The President’s Podium – Chris “C.J.” Jones

Our last meeting was at G. F. Keagan’s in Virginia Beach.  Amidst the ups and downs that periodically accompany a restaurant meeting (inefficient service, double booking the room, etc.) attending members were able to make lemonade out of lemons, and we all had an enjoyable time, along with a few cool ones. 

Last week, we had a judging session at our house and picked the champions of the first HRB & TS “hidden treasures” contest.  There were 32 entries!  Amazing!  Well, actually 30 entries, since two didn’t make it to the judges’ table (they were apparently in the “Mt. St. Helen’s” style).  That is absolutely the largest outpouring of beers in one judging session ever.  See Tom’s article about this event elsewhere in this newsletter.  

We had am impromptu “blues and brews” session last Saturday night.  My band, Fat Tony (fattonyband.com), played at Waterside, and a whole bunch of homebrew club members and their friends (Will, Jonna, Diane C., Doug, Tom B., John Mitchell, Catherine Wilson, Mike Q., Rob S. and many more) showed up to hear the blues.  Afterwards, we sauntered down Granby Street and went to Mo and O’Malley’s restaurant where we had some fine St. George Golden Ale on tap while listening to a pretty good guitarist.  John Mitchell accompanied his beer drinking with a plate of French fries (or “freedom fries”, as they’re known in some circles), while the guitar player accompanied his guitar playing with an array of effects boxes and tape loops.

  After fortifying ourselves for the two block walk, we ventured to Jack Quinn’s, for some awesome North Coast Eight Ball Stout and some sort of killer chocolate dessert in their smoke-free second floor room.  Next time Fat Tony plays downtown, consider meeting with your brothers and sisters of the beer lodge, and come on a walking blues-cruise of downtown Norfolk.

It has been brought to my attention that HRB & TS members are actively brewing beer.  Mike Pensinger says he plans on making at least one entry per style for each style on our Club brewing schedule.  Diane and I are brewing, Mike Quanty is brewing, Pete Arntsen isn’t just brewing, he’s brewing a lot!  He and Will Walker and Jim Roberts got together last weekend  and brewed 40 gallons of malt beverages!  Some people do not believe this.  There is some speculation that this is an exaggeration, that it is lip service, that it is fiction, not fact.  Folks, there is only one way to correct these scurrilous comments, and that is to bring homebrew to meetings.  That’s right, actually bring the bottles out of your house for others to actually see, even drink.  Only this will put these “rumors most foul” to rest.

The Next Meeting Location – Diane Catanzaro

I am excited to announce that our February 4^th meeting will be at Rom Thai Restaurant, located at 7512 Granby Street in Norfolk (their phone number is 490-7900).  Our typical meeting time is 7:30 PM, but we are going to start at 7:00 PM so we can be finished by their 9:30 PM closing time. This will be the HRB&TS’ first-ever meeting at a restaurant that features authentic Thai cuisine, and I can’t wait. Not only is the food wonderful, but we have the beautiful Thai sunset party room  all to ourselves! A great place to Thai one on! Sorry, I just couldn’t resist. You will not be able to resist the fantastic hospitality and tasty fare, courtesy of owner Venda and hostess Wendy.

The location could not be better. Rom Thai is at Ward’s Corner in Norfolk, which is central to all of Hampton Roads and about a minute from I-64’s Little Creek and Granby Street exits. It is located in the shopping center where Warehouse Music is located (formerly Tracks).

Their food is wonderful. So they can more easily provide excellent service, we are going to be able to choose from four entrees, in addition to their amazing appetizers and salubrious Thai soups. The executive committee and members who came to the last judging perused the menu and chose as our options pad thai (a popular traditional dish with noodles, ground peanuts, bean sprouts….not spicy but very tasty), green curry (choice of meat, shrimp, tofu cooked with green curry sauce and coconut milk, with vegetables and basil leaves…I love these flavors), Ka-Phrao! (spicy stir fry with choice of meat/tofu, thai chili, basil leaves, special Thai sauce, and Shrimp lemon grass (shrimp and veggies stir fried with fresh lemon grass…maybe my favorite spice next to hops). All dishes allow you to select from beef, chicken, or tofu as the “main course”. You can also choose shrimp for a modest surcharge.  All of the foods can be made to your spice preference…mild (you baby!) to hot (you bold homebrewer, you!).

Now, the nice folks at Rom Thai usually charge per-head, in advance, for use of the Sunset Party Room and prepare family-style dishes. They are doing things differently just for us because: (1) I asked nicely and managed not to drool on myself;  (2) they are super-nice and intrigued about this whole beer club thing; and (3) I promised them our club members would arrive hungry and order some of their fantastic food!  So, rather than eat a ham sandwich at home and just show up like you get free Sunset party room parties just because you’re cute and hang with the right crowd, come have something to eat with us!  You know, our club could charge higher annual memberships and pay to rent party rooms…or we can continue to pay our teeny-tiny membership fee and order ourselves some fine restaurant fare!  Rom Thai’s prices are very, very reasonable.  My friend Judy, who is a Thai food junkie and clinical psychologist (so she should know), has told me Rom Thai is her favorite place to eat in all of Hampton Roads.

While they offer the typical beers (Singha, etc.), we’re trying to get Rom Thai to order a case of Dale’s Pale Ale just for us! Dale’s is a great Colorado craft beer that is fresh, hoppy, and assertive but not annoying, (http://www.dalespaleale.com/beer.asp).  I think Dale’s hoppy Northern Brewer bitterness will compliment the complex spices of the Thai dishes beautifully.

Speaking of food and beer pairings, C.J. gave a copy of Garrett Oliver’s The Brewmaster’s Table to me for Christmas, and I must say it is a fantastic book about the beer flavor spectrum and the natural affinity of various beer styles for pairing with different foods.  Oliver also covers many other topics of interest to beer aficionados.  The writing style is very engaging and the book is a very pleasurable read.  Drop this newsletter around with hints for your loved one to buy a copy for you in celebration of Valentine’s Day, Groundhog’s Day, the ides of March….whatever.  [Ed. Note: I received a copy for my birthday; it’s all that!]

So, see you at Rom Thai. Remember, they close at 9:30 PM, so we need to wrap up a bit earlier than usual. If you want to show up a little early (6:45 to 7:00 PM) it wouldn’t hurt. If you can’t, that’s OK, we’ll see you when you get there!

Directions:

From VA Beach – Take I-64 West.  Take the Little Creek Rd exit.  Turn left off exit onto Little Creek.  In about a minute or two you will see Warehouse Music on the left.  If you turn left into the parking lot of Warehouse Music, Rom Thai is at the far end of the parking lot of this ‘strip’ shopping center.  If traffic is heavy and it is inconvenient to turn into the parking lot ‘cause you don’t want to block traffic, no problem, just turn left after Warehouse onto Granby Street.  Then, a left through the median will take you to the same parking lot.

From the Peninsula – Take I-64 East.  Take Granby St exit and stay on Granby Street through two lights.  As soon as you cross Little Creek, Rom Thai is on the left, in the corner of the strip shopping center.

From Norfolk – Take Granby Street to Ward’s Corner.  There it is, in the parking lot shared by Warehouse Music.  About 8 minutes from downtown, and 5 minutes from Ocean View.

Treasurer's Report – Doug Boyd

Hope everyone is having a great New Year.  I'd like to welcome our two newest members to the club, Joe Rainer and Cory Pettiford.  We look forward to sampling your homebrew and sharing ours.

The club treasury currently has $902.46.  Dues are currently due (still only $15.00 a person or $20.00 for a family).  You can pay me cash or a check made out to HRBTS at the next meeting or mail it to me at the address below.  Hope to see everyone at the next meeting.

Keep on Brewin'!

Doug Boyd- Treasurer
4621 Hermitage Road
Virginia Beach, VA 23545

This Year’s Brewing Schedule – C.J. Jones

Cut this out and tape it to your refrigerator along with those pictures drawn by your children! 

Competition Connection- Tom Byrnes

Well, I’m not sure but I think that the hidden treasures contest made HRBTS history for the most entries.  Never thought I would see the day that we would get 32 entries from 9 brewers in a contest.  Our 8 judges surprisingly made quick work of narrowing the field down to seven entries and then to the top three and were finished in just 3 hours.  Frankly. there were some greats beers in that contest.  Two new members joined that night with entries in hand both were exceptional.  Joe brewed a bock beer that was thick and quite tasty and Cory brewed a Leffe clone that brought back fond memories of my trip to Belgium.  We can all look forward to future batches from these members.  Also it seems that CJ/Diane face a competitive year for top brewing honors in 2004.  A fact that I know makes them very happy.  It was great to see that many entries for one contest.  I also wanted to thank CJ and Jonna Walker who helped organize and run this contest. Your efforts really made this go more smoothly than I ever imagined.

Now the top seven semifinalists were:

Victor for Mystery Beer #1; Tom Byrnes for a Midas Touch Clone; OVBC (aka Mike Q, Rob Erin John, Catherine) for a Raspberry Ale; CJ/Diane for a Trappist Ale; Mike P for a Brown Ale; Tom Byrnes for a American Barley Wine and Doug for an Alt.

From this the winners were:

Hidden Treasures

First Place: OVBC, Raspberry Ale

Second Place: Victor Perrotti, Mystery Beer # 1

Third Place. Tom Byrnes, American Barley Wine

Again thanks to all who entered and helped with this contest. Please note that due to the large number of entries no scores sheets were completed for this contest.

According to my notes, our BCJP Study group will be held on Sunday February 8 at Will and Jonna Walker’s house. The scheduled topic will be a general discussion of beer styles. This will be the second-to-last meeting before the exam, which is currently scheduled to be administered on April.10^th, 2004.  More information will be sent out, as we get closer to the event.

Remember any member is welcome to come to the judging’s. This is a way to learn about the styles and help your brewing. Besides you get to drink good homebrew two days per month. We do, however, ask members to be sure their entries conform to the BCJP guidelines. These can be accessed at www.beertown.org. If you would like to hold a judging meeting at your house, please let me know.

As you can tell from the name change, BRIESS Malting has decided to withdraw monetary sponsorship for this contest.  We want to thank them for their three years of sponsorship. This cup has really added new energy to our club contests. I am planning to send out a mailing to local beer related businesses to get a new sponsor but until then our club president has authorized continued funding for the cup. Any business reading this that would like to learn how to get free monthly advertising and an Internet link for $60.00 per year please contact me at kmstfb2@exis.net.

Since we have new members here are the rules for the HRBTS CUP: This years contest will run from January through December of a given year. Members will accrue points from entering and winning the contests sponsored by the club. The only criterion is that multiple entries in the same contest must be different recipes. Points are as follows: 5 points for 1^st place, 4 for 2^nd, 3 for 3^rd and 1 point for entry. The entry point is not awarded if the beer places in the contest. It is intended to encourage entries.  The club officers may also award points for members brewing for special events. The Competition Coordinator will keep the points. The club president will be the final arbiter of any disputes.

Here are the current HRBTS Home Brewer of the Year points.

HRBTS CUP 2004 STANDINGS

I would like to remind members that both Virginia Beach Homebrew Hobbies and Wine and Cake offer HRBTS members a 10% discount when you pay by cash or check. A similar discount is available at Homebrew.com. In order to qualify for these discounts you must have your dues paid up and be on the member list that Doug provides to these retailers.

See you at the next meeting.

Tom

There’s a New Beer in Town – C.J. Jones

That’s right, Pilgrim, there’s a new malted beverage in town, just arrived from out West.  Oskar Blues Brewery of Lyons, Colorado - the nation’s first hand-canning craft brewer - has entered the Virginia beer market.  Their hand-canned and draft beers (Dale’s Pale Ale, Old Chub) and bottled specialty beer (Gordon) are now available in Tidewater and in the Richmond metro area.

My brother, Marty Jones, affable musician, writer and Dale’s marketing guru, convinced them to export to the East, knowing that you and I are always on that quest for an excellent canned beer that we can take to the pool.  According to their press release, ““We think Virginia’s discerning craft beer drinkers will love our ‘cannoisseur’ beer,” says Dale Katechis, founder of Oskar Blues Brewery. “Plus, the state’s boaters, beach lovers, fishermen and outdoor enthusiasts can now take great beer on their adventures, without the hassles of glass bottles.””

Dale’s is reported to be the only hand-canned pale ale in the US of A.  It is an English style pale ale that is hoppy enough to get your attention, but not so hoppy that you need a glass of Aquafina afterwards.  It is delicious, and is a fine beverage to have with seafood, pasta, pizza, or a lighter breakfast cereal.  It is a very fine 6.5% ABV, but surprisingly drinkable for abeer of that magnitude. 

Old Chub “is a Scottish-style ale brewed with large amounts of crystal and chocolate malts, and a dash of beechwood-smoked malts.”  It has presence, with a noticeable sweetness and a blast of hops to balance it out.  Diane and I had one each with teriyaki-glazed shrimp, and it rocked.  It weighs in at a big 8% ABV, which gets your attention. 

Both Dale’s and Old Chubb are in stock now (26 Jan 2004) at Bazemore’s, on Hampton Blvd in Norfolk, and should be soon in the Farm Fresh Wine Depots and in the Gene Walter’s Marketplace (21^st St. in Norfolk).  They are each available in six packs, but for you bargain hunters, Dale’s is also brought to you in a 12-pack.  The twelve pack comes with a free CD of music from bands that will play in this year in Denver’s Fox Theater (a great place to see a band), and a free plastic bag that allows you to transform that cardboard box containing a dozen cans into, presto, a cooler within which to place those same dozen cans.  Amazing!  Bazemore’s will have a “Dale’s Tasting” this Friday, January 30, from around 4:00 PM until 6:00 PM, so drop in and taste some. 

Items of Interest

I saw this letter in the January 2004 Edition of the CASK Newsletter and thought that it would be of interest to HRBTS brewers. It is reprinted exactly as it appeared in that newsletter. Whether you’re an all grain or extract brewer this letter contains information to help improve your beer as we are potentially faced with problems in the Barley Crop. Thanks to Hugh Burns and the Cask newsletter editor for printing it. Tom

Letter from the President, by Chris White

The trade press has been full of stories this year about the poor barley crop. The Milwaukee Business Journal, for instance, reported earlier this year that the crop was the smallest in more than 65 years, driving up costs for brewers. The barley crop creates more urgent problems for brewers besides rising costs, however. The barley crop itself was poor, which has led to malt with higher protein, more beta glucan and other complex carbohydrates, which creates fermentation difficulties. Malting companies expect this to continue for another three to six months, until the new crop works its way to brewers. Many brewers have already experienced and worked though problems, but some may have not had trouble yet. You’re not out of the woods yet, however, because you may have more trouble when making high gravity beers for the holidays, which have a higher amount of malt. Even when the malt quality is good, trouble with certain batches can be apparent when brewing high gravity beers. First off, you may have noticed that the fermentation takes longer to reach full attenuation. The telltale signs are normal fermentation for the first few days, but the fermentation hits a wall and stops 2-4 Plato (8-16 gravity points -ed.) higher than expected. The yeast is normal and vitality is high, but the complex sugars facing the yeast can be more than they can metabolize. If given a few extra days, sometimes the yeast can work its way through the complex sugars and reach full attenuation with no further effort on the brewer’s part. The best corrective action for the brewer is to work the sugar profile in the mash. Try lowering the temperature of the mash. Record the best temperature, as this may be the one you will want to use for the next six months. Enzymes can be added to the mash, particularly if doing a high gravity beer. Alphaamylase enzymes would be most beneficial. If you experience run-off problems, beta-glucanase enzymes can be used. On the fermentation side, there are several things you can do. Over-pitching your yeast can help by having more cells to attack the abundance of complex sugars. Raising the fermentation temperature once 5 Plato (1.020 ed.) is reached can also help. If the fermentation is stuck, you can employ a strategy used by wine makers, who commonly experience stuck fermentations, due to the high alcohol involved and the low nutrient value of wine. Wine makers will commonly

pull yeast from the bottom and restart it in a small quantity of aerated, fresh must. They let this go for 12 to 24 hours before adding back to the fermentation. It is important to have the yeast active, because it is always difficult to get yeast to ferment in a beer or wine that is already fermenting, because of the alcohol present and the lack of oxygen. So if you add more yeast, regardless if it is from the fermentation or new yeast from our lab, do so only after getting the yeast active. Also, consider using yeast nutrients if you do not already do so. Servomyces can help because zinc deficiency will add to the problem of slow/stuck fermentations. If the yeast is healthy, it is better able to cope with fermentation stress. If you have any other questions, I would be happy to provide you with further advise. Just write me at cwhite@whitelabs.com.

Chris White is President of White Labs Inc. and
is a chemistry and biochemistry lecturer at the University
of California, San Diego. He has a Ph.D in biochemistry.

About the HRB & TS

The Hampton Roads Brewing and Tasting Society is dedicated to promoting the enjoyment of home brewing.  The annual dues are $15 per individual and $20 per family.  Members are encouraged to support the reasonable enjoyment of beer and observe the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Federal government, and the Golden Rule.  Persons attending HRB & TS meetings and events are solely liable for actions attendant to their participation.   HRB & TS maintains a NO SMOKING policy during all meetings so that members may better enjoy fine beers.  Smoking is permitted in meetings held in restaurants in the facility’s designated smoking areas.