Last Meeting

Extra, extra read all about it, local homebrew clubs tops the 100 mark for membership!

It's true! That's right folks, you read it here first. Last month 8 new members joined and not only did we get our 100th member, we got our 103nd member too! Hard to believe for us old timers that remember meetings when only 4 or 5 people showed up. But no one lost faith and our little club has blossomed into a huge multi million worldwide conglomeration seeking to overthrow Microsoft and (oops, lets not get too carried away here, we're still a friendly local homebrew club intent on educating and socializing, just a bit bigger than we were at this time last year)

A huge, hearty thank you and a slap on the back to Jim Bazzy for lining up last months meeting in the park and arranging for the beautiful weather (hey, I figured I was gonna blame him if it rained so I might as well give him credit for the sunny stuff) Jim actually rented the site from the city with a one day beer permit and stayed back to make sure the site was clean when all was said and done, so THANK YOU JIM! The site was easy to find, the tables and area nice and clean, the bathrooms were only a half mile away (boo!) and the meeting couldn't have been more perfect.

Neal started the meeting with a round of introductions, I then spoke out on the Rivertown Beer Festival on the 26th. We have 68 volunteers from our club and the table assignments are underway as we speak. For those of you planning on attending the event, buy your tickets now if you haven't already, they will definitely sell out again. Orbit magazine has a 15 page insert in this months issue detailing all the beers (about 200) at this years tasting so grab one at Borders or Little Profs or wherever you find Orbit.

For those of you working the festival, you must make this months meeting to get your t-shirt and parking pass. If you can't make the meeting, please make arrangements to meet with me before the event as you are required to wear the volunteer shirt and have a parking pass to get into the ramp. Also, if you haven't got your instruction sheet, contact me and I'll profs/fax it to you.

I then presented the club with an invitation from Mark & Richard George, owners of the Wine Barrel Plus, to brew on a Pico system at a Blues & Jazz fest on Saturday the 27th of this month. The event is a charity event for the Hemapalic Children's Foundation, a crippling disease that has just recently been discovered (Mark's son is afflicted with this disease and he is very involved in this foundation). The music festival is free and is at Greenmead Park in Livonia at 8 mile & Newburgh. But most proceeds from anything sold will benefit the charity. Tim Tepatti & Neal petty volunteered to bring their system and Tony Treusch and Joe Carulli volunteered to help out, so a big thank you to all four of you. WRIF will be there and Drew and Mike will probably harass the people at the event in their usual way.

I still have a couple of discount cards from members who haven't picked them up yet. I will mail those in this months newsletter, along with the 8 new members. The beer trading concept has gotten off the ground, Lynn Bruce and Johanne Wilson each brought a 6 pick for swapping, anyone who wants to bring beers for swapping, not consuming, please label each bottle as 6 packs will get split up if there's more than 2 people in the swap. Bring whatever style you want and trade for other peoples beer, what a concept! (Thanks to Tim Tepatti for the idea and Chris Frey for putting the plan into motion)

Sandy then gave the treasurers report and Neal spoke on the Beer-B-Que (as Tim was home sick that night). The Annual picnic will not feature a pig this year. To make a long story short, things just didn't work out.There will alternative grub aplenty (hams, turkey drumsticks, etc.) The event is Aug. 10th and will be held at Hemlock Park in Dearborn. Tim will give directions at this months meetings and a more detailed profs will go out with menu, events and ammenities. If memory serves me there is a pool that we can use for $5, a pavillion to keep us dry in case of..., bathrooms, fields, playground for kids, in short, plenty to do. If you have a facorite outdoor activity, bring it along. Sharpen those Jarts, dig out the old Twister Board, bring your baseball mitts and Frisbees.

The meeting wrapped up with a counter pressure bottle filling demo by myself, although the demo was less than perfect due to weather (c.p. filling requires lots of cold for stability) People got the idea. The club will purchase a c.p. bottle filler for our library. With so many people getting into kegging, we haven't decided on a specific model but we will buy a nice, easy to use model based on a recent review in Zymurgy.

A special thanks to Karl Ziemba (new member last month) who donated a couple sacks of grains to the club and Neal & Ted Geftos (& Tim too?) who brewed up a pale ale. One keg was dry hopped and the other left alone. I brought my summertime jockeybox (coil chiller) so we had cold beer on tap all night until the kegs were drained. Yum! Thanks to Karl, Neal, Ted & Tim for providing the liquid refreshments that night.

Rich Byrnes

Beer Judging

By Jim Bazzy

It was really great to see so many entries (about 20) in this months contest! Luckily, the judges did not have to score them and comment on paper. We only had to taste, and imagine which brew we would like to cool our palates after cutting the lawn on a sweltering summer afternoon. The contest was for a "light summer beer". There were some tasty entries, but I personally settled on a beer brewed by the H & H Brewery by Richard Hampo. It was a lagered beer that was balanced between malt and hops. It was light in body and refreshing. I think all three judges were in agreement until the "Brew Beast" showed up, and, late I might add, with 10 more entries, or was it 20, or maybe 30??? I stopped counting after a while. Anyway, Tyler finally took top honors in a split decision. Tyler's winning entry was an Ale that was medium bodied and had a few more IBU's than the H & H entry. Both beers were well made. I could have drank another bottle of each. There was also a cider entry that I felt was a decent effort. I don't remember who brewed it but, you know who you are.

Tyler's Winning recipe

Lucky Dutch Lager

extract with grains

6.5 gallons

1 can Laaglander Dutch light kit

3.5 lbs Munton & Fison x-Lite dry malt extract

.25 LB English crystal 20°lov.

.25 LB Belgian carapils

.5oz styrian Goldings 45 mins 5%aa

.5 oz Perle 7.4%aa 25 mins

2 oz hersbrucker 3.5%aa 1 min.

Irish moss

Wyeast 2247 Danish lager yeast II

og 1.050

fg 1.008

fermented for 6 weeks, lagered for 5 weeks at 45°

New Members

Last month's new members include..

Kevin McEnhill, Eric Roddick, Kerry Havener, Tony Tantillo, Paul Mondro- lucky #100!, Matt Mondro, Bob Zukosky and Sandy Hill.

Retail News

New at Wine Barrel Plus, those wacky guys are at it again, in an effort to stock every grain known to man Wine Barrel now has the elusive, highly prized Maris Otter pale malt, available in bulk or 50Lb. Sack, call for pricing.

A new store!

Sandy Hill & her husband George are opening up a new homebrew supply shop in Shelby Twp, the Home Brewery. It's a franchise store out of Missouri that now has 12 locations. They will carry grains(30+), wine making, mead making, kegging, and much, much more. The store will be located on Van Dyke between 22 & 23 mile road, a definite bonus for us Eastsiders! The store should be open in early August and I'll have more info then. We are lined up for a 10% discount and they will be doing mail-order. Best of luck to them in the opening of their store. Rich Byrnes

F.O.R.D. is a private, non-profit organization of home brewers. Its main goal is to share information regarding technique, equipment and skill required to brew quality homemade beer.

Correspondence should be directed to:

Rich Byrnes,

30972 Cousino

Warren, MI 48092

Voice/Fax 810-558-9844

usfmczgm@ibmmail.com

CompuServe 75113,411

Visit our website at: http://oeonline.com /~pbabcock/ford.html

current circulation.....104

Correction

In case anyone noticed, last month's newsletter was dated November, 1996. The offending prankster has been properly flogged. This will not happen again. No more missteaks!

Miller's "Heart of the Hops"

Several weeks ago, I e-mailed Miller's "brewmaster", David Ryder, asking him to please explain exactly what revolutionary new process enabled Miller to separate the heat from the hops (whatever that is), or to admit that it was just a marketing ploy aimed at uneducated beer drinkers. As expected, his response was -ahem- highly informative and clarifying ;) . Here, for your entertainment, is his response. (If you care to e-mail/lambast him yourself, his address (taken from a print ad) is miller@execpc.com).

Dear B.R. Royla,

Thanks for your recent inquiry on new Miller Beer! Due to competitive reasons, we cannot provide brewing specifics; however, we can answer some of your questions regarding the "heart of the hops."

As a homebrewer and hop gardener, I'm sure you're aware that hops are the spice of beer that add their own special taste and aroma. Our proprietary brewing expertise enables us to remove the bitter quality from hops while maintaining their complex flavor attributes. After doing this, we have, what we call, the "heart of the hop."

Miller Beer uses only the heart of the hop to produce a rich flavor that diminishes the bitter and filling characteristics typically associated with full-flavored beers, and allows for a remarkably smooth, drinkable taste. Miller Beer is brewed with four times as many hops as other premium, mainstream beers and with the highest quality Galena hops from the Pacific Northwest.

I hope that answers your questions. And, should you get the opportunity to try Miller Beer, I'd be interested in knowing what you think!

World's Most Expensive Beer' For Sale In London

LONDON (Reuter) - Fancy a drop of really old ale? It will cost you more than most of the world's finest wine. The first bottle of Tutankhamun Ale, brewed from an ancient Egyptian recipe, goes on sale at Harrods department store in London next month for 5,000 pounds ($7,686).

It's the most expensive beer in the world, according to the brewers. The rest of the batch will be 100 times cheaper-- still a wallet-emptying experience to quench one's thirst and curiosity. "It has taken us five years to get this far, but eventually we have bought a legend to life. It's literally the liquid gold of the pharaohs," Jim Merrington, commercial director of Newcastle Breweries, said Monday in a telephone interview.

The ale, developed by an Egyptologist, two scientists and Britain's largest brewer Scottish & Newcastle, is based on sediment from old jars found a brewery inside the Sun Temple of Nefertiti, queen of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, believed by Egyptologists to be Tutankhamun's father. The team could only gather and grow enough of the right raw materials to brew 1,000 bottles of the beer, said Merrington. The specially numbered, hand-labeled bottles will g on sale in Harrods on July 2 with bottle number one on sale for 5,000 pounds and the rest priced at 50 pounds each, with proceeds going to aid archaeology in Egypt.

Security vans will bring the bottles down from Newcastle for delivery at Harrods, owned by the Egyptian Al-Fayed brothers. The label reads "Tutankhamun Ale" with "The Beer of His Majesty" written over the top in hieroglyphics.

Top 10 Unorthodox flavorings used in entries in the Boston Beer Co. Homebrew Contest

1. Zatarain's crab boil

2. Kiwi juice

3. Honey, ginger, jasmine rice and peppers

4. Horseradish

5. Licorice root powder

6. Hickory

7. Maple Syrup and crushed walnuts

8. Banana

9. Chocolate mint

10. Mango

Hey folks, I am not making this up. Check your Food & Wine 8/96 issue. And if you haven't had an opportunity to try one of the "Longshot" style beers, they are really quite good.

Upcoming Competition

The Michigan State Fair is upon us! The entry deadline is Aug. 9 and the styles this year are:

English Pale Ale/Bitter

Brown Ale/ Scottish Ale

American Ale/ Common

German Style Wheat

Porter

Stout

Strong Ale / Barley Wine

Belgian Ale/ Lambic

Light Lager

Amber/ Dark Lager

Bock

Fruit Beer

Specialty Beer

The Registrar is Dan McConnell (AABG) and the entry window is July 26 through Aug. 9th. The competition coordinator is Spencer Thomas (AABG) and can be reached at 313-994-0072.

I highly recommend to everyone that you enter this competition. First off, it's only a local competition and there are not as many entries as say, the AHA nationals or the Sam Adams World Wide contest. So, right off the bat there's less competitors. Secondly, the entry fee is usually pretty cheap for this competition, and you get your beer judged by AHA judges which might provide you some valuable feedback ($12 entry fee for up to 10 different beers, $1.20 per entry!). The drop-off for entries is in Ann Arbor so maybe some carpooling or a road trip will be in order. I will have entry packets at the meeting or call Spencer Thomas for more info.

P.S. The first round judging isn't until Aug. 24th so don't worry if your beer is a bit young right now, you have a month of aging to go through.

Beer and Sweat Competition

The Bloatarian Brewing League of Cincinnati, Ohio will be hosting the "8th Annual Beer & Sweat competition" on August 10, 1996. This is a KEG ONLY competition, you must bring your beer in a KEG and serve it to the judges. Last year the contest had 62 kegs entered.

For those looking for something different to do this year, this may be the answer. They will be offering the BJCP judging exam in the morning, setting up a discussion session with a panel of brewmasters in the afternoon, and judging with award ceremony in the evening. There is no cost to attend (contest entry is $5 for one keg, $1 each additional). Contacts: Robert Pinkerton (513) 251-9754 or Jim Luebering (513) 542-3739. I also have the complete package for the event.

Free - Free - Free - Free - Free - Free

One slightly used 1/2 barrel, intact (nothing cut or welded. Call Chris Cirino @ 313-561-0132 for more info.

oh yeah...

Next Meeting

The next meeting is Wednesday, July 24th at Chelseas, 22120 Vanborn, between Telegraph & Southfield. Call 313-278-0888 for more information on directions. The regular meeting will start promptly at 6ish, but anyone helping out (all colunteers welcome!) on the Beer-B-Que should be there by five. Be there. Aloha!

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Last updated 12/04/96