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| March 1998 | Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsmen | Vol. 6 - No. 3 |
In this issue:
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| February's Meeting Chris Frey | |
Our last meeting was held Tuesday, February 24th at our home away from home, Chelsea's. About thirty thirsty F.O.R.D. members gathered to hear what was new, enjoy a bite and sample the quaffables.
As our trusted and esteemed librarian, Johanne Wilson, had to dash out early, she began the meeting with a 50/50 raffle. Rich Byrnes won $20, and Johanne presented him with an additional prize, a 1998 Micro-Brew Calendar. The other $20 goes to the library fund which will be used to purchase "Homebrewing for Dummies". I have reviewed this book and it has a tremendous amount of practical and useful information ranging from kegging to hop growing. Check it out. For those of you who have recently joined the club, our library has been basically self-funded through these 50/50 raffles. Typically tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5.
David Peters, our scrupulous and honest treasurer, discussed the pending purchase of a Malt Mill for the club's PICO system. This will allow members to purchase their grains in larger quantities and save quite a bit over the per pound purchase price. It will also allow members to crush their grains just prior to brewing.
David indicated that dues were current for about half the club, with the other half being deleted from distribution of the newsletter after this issue. Don't make me put your information in the database again after I delete you! Dues can be paid by mail directly to David. Make your checks out to David Peters and send them to: 39777 London Court, Northville, MI 48167. Renewal membership is still only $15. Discount cards for 1997 have expired. Enough said.
Tony Truesch, our lauded and esteemed vice-president, discussed this month's competition (Brown Ale) and next month's (Pilsner) which is an AHA competition, and the April competition which is anything goes. He presented the winners of last month's stout competition. The results are printed later in this newsletter.
I, your loyal and humble secretary, pointed out that there were five new members who joined just that evening and I asked (and ask) that the more seasoned members of our club take the time to introduce themselves and find out what they are looking for in the club. One new member indicated he was seeking a mentor while another wanted to split a batch with anyone who would take the time to show him how its done. Remember, we all started somewhere. The first few brews I made were right out of Charlie P's TNCJOH, and I was afraid to breath over the wort, lest I infect the whole batch. Somebody should have told me to exhale (you too, Billy!).
I thanked Mary for purchasing the case of Bigfoot Barley Wine (which was not only awesome, but only $2.50 a 12oz. bottle!), and I believe by night's end, we left only 2-3 in her inventory. There was the new Zymurgy article on Barleywine that was circulated, along with additional copies of the Members Help List. I solicited volunteers for the National Homebrew Day Demonstration, and if you are interested, contact me.
We presented Jim Rice with his long-overdue 1997 Commemorative Homebrewer of the Year glass beer mug. It is a handsome piece and Rich indicated that these can be made for any club member for $11 (without the Homebrewer of the Year engraving, sorry!).
Doug Geiss, our loyal and faithful business manager, discussed that we can now order additional tee-shirts and sweatshirts with the club logo on it. They can even be ordered in any color (but the logo still has to be in black) and you can get either 50/50 poly-cotton blend, or 100% (these suckers shrink!). Let Doug know by March 31st as to what you would like.
Finally, Rich Byrnes, our intrepid and exuberant president, discussed the loss of the 1998 Rivertown Beer Festival. During the last three years that the F.O.R.D. club has assisted with this event, it raised over $80,000 for the Red Cross. Unfortunately, the major retail sponsor, for reasons unknown to us at this time, has pulled out and it is too late to find another sponsor for this year. The people at Stroh's thanked the club for it's support with the Festival and indicated that Stroh's is working on an Oktoberfest festival and that we will most likely be called upon to help them with this event.
Rich apologized to those who have recently paid their dues and have not yet received their cards. He promised to mail them out as soon as his thingamajiggy spools to something or other (computer stuff, real technical, eyes go into glazed-over mode).
Rich met with some members of the Ann Arbor Brewers Guild (AABG) at the newly opened Local Color Microbrewery. Located next to Vic's Market on Grand River in Novi, this beautiful 2400 barrel microbrewery is a unique one. Rich indicated that the brewer can do absolutely everything at the computer terminal, from spraying the grains with pre-set temperature water to perform decotion mashes. The brewer interned in Germany and they currently have eight brews available. He also mentioned that the food was great there too (sounds like a field trip is in order). They will be marketing their brews both in other restaurants and through retail distribution, and they are running the system 24 hours a day.
He was, however, meeting with the AABG to discuss this year's Michigan State Fair Homebrew competition. Several of us have signed on to assist the AABG with this task. Doug Geiss and myself will look for sponsors, Gabi Palmer will be coordinating some of the judging and Al Czajkowski, Jim Bazzy and Rich Byrnes will assist in overall coordination of the event. We want to see our club win some more ribbons this year, so stash a few of your best for this event!
The next meeting will be held at Chelsea's on Wednesday, March 25th. For those of you who are new to the club, Chelsea's is located on Van Born between Telegraph and Southfield (midway, on the North side). Their address is 22120 Van Born and their phone number is 313-278-0888. The competition is Classic Pilsners. As usual, the thirsty hard-core who want dinner will start arriving around five, people will drift in for an hour or so, and by 6:00ish, we will start our meeting.
| An additional piece of equipment has recently been purchased for the club. It is a Malt Mill (similar to the one pictured to the left) which can be used with the club's PICO system. Talk to Tyler Barber, our equipment manager, if you'd like to use this new toy. |
Part of the fun of being the librarian is buying and reviewing new books for our library. Under recommendation from several members I have made the following additions:
"Homebrewer's Gold" by Charlie Papazian and "Homebrewing for Dummies" by Marty Nachel.
"Homebrewer's Gold" is a collection of prize-winning recipes from the 1996 World Beer Cup Competition. You can read the book review in the December 1996 newsletter. See "The Book Report" below for a review of "Homebrewing for Dummies".
Look for me at the beginning of meetings to take out books, and remember, this is YOUR Library.
"Homebrewing for Dummies - A Reference for the rest of us" by Marty Nachel.
If you can get past the title, you will find this book an easy to read reference. This, yet another book in the "for dummies" series has all the characteristics that make the series so popular. It is written like your favorite text book - well organized, complete with cheat sheets, chapter summaries, icons in the margins "to serve as guideposts for various kind of information" (I enjoyed skimming through reading the Beer nuts and the Tips). The numbered step-by-step directions are especially easy to follow and all illustrations are very clear. It is jam packed with useful information, for example, approximate costs whether you are looking at starting from ground zero, or upgrading to do all grain homebrewing.
The most useful chapters for experienced homebrewers are "Homebrewing directions for Serious Beer Geeks", "Gizmos and Gadgets" and "DIGIBIY- Do it Grow it Build it yourself", as well as all the Appendices. I also suggest that the chapter on Beer evaluating be required reading for our local beer competition judges. In addition to being a full reference, it also contains interesting information that I have not seen elsewhere. For example, a section on the different types of beer glassware.
And no Homebrewing book is quite complete without recipes. These recipes are written by the author and homebrewer's like us. Many of them are prize-winning recipes from local or national competitions. Each style has two recipes; one intermediate level and one all-grain. Like the rest of the book, they are simple and easy to follow. The recipe section is also really easy to find, which I like.
As well as informative, the book is entertaining with cartoons and cute titles like "Do the Monster Mash", referring to all-grain brewing.
This would make a great gift for your beer drinking dummies, I mean buddies, who enjoy drinking your homebrew and need a push in the right direction to start making their own. It is also a great reference for all homebrewers, whether new to the hobby or not. All in all, this book is a good read, so CHECK IT OUT!
If you have been considering becoming an AHA (American Homebrewers Association) member, now is the time. By using
the attached form, you will get a $5 discount off the usual new AHA membership fee, and also our club will get $5 for every one of our
club members that joins the AHA. The club can also win some neat prizes. So, don't procrastinate! This offer is good until June 30,
1998. Also, if you do join, please let me know so that I can track our progress.
Sue Merritt
Neal Petty, decked out in his best German fashions, and Chris Frey enjoy a homebrew at the 1997 Beer-B-Q.
Johanne Wilson and Jerry Garner ham it up at the 1997 Beer-B-Q.
Johanne Wilson
Tony Treusch
Hail to the Ales (AHA)
Stout Bout (AHA)
Mild & Brown Ales
Place
Name
Style
Points
Place
Name
Style
Points
Place
Name
Style
Points
1
Don Parisot
American Amber Ale
39/50
1
Tyler Barber
Imperial Stout
46/50
1
Gary Shewchuk
English Brown Ale
37/50
2
Kerry Havener
American Pale Ale
35/50
2
Jim Racine
Dry Stout
40/50
2
Jim Racine
English Brown Ale
36/50
3
Tony Tantillo
India Pale Ale
31/50
3
Chris Frey
Dry Stout
39/50
3
Tyler Barber
English Light Mild
34/50
3
Chris Frey
Dry Stout
39/50
| Imperial Stout
Tyler Barber Ingredients for 5 gallons:
Yeast: Wyeast #1056 American Ale Original gravity: 1.072
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Casterbridge Brown Ale
Gary Shewchuk Ingredients for 5 gallons:
Yeast: Wyeast #1028 London Ale Start with 4 gallons water, add grains and bring temperature to 155F and hold for 15min. Rinse grains and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add extracts and bittering hops. At 45 min. add Flavor hops and Irish Moss. Finish at 60 min. Chill wort to 70F. Pitch Yeast. Ferment at 64F. Rack to secondary after 1 week. Original gravity: 1.051
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| 1998 Competition Schedule | ||
| Meeting Date | Competition | AHA Style Categories |
| March 25 (W) | Classic Pilsner Competition (AHA) | #15 a, b & c |
| April 28 (T) | Brewer's Choice Competition | All Styles |
| May 27 (W) | Alt/Kölsch Competition | #18 a & b |
| June 23 (T) | Weiss is Nice Competition (AHA) Label Contest |
#19 a, b, c & d |
| July 22 (W) | Summer Light Beer (Lawnmower) Competition | All Styles |
| August 25 (T) | Best of Fest Competition (AHA) | #17 a & b |
| September 23 (W) | Fruit/Lambic Competition | #3 a, b & c and #21 a & b |
| October 27 (T) | If It's Not Scottish... Competition (AHA) | #8 a, b & c and #10 b |
| November 18 (W) | Porter Competition | #9 a & b |
| December 15 (T) | Holiday Ale/Barleywine Competition
Entries due for January 1999 Hail to the Ales Competition (AHA) |
All Styles |
| History of Pilsners: | |
| The very first clear, golden pilsner was made in 1842 in Plzen, Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Until then, all beers were dark or cloudy. The color and clarity of beer had not been important until the advent of glass drinking vessels. The city of Plzen had a uniquely soft water supply, ideal for making pale beers. Plzen is also situated just south of Zatec, the source of its famous Zatec (or Saaz) hops. The brewery that made the very first pilsner still makes it today, Pilsner Urquell (meaning "original source"). This style quickly gained popularity in other brewing countries. | |
| About the Style: | |
| Bohemian/Czech Pilsner | German Pilsner |
| The hop flavor and aroma from the"noble" hops (usually Saaz) is very noticeable at a level of medium to high. Clean, crisp, hop-spicy bitterness with a malty, slightly sweet medium body. Esters and fruitiness are not appropriate in Pilsners. Low amounts of diacetyl add to the complexity of this style. The color can be as dark as light amber. | More bitter, drier, less malty, simpler, and cleaner than Bohemian Pilsner. The distinctive characteristic is the flowery, medium hop bouquet and flavor from "noble" hops and the dry finish from a more thorough fermentation. The color should be a very light straw/golden color. Low to medium maltiness in aroma and flavor, but the balance is decidedly towards bitterness in the palate. |
| The Beers: | |
Pilsner Urquell Pilsner Urquell Brewery Plzen, Czech Republic http://www.pilsner-urquell.com/ indexgb.html | 
Warsteiner Premium Pils Warsteiner Brauerei Warstein, Germany http://www.warsteiner-usa.com/ |
| Looks & Taste: | |
| The world's original pilsner lives up to it's name when you can find a fresh example. It has a beautiful golden color with a steady stream of rising bubbles. There is a sweet malt aroma with just a hint of spicy hops. It starts out with a full malt flavor, then a spicy hops flavor, and then ends with a spicy, noble hops bitterness. | Warsteiner Pils is straw-colored, lighter than Pilsner Urquell, with a dense rich head of foam. It has a light malt aroma followed by a slightly spicy hops aroma. This German Pilsner has a light, dry, soft malt taste, followed by a stong hop bitterness. Very thirst-quenching. |
| Ratings (out of 5): | |
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| Quaffable Quotes: | |
| "Mother's in the kitchen washing out the jugs,
Sister's in the pantry bottling the suds, Father's in the cellar mixing up the hops, Johnny's on the front porch watching for the cops." -Prohibition Song | |
| April 7 | Celebrating Beer in Michigan by Rex Halfpenny, at the Southfield Public Library Meet and Eat lunch hour presentation. Registration required, $2.00, 248-948-0470. |
| May 2 | National Homebrew Day - Many brewing demonstrations will be going on, including a few by the Fermentals at Merchants Dearborn. |
| May 20 | Vintage Wine and Fine Beer Tasting, $25.00 for excellent wine, beer, food. Rex Halfpenny will have tickets for sale, (two for $40.00). An excellent tasting event, limited to 300 people, all Michigan Brewers Guild Microbrew Members will be featured along with some truely great wines. Proceeds support the Great Lakes Performing Artists. |
| August 29 | 1998 Beer-B-Q - at Centennial Park in Taylor. |
| Per CNN News...
New study at Oregon State University says there's something in hops (the flavoring ingredient in beer) that might inhibit cancer. Hooray for our side! | 
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Mix ingredients to a dry dough consistency. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut into biscuits or use your
favorite cookie cutter. Slow bake at 350 degrees until done. Flip the biscuits over, turn off the oven and let the
biscuits cool with the oven off (this will make them crunchier).
Homebrewer Cooking
Spent Grain Dog Biscuits
from rec.crafts.brewing
3 Cups spent grain
3 Cups flour
1 Cup corn meal
1/2 lb grated cheese
3 cubes bullion dissolved in 2/3 cups water
3 eggs
1/2 stick butter
3 teaspoons liquid smoke (optional)
| Ye Olde Brew News
published by the F.O.R.D. Homebrew Club | |
| Editor:
Gabrielle Palmer
Contributing Writers:
Club Officers:
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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.
Correspondence should be directed to:
Work: 313-337-1642
(w) chris.frey-ford@e-mail.com
Visit our website at: http://www.be.ford.com/brewery/
current circulation... 130 |
