CHICKEN. NEXT MEETING: BAZ s house 7734 Fairlawn Ave, Georgetown Township Competition 6:00 / Meeting 7:00 August 16, BeerFest!

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1 The RUBBER CHICKEN NEXT MEETING: BAZ s house 7734 Fairlawn Ave, Georgetown Township Competition 6:00 / Meeting 7:00 August 16, 2017 BeerFest! Tipsy in Ypsi! What goes best with hot weather? Cold Beer! Yes it was hot and yes there was copious amounts of cold beer in Ypsilanti, Michigan on July 21 and 22. Every 4th weekend of July, the Michigan Brewers Guild puts on the Summer Beer Festival in Riverside Park Ypsilanti. This most recent fest was the 20th Anniversary of this sweat fest. I was there again acting in the role of the Hype Man for Gravel Bottom Craft Brewery and Supply. They have never been to a guild festival without me. Lots of good times. overwhelming. I did try many different beers though. Here is my top 5: 1. Prickly Pear Gose from B.O.B. Bright Pink, wonderfully satisfying sour note. It was like the boat drink of beers. I made many trips to see Svoboda. 2. Lumiere from Brewing Company. DAMN ERNIE! I had a lot of this Farmhouse Golden Saison. Sour, quenching, funky. So good. 3. Cereal City Not Champagne from Territorial Brewing. These guys know how to make a German beer. This was a Berliner Wiess that was fantastic mit schuss or straight up. Tim and Charles and company were serving their classic example of a Berliner with handmade raspberry, blueberry, or woodruff syrups. I had to try it every which way. 4. Cukuler Ale from Sherwood Brewing. Every year this one is great. It is a Blonde ale with juiced whole cucumbers, lime juice, and juiced cilantro. Really beat the heat. 5. Watermelon Cucumber Gosa from Elk Brewing. This one was out there and I m glad I went. The name says it all. Yeah, it was hot and I drank a lot of lighter beers. You couldn t walk 10 feet without tripping over a gose. Sour was the flavor of the day. There were many BBA Coffee Peanut Butter Bullshit Blah Blahs Blahs. But it was way too hot out for that noise. It did rain a bit Saturday morning, which made the humidity that much more oppressive. The Guild had these misters set out and about to help with the heat, but they just made me swampier, and they spotted my sunglasses. I avoided those like the plague. With all the people there was no shortage of people watching to do. My favorite spot was in Gravel Bottom s 1973 VW Thing. I would sit there and let the entertainment come to me. Yes, I fit in it, and yes, it was a sight to see. The Thing was set under a canopy at the end of a big tent right where everybody walked through the main park area. The slice of humanity is broader at this festival than the others. So much to watch. For the 20th anniversary, there were 147 breweries serving up more than 1140 different beers to a crowd of around 10,000 people over 2 days. That s a lot of beer. It was With the Summer Beer Festival, hydration is important. I tried to drink a water between every beer. I have seen it too many times when some rookie goes hard and the heat hits them harder. Passed out by 2 pm. I m sure they woke up with a hang-over, sunburn, and dehydration. The only

2 good thing about sweating so much in Ypsi, is I don t have to use those tortured hotboxes they call porta jons nearly as often. The next big summer festival coming our way is the Michigan Homebrew Festival. Go to for details. This festival is far more fun than the Guild Festival. It is just homebrewers, having a good time, and slinging our own beer. The party starts August 17 and goes through the 20th. The best days are Friday night and Saturday all day. I encourage everyone to check it out. Camping is available. PTB will have a booth at the fest. So if you want your beer on tap, let an officer know. Also coming up is the Beer City Brewers Guild Summer Picnic. At this event the Pro-Am beers will all be in one place. Be sure to check it out Saturday August 12. Check out the Primetime page for details. We are also encouraging members to bring a keg to have on at the homebrewer s taps. There will be 12 spots available. Again, check out the PTB Facebook page for details. Summer is almost over but luckily we have these events to bring us into fall. Oud Bruin Author: BYO Staff, May 1997 At one time sour brown ale probably described most of what was being served in the local tavern. Beers were brown because the malting of barley was as yet an inexact science, temperature controls were shaky at best, and really pale malts were undreamed of. No sparkly, clear pilsners here. Beers were sour because fermentation science was not only inexact, it was essentially nonexistent. It s hard to use single-cell yeast cultures when you ve never seen a cell (no microscopes) and the very notion of yeast as the source of fermentation is foggy and vague. There are a lot of nice micro-organisms more than happy to take up residence in a good wort of beer (or even a bad one), and if you don t even know they exist, well, it s tough to keep them out. No refrigeration (except in winter), no concept of microbiology, and no particular basis for sanitation. It s true that hops, to some extent, provide a natural bacterial inhibitor, but what if you aren t using hops? Beers were ale because, well, because that s what they were. Most brewers relied on the (unseen and unknown) properties of top-fermenting yeasts. Yeasts and other goodies. So sour brown ales were pretty much the same as beer. The notion lacks a certain appeal to most modern drinkers. Hard to imagine putting that in an advertisement: Pucker up with Augie s Best Sour Brown Ale! Over the years malting science has become worthy of the name, and barley malt comes out of the kiln looking more like Rice Krispies than Cocoa Pebbles. Most breweries do their utmost to assure that nothing bad ever wanders into the fermenter. Yeast strains are monitored closely to assure their purity, not allowed to mutate or to consort with wild brethern or, shudder, bacteria. Roughly 75 percent of a brewery s day can be taken up with sanitation. But somewhere in the world the notion of sour brown ale has retained a certain panache. One little country uh oh, you can see where this one s going, can t you? It s a safe bet that if an ancient, funky-sounding beer has survived anywhere, it s in Belgium that we find them: oud bruins, which means old browns in the regional language of Flemish. Oud bruins are very much a product of Flanders in Northwest Belgium. Although sour brown ale sounds unpleasant, oud bruins are actually wonderful beers in which a mild to moderate acidity is balanced by a lush sweetness and fruitiness. For the most part they really are brown, but a subgroup is distinctively red. Relatively few breweries produce oud bruins; these beers offer a special challenge to the brewer and require difficult techniques and, in some cases, specialized equipment to brew. Certainly the most difficult aspect of brewing oud bruins is controlling the level of sourness. Typically, it is achieved through blending, much as control is achieved in winemaking. One batch of beer is brewed, perhaps to an original gravity in the mid-50s. The beer is allowed to age for many months, perhaps in wood, where it may acquire a winey taste or an acidity from lactic or acetic acid bacteria. Then the beer is blended with a fresher batch of a similar beer brewed to a slightly lower original gravity (about 1.045). The resulting blend is usually bottled and naturally carbonated. It may get a few more months in the bottle before release. Perhaps the classic example of the brown oud bruin is Liefmans Goudenband (golden band), a beer so special that the bottle is hand wrapped in tissue (and can even be bought in 1.5-liter magnums yum!). When new, the beer is very lush and round, but over time the sourness seems to become more pronounced. The beer is also used as the base for some of the most extraordinary fruit beers on the planet: an intense kriek (black forest cake in a glass!) and a frambozen (raspberry). Both are good dessert beers. Another oud bruin I ve found in the United States is Roman Dobbelen Bruinen, which seemed somewhat less sour than the Liefmans. It was also considerably cheaper, for some reason, and thus a bottle ended up flavoring a dish of beef carbonade, a classic (delicious) Flemish entree. We tread now on shaky ground, for Michael Jackson deems the red beers of Flanders (primarily brewed by Rodenbach) as a distinct style. Others, however, consider them simply a variation on oud bruins, and I ve read at least one report of a Rodenbach brewer who made the same assertion. Rodenbach s beers are certainly red rather than brown but otherwise are very much in the same tradition. Rodenbach beer is brewed from a proprietary blend of pale and Vienna malts and, curiously, corn grits. It is then fermented with the house yeast blend, containing as many as 20 strains, and conditioned for about five to six weeks. This

3 is the young beer. It accounts for about 75 percent of the volume for blending in the standard Rodenbach Bier. The old beer goes through the normal fermentation and then is further aged for 18 to 24 months in tremendous oak casks, which are home to a mixed culture of Lactobacilli and other bacteria, gaining in color and acidity. Most of the aged beer is blended with the young beer to make the standard beverage, but some is bottled straight as Rodenbach Grand Cru, the brewery s equivalent of a singlebarrel bourbon. Both beers are sweetened with caramelized sugar at bottling and then flash pasteurized. A third beer, Alexander Rodenbach (named after the founder) has cherry essence added, again to balance the tartness of the base beers. If oud bruins present a challenge to the commercial brewer, they offer nightmares to the homebrewer. The materials and techniques used in Flemish breweries have been developed and handed down over centuries and may not work for homebrewers. Certainly, few of us have access to oak casks rich in the proper microflora, nor do many of us have the patience to wait two years for a beer to emerge that can then be blended with yet another beer. Control of errant micro-organisms is particularly difficult at home, and once started, Lactobacilli are difficult to stop. The homebrewers on the cutting edge of experimentation (members of the Lambic Digest group, for example), consider oud bruin to be one of the toughest Belgian styles to reproduce. There are some alternatives for adding sourness that are worth trying. A sour mash technique calls for letting the mash (or a portion of the mash) sit overnight at warm temperatures, thus encouraging the growth of souring bacteria. After the initial acidification, mashing is carried on as usual and the sourness created by the bacteria passes on to the finished beer. Although this is not, apparently, a technique used by Belgian oud bruin breweries, it does have the potential to add the necessary acidity. Another method is to add food-grade lactic acid (available from pharmacies and some homebrew suppliers) to the finished beer. The truly experimental brewer, of course, will pitch Lactobacillus cultures into the nearly finished beer after fermenting with one of the mixed-culture Belgian strains available today. Oud bruin grists ought to be built from Belgian malts, primarily pilsner malt, with some aromatic malt, cara-munich or cara-vienne, and perhaps a dash of Special B caramel malt. Wheat malt or flaked wheat would also be appropriate. Dark roasted malts, with their characteristic bitterness and burnt flavors, are not welcome. Much of the color in the darker oud bruins apparently derives from caramelization of the wort in very long boils (which would also intensify the richness of the flavor), so roasted malts are completely unnecessary. This is not a beer in which the use of malt extract for the base should be any sort of handicap, provided that good specialty malts are added. Many extracts have a sort of caramelized flavor that can interfere with certain beer styles, but for oud bruins the flavor may even be an asset. There are hops in oud bruins, but you would never know it to taste them. Hopping rates should be very low, as bitterness and sourness make poor companions. Any good British or Continental hops, particularly varieties with low alpha -acid content, should work, and they should only be used early in the boil, never where they would add flavor to the beer. Brewing oud bruins at home is strictly experimental. Much of the available research is hypothetical, especially given the long lag times between brewing and verifying results. The other aspect of research is simpler: Go to your local well-stocked beer store and pick up bottles of Liefmans Goudenband, Kriek, and Frambozen, as well as Rodenbach s three variations on the red theme. Drink them carefully and thoughtfully, and consider whether they aren t worth a few centuries of work to produce. Brewing Beer with Aphrodisiacs Aphrodisiacs, named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and pleasure, are substances that increase sexual desire. Almost every culture has devoted part of its mythos to foods and libations that induce and increase libido one of which is beer. Alcohol is known (and celebrated) for its euphoric qualities. It eases social situations, builds confidence and stimulates desire. Beer was even worshiped by Egyptians, who made offerings of it to their gods and used it as currency to pay their laborers. But be warned, over consuming alcohol can be harmful, dangerous and end what would otherwise be a magical night. In other words, drink in moderation. There is a long list of acclaimed aphrodisiac foods. Figs, cucumbers, asparagus and bananas are considered aphrodisiacs based on their appearance and shape. While basil, honey, chocolate, oysters, chili peppers and vanilla have particular effects on the body (e.g. increased blood circulation, sex hormones and endorphins). Foods rich in zinc, such as oysters, increase sexual wellbeing, and ingredients containing high amounts of vitamins and minerals, such as parsley, celery and caviar, improve health and stimulate sexual desire. Fruits are aphrodisiacs because of their connection with fertility (seeds, anyone?). The list goes on. Needless to say, there s an aphrodisiac out there for everyone. So, what makes craft beer such an awesome aphrodisiac? Craft beer already has alcohol, but it can be brewed with more than just barley, hops, yeast and water. You can combine aphrodisiac ingredients to beer that will increase its stimulating and love-inducing effects. So, you would think beers brewed with oysters, chilies, honey, coffee, chocolate, vanilla, figs, strawberries or herbs like saffron and rosemary should create a super aphrodisiac.

4 Whether you believe in the power of aphrodisiacs or not, here are some homebrew recipes with a little extra somethin somethin for Valentine s Day or any special occasion! Pearl Juice Oyster Stout Featured in March/April 2014 Zymurgy Specs: Original Gravity: Final Gravity: ABV: 6.96% Bitterness: 32 IBUs Color: 39 SRM Ingredients for 5 gal (19 L): 8.0 lb (3.62 kg) Maris Otter malt 2.0 lb (0.9 kg) flaked oats 1.0 lb (454 g) roasted barley 1.0 lb (454 g) 40 L crystal malt 1.0 lb (454 g) 80 L crystal malt 0.5 lb (226 g) chocoalte malt 0.5 oz (14 g) Magnum, 13.4% a.a. (60 min) 1.0 oz (28 g) East Kent Golding, 5.5% a.a. (30 min) Wyeast 1028 London Ale yeast 6 whole oysters (boil last 20 minutes) 12.0 oz shucked oysters and liquor (boil last 20 minutes) Directions: Mash grains at 154 F (68 C). Boil wort for 60 minutes, adding hops and oysters as indicated. Cool and ferment at 70 F (21 C) for one week. Partial extract version: Substitute 6 lb (2.72 kg) pale malt extract syrup for Maris Otter pale malt. Steep remaining ingredients in 158 F (70 C) water for 30 minutes. Steep remaining ingredients at 158 F (70 C) water for 30 minutes. Drain, rinse grains, dissolve extract completely and proceed with boil. Choc Full O Cherry Porter Featured in July/August 2007 Zymurgy Specs: Original Gravity: ABV: % Color: 38 SRM, deep reddish brown Bitterness: 30 Ingredients for 5 gal (19 L): 2.5 lb (1.1 kg) Pilsner malt (1.6 L) 10.0 lb (4.5 kg) Munich malt (8 L) 0.75 lb (340 g) Dark crystal malt (80 L) 1.0 lb (454 g) Melanoidin malt (33 L) 0.5 lb (227 g) Carafa (röstmalz) malt (470 L) 0.7 oz (18 g) Northern Brewer pellets, 8% a.a., 20 IBU (60 min) 0.5 oz (13 g) Northern Brewer pellets, 8% a.a., 10 IBU (30 min) lb previously frozen sour cherries lb roasted cocoa nibs, crushed lightly European ale yeast; Belgian or lager a possibility, too Directions: Mash 1 hour at 152 F (67 C). Ferment the beer through the primary. Then to the secondary, add frozen sour cherries and cocoa nibs. Allow the beer to stay on the fruit and cocoa nibs for at least two weeks a month or two is better. Rack to another secondary, allow to settle before bottling or kegging. Note: hop calculations are based on pellets. Figure on 25% more if using whole hops. Mini-mash substitution: Substitute 5.5 lbs of amber dry extract for the Munich, and mash the rest of the ingredients for an hour at 150 F (66 C), add the drained, sparged wort to the extract. July Meeting Notes: Treasury Report: $1,471 A big thank you to City Built for hosting us, & Emily Geiger from Craft Cultures for the yeast education. Katesse have volunteered to be the food meisters for the club. July & August are covered. If you re interested in helping out, see one of them. Talked about the Pro Am. The Beer City Pro-Am Winner will be crowned at the Beer City Brewers Guild Industry Picnic at Long Lake Park, Krauskopf NE on August 12 at 5 p.m. The jockey box will be there, bring beer. In an effort to keep our standing as the premier homebrew club of West Michigan, we re going to build a fancy table to hold the jockey box. August 5th at a location to be determined. The next meeting will be at Brent s house, & we will discuss electric brewing. A bus trip on either October 28th or 29th is being planned. If you have ideas for where to go, talk to a member of the steering committee or a club officer. The next club brew day will be in October at Kathy s house. More details to come. Send PayPal payments to: primetimebrewersmi@gmail.com

5 PRIMETIME BREWERS COMPETITION PAGE 2017 Club Competition Calendar January Pale American Ale (18 A & B) February Belgian Ale (24 A, B & C) March Extract (any style, steeping grains allowed) April Best of Cellar Cider (all) May American IPA (21 A) June Beer & Food Pairing July Best of Cellar Beer (all) August European Sour Ale (23 all) September Dark European Lager (8 A & B) October Baltic Porter (9 C) November Best of Cellar Mead (all) 2017 Brewer of the Year To Date Jessie Colclasure 40 Jeremy Gavin 36 Chad Zomerlei 32 Paul Curran 16 John Applegarth 12 Brent Zomerlei 12 Kathy Troxell 8 Jeff Carlson 8 Steve Naylor 4 Frank Landgraff 4 Non-PTB Competitions can be found at: First Thursday Destinations Jan Harmony Hall Feb Knickerbocker Mar Hideout Apr Cellar BC May Rockford BC Jun Cedar Springs BC Jul HopCat Aug BOB s Brewery Sep Schmohz Oct White Flame Nov Thornapple Dec City Built SAVE THE DATE(S) Future RC or Food contributors: Greg Barnhardt Ian Purvis Club Officers President: Jeremy Gavin V. P.: Ric Brown Treasurer: Jeff Carlson Sec & RC Editor: Chad Zomerlei (jabrews@gmail.com) (ricbrown67@gmail.com) (carlsonj@gvsu.edu) (zomerlcp@gmail.com) July 6-Aug 15, O Connors Homebrew Competition entry window August 5 Club build a better table day August 11 John Palmer book signing August 12 Pro Am picnic at Long Lake Park August MI Homebrew festival at Camp Agawam in Lake Orion, MI. August 19 MI Beer Cup awards ceremony at Camp Agawam in Lake Orion, MI. September 9 U.P. Fall Beer Festival October 28 or 29 Club bus trip September 30 OKTOBREWFEST SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS THEY SUPPORT US!! MI Beer Cup Other events at: Primetime Brewers Facebook page July Best of Show Beer Club Competition Results: 1st Paul Curran 2nd Brent Zomerlei 3rd Frank Landgraff

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