September, 96 Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsman Vol. 4 No. 9
Last Meeting
August's meeting was a nice casual relaxed meeting, no agenda, no demos, no lectures, just the club coming together to talk about, what else, beer! Many were in attendance as we quickly filled out the entire middle section of Chelsea's.
Neal began the meeting with the officers introductions and gave a quick recap of the Brew-B-Cue. It turns out that with the combined ticket sales for the raffle and the entry fee that the event cost the club only $100, considering the cost of the site rental and the food bill this is a great figure! We would like to scope out some new sites next year, the pavilion was excellent and we will try to find another pavilion next year as well.
Neal and Tim then recapped the Greenmead Rock & Blues festival sponsored by Wine Barrel, an interesting demo as the day progressed, what started out as a normal crowd turned into a "bikers convention" by the end of the evening, no problems reported at all but an interesting audience! Neal also recapped the Rivertown festival and thanked everyone for volunteering that did (editors note, in the last issue of Ye Olde Brew News I made a comment about "not being seen" next year carrying beer out. This was a flip comment added in the wee hours as I typed away and should not be construed as advice to smuggle beers out by concealing them. The rules we are subject to clearly state that no beer shall leave the premise, this applies to paid attendees, distributors and volunteers alike, my comment was a weak attempt at humor and should not have been printed, my apologies to all who read that and may get the wrong idea.).
What happened this year with the Renaissance Festival was Frankenmuth Brewery pulled sponsorship from the festival. The equipment belongs to the festival itself, but the ingredients and monks robes are not. The rug was pulled out from us at the last minute, too late to do anything this year. Next year we will be forewarned and try to do something.
I then mentioned the coaster order being ready to go and showed the revised logo (same logo but with a circle around it). Our initial order will cost $6.50 per sleeve of 50. I then distributed the latest helplist to anyone that wanted one. If you change address/phone number/e-mail address/ brewing skills etc. please contact me to keep the club records accurate, thanks!
Steve Rowley brought in a xeroxed article from the latest Cigar aficionado on the correct beers to match up with different cigars, a very interesting article, actually the article names several well known beers (hmmmm, Bud Light didn't make the list?) such as Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Pilsner Urquell, Duvel, Orval, Thomas Hardy's, etc. and gives a description of the beer and what type of cigar would be appropriate with the beer. Contact me for copies or we will put this in the club library as well.
Mike Preston brought in a flyer from Chicago's Real Ale Festival
next month, Mike and Val Preston are going to the event and will
have a review of it in October. I still have some T-shirts that
were never picked up, please contact me if you want your shirt.
The rest of the meeting was a buzz of discussions all over the place, good seeing everyone again and we'll see you next month!
Rich Byrnes
- Secretary -
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Club will be Wednesday, September 25,
1996. the meeting will begin promptly at 5:30 pm with a tour
of Detroit's own "MOTOR CITY BREWING WORKS". After
the tour we will head across the street to the club's original
meeting place , 'TRAFFIC JAM & SNUG" Restaurant ( and
Michigan's first Brew-Pub) roughly at 6:00 pm.
Directions to Motor City and Traffic Jam: Both establishments are across the street from one another. From I-94, take the Lodge Freeway South. Take the first exit for Forest Ave. At the light at the top of the exit, turn left. Turn right on third street (one way heading south), then left on Canfield. The first intersection is Second Street (Traffic Jam is on the corner of Canfield and Second) cross Second and turn left into the fenced parking lot. Motor City is located in the parking lot, TJ&S is across Second. To get home that night, turn right (north) on Second. Second will dead end several blocks up, turn left onto this road. Follow the signs to I-94.
It is important to remember that at TJ&S they do not issue separate bills. Each person MUST be responsible for their portion. In the past there have been difficulties at the end of the evening determining who owes what, so please keep track of what you've consumed.
Brew Demonstrations-1
The Homewbrewery proudly announces their grand opening celebration on Saturday, September 28th. Doug Wood and Mark Hansen will be demonstrating a Pico system-All grain brew, Aaron Dionne will be demonstrating a single step infusion mash in a cooler, I'll be doing an extract batch and answering questions. If anyone would like to join us and help make some beer please contact me to get signed up. The Homebrewery is located on VanDyke between 22 & 23 mile Road in Shelby Township on the East side.
We will be brewing from noon til we're done so come on out and watch an all grain demo if you haven't seen one yet, or check out the grand opening celebration including a raffle for a starter kit.
If you know of any retailer who would like to set up a parking lot all grain & extract demo, please contact a club officer and we will work something out. These are great opportunities for the club to share with it's members and to bring the hobby to others!
Rich Byrnes
Brew Demonstration - 2
The club has been invited to having it's second annual homebrew parking lot demonstration at Merchant's Fine Wine (formerly Merchants of Vino) in Dearborn. I spoke to Ryan this past month about several items and during the conversation he stated that we should plan another homebrew demo. His only caveat was that the last demo on location was not really well attended. I submitted a flyer for him to post and distribute and with that in mind, here are the details:
The club has secured the use of Neal & Tim's pico system and will be brewing an Octoberfest all-grain. Chris Gilbert will be doing a Wheat Beer extract recipe. If someone else wishes to do a batch, please contact me. I will be out of the office this week, but leave me a message with your home number and I will try to connect.
Merchants will be setting up the grill again this year. If it is anything like the last two times, there will be some good snacking!
Set-up of the equipment will be around 11:00 am and the brewing should begin at noon sharp. If you have friends who are interested in brewing, these are the events for them to come by and observe.
When I first moved to Michigan I looked up the clubs in FERA
and found this one. I went to one meeting and I got an invitation
to go to Tom Heron's home to watch a "pico-brew". It
was a freezing winter day and I stood transfixed watching, listening
and smelling my first all-grain brew. Although I didn't know much
about brewing at the time, I quickly picked up parts of the process
that afternoon and I have been building on that base ever since.
This is a great opportunity - take advantage of it!
Chris P. Frey
- Librarian/Editor -
New Members
We had 3 new members join this month, we're back on a roll! Jay Tepatti (hmmm, where have I heard that name before?), Rim Racine and Thomas Plunkard, and a 4th member who didn't have his checkbook would have joined, actually he said when he comes to the next meeting he'll bring a neighbor too! A big slap on the back and a raised pint of our finest to our 3 new members! Look for them in September and say hello!
Richard Byrnes
Corrections
In the recap of the annual Brew-B-Cue I left out a couple of people that deserve credit. Tim Tepatti spearheaded the committee (actually a committee of 1 for a while). Tim did a lot of work behind the scenes in obtaining the site, organizing the rest of the volunteers, cleaning the site, and keeping things running smoothly the whole day. Tim was there bright and early scrubbing the grille (it was NASTY before he got at it with oven cleaner) and Tim was one of the last ones out as he cleaned up the site. Thanks Tim, and sorry I left you out of the previous article.
Tony Treusch deserves a big thank you for organizing the raffle,
Tony contacted many of the retailers that we deal with for gift
solicitation and came up with a nice collection of prizes. Tony
also sold the raffle tickets and conducted the raffle with the
help of some junior brewers (A.K.A. kids).Thanks again to everyone
who helped that day.
New Supplier!
I am pleased to announce that our club will now be working with Brew It Yourself in Southgate. Owner James McMillan has extended our club a 10% discount.
Brew It Yourself carries a full line of extract supplies, all graining supplies including 50lb bulk grain sacks, wine making supplies and equipment and kegging equipment. Located at 13262 Northline (just 2 blocks off of Fort) he can be reached at 313-284-9529.
When you get your new Discount ID cards in January this store and the HomeBrewery in Shelby Township will be added to the back, until then please remember ALL the retailers that offer us discounts when planning your purchases. James has asked that the 10% discount only be used on cash or check purchases as the credit card companies already take a cut on every purchase, and that the 10% may not be used on special sale or promotional items.
The Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsmen sends a hearty
thanks to James for extending the generous discount offer and
we look forward to working with Brew It Yourself for a long time
to come.
September Competition
This month's homebrew contest is an AHA Only competition (winner gets to send beer to compete against all of the other AKA club winners - for free) for the timely style of 'OKTOBERFEST'. Please bring at least one bottle of your Oktoberfest / Maerzen / Vienna style brews to be judged by peers. The following is the flavor / aroma / color profile your beer will be judged against: (from the 1996 AHA Category Descriptions)
17. Vienna / Maerzen / Oktoberfest
a) VIENNA: Beers in this category are reddish-brown or copper colored. They are slight to medium in body. The beer is characterized by malty aroma, slight malt sweetness, and clean hop bitterness. "Noble-type" hop aroma and flavors should be low to medium. Fruity esters, diacetyl (butter like), and chill haze should not be perceived. (Negra Modelo, Dos Euis Dark are probably the only locally available beers in this style)
b) MAERZEN/OKTOBERFEST: Maerzens are characterized by a medium body and a broad range of color. Oktoberfests can range from golden to reddish-brown. Sweet maltiness should dominate slightly over a clean hop bitterness. Malt character should be toasted rather than strongly caramel. Hop aroma and flavor should be low but notable. Fruity esters are minimal, if perceived at all. Diacetyl and chill haze should not be perceived. (Pauliner and Spatten are well known for this style of beer).
Neal Petty
- President -
Congratulations!!!
Congratulations to Tom & Tammy Herron on the birth of their
new baby, Thomas Edward Herron the 3rd, born on September 5th
at 11:55 am. Little Thomas weighted in at 8 lbs 9.5 oz, 21"
long. (p.s. Tom is especially excited about having a son, something
about carrying on the family brewing tradition...ha ha ha).
Tammy, Tom and Thomas are all doing fine and we send them our
best!
It's Official... We're Really FERA Now!!
It has finally happened! We, as of last evening, are an official F.E.R.A. club! Congratulations and thanks to all for your patience and support during this two year ordeal. Cheers!
Neal Petty
One Benefit of F.E.R.A. Membership
As a FERA club, our club members can become ticket (cedar point/
renaissance festival etc...) and Book (entertainment book/ gold
c spree books) salesmen. The benefit is the profit from every
book sold goes to the club! $7 on the entertainment books and
$5 on the Gold C books. Please see Neal Petty for more information.
If you or any family member normally buys an entertainment book
please wait to find out who in our club may be selling books,
again the profit goes directly to the club.
Rich Byrnes
- Secretary -
National Homebrewers Conference Hits Downtown Cleveland in 1997
You can start planning now for the AHA 1997 National Homebrewers
Conference and Festival. Scheduled for July 17-19, 1997 in Cleveland,
Ohio, the conference promises to be the biggest and best yet.
The conference is a three day homebrew extravaganza, with world-class
speakers, hands-on laboratories, lots of great homebrew to taste,
and lots of great homebrewers to meet. The Second Round of the
1997 National Homebrew Competition will also be judged in conjunction
with the conference. We hope you'll join us!
American Homebrewers Association
Club Report
Secrets of A Beer Judge
How to tilt the judging process in your favor.
Ok, so you've just gotten back the results from your thirty-seventh homebrew contest and you're still no closer to winning that coveted blue ribbon than you were when you entered your first contest. So what's the matter with those judges anyway? All your friends seem to like your beer.
Well, I've drowned my palate at enough contests to figure out what makes a prize-winning beer. And it's not necessarily the best tasting beer that wins. Taking home that blue ribbon depends on a complex combination of factors, including technique, experience - and a little luck. While I can't help you with the experience or the luck, I can let you in on a few secrets to improve your technique that will make your beer more appealing to those hard-to-please judges.
1) First Impressions Count
Although no points are awarded at AHA-sanctioned contests for
the appearance of the beer in the bottle, most judges begin their
analysis of your beloved elixir by exhaustively examining the
bottle for visual clues that could warn them of possible defects
in the aroma or flavor of the beer. This can help the judges
determine what caused certain effects they may later taste or
smell. Unfortunately, it can also make the judges predisposed
to finding those defects before they even put the opener to the
cap.
For example, an under filled bottle can promote oxidation, and will lead many judges to look especially hard for the cardboard flavor that indicates oxidation. On the other hand, an overfilled bottle is believed to lead to over-carbonation, and may make the judges more critical of any perceived "fizziness" in the palate of the beer. Therefore, it is essential that you only enter those bottles that are filled to the ideal height (about 1 1/2 to 2 inches below the opening).
Green bottles, of course, let in more ultraviolet light than brown bottles and may make the judges extremely sensitive to any skunkiness in the aroma. So while green bottles are allowed in most contest, you stand a better chance of wining if you enter only brown bottles.
A white ring at the surface of the beer can indicate a bacterial infection, and may lead some judges to look more closely for the medicinal or sour off-flavors that signal infection, even though such a ring can also be due to undisolved proteins and is common in beers primed with wort or dry malt. Priming with corn sugar will prevent this.
2) Do It in Style Of the 50 points awarded in AHA sanctioned competitions, 40 are for how closely the beer matches its style. Only 10 points are for how well the judge likes the beer for itself - it's "drinkability". So it is vital that your beer matches the guidelines for the style you enter it in. All too often I've judged a beer that I really enjoyed only to have to score it low because it simply did not match its intended style.
The most common cause for being out of style is an inappropriate balance. "Balance" refers to the relative strength of the sweetness of the malt vs. the bitterness of the hops.
- Todd Wallinger
Midwest Beer Notes, April/May 1996 No. 23
History of Beer
The origins of beer are older than recorded history, extending into the mythology of ancient civilizations. Beer, the oldest alcohol beverage, was discovered independently by most ancient cultures - the Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Hebrews, Africans, Chinese, Incas, Teutons, Saxons and the various wandering tribes that were found in Eurasia. These ancient peoples have left records to indicate they not only enjoyed their beer, but considered brewing to be a serious and important job.
In recorded history, Babylonian clay tablets more than 6,000 years old depict the brewing of beer and give detailed recipes. An extract from an ancient Chinese manuscript states that beer, or kiu as it was called, wasknown to the Chinese as early as the 23rd century BCE.
Beer was enjoyed by ancient peoples at all levels of society. Of course, some drank with more style than others. For example, the University of Pennsylvania Museum displays a golden straw used by Queen Shubad of Mesopotamia for sippingbeer.
With the rise of commerce and the growth of cities during the Middle Ages,
brewing became more than a household activity. Municipal brew houses wereestablished, which eventually led to the formation of the brewing guilds. Commercial brewing on a significantly larger scale began around the 12th century in Germany. Although native Americans had developed a form of beer, Europeans brought their own version with them to the New World.
Beer enjoys the distinction of having come over on the Mayflower and, in fact, seems to have played a part in the Pilgrims decision to land at Plymouth Rock instead of farther south, as intended. A journal kept by one of the passengers - now in the Library of Congress - states, in an entry from 1620, that the Mayflower landed at Plymouth because "We could not now take time for further search or consideration, our victuals being much spent, especially our beer..." The first commercial brewery in America was founded in New Amsterdam (New York) in 1623. Many patriots owned their own breweries, among them SamuelAdams and William Penn. Thomas Jefferson was also interested in brewing and made beer at Monticello. George Washington even had his own brew house on the grounds of Mount Vernon, and his handwritten recipe for beer - dated 1757 and taken from his diary - is still preserved!
From Compuserve
Competition News
Last months competition was our annual fruit beer
competition, the last competition of summer, because if you haven't
looked out the window lately, fall is here! Several beers were
entered in this competition but when the foam settled and the
beer cleared, the judges tipped their hat to Tyler Barber for
his Raspberry Stout, the recipe is as follows:
Raspberry Stout
6½ Gallon Extract
3.3 Lbs John Bull Dark unhopped
3.3 Lbs Munton & Fison Light-hopped
1 Lb Corn sugar
1.2 Lbs English Crystal, 90°l
1.1 Lbs Chocolate Malt
4.5Lbs Frozen raspberries (Primary)
2 Lbs. Dark Dry Malt (Secondary)
36 Oz. Frozen Raspberries (Secondary)
1 Tsp. Gypsum
¾ Oz. German Hallertauer 60 Min.
¾ Oz. German Hallertauer 40 Min.
½ Oz. German Hallertauer 20 Min.
Wyeast Irish Ale
7/8 C. Corn sugar to prime
OG 1.054
FG 1.016
The raspberries were pureed and added to the end of the boil
after the heat was turned off to be pasteurized for 20 Min..
When the beer was racked to the secondary, 36 Oz of raspberries
were pureed and pasteurized at 160° for 20 min. and 2 Lbs
of Dark dry malt extract were added to the secondary as well.
State Fair Results
Congratulations to Tyler Barber, Bill Cole and Jim Bazzy for their prize winning beers at the Michigan State Fair this year. Tyler & Bill won 1st & 2nd place in the Porter category, 4th place in the fruit beer category (Honey Raspberry Ale), 5th place in the Barley Wine and 5th place in the Stout category with their vanilla stout. Jim Bazzy took a 3rd place in the Wheat beer category with his Hefeweizen.
Once again it's kind of disappointing to see a club with 105 members and only 3 enter a local competition, we are not out to carve our name in the hall of fame but it would be nice to see a bigger presence and awareness of our club. We have been discussing ways of promoting the contests and helping club members enter, if anyone has ideas on contests and what it would take to make you want to enter please see any club officer or bring this issue up at a meeting, thanks!
Rich Byrnes
Book Reviews
The Homebrewers Recipe Guide
There seems to be a slew of new books on the market recently and I'd like to review one of them. The Homebrewers Recipe Guide follows in the tradition of several other recipe collections on the market. The recipes (175 total) are categorized by style, but not the same groupings as AHA often does, this is neither better or worse than other books, just different.
The Authors (Patrick Higgins, Maura Kate Kilgore and Paul Hertlein) are the founding members of B.A.K.E.D., a New York home-brew club, and Higgins and Kilgore are frequent contributors to Ale Street News, the NYC Beer Guide, and the Real Beer Page, Hertlein is a brewer at Shipyard Brewing in Portland Maine.
The book is well written with humorous beer quotes and tips mixed in between the recipes (i.e. how to pasteurize fruit, smoke grains, toast grains, beechwood age like the big boys do; "tape 1 beechwood chip to the outside of the fermenting vessel for 60 min. to achieve the same benefit that the pros do" ).
Approximately 20 recipes are included for different foods that call for beer, ranging from pumpkin pie to beer battered fish to roasted beer soup. Several recipes are given for clone beers as well such as Petes Wicked Ale, Anchor Steam, Guinness, Fullers ESB, Newcastle Brown etc..... The recipes are a mix of extract and all grain with conversion tips for many of them as well. As I skimmed through the book I felt confident in most of the recipes. The recipes include brewers notes, but not comments, some are noted as contest winners (including Vail Pale Ale from Vails brewmaster) but many are just copied directly from the brewers logs. (Although the exact source of each recipe is not noted).
This is a Fireside/Simon & Shuster book with a nice foreword
from Charlie Papazian himself. All in all I would recommend this
book highly if you're the kind of brewer that likes recipe books,
I myself like to look at several different recipes for a style
of beer while developing my own recipe, but have used many recipes
as is with success.
Rich Byrnes
Beer For Dummies
Beer for Dummies?! That's right. This new release from IDG Book publishers proves to be brew library worthy. At first glance, I immediately picked it up. Every other book that I own that is put out with the .....for Dummies label is very easily read and is full of great information. Beer for Dummies is no exception. The price of ......for Dummies books have always seemed a little steep for me, but I had to have this one in my collection. It's $19.99.
The book is broken down into 7 parts. They are:
Defining Beer:Style and Substance
Enjoying Beer:Tasting, Serving
and Cooking
Buying Beer:Becoming an
Informed Consumer
Making Beer:Homebrewing
Going Nuts Over Beer:Travel
and Collecting
The Part of Tens:Information
Appendixes:Style Chart, A Short
History and Clubs, etc.
When I first looked at the list of Homebrew Clubs on page 287, I was a little miffed to see The Beernutz from Brew and Grow as the only club in Michigan listed! But... as I turned the page(289), I saw it. Homebrew clubs on the Web. And YES we are there!
I think congratulations should given to Mr. Pat Babcock for having this entry in the book (he had no idea), and for designing our fine website. The way I see it, to have our site published means that it has to be worth visiting. So, GIVE HIM HIS DUE!
The book has a lot of good info. Throughout the book you'll find tid-bits on history and trivia. The cartoons that start each section are pretty funny, and there are some other graphics that are very nice, and would be nice to have.
It gets two thumbs up from me. I'd wait till it comes to your
local homebrew supply store, so that you could get your discount
though. Cheers! Did I mention anything about copyright laws?
Mike Preston
Changing of the Guard
I happened into Merchants in Dearborn recently and learned that Steve Robertson has left to work for the Merchants up at 12 mile. Brian has replaced Steve and I think it would be nice if those of us who frequent the store to stop and say hi when your there.
Brian has recently stocked up quite a bit and removed some of
the older materials He has some new items and would love to see
you.
For Sale
Pepsi and Coke kegs; while they last - $10
Contact Tyler Barber @ 313-292-8707
F.O.R.D. BREW NEWS
published by the F.O.R.D.
homebrew club
Editors
Rich Byrnes
Chris Frey
Contributing Writers
Rich Byrnes
Neal Petty
Chris Frey
Mike Preston
Club Officers
Neal Petty, President
Tim Tepatti, Vice-Pres.
Sandy Bruce, Treasurer
Chris P. Frey, Librarian
Rich Byrnes, Secretary
F.O.R.D. is a private, non-profit organization of home brewers. Its main goal is to share information regarding technique, equipment and skill required to brew quality homemade beer.
Rich Byrnes,
30972 Cousino
Warren, MI 48092
Voice/Fax 810-558-9844
usfmczgm@ibmmail.com
CompuServe 75113,411
Visit our website at: http://oeonline.com /~pbabcock/ford.html
current circulation.....122, and growing!
NEXT MEETING IS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 AT TRAFFIC
JAM & SNUG! 5:30 TOUR OF MOTOR CITY BREWING WORKS AND 6:00
MEETING AT TJ&S!
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