January 2001

[Greenblood]

In the brew pot...

Happy New Year! With the debut of 2001, a few changes have taken place within the Lawrence Brewer's Guild, among which is the inauguration of new officers. Your new and/or incumbent officers are Joe Yoder, President; Ellen Jensen, Vice-President; Barry Fitzgerald, Treasurer; Glenn Hudspeth, Secretary; Pete Clouston, Biermeister; and Rich Deviney, Librarian. The new officers look forward to serving you, and a very special thanks to last year's officers for all the work they did for the LBG.

In addition, it's also time to renew those memberships. Dues are $16 individuals, $22 families, and, a new category, $12.50 students. You can bring your dues to the next meeting or send them to Barry Fitzgerald. Some things to look forward to this year with your membership are planned trips to regional breweries & pubs, Brewfest 2001, seasonal parties, and of course the great fellowship, seminars, and beer tastings at the monthly meetings.

Things are looking good for the Lawrence Brewers Guild during the next year. Due to changes in December, the structure of the monthly meetings has been changed, resulting in a schedule of seminars and "style of the month." We ask that the person(s) contributing the style of the month bring their recipe and be prepared to say a few words on her or his brewing techniques. The January meeting was the first in this new series, and we all had an excellent time discussing hops with Barry, and tasting Joe's and Pete's stouts. I hope that everyone will be encouraged to brew the monthly style (or anything else for that matter) and bring it to the meetings. Isn't that, after all, what it's all about?

I would like to personally thank Xan Stephens, Ellen Jensen, and Pete Clouston, whose previous work as secretary, newsletter editor, and LBG webmaster, respectively, I have freely plagiarized as the new editor. I look forward to continuing Ellen's tradition of making the newsletter a valuable and timely source of information for the LBG and hope that you will also help by contributing to its content. Happy brewing...

Glenn Hudspeth


January Seminar
Barry Fitzgerald presented an interesting seminar on growing hops in Kansas (USDA zone 5b). Unfortunately, Barry reports that he has had only mixed success. In all cases, his yields have been smaller than expected, with only a handful of cones harvested each season. Also, Barry doesn't find the cones to be as fragrant as those bought at a homebrew shop.

In order to plant hops, one orders the rhizomes, which are spreading "roots" of the hop plant, from a homebrew shop such as Bacchus & Barleycorn or HopTech. In March, 2 rhizomes are planted in a mound, 1-2" below the surface. Each mound should be 2-4' away from neighboring mounds, and once sprouted the plants grow quickly. Apparently, the shoots are just as tasty as asparagus and should be protected from wild rabbits. One way to protect the young plants from rabbits and mites, according to Barry, is to spray the plants with an irritating solution made by steeping hot peppers and adding a bit of peppermint soap when cool.

While the plants are still young and small, Barry makes a trellis, presumably similar to the following, with each stake being driven into the ground at the base of a mound:

3-6 shoots per rhizome are allowed to grow up the twine towards the guy wire. The rest are cut back to strengthen those shoots which will be allowed to flower. Cones first appear in July, and Barry usually gets two harvests, although the second is not as large as the first.

After the last harvest in the fall, the plants should be clipped back at ground level and the dead vines removed from the trellis. The mounds should be mulched heavily for overwintering. Any harvested cones can be dried on a window screen in a cool area away from direct sunlight.

In summary, Barry speculates that perhaps the full sun of a hot Kansas summer day might be too severe for the hop plants, which are known for growing in more temperate climates such as the Pacific Northwest or Europe. Morning sun might be enough, and Barry is going to try to plant them in another location in the future.

On a related note, Alberta Rager of Bacchus & Barleycorn, who has some very nice hops growing on the west side of her house, reports in an email to the editor that her hops receive direct sun until late afternoon when they become shaded by trees. The soil doesn't have to be particularly good, but they do need adequate drainage. Perhaps the shade provided by the trees is enough to protect the hops from the drying heat of the hot Kansas afternoons.

Minutes of the January 11, 2001 meeting

Old business
Cleanup Crew: Jay and Dale.

Attendance: Joe Yoder, Dwight Burnham, Rich Deviney, Jeff & Ellen Jensen, Barry Fitzgerald, Doug Holub, Pete Clouston, Jay Batzner, Dale Wheeler, Ken Godwin, and Glenn Hudspeth.

Seminar/Style Schedule: Several members expressed a desire to know what seminars and styles were scheduled for a particular month. Go here for the information.

Newsletter: It was announced that the newsletter will be distributed per email (via Listbot) in the future and that everyone needs to be a member of the LBG mailing list in order to receive it.

Library: Rich is the new librarian. Jeff wants us to invest in a cool-looking suitcase for the books. Everyone agrees. Joe suggests we give the librarian a budget of $50 to purchase new books. Everyone agrees. We've got books. Please check them out!

Officers: Joe says we do not have a vice-president. Ellen Jensen volunteers and is now our new vice-president.


New Business
Brewfest 2001: Blue Stem called Joe and said that we need to reserve immediately. There has been some talk in the past of changing bands this year. Rich has an idea for a Celtic band that he knows. Joe moves that Rich try and get the band. Jeff agrees if they can do it for $300, the same as Blue Stem. The first weekend of June (6/2/01) was determined to be the best weekend. The band should play from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Everyone agrees with these plans.

Library Community Information Service: Pete received some information that needs to be updated (new officers, mailing address, etc.). Membership eligibility requirements should be changed to "over 21." Pete will submit the correct information.

High Noon Saloon: Rich reports that the brewer has sent multiple correspondence to the club with an open invitation to visit the brewery. He is somewhat disappointed that no one has shown interest. Rich suggests taking a "field trip" as a group to visit the brewery. Joe wants more such activities to be undertaken by the club, such as visiting the brewery in Manhattan, or a series of pubs in KC, or even the Boulevard Brewery tour. Transportation issue for such trips was discussed. Barry proposes that we select a particular day and take a trip. Ellen will check on transportation possibilities for early March.

Ellen moves that we close the business meeting. Meeting Adjourned.

One last note: membership dues due.


Tasting: Stouts
Pete Clouston's Irish dry stout: partial mash (3 lb. two-row, 3/4 lb. roasted barley, 1/2 lb. flaked barley, 4 lb. Alexander pale LME, 1/2 lb. lactose), bittered with Northern Brewer, Kent Goldings aroma, White Labs Irish ale yeast. OG 1.046, FG 1.016.

Joe Yoder's Shout it Out! Stout!!: recipe below.


Festivals and Competitions
Kansas City Biermeisters: Feb. 16 & 17.

Brewmeisters Anonymous: This competition was announced, but no information can be found on their website at publication of this newsletter.

Third Annual Drunk Monk Challenge: March 24. Submitted by Pete via Listbot.


Recipes
Shout it Out! Stout!!, Joe Yoder
Batch size: 10 gallons
OG: ca. 1.060

9 lb. British two-row
8 lb. American two-row
2 lb. Roasted barley
1 lb. Chocolate
1 lb. Black patent
1 lb. Crystal 60
1 lb. Munich

1 oz. Cluster 7%, 60 min.
2 oz. Centennial 9%, 60 min.
1 oz. Liberty 4.7%, 30 min.
2 oz. Northern Brewer, Hallertau 4.9%, 5 min.

White Labs #2 ESB yeast

Single-step infusion at 152? for 90 min., 60 min. boil.

Arrogant Bastard Ale, Joe Yoder

Batch size: 10 gallons
OG: ca. 1.055

1/4 lb. Belgian Chocolate

1 lb. German malted wheat
3 lb. German Munich
2 lb. Belgian Biscuit
14 lb. American two-row

2 oz. Northern Brewer 7.2%, 60 min.
1.5 oz. Cascade 5.5%, 30 min.
1.5 oz. Cascade 5.5%, 5 min.
1 oz. Cascade, dry

White Labs WLP 810 California Common Yeast

Single-step infusion at 152? for 90 min, boiled for 60 min., added 2 cups corn sugar, fermentation temp < 60?.


Smoked Raspberry Porter, Dwight Burnham

Batch size: 11 gallons
OG: 51.9 SG points
FG: 16.5 SG points
Alcohol: 3.7% w/w

16 lb. English pale
1 lb. Carafa chocolate
1 lb. Black patent
1 lb. Crystal 90
3 lb. Brown
1 lb. Peated

56.7 g. Northern Brewer

1/2 gal. Slurry of Wyeast #1056 American ale

Add 2 crushed vanilla beans to last 15 min. of boil. Add 96 oz. raspberry puree to each 5 gal. keg after primary fermentation.

Cooking With Beer
Porter Chili, Pete Clouston

Here's a good recipe to warm you up in the winter. I would just use the recipe as a starting point and add what you like. I used cubed beef round, canned corn, and added a can of chili beans. Use more or less chili powder to taste. I only used half the bacon, and I used Bully Porter for the beer.

6 slices bacon, chopped
1 lb. ground meat (beef or a mixture of pork and beef)
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup porter
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 16 oz. can whole tomatoes
3 Tbs. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
2 ears corn-on-the-cob
1 12 oz. can black beans
1 12 oz. can chick peas/garbanzo beans
1 tsp. Tabasco

Heat large pot and cook bacon slightly. Do not cook fully. Add ground beef, onion, and garlic and stir until meat is browned and onions somewhat cooked. Add porter, salt, and pepper. Mix in well. Add tomatoes and make sure to break the tomatoes up as you stir and thoroughly mix them in. Add chili powder and cumin, and cook for 10-15 minutes. Slice ears of corn and add the corn (slices), beans, and Tabasco. Cook for 45-60 minutes at medium to low heat. Serve hot.


Recent Beer News courtesy RealBeer.com
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JAN 18, 2001 - Commissions extends probes into suspected price cartels

Bud Light flops in Britain
JAN 12, 2001 - A-B gives up on U.K., discontinues sales

Interbrew-Bass deal killed
JAN 3, 2001 - Belgian brewery must sell Bass interests

Discount Days at Bacchus & Barleycorn
LBG members receive a 10% discount from Bacchus & Barleycorn, February 5-10. Please show membership card or bring newsletter. Bacchus & Barleycorn is located at 6633 Nieman Rd. in Shawnee (913-962-2501).