The Brewsletter

December 2007

 

 

The Official Newsletter of the Hampton Roads Brewing & Tasting Society (HRB & TS)

www.hrbts.org

 

 

The President’s Podium – Jason Kuller

 

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, indulging in a bountiful feast and savoring autumnal brews, while hanging out with family and friends.  Thanks to the Blue Crab Restaurant for hosting our November meeting, while I was unable to attend, I trust everyone had a great time as we always do at our meetings.  I would like to give a big THANKS to our officers for the past year: JP Messier, Vice President; Ron & Jeannine Jones, Secretary-Treasurer; Patti Messier, Competition Coordinator and Will Walker, Newsletter Editor.  I also would like to thank Diane Catanzaro for her continued service as our marvelous meeting coordinator and our webmaster Victor Perrotti who did a terrific job completely recreating our website which is now better than ever.

 

Wow, it’s crazy to think that a year from now, assuming no cheating or scandals occur, we will have elected a new president of our great country.  As exciting as that can be to think about, for now we need to focus on the HRBTS elections which will be conducted at our December meeting!  There is still time for you to get involved, but hurry because December 3rd will be the last day for nominations so that we can prepare for the elections (email any nominations to myself or JP).

 

2007 has been a great year for me and I want to thank the club for the support I have received as President.  I think the club had a good year too, with a highlight for me being the election of our very own Diane Catanzaro as Beer Drinker of the Year. 

 

The club was also well represented at several beer related events throughout the year including an outstanding showing from several brewers at the first annual Beer Blitz in Portsmouth and statewide representation at the Capitol City Carnival.  Diane, our Beer Queen, was in rare form as the centerpiece of a parade and HRBTS reps even brewed a batch of beer for the beerfest crowd!  We also had a great club picnic thanks to JP and Patti, who provided a spectacular new venue for our picnicking pleasure.  Thanks again to all the club members for another great year and see you at the December Meeting.

 

Cheers - Jason

 

 

December Meeting Location – Diane Catanzaro

 

The December 5 HRB&TS meeting will be held on the waterfront at Lock’s Pointe Restaurant in the Great Bridge section of Chesapeake. The meeting starts at 7:30 pm, but we have the banquet room reserved for 7:00 so those who want to get a head start on beer and ordering something to eat can do so.  Come out early and beat the rush!

 

Lock’s Point is offering some very kind hospitality to the HRB&TS. They have waived the fee they usually charge for the banquet room. And we can order off either the casual ‘bar’ menu of Hodad’s, or the ambitious fancy dinin’ restaurant menu. Do order something to eat so they will be happy to continue offering us this sweet deal! Whether you want a full meal or a light bite you will find something tasty to eat here.

 

The Hodad’s bar menu includes nachos, bourbon BBQ spare ribs, chicken wings in many sauces, drunken chicken liguini, burgers, and crabcake sandwiches.

 

The restaurant menu includes some very tasty offerings, like Thai sesame seared tuna, scallop lollypops, kona-rubbed NY strip with butter brandy glaze, and an array of creative pastas.  Also, many side dishes and appetizers are offered, like fried green tomatoes layered with goat cheese and crab, fried calamari tossed with banana peppers, and spinach salad with goat cheese and candied pecans. 

 

The beer selection includes some nice choices, like Harpoon IPA, Brooklyn Lager, several of the Clipper City Heavy Seas beers, Flying Dog In-Heat Wheat, Hoegaarden, Purple Haze, and Newcastle.

 

Don’t forget to bring homebrew!!  Since this is a restaurant meeting you may NOT bring any commercial beers, but do bring homebrew, mead, cider, etc.

 

Lock’s Point is at 136 N. Battlefield Blvd. in Chesapeake, 757-547-9618.

 

Directions:

From Virginia Beach, the Peninsula, and Ocean View/northern Norfolk– Take I-64 East to the Battlefield Blvd exit southbound toward Great Bridge (exit 290-B). It is headed southbound on Battlefield Blvd (Rt 168 business). Lock’s Point is down several miles, past Chesapeake General Hospital, on the right.

 

From downtown Norfolk and Ghent – Take I-464 from downtown (this is I-264 toward downtown tunnel, but you bear right before you get to the tunnel to get on I-464). Follow I-464 where it where it turns into the 168 Expressway southbound, then take the Battlefield Blvd South exit (Rt 168 business). Turn right on Battlefield Blvd, and the restaurant is on your left very soon.

 

From most of Chesapeake, Currituck, and points south – Take Rt 168 North (toll road) to Mount Pleasant Rd (Rt 165 South, toward Great Bridge). In a bit, bear right onto Rt 168 (local) which is Battlefield Blvd South. Lock’s Point is on the left in a bit.

 

Other parts of Chesapeake, Suffolk, etc. – Find Battlefield Blvd. (Rt 168 business) and take it to Great Bridge!! Or check out Mapquest!!

 

 

 

Competition Corner November 2007 – Patti Messier

 

Our last judging of the 2007 competition year took place at the home of CJ and Diane, the reigning 2006 champs!  The category was Spice, Herb and Vegetable beers (Category 21) and there were many interesting flavored beers entered, including juniper and lavender!  Our esteemed panel of judges (Tom Byrnes, Diane Catanzaro and J.P. Messier) tasted and enjoyed 8 very different beers!  When it came down to scoring, I thought that it was a true tribute to our top 3 brewers this year (JP, CJ and Tom).  These three men each had a beer in the top three and all three beers scored within ½ of a point!  What a way to end the year!  

 

After the deliberations, the results were as follows: 

First Place,  Chris Jones and Diane Catanzaro with their Lavender Ale, good for three HRBTS Cup points;  

Second Place, JP Messier with his Juniper Berry Belgian Blonde, and Tom Byrnes with his Christmas Beer, good for two HRBTS Cup points; 

 

So after this final judging of the year, we are finally able to crown our winner for the year!  The winner of the HRBTS Cup for 2007 is JP Messier!  JP has brewed many fine beers this year and has developed a reputation for brewing “outside the box”!  Congratulations to JP!  

Our second place winner is Chris Jones and Diane Catanzaro.  CJ and Diane, who have earned many cups themselves, were strong competitors this year as was Tom Byrnes, our third place winner.  Every brewer who entered a competition this year should be commended!  This club would not be here without all of you!

 

Next month we all start fresh again and the cup is back up for grabs!  It is time to start thinking about the 2008 competition year.  Start planning now …January is Stouts (Category 13 AB&C), February will be Strong Ale and Russian Imperial Stout (categories 13F & 19) and March is Porters (Category 12). Start brewing now so you will be ready when these judgings roll around!

 

 

 

 

2007 HRBTS CUP STANDINGS (Final)

 Name of Brewer(s)

Total Points Accumulated

 

J. P. Messier

27

Chris Jones and Diane Catanzaro

20

Tom Byrnes

17

Jason Kuller

6

Gus Gustafson

5

Brian Edgar

4

Victor Perrotti

3

Tim Hobbs

3

This could easily be you ….

…. if you get brewing

 

 

Quit throwing away your used yeast vials! – Patti Messier

 

Hey, all you brewers out there!  We need you to save your used White Lab Yeast vials HRBTS will begin collecting your empty vials and redeeming them with White Labs to earn some great prizes for our raffles.  JP Messier will be collecting them at the monthly meetings as well as the judgings.  So gather those empty vials and hand them off to JP at the next meeting!

 

 

2007 HRB & TS Beer of the Month Schedule – Patty Messier

 

Month

Style

Category

Judging

AHA

January

Holiday Season

21B

Dec 20th

 

February

Barleywine

19B,C

Jan 24th

 

March

Scottish Ale

9A,B,C

Feb 21st

Y

April

Extract

All

Mar 21st

Y

May

India Pale Ale

14A,B

Apr 18th

 

 

June

German/American Wheat & Rye

 

6D, 15

 

May 16th

 

July

Meads

24,25,26

Jun 20th

Y

August

Fruit Beer

20

Jul 18th

 

September

Belgian Strong Ale

18

Aug 15th 

 

 

 

October

 

European Amber & Dark Lager, Bock

 

 

3,4,5

 

 

Sep 19th

 

 

November

Smoke-Flavored & Wood Aged

 

22

 

Oct 24th

 

 

December

Spice, Herb, Vegetable Beer

 

21

 

Nov 21st

 

January

Stouts

13A,B,C

Dec 19th

 

 

February

Strong Ale & Russian Imperial Stout

 

13F, 19

 

Jan 23rd

 

 

 

Recipes of the Month – CJ & Diane, J.P. Messier & Tom Byrnes

 

1st Place

 

LAVENDER ALE II – C. Jones and D. Catanzaro

 

 

½ # Belgian White Wheat - steep for an hour at 155 F

½ # Flaked Oats - steep for an hour at 155 F

 

4 # Muntons Dried Extra Light Malt Extract – 60 minute boil

 

1 oz First Gold (UK) hop pellets, 8.2 AAU/oz - 50 minutes

 

½ tsp Irish Moss - 30 minutes

 

0.6 oz dried Lemon Peel - 0 minutes

3 tbls dried Lemongrass - 0 minutes

0.6 oz dried Lavender - 0 minutes

0.5 oz fresh Lavender - 0 minutes

 

Wyeast 1056 American ale yeast

 

BREWED:  20 August 2006

SECONDARY:  27 August 2006

BOTTLED:  3 September 2006

 

NOTES:  First place, HRBTS herb/spice/holiday ale contest, December 2007; judge’s comments:  “Smooth, easy drinker; lavender was overpowering; pops with carbonation; I like it.”  The lavender was supposed to be over powering – there isn’t much in this to balance it out a bit. 

 

 

2nd Place (Tied between JP Messier & Tom Byrnes)

 

Juniper Berry_Belgium Blonde_Ale – JP Messier

 

Batch Size (Gal): 5.00

Total Extract (Lbs): 11.05

Anticipated OG: 1.072

Plato: 17.58

Anticipated SRM: 9.3

Anticipated IBU: 26.4

Wort Boil Time: 60 minutes

 

Grain/Extract/Sugar

   %                  Amount                        Name                           Origin

54.3                 6.00 lbs.           Generic LME – Pale                 America

9.0                   1.00 lbs.           Generic LME – Wheat America

9.0                   1.00 lbs.                       Flaked Corn                 America

9.0                   1.00 lbs.                       Rye Malt                      America

4.5                   0.50 lbs.                  Aromatic Malt                   Belgium

2.7                   0.30 lbs.                     Biscuit Malt                    Belgium

2.3                   0.25 lbs.                   Honey Malt                      America

9.0                   1.00 lbs.              Wildflower Honey                 America

 

Hops

Amount                        Name               Form                Alpha               IBU                  Boil Time

1.00 oz.            Styrian Goldings           Pellet                5.25                 23.3                 60 min

0.50 oz.            Styrian Goldings           Pellet                5.25                 3.1                   15 min

 

Yeast

White Labs WLP530 Abbey Ale

 

Notes

Juniper Berries - 1 oz ground at 5 mins. and 2 oz into secondary

 

 

2nd Place

 

Bourbon Vanilla Porter

By Tom Byrnes

 

Batch Size (Gal):         5.00    Wort Size (Gal):    5.00

Total Grain (Lbs):       19.00

Anticipated OG:          1.102    Plato:              24.1

Anticipated SRM:          44.5

Anticipated IBU:          42.8

Brewhouse Efficiency:       75 %

Wort Boil Time:             75    Minutes

 

Grain/Extract/Sugar

 

   %     Amount           Name                          Origin

57.9    11.00 lbs.    Pale Malt(2-row)             Belgium       

 10.5     2.00 lbs.    Brown Malt                    Great Britain

 15.8     3.00 lbs.    Munich Malt                   Germany     

 10.5     2.00 lbs.    Crystal 80L                            

  5.3     1.00 lbs. Chocolate Malt                America        1.029    350

 

 

Hops

 

   Amount       Name                      Form       Alpha     IBU    Boil Time

  0.75 oz.       Magnum                   Pellet      14.00        41.1    60 min.

  0.50 oz.      Goldings - E.K.        Whole      4.75         1.7     10 min.

 

 

Extras

  Amount        Name                          Type      Time

  1.00 Tsp    Irish Moss                     Fining    15 Min.(boil)

 

 

Yeast

 

White Labs WLP001 California Ale Yeast

 

 

Mash Schedule

Mash Type: Single Step

 

Grain Lbs:   19.00

Water Qts:   19.95 - Before Additional Infusions

Water Gal:    4.99 - Before Additional Infusions

 

Qts Water Per Lbs Grain: 1.05 - Before Additional Infusions

 

Saccharification Rest Temp : 152  Time:  90

Mash-out Rest Temp :         170  Time:  10

Sparge Temp :                169  Time:  30

 

 

Total Mash Volume Gal: 6.51

 

Notes:

1.  In secondary - slit open burbon madagasgar vanilla beans, scrap insides and

chop pods in half. Left in wort for 14 days

 

2.  Rack to bottling bucket and add 10 ml. per pint of Rebel Yell Bourbon (or to your taste).

 

3.  Will use a better grade of bourbon next time.  Also, took too long to carbonate - may increase priming sugar next time

 

Awards:

3rd place HRBTS- minimal carbonation

 

About the HRB & TS

The Hampton Roads Brewing and Tasting Society is dedicated to promoting the enjoyment of home brewing.  The annual dues are $20 per individual and $25 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.  Visit the HRB & TS online at www.hrbts.org.