CHICKEN NEXT MEETING: 7:00 HIDEOUT BREWERY DECEMBER 13, 2007

Transcription

1 The RUBBER CHICKEN NEXT MEETING: 7:00 HIDEOUT BREWERY DECEMBER 13, 2007 December 13th at The Hideout Brewery Join your fellow PT Brewers. Bring a dish to pass, your home brew, and a couple of buck$ for the auction.

2 6. LIGHT HYBRID BEER 1-Westside Blond, Jeff Carlson HM-Creame Ale, John Applegarth 7. Samuel AMBER HYBRID Adams BEER creates an 2-California Common, John Applegarth ode to noble hops 8. ENGLISH PALE ALE HM-unnamed, Back for a second Richard time, Gretz Samuel Adams Hallertau Imperial Bitter, Pilsner John remains Applegarth a beautiful if big HM-Best 9. at SCOTTISH 8.8% abv and AND 110 IRISH IBU ALE tribute to the HM-Big Hallertau Mac Mittelfrueh Scotch Ale, hop. James Or Mittlefrüher B Verlinde as it is spelled 10. AMERICAN in the Halltetauer PALE ALE region of Bavaria. 2-Westside Brown, Jeff Carlson Lew HM-PrimeTime Bryson already Pale provoked Ale, Jeff Carlson a long enough HM-Alpha discussion Male about Pale, calling John it imperial Applegarth pilsner, inspiring ENGLISH a nice treatise BROWN on ALE balance by Stephen Beaumont. Mile Brown, Consider Dan those Humphrey topics dealt with. 12. PORTER HM-Baltic Instead, some Porter, answers John Applegarth to the 14. question IPA Why? The short answer 2-Imperial is: Mittelfrueh. IPA, John Applegarth 3-The 13 Voyage, Dan Humphrey We think they are the best hop in HM-american ipa, Richard Gretz, Grandville the world, Boston Beer founder 15. GERMAN WHEAT AND RYE BEER Jim Koch said when the 2005 vintage was released. We wanted to 3-Weizenbock, John Applegarth 16. BELGIAN AND FRENCH ALE showcase them. It is neat you can 3-Bier de Garde, John Applegarth get all those flavors from one hop 17. SOUR ALE variety. 1-Gueuze, John Applegarth 3-Berliner Mittelfrueh Weisse, John Aroma Applegarth 18. There s BELGIAN a technical STRONG aspect ALE to this 3-Strong you may already Golden, know. John Applegarth Or not. Basically, STRONG IBU stands ALE for International Rainy Bitterness Day Units Ale, and Dan an Humphrey IBU is one part per million of Old isohumulone. Enough, Dan Brewers Humphrey calculate how 2-Not 21. much SPICE/HERB/VEGETABLE bitterness to expect based BEER on the alpha 3-Habanero acid percentage Wheat, of particular Eric Porter hops, the amount 22. of hops SMOKE-FLAVORED used and the utilization & WOOD-AGED (length of boil is BEER most important; there are other factors and let s 1-Westside stop there). Smoke, Jeff Carlson 24. TRADITIONAL MEAD The most Traditional efficient way Mead, to add David bitterness Kilgore is by 25. using MELOMEL high alpha (FRUIT hops (with MEAD) AA percentages HM-2005 ranging from Cyser, the David mid to Kilgore high teens) This is true HM-cherry even for international Riesling pyment, lagers hopped Larry Simonson below the HM-2004 threshold Berry at which Mead, you David can can Kilgore taste hops. HM-Westside What isn t efficient Berry is Mead, using Jeff a low Carlson alpha hop like 26. Mittelfrueh OTHER (3-5% MEAD AA). 3-Westside Spruce Tip Mead, Jeff Carlson 27. In fact STANDARD most international CIDER AND lagers PERRY include about 1-Peach two ounces Ridge of hops Cider, per Jeff barrel Carlson (31 gallons). Boston Beer uses 3-Westside Cider, one Jeff pound Carlson per barrel to make HM-Kent Boston Lager. County The Cider, brewers Eric tossed Fouch, in Caledonia 12 pounds HM-Westside per barrel (100 Perry, times Jeff the Carlson amount in an international SPECIALTY lager) in the CIDER Halltertau AND Pilsner. PERRY 28. HM-Westside New England Cider, Jeff Carlson MICHIGAN Twelve pounds, STATE Koch FAIR said, HOMEBREW sounding downright THE giddy. YEAR While - (Club we were with doing the most it Dave award Grin- CLUB OF points.) nell (one of the brewers) referred to it as a reckless Place amount - 66 of points hops. PrimeTime Brewers 1st 2nd Place - 42 points - Motor City Mashers The brewers created several test batches, managing to come up with beers in which the IBU 3rd Place - 30 points - CRAFT topped 140. That s measured. Most of the time when you see a small brewery cite IBU it s calculated. As the amount of hops increase efficiency drops dramatically and those calculations aren t particularly accurate. Few Double (Imperial) IPAs actually reach the 90s when checked with proper measuring equipment. The calculated IBU on the batches at Boston Beer were well above 300. We were in the range where all bets were off, Koch said. You have to place it under an analyzer to get an accurate measure. He found the version in the 140s was too bitter, so the brewers blended in a 100 IBU batch and eventually found a sweet spot in the range. Mittelfrueh Flavor The beer is cloudy the brewers didn t want to filter out the hop flavor, bless them and doesn t look particularly pilsner-like. The Mittelfrueh doesn t come off as particularly delicate in this quantity and matched against a solid one-two punch of malt and alcohol but proves you can turn the flowery-citrussy-spicy hop flavor volume way up without the discordant impression you get from a cheap pair of speakers. The illustrations here come from a book put together by the hop growers in Hallertau, and for it they commissioned panels to evaluate the intensity of both the aromas and flavors of their hops. Notice (above) how the hoppy/bitterness impression of Mittelfrueh changes from aroma to flavor.

3 We don t like it when the discussion about hops is focused only on alpha acids, said Dr. Johann Pichlmaier of the Association of German Hop Growers. Once again skipping most of the geeky details, Mittelfrueh has a surplus of hop oils that help qualify it as a noble hop. Koch agrees. Hops are not primarily about IBUs. Hops are about a bounty of flavors, he said. With this beer your tongue is indelibly imprinted with the cornucopia of flavors you can get only from noble hops. There s a reason brewers treasure these hops; a reason they cost more. First time around the brewery publicized the (crazy) bitterness units in the beer. This time there s no mention of IBU. That s the right way to talk about hop flavor in general and Mittelfrueh in particular. From the Prez.. The annual Christmas party is just around the corner at the HideOut; bring your favorite dish to pass and your best homebrew. For those of you who would like to dispense from a keg, we will have the jockey box available. All those who signed up for auction items from sponsors, don t forget your items. We will start the festivities (dinner) promptly at 7, so arrive early for setup. And this year, I will award PTB s Homebrewer of the Year award first thing. This weekend the 3 rd annual GLOWS competition is taking place at Schmohz brewing company. The cider evaluation seminar starts Saturday evening at 5pm. If you haven t signed up yet, there may still be some seats available; you must contact Rex Halfpenny to reserve a spot. Judging takes place Sunday, starting at noon, with the awards ceremony right after judging. Entrants and their guests are welcome for the award ceremony. I would like to thank everyone for the time we had this past year. Finishing in the top 20 at the Nationals and winning our second Michigan homebrew cup are great accomplishments for our club. The summer bash and pig roast were great events and well attended by our members. As we look forward to next year, I hope you will take some time and think about how you can help the club. As we have said, John Applegarth and I will not be up for election next year, we hope someone will step forward. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Jeff Three men died on Christmas Eve and were met by Saint Peter at the pearly gates. "In honor of this holy season" Saint Peter said, "You must each possess something that symbolizes Christmas to get into heaven." The first man fumbled through his pockets and pulled out a lighter. He flicked it on. "It represents a candle", he said. "You may pass through the pearly gates" Saint Peter said. The second man reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. He shook them and said, "They're bells." Saint Peter said "You may pass through the pearly gates". The third man started searching desperately through his pockets and finally pulled out a pair of women's panties. St. Peter looked at the man with a raised eyebrow and asked, "And just what do those symbolize?" The man replied, "These are Carols." And So The Christmas Season Begins...

4 A cowgirl walks into a bar and orders three mugs of Bud. She sits in the back of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn. When she finishes them, she comes back to the bar and orders three more. The bartender approaches and tells the cowgirl, "You know, a mug goes flat after I draw it. It would taste better if you bought one at a time." The cowgirl replies, "Well, you see, I have two sisters. One is in Australia, the other is in Dublin. When we all left home, we promised that we'd drink this way to remember the days when we drank together. So I'm drinking one beer for each of my sisters and one for myself." The bartender admits that this is a nice custom, and leaves it there. The cowgirl becomes a regular in the bar, and always drinks the same way. She orders three mugs and drinks them in turn. One day, she comes in and only orders two mugs. All the regulars take notice and fall silent. When she comes back to the bar for the second round, the bartender says, "I don't want to intrude on your grief, but I wanted to offer my condolences on your loss." The cowgirl looks quite puzzled for a moment, then a light dawns in her eyes and she laughs. "Oh, no, everybody's just fine," she explains, "It's just that my husband and I joined the church and I had to quit drinking. Hasn't affected my sisters, though." November 8, 2007 PTB Minutes Call to order by Pres Carlson 22 Attendees October minutes were read. Treasurer s report $ $20 dues are due on or before January 1 st. First year members pay only $15 December 13 th is the date for the Christmas party at the Hideout Brewery. The agenda will be the same as last year. Stewards are needed for the GLOWS cider competition December 9 th. Contact John Applegarth or Jeff Carlson. Founders is in the process of moving to their new location on Grandville Ave SW. Meeting adjourned. IPA club competition has 12 entries and the brewer of the year may hinge on the results.

5 PRIMETIME BREWERS COMPETITION PAGE Club Only Competition Calendar 2007 Nov: IPA (14) PTB COC 2008 Jan: Dark Lager (4) AHA COC Feb. Porter (12) AHA COC Mar. Cider (27,28) PTB COC Apr: Extract (All)* AHA COC May: Mead (24,25,26) AHA COC (Aug) Jun: Best of Cellar Sep: Imperial Anything *Must be at least 50% extract Individual Competitions can be found at: Here s the new Michigan Hard Cider forum: hardciderforum/ FIRSTY THIRSTDAY DECEMBER 6th Logan s Alley 916 Michigan NE JANUARY 3rd Monarch s Club _ 646 Stocking NW FEBRUARY 7th Hop Cat (Sierra Room) _ 25 Ionia SW 2007 Brewer of the Year TBA at the Christmas Party! WEBSITE(S) OF THE MONTH Equipment, Systems, etc. Jamil Zainasheff's brewing website. 1st 2nd 3rd NOVEMBER IPA PTB CLUB COMPETITION RESULTS Josh Johnson Matt Bixler Jim Verlinde Club Officers President: Jeff Carlson (carlsonj@gvsu.edu) Vice Pres.: Josh Johnson (msujdog@yahoo.com) Treas.: John Applegarth (johnapplegarth@sbcglobal.net) Secy & RC Editor: Jim Verlinde (Jim_Verlinde@KoolToyota.com) Webmaster: Dan Humphrey (webmaster@primetimebrewers.com) Yeastmaster: Eric Fouch Foodmeister: Art McLaughlin

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