The Brewsletter

Febrewary 2008

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

www.hrbts.org

The President’s Podium – Jason Kuller

January:

Happy New Year! I hope that everyone had a terrific Holiday, indulging in celebration as well as relaxation with family and friends (After all that is what it is all about not just presents and stress). Thank you to the club for supporting me and the rest of the new officers for the coming year. In addition to me, your officers for this year are: JP, Vice President; Gus, Treasurer & Secretary; Patti, Competition Coordinator and Shana, Newsletter Editor. Diane will remain in the position of our meeting coordinator and Victor will continue his position as our webmaster for hrbts.org. A Big Thank You goes out to our new officers as well as those who continue to serve our club. As officers of the club we welcome any comments or suggestions of ideas for making our club even better. Thanks to everyone for their involvement in and support of our club.

Thank You to The Lock’s Point Restaurant for hosting our December meeting. We have had a couple of meetings there now and the service, food and private room were all great as they have been before. If you weren’t able to make the meeting and haven’t been yet make sure and stop by sometime and sip a beer at the bar or on their deck while watching the boats float by on the waterway.

A big and very well deserved CONGRATULATIONS! to JP Messier who has finally dethroned the reining HRBTS Cup Champions (after several years in power) JP has earned the distinguished honor of HRB&TS Homebrewer of the year. I would also like to thank all of the other great brewers in our club and I encourage everyone to keep it up to make this year’s competition just as exciting.

Finally, I would like to once again thank everyone for all their support and say “Cheers to a fabulous and beer filled 2008!”

February:

I hope everyone’s year is off to a great start and since my January article didn’t make it into the newsletter due to email problems, Happy New Year! I want to thank the club members who participated in our last judging for Strong Ales and Russian Imperial Stouts; we had a several tasty brews and would love to have even more entries from the rest of our club. We have got a few great beers for beginning brewers coming up for judging including Porters this month and a wide open category of extract beers next month. I encourage all of the new or aspiring brewers in the club to get some hops, malt extract, a little water and a big pot and dive in! There are even a few people in the club that are willing to assist new brewers as much as possible so please email me at president@hrbts.org if we can help with questions, procedures etc.

We also need HRBTS members to get involved and help out with the Homebrew USA tent at the Virginia Beer Festival at Town Point Park in Norfolk. This year’s festival will be held on May 17^th from 2-6 and Homebrew USA is looking for volunteers to help out with a few things in preparation for and during the festival. They need a few people to brew kegs of beer to give out to thirsty festival goers, as well as a person or group to do a brewing demonstration on site (they will pay for ingredients for both) they are also looking for people to help throughout the day with pouring beer, chatting with people about beer and answering questions about or related to (yep you guessed it) beer. If you would like to help out or have any questions please email me at president@hrbts.org or JP at vicepresident@hrbts.org we are looking forward to another great beer fest in downtown Norfolk.

Finally I want to give a reminder about the clubs trip to Fells Point in Baltimore in celebration of the 4^th Annual Belgian Beer Fest at Max’s Taphouse. This year’s festival boasts over 100 authentic Belgian beers on tap and over 130 in the bottle as well as a full Belgian style menu to tempt your taste buds (for more info go to www.maxs.com ). The group hotel rate has already expired but you can still get a room for around $150 if you search online. This is sure to be a great time in a very cool historic area of Baltimore so check it out.

Cheers and have a great Febrewary

Meeting Location – Diane Catanzaro

February 6 at 7:30 pm

Get Your Kicks at the February Meeting!

Our February 6 meeting will be at The Boot, in Norfolk’s Ghent neighborhood. If you have not been to the Boot, you will be in for a pleasant surprise. Their menu is based around fresh local and regional ingredients, and they appropriately have a beer selection that features Virginia and East Coast microbrews, plus some well-chosen Belgian ales. You will find St George, Old Richmond, Williamsburg Ale Works, Legend, Dominion, Heavy Seas/Clipper City, Dogfish Head, Brooklyn, Allagash, and Weyerbacher. A few well chosen Belgian and Belgian-style beers….Chimay, Lindemann’s, Unibroue. And guess what?? The Duchesse is in the house! And I must say she was the perfect partner to the roasted Brussels sprouts I had there last night, due to the tangy pot liquor at the bottom of the dish.

And, more good news! As luck would have it, Wednesday night is Virginia beer night, with Virginia micros for $2.50 (12 oz) and $5.00 (22 oz). Oh, darn!! I must say the beer selection blew me away. Some of the things on the menu they may be out of, so pick a backup as you peruse the beer menu. Draft beers are noted on the chalkboard above the bar.

What about the food menu? Lots of nice choices from the simple vegetarian antipasti platter, soup, oyster stew, or artisanal Virginia cheese plate with honeyed-pear and nuts to handmade pastas, pan-roasted chicken, and wild mushroom stew. The meats are Virginia farm-raised, not stuff from the meat-factory, and the vegetables are fresh and seasonal…none of this “can to the pan” nonsense. Lots of vegetarian offerings, too.

The bread that came with our dinner was absolutely delicious…warm, crusty, whole grain-y, hearty; I wouldn’t be surprised if it was made with some spent malt. Don’t even THINK of eating at home. http://www.insidetheboot.com/main/deep-winter-2008/

After a tasty dinner at the Boot last night accompanied by a couple of outstanding Duchesses, I think this place may qualify as a “find.” Another cool thing is that the Boot is one of the few places you can see a band on a Saturday night that is completely nonsmoking and has great beer. In fact, it might be the ONLY such place in this region.

So, hope to see you there Wednesday. Its one big dining room but they promise us our own section and don’t mind that we talk a bunch and do meeting-ish stuff. Meeting starts at 7:30, but DO come around 7 if you’d like to get an early start on dinner and those half-price Virginia beers.

123 W. 21^st Street in Norfolk, 627-2668. On 21^st , at Granby Street. Directions:

From VA Beach - I-264 W to the City Hall Ave. exit. Turn right on St. Paul’s Blvd. This becomes Monticello. When you hit 21^st street, turn left. It’s a block down on the left. (ps: if traffic is jammed up at the City Hall/St Paul’s exit, breeze past it in the left lane and take Waterside Drive instead. Stay straight till you hit 21^st Street, then turn right).

From the Peninsula via HRBT- I-64 E to Granby St exit. Follow Granby St for about 8 minutes. (Granby makes a hard right turn at the light by the Norfolk Zoo, by the way). When you reach the intersection at 21^st street, it’s straight ahead of you.

From Chesapeake - Take I-264 or 464 toward downtown Norfolk, take the City Hall Ave/St Paul’s Blvd exit. Turn right on St Paul’s Blvd. This becomes Monticello. When you hit 21^st street, turn left. It’s a block down on the left.

From Suffolk - Take I-264 and follow the Virginia Beach directions from City Hall Ave/St Paul’s Blvd.

From Ocean View – Take Granby Street and you’ll see it at the intersection with 21^st Street!

Competition Corner – Patti Messier

This month’s judging was held at the lovely Chesapeake home of Jason & Lacy Kuller! We got off to a late start (I think some of the judges thought they were driving to North Carolina…..) but had a great time sipping wonderful beers while waiting! Our talented panel of judges (Diane Catanzaro, Tom Byrnes, Jason Kuller and J.P. Messier) enjoyed several calibration beers before finally embarking on this month’s entries.

After the deliberations, the results were as follows:

First Place, Tom Byrnes with his English Barleywine, good for three HRBTS Cup points;

Second Place, JP Messier with his Russian Imperial Stout, good for two HRBTS Cup points;

Third Place, Chris Jones & Diane Catanzaro with their Russian Imperial 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 …10 more judgings to go… it’s still anyone’s cup!!! March is Porters (Category 12). Start brewing now!

2008 HRB&TS CUP STANDINGS (as of January 29)

Name of Brewer(s)	Total Points Accumulated
J. P. Messier	5
Tom Byrnes	4
Doug Boyd	2
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 –

First Place, Tom Byrnes - English Barleywine

A ProMash Recipe Report

Recipe Specifics

----------------

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

Total Extract (Lbs): 18.81

Anticipated OG: 1.164 Plato: 37.2

Anticipated SRM: 15.0

Anticipated IBU: 85.1

Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts

----------------

Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour

Pre-Boil Wort Size: 5.88 Gal

Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.140 SG 32.19 Plato

Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.7 0.31 lbs. Lyles Golden Syrup English Sugar 1.030 0

5.3 1.00 lbs. Crystal 60L America 1.034 60

5.3 1.00 lbs. Wheat Malt America 1.038 2

71.8 13.50 lbs. LME - Light England 1.046 5

15.9 3.00 lbs. Muntons DME - Light England 1.046 5

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.00 oz. Goldings - E.K. Pellet 5.00 78.3 60 min.

1.00 oz. Goldings - E.K. Pellet 5.00 4.2 15 min.

1.00 oz. Goldings - E.K. Pellet 5.00 2.6 3 min.

1.00 oz. Goldings - E.K. Pellet 5.00 0.0 Dry Hop

Yeast

-----

White Labs WLP007 Dry English ale Yeast

Notes

-----

Yeast in 200ml starter, added fresh yeast prior to bottling, after 1 year

Decanted and added fresh yeast to correct carbonation problems.

Second Place, JP Messier -- Russian Imperial Stout

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines

13-F Stout, Russian Imperial Stout

Min OG:	1.075	Max OG:	1.114
Min IBU:	50	Max IBU:	100
Min Clr:	30	Max Clr:	48	Color in SRM, Lovibond

Recipe Specifics

Batch Size (Gal):	5.00	Wort Size (Gal):	5.00
Total Extract (Lbs):	14.50
Anticipated OG:	1.097	Plato:	23.02
Anticipated SRM:	50.8
Anticipated IBU:	84.0
Wort Boil Time:	60	Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

%	Amount	Name	Origin	Potential	SRM
55.2	8.00 lbs.	Alexander LME - Pale	America	1.037	2
6.9	1.00 lbs.	Alexander LME - Wheat	America	1.037	4
6.9	1.00 lbs.	Brown Sugar	Generic	1.046	4
6.9	1.00 lbs.	Roasted Barley	America	1.028	450
3.4	0.50 lbs.	Flaked Barley	America	1.032	2
3.4	0.50 lbs.	Chocolate Malt	America	1.029	350
1.7	0.25 lbs.	Black Patent Malt	America	1.028	525
3.4	0.50 lbs.	Flaked Oats	America	1.033	2
3.4	0.50 lbs.	Crystal 80L	American	1.033	80
1.7	0.25 lbs.	Special B Malt	Belgian	1.030	120
6.9	1.00 lbs.	Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt	Generic	1.033	2

Hops

Amount	Name	Form	Alpha	IBU	Boil Time
1.00 oz.	Amarillo Gold	Pellet	10.00	39.9	60 min
1.00 oz.	Amarillo Gold	Pellet	10.00	35.8	45 min
1.00 oz.	Fuggle	Pellet	4.75	5.1	15 min
1.00 oz.	Goldings - E.K.	Pellet	4.75	3.2	1 min

Yeast

White Labs WLP023 Burton Ale (Initial) and Irish (after 9 days)

Notes

Yeast - Burton and Irish
3 tsp Calcium Chloride
Anise - 6 stars at 15 mins.
Vanilla Bean - 1 bean in secondary
Coffee Beans - 1 tbsp of grounds in secondary
Prime with 3/4 cup of sucrose

Third Place, Chris Jones & Diane Catanzaro -- Russian Imperial Stout 2006

INGREDIENTS:

0.5 lb oats

0.5 lb crushed wheat (for head retention)

0.5 lb roasted barley

0.5 lb black patent malt

1 lb chocolate malt

1 lb 60 L crystal malt

7.0 lb John Bull dark malt extract (liquid)

2.0 lb Carlson light malt extract (dried)

0.5 lb maltodextrin

0.5 tsp Irish moss (30 minutes; to clarify beer)

1 oz Yakima Magnum hop pellets, 15.7 AAU per oz, 50 minutes

0.5 oz Amarillo hop pellets, 7.3 AAU per oz, 15 minutes

Wyeast 1056 American ale yeast

BREWED: 8 Jan 2006

SECONDARY: 16 Jan 2006

BOTTLED: 24 Jan 2006

COMMENTS: Added the grains to cold water, brought it up to 155 degrees F, and steeped them for 30 minutes. Half of this was our attempt to make a BJCP 13F style ale. The Imperial Stout took third place in the HRB & TS Club Extract contest, April 2006; third place in the HRB & TS Club Extract contest, April 2007; and third place in the Club Imperial Stout/Strong Ale contest in February 2008; that’s a lot of mileage fro one beer. Next time we make it, we’ll add another couple of pounds of malt extract to bump the alcohol content higher.

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

Squash Shots with Hard Cider

From Chef Justin Scardina of La Rana Bistro, Decorah Iowa

Best served with: American Brown Ale

2 pounds of butternut squash, cut lengthwise, seeds and pith removed

12 ounces hard cider

½ cup brandy

1 ounce fresh ginger, crushed

2 cinnamon sticks

4 whole cloves

2 pieces of star anise

¼ teaspoon nutmeg (plus some for garnish)

Salt and ground white pepper (optional)

Grated zest from two oranges, juice reserved

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place squash cut side down on parchment-lined sheet pan and roast 30 to 40 minutes, until soft. Remove from oven; set aside.
2. Add cider, brandy, ginger, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and anise to large saucepan placed over low heat. Stir and bring to a slow simmer for 20 minutes, reducing by almost half, and remove from heat. Strain and set aside to cool.
3. When cool enough to handle, scoop squash out of skin and chop coarsely. Place 2 cups squash into a blender and puree until smooth. Slowly add the reserved cider-brandy mixture until the desired consistency is reached. Pour into saucepan and repeat processing until all squash is pureed. Mix in ground nutmeg, stir and taste. (Add salt and ground white pepper, if desired.) Add 2 teaspoons orange zest and 2 tablespoons reserved orange juice.
4. Bring squash puree to a simmer and remove from heat. Pour into warmed shot glasses. Garnish with fresh nutmeg on the rim of each glass.

Makes 12 appetizer servings.

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!

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.

…Tom Byrnes

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

A friend had bought me a one gallon beer brewing system called the minnow which I still use today. It allowed me to come home from work and brew a batch of beer and experiment with many styles. My first beverage was a Mexican amber beer bottled in four soda bottles. It was great but it was my first so it held a special place in my heart.

2. How long have you been brewing?

Started brewing in 1991 and switched to all grain in 1994

3. What is your favorite beverage to brew?

Love to brew many different styles. It is rare that I brew the same recipe twice. I love to brew some of the historical beers although some of the more ancient recipes have been strange. British beers from the 1700 & 1800’s are challenging and taste good. There are many good books on historical brewing like A Sip Through Time by Cindy Renfrow and Old British Beers and How to Brew Them by The Durden Park Brewing Society to help someone start on their personal journey through antiquity

4. All grain, partial mash or extract?

I brew a variety of styles. I like all grain because that is the way beer has been brewed throughout the ages. I like that connection with history when I put my hands in the grain and begin the mashing process. However sometimes I get lazy and brew extract because it takes less time. It used to be that all gain resulted in better and lighter beers but with the improvement in extract quality and techniques like the extract late method, these brewing methods are comparable. Our current king is an extract brewer!!! In fact only one of the past kings was an all grainer.

5. What should every brewer have?

I’m not really a gadget guy and my brewing system is quite simple in design. Think every brewer should have creativity and the courage to explore new ingredients, spices and flavors. Don’t get confined to the styles. Brewing is a creative process not conformity to a set standard. Next would be a brewing buddy, while I enjoy brewing at home, it comes alive when brewing with others. I have learned about technical brewing from Victor’s Christmas sessions. Lately I have been learning about German bocks and African lagers from Tim who is kind of like the Indiana Jones of brewing. He is even helping me pronounce some of the European names correctly. So find a friend and expand your brewing horizons.

6. Please describe a brewing disaster and what you learned from it.

Ha! you would ask this, one day I was brewing an Australian Ale and while stirring felt a warming sensation just below my waist. Now I find brewing exciting but this was unusual so I looked down to find my pants were on fire. My neighbors got a real show when I quickly removed my pants and ran into the house. Hence Flaming Shorts Australian ale was born. I learned not to get too close to my waist high Cajun cooker.

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

School psychology pays the homebrew bills. I am on the executive board for the Virginia Academy of School Psychologists. I belong to several political organizations like the Norfolk Tea Party. I also enjoy bike riding, football (despite being a redskin fan), video games and travel

8. What are you drinking now?

A Bells Hop Slam which just came into to Grape and Gourmet. It is a double IPA with honey and lots of hops. It is a definite Jason and CJ beer. A must try.

…Jason Kuller

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

The first alcoholic beverage that I ever made was a Hoppy American Ale which was a recipe and ingredients that came with my initial Homebrew Kit. I had a friend with a little bit of homebrewing experience under his belt to help me and the beer turned out pretty well, at least well enough for me to get hooked and keep on brewin.

2. How long have you been brewing?

Going on 5 years

3. What is your favorite beverage to brew?

Easily UfeelinLoopulin which is the first recipe I ever made up early on and still my favorite to brew and tweak. “Loop” is a very hoppy and full bodied beer that is not necessarily to any style but my own.

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

I brew both all grain and mini mash depending on what I am making and how much work I feel like doing. I have had great results from both but the all grain is definitely more challenging and complex once you really get more into the brewing science.

5. What should every brewer have?

A sense of humor, a digital thermometer, and the ability to keg their beer.

6. Please describe a brewing disaster and what you learned from it.

When we first moved into our current house and were remodeling I had to move and store 5 gallons of fermenting beer and several cases of bottled beer into a way less than desirable environment. It was swelteringly hot with no AC and no way to regulate the temperature of my beer. A bunch of the bottles exploded from the heat and I think I had to pour the carboy out. I learned not to brew beer and remodel a house in the summer.

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

I love going to concerts and checking out live music, especially festivals (but there is usually a fair amount of tasting going on there too) as well as most anything in the mountains including camping, hiking, snowboarding and even drinking beer.

8. What are you drinking now?

Homebrew!...some variation of Loop that I recently made

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.