May 1994 Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsman Vol. 2 No. 5

Aprils Meeting 1
Club News 2
Member News 3
Competition News 3
New Members 3
Winning Recipe 3
Beer News 3
Brewers Profile 4
Clone Recipes 5
More Recipes 6
Competition Schedule 7
Fine Print 7

APRIL'S MEETING

Well gang, I hate to say I told ya so, but for all of you who missed last months meeting, you missed out on a tour of the Detroit Mackinac Brewery. This was a very spontaneous tour because the parking lot was jammed, and I ended up parking way in the back near the brewery, so I walked in to see if my buddy Wayne Burns (assistant brewmaster and chief grain shovelor) was in that day, he was and wasn't too busy at the time. I talked him into giving us a tour and that led to several free samples for the group. Detroit Mackinac makes a red beer, an amber, and an American dark wheat, all of which were very tasty, especially the dark. I didn't stay for the tour as I was scanning the parking lot for latecomers so I can't really report on the brewery operations, but if things aren't too busy, stop by and ask for the "tour", it's pretty neat. On a sad note, Tom Burns, the Brewmeister and owner, passed away 4 days after our tour. Tom has been fighting cancer (lymphatic?) for quite a while now and it finally got the best of him that Sunday. Tom should be remembered for the enduring battle he waged to legalize brewpubs in Michigan. Tom spent 5 years of his life trying to get legislation passed that would allow Traffic Jams to make beer, we all owe him a special thank you, so next time you raise a tall cold frosty (or unfrosted) mug of your finest, toast Tom Burns for the war he won, and one for the war he lost, he will be missed. As to what will become of Detroit Mackinac Brewery, I'm still looking into that.

After the field trip was over and we had had our fill of free samples (can this be?) we all lumbered back across the street to our little room in the back to officially start the meeting. The weather was beautiful so I wasn't too surprised to see a low turnout, but come on people, one day out of the month, let's see some more of you more often, this is your club after all !!

The meeting got underway with a presentation to our esteemed secretary (hey, that's me!) in honor of secretary's day I was presented with a gift of Belgium Ale from Lynn and Sandy Bruce on behalf of the club. So I will use this space now to say a really really big thank you, It's nice to get a little recognition like that, I was truly touched, and what an appropriate gift, just my size.

I next reviewed the prior news of the newsletter including the recent club position postings and openings.

Neal then proceeded to give a mini seminar on doctoring beer, that is, the fine art of rescuing a beer that didn't turn out the way you thought it should. Neal passed out a handout so I won't use this space to repeat everything in the handout, if you want to see it, a copy will be in the library. The presentation was very interesting and I hope very helpful to many people.

After Neals seminar, I gave a speech on yeast starters in mason jars, otherwise known as canning wort. Since I didn't have a handout, I will summarize the process as follows:

Make a light wort (1.020) by boiling about 2 lbs of light dme with 3 gals. of water for 30 to 45 min., then pour approx. 3 cups of wort into each sanitized mason jar (bleach rinse works great) and cap immediately. As the wort cools it will seal each cap as if it were cooked in a pressure cooker. I must caution you on two points.

1) NEVER try to force cool the jars, I made the mistake of trying to rinse some spilled wort off the outside of a freshly sealed jar in cold water and the damn jar shattered, St Arnold was definitely with me however as I just happened to be holding the jar by lid only, phew!

2) Check the jars in a few days, if you notice any growth activity on the surface, open the jar and dump the starter. What you have is an infected (wild yeast) jar that will explode if left sealed. If you don't see any activity in a few days, your safe.

Keep the jars in a room-temp dark place and when you need a starter, just open one up and pitch the yeast. 24-48 hr. later, you will have a hyper-active yeast starter ready to pitch. Pitching 3 cups of active yeast makes your beer start fermenting in about 12 hours, this is a major bonus.

I did just find out though, that if you're going to use powdered yeast, you must first re-hydrate the yeast in warm water before pitching into the wort starter, this has to do with the pressure differences between water and wort on the yeast cell membranes, and their ability to absorb liquid.

CLUB NEWS

Perhaps the biggest bit of news, or should I say the most exciting bit of news in the club recently is the upcoming Beer-B-Que. Doug LeCureaux has jumped into this club head first and has volunteered his services as a chef (5+ years experience resorts international) to organize the beer-b-que and be the pig chef. About a month before the blessed event, Doug will pick out our pig based on how many people we feel will be there, from that day on, our pig (yet to be named) will be corn fed to guarantee excellence, Doug will then pick up the pig, slaughter and dress it, and cook it (can you say Luau?) The pig will be paid for out of club funds, from there on in it will be a pot luck. Doug, Tom and myself will come up with a sign up list for dishes well in advance so this will be organized. I have two cookbooks for beer recipes if anyone wants some ideas, also if you have a favorite dish to make, let me or Doug know and we will factor that into the sign-up sheet, or if you just have some suggestions feel free to let us know that as well. Again, this event is open to paid members only and a guest.

Doug has also (more or less) volunteered to be our Special Events Coordinator, he has many contacts in many places including printers, silkscreeners, the food industry etc.... SO a big hearty thank you to Doug for getting so involved right off the bat. If we can come up with a logo concept SOON, we may be able to get T-shirts by the picnic, wouldn't that be spiffy.

The position of Competition Chairperson is still up for grabs, Tom Herron will continue to do it until someone else steps up to the plate.

MEMBER NEWS

A giant congratulations goes out to Neal Petty for passing the Beer Judge Certification test. The test was a grueling ordeal that Neal diligently studied and prepared for months, then he was forced to wait about 2 1/2 months just to find out his results. Well, a 60% is considered passing, and Neal got a 74% which makes him a recognized judge, with only 5 experience points he will become a certified judge. (points are earned by actually judging AHA sanctioned contests). If there is enough people interested, perhaps we can put together a study program for the test, the test fee is $45(maybe higher now) and is offered at different places around the country at various times. Please see Neal for more info on that. Congratulations again Neal, we're proud of you.

Mark Tenbrink was absent from last months meeting as Ford Motor Co saw fit to ship him to jolly old England on business, after the business was done, his wife flew out to meet him and they toured England, Belgium, Germany and Holland I believe. With a little luck we can get Mark to talk about the beers he tasted and breweries/pubs he visited.

NEW MEMBERS

Chris Hoggarth and Chad McDaniels joined last month, Chris and Chad are room-mates and co-workers. They both work for Kozacs distributors in Hamtramck (sp?), Kozacs distributes Detroit Mackinac and many other fine beers. Also joining last month were Doug Lecureaux and Paul Richards from Ford Motor Co. This brings our grand total up to 28 paid members.

COMPETITION NEWS

Well, this past month was the stout competition and we had 2 legitimate entries, 1 commercial and one ringer (thanks Dennis). Chad & Chris's Stout came in 1st with 45 points (nice going guys, recipe to follow later), Dennis's brown porter came in 2nd with 42 points (you thought you made a porter), Miller Genuine Reserve Velvet Stout came in 3rs with 41 points, and Neals stout came in to 4th place with 29 points, sorry Neal.

This was an AHA club only contest so Chad and Chris get to compete nationally, unless the AHA out and out refuses to take Grolsch bottles and then we have until May 31st to send an alternate.

This month's competition is Pale Ale and I suspect that a lot of people will be bringing entries, if you are bringing an entry, please be early and mark your beer as either an American Pale ale, an English Pale Ale, or an Indian Pale Ale.

Chad & Chris's Stout:

3.3 lbs. N'west dark

3 lb M & F Wheat

.5 lb Roasted

.5 lb Black Patent

.5 lb Chocolate

1 oz Chinook (60 min)

1 oz Nor. Brewer (30)

1 oz. Cascade (finish)

Wyeast 1084

Beer News

Coors Follows Suit.... Coors currently has an Eis-Bock out and plans to release a Wheat beer later this summer, gee, are the big boys trying to compete with the micros?

GASP!! Miller is coming out with a 3rd Ice beer, Miller High Life ice(), brewed in Grand Rapids and Eau Claire

Look soon for Sam Adams Double Bock (.5 lb malt in every bottle) and Honey Porter.

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Last updated 11/14/96