Minutes of the June Meeting
Old Business
Treasurer's Report: "We have money. I think it is just under $600," and after a bit of digging "$594.30."
BrewFest Committee: Water jugs, tables, and tents-Dwight; Food-Dale; Pig-Rich; Plates, napkins, and flatware-Ellen; Glasses-Joe;
Ice and beer (last report 14 kegs)-Derek; Commercial beer-Jeff; Trough-Doug; Table linen-Ken; Beer/Brew demonstration-Rob D.; Shirts-Xan; 10 A.M.-12 P.M. setup-Ken and Dale; Cleanup volunteers-Joe; Dry erase or chalk board-Dwight; Cashiers and bartenders-recruit members on hourly or as needed basis; Directional signs-Rob D..
Proposed guest book needed to help with head count.
Reminder to bring sports equipment (lawn darts and pets not allowed).
Joe will check with the City regarding volleyball equipment.
Proposed club buy insect repellant to have at cashier stand.
New Business
Point of Interest: Riverfront Outlet Mall bookstore has books on brewing recipes, equipment, etc. They aren't the most recent editions, but good sources on information and CHEAP.
Library: The library has not been turned over to Joe. Jeff will check with Rob Johnson.
Commercial Tasting: Ciders
Woodpecker-England (5 votes and the winner!)
"No comment-didn't drink it." - Ken
"Huh, huh she said wood, huh, pecker." - Dale
"Cinnamon after taste." - John Falley
"Dry, crisp, very refreshing." - Jennifer Garrison
Woodchuck Granny Smith-Vermont, (4 votes)
"Sweeter more like apple juice with bubbles." - Jennifer
"Second one's better." - Rich D.
"Yeah, baby!." - Ken
"Too many Granny Smiths, needs more Red Delicious." - Doug
"Too sweet." - Dale
"Dry, almost a wine." - John Falley
Woodchuck Colonial-Vermont (4 votes)
"Oakey." - Ken
"Uh." - Dale
"Really good, tastes like Brandy." - Jennifer G.
"You got your bourbon in my apple cider." - Rob D.
"More palatable, less appley." - Chris Lounsbury
"Interesting aroma, definitely sweeter." - John Falley
Ace Fermented Pear Cider-California (1 vote)
"Doble Dickens Cider." - member-prospect Jake
"I've had a pear in my mouth before." - Dale
"This would go good at a seven year old's birthday party."- Chris Lounsbury
"Did someone drop a perfume bottle in here." - Dwight
"Jolly Ranchers and Smarties." - Jennifer G.
"Smells like a cucumber salad." - Sherry
Ellen Jensen
Secretary
BrewFest '99
Chalk up another one for the LBG. Despite a slightly lower turnout than last year (probably between 80-100 people), the BrewFest was a success. The temperature was in the 80s-plenty of sunshine but not too hot-not nearly as hot as last year.
Three cheers to Dale and Ken. The food was fabulous! We feasted on smoked pork and turkey, southern smoked barbeque beans, potato salad, and chips. Club members donated around 70 gallons of homebrew, ranging from stouts, to pale ales to apricot honey ale. We didn't quite get through all of the kegs, but that just meams more beer at the next meeting!
Several people took part in horseshoes. I believe the team of Mark Gettys and Dennis Doles were the day's unbeaten champions. There was also some T-ball action, and several people joined in a hot game of Frisbee while others chose cooler pursuits-such as water fight with the hose. The band, Bluestem, was wonderful. They played for a couple of hours and seemed to enjoy the beer and food as well.
A Big Thanks!!!
I raise my beer mug to toast all the great work the members of the LBG did before, during, and after our annual BrewFest!
Thanks for . . .
. . . serving on the committee and arranging all of the details
. . . donating all of the great beer
. . . helping set up that morning
. . . taking turns running the ticket booth
. . . keeping the beer flowing steadily
. . . and finally, cleaning it all up at the end.
With all the support you provided, it became a very enjoyable day for guests and members alike.
Prost!
Dale Wheeler
Celebrity in Our Midst
If you haven't already done so, check out the June 30th edition of the Lawrence Journal-World. If you turn to the Food section, you will see a half-page color photo of Pete sporting his LBG polo shirt and posing with several bottle of his homebrew, complete with his own labels. He was featured in an article on cooking with beer. The article was great and informative, and the LBG got some good publicity in the bargain!
Kegging Kaveats
In light of the recent attention that's been paid to kegging and the number of LBG members starting to use kegs instead of bottles, I feel it's worthwhile to examine more closely some of the advantages of bottling instead of kegging homebrew. Kegging has many advantages not outlined here. Kegs double as fermenters; they're shatterproof, and for very large batch sizes, they tend to be more efficient (bottling twenty gallons of beer would give me an ulcer). Howeverk, many new and experienced keg brewers seem to have forgotten some of the advantages of bottling, as well as the disadvantages of kegging. They've started to accept the limitations, idiosyncrasies and outright horrors of using kegs to store beer and stand by the statement that kegs are cheaper and easier, but no one has ever shown me a cost or labor breakdown to prove this.
Bottles are cheap (free in most cases), easy to handle, store, use and are readily available. Kegs are expensive, big, maintenance nightmares and require special arrangements or a visit to the brew store to purchase or fix.
Part 1: The Real Costs
One advantage I've heard often is that in the long run, kegs are cheaper. In the very long run, this might be true, if you don't drink a lot of store-bought beer and have zero problems with your kegs. On the other hand, one of the problems with this rationalization is that many of the hassles associated with using kegs (maintenance, parts, cleaning) can all be aided or eliminated by spending more money. This is a recurring theme in the whole world of kegging: Spending more money helps eliminate problems.
Perpetuating this fallacy are the kegging "starter kits" that people buy. A single keg, tank, tap, regulator and a little bit of tubing doesn't come close to the required equipment unless you are nothing more than a casual brewer, making a batch every few months, and never have any problems with the equipment - just as the starter beer kit that most people purchase doesn't come close to the equipment they eventually end up using. People start out purchasing keg equipment thinking that in the end, the small initial investment will pay off in terms of money and time.
The reality is far worse. Below is a realistic estimate of what it takes to keg homebrew seriously. I define serious kegging as "a concerted effort to maximize beer quality while minimizing labor, risk, space and cost." If you use kegs today, you may want to skip the next couple of paragraphs.Your eyes may start to burn, or you may go into denial overload. I am about to add up what it really costs to keg beer.
5 lb. CO2 Cylinder, filled: $80
Refrigerator: $80
Kegs, 2, refurbished: $80
Picnic taps, 2: $16
Regulator, Twin Gauge with check valve: $65
Manifold: $20
O-rings, poppets: $20
Quick Connects, 2 each, gas, fluid: $14
Socket for keg connectors: $5
Dip tube brush: $5
Misc. clamps, tubing, fittings: $20
Total: $405
Obviously, you can fiddle with the numbers a little bit, but the result would be about the same. For instance, buy cheaper kegs; expect to pay more for parts. Buy a cheaper regulator, and expect to have two cylinders on hand when you run out of gas in one of them, or when you ruin it with beer backflow. Don't forget you'll need something such as a pressure filler or carbonator if you want to transport your beer in small quantities somewhere. Pressure fillers are at least $65 for good ones.
One could also do away with the manifold and purchase more miscellaneous fittings and tubing. Do away with the extra money spent on spare parts and be prepared either to bottle your beer when you lose a part or drive to the brewshop and pray they have the part. Of course, if you buy more kegs, tack on a larger CO2 cylinder as well.
Compare this to the cost of roughly $20 to purchase enough bottles for a five-gallon batch of beer. At that rate, you can purchase new bottles for every batch of beer for your next twenty batches before you even come close to the initial retail equipment investment required for kegging with two kegs and small CO2 cylinder. If you add in all the spare parts, tools, space and CO2 refills (roughly $1 to force carbonate and dispense a batch from a 5lb tank) and extra kegs, the break-even point is much further out. This also assumes you don't need to purchase a separate refrigerator.
Bottles from store-bought beer and ones pulled out of the recycling bin can be made homebrew-ready with only a small amount of effort. A little hot water and ammonia will take the grunge off any bottle that sits long enough. This brings the cost way down.
Bearing all these costs in mind, I believe that when most keg users put a pencil to their costs and time, they find that their return on investment for kegs is years away, if it ever occurs at all. It's pretty easy to estimate where the return is.
Which bring us to the "easier" argument for kegging. Next month: Coming to Terms with What "Easy" Means
Rob Dewhirst
Discount Days at Bacchus & Barleycorn
LBG members receive a 10% discount from Bacchus & Barleycorn, July 5-10. Please show membership card or bring newsletter. Bacchus & Barleycorn is located at 6633 Nieman Rd. in Shawnee (913-962-2501).
July 1999
Moderator: Officers