The Brewsletter

April 2008

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

www.hrbts.org

The President’s Podium – Jason Kuller

Happy Spring Everybody! First off I want to thank Andy and all the guys at St. George for hosting our March meeting (as well as offering up the brewery again for our St. George IPA clone judging). Everyone who made the trip over to Hampton had a great time, with plenty of St. George beers to sample in the brewery bar as well as a tour through the brewery, including the chance to stick our heads in one of the brew vessels to get a whiff of what a boatload of hops smells like…mmm mmm good! It was a great meeting and we appreciate their hospitality.

This April is especially important for beer and brewing culture historically as we celebrate the 75^th anniversary of the end of prohibition. On April 7, 1933 prohibition was lifted on beer and thirsty Americans all over the country were finally able to legally quench their beer deprived mouths and spirits. It was a little while longer before prohibition ended for all alcoholic beverages, but this day, April 7^th, is officially celebrated as Brew Years Eve from coast to coast. There are special celebrations planned all across the country in honor of 75 years of legal beer, go to www.beertown.org for more information and this year make sure that you take a nice long satisfying quaff of delicious homebrew or craft beer on the 7^th, and whatever you do, don’t take it for granted!

For all of the hop heads out there remember that April is also the prime time to plant your hop rhizomes. Since hops are very picky about when they like to be planted they are only available for a short time so get ‘em while you can and maybe in a couple of years you can pick fresh hops from your garden for your batch of homebrew.

Breaking News…The 7^th annual Virginia Beer Festival will be holding a special Friday night (TGIF) concert and Beer Fest preview on Friday May 16^th from 5:30-8:00pm in addition to the main festival event on Saturday May 17^th from 2:00-6:00pm. This is a great opportunity to scope out the fest and get a jump start on tasting some of the 25-30 breweries that are expected to be represented this year. I would also like to thank our club members that are volunteering to help brew and pour beer for the Homebrew USA tent. We are sure to be well represented with a variety of fresh homebrew from Doug, J.P., myself and maybe even Tom (who said he would brew a batch and isn’t even going to be there but will be enjoying Savor instead) as well as Rob & Jodi, Mike Q., Shana, Gus and Mark who have volunteered to help pour beer and man the booth. THANKS to all of you that will be helping and if anyone else wants to get involved we could certainly use all the beer and help we can get so if you are interested please email me at president@hrbts.org .

Have a great month! -- Jason

Meeting Location – Diane Catanzaro

LUBO Wine Bar and Café

April 2 at 7:30 pm

On April 2, our monthly meeting will be at LUBO Wine Bar and Café on Pleasure House Road in Virginia Beach. A new location for the HRB&TS; while the name says “wine” the beer list won’t make anyone whine. It says “check me out and taste this” with Unibroue delights like La Fin du Monde tripel, Blanche de Chambly witbier, Chambly Noire black ale, and the fruity Ephemere. Duvel, Aventinus, Allagash White, Humbolt Red Nectar, Lost Coast 8 Ball Stout, Stone Porter, Skullsplitter, Lindemann’s framboise, and several St. George brews are available. The list goes on with quite a few British and German ales, etc.

The food should be rockin’….LUBO’s black and blue nachos recently won “Best Nachos in Tidewater” accolades from the Virginian-Pilot…probably something to do with the gorgonzola cheese, blackened steak, shallots, fresh tomato, cilantro, grilled eggplant and balsamic drizzle (stop drooling!) on these nachos. The antipasto, great for sharing, looks amazing. The artichoke dip is baked with fresh artisanal cheeses, and the hoisin-glazed pork loin probably doesn’t suck either. Other items include Portobello-pizzas, chicken satay, big salad with grilled chicken, NY strip steak with gorgonzola mac-and-cheese, and daily specials.

They have numerous fruit-accented cheese boards involving chevre, Stilton, asiago, aged gouda, vintage cheddar, Irish porter beer, and something called “ossau iraty brebis Pyrenees”, which the menu claims is among the world’s first cheeses…perhaps due to some spontaneous curdification inside some shepherd’s boot…who knows…sounds intriguing! Considering dessert? Your dessert could come in the form of Belgian chocolate truffles, bread pudding, or wait.…how about the Young’s Double Chocolate Stout ice cream beer float?? Makes me want to eat (drink?) dessert first!

On Wednesday it would be so handy to be a cow because with multiple stomach chambers I could eat my way through this menu. Oh well, I will just have to return to try everything that sounds incredible. Big beery thanks to Lisa, Lew and Curt for the tip about LUBO as a potential meeting location!

Meeting time is technically 7:30 pm, but early birds can gather around 7 to get a head start on what promises to be a very tasty evening. Hope to see you all there! Don’t forget to bring homebrew, but no commercial beers are permitted.

Address: 1658 Pleasure House Road, Virginia Beach. Near the intersection of Northampton Blvd (Rt 13) and Independence Blvd. 757.216-2900, www.lubowines.com

Directions:

From most of Norfolk, Suffolk, Currituck, Hampton, and Virginia Beach:

Take I-64 to the Northampton Blvd exit.

Competition Corner – Patti Messier

This month’s judging was held at the HomeBrew USA store! Thanks again to Elizabeth and Neal for your outstanding hospitality. Our extraordinary panel of judges (Jason Kuller, Doug Boyd, Gus Gustafson and J.P. Messier) sipped and enjoyed a dozen fine extract beers! And what a wide variety we had to choose from! Nothing plain and ordinary here! Congratulations to Shawn Iman on his first ever submission to our monthly judging! We hope he continues to share his fine beers with us! After 12 beers and the deliberations, the results were as follows:

First Place, Jason Kuller with his American Pale Ale, good for three HRBTS Cup points;

Second Place, JP Messier with his Maibock, good for two HRBTS Cup points;

Third Place (tie), JP Messier with his Scottish 80/Export and Doug Boyd with his Dry Stout, good for one HRBTS point.

So the race has begun again and the cup is back up for grabs! It is time to start thinking about the 2008 competition year. Start planning now …8 more judgings to go… it’s still anyone’s cup!!! Start brewing now!

2008 HRBTS CUP STANDINGS (as of March 30)

Name of Brewer(s)	Total Points Accumulated
J. P. Messier	13
Tom Byrnes	4
Jason Kuller	4
Doug Boyd	3
Chris Jones/Diane Catanzaro	1
This could easily be you ….	…. if you get brewing

2008 HRB&TS CUP BREWING SCHEDULE
Month	Style	Category/Sub	AHA Event - Deadline
January (Dec 19 )	Stout	13A, B, C	---
February (Jan 23)	Strong Ale Russian Imperial Stout	19, 13F	---
March (Feb 20)	Porter	12	Yes 03/21/2008
April (Mar 19)	Extract	All	Yes ~April 2008
May (Apr 23)	Clone – St. Georges Brewing India Pale Ale (IPA)	14	---
June (May 21)	Weizen/Weissbier	15A	---
July (June 18)	Mead	24, 25, 26	Yes 07/25/2008
August (July 23)	Lawnmower Beer	2, 6B, 6C	---
September (TBD)	Imperial Anything	All	Yes ~September 2008
October (Sept 17)	Dopplebock	5C	---
November (Oct 22)	Extra Special/Strong Bitter	8C	---
December (Nov 19)	Christmas/Winter Specialty Spiced – Must Use Cinnamon	21B	---
2009 HRB&TS CUP BREWING SCHEDULE
Month	Style	Category/Sub	AHA Event - Deadline
January (Dec 17)	Oatmeal Stout	13C	---
February (Jan 21)	Scottish 60, 70, 80	9A, B, C	---
March (Feb 18)	Belgian Blonde	18A	---

Recipes of the Month – Jason Kuller and JP Messier

Note: Doug Boyd’s recipe not available at press time.

1^st Place Extract Recipe – Jason Kuller

1 vial East Coast Ale yeast started with 2 tbs extract

3lbs amber (light) malt extract OG = 1.055 FG =1.012 ABV = 5.6%

3lbs xtra light dry malt extract

2lbs Am. 2 row

2lbs Aromatic

1/2 lb crystal 40

½ lb Flaked Wheat

½ lb Carapils

1oz Nugget

1oz Galena

1oz Columbus

1oz Amarillo

Mash grains with 1.5 gallons water at 170 degrees for approx. 45 min.

Sparge grains with 2 gallons water at 175 degrees for approx. 45 min.

At first boil add 3 lbs xlt dme and 1oz Nugget for 60 min boil

After 35 min remove Nugget and add remaining malt extract, 1oz Galena, 1 tbs Irish Moss and Chiller and return to boil (20 min left)

With 5 min left remove Galena

With 2 min left add 1 oz Columbus and 1 oz Amarillo

Pitch yeast around 68 degrees.

2^nd Place Extract Recipe – JP Messier: Maibock

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines

05-A Bock, Maibock/Helles Bock

Min OG:	1.064	Max OG:	1.072
Min IBU:	23	Max IBU:	35
Min Clr:	6	Max Clr:	11	Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics

Batch Size (Gal):	5.00	Wort Size (Gal):	5.00
Total Extract (Lbs):	10.75
Anticipated OG:	1.069	Plato:	16.85
Anticipated SRM:	8.8
Anticipated IBU:	41.0
Wort Boil Time:	60	Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

%	Amount	Name	Origin	Potential	SRM
65.1	7.00 lbs.	Generic LME - Light	Generic	1.035	7
2.3	0.25 lbs.	Aromatic Malt	Belgium	1.036	25
9.3	1.00 lbs.	Munich Malt	Germany	1.037	8
9.3	1.00 lbs.	Vienna Malt	America	1.035	4
4.7	0.50 lbs.	Wheat Malt	America	1.038	2
9.3	1.00 lbs.	Caramel Pils Malt	Belgium	1.034	2

Hops

Amount	Name	Form	Alpha	IBU	Boil Time
1.00 oz.	Hallertau Hersbrucker	Pellet	4.75	21.4	60 min
0.50 oz.	Saazer	Plug	4.30	9.0	60 min
1.00 oz.	Tettnanger	Whole	4.50	6.2	20 min
1.50 oz.	Saazer	Plug	4.30	4.5	5 min

Yeast

White Labs WLP838 Southern German Lager

Notes

1. Primary fermentation – 53 degrees for 3 weeks

2. Secondary/laagering – 38 degrees for 3 weeks

3^rd Place Extract Recipe Tie – JP Messier: Scottish_80/Export

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines

09-C Scottish and Irish Ale, Scottish Export 80

Min OG:	1.040	Max OG:	1.054
Min IBU:	15	Max IBU:	30
Min Clr:	9	Max Clr:	17	Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics

Batch Size (Gal):	5.00	Wort Size (Gal):	5.00
Total Extract (Lbs):	8.13
Anticipated OG:	1.053	Plato:	13.11
Anticipated SRM:	19.4
Anticipated IBU:	29.9
Wort Boil Time:	90	Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

%	Amount	Name	Origin	Potential	SRM
73.8	6.00 lbs.	Generic LME - Light	Generic	1.035	7
9.2	0.75 lbs.	Crystal 80L		1.033	80
6.2	0.50 lbs.	Victory Malt	America	1.034	25
1.5	0.13 lbs.	Roasted Barley	America	1.028	450
3.1	0.25 lbs.	Treacle	Generic	1.036	100
6.2	0.50 lbs.	Melanoidin Malt		1.033	35

Hops

Amount	Name	Form	Alpha	IBU	Boil Time
1.00 oz.	Goldings - E.K.	Pellet	4.75	23.0	60 min
0.50 oz.	Goldings - E.K.	Pellet	4.75	5.9	30 min
0.25 oz.	Goldings - E.K.	Pellet	4.75	1.0	5 min

Yeast

White Labs WLP028 Edinburgh Ale

Notes

Irish Moss – 1 tsp at 30 mins.
Gypsum – 3 tsp at 15 mins.
Primary fermentation for 2 weeks
Secondary fermentation for 3-4 weeks, cold (38-42)

Beer/Food Pairing - from The Best of American Beer & Food by Lucy Saunders

Dogfish Head Crabcakes

Chef Marcel Lavallee

Beer Pairing Suggestion: American brown ale

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

¼ cup minced red bell peppers

¼ cup minced green bell peppers

¼ cup minced onion

2 tablespoons minced shallot

¼ cup minced celery

1 tablespoon Old Bay Seasoning

1 scallion, sliced thin

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves, stems removed

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 egg

2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs

1 pound jumbo lump crab meat

½ pound special crap meat

Fresh parsley and lemon wedges for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and grease large baking sheet. Place butter in small sauté pan over medium heat. When butter melts, add peppers, onion, shallot, and celery; sauté until translucent. Stir in Old Bay Seasoning and remove from heat. Let cool.
2. In large mixing bowl, blend scallions, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, mustard, and egg. When vegetable mixture is cool, add to the bowl with the bread crumbs and stir. Add crabmeat and gently fold it together until uniformly mixed. Chill 10 minutes.
3. Place mixture, by ¼ cupfuls, 2 to 3 inches apart on prepared baking sheet (8 cakes). Flatten mounds slightly into cake shapes, and bake until crabmeat starts to brown, about 8 minutes. Remove pan from oven, turn cakes over, and bake on other side until brown, about 8 minutes. Do not overcook, as crab will continue to cook after removed from the oven. Serve warm on platter garnished with parsley and lemon wedges.

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 HRB&TS 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!

The Beery Traveler (part 1) - Diane Catanzaro

Every trip to Belgium I think about writing up something for the HRB&TS Home Inbrewment. That’s usually as far as it gets…thinking. But this trip involved so many great brewery visits and meaningful beer experiences that I’m hoping to dash off a quick article to hopefully inspire many of you to think about doing your own beery exploration of the beautiful country of Belgium.

In the past three years, 2005, 2006, and 2007, I have been privileged to visit Belgium during my university’s spring recess, that happily coincided with the Zythos Beer Festival, Cantillon Open Brew Day, and in 2006, the Verzekering Tegen de Grote Dorst (Insurance Against the Great Thirst) Lambic Festival. THIS year, however, due to changes in my work schedule, spring recess is a week later than usual. Sadly, I missed these three amazing beer events by a week.

What to do??? My brainstorm led to booking a van and driver through globalbeer.com to take some prodigal students on our own personal beer tour. So, with the delightful Regnier as our designated driver/navigator/translator we set off on two full days touring breweries and beer cafes in Belgium.

The first day, a Sunday, was our own “Lambic-Land Tour de Gueuze.” Three lucky students, my friend Cindy Cutler, and I were picked up at 9:30 am at our townhouse in Brugge. First stop: a drive-by at the Kleinbrouwerij de Glazen Toren. We didn’t have an appointment or an invitation, and were told they were busy. But since the hamlet of Erpe-Mere was on the way, we decided to buzz by anyway. Brewer and beer writer Jef Van den Steen’s tidy home is right next to this very small, but modern brewery, located in a suburban neighborhood. I had always imagined Glazen Toren, known for Jan de Lichte Double Wit and Saison de Erpe-Mere, to be located in some country farmhouse as opposed to in the middle of a suburban neighborhood. I peered through the windows of the brewery in the rain and saw a very small operation with modern equipment. Pulled my hood low to keep the rain off my head and the camera, snapped a few pictures. I imagine I am now on some watch list as the stalker of Erpe-Mere. One last shot, through the rain-splattered windows, and I ran back to the van. An inauspicious beginning.

Next stop was a historic lambic café located in the small town of Ezeringen, in the Payottenland region southeast of Brussels. The café is called Verzekering Tegen de Grote Dorst…the “Insurance Against the Great Thirst” festival is a fundraiser for this café, which was damaged in a fire a few years back. The café is only open on Sundays from mid-morning to afternoon, basically to serve the needs of locals attending the church next door. A great before-church, after-church, or, I imagine, instead-of-church place where the locals meet their neighbors, and occasionally American beer enthusiasts. The cozy café features beautiful old wooden ceiling beams, an antique ceramic-tiled fireplace, and a sparse crowd of gray-haired locals sipping lambics after church. Just about every lambic beer made in Belgium is offered, including vintage stock. The bottles are set into a metal contraption that holds them at an almost-horizontal angle, so the sediment is not disturbed when the bottles are removed from the cellar for serving. We asked for tasting glasses and shared Girardin Kriek and Girardin Oude Lambic au fut (draft), Boon Oude Kriek and Oude Gueuze, and a vintage 1984 Gueuze from the defunct Browerij Eyelnbosch. My students laughed that they had not yet been born when this beer was bottled! Finally, around 11:30, we decided it was time for lunch. We piled in the van, feeling much more animated than we had upon arrival, for the short drive to the bonny burg of Beersel, outside of Brussels, where we would have lunch at the Drie Fonteinen café, adjacent to this newest of lambic breweries.

Chris and I have previously toured the brewery with owner-brewer Armand Debelder, who is one of the movers-and-shakers of the lambic revival movement. Today our visit would involve a tasty meal at the café-restaurant owned by Armand’s brother Gaston. A starter of “plate kaas” is a traditional accompaniment to gueuze and lambic. A soft, white, creamy artisanal cheese that tastes mildly sour and looks similar to cottage cheese is served with bread, pickled onions, and gherkins. We ordered Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueuze, Faro, and the Kriek on draft, and the sour of the beers, cheese, and accompaniments went beautifully together. My lunch entrée was a perfectly cooked salmon fillet prepared with a mouthwatering classic Belgian cream sauce and accompanied by crisp frites, of course. One student enjoyed the traditional dish of rabbit braised in kriek. I could not have been happier with my meal and the fantastic Drie Fonteinen beers. Next stop: De Cam!

De Cam, located in the countryside of Gooik adjacent to a Volksmuseum (folklife museum) and café, blends and ages lambics brewed at breweries like Boon, Drie Fonteinen, Lindemann’s, and Girardin. We arrived in time for a tour given in Flemish by owner/blender Karel Goddeau, who also is the brewer at Slaghmuylde. After the tour group left for lunch in the cafe the very handsome and friendly Karel gave us a personal tour, answered our questions, and poured us samples of his traditional, uncompromisingly sour lambics. We had De Cam Framboise Lambic, a new strawberry lambic, not yet available commercially, directly from the barrel….ummmm. De Cam Kriek, also straight from the barrel. We also were able to try De Cam Kriek Lambic made with extra cherries, that was bottled ‘straight’ and not refermented. We sampled a lambic created from a Lindemann’s base, also from the barrel. Ah, such joy. The DeCam beers are even a rarity in Belgium, and this experience was a dream come true. The barrels are all from the Czech Republic and bear the stamp of the original owner, Pilsner-Urquell. Karel marks each barrel with a hieroglyphic indicating the brewer of the base lambic. A big script L indicates Boon (from the town Lembeek), three hammers indicates Drie Fonteinen, and so forth. Karel was so accommodating and cool…one of my students fancies him quite a bit and would love to return to intern at De Cam under the guidance of the master blender Goddeau. And perhaps propose marriage! After purchasing some of these amazing beers for home consumption and a visit to the Volkslife museum, we reluctantly went on our merry way, our only consolation being that our next stop, Mechelen, was the home of Het Anker, where Gouden Carolus is brewed.

Arriving at Het Anker, the sun was setting and we met the retired Belgian IBM executive and amateur historian who would give us a “Brewery Walk” tour. The tour was one of the best I have had, and focused on the very interesting and amazing history of brewing on the Het Anker site since medieval times. The history of the brewery is tied into the history of the Beguines, women who lived in walled spiritual communities called Beguinages in medieval times, and took vows of chastity and obedience, but, wisely, not poverty. Their enclosed compound, adjacent to Het Anker, is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. Apparently back in the day they each received a ration of a liter of beer daily from the brewery, and for a while were even involved in running a brewery on the current site. The Beguines were liberated women, living without men and in devotion to God, whilst enjoying great beer. Sisterhood is powerful! No boys over the age of 12 were allowed inside the compound. Wish I could have been a fly on the wall back in the day! The brewery today is best known for Gouden Carolus, and we learned that this beer is named after “the Keizer,” ruler Karol V. Guess what? He was the grandson of Mary of Burgundy, the Duchesse de Bourgogne who gave her name to the Flemish Red o’ my heart!! What a great family, to have had so many amazing beers named after them! Het Anker has a hotel on the premises for you beer travelers, and a nice restaurant. We dined at the cozy and inviting restaurant, and had a magnificent meal accompanied by Gouden Carolus Ambrio and a tasty flower-infused ale called Margriet, developed by the women of Het Anker.

Well, I will have to close now. Life beckons. Next time I’ll write about the other great brewery/café visits on this trip. Upcoming: Alvinne, De Struise, In de Vrede (Westvleteren), de Ranke, and more….!

Highlight on Members….

Each month we will ask a HRB&TS member or two to fill us in on their brewing life. If you’d like to share your experiences, please email your answers to the questions below to editor@hrbts.org.

… John Johnson Jr. ‘Peppa’

1. What was the first beverage you brewed and how did it turn out?

I think it was a Hefe. It turned out OK but not great. Very carmelized. I drank it anyway and my friends did not complain.

2. How long have you been brewing?

Since 1999, I think. It’s a bit hazy…. We used to brew with a group of rocket scientists in Houston called the Bay Area Mashtronauts. That is where I got my ‘beer name’ – Peppa. My lovely wife has ‘beer name’ Allspice and our two children are Saffron and Cumin. Haven’t gotten brave enough to combine all these spices in one brew.

3. What is your favorite beverage to brew?

Beer – barley wine. When it turns out good, it is really, really good. Note: typically does not turn out good. See #1 – drink it anyway.

4. All grain, partial mash or extract? – why?

Partial mash -- best balance between time and results. Two kids = get it done quick.

5. What should every brewer have?

An optical Brix hydrometer. Easy to adjust wort gravity with this little gizmo. Less likely to break if you drop it.

6. Have you ever had a brewing disaster and what did you learn from it?

Brewing disaster???? A horrible oxidized whit beer. I learned about hot side aeration the hard way. We called it Cardboard Whit. Tried to drink it anyway. Friends did complain.

7. What do you do when not brewing or tasting?

Not vacuuming (wife is present and mad about the living room carpet I messed up by playing Wii all night long) (Editor’s note - who is his wife – is it so hard to get out the vacuum or bring your wife a delicious beer?). Spend time with my two kids, Madison (almost 4) and Graham (almost 2).

8. What are you drinking now?

That reminds me, I need another beer. Arrogant Bastard (not me, the beer).

9. What question should we ask other HRB&TS members?

If you were beer foam, what beer would you want to sit on top of?

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.