Minutes of the June Meeting
Thanks to the Brown Bear Brewery (especially to Sean) for accommodating us with a place to meet in June.
Clean Up Crew: Robb and another kind soul. (Thanks guys!)
Treasurer's Report: $925.99 in Guild account; $8.50 in interest this year to date. Six Guild members have joined AHA. (kudos for the entire Guild).
Joe Yoder
Newsletter: If you didn't receive a newsletter last month, we apologize. Two newsletters were returned to us mangled and without address labels. We shall try using cement on the labels this month.
Old Business:
New Guild Home (the continuing search for): No further information on other possibilities.
Motion to try the Ecumenical Ministries. No cost, but donations requested. Alcoholic beverages allowed. No A/C.
Motion seconded and passed. July meeting at the Ecumenincal Ministries, 12th and Oread (across from Yellow Sub and The Crossing).
Contributions: to the Guild Newsletter and Web Site requested. (Excellent work to date by Pete, Ellen, and Sherry). Web site submissions to Pete, newsletter submissions to Sherry and Ellen by the first of the month, please.
New Seminar Topics: Ideas and subjects for new pre-meeting (7:30) seminar are requested. Please think and have ideas ready for August meeting. (July meeting is reserved for recovering from the BrewFest.
Topeka Hall of Foamers: Motion made to meet with Topeka homebrewers club sometime in the near future. Oktoberfest with the Hall of Foamers?
New Business:
Updated Members Phone List: If any members were not present a June Meeting, please contact Ellen, Sherry, or Rob J. at July meeting with current info.
BrewFest '98: All donated beer, please provide name (brewer and beer) and recipe. Blankets and lawnchairs suggested.
T-Shirts: 36 ordered, all sweat-grey-$10 for guests, $4-6 (cost) for members.
Glasses: Motion to order 250 pints with Guild logo passed.
Donated Beer: Derek reported 52 gallons of promised beer donations. 15-20 gallons will be brewed on-site.
Set-Up (10-10:30 Sat.): Joe, Doug, Sherry, Barry, and Rob.
Volunteers to dispense requested (2 hour shifts).
Schmitty's: Dave Schmidt from Schmitty's Brew Shoppe near 63rd and Brookside in mid-town Kansas City is offering deliveries to Guild members. He's in the book, so give him a call. Dave bought brewing supply gifts (Thanks!) and catalogs.
Announcements: June is Dwight and Lilian's 50th wedding anniversary! Congratulations, guys.
Also in July, Lawrence Brewers Guild will be a precocious three years old!
Commercial Tasting-American Lagers
Damm Fine (Tampa, Florida) (0 votes)
"Slightly nutty."
"Nasty."
"Gross."
"What the hell?"
"I'd rather have a Pabst."
Apollo (Minnesota) Space Lager (5 votes)
"Cool bottle."
"Better."
"Good smell."
"Smells better than it is."
Dixie (New Orleans) Blackened Vodoo (4 votes)
"Oh that vodoo that you do so well?"
"They've been hanging around with the Shiner people."
"Very thin."
"Bill S. likes it."
Bohemia (Mexico) Lager (2 thumbs down)
"No flavor."
"No nose, no hops-no nothing."
Modelo Especial (Mexico) (Winner with 9 votes)
"Absolutely foul."
"Best of Show!"
"Nice. Light, but nutty. I like it."
"Yes, Rob, it is a Vienna-style lager"
Robert Johnson-Secretary
BrewFest '98
Despite temperatures reaching 98 degrees in the shade (according to Jeff's thermometer), the 1998 LBG BrewFest was a success. An estimated 120 people attended the Fest throughout the afternoon. According to Joe, after all reimbursements, the club netted $22.49. We still have 96 glasses and 15 shirts to sell, which will increase the profit somewhat. (If you have not been reimbursed and think you should be, see Joe.)
We seved 45 out of the 50 gallons of homebrew (one batch had a problem) and ran out about 6:30. Jeff went back and fetched 10 gallons of Boulevard Pale Ale to finish off the day. That shows how popular our homebrew was. Jackie Rager, of the Kansas City Bier Meisters and a BJCP judge, said he thought that overall the beers this year were improved over last year. So there you have it. Next year we need more donations.
On the homebrew demonstration front, brewing was a little dicey this year. Both Joe and Rob had stuck sparges. I believe Rob even had the dreaded double stuck sparge and was there until 10:00 finishing up his brew. Way to hang in there Rob and thanks to Joe for sticking around and helping him. Trouble free outdoor brewing once again eludes our members. (See Big Brew '98) Also, it was really hot under the brew tent with those burners going. So a heartfelt thanks goes to all the brewers and assistant brewers for your efforts. At least you'll have some brew to show for all of your sweat. Perhaps we'll get to taste the results at the August meeting?
This year we decided to add live music to the Fest, and Joe Yoder arranged for Rhubarb Pie to play for a couple of hours. They played from about 4-6, and the music was outstanding! They put on a lively and entertaining show, and the crowd really enjoyed it. We should make live music a tradition. Thanks again, Joe, for arranging the band.
Also for the first time we had a water balloon fight as a way to beat the heat. It took a lot longer to fill the balloons than it did to bombard one another. All the balloons were gone in about three minutes. I do think we need to look for "water" balloons next year. Those suckers were hard to break, and way too many were wasted on the grass instead of showering fellow beer drinkers. It was a good time, though. The willy wet noodle was a good idea as well; however, it blew a gasket early on. I believe the problem was that it couldn't take the pressure. Games were not quite as popular this year as they were last year because of the heat, but several people played horseshoes, and as the sun went down in the afternoon, some played volleyball, frisbee, and soccer.
Thanks to all members who helped make the Fest a success-grillers, servers, brewers, and set up and tear down people. You know who you are. Thanks also to Dwight and his friend George, who once again loaned us the wonderful shelters, without which we would have been toast. Perhaps we should give George a t-shirt and four mugs?
And last, but not least, thanks to Barry for creating the cool design that we're sporting on our mugs and t-shirts. If there is anything I have forgotten to mention, I apologize. Bring it up at the meeting, and we'll pay homage to you.
Hot Hops Are Cool
A new chapter in my adventures with homebrewing began this spring-home grown hops. Since I like dirt under my fingernails and had a patch of crabgrass in the yard that needed sprucing up, I figured I would try to bring a bit of the Pacific Northwest (that is the domestic hop heartland) to my humble abode. With luck, by September I'll be brewing with some Goldings, Liberty, and Saaz. That is, if I can keep winning this battle I'm in right now.
My research showed me that bugs can be a common problem in raising hops. Well I've got plenty of common to go around. These little buggers were having parties every night all over my hops as soon as the plants were a measly two inches tall.
Then things got worse. The bugs invited the garden world equivalent of a football team to the party-rabbits. Bunnies are known for their culinary preferences in my veggie garden, but hops? Who knew?
I wasn't really keen on using toxic and mutating chemicals on the budding vines, since I have yet to see a homebrew recipe that calls for diazinon and malthion. After a bit more searching around for a solution, a kitchen formula has (for now) solved my problems.
Hot pepper-peppermint spray keeps the hop thrashers away. In a 16-oz. spray bottle, I mixed about 8 oz. of water with a couple of tablespoons of peppermint soap. I then made a hot pepper tea by steeping a chopped habanero pepper in boiling water for a couple of minutes. I topped off the spray bottle with the tea and sprayed the leaves of the hops once a day.
So far this seems to be working. The plants are almost two feet tall now. I'll keep you posted as the growing season continues. In the meantime, if you see any wheezing bunnies chugging ice water, now you know why.
Barry Fitzgerald
Cooking With Beer
Hoppin' John
Serves 8(?)
1 1/2 cups dried blackeyed peas
1 cup uncooked rice
1 onion (chopped)
1 green pepper (chopped)
1/3 cup hot salsa
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup stout or scotch ale
Place blackeyed peas in deep pot. Cover with enough water to cover by several inches. Bring to a boil and coook five minutes or until tender. Turn off heat and cover for one hour. Drain peas reserving liquid.
In a small sauce pan saute onion and green pepper for five minutes. Add rice and salsa, stir to coat. Add drained peas, spices, 2 cups reserved liquid, and beer. Bring to a boil and cook for one minute. Stir, then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes. Remove from stove, let sit for 5-10 minutes, then serve.
Chris Lounsbury
Brewpub Review
In June I was in Orangeburg, SC. visiting a friend. One day we decided to drive to the beach, and on the way back, we went through Charleston. As we were wandering the streets near the harbour, we saw a sign for Southend Brewery & Bar-B-Que. Wel, needless to say, we had to stop. It was a sunny day with fairly low humidity and a nice breeze. The front was made up of huge double doors that were open so that the bar area up front was like sitting in an open-air cafe. On the south side of the bar, a musician was pickin' some tunes on his guitar-a little Jimmy Buffet, a little Eric Clapton, a little James Taylor. The place had great atmosphere.
But on to the most important part-the beer. Barb and I sampled the pale ale, chocolate ale, ruby ale, and a dry stout. They were all tasty, well brewed beers that fit the style. The ruby was the most unexciting and out least favorite. The pale ale was my favorite. It had nice balance, good hop flavor and was crisp and clean. The chocolate ale was medium bodied and chocolaty, and the stout was full bodied with a nice balance of hops and dark malts. There was a full menu as well. We had barbecue pork and chicken sandwiches, and both were excellent. If you ever find yourself in Charleston, I suggest you stop in at the Southend Brewery.
Ellen Jensen
July 1998
Moderator: Officers