The Brewsletter
July 2008
The
Official Newsletter of the
The President’s Podium – Jason
Kuller
Greetings fellow brewers and tasters, I hope your summer is
off to a great start, and with summer comes our transition from restaurants to
backyards for our monthly meetings. I
would like to give a big Cheers to Mike and Terri Connell who were gracious
enough to host our June meeting in their creek-side back yard in the Wythe area
of
While I am not a huge fan of the summer heat, it is still one of my favorite times of year because of all of the great opportunities to get outdoors and drink good beer, especially while jamming out to some live music at a local concert or regional festival. Many music festivals (and even some concerts) nowadays have tuned into the growing craft beer scene and the obvious overlap between live music lovers and craft beer lovers and have begun featuring local or small independent breweries to keep everyone happily drinking and dancing. If you are into this kind of thing, you can just think of it as a great way to multitask your summer away. A couple of easy ways to stay up to date on all of the summer festival happenings are to subscribe to Zymurgy (by joining the AHA @ beertown.org) or by checking out a current issue of Mid Atlantic Brewing News (available free at better beer stores and bars). I have also just discovered a new publication that I have heard of but never actually read called Draft Magazine. Draft is by no means directed only to Homebrewers, my first though upon skimming it was Beer World meets Maxim (and although there is little to no skin -- I mean that in a good way). Although some of the content is a little commercialized, overall the magazine is great, featuring a ton of really interesting fast reads on everything from airports with the best beer selections to beer and food pairings (with recipes), and lots of reviews of killer brews for you to peruse.
Finally I feel that it is necessary to address the recent
email firestorm that unfortunately went out on our distro list (we’ll call it
BrewGate ’08). Although I was not
personally involved in BrewGate I want to apologize to all of the members both
those in the heat of it and those who watched as the events unfolded. This is not the first time we have had to
deal with unnecessary and over the top rudeness from the proprietors of Alt
Platz or Home Brew
Cheers - Jason
Meeting Location – Diane
Catanzaro
Wednesday, July 2 at 7 pm
On July 2 the HRB&TS’ monthly meeting will be at 7:30 pm
(come as early as 7 pm) at the
However, back in the jolly olde dog days of summer they had to frolic in some leech-laden swimming hole. Which is why you seldom hear about them swimming at all. The EXCELLENT news (hear ye, hear ye!) is that Matt and Heather have an in-ground swimming pool for HRB&TS-ers to splash ye butts in! So imagine cooling off in the pool with some mead or homebrew, then chowing down on some burgers from the grill with your beerloving brethren (and sistren). Bring ye swimsuit or risk much joshin’ and perhaps the nickname “Little John.” Bring ye towele of cloth to dry ye bum. Of course bring us some of your fine homebrewed meads and beers and/or commercial libations.
Last month your meeting coordinator discovered that hot dogs are NOT as popular as hamburgers. Of course this was news to me, since I haven’t eaten either since the late 1970s. Back when I was 10 it seemed both were equally desirable (or not-so-desirable, possibly why I haven’t had any since the 1970s). My meat-eating friends have subtly let me know that among children these items may be equally desired, but grownups prefer burgers to hot dogs at perhaps a 4:1 ratio. So, let’s just say your meeting coordinator is ‘on it’ and there will be burgers for grillin’. Any side dishes you wish to bring are welcomed. AND remember to tithe our host and hostess, Matt and Heather, with an extra homebrew or nice commercial brew to thank them for their fabulous hospitality in hosting our merry crew.
Kids are welcome but parents must carefully supervise them in and near the swimming pool. You may wish to bring a lawn chair too. See you Wednesday!
Competition Corner – Patti Messier
This month’s judging was held at Tom and Kate Byrnes home! Seems like yesterday when we were judging meads and here it is again! Our godly panel of judges (Tom Byrnes, Doug Boyd, Diane Catanzaro and J.P. Messier) enjoyed the “nectar of the gods” and had a wide variety to sample! Tom Byrnes impressed everyone for a second year in a row with his outstanding Maple Mead! “Mead Queen” Diane offered up great sweet mead! And while everyone thought they had shut JP out this time, he ended up in a tie with himself for third place! After the deliberations, the results were as follows:
First Place, Tom Byrnes with his Maple Mead, good for three HRBTS Cup points;
Second Place, Diane Catanzaro and Chris Jones with
their Sweet Mead, good for two HRBTS Cup points;
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. Seven down and five to go! Start planning now … it’s still anyone’s cup!!! Start brewing now!
2008 HRBTS CUP STANDINGS (as of June 22)
|
Name of Brewer(s) |
Total Points Accumulated |
|
J. P. Messier |
20 |
|
Tom Byrnes |
9 |
|
Jason Kuller |
7 |
|
Doug Boyd |
3 |
|
Chris Jones/Diane |
3 |
|
Tim Hobbs |
2 |
|
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 |
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 |
--- |
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!
Beer Recipes
Meadalicious – Diane
Catanzaro and Chris Jones
A sweet, standard, traditional mead
-Prehydrated one 5-gm package of Red Star dry yeast “Premium Cuvee”
-Boiled 4 gallons tap water, let cool slightly
-Added about 20 lbs organic
-Heated on low heat, for about an hour, stirring regularly. Never let boil, but got close.
-Added 1.25 TBS acid blend at some point while heating.
-After the hour, turned off heat and covered a short time.
-Added 1 TBS Irish Moss…might skip this next time though.
-Placed pot in ice bath for cold break, let sit about 50 minutes, then transferred to carboy.
-Pitched yeast at 68 degrees F.
-Added 1 tsp yeast nutrient.
-Mopped floor.
-Transferred to secondary 1 month later.
-Bottled after 4 months in secondary.
-This mead was bottled in Fall, 2005.
Blueberry Mead – JP
Messier
Recipe Specifics
Batch Size (Gal): 3.00
Anticipated OG: 1.084 Plato: 20.23
Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
100.0 6.00 lbs. Honey 1.042 0
Yeast
White Labs WLP730 Chardonnay White Wine & Nutrient
Notes
1 # blueberry, 1tsp cardamon, 1tsp coriander, 6 star anise at 15 mins.
160/170 pasteurize
Coconut Mead – JP
Messier
Recipe Specifics
Batch Size (Gal): 3.00
Anticipated OG: 1.126 Plato: 29.32
Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
100.0 9.00 lbs. Honey 1.042 0
Yeast
White Labs WLP730 Chardonnay White Wine & Nutrient
Notes
1 pineapple at 15 mins., 30 mins at 165, 1 tsp calcium chloride
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