November 1998

[Greenblood]

Minutes of the October Meeting

Clean Up Crew: Chris L.-Thanks, Chris!

New members: Steve Hinton. Welcome to the club!

Treasurer's Report: $925.42 after a deposit of $74.50. (AHA sent a check of $40)
Joe Yoder

Old Business:
Oktoberfest Beer Report: According to Sherry, the beer is heinous, but Doug says it will be drinkable. Hmmm, I guess we'll have to be the judge.

Community Mercantile (as homebrew supplier) Committee: Consulting is ongoing; Schmitty's Brew Shop has offered to help with consulting if contacted.

Dale W. asked if members were brewing Christmas ales.


New Business:
There was some discussion about going on a weekend activity after the holidays. Sherry and Chris are the committee.
Barry suggested a brew pub tour of KC. Any interest?

Seminars: Chris L. is interested in starting seminars again.

Brewing Techniques: Dwight received several items in the mail, including information about a special subscription price on Brewing Techniques with membership. Contact Dwight for more information.

Mo-Kan Homebrew Competition Series: Committee members are: Jeff J. (head), Tim, Tom, and Chuck. Still need to set up meeting.

Christmas Party: Since nobody volunteered to host the Christmas party (what are ya? A bunch of lame ducks!?), Doug is looking into whether we can have it at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries. Thanks Doug!

Lending Library: Don't forget about the lending library-See archivist Rob J. Punishment for non-returns, book damage at Archivist's discretion (!?)

Joe Yoder-Guest Secretary


Commercial Tasting: Xtra-Lite Beers
"Thin as air"-Jeff
"So clear, you can hardly see it in the glass."-Rob J.
"Kinda tasteless"-Xana
"All I catch is a whiff of church air in the nose."-Ellen
"The carbonation bubbles are so small you can't even see them."-Andrew
"I can't tell what this would be on my Lovibond chart."-Tim


Lawrence Brewers Guild Lending Library
Now available: (at a reduced deposit of $10 - less than the cover price!)

* Foster, Pale Ale
* Miller, Continental Pilsner
* Guinard, Lambic
* Fix, Vienna-Marzen Oktoberfest
* Foster, Porter
* Rajotte, Belgian Ale
* Warner, German Wheat Beer
* Noonan, Scotch Ale
* Richman, Bock (checked out until October meeting)
* Lewis, Stout
* Allen and Cantwell, Barley Wine
* Dornbusch (a Dusseldorf native), Altbier

Any suggestions for new Library purchases are always welcome (and subject only to Guild vote). The deposit can be cash or check- refund subject only to the undamaged return of the book at the following month's meeting.


Goings On About Town
* The 1999 American Homebrewers Association conference will be held in Kansas City June 24-26
* Kansas City Bier Meisters Competition, 3rd weekend in Feb.
* 1st round of national competition also in KC in April
* Beer Judge Certification Program exam - March - Let Alberta Rager at Bacchus & Barleycorn know if interested. She will also conduct study sessions if enough people are interested in those as well.


The Good Ol' Days
I was speaking to Dwight at the last brew meeting when he told me some startling news. He said he was thinking of quitting the Lawrence Brewers Guild! I said "What, after you've learned the secret handshake and vowed never to say Coors Light with a straight face again?" Unfortunately, he was serious. He said he has enough social clubs to keep himself busy. I said, "Yeah, but you love to brew." He said he was not giving up brewing. So I asked him what was up. He said he joined the club for the reasons stated in the preamble of our bylaws: "To promote, educate and share ideas in the art of beer making." He said all we do anymore is have a short meeting and then it's social time. He hit the nail on the head. What's wrong with that, you may ask. Nothing, in itself. Heck, anything beats those marathon business meetings we used to have - but we can go to a bar and meet, if this is all we are going to do as a club. We have to ask ourselves what the heck we are meeting for each month.

We used to have seminars each meeting delving into different aspects of brewing. We could ask questions and share ideas and experiences. We also used to have a style theme each month where we would look at a certain style of beer and discuss its history and origin, along with tasting and sharing recipe ideas. We used to have members send in helpful hints and ideas about beer making for the newsletter. We used to talk about inter-club brew competitions, theme brewing and having brewing outings at members' homes. Thank God for Dale Wheeler! He has been our only voice of reason in 1998. Why do you think that is? Because he is a new member and wants to talk and do homebrew!

If a new homebrewer were to join the club they would want to talk about brewing, ask lots of questions, get new recipes, etc. I don't think we are offering this as a club right now - and we should.

I think we have lost our focus in 1998. Granted, we have had quite a disruption in our routine with finding a new place to meet and such, but we need to get back on track, damnit.

For those of you who are new to the club this year, we used to have 1/2-hour seminars before each meeting given by any club member who wanted to talk about a certain aspect as it pertains to brewing or by a guest speaker. Seminars in the past have covered all-grain brewing, kegging, priming, gadgets, recipe formulations, and we even had a cool one on beer songs. It really doesn't matter what the seminars are on as long as we are talking about beer and sharing ideas.

I will be giving a seminar at Thursday's meeting starting at 7:30 p.m. on sanitation. Bring your ideas and questions. Hope to see you there.

Jeff Jensen


Holiday Shopping Ideas
Stumped this year for Christmas gifts? I have compiled a short list of things that you might want to add to your own wish list, or hunt some of these treasures down for your loved ones.

Two-liter, amber-colored growler with clamp-down ceramic top and a standard handle. They are 13.25 inches tall. These growlers have a porcelain flip-top with a durable rubber seal. They are absolutely safe and guaranteed up to a 4-bar inner pressure. The flip-top level lock is rust-resistant, and the stainless-steel straps will not corrode. Custom decorating is available for quantities of 100 or more. These beautiful growlers can be yours for the mere sum of $17 each. They looked really cool in the picture.

Evatac Enterprises has begun to sell insulated growler jackets for their 2L growlers. These jackets are made of high-quality materials and will keep beer cold 6 to 8 hours. Jackets can be customized with a logo Each has a web handle for easy transport, and the back of the jacket opens for easy insert and uses a velcro closure to keep the jacket snug around the growler. They will be offered in various colors.

Growlers and growler accessories can be purchased on-line at Growlers Online Store or toll free by dialing 877-287-8618. The on-line store is secure, including encryption of your credit card information, using the latest in SSL technology.

For those who lean toward the intellectual, or would like to look like they do... Beerhead ceramic pint glasses. A set of six ceramic glasses for your imbibing enjoyment, all in the shape of your favorite beer philosophers. There's Ben Franklin, Winston Churchill, William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, Kaiser Wilhelm and old Papa himself - Ernest Hemingway. What a conversation piece. Available through Brewmall.com.

The Kickback Pack All-in-One Chair could be the dream gift we've all been waiting for. This chair comes with two insulated coolers, one hanging within easy reach on each arm, an umbrella to shade your noggin, and it conveniently folds into a backpack so that you can break your fall when you trip over some young couple making out on a blanket at the beach or music festival. Retailing for $38 at Brewmall.com, this badboy is resplendent in Labatt's logos to boot.

Of actual interest and possibly useful is a book that looked like it could bring hours of delight (or consternation) to our homebrewing friends. The Homebrewer's Garden is 192 pages of ideas on growing hops, herbs and your own barley. A great gift for the survivalists in the family too! This also could be yours by logging on to Brewmall.com.

The last gift idea I have run across came to me via an Internet search conducted by one of my student helpers. I really don't want to know what he was looking for when he found this, but he introduced me to The Alaska Poop Moose (Jeff?). This unique candy dispenser is hand-crafted in Alaska, along with its first cousins, The Texas Tooter (a longhorn) and The Polar Pooper (a polar bear). All three dispense candy when their heads are lifted, causing their laundry chutes to open, pooping out a handful of M&M's or Boston baked beans or whatever little treat you loaded into it. This baby can provide hours of entertainment for the whole family and can be yours by logging on to www.poopmoose.com

Hope you have enjoyed my wish list for the holidays. Happy shopping!

Sherry Holub


St. Louis Brews Competion
The St. Louis Brews 1998 Happy Holidays Homebrew Competition will be held on December 11 and 12. The judging on the 12th will be followed by our annual Christmas Banquet. Visiting judges are welcome to attend the banquet.

Entries must be received by 5 p.m., December 5. Cost is $5 each for 1-4 entries and $4 each if you have 5 or more entries. Entries can be hand-delivered to either:

The St. Louis Brews
c/o St. Louis Wine & Beermaking
251 Lamp & Lantern Village
Chesterfield, MO 63017
(314-230-8277) or

The St. Louis Brews
c/o Worm's Way Garden
1225 North Warson Rd
St. Louis, MO 63132
(314-994-3900)

If you are shipping your entries, send them to:
The St. Louis Brews
c/o Growlers Pub
1600 Heritage Landing
St. Charles, MO 63303

Complete information, including on-line entry, judge registration and style guidelines is available on the club website. Contact Head Judge John Sullivan, or 314-351-2739 if you have questions.


Nifty Brew Tips
Stayin' Cool-although winter is approaching, hold on to this tip because summer will come around again - I have found a picnic cooler to be a great item to use when fermenting in the hot summer months. I have my carboy sitting in the cooler with a towel drapped over the top and use 1 litre frozen PET bottles to maintain a cool 66?degrees. The same also works great for fall brewing when the outside temperature is all over the place.

Kegs kegs kegs-Which ones have new seals, poppets, etc? It's easy to forget, so I have started to number my kegs. I keep a maintenance log for the kegs so that I can keep a regimented maintenance schedule. That way, the kegs are always in working order when I need them!

Jeff Jensen


Miller Puts Beer in Plastic Bottles
By JENNIFER BATOG
Associated Press Writer

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Miller Brewing, which bills itself as the champagne of beers, is putting some of its suds in plastic bottles.

The Milwaukee-based brewer said Friday that Miller Lite, Miller Genuine Draft, and Icehouse will be available next week in 20-ounce and one-liter plastic bottles in stores and stadiums in Los Angeles, Phoenix-Tucson, Norfolk, VA, Miami, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio.

"It really is all about convenience," said Jack Rooney, Miller's vice president of marketing. "In part, what we're hoping for is that it just makes it easier for people to have a cold beer in places where glass just isn't an option."

The brewer, which also makes Miller High Life, advertised as "The Champagne of Beers," hopes the new bottles will boost sales in venues such as sports stadiums where beer is usually served in plastic cups.

"We think this gives us an opportunity to increase our visibility and make it easier for our products to go to certain places," Rooney said.

The beer won't taste any different coming out of a plastic bottle, Rooney said. The bottles have a wide mouth and a resealable, screw-on cap.

One analyst called the move a smart idea.
"This is a very mobile society. We like to take our stuff with us," said Mike Urseth, publisher of Midwest Beer Notes newsletter of Ridgeland, WI. "Miller is taking advantage of that."

But plastic bottles could affect beer's reputation.
"I think it'll take a lot of marketing dollars to convince people that plastic bottles are appropriate for beer," said Craig Bystrynski, editor of BrewPub Magazine. "The concern would be that people would feel the plastic bottle sort of cheapens the sensation of the beer."

Potential consumers having lunch at Major Goolsby's, a downtown Milwaukee restaurant, were skeptical.

"It doesn't appeal to me," said Mike Jirec, sipping from a glass bottle of Miller Lite. "I don't like to drink any drink out of a plastic cup or bottle."

Stockbroker Tom Parks said he'd give the plastic a chance. "As long as it's cold, I'd drink it, no problem."

Submitted by Sherry Holub

Discount Days at Bacchus & Barleycorn
LBG members receive a 10% discount from Bacchus & Barleycorn, November 9-14. Please show membership card or bring newsletter. Bacchus & Barleycorn is located at 6633 Nieman Rd. in Shawnee (913-962-2501).