Last Meeting
The last meeting was held on May 22nd at our recent favorite club
hangout, Chelsea's Restaurant. Neil opened the meeting and announced
that the F.O.R.D. club is now officially recognized FERA club.
A motion was passed to revise the Constitution to remove the responsibility
from the secretary to create the newsletter.
Richard discussed the upcoming Rivertown Beer Festival and indicated
that all club members were welcome and needed as volunteers (see
Rivertown article this issue).
Sandy gave the treasurer's report and it sure looks like were
going to have a great barbeque in August.
Crispy distributed the Zymurgy 1992 special edition xerox
copy which covered beer brewers favorite gadgets. There are a
couple of additional copies available if anyone needs them. Chris
then discussed the idea of swapping homebrews. Anyone interested
in swapping homebrews please bring a six pack that is properly
labelled.
David Dahl invited his friend Dave Hale as a guest speaker. Dave
recently graduated from the Association of Brewers Microbrewers
training course after working in a brew pub in Colorado for a
couple of years. He is now headed to the east coast to work in
a microbrewery. He spoke on the clases that he took and the type
of experiments in beer making methods and practices he learned.
He highly recommended the Association of Brewers courses and there
are some geared to home brewers wanting to learn more advanced
techniques. Literature is available from the club's library.
The next meeting will be on Tuesday, June 25th at 6: pm at Levagood
Park in Dearborn. The park is near Telegraph and Cherry Hill on
the North west side.
Take Telegraph to Sheridan Westbound (Sheridan is the first side
street just North of the Junior High right on Telegraph and take
Sheridan 3 blocks straight to the parking lot of the park. We
ar at site #1 which is to the right of the pool main entrance.
alternately you could take Denwood which runs into both Ford Road
and Cherry Hill right to the parking lot. Levagood is a huge park
which runs from Silvery Lane to the West an dDenwood to the East
and is several city blocks from North to South. We will hang a
huge poster or our logo from our site so you'll be able to find
it!
If you want to eat dinner before hand there are several restaurants
close by including: Pork and Beans (Tex-Mex), Mexican Fiesta (Mexican),
Dearborn Italion Bakery (Excellant pizza slices, pepperoni rolls,
salads & sandwhiches) and the Stardust (Family) all on Ford
Road West of Telegraph; Ground Round, Salvatore Scallipini's and
Red Lobster all on Telegraph North of Ford Road; Subway Subs,
Boston Market, Andoni's (Family) and China City (fast-food) all
on Telegraph bewteen Cherry Hill and Ford Rd. Karl's Pizza is
also right on Cherry Hill just East of Telegraph. See you there
at 6! (or earlier, heck if there's enough people we could even
start a volleyball game! They have two excellent sand courts.
If you need more specific directions, please call Rich Byrnes
at home @ 810-558-9844. Thank You!
THE BEER BILL OF RIGHTS
by Jim Kasprzak, Jeff Jankowski and Ron Sperber with
a little inspiration from the Founding Fathers of the United States
1. Congress shall make no law disrespecting an establishment
of beer, or prohibiting the free consumption thereof; or abridging
the freedom of bar service, or of brewing; or the right of the
people peacably to assemble, and to petition the bartender for
a round of beers.
2. A well-stocked bar being necessary to the secuirty
of a free State, the right of the people to brew and consume beer
shall not be infringed.
3. No beer shall, in time of heat be quartered in
any house without refrigeration, nor in time of cold, except in
a manner presecribed by law.
4. The right of the people to be secure in their
beer, bottles, glasses, and brewing effects, against unreasonable
searches and seziures, shall not be violated, and no last calls
shall be issued, but upon the proper time,s upported by the clock,
and particularly offering the bar patrons the opportunity to purchase
and consume one more beer before closing.
5. No person shall be held to consume a second-rate,
or otherwise infamous beer, unless on presentment or indictment
of a large bar bill, except in caes arising in block partis or
backyard barbecues, or at a fraternity house, when in actual celebration
in time of holidays or sporting events; nor shall anyperson subject
for the same bar bill to be twice put in jeopardy of cash or credit;
nor shall be compelled in any drinking establishment to purchase
beer for anyone other than himself; nor be deprived of beer without
due process of law; nor shall private stocks of beer be taken
for public consumption without just compensation.
6. In all drinking establishments, the patron shall
enjoy the right to speedy and courteous service, by a qualified
bartender of the establishment wherein the beer shall have been
ordered, which establishment shall have been previously licensed
by law, and to be informed of the nature and price of the beer;
to be presented with the bar tab against him; to have compulsory
process for obtaining the beer which was ordered, and t have the
assistance of the bartender for service.
7. In bills at drinking establishments, where the
value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of
service shall be preserved, and no tab presented by a bartender
shall be otherwise re-examined in any drinking establishement
in the United States, than according to the rules of the common
law.
8. Excessive drinking shall not be required, nor
excessive prices imposed, nor cruel and unusal beers inflicted.
9. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain
beers, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others consumed
by the people.
10. The beers not supplied to the bars by mass marketing,
nor brewed in microbreweries, are reserved to the brewpubs respectively,
or to the people.
This document can be found on the World Wide Web:
http://www.apricot.com/~jimcat/writings/misc/beerbill.html
Brewing Dictionary
by Rich Byrnes
Reinheitsgebot, the German Beer Purity Law of 1516.
How many times have you heard that phrase being used by beer marketing
departments? They claim strict adherence to the Reinheitsgebot,
but what does that mean? I think we've all heard vague references
to the wording including ingredient restrictions of Barley, Hops,
Yeast & Water, but certainly there's more to the law than
that. I found a copy of the Reinheitsgebot while surfing around
CompuServe one day and decided to include it in its entirety for
your reading enjoyment. I also decided to include the English
translation so you would enjoy it even more!
Reinheitsgebot: German Beer Purity Law
posted to rec.crafts.brewing by Fred Hardy
Following is an English translation of the Reinheitsgebot (German Purity Law) adopted in 1516, the oldest provision still enforced to protect the consumer. This istaken from the article "History of German Brewing" by Karl J. Eden, published in 'zymurgy' magazine, Vol. 16, No. 4 Special 1993.
"We hereby proclaim and decree, by Authority
of our Province, that henceforth in the Duchy of Bavaria, in the
country as well as in the cities and marketplaces, the following
rules apply to the sale of beer:
"From Michaelmas to Georgi, the price for one
Mass [Bavarian Liter 1,069] or one Kopf [bowl-shaped container
for fluids, not quite one Mass], is not to exceed one Pfennig
Munich value, and
"From Georgi to Michaelmas, the Mass shall not
be sold for more than two Pfennig of the same value, the Kopf
not more than three Heller [Heller usually one-half Pfennig].
"If this not be adhered to, the punishment stated
below shall be administered.
"Should any person brew, or otherwise have,
other beer than March beer, it is not to be sold any higher than
one Pfennig per Mass.
"Furthermore, we wish to emphasize that in future
in all cities, markets and in the country , the only ingredients
used for the brewing of beer must be Barley, Hops and Water. Whosever
knowingly disregards or transgesses upon this ordinance, shall
be punished by the Court authoritites; confiscating such barrels
of beer, without fail.
"Should, however, an innkeeper in the country,
city or markets buy two or three pails of beer (containing 60
Mass) and sell it again to the common peasantry, he alone shall
be permitted to charge one Heller more for the Mass of the Kopf,
than mentioned above. Furthermore, should there arise a scarcity
and subsequent price increase of the barley (also considering
that the times o harvest differ, due to location), WE, the Bavarian
Duchy, shall hav the right to order curtailments for the good
of all concerned."
Also I've included a modern interpretation for your
reading enjoyment as well.
Following is the english translation of the modern
Reinheitsgebot. Translation by John Dieter Stuewe on the WWW Virtual
Pub
(1) For brewing low fermed beer may only be used
barley-malt, hops, yeast and water, except of the prescriptions
in the paragraphs (4) to (6).
(2) The brewing of top fermented beer is subjcted
to the sam eprescription; however the use of other malt and the
use of technical pure cane- , beet -invert - corstarch sugar and
colour-matter made out of the sugar described above is allowed
too.
(3) Malt means every type of grain, that is atrificailly
made sprouting.
(4) The use of colour beers, which are only produced
out of malt, hops, yeast and water, is permitted for brewing beer,
but is subjected to special controlling measures.
(5) Instead of hops, hops-powder or in other ways
to small pieces reduced hops or hops extracts may be used for
brewing beerr, if these products satisfy the following requirements:
1. Hops-powder and in other ways to small pieces
reduced hops extracts must only be obtained out of hops. 2. Hops
extracts must a) contain all substances of the hops, that are
passed over to the wort during the brewing process or it's flavour
and bitter components in a condition that the hops has got before
or while boiling the wort. b) comply to the rules of food law.
The hops extracts may only be added to the wort before
or while the wort is boiled.
(6) As a clarifier for wort and beer only substances
may be used that work mechanically or absorbing and that are seperated
again except of parts that are insignificant according to health,
smell or taste and that are technically inevitable.
(7) On request, it may be permitted in single cases
that the preperation of special beers and of beer that is determined
to be exported or to be used for scientific experiments diverges
from prescription (1) and (2).
(8) The prescriptions (1) and (2) don't apply to
those breweries that produce beer only for domestic use. (Homebrewers)
(9) The admixture of water to the beer by the brewer
after the determination of the extract contents of the original
wort in the fermenting cellar or by the beer trader or by the
tap keeper is forbidden. The main tax office may allow brewers
to add water to the beer after the determination of the extract
contents of the original wort in the brewing cellar, on condition
that the necessary safety precautions are adopted.
(10) The mixture of Einfachbier, Schankbier, Vollbier
and Starkbier (*) or the addition of sugar after evaluation of
the tax by the beer trader or tap keeper is forbidden. Th Federal
Minister of Finance may allow exceptions.
(11) For producing top fermented Einfachbier, sweeting
agent may be used following of the Zusatzstoff-Zu.assungsverordnung
from the 22nd of December 1981 (Bc - B1 I S1625 (30)) in the for
the time beeing valid version.
(*) The german beer tax law distinguishes beers by
the extract contents of the original wort in (weight) percent
to evaluate the tax:
Einfachbier : 2.0 - 5.5
Schankbier : 7.0 - 8.0
Vollbier : 11.0 - 14.0
Starkbier : > 16.0
Merchandise Alert!!!
If you still haven't picked up your T-shirts yet,
please call me to make arrangements so I can get them out of my
house! I've placed a call to Jim Anderson, our resident artist
to revise the logo with a circle arount the entire logo for the
coasters, so as soon as I hear from him we can get the coaster
order rolling! I've still got a couple coffee/beer mugs left that
people ordered (Bob, John, Steve) please make arrangements to
pick those up as well! If you want to order additional coffee
mugs ($9) or beer steins ($13) with our logo on it, and possible
the logo on both sides, your name on one side, or a witty saying
like "I wish this was my homebrew" on the other please
contact me and I'll place an order. (#?????)
| RIVERTOWN
BEER FESTIVAL |  |
This is it folks, my last plea for help, then I start calling
you! Seriously, we need about another 30 people to volunteer for
this event, I thought for sure I would have to beat you off with
a stick to try all signing up at once, sheesh! The festival is
Friday, July 26th from 5:30 to 9:00, we're needed from about 4
to 10 at the latest. I know this means some of you may have to
get out of work a bit early that day but this is important! This
is a charity event for the Red Cross (Tell you boss last year
almost $20,000 was raised for the Red Cross!) I have info sheets
for all volunteers. I'm getting ready to send these sheets to
you so that you will have maps and instructions. I should have
table information within a week or so. Then I will be able to
start assigning tables along with Hal Buttermore from the Ann
Arbor Brewers Guild. You may sign up a spouse/family member/ brewing
buddy to work at the table with you so long as you remember they
represent our club in all matters! Call me at 313-323-2513 (work)
or 810-558-9844 (home) to sign up if you haven't already!
Thanks for your consideration
BOOK REVIEW
by Rich Byrnes
I just picked up a fascinating book called "Secret
Life of Beer, legeneds, Lore and Little Known Facts" by Alan
Eames. This is an incredible collection of beer trivia, not brand
specific to any beer but a historical reference with chapters
on The origins of beer, goddesses and the beginning of beer, beer
& regligion, beer in poetry, song, movies, books and popular
culture, beer and health etc...it's a small format book (6.5"
square) and about 200 pages long (very large type on each page
though). This book makes for fascinating reading and I highly
recommend it! Here's a rather appropriate quote taken from the
book. Listening to someone who brews his own beer is like listening
to a religious fanatic talk about the day he say the light. Ross
Murray, Montreal Gazette, 1991.
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© 1995, 1996 by Pat Babcock
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