September 2000

[Greenblood]

Minutes of the August Meeting

A seminar by Jim Mayo opened the meeting. Jim talked about the glassware and drinking habits of Germany and Belgium. Mixed in with tales of travel to each region, the seminar also included a sampling of Belgian beers.

Old Business
Treasurer's Report: No treasurers report.

Yeast Bank: No new yeast.

Library Books: No new books.

Sister Club: Joe wrote to the beer club in Australia asking if they would like to be a "sister" club with LBG. They will discuss it in their next meeting and let us know.

New Business
Guided by Flavor: Sunflower Cablevision airs a new cooking show called Guided by Flavor with host Tony Nave. Tony is interested in doing a show on brewing beer. This could be an excellent way for LBG to receive some publicity and possibly recruit some new members. Club will need to provide equipment, ingredients, on-site training for taping, and location and will receive "This show brought to you by Lawrence Brewer's Guild. For more information, contact...".

Motion passed. Xan will contact and get more details. [Post meeting note: I spoke with Tony and he would also like to cook a couple of dishes using beer for the taping. He is checking with his producers and will get back to me on finalizing the details. Hopefully, I will have more information at the next meeting. -Xan]

Holy-Field Vineyard and Winery: Holy-Field has "Picking Sundays" during August and September. This involves meeting at the vineyard at 8:00 AM and picking grapes for the morning. Their flyer states, "Plan to stay after picking for a buffet lunch and wine in The Vineyard Room." No cost is listed for the picking or lunch, but I assume lunch is free as payment for labor. After lunch, they crush the grapes in the cellar and allow participants to taste the juice. Tentative harvest Sundays are: August 13, 20, and 27, and September 3, 10, 17, and 24. For more information and to confirm your participation, please call (913) 724-WINE.

Lawrence Journal-World: The Lawrence Journal-World lists upcoming club events, we will check and see if we can have our meetings added to the list.

Seminars: No seminar for the next two months. Suggested tour of Brown Bear or a combined tour of Boulevard Brewing and the Roasterie. No firm decision made, so bring your thoughts and comments to the next meeting. (Actually there is a September seminar, see below)

Jackie Rager: Jackie Rager had a triple bypass on Tuesday, August 8, 2000. He is reported to be in good condition , but is still in intensive care. We will send a card on behalf of LBG to wish Jackie a speedy recovery.

September Seminar:Robb Hensleigh will give his seminar on his all-grain lager (aka Robb's Normal). 7:30PM start time!!!

Meeting Adjourned.


Commercial Tasting: Belgian Wit
Blue Moon Belgian White (1 vote)

"Yum. I always pick the crap beer."-Sherry
"American."-Jeff
"Thumbs down."-Dwight
"Inocuous."-Joe

Hoegaarden White (7 votes-winner)

"Very clean."-Dwight
"In the correct glass, has tremendous balance."-Jim Mayo
"Spritely."-Dale

New Belgian Sunshine Wheat-Colorado (2 votes)

"Flavored water."-Joe
"Lottsa corriander."-Pete
"Strong spices."-Dwight
"Citrusy, like orange juice."-Barry

We also drank one biere de garde by Brouwerij-Brasserie, Belgiam

"Musty."-Sherry
"Starts good; ends bad. Ends with wood alcohol."-Rob
"Aged hops? Oxidized? Something's up?"-Joe
"Sweet nose."-Jim Mayo
"I get total wood from this."-Jeff

Xanthippe Stevens
Secretary


Festivals & Competitions
The Great American Beer Festival: This year the festival will be a little closer to home-in Denver at the Colorado Convention Center downtown. Hall A 14th and Stout Streets.

Thursday October 5-Saturday October 7

Public Sessions are: 5:30-10:00 Thursday, Friday, and Saturday-Last call at 9:45

KC Renaissance Festival Beer Competition: Homebrewing has been associated with the Renaissance festival for several years through the KC Beirmeisters demonstrations, but this year, the festival is hosting an AHA-sanctioned competition.

KC Renaissance Festival Homebrew Competition

Bonner Springs, KS
October 15, 2000
Entries dues 10/7/00
There is NO fee.
Contact: Carol Keller at 816-373-0907 or renfestse@aol.com.

Derby Competition: The Derby Brew Club 7th Annual Homebrew Competition, Derby, KS

November 4-18, 2000
Entries due 10/23 - 11/1 with $6 each for the first six entries and $5 for each additional entry.
Contact: Kip Innes at 316-788-4787 or
316-523-6894 or kbinnes@aol.com


A Journey to the Blind Tiger
Peggy and I, on the occasion of our fifteenth wedding anniversary, traveled to Topeka for a rare night out. Gary LLoyd of the Topeka Hall of Foamers told me of (perhaps) the only on-site micro in Topeka, namely the Blind Tiger. We arrived there early in the evening on a Saturday without reservations and ate at the bar to avoid a wait. We shared a plate of Texas Nachos ($5.99) and it was really enough to eat.

The beers we tasted were GS Hefe-weizen, which was cloudy, flat and sweet; Prairie Dog Brown, reminiscent of prairie dogs less hair; and Tiger Paw Porter, which we noted was like PDB, only more so (hairier?).

If you like going to a place that is lively and smokey and has 17 televisions on at the same time, this place is okay. There are lots of items on the menu for less than $10 and about 16 beers on their list. The address is 417 SW 37th, which is in the south part of Topeka. Telephone: 785-354-888.

Robb Hensleigh


Free State Brewery Has Serious Competition
Rob and I are long-time Free State fans and have looked long and hard for a brewery to equal Free State. On a recent drive through Leavenworth, we found not just an equal but a possible superior brewery - the High Noon Saloon and Brewery. When we walked in, we were somewhat dismayed to see Coors and Budweiser illuminating their windows with neon, and we were hoping they brewed their own beer.

To our surprise, we were greeted with an extensive beer list that included a couple of brews that I hadn't even heard of. Regular beer offerings include Annie's Amber Ale, Tonganoxie Honey Wheat, Lewis & Clark Lager, Stampede Stout, and Oregon Trail Raspberry Wheat. Also on tap were the following seasonal brews: Dodge City Dubbel, Mini Mo Mild, Buffalo Bill's Braggot, Lemongrass Rye, and Unfiltered Lager. We were seated and began overwhelming our waitress with questions. We sampled the Raspberry Wheat, Dubbel, Braggot, Stout, Amber, and Rye.

Rob tried the Oregon Trail Raspberry Wheat, as I am not a fan of fruit beers. He noted that it "starts out almost too much raspberry, but fades to an excellent wheat."

The Dodge City Dubbel was quite a surprise. I was momentarily transported back to Munich. This dubbel was right on style!

Buffalo Bill's Braggot was refreshing, but as Rob noted, "tastes like Bud and Cider." Good hot weather drink, but when we had this many good beers, it wasn't our favorite.

The Stampede Stout, on the other hand, was a beer I could get lost in. It was dark, smokey, and heavy on the chocolate malt. Dangerous stuff for stout fans!

Annie's Amber Ale was a malty amber but very tasty. Personally I would have liked more hop flavor, but when it came time to order a pint, this was my choice.

Most of you who know Rob know the Lemongrass Rye is one of his favorites at FSB, so this beer had a high standard to meet. I thought it was heavy on the lemon, but a great summer beer. Rob wrote "better than the last FSB batch - needs more rye."

Beers are available by the pint ($2.75), pitcher ($7.00 regularly, but $5.00 on Mondays), growler ($8.00 to fill, $2.00 first time deposit), and 7- or 15.5-gallon kegs (price varies and 24-hour advance order needed).

Beers make a brewery, but good food keeps customers coming back. I opened the menu and was dumbfounded (and this was before all the beer samples). Appetizers range from $4.99 to $6.99 and include selections such as mozzarella sticks, nachos, fried oysters (I can't wait to try these), quesadillas, etc. Also, on the lighter side, they offer a soup of the day, potato soup, and a beer chili, as well as four dinner salads.

Entrees range from $3.99 for a grilled cheese to $19.99 for a slab of BBQ ribs that will feed two. Menu features a full range of sandwiches, steaks, seafood, BBQ, fried chicken, and fajitas. I have my meals picked out for the next twenty trips! Just when I thought the menu couldn't have any more surprises I found Home Brewed Root Beer. Though we didn't try it, the root beer is available by frosted mug for $1.50 (refills only $0.75), floats ($2.99), pitcher ($6.00), or growler ($6.00 refill, $2.00 first time deposit).

They also offer daily dinner and drink specials. Most noteworthy is the Stein Club. Offered on Thursday's, the Stein Club allows you to refill your stein for $2.00 (18 oz.) or $3.00 (28 oz.), and you can store your stein at the bar.

The High Noon Saloon has several special events coming up, including Oc-Toga-fest on September 23 and a Halloween Party on October 28. Both events will feature live music and drink specials. Located at 206 Choctaw in downtown Leavenworth, this is worth the drive!

[Special note: I talked to the manager and asked about brewery tours. She thought that they were common and provided me with contact info. This would make an excellent seminar/meeting or special club outing.]

Xanthippe Stevens


Cooking With Beer
Wisconsin Style Brats and Beer
Bratwurst on the grill-a true summer time classic. If you've never tried them like this, you don't know what you're missing. This is a great use for that Miller Lite somebody left in your fridge. I don't think the type of beer you use is really that important. I found this recipe on another club's website.

8 uncooked Bratwurst
1 large onion, sliced
12 ounces beer
Buns, Sauerkraut, mustard, ketchup

Combine Bratwurst, onion, and beer in a large skillet; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 15 minutes. Cool slightly and transfer to container with a tight fitting lid. Refrigerate several hours or overnight, turning occasionally.

Grill Brats 4 to 6 inches from hot coals until well browned and completely cooked. Serve in buns with condiments.

Note: If desired, beer and onion marinade may be heated and grilled Brats kept warm in the marinade until ready to serve. Hot marinade may also be spooned over grilled Brats to serve. To heat, place in disposable foil pan on grill about 20 minutes before grilling brats.

There's really not much to it. I just put in enough beer to cover the Brats (it is usually more than in the recipe). Then throw it all in a Ziplock bag overnight. I think one of the keys is not to have your fire too hot, so they don't explode.

Pete Clouston

Brewing and the Advent of Agriculture
Webster defines health as the condition when one performs normally. Being healthy means that we think, feel, and act normally, that we eat normally, work normally, and sense the world about us normally. We intuitively sense that brewing and fermenting some of the beverages we drink is a healthy activity. Let's look into why this is so.

One of the curious facts emerging from the study of the history of brewing and agriculture is that the two appear to be equally ancient. Actually, normal interpretation of the anthropological evidence would place brewing as the more ancient art, since it is practiced by "primitive" cultures that remain hunter-gatherers. Of course, without the grains produced by agriculture, the brews produced (often by spitting into a starchy fruit or root broth and leaving the results to ferment), were a far cry from what we recognize as beer or wine. But even if these cultures are indeed primitive, perhaps pre-agricultural man was brewing up something as best he could.

The transition to an agricultural lifestyle is generally recognized to have been extremely challenging to the health of our bodies. The agricultural diet (with so many grains or starchy tubers, milk products, and meat) has a remarkably different array of nutrients compared to the Paleolithic, hunter-gatherer diet (mostly leaves and fruit). Although there are many living creatures that are able to thrive on very simple diets, humans need to eat a whole array of particular vitamins, metabolites of various sorts, minerals, amino acids, fats, and fibers in order to stay physically healthy. All of these, of course, were readily found in the various plant leaves and roots and fruits from which early men got most of their calories. And most are in short supply in typical agricultural diets. How was it possible, we wonder, for man to make the switch in such a short time?

Well, we haven't made a whole lot of progress adapting. We still have the gut length, teeth, digestive capabilities, and physiology of hunter-gatherers. What we have done is to find various foods that are extremely rich in the nutrients that we need, and we have made an effort to supplement our otherwise deficient diet. In fact, it was perhaps the discovery of such foods that allowed us to pursue the development of agriculture at all.

I'm thinking of brewer's yeast. The yeasts that we use to ferment our alcoholic beverages have the remarkable ability to synthesize an astonishing array of complex biological products from the simplest of resources. They also are able to concentrate important trace minerals. So, including any yeast-fermented food in your diet allows you to get your calories from nutrient-poor agricultural products. That is, as long as you consume some of the yeast itself.

But, of course, when you look at the brews of present-day hunter-gatherers, you find the yeasts to be an integral part of the drink. So, I propose the following hypothesis, which I find to be reasonably plausible. Once upon a time, Paleolithic men, probably like modern day fruit-eating creatures, discovered that moderately yeast-infected (i.e. rotting) sweet fruit was pleasantly inebriating. Through a process that is fun to imagine, they learned to make yeasty juice from this fruit, eventually catching on that chewing the stuff up before setting it aside to ferment rather improved the results. This became a regular part of their diet, and the concentrated nutritional benefits of the yeast took some of the pressure off of them to forage for specific leaves, roots, and herbs. Starchy fruits, and perhaps some starchy seeds, were also found to be helpful when so chewed (because, as we know now, digestive enzymes in our saliva break the starch down to sugar), and so were included in the fermenting process. These seeds thus acquired that dimension of value that alcohol adds to human life (more on this later), and glowing minds set themselves to figuring out ways to get more such seeds.

So agriculture was born. It seems to me likely that men and/or women set out to cultivate grains (or starchy roots) because a) they had a rich nutrient source in the yeasty brews they were drinking and so had time to be creative, b) The yeasty brews set a higher value on these agricultural products than they had had before, and c) drinking the yeasty brews made them think more creatively.

In other words, humans became agricultural, advancing civilization, because they had beocme hombrewers and wanted to improve their art. Hey, it works for me.

Well, my glass is empty. How are you doing? Here's to your health, and mine.

Stephen Fretwell


Discount Days at Bacchus & Barleycorn
LBG members receive a 10% discount from Bacchus & Barleycorn, September 4-9. Please show membership card or bring newsletter. Bacchus & Barleycorn is located at 6633 Nieman Rd. in Shawnee (913-962-2501).