F.O.R.D Crest Ye Olde Brew News F.E.R.A. Crest
June 2005
Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsmen Volume 13 Number 6
In this issue:

 June's Meeting

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.


Competition Results


Jim Rice

The results from last month's competition will be in the next newsletter.

June's competition is Belgian and French Ale, BJCP category 16.


News Items

July Meeting - Levagood Park

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

Next month's competition style is BJCP Category 3, European Amber Lager.


Five Years Ago in Ye Olde Brew News.

Rich Hampo wrote this piece on 12 Swedish Beers five years ago. It is republished here without the pictures though. - Ed.

Twelve Swedish Beauties
Rich Hampo

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!


beerglass Beer Events, Meetings & Competitions bitter


Bob Barrett
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:
Bob Barrett
Jim Rice
Chris Frey
Rich Hampo


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.

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

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