The BrewsLeader September 2004 Vol. 21 No. 9 Upcoming Events Sep 8 Club Meeting Style Discussion – IPA AHA Club Only – Smoked Beer (Cat. 23) Sep 11 Club Brew @ WeekEnd Brewer Sep 15 Board Meeting Sep 25 River City Beer & Seafood Festival Oct 13 Club Meeting Oct 30 Hallo-Fest Party @ Stasi & Jeff York’s Nov 10 Club Meeting Style Discussion – Spiced (aka Weird) Beer AHA Club Only IPA (Cat. 7) Nov 13 AHA Club Only IPA Nationals – hosted by James River Homebrewers Nov 17 Board Meeting Dec 8 Club Meeting Election of Officers Style Discussion – Winter Warmers Dec 11 Holiday Party @ Steve Jarrett’s ***************************** First Annual James River Homebrewers Mongolian Clusterbrew We will get together for a Club megabrewing session at 9:00 am, September 11, at Bob Henderson’s WeekendBrewer Shop. These efforts will provide potables for our annual Winter Solstice (Holiday) Party. To make things a little different than our other club brews, we are having the First Annual James River Homebrewers Mongolian Clusterbrew. Four teams, headed by Keith Shelton, Tedd Smith, Woody Elliott, and Dan Mouer will each brew five gallons of beer to a team-selected style using required base ingredients plus ingredients of the team’s choosing. Rules are that the base ingredients must be used, only the hops cited may be used, and the initial specific gravity may not exceed 1.060-2. Extract may be substituted for the base malts and partial mashes. At the Party, those in attendance will judge and select the winning team’s brew (bribery is acceptable). The winning team members will have their names engraved forever on the coveted Clusterbrew Mash Paddle which will be displayed at all major club functions (if someone remembers to bring it). All are welcome and encouraged to participate. If you wish to be a member of one of the teams, contact one of the team leaders or join a team on the 11th. If you just want to come over and brew something, come join in! Any questions, please contact Steve Severtson at 254-1005 or e-mail at sdgjpk@sprintmail.com. Following are the rules for the brew: Use only the following ingredients, you may use the yeast of your choosing and add any spice, flavoring or fermentable. S.G. must NOT exceed 1.060 – 1.062. 3 Lb’s Briess 2 Row Brewers Malt 3 Lb’s Muntons Maris Otter Malt 1 Lb. Muntons Crystal 60 L. All grain brewers @ 75 % efficiency = 1.037 S.G. One or all of the following pellet hops. Added at your chosen times. Styrian Goldings @ 4 – AAU - A Slovenia Fuggles with no relation to the Goldings hops. Strong yet warm aroma with a well rounded not harsh bitterness. A English ale finishing hops but best know for Belgian ales, Vienna/ Märzen and Pilsners. Mount Hood @ 4.2 – AAU – An American hop derivative of the Hallertauer Mittelfrüh and half sister to the Liberty hops. Light aroma and flavor. Used in American and German Ales and in some lagers. NorthernBrewer @ 10 – AAU – Used primary for bittering, but with strong flavors and very fragrant. Know for the Calif. Common hops also Dark English ales and German Lagers. Use sparingly for Aroma Hops. Grain to Extract Conversion: Light Liquid Malt @ 4.5 Lb’s; Light Dry Malt @ 3.5 Lb’s At 1.060 SG. With 1 Lb. Crystal malt. And: Light Liquid Malt = 7 & 3/4 Lb’s Dry Malt = 6 Lb’s Partial Mash: @ 1.060 Gravity 4-3/4 Lb’s - Light Malt Extract 4 Lb’s - Maris Otter Malt 1 Lb. - Crystal 60 L. ***************************** July Meeting President Tedd Smith welcomed members and guests, and thanked Tom Martin and the rest of the Legend staff for their gracious hospitality. Feature: Brad Mortenson made a special announcement, that he is leaving Legends at the end of the month. He is going to open up a beer bar, location as yet unknown. The members loudly encouraged him to let us know when he does so we can patronize his new establishment. He also assured us that brewing at Legends will be in good hands, as he has trained several brewers to take over for him. Brad then gave us a tour of the Legends brewing facility, highlighting the new silo and grain-moving machinery that has dramatically improved their output. Club News: Joel Trojnar announced the newest brewer in the family, Cooper Trojnar. Mom and baby are doing great. The Mongolian Clusterbrew will be held at The Weekend Brewer on Saturday, September 11th. Four teams will compete, using the same basic ingredients, for the bragging rights of the best beer at our club Christmas party. The winners will have their names engraved on a mash paddle that Ted Warren will build for the club Woody Elliott won the club only competition for wheat beers. Mark Thompson of Starr Hill Brewery confirmed that he will be our speaker at our October meeting. Legends extended a special VIP invitation to the members of the James River Homebrewers to join them for a sneak preview of their 2004 Oktoberfest beer on Sunday, September 12th, at 2:00pm in the downstairs pub. Raffle: Another great one! Prizes included cool glasses, carboys, Dan’s award-winning wine, coasters, hats and buttons, and a great big pot. ***************************** Pre-Pro At Capital Ale House Richbrau’s Classic Pre-Prohibition Pilsner, based on Steve Severtson’s award-winning recipe, is now on tap at The Capital Ale House Innsbrook location. Stop in and ask for it by name. ***************************** Club Survey We are conducting a survey of the membership to get a better handle on who we are and how we can make the James River Homebrewers an even better organization. Blank surveys were included in the March issue of the BrewsLeader. If more than one member of a household is a member of the Club, each member should complete a survey. Please return surveys to Jeff Hewit, or mail them to Club’s PO Box. If you need another copy of the survey, see Jeff, or go the Club’s website. ***************************** T-Shirts and Glasses We still have some available. The T's are $15 (new style) and $10 (old style). Old-style glasses are $2.50, with a special deal for Club members only - two for $5.00. New-style glasses, with a fancy etched logo - are one for $4.00, two for $7.00, and three for $10.00 ***************************** AHA Club-Only Competitions From time to time, the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) sponsors competitions based on a particular style. These competitions are open only to AHA-affiliated homebrew clubs. Each club holds a competition on the particular style. The winner’s brew is sent off to the AHA to be judged with the winners from other homebrew clubs around the country. Bring in five bottles – two for the local competition and three to send off if you win. Competition schedule: Aug - Wheat Beer (Cat. 17 ) Sep - Smoked Beer (Cat. 23) Nov - IPA (Cat. 7) - Hosted by James River Homebrewers When the entry dates are set, we will include the competitions in the Upcoming Events listing. Winners earn Homebrew Club of the Year points for their club. ***************************** Elections We're looking for a few good men…and women! In the fall, we elect Officers and Directors for terms beginning January 1, 2005. The offices of Vice President, Secretary, and Member at Large will begin two-year terms; the Assistant Competition Coordinator and all six director positions will begin one-year terms. The current Board of Directors will nominate a slate of candidates at the November meeting. (With Board approval, the current Assistant Competition Coordinator will assume the position of Competition Coordinator.) The elections will take place during the December meeting. (Additional nominations may be made at that time.) If you’re interested in serving the Club, let any Officer or Director know. Following are the duties of the positions, as set forth in the Club’s By-Laws: Vice President: The Vice President shall assist the President as needed and perform the duties of the President in his/her absence, and solicit items for and conduct the monthly raffle. Secretary: The Secretary shall record the minutes of regular Club and Board meetings, edit and publish the Club newsletter and maintain the Club’s active member list. Competition Coordinator: The Competition Coordinator shall be in charge of all beer competitions held by the Club, including those open to Club members only and those open to the homebrewing public. Assistant Competition Coordinator: The Assistant Competition Coordinator shall assist the Competition Coordinator. Member at Large: The Member at Large shall maintain Club history and memorabilia and take charge of special projects as approved by the Board. ***************************** Last call in the animal kingdom Many a bartender has likened his establishment to a zoo, but beer-drinking critters made headlines twice last week. First came the tale of a discriminating black bear in Washington state who was found passed out after drinking 37 cans of beer at a resort campground. And not just any cans. "He drank the Rainier and wouldn't drink the Busch beer," said Lisa Broxson, bookkeeper at the campground and cabins resort east of Mount Baker. Fish and Wildlife enforcement Sgt. Bill Heinck said the bear did try one can of Busch, but ignored the rest. "He didn't like that (Busch) and consumed, as near as we can tell, about 36 cans of Rainier." When agents tried to 86 the bear from the campground, the animal employed an old frat boy trick and climbed a tree to sleep it off for another four hours. Agents finally herded the bear away, but it returned the next morning. Agents then used a large, humane trap to capture it for relocation, baiting the trap with the usual: doughnuts, honey and, in this case, two open cans of Rainier. That did the trick. Then came word that drunken elephants in India had tramples six people to death after drinking homemade rice beer. "They smashed huts and plundered granaries and broke open casks to drink rice beer. The herd then went berserk killing six people," a forestry official told AFP news agency. The elephants reportedly emerge from the forests looking for food and have developed a taste for a local brew made from rice. Officials say at least 150 have been killed by elephants in India in the past two years. ***************************** Barbie gets her beer Finally, at the age of 45, Barbie can finally relax with a nice cold beer. A Munich designer has created a special Oktoberfest Barbie wearing an Alpine dirndl dress and hoisting a beer mug. Designer James Waldron says he created the Mountain Dirndl Barbie based on Julie Andrews' character Maria in “The Sound Of Music.” And everybody knows Maria needed a cold one after chasing the von Trapp kids around all day. The doll isn’t part of the official Mattel line of Barbie dolls, but will be presented at the Munich Oktoberfest, which begins Sept. 18.. There is no word on whether Ken will get a pair of lederhosen for the event. ***************************** Beer for the brain Can beer really make Bud wiser? Researchers at University College in London report that moderate alcohol consumption might be associated with higher cognitive ability, particularly for women. The study of 4,272 men and 1,761 women found that those who had consumed from one drink to 30 drinks in the past week scored higher on a battery of tests designed to measure cognitive ability. The effects were stronger among women. "Compared with abstainers, persons drinking one or two glasses of alcohol per day had a significantly lower risk of poor cognitive function," the authors wrote. Subjects who drank occasionally, but not regularly, performed better than non-drinkers, but not as well as those who had drank in the week prior to taking the tests. "In terms of cognitive function, we found that frequent drinking may be more beneficial than drinking only on special occasions," the authors wrote. ***************************** World's Smallest Brewery Converted outdoor privy in Wales makes one firkin at a time The world's smallest brewery has reopened in a converted outhouse in rural Wales. Less than five-feet square, Bragdy Gwynant brews ale for just one outlet - the Tynllidiart Arms next door. Based in Capel Bangor, near Aberystwyth, the brewery has gone back into production after a two-year break. It produces just nine imperial gallons (10.8 U.S.) at a time, enough to fill a traditional firkin. Margaret and Mark Phillips, who own the Tynllidiart Arms and the brewery, said the beer had a secret recipe. "The previous owner of the pub moved out two years ago and up until two weeks ago the pub was closed and the brewery was too," said Mark Phillips. "We thought it would be nice to brew our own local beer and luckily we had a brewer living a few doors down who was able to help." Margaret Phillips added: "We've tried to use as many local ingredients as we can in the beer and we use the same policy in our restaurant." The brewery was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the smallest brewery in the world before it closed. "But we'll be applying again in the next few weeks to become the smallest commercial brewery again," Margaret Phillips said. ***************************** River City Cellars Beer, Wine and Gourmet Foods 2931 West Cary Street Richmond, VA 23221 (804) 355-1375 www.rivercitycellars.com 10% Discount to Members of James River Homebrewers ***************************** The WeekEnd Brewer Homebrew & Wine Supplies 4205 West Hundred Road Chester, VA 23831 (804) 796-9760 www.weekendbrewer.com The BrewsLeader is the official publication of James River Homebrewers PO Box 486 Richmond, Virginia 23218-0486 Monthly Meetings All meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month at The Legend Brewery, 321 West 7th Street, Richmond, Virginia. Homebrew tasting at 6:30, meeting at 7:00. We are grateful to Tom Martin and the rest of the Legend staff for their gracious hospitality. Officers and Board of Directors President: Tedd Smith xxx-xxxx Vice President: Dan Mouer xxx-xxxx Treasurer: Bobby Yenney xxx-xxxx Secretary: Jeff Hewit xxx-xxxx Member @ Large: Denise Pierce xxx-xxxx Competition Coordinator: Stasi York xxx-xxxx Asst. Competition Coordinator: Steve Severtson xxx-xxxx Web Master: Ronnie Anderson xxx-xxxx Directors Woody Elliot xxx-xxxx Jack Jackson xxx-xxxx Steve Jarrett xxx-xxxx Joel Trojnar xxx-xxxx Ted Warren xxx-xxxx Jeff York xxx-xxxx Web Site www.jrhomebrewers.org Submit Articles Articles or other items of interest from the membership are welcome and should be submitted to the Secretary. Email to xxx@xxx.xxx. Dues The date after your name on the address label is the due date for your dues renewal. To renew your membership, just bring your dues - only $20 - to the next meeting, and give them to the Treasurer (or another officer if he isn’t there). If you wish, you may mail your dues to the Club at PO Box 486, Richmond, VA 23218-0486 Inclement Weather Policy If the Richmond city Schools are closed due to inclement weather on the day of a regularly scheduled Club meeting, the meeting will be cancelled, and re-scheduled for the following Wednesday – this will be confirmed by e-mail. Remember Drink Responsibly - Don’t Drink and Drive! Members and guests at James River Homebrewers meetings and events are individually and solely liable for any and all actions attendant to or resulting from their participation. James River Homebrewers PO Box 486 Richmond, VA 23218-0486 Don't take it too seriously, it's only beer!