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| July
2004 |
Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsmen | Volume
12 Number 7 |
The next meeting will be held back at Bailey's Pub 'N Grille in Dearborn on Tuesday, July 27. 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.
We will be meeting in the lounge in the basement at Bailey's. 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.
May's Belgian (no wit) and June's Wheat competitions are tabulated below.
| Belgian Competition | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Place | Brewer | Style | Points |
| 1st | Tyler Barber | Belgian Pale Ale |
39/50 |
| Wheat | |||
| Place |
Brewer |
Style |
Points |
| 1st |
Mike A. and Kathy L. |
Wheat |
40/50 |
| 2nd |
Tyler Barber |
Wheat |
38/50 |
< >
This month's competition is European Lager, BJCP category
# 2 .
Please note that a new set of guidelines has been issued effective July 1, 2004. However they will not take effect until January 1, 2005. In the words of the BJCP, "Although the BJCP doesn't want to dictate policy to competition organizers, we expect that virtually all competitions for the rest of 2004 will use the 1999 guidelines. It will be much simpler for entrants, and far easier on judges if that happens. "
By Steve Close, F.
O. R. D.
Oh those summer
brewing doldrums. Yes,
like the listless winds that leave ships dead in the water, chilling
wort with an immersion chiller (or even a counter-flow chillier) for
that matter) during late summer can be agonizingly slow. Slow that is
for ales, and approaching never for beers.
Those of us who are
connected to the
Detroit water system get our water from the Detroit River. As the
summer sun beats relentlessly on the river, water temperatures rise
to the high sixties and low seventies. With time the whole system
heats up, and not even the ground surrounding water mains cool the
water. Toward the end of our 2003 summer water temperatures rose so
much that water mains expanded and burst throughout the system. In
my house "cold" tap water reached 72° F, eliminating
the option for the cold shower cure for a hang-over. But that's
another story. The real problem is quickly chilling 210.7° F
(remember water boils 1° F lower for every 600 feet of elevation)
wort down to the 60° - 70° F range that yeast cells seem to
consider best for doing their work. Getting to 90° F is no sweat,
but those last 20° -30° can take an eternity.
August and September
are, from an aging
and lagering standpoint, a perfect time to brew for the Holidays.
But, by the time the tap water drops to the low sixties it is usually
late October, leaving little time for brew to age before the Holiday
consumption begins. So what is a summer brewer to do? The time
honored method is to cool the boil to 75° - 80° F with a
chiller and take it the rest of the way by bathing the carboy in a
tub of ice water. Well that may work, but is it really a worthy
solution for a right-brained, home brewing, engineer wannabe?
The alternative to the
unimaginative
ice bath is to run ice water through the chiller once the wort
temperature drops below 90°. How may you ask? Try this. Fill a
Corney keg with ice. Attach an in ball lock to an 18 inch
length of 3/8 inch ID reinforced vinyl tubing. Then attach a female
garden hose connector to the other end. Likewise attach an out
ball lock to an 18 inch length of 3/8 inch ID reinforced vinyl tubing
to a male garden hose connector. Snap on the ball locks, hook it up
to the garden hose on one end and the chiller on the other and slowly
turn up the pressure. In a matter of minutes your wort will drop to
pitching temperature.
When I told my pal at
the home brewing
supply store about this trick he lamented that home brewers feel
strangely compelled to frankenstein everything. That took be aback. Not
only because I'd just discovered that frankenstein was now a verb
after a century's long stint as a proper noun, but because it is
oddly true. We home brewers do like our toys, and we love to tinker
with them. That's one of the reasons we love our craft. So build
yourself a Frankenstein Chiller, enjoy some warm weather brewing, and
hoist a home brew to Dr. Frankenstein the kindred spirit of home
brewers.
While on a business
trip to St. Louis, I had several opportunities to visit a brewery
located in the same building as my hotel. Union Station used to
be the largest and busiest passenger rail terminal in the world.
It first opened in 1894, but ceased operation as a train terminal in
1978. It quickly fell into disrepair until 1985 when it was
completely renovated and turned into a marketplace. The
architecture is stunning... makes me wish I hadn't forgotten to pack my
digital camera. Union Station now contains a hotel (Hyatt
Regency) with 539 guest rooms plus ballrooms and meeting rooms along
with 11 acres of shopping, dining, and entertainment. It also
contains a brewery. For more information about the beautiful and
historic Union Station, visit www.stlouisunionstation.com.
Route 66
Brewery & Restaurant
1820 Market @ Union Station
St. Louis, MO 63103
314-231-HOPS
www.route66brewery.com
Food:
Typical brewpub fare appetizers, burgers, sandwiches, pasta and
pizza. I had the spinach artichoke dip as an appetizer with the
spicy jambalaya for my entree. Both dishes were very good.
Beers
available:
At the time of my visit, they had four beers on tap.
English Pale Ale - 5/10 - Although this beer is the bartender's
favorite, I found it quite bland and uninteresting. Dark golden
color with a pretty nonexistent head. Slight malty aroma with no
perceptible hops. Medium body with a medium malt taste and very
slight hop bite in the finish. Small amount of fruitiness with a
tart finish and fairly low carbonation. I consider this their
training beer for the neophytes that regularly drink swill beers.
River City Red Ale 7.5/10 Clear ruby color with a creamy
head. Caramel malty aroma with spicy hops notes. Nice
Northern Brewer/Willamette hop flavor along with sweet caramelized
maltiness from the crystal malt. Nice malty background to build
from that finishes fairly dry with a nice bitter bite from the
hops. Smooth medium bodied with good carbonation.
Irish Stout 6.5/10 - Because of the Irish in the name, I was
expecting a dry stout similar to Guinness, Murphys or Beamish, but this
beer definitely does not have a dry finish. Clear black color
with a light creamy head. Roasty malt aroma. Malty, roasted
flavor with a lightly hoppy finish. Medium body with a smooth
creamy feel and a slightly tart finish. Not quite what I was
looking for in an Irish stout, but a good stout nevertheless.
Belgian Tripel - 9.5/10 - Oh, wow! This beer definitely is
the best of the bunch. Clear, golden color with a creamy
head. Malty and fruity aroma with a slight clove-spice
character. Medium body, good carbonation, sweet malty background
with a moderate fruity flavor and warming alcohol feeling. The
spices balance out the maltiness quite well. Yummy! Crispy,
you would love this one! Not quite Final Absolution good, but
damn close! Excellent beer! The only downfall to this beer
is that it is served in a smaller 12 oz. glass instead of the regular
pint glass in which the rest of the beers are served.
Overall:
This brewpub has a large dining area as well as a fairly big bar
area. Good beer and good food with great service. The beers
regularly cost $3.50/glass, but that price drops to $2.50/glass during
Happy Hour (5-8pm Mon-Fri). I would definitely stop here again if
in the area, if for no other reason than to have another glass of that
wonderful Belgian Tripel!
1. The 1st Annual F.O.R.D. / AABG combined picnic was held at AABG member Randy DeBauclair's home in Pickney. While the crowd that gathered enjoyed the day, the brews, the pig and all the assembled members and family, alas, the only F.O.R.D. members that attended were those that also had membership with the AABG club.
I recognize that the venue was farther west than ever before and that the announcement was later than ever before. Perhaps that, along with increasing demands on our summer scheduling conspired to make this outing less than ideal. With this in mind, I will ensure that we have earlier heads up next year and see if we can coax a more central location for the clubs to meet.
2. The Michigan Brewers Guild 7th Annual Festival is this Saturday, the 24th at Frog Island. More info on this event is at http://www.michiganbrewersguild.org/
3. Entries for the Michigan State Fair can be dropped of at Adventures In Homebrewing with Jason up until July 24th - additional information is available at http://hbd.org/michigan/2004/planning.htm
Next month's competition style is Smoked Beer (club only) and Lawnmower
Beer BJCP
category #23 (club
only) Lawnmower Beer is any light bodied beer. If you want to
see some examples from the new styles ( I know; we're not supposed to
start until January 1, 2005) BJCP 2004 categories 1a-c,
These are the Lite American Lager, Standard American Lager, and Premium
American Lager
subcategories. Also, category 6,
Light Hybrid Beer, in the new style system seems to be a good
choice.
All Michigan, All Draft at historic Greenmead Park in Livonia!
Join 25 of Michigan's microbreweries and brewpubs in the only
outdoor beer festival that features 100% Michigan made products. The
beer tent will feature approximately 100 different draft beers from all
over the state, plus food, music, door prizes, and the opportunity to
mingle with all the brewers. Advance tickets on sale this NOW at all
participating member breweries for ONLY $18.00. Tickets are limited to
2,000, so get your butt in gear for the beer event of the year! Beer
Tables by Arcadia Brewing Co., Atwater Block Brewery, Big Buck Brewery,
Bonfire Brewery & Bistro, Bo's Brewery & Bistro, Canal Street
Brewing Co., Copper Canyon Brewery, Detroit Brew Factory, Dragonmead
Microbrewery, Grand Rapids Brewing Co., Great Baraboo Brewing Co.,
Grizzly Peak Brewing Co., Kalamazoo Brewing Co., Lighthouse Brewing
Co., Michigan Brewing Co., Motor City Brew Works, New Holland Brewing
Co., North Channel Brewing Co., Old Boys' Brew House, Redwood Lodge,
Rochester Mills Beer Co., Roffey Brewing Co., Royal Oak Brewery,
Traverse Brewing Co. Great Baraboo Brewing Co., North Channel Brewing
Co.
Tickets available at the above locations or by mail by sending a check or money order in the amount of $18.00 per shirt, made out to Michigan Brewers Guild. Mail to MBG, PO Box 648, Leonard, MI, 48367 and please remember to include an SASE or add $3.20 for Priority Postage. Any questions please call 248-628-6584.
As an incentive to encourage designated drivers, designated drivers are admitted at no cost. Bus loads are encouraged, call MBG for details.
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| 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. Howard Klix Jr. 24737 Cushing Ave Eastpointe, MI 48021 Phone: (586) 779-1445 Visit our website at: http://www.be.ford.com/brewers/
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