Light golden, very clear, good lace |
Flavor | Weak on malt kind of bland like Budweiser |
Body | Light |
Drinkability | Definite lawnmower beer |
Name | Gamelstadens Färsk Ol (Ale) |
Alcohol Content | 5.0% |
Aroma | Slightly fruity, a little yeasty due to bad pouring on my part |
Appearance | Very pale |
Flavor | Slightly fruity, smooth with no aftertaste. Reminds me of a Kolsch. |
Body | No head but good carbonation, good mouthfeel |
Drinkability | Very enjoyable! |
Name | Falcon Bayerskt |
Alcohol Content | 5.2% |
Aroma | Slightly malty, no off aromas |
Appearance | Medium head, deep copper color |
Flavor | Clean bitterness dominates |
Body | Medium to light |
Drinkability | Good, slight lingering bitterness |
Name | Granit Starköl |
Alcohol Content | 4.8% |
Aroma | Not much aroma |
Appearance | Light ale, very little head, very clear |
Flavor | Astringent |
Body | Low |
Drinkability | Not much there probably my least favorite of the ten. |
Name | Stockholm Festival Beer |
Alcohol Content | 7.2% |
Aroma | Very slightly skunky |
Appearance | Nice foamy white head, beer is very clear |
Flavor | Dry, some alcohol bite |
Body | Medium |
Drinkability | Drink this one to get hammered |
Name | Östgöta Stark |
Alcohol Content | 5.0% |
Aroma | Slightly sweet, almost corn-like |
Appearance | Nice color, good carbonation, very clear |
Flavor | Clean bitterness, no aftertaste |
Body | Medium |
Drinkability | Middle of the road light ale. |
Name | Pripps Blå Klass 3 Export |
Alcohol Content | 5.2% |
Aroma | Subdued hop aroma dominates |
Appearance | Golden color, no head |
Flavor | Very smooth, nicely balanced with good hop flavor |
Body | Full body with nice mouthfeel |
Drinkability | My favorite of the first 8. I'd get another if I could. |
Name | Kopparbergs Special Elk Brew |
Alcohol Content | 5.3% |
Aroma | Not much at all |
Appearance | Light golden, no head |
Flavor | Slightly fruity start, hoppy flavor finish |
Body | Good mouthfeel with good carbonation |
Drinkability | Good superbowl beer (I drank this one while watching the big game) |
Name | Spendrups Old Gold |
Alcohol Content | 5.0% |
Aroma | Not much aroma, slightly fruity |
Appearance | Pale golden, clear, no head |
Flavor | Subtle flavors, clean finish |
Body | Kind of thin |
Drinkability | Summer beer |
Name | Stark Bock |
Alcohol Content | 7.0% |
Aroma | Slightly skunky |
Appearance | Deep golden color, clear with little head |
Flavor | Very smooth, balanced bitterness, slightly warming |
Body | Big body but well balanced by the hops |
Drinkability | Surprisingly smooth for such a big beer. Very enjoyable |
Name | Mariestads Extra Stark |
Alcohol Content | 7.2% |
Aroma | Clean, nothing unusual |
Appearance | Pale golden pretty light for such a big beer |
Flavor | Strong up front bitterness fades to smooth finish with slight warming sensation |
Body | Full bodied |
Drinkability | Enjoyable, tilted towards hops |
It was very fun to sample so many different beers. I wish I had had a Swedish translator with me to help me pick out the beers since I think that most of the ones I got were light ales. I would have enjoyed tasting some more dark beers but I don't know the word for dark! I did find out later that "Stark" means "light" and "öl" means "ale". All in all, I think my favorite was the Pripps Blå Klass 3 export with the Stark Bock a close second. Hope you enjoyed these Twelve Swedish Beauties!
Beer Events, Meetings & Competitions |
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 |
July - AMERICAN BEER MONTH http://www.americanbeermonth.com/ |
Friday, July 8 - Entry deadline for the: 2005 Michigan State Fair Homebrew Competition http://msfhomebrew.com/ |
Saturday, July 23 - Michigan Brewers Guild Eighth Annual Summer Beer Festival Historic Depot Town, Ypsilanti Michigan 1:00 - 6:00 PM |
Tuesday, July 26 - F.O.R.D meeting at Tenny Street Roadhouse 22361 W. Village Drive, Dearborn …..in the back room (5:30pm - 7:00pm) Phone 313-278-3677 http://www.tennystreet.com Club Competition Style 3. EUROPEAN AMBER LAGER |
Saturday August 6 - 3rd Annual AHA Mead Day http://www.beertown.org/events/meadday/index.html |
Tuesday, August 16 - Entry deadline for the AHA Club Only Competition Category 16. Belgian and French Ale http://www.beertown.org/homebrewing/schedule.html |
Tuesday, August 23 - F.O.R.D meeting at Tenny Street Roadhouse 22361 W. Village Drive, Dearborn …..in the back room (5:30pm - 7:00pm) Phone 313-278-3677 http://www.tennystreet.com Club Competition Style TBD |
Tuesday, September 27 - F.O.R.D meeting at Tenny Street Roadhouse 22361 W. Village Drive, Dearborn …..in the back room (5:30pm - 7:00pm) Phone 313-278-3677 http://www.tennystreet.com Club Competition Style 12C. BALTIC PORTER |
Saturday, October 8 - Entry deadline for the AHA Club Only Competition Category 3. European Amber Lager http://www.beertown.org/homebrewing/schedule.html |
Friday, October 21 - Entry deadline for the AHA Club Only Competition Category 12c. Baltic Porter http://www.beertown.org/homebrewing/schedule.html |
Tuesday, October 25 - F.O.R.D meeting at Tenny Street Roadhouse 22361 W. Village Drive, Dearborn …..in the back room (5:30pm - 7:00pm) Phone 313-278-3677 http://www.tennystreet.com Club Competition Style TBD |
Ye Olde Brew
News published by the F.O.R.D. Homebrew Club |
|
Editor: Tony Tantillo Contributors:
Club Officers: |
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. Visit our website at: http://www.be.ford.com/brewers/
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