September 1998

[Greenblood]

Minutes of the August Meeting

Meeting started promptly at 7:50.

Clean Up Crew: Rob Dewhirst, guest Xanthippe Stevens and Sherry Holub. Thanks, folks!

Treasurer's Report: $954.74 in Guild account.
Joe Yoder

Old Business:
Keep meeting at Ecumenical Ministries, 12th and Oread (across from Yellow Sub and The Crossing). Joe will write check monthly.


New Business:
Lawrence.com Web Site: It was passed unanimously that we send information be listed in the web site. Sherry will coordinate and send info. Pete said it would be no problem to have a link from Lawrence.com to our current web site. Should promote more visibility for our club.

BrewFest Left Overs: Joe still has BrewFest glasses: $1.50 (96 left) and t-shirts: $5.00 (16 left). Blow-out prices!

Community Mercantile: Committee to help the Community Mercantile decide on stock for selling brewing supplies: Chuck Epp, Joe Yoder, Robert Johnson, and Dale Wheeler--hadn't met by August meeting. They will report at the Sept. meeting.

Scheduled Brew Events: Dale Wheeler suggested that we schedule brew events for those who would like to get together to brew, or at least pick a style of beer that we can all brew so that we can compare at a future meeting. Dale and Sherry have formed a brewing event committee to decide on more details.

Holiday Beer Brewing for Christmas Party: We voted unanimously that each member should start brewing a holiday/festive beer to be ready in time to drink at the Christmas party.

Mo-Kan Brewer: Ellen said she would look into what this is about and how the Lawrence Brewers Guild could fit in.

Baby Suddith: Andrew and Lisa Suddith are the proud parents of Kelvin Andrew, who arrived at about 1:40 a.m. Aug. 14, weighing in at 7lbs, 11oz. In fact, they were at the hospital during the August meeting. All three are doing fine, and word has it that Kelvin is a cutie! CONGRATULATIONS!


Commercial Tasting-New England Beers
Wild Goose-I.P.A. (12 votes, Winner)
"Yummy." -Sherry
"Good, good good." -Dwight
"Way hops!" -Dale
"Call the distributor; it is being discontinued." -Jeff
"Do I taste fruit or have I just been smoking crack?" Tim
[What kind of comment is that, Tim? - ed.]

Hempen Ale (0 votes)
"Yuch." -Rich
"Oregano ale" -Tim
"Bong water"-Sherry
"Malty..."-Joe

Saranac-Pale Ale (1 vote, Dale-you just had to be different, didn't you?)
"Thin"-Joe
"Makes a bad face"-Sherry
"Good beer"-Jeff [Now, that's an original quote. -ed.]

Sam Adams-Summer Ale (0 votes)
"Blech"-Dwight
"Soda pop"-Dale
"Eeewwww!"-Sherry

Joe Yoder-Acting Secretary

The Mercantile Supply List Committee
Chuck Epp, Joe Yoder and I met at Chuck's house to develop a list of essential supplies that should be stocked by the Community Mercantile, if they are willing to do so. At our next meeting, we will present our list and ask for your input on any items we may have overlooked or thought non essential.

Dale Wheeler


Our Christmas Party Brew!
At our last meeting I suggested that we, as a club, choose a style of beer to brew and share for a sort of mini taste-off. We decided to that it would be good to make a winter ale (or lager) to share at our Christmas party.

This is a fairly wide open category, certainly open to individual tastes and interpretations. I found the following style definition on the Association Of Brewers web site:

Herb and Spice Beer

Use of herbs or spices (derived from roots, seeds, fruits, vegetables, flowers, etc.) other than hops to create a distinct character. Underhopping allows the spice or herb to contribute to the flavor profile.

* Original Gravity (?Plato): 1.030-110 (7.5-27.5)
* Final Gravity (?Plato): 1.006-30 (2-8)
* % Alc./Wt. (Alc./V.): 2.0-9.5 (2.5-12.1)
* IBUs: 5-70
* SRM (EBC): 5-50 (10-99)

I've never personally made a spice beer, though I've tasted several and talked to a few people who have judged them. From what I gather, it is wise to follow an established recipe if you've never experimented with this style before. It is really easy to overdo the spices resulting in (heaven forbid) an undrinkable beer. If you are creating your own recipe, use an established base recipe which you have made several times and are reasonably certain of how it will turn out.

Other than these few tidbits of knowledge and the AOB style description, you're on your own. This seems like a fun style. I'm looking forward to sampling everyone's results in December.

Dale Wheeler


A Winchester Marathon Brew Session
The Winchester branch of the LBG met Friday night and Saturday (8/28, 8/29) for a brew session. Robb Hensleigh brewed a stout well into the early hours of Saturday. I preboiled water for the next day. Joe McAfee and I got an early start Saturday morning brewing a pale ale and a dunkel weizen. I made 10 gallons of the weizen, splitting it into two cornelius kegs for fermenting. With one of the kegs, I will add a "spiced tea" when I transfer to the secondary, which will hopefully result in a nice winter ale. Later in the day, Joe and Rich were going to get together to brew yet more beer. We had a great session at Robb's house, exchanging ideas on recipes and equipment, and, of course, extensively sampling a variety of homebrew.

Dale Wheeler


Mo-Kan Brewer of the Year
Alberta Rager of the KC Biermeisters and Bacchus & Barleycorn was telling me about the Mo-Kan Brewer at our BrewFest earlier this summer, but the details were a little fuzzy. Gee-I wonder why?! I have since spoken with her again to get more details. It is basically a contest whereby residents of Missouri or Kansas can earn cumulative points at a series of competitons hosted by participating homebrew clubs in MO and KS. Right now those clubs are KC Biermeisters (earlier this year), Derby Brew Club (Sept. 6) and St. Louis Brews (Dec.). Alberta is encouraging the LBG to add a fourth competition to make the contest more fun for participants as well as to strengthen the homebrew community in the Midwest.

This year is the first year for the Mo-Kan Brewer of the Year. The KC Biermeisters used to be part of the Midwest Brewer of the Year, which Alberta helped found several years ago and managed for the first 4-5 years. A couple of years ago, one of her successors rewrote the rules without consulting any of the other clubs and inexplicably excluded the KC Biermeisters as a qualifying club. By then, it was too late to do anything for 1997, but Alberta began organizing a new contest for 1998: The Mo-Kan Brewer of the Year.

Each club contributes $25 to go toward a prize for the winner. The prize is an engraved mug or plaque, which will be awarded to this year's winner after the St. Louis competition in December.

If the LBG became involved, we would need to host a competition: Fix a date, plan a budget, promote the event, find judges, obtain a location, handle the entries, etc. etc. etc. Alberta said she would be willing to help the planning committee with suggestions, but we would probably have to start planning soon - by the end of the year. Alberta said the KC Biermeisters had 441 entries this year, but we wouldn't expect near that amount our first year. She guessed around 100 entries, but it would depend on how much advertising and promotion we did, how many of our own members submitted entries and whether we were part of the Mo-Kan. One option would be to try hosting a competition without involvement with Mo-Kan the first year, just to see how it goes. We would probably draw more entries by being a part of the contest, however.

So, start thinking about whether you want to host a competition, and we can talk about it at the Sept. meeting.

Whether or not we decide to host a competition next year, we should all start seriously thinking about sending our homebrew into regional and national competitions to get our name out there in the homebrew community as having the best homebrewers!

Ellen Jensen

Cooking With Beer
Chocolate Stout Ice Cream

Kendra got this recipe from Midwest Living magazine (I think). She omitted the semisweet chocolate, and it still was very chocolatey.

Makes 1 Quart
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
3/4 cup sweet stout (Mackeson, Whatney's, Sheaf, etc.)
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup honey
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate

1. In a heavy saucepan, heat cream, stout, milk and honey until bubbly.
In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy. Beat in cocoa powder until well-combined.
Gradually stir hot stout mixture into egg mixture until just combined.
Return to saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until slightly thickened and just beginning to bubble around the edges (don't overcook).

2. Place semisweet chocolate in large bowl. Pour hot egg mixture over chocolate and stir well with a wire whisk until the chocolate is melted. Cool; cover and chill thoroughly.

3. Pour chocolate mixture into a 2 quart ice cream container. Freeze according to manufacturer's directions.

Pete Clouston


Discount Days at Bacchus & Barleycorn
LBG members receive a 10% discount from Bacchus & Barleycorn, September 7-12. Please show membership card or bring newsletter. Bacchus & Barleycorn is located at 6633 Nieman Rd. in Shawnee (913-962-2501).