The BrewsLeader November 2004 Vol. 21 No. 11 IMPORTANT READ THIS FIRST Don’t forget to bring your India Pale Ale to the November meeting. We’ll be judging the for the upcoming AHA Club Only Competition ***************************** Upcoming Events Nov 10 Club Meeting Style Discussion – Spiced/Fruit/Vegetable Beer AHA Club Only - IPA (Cat. 14) 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 Jan 12 Club Meeting This is Your Brain on Alcohol AHA Club Only – Irish Red Ale (Cat. 9D) Jan 19 Board Meeting Jan ?? Club Brew for St. Patrick’s Day Feb 9 Club Meeting How to Judge Beer Feb ?? Legend Anniversary Party Mar 9 Club Meeting Annual Club Championship Mar 12 Brews Cruise Mar 19 Board Meeting Mar ?? St. Patrick’s Day Party October Meeting Our lovely and talented President Tedd Smith welcomed members and guests, and thanked Tom Martin and the rest of the Legend staff for their gracious hospitality. Feature: Mark Thompson, Master Brewer at the Starr Hill Brewery in Charlottesville provided an enthusiastic discourse to the assemblage. Starr Hill has won more awards than any other brewery east of the Mississippi since 1999. Mark pointed out that we are all brothers and sisters in arms. Our mission – bring the gift of great beer to the world. Mark discussed his minimalist philosophy of beer making. He uses the 3-2-1 method for his beers: 3 malts, 2 hops, I yeast. He also provided samples of his brews – great stuff. Thanks again, Mark, for your enlightenment. Raffle: Another great one! Prizes included a bottle of Dan’s award-winning wine, a carboy, a bucket, mini-mugs, hats, posters, glasses, malt, Starr Hill beer, openers. Jeff Hewit won Mystery Prize #1 – a wine making video. John Wise took Mystery Prize #2 – a supply of Grölsch bottles and smoked rye malt. Group Site: Dan Mouer discussed the new Club discussion site on Yahoo. This should help enhance communication among members. This service is in addition to the regular Club web site. Sign up at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JRHB/. Other Stuff: Reports on the Cluster Brew, the River City Beer & Seafood Festival, and upcoming HalloFest Party were made. 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 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. Note that all competitions will use the new BJCP Guidelines – go to www.bjcp.org for complete descriptions. Competition schedule: Nov - IPA (Cat. 14) Hosted by James River Homebrewers Jan – Irish Red Ale (Cat. 9D) Mar – sour Beers (Cat. 17) Apr – Extract Beers – BJCP Categories 1-23 – extract must make up more than 50% of fermentables Jul – Belgian & French Ale (Cat 16) Sep – European Amber Lager (Cat 3) Oct – Baltic Porter (Cat. 12C) 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. Driving Under the Influence Information – Virginia Something for all of us to keep in mind as we go about participating in Club and other activities that involve the consumption of alcohol. Fines – up to $2,500 Incarceration – Mandatory Minimums 1st offense – none 2nd offense within 5 years – 5 days 3rd offense within 5 years – 30 days 3rd offense within 10 years – 10 days 4th or more within 10 years – 1 year Penalties for High Blood Alcohol Content .20 but less than .25 1st offense – 5 days 2nd offense – 10 days .25 and above 1st offense – 10 days 2nd offense – 20 days Home confinement with electronic monitoring at court’s discretion. RUSSIA NEARS BAN ON PUBLIC BEER DRINKING Russia's lower house of parliament has given a final endorsement to a bill that would make it illegal to drink beer in public. The State Duma voted 414-1 with one abstention to endorse the bill, which now needs to be approved by the upper house and signed by President Vladimir Putin to become law. This comes following legislation that tightly restricted beer commercials and advertising. It's unclear when the Upper House will take up the measure. The bill bans drinking beer on streets, in stadiums, on public transportation, in parks or in other places where there are no cafes or restaurants. Beer sales would be banned near schools and universities and to people under 18. Drinking vodka and hard alcohol in public is already illegal in Russia. BUDVAR CAMPAIGN ATTACKS GLOBAL BREWERS Czech brewer Budweiser Budvar has launched an ad campaign slamming global brewers for damaging the heritage and quality of beers in the Czech Republic. The campaign, appearing in the main Czech daily newspapers, laments the death of traditional brewing in a country that itself sees as a "superpower of brewing." Budejovicky Budvar continues to be locked in a global dispute with America's Anheuser-Busch over who has the rights to the trademarks Budweiser and Bud. In dozens of countries, the Czech Republic's third largest brewer in terms of output, is going head to head with A-B, which is 100 times larger. Banned from the North American market under an agreement drawn up between the brewers in 1939, Budvar took its first steps back into the market three years ago with the launch of Czechvar, a label specifically developed to get round North America trademark restrictions. A-B has raised no objections. Distinguished Brands, which imports Czechvar, recently announced the first Czechvar will be available on draft in select markets beginning in January. The draft version will be tested in four cities, with interested bars expected to meet certain standards. They will be required to pre-order Czechvar, and the restaurant or bar must commit to serving a 50-liter Czechvar keg in three days, thus ensuring the freshness of the beer. CHEAP DRUNK? WOMEN “HOLD THEIR LIQUOR” BETTER Research by scientists in Kentucky indicates that women are better at "holding their liquor" than men. The study at the University of Kentucky found men's loss of inhibition was three times greater than women's with the same blood alcohol levels. Writing in the journal Addiction, they said the finding might explain why men are more likely to become aggressive. In the study, men and women "social drinkers" were given a set amount of alcohol. They then tested their ability to hit a button at the right time when a symbol flashed up. Participants had to hit a green button when a green symbol flashed up. If a blue symbol appeared, they were told not to hit anything. People became less able to prevent themselves hitting the green key when a blue symbol appeared the more drunk they became. CINCINNATI CHOSEN FOR BEER HALL OF FAME Promoters of a national Beer Hall of Fame have chosen a Cincinnati entrepreneur's plan for their multi-purpose beer complex. In a press release, Beer Hall of Fame Project manager Joe Gardenghi stated, "We are excited to be in negotiations with Randall (Herbst) to bring the Beer Hall of Fame to Cincinnati. Vision Implementation Group's proposal and vision is compelling as well as passionate." Herbst plans to put the Hall of Fame in the struggling Tower Place Mall. Herbst declined to say how much money Vision and Leisure have raised to pay for the proposed Beer Hall of Fame to be designed by Cincinnati's FRCH Worldwide Design. But he did say he expects the entire project will cost $22.5 million, including a purchase of Fourth Street's Tower Place Mall. Though details haven't been finalized, he said an initial concept calls for establishing a Nation's Micro Brewery inside the mall that could brew up to 700,000 barrels of beer a year. The Hall of Fame also would include 75,000 square feet anchored by a food court with five to seven restaurants and a 35,000-square-feet space for brewing, cooking and homebrewing instruction. BEAR BREAKS INTO MOOSEHEAD STASH Beer season for bears continues to the north. This time the beer is Moosehead and the bear is Canadian. Police in New Brunswick discovered 200 cans of stolen Moosehead beer at a marijuana growing operation in the forest near Doaktown, N.B. A few of the cans, from a shipment bound for Mexico that was stolen in August, had been ripped open by a bear. A while back, Washington state Fish and Wildlife agents found a black bear passed out on the lawn of a resort. That bear has consumed dozens of cans of Rainier Beer. Back in New Brunswick, "Six of the cans were discovered with bite marks in them indicating a bear had, at one point, been into the beer," the police said in a news release. The release said there was no sign of either the animal or the people who had stashed the beer. MAN GIVES BEER TO TRICK-OR-TREATERS Three young Canadian trick-or-treaters were startled Halloween night when a man in Saskatoon gave them cans of beer rather than candy. Dave Kozicki said the man, apparently drunk, tossed the unwanted treat into the bags of his nine-year-old son and two friends and told them not to come back. "Firstly you think it is kind of funny, but then I started thinking who knows what other stuff is going on and what else he is doing," Kozicki said. "I figured at the very least police should know about it." Officers charged a 53-year-old man with distributing alcohol to minors - a ticketable offense. His name was not released. The beer - three cans of Kokanee - was confiscated as part of the investigation, Kozicki 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!