Oktoberfest, 96 Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsman Vol. 4 No. 10
Tyler, the brewing machine!
Last Meeting
September's meeting brought us back to our original home, Traffic Jam & Snugs in the historic district in Detroit. The meeting actually started across the street at Motor City Brewing Works.
The brewery was actually founded by Traffic Jams when they were fighting to become Michigan's first brewpub. Tom Burns, a former lawyer, turned the tiny building into a brewery (Detroit & Mackinac Brewery) with the sole intent of supplying the restaurant across the street with all their beer. The building was never intended to run as a full scale microbrewery. Due to some of the nations toughest brewing laws and regulations, the brewery was completely independent of Traffic Jams, they often would brew the wort on site and the ship it across the street in a sterile dairy truck to be fermented at Traffic Jams and served at Traffic Jams, a practice that continues today.
John, the founder and Brewmaster of Motor City Brewing Co. was our gracious tour guide. John was very informative on the brewery equipment and operations, and was very honest and up front answering our questions on his operations, products (Pale ale, Nut brown ale. Honey porter and possibly a Stout soon), startup costs and problems, and regulatory concerns. John and his startup partner actually bottled the first 30,000 or so bottles by hand, yup, using the same bottle capping equipment that we use. Think about that the next time you're complaining about bottling.
Motor City Brewing co has 20 bbl
fermenting tanks, but only a 10 bbl brewing system, so they always have to brew twice on brew day to fill a fermenter. Motor City Brewing Works. is in their second year of operation and has increased their output from 500 barrels last year to hopefully 700 barrels by the end of their second year. John supplied us with samples of his fine beers as the tour and talk went on. Yum! The club had a great time at the brewery and talking to John, look for his beers at many different locations, and if you don't see it on the menu or shelves, ask for it!
Neal was stuck in Ohio the day of the meeting fighting fires for Ford and was unable to make it back that evening, so Tim Tepatti took over the meeting in his place. Tim started with introductions and a warning about the billing procedure at TJ's. Tim then talked about the history of the club a bit at Traffic Jams, and the both he and I talked about the upcoming brewing demos at the Homebrewery and Merchants Dearborn and made a last minute plea for volunteers.
I spoke out on the clubs library in Crispy's absence and many books and magazines did get checked out that night. While I'm thinking about it, the library is missing 3 volumes from the style series, I can't recall exactly what they are right now but if you have had a style series book in your possession for a few months, please, please return it so that others may enjoy it too. If they aren't returned we will just have to use club funds to replace them anyway.
I also reminded people, and mainly for the benefit of the new brewers that we can print up coffee mugs for $9 and beer steins for $13 with our club logo on it and your name or another logo on the backside. We also seem to have a growing faction in the club of cigar smokers, Steve Rowley started the whole thing by bringing in a handout on cigars and beers and interest has grown since then. If interested please contact Steve or myself and we'll see what we can't get going.
Tim then gave a great talk on wine making, it appears that the summer grapes are now in (Eastern Market?) and Tim gave a very informative and humorous look into the differences between beer brewing and wine making. Tim made a 55 gallon batch of Merlot last year which is quite tasty!
The only downside to the meeting
was cashing out the bill at the end of the night, our total with
dinner, drinks, tip and tax was $469, but we were short by $25,
if anyone recalls leaving early without paying please see our
treasurer, Sandy Bruce at the next meeting to help replenish club
funds, thanks!
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me rather than a frontal lobotomy!
Anonymous
Brewery Backed
The Michigan Liquor Control Commission next week begin considering whether Eastpointe will be the site of a make-it-yourself beer and wine facility.
The Eastpointe City Council, by a 4-0 vote Tuesday, approved a resolution supporting a plan by Sandra Harville, who wants to open a brewery on 8 Mile Road near Kelly.
The liquor commission requires Harville to obtain the approval of both the council and Police Chief Fred DeWeese before it considers granting the necessary microbrewery license she needs to open the Detroit Brew Factory. DeWeese has already given his OK for the project.
The commission is expected to give its decision about two weeks after it gets the council's resolution and DeWeese's approval. The material is expected to be sent today.
According to Harville's business plan, the Detroit Brew Factory will offer 400 beer recipes and the ingredients, expertise and equipment for customers to brew their own beer there. The process takes about two hours. After two weeks of fermenting, the beer is ready for the customer to bottle and take home.
A batch made in each 13.5 gallon kettle is expected to fill about 100 bottles of beer and cost $80 to $120, not including bottles.
Plans also include a similar wine-making operation.
There are 39 similar facilities in the country, according to the Institute for Brewing Studies in Boulder, Colo.
By Ilaina Jonas
Detroit Free Press
Presidential Fireside Chat
The November elections are fast approaching, and not just the election for the guys who bore us so with TV debates...the cool people who brew their own beer also elect their leaders in November! It is with mixed feelings that I will not be running for re-election this year. The extensive business travel and my growing children place limits on the amount of time I can dedicate to run this club. The tremendous recent growth of this club merits a leader that can put forth the energy to keep the club focused and growing. I have enjoyed the three years of presidency, I've meet a lot of friends and tasted a lot of fine homebrews.
It is great looking back on how far the club has come in the three years since its birth. The only homebrew supply shops were the original Wine Barrel, the hardware store in St. Clair Shores, and some small wine store in Royal Oak. The original meetings would bring 8 - 16 members to the back room of the Traffic Jam & Snug. I remember meeting Doug Geiss, Lynn and Sandy Bruce at the early meetings before they even started brewing. Doug then showed up at the next meeting with his first of probably 5 Bass Ale clones. Everyone was brewing extract, and some were still brewing per the instruction son the back of the kits (early contests required much tact from the judges so as not to upset and aspiring brewer).
The club changed gears about 2 years ago when someone tipped me off that they saw Rob Dingwall's name on a potential homebrew club listing on the FERA bulletin board. I sat in on Rob's kick-off meeting and successfully lured the interested parties to join our club. The meeting attendance doubled once we listed on the FERA bulletin board. Al Czajkowski presented the club with all the positive reasons to join the FERA organization, and the presidents work began. Nearly two years after the decision to join FERA it finally happened: they approved our club.
The beers I have tasted at the club events and meetings this year are astounding. I am shocked (read envious) by the excellent quality of peoples first and second attempts at brewing. I am also shocked at how many excellent contest entries that Tyler Barber and Bill Cole drum up each month. The homebrews at the monthly meetings taste better to me than the commercial offerings of our generous hosts. The TV sitcom writers that poke fun at "bath-tub" beers and exploding bottle jokes would get an eye opening (or is that a mouth watering) by tasting the quality beers produced by this club.
Thank you to all who have volunteered
time, effort, and the occasional sounding board during my time
in office. I look forward to the next phase of my club membership.
see you in November,
Cheers!
Why is this man (Doug Geiss) smiling?
Office of President
Article 8 of the Fermental Constitution (9/11/96 revision) covers the duties of the club officers, I will paraphrase and add in the other duties of the Chief Executive Officer not found in the chapter. The President is the chief executive officer and chief administrative officer of the club. The president establishes the meeting sites and presides as chairperson during the meetings. The president has authority to execute contracts based upon Executive Board approval, and co-sign drafts against the treasury. The president also has authority to appoint committees within the club (i.e. Pig Roast committee). The president represents the club at the monthly (except summer months) FERA General Council meetings. FERA provides a free meal to entice attendance, and a formal Christmas party in December as a reward. The great part of the job is the title, and the knowledge that you are the Big Cheese of one of the countries premier homebrewing clubs. You get your name in lights, a handful of business cards...and if you join right now (oop's too many info-mercials!)
Based on recent IRS rulings, the president of FERA clubs must be an active, full-time Ford Motor Company employee. those that are interested in stepping up to this position, and have further questions, please don't hesitate to call or PROFS me. Nominations are due at the October meeting. Cheers!
Neal Petty
President
Vice President
The most important role of the VP position is to perform the duties of the president in case of absence. The VP is a voting and active member of the executive committee. The Fermentals have also added the duties outside of the constitution such as scheduling and organizing the clubs homebrew contests. This includes maintaining the prize inventory and locating judges. The VP has also historically spearheaded the coordination of the annual picnic (Beer-B-Que).
The vice presidential position has been an excellent way to be involved in the shaping of the club, without all the publicity as the president and secretary. I have enjoyed my year in term, and would like to thank all the members for their support in making this club one of the best (if not the best) homebrew clubs in the nation. Prost!
Tim Tepatti
Vice President
Secretary
The person that will hold the position of secretary should be prepared for a multitude of different tasks, taking minutes at executive and regular meetings, writing up minutes and articles for the newsletter, copying and distributing the newsletter via intercompany mail, US mail and profs.
This person should be pretty sharp on a computer, especially with Microsoft Word and relational databases (our clubs records are stored on My Advanced Maillist). This person maintains all
members records and generates the helplist and other reports as needed. This person should have an E-mail account if not a Ford employee with Profs.
Rich Byrnes
Secretary
Treasurer
The treasurer collects dues from new members and collects yearly dues from the active members. Deposit moneys into the savings account. Dispense moneys for various expenses (to secretary for newsletters and postage, etc.), for various equipment bought for club use, raffle items bought and shortages for club meeting bills (hopefully won't be too many of these in the year). Keeps balance of savings account and makes sure the account is up to date.
Sandy Bruce
Treasurer
Librarian
The librarian position is really three duties. First,; maintain the library and ensure that you keep a record of where the various journals and books are. Second, raise funds (currently through the 50-50 raffle) to purchase new titles. All of the library has been funded separately from the rest of the clubs dues. Third, bring the library to club meetings and ensure that members are aware of their benefit to use this resource. That is the basic duties, the rest is up to the individual to determine what they see as the best method of disseminating important homebrew information to the club members.
Chris P. Frey
Librarian
Ahhhh the Irish
An Irishman walks into a bar in Dublin, orders three pints of Guinness and sits in the back of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn. When he finishes them, he comes back to the bar and orders three more. The bartender asks him, "You know, a pint goes flat after I draw it; wouldn't you rather I draw fresh pints for you one at a time?"
The fellow replies: "Well, you see, I have two brothers. One is now in America and the other, Australia. When we all left home, we promised we'd drink this way to remember the days that we all drank together." The bartender admits that this is a nice custom, and leaves it there.
The fellow becomes a regular in the bar, and always drinks the same way: He orders three pints and drinks them in turn.
One day, he comes in and orders two pints. All the regulars notice and fall silent, speculating to what might have happened to one of the absent brothers. When the fellow goes back to the bar for a second round, the bartender says, "I don't want to intrude on your grief, but I wanted to offer my condolences on your great loss."
The fellow looks confused for a moment and then a light dawns in his eye and says: "Oh, no, everyone's fine. You see, it's just that I've given up beer for Lent."
Ford Bulletin Board
BB Surf Humor
Homebrewer Sweat
Recently, I have begun going to the Ford/UAW gym during my lunch break. In the last month I have seen Neal, Al, Joanne, Tom and several other club members. Homebrewers at the gym? What's going on here? Next thing you know we will be brewing "Lite" beers recipes.
But seriously, members of the club are brewing with renewed vigor now that the leaves are turning colors and boiling hot, sticky wort becomes more bearable. This means more brews to drink. And more brews means more calories!
I figure if a "Lite" beer has around 100 calories than the average homebrew has to be pushing 200 calories. If I run 2 miles 4 times a week, I burn about 1,200-1,500 calories. Now, this only takes care of a six-pack or so. But I was recently reminded that it's not just the calories I burn while running but also the bump up in my metabolism after working out that continues to burn additional calories.
Granted, this doesn't give me free
license to suck down unlimited brews throughout the winter. But
it will help me enjoy them without having to rush to the tailors
by the time the robins and crabgrass return. If you work for Ford
and haven't checked out this available resource yet, I highly
recommend it. Everything is state of the art, the price is right
($0) and the staff are extremely helpful.
Happy Anniversary!
It was 3 years ago last month that the first ever meeting of the Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsmen convened, actually we didn't even have a name back then, just a mission and a bunch of thirsty homebrewers talking shop in the back room at Traffic Jams. We did have a name the club contest which took until November to conclude if memory serves correct. Many fine entries were submitted including Beers n the hood from one of the bartenders at TJ's. We narrowed down the selection to the Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsmen, it was the that it got tricky. I can't recall exactly who came up with Renaissance, but that got the popular vote, it was then that the Fermentals really took off!.
The club was dreamed up and started by Mike Preston and Rich Byrnes, two members of the Detroit Carboys
in the summer of 93. After hashing out many different ideas, we petitioned FERA for club status, after too many dead ends we gave up on FERA, but got a lot of exposure and interested members in the process.
Our first hurdle was in the actual meeting location, any location on Ford property was out for obvious reasons. While we were getting organized and continuing the search for a home, one of our first members, Mark Tenbrink happened to be having lunch at Traffic Jam & Snugs and mentioned our dilemma to the brewer, Ben Edwards. Ben called the owner over and Rich Vincent extended an invitation for our club to make their home at TJ's.
Our first meeting had about 15 members show up and all but 1 are still members! Since that fateful first meeting we have had about 120 members join this organization! The numbering system
wasn't in place the first two seasons which is why we are at number 109 instead of 120. I do believe were Michigan's largest homebrew club!
The club had a rocky start the first few months as any new club does, it was after the ugly November meeting when I had severe Strept throat and Mike was unable to attend that Neal Petty decided to step and volunteer to be our First President. Neal couldn't have come in at a better time, Mike and I were getting
bogged down with details we hadn't even dreamed of. Neal came to us with a lot of energy and ideas, the same energy and ideas that were key to making this club the success that it is today!
Neal has been the first and only president this club ever had, through 3 full years! Tom Herron was our Vice President for the first two years until his work on the midnight shift got the better
of his time. His successor, Tim Tepatti has been a driving force this past year! Sandy Bruce has been our treasurer since the first or 2nd meeting and is still with us, we didn't have a library our first year but Doug Geiss was our first librarian, succeeded by Chris "Crispy" Frey this past year. Chris has also taken on the awesome responsibility of running the newsletter, I can't tell you what a workload that is, you should try it some time, no, seriously!
Rich Byrnes has been the secretary from the onset, and newsletter writer guy up until this past May. So there you have it, the history of our club. Now you know where we came from.
But where are we headed? Each
and every member reading this will decide that. Although this club has only 5 elected officers that are the backbone of the organization, it's the members themselves who will shape the future of this club. Regardless of who holds office, each member has the responsibility to help shape and evolve the club. Although we have never officially put out a members survey, that doesn't mean we don't want your opinions. If you have any comments or suggestions for any aspect of this club; meetings, special events, the newsletter, please let your voice be heard! We are only 5 people that serve as officers, we do what we think is in the best interest of the club, and unless someone tells us otherwise, we assume we did the right thing.
The saddest thing for any club to witness is a dissatisfied member that just drops out of sight instead of griping, and maybe griping is a bit harsh, but please tell any officer or write a letter to the editor if you have ideas. Very few people have spoken up on issues such as these, and we would like to hear more from the members, that's the ONLY way we can grow and evolve as a club. People look in awe at the Ann Arbor Brewers Guild, and rightly so. The level of professionalism, competition results, and organization that our fellow brewing brethren in Ann Arbor posses is tremendous, but they have been around for close to 20 years, how's that for evolution? In closing I can only say "Ask not only what this club can do for you, but what can you do for this club!"
Rich Byrnes
Club Business
Well, after a long arduous struggle, we have finally become an official FERA club, this may be transparent to most members, but affects the way some club business is performed. Also, various club members have elected to become building reps for FERA book and ticket sales, so if anyone wants to purchase a gold C savings book or entertainment book please contact a club
officer to find out who the book
salesman are. I mention this because we as a club get a profit
from each and every book a club member sells.
New Members
We
have 2 new members this month, Peter Staples and John McDonald,
so a royal welcome from the Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsmen
to our newest members.
New Acquisitions
We finally received the counter pressure bottle filler that we talked about ordering this summer. We ordered the filler based on a review in Zymurgy last year of all the available fillers on the
market and went with the filler from Braukunst, a homebrew kegging specialist in Illinois (or Wisconsin?).
Tyler Barber (I promised Tyler I'd mention him in this issue) was the first to use it and he can attest that it takes practice, patience and 3 hands, or at least someone helping to make things run smoother. The filler will reside with our librarian until we get an equipment
manager.
I would also like thank Dave Dahl for donating a custom made Pin-Lock socket wrench for CokeO style Cornelius kegs. This socket is notched to slip over the pins for easy removal of the liquid and gas fittings for cleaning. I highly recommend the removal of your
disconnects as they can be quite nasty without you even knowing it. Always use Teflon tape when reinstalling the disconnects. The socket will reside with our librarian again until we get an
equipment manager.
Fermentals in Space
Well, Pat "Webmaster" Babcock has done it again. For those of you who are web enabled, you must check out Pat's homepage and our clubs website at HTTP://oeonline.com/~pbabcock/ ford, but for those of you who have netscape at work and access to the Ford Intranet, Pat has mirrored our site at work!
Check out our page at HTTP://www.be.ford.com/brewery,
this is within FERA's site on the Intranet showcasing FERA clubs
with websites. Any questions, comments, or suggestions regarding
our website should be directed to Pat Babcock at Pbabcock (profs)
or pbabcock @oeonline.com. Pat is also the systems operator for
the homebrew section of America Online, how's that for a celebrity
in our midst?
For Sale
Refrigerator, approx. 20 cubic feet. Brown, works fine. $75.00 obo
Stove, 4 burner Propane/Natural Gas
Brown, works fine. $75.00 0b0
The stove was originally used with propane; I later used it with natural gas. No modifications are necessary for propane, just hook up your tank. The fridge and the stove match.
Fred Rubarth (w) 810-576-7261
Brewing Demo
The Fermental Order of Renaissance Draughtsmen were honored to be invited by George Dietrich and Sandy Hill of the Homebrewery to perform a brewing demo for their grand opening celebration on Saturday Sept. 28th.
Mark Hansen, Doug Wood, and Peter Staples brewed up a big all grain porter on their Pico system (apparently a stuck mash and a couple other problems
extended the demo a bit later than expected), Aaron Dionne brewed an all grain Scotch Ale in his cooler (single step infusion mash) and I brewed an Octoberfest extract from a Homebrewery Kit.
I tested out my new (well, 40-50 years old) 8 gallon copper kettle and it worked like a charm! The weather was not too kind to us that windy cold day, but we all had a good time. The Homebrewery is set off the road a bit on VanDyke between 22 and 23 mile road and not really visible from the road, although we didn't have to beat the crowds back with a stick, we had a pretty steady flow of spectators and customers alike asking questions and enjoying a new homebrew shop in their neighborhood.
We wish George and Sandy the best
of luck in their new business venture and hope to business with
then for a long time to come!
Member News
What,
no babies this month, you're disappointing me guys, lets get busy!
(Just kidding of course!)
Special thanks to Patrick Babcock
and his digital images!
Oktoberfest Winners
Four of us from the study group judged the five entries from last week's meeting. The undisputed winner was Jim Rice's Vienna (43 of a possible 50 points). He also took second place for his Oktoberfest (37/50). J. Racine took third place (33/50).
Joanne Wilson
Article 1, Section 4: OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the F.O.R.D. HOMEBREW Club are:
1) To improve the skills and knowledge of the membership in all areas of Homebrewing beer, beer tasting, and competitive beer judging through sharing of experiences and information in lectures, seminars, demonstrations, and other related group activites.
2) To expand our knowledge by learning more about other home fermentals such as: wine, mead, cider, and saki.
3) To promote the hobby and enjoyment of homebrewing.
4) To engage in enjoyable social activities focused on homebrewing as a common foundation.
5) To promote the responsible use
of alcoholic beverages.
To Jonah, Brian, Eric and the rest
of the crew at Merchants - Thanks for the support (and the good
eats) !
Chris Gilbert man, taking the Wheat
beer thing too far!
Next Meeting
Our next meeting will be Tuesday, October the 22nd at Chelseas Pub in Dearborn
Heights. The meeting will start at 6 and we expect a good turnout this month due to a special guest speaker. Dan McConnell, founder of Yeast Culture Kit Co (AKA Yeast Lab) and renowned brewer in his own right will attend this month meeting to speak out on our favorite single cell creature, the Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, AKA Brewing Yeast. This is also the month for nominations for office within the club. The actual elections will be in November, but if
you want to be on the ballot, please attend the meeting or notify Neal Petty, the election official.
The contest this month is for Stout beers.
Rich Byrnes
30972 Cousino
Warren, MI 48092
Please mark your calendars for Novembers meeting. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, we will meet on Wed. the 13th and the contest will be Belgian beers.
Chelseas is located on Vanborn between Telegraph and Southfield (midway, on the North Side).
Their address is 22120 VanBorn and their phone number is 313-278-0888.
Hope to see you all there!
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