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| August 1998 | Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsmen | Vol. 6 - No. 8 |
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This month we are meeting at a new location, once again (sorry folks). We will be meeting at a restaurant right around the corner from Chelsea's called Sisko's. Sisko's is located at 5855 Monroe, just kitty-corner from Chelsea's off Vanborn between Telegraph and Southfield. They can be reached at 313-278-5340 for more info. As usual our meeting will start at 6pm on Tuesday August 25th. If all goes well Sisko’s may become our new permanent meeting place so please try to make this meeting so we can get a good feel from a large number of club members about Sisko's. Sisko's may be found on the web at http://www.siskos.com.
First off, a hearty thanks to everyone who volunteered for the first annual Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Festival beer tasting at Greenmead park. The F.O.R.D. club was well represented as well as the A.A.B.G. and the Pontiac Brew Tribe. A couple of surprise members included Pat Babcock who was in town for the weekend and Tom Plocher who was in town from Germany (Tom was a member for a couple years while he was working in Dearborn, he resides in Cologne, Germany). The event was well orchestrated and I believe will be an annual event. I myself got to work at the Dragonmead table, a new microbrewery in Warren right off of Schoenherr and I-696. The brewer I worked with was Earl Schubarth, a retired Ford employee who knew my uncle and Grandfather, what a small world. Dragonmead has a small tasting room where at any time they have about 12 different beers to sample, their lineup includes about 18 different beers in current production. The popular beer of the three they brought was Final Absolution, a Belgian Trippel which was exquisite! The rated alcohol content was 9.5%, but Earl winked at me and said give or take.
Another new brewery! I just read in my local paper that a bar in Warren, the Gaelic Beer Works, has started building their brewery operations, can't wait to see this one!
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| Directions to Beer-B-Q '98:
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Logo stuff - For those of you new to the club we haven't announced this in a while, but we have several items available to club members with our logo on it. We have coasters, coffee mugs and beer steins. The coasters come in a pack of 50 for $5, the coffee mugs are $10 and can be personalized and the Steins are $15 and can also be personalized (the steins are white ceramic).
A hearty thanks to Jim Bazzy who donated a 5 lb. CO2 tank to the club as part of the jockey box package. We will outfit the tank with a 2 line 2 gauge regulator so anyone that wants to borrow the jockey box for any reason will not have to have their own kegging system. Jim has been with the club since day one and has always come through when the call for help has gone out. Thanks again Jim!
Many of you asked me about the nitrogen blend draught system I brought to last month's meeting. How do you determine what percent of nitrogen and carbon dioxide to use? First off, the reason to use a N2/CO2 blend is when you need more dispensing pressure than is possible with just CO2 without over-carbonating. The Stout faucet I use has a required head pressure of 35 lb. to dispense the beer. If I used pure CO2 at 35 lb. I would severely over-carbonate my beer. I determined that I needed 13 lb. of CO2 to carbonate my beer, so the remaining pressure (22 lb.) must come from the nitrogen (nitrogen is insoluble in liquid and therefore does NOT contribute to the carbonation level). Therefore, 13/35 or roughly 30% of the total mix must be CO2 and 22/35 or roughly 70% of the mix must be N2. For your system, the first thing you must determine is how much pressure you need. You can get this info from the faucet manufacturer or the place where you purchased your system. The next thing is to determine how much CO2 pressure you need to carbonate your beer to the level you desire (this has been covered before in previous newsletters) and then proceed from there.
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| Rich poses between two Dragonmead Brewery tap handles at the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Festival held in Livonia. | Hey, Crispy! Look what we won for our thin, phenolic scotch ale... 2nd place in the "Best of Show" round of the Pontiac Brew-Wow Homebrew Competition! |
A lot of people have been using the library, which is good news. The bad news is that several members have had the popular books out for a long time. Usual turnaround should be one to two months. If you have had a library book for longer than that - PLEASE RETURN IT TO ME so that other members can use this facility. Some of the books that should be returned are:
If you have trouble coming to meetings, give me a call at home or at work and I will figure a way to get the books. If you have any ideas on how to improve library management, let me know. I know I have not been able to attend the last couple meetings, but I will be at the next one, and you can always call me or email me at work.
A couple months ago we publicised the AHA Membership Drive. I am happy to report that by choosing this time to join the AHA and by mentioning our club as your sponsor, we received some great gifts from the AHA including the full Classic Beer Series, including the new AltBier and Barley Wine additions. These books will go into our library which is great because now we will have two copies of popular ones like Pale Ale and Porters. See me at the meeting to check out these books.
We also got a years supply of entry fees to the club only competitions which is a great value. Thanks again to those who participated in this drive and I hope you enjoy the benefits that being an AHA member brings.
| Camryn Mckenzie Preston |  | |
| Parents: Siblings: Date of Birth: Weight: Length: | Mike & Val Mikaela July 19, 1998 at 12:02 AM 7 lbs. 13 oz. 20 in. | ||
| Congratulations to the entire Preston family from the Fermentals!!! | |||
London, England - Whilst British accountants are busy closing Morrells, the Swiss marketing men at Feldschloesschen, owners of the Hurlimann brands for the last 18 months (they closed the Hurlimann brewery naturally), have quietly axed the famous Samichlaus. Samichlaus has been recorded in the Guinness book of records as the strongest beer in the world with an ABV of 14%.
The beer was brewed once a year on Saint Nicholas's Day (December 6th) and released to an expectant world precisely one year later. A fact that Switzerland's largest brewery group, Feldschlosschen, have kept to themselves is that no Samichlaus was brewed on December 6th 1997. So there will no Christmas cheer from the Swiss Santa this year. Apparently the marketing men conducted a survey and discovered that there was no demand for the beer, so decided not to brew it.
The result of this survey should not come as much of a surprise, as they don't seem to have asked anyone who actually buys Samichlaus. The normal UK importer of the beer was not surveyed, and was only told of the brand's demise when he tried to buy some. Samichlaus was one of the great beers of the world, and appears to have passed away almost unnoticed.
The Great Lakes Brewing Company is located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It is on Market Street, near Carnegie Avenue and currently occupies three large turn-of-the-century buildings. The main building has the original 7.5 bbl brewery (with fermenting tanks in the cellar) and also houses the restaurant, bar, kitchen, and gift shop. The tanks in the cellar are jacketed for cooling and GLBC brews both ales and lagers. The second building, a warehouse type structure next door, houses the currently used 30 bbl brewery and bottling/kegging facility. John McNamara, one of the brewers, was kind enough to give the men (me, my friend Chris, and my littlest brewing assistant Michael) a tour of the brewery. He explained that they are still expanding and have almost completed a 75 bbl brewery in a building across the street. They have installed an insulated piping system to pipe the goods from the new brewery to the restaurant and bottling facility. This new facility looked very impressive through the windows, but unfortunately was not open for tours yet. We did get a good look at the 30 bbl system. I especially liked looking into the vessels and seeing the false bottoms and stirring paddles - not to mention getting a big breath of that "just brewed" smell that accompanies them. GLBC beers are available all around Cleveland but are not in wider distribution because they are not pasteurized, and so need to be carefully handled.
The Beers:
The Food:
The food was quite good, more than just standard brewpub fare. I had
the "Brewers Pie", which was a meat pie of sausage, spinach, cheese, and
spices, baked in a pie crust. It was very tasty and quite filling. They
also serve a variety of salads; my friend and his wife had Steak salad
and Salmon Caesar salad respectively. One of the specialties of the GLBC
is the Artichoke Crock - an appetizer of spread made from, what else, artichokes.
It was served with seasoned, toasted pita slices and was a big hit with
all. For dessert, my friend ordered the Bread Pudding (which I mooched
a few bites from). As he put it, it is simply "to die for!" The prices
at GLBC are quite good. Our total came to only $89 which included 5 pints
($3.25 ea.), appetizer, desserts, 4 adult and 4 kiddie dinners. In addition
to the good prices, we experienced very good service. The beers were properly
handled, the food was hot, and we especially appreciated that John McNamara
took the time to show us around the brewery.
If you do make it to Cleveland, don't miss out on the chance to have
a beer at GLBC. And don't forget to bring home a few souvenir pint glasses
which are a steal at only $1 each!
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Beer Events, Meetings & Competitions
Gabrielle Palmer |
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FACT: A lite beer has between 70 and 100 calories, is almost all water, and the part that isn't water is almost pure carbohydrates.
FACT: The average diet recommends a daily caloric intake of 1,200 calories for women, 1,500 for men, if you want to lose the medically safe two to three pounds a week. On the "Beer-Me" diet, that equates to at least 12 beverages a day for women, and 15 for men. A measurable goal.
FACT: The alcohol in beer is a diuretic, which causes the water to flush out almost immediately, leading to a consistent workout regimen including deep knee bends (getting out of the chair), fast walking (very good for your heart) and squats (as the case may be).
FACT: Drinking beer actually helps you sleep-even when you aren't necessarily tired. All that added rest is certain to help any problems you may have experienced in sleep deprivation, counting calories on those other fad diets. In addition, you may experience the occasional "How did I get here?" when you wake up, which always makes for lively conversation, and possibly additional exercise if you have to sneak out and run home.
FACT: The "Beer-Me" diet is good for your heart. After just one day of consuming your required 12-15 beers, you will certainly want to consume some aspirin, which is medically proven to help prevent heart attacks.
FACT: On the "Beer-Me" diet you can eat anything you want. The only rule is that you cannot consume any food until you have consumed at least half of the day's required beers. This way the food will probably only stay in your body a short time, until you again exercise the deep knee bends, quick walk and, this time, the "lean-over- and-hurl" stomach crunches.
FACT: Beer drinking is often done in bars, where other forms of exercise are common. Dancing, for example, is a good way to build up a thirst, as is chasing members of the opposite sex. If you really want to maximize your workout, try actually walking up to the bar, versus using a waitress. To take this to the extreme, you could even get up and get someone else a beer-perhaps someone who is newer to the diet plan than yourself.
FACT: Beer is cheaper than Jenny Craig.
Based on these facts, let's run through a given scenario for diet implementation.
CAUTION: This is a weekend diet plan, and should be attempted during the work week by only the staunchest of dieters.
MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY: Eat junk food and basically be a slob.
FRIDAY: Feeling "huge," swing by the liquor store and stock up. Go to favorite place of beer drinking and begin the consumption process (remember 12 for women, 15 for men).
SATURDAY: Wake up (as required) and lounge around all day, feeling slightly smaller after expunging any food that you may have accidentally consumed (particularly if it involved beef jerky from 7-11). Take aspirin. Notice that you have absolutely no interest in food, anyway.
SATURDAY (p.m.): Restart cycle, noticing that your appetite has still not returned. Perhaps only meet half of your consumption goal due to an ongoing discussion with "the dog that bit you." This is a good thing, as only half-consumption means less than 1,000 calories for the day, and you still don't feel hungry.
SUNDAY (a.m.): Wake up for mandatory sports day. This is a very convenient diet during football season, but it can be successfully implemented year-round. There is some major professional sport being played every day of the year except the day before and the day after the Major League All-Star game (fact-look it up). Consumption on this day should be paced to cover the entire day - you don't want to peak too soon. Again you notice a lack of appetite, and are feeling thinner all the time. Don't forget the aspirin.
MONDAY: Return to work, feeling thinner, well rested, and surprisingly mellow. Mark your log book, and begin preparation for the upcoming weekend.
Happy dieting!!!
| Ye Olde Brew News
published by the F.O.R.D. Homebrew Club |
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| Editor:
Gabrielle Palmer Contributors:
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... 123 |