CHICKEN. MHF Recap. NEXT MEETING: Gray Skies Distillery 700 Ottawa Ave NW, Grand Rapids Competition 6:00, Meeting 7:00 September 19, 2018.

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1 The RUBBER CHICKEN NEXT MEETING: Gray Skies Distillery 700 Ottawa Ave NW, Competition 6:00, Meeting 7:00 September 19, 2018 MHF Recap What is the largest Homebrew Festival in the state? Figure it out. Here s your hint... from SSBrewtech. Not bad. He is now the second Zomerlei to win Best in Show at the Michigan Beer Cup. Our presence was felt this year. We had the new tent and banner, more lights, more people, more beer, more awards, and more fun. Kathy brought a nice tiki umbrella and patio table that there was always a crowd of people sitting near and drinking our beers. During the awards ceremony we had a front row seat. It was wonderful to hang out and sip stuff, or get up and take a walkabout whenever we wanted. So this past month was the Michigan Homebrew Festival. I am sure you all heard me talking about it. All year long. Harping perhaps? Well, it is a pile of fun. This year our club attendance was up %! Good job! Of the more than 500 homebrewers in attendance, we were up from 3 to 8 this year. We had Ricbrown, K- Trox, Purve the Swerve, Uncle Douggie, Smead and his lovely wife Molly, Old News Fouch, and your s truly repping PTB this year. What a great crew, mostly. We served up many beers. We appreciate all of you that sent beer but could not attend. By all of you, I mean Chad Zomerlei, just Chad sent 2 kegs but couldn t make it. The rest of the beer and cider was provided by Kathy, Hopcat, GRBC, Myself, and Ian. Yes, Ernie down at GRBC gave us a keg each of Jesse Colclasure s and Kathy Troxell s Pro-Am collaborations to show off. What a guy. Not only did we do better on the attendance this time around, we also scooped up a lot of bling in the Michigan Beer Cup. The MBC is independent of the MHF, but does its awards ceremony on the Saturday of the festival. PTB did well. Most of the medals were awarded to members that were not there. Those of us in attendance were kept busy walking to the podium and back, picking up awards on behalf of our absent members. Of the 2 cider categories, we swept up 5 of 6 possible medals between Carlson and myself. Carlson scored a Gold in C1, a 2nd and a 3rd in C2. I netted a 2nd and a 3rd in C1. John Applegarth continued his decades long streak of medaling at the Michigan Beer Cup with a Gold each in Trappist Ales and German Pils. He also pulled in Bronze with his Rauch Me Gently Smoked Beer. The big win, the champion, the top prize, went to Chad Zomerlei. Not only did he get a Gold with his Melomel, but that same mead also won Best in Show for the Michigan beer cup. He won a CO2 Regulator, Blichmann Beer Gun, and a very nice 10 gallon Brewpot Kathy also brought a charcoal grill that we all whipped our meat out on during the weekend. Our spot was right next to the Livingston Social Brew Crew. We were happy to avail ourselves of their hospitality when their BBQ came off the smoker Friday, and then again later when a catered spread from Olive Garden appeared right on the table we shared with them. What great neighbors, thanks to LSBC! We were certainly well fed. Even though each club had their own space and, at times an elaborate set up, everyone melded together and enjoyed each other s company. It truly was like one big club and community. There was the fun banter between the clubs. Most people I talked to were impressed by our sudden attendance growth for Your President was undefeated in the Dirty Thirty Head to Head Chug Challenge. You would have to be there to see it. The whole weekend was a spectacle. I hope that next year we can grow another 200%! Thank you to everyone that came and made it great weekend! Here s to next year! --DT

2 BETWEEN TWO BEERS BY DICK THUNDER The boss, and Steve Alright kids. Are you ready for this one? I break with my usual format of getting truths from paid PTB members for this special edition of B2B. This was an opportunity I could not pass up. In my lens this time is not a subject, but rather subjects. This is a power duo we all know and love. They may not be members, but they are certainly honorary members of Primetime Brewers. I don t think I would be overstating to say these two love birds are two of the most respected people in the West Michigan beer scene. Giddy with anticipation, I present to you, the true story of Steve and Barb Siciliano. The story of Steveandbarb starts in 1998, maybe. Steve thought it was later but Barb refreshed his memory. He was a struggling convenience store owner, slaving for 18+ hours a day to find a way to sell ice cream, soup, and porno. One day, a day that he was actually at the store, a ray of sunshine managed to crack the dark heavy curtains of hopeless toil that enveloped Steve. Barb dazzled him with her regular visits to the store, not for Dinty Moore or a Hustler, but to buy beer for the truck drivers she dispatched at the local Concrete plant. Steve may not remember when this happened, but he certainly remembers Barb s pick up line. Steve had just finished helping a father and his daughter checkout, the daughter excitedly told him she was starting kindergarten that next day. Barb walks up next, and in her best sultry seductress voice informed Steve that she was also starting school the next day. That was it for Steve. West Michigan was never the same after that. When Steve bought the shop on Lake Michigan Drive, it was a failing, dirty place. All it sold was lotto, cheap booze, and porn. Steve had developed a passion and taste for fine wines. He began to stock some good wines and craft beers. He attributes much of his success to craft beer. Siciliano s Market was a pioneer in the craft market. The mix six-pack model is a Siciliano original. When he got his first case of Bell s beer in stock, while working out the retail price he would have to charge for a 6-pack, he decided to price the beers individually. He could not imagine who would be willing to pay such exorbitant prices for six-pack of beer. Over time, Steve and Barb transformed the gross little hole into the cultural hub it is today. Not long after that, a close friend, homebrewer, and old PTB member, Tom Buchanan, suggested that Steve sell some brewing supplies. Neither Steve nor Barb had any knowledge of Homebrewing at the time. He went all out and dedicated 3 feet of shelf space to items picked at random from a GW Kent catalog. One day, someone came in and suggested that he put the yeast and hops in a cooler. After a good hard stare (we all know the look), Steve took that advice and refrigerated the perishables. The homebrew community can thank Primetime Brewers for the fine selection of quality homebrew supplies we all enjoy at Siciliano s Market today. Yes, they have brewed beer. They make far more wine than they do beer. They make their wines from whole grapes. Currently they are bulk aging 6 gallons of California Cabernet, and a White Zin. Their tastes change over time but currently Barb s favorite style of beer is Belgian. Not too much funk though. Steve copy-cats his wife and says Belgians as well. When asked what their desert island beer would be, Barb immediately says Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Steve, in an effort to assert his independence, ponders for a moment. He eventually goes to Two Hearted, with DT s Master Blaster American Doppelbock a close second. When they need time to relax and blow off some steam, Barb will slap Steve around, and Steve will kick the dog. When that gets old, they enjoy retreating to their lake cottage in northern Michigan to fish and entertain local Homebrewing celebrities. I talked to them just after returning from Montana and a five day fly fishing excursion. Barb caught some monster Brown Trouts. Steve got some fish too. Even in Montana, Barb was as captivating as ever. The guide largely ignored Steve to tend to Barb s every need. When in town, the best place to find them relaxing and enjoying a pint is in their own back yard. If you are ever invited to the Sicilianos garden and patio, jump at the opportunity. Their hospitality is top notch. Steve will eventually fall asleep in his chair. That is his party trick. Barb and Steve will tell you they love the homebrew community. They have developed many good friendships from their clientele. Steve would not hesitate to say that Primetime Brewers is definitely one of his top 10 favorite clubs in the area. They view us as the allstars. Helpful and inclusive, Steve asserts that we are serious brewers, vital to the beer scene in West MI. We all have our own story with the Sicilianos. Mine is that it took 4 or 5 years of me regularly patronizing the store before, one day, I got more than a grunt or a stare. It was like I had reached the required number of visits and now he would suddenly talk with me. Barb was always engaging and friendly. Now, consider yourself lucky to find them bumping around the store at all. That s ok, I go there to see Cheetah and Kati anyway. It seems semi-retirement is working well for the inseparable pair. I always know where to find them. -DT

3 August Recap Trial balance: $1, Active members: 46 PrimeTime received its newly minted Annual Club Liability Insurance certificate this month. As summer fades and the clock turns to fall, tons of exciting club functions draw closer. Look for upcoming announcements about the club s annual bus trip (scheduled for late October) and Christmas auction, as well as the 3rd quarter financial report, in October s newsletter. Till next month. Treasurer Moss MUSHROOM HEAD: THE MAKINGS OF A MICHIGAN MALTSTER If you missed our meeting earlier this year at Mushroom Head, heres an article from Mitten Bree. I ll admit, sometimes I rest on my laurels when describing any brown beer I m drinking: I don t know, I guess it s malty? Malty. Like calling something interesting, it s a cop-out that implies flavor while hardly saying anything at all. Maybe notes of toffee? A rye spiciness and a clean mouthfeel? The breadth of characteristics malt can impart is as wide as it is complex. Still, I can see why drinkers struggle to place what makes malt so special. Suffering from a case of middle child syndrome, malt lacks the panache of palate blasting hops and fails to rile the zeitgeist like wild yeast does but that doesn t mean you should ignore it. At the foundation of every good beer is its grain, and while malt remains an unsung ingredient in the public eye, there are some passionate maltsters out there looking to change its reputation. Enter Mushroom Head Malt Company. The brainchild of husband and wife duo Richard and Danni Vierzen, Mushroom Head represents a merging of its founders talents Danni s scientific mind and Richard s ability to harvest just about any crop on Earth in full. A hand on his father s dairy farm since he could swing a rake, Richard has grown into a man who understands and loves land. He affectionately refers to his own with feminine pronouns, A heavy rain and her soil will spill into the pond, and She s gonna put out a great harvest this year. From the looks of it, she most certainly will. Richard and Danni s malting journey began a few years back after a bad farm deal. We ll spare the nitty gritty. Essentially they were forced to shift from their normal farming practices and turn lemons to lemonade or barley to malt if you will. We first attended the Great lakes Hops and Barley convention in 2016 thinking that hops would be a good idea, Danni said. We quickly saw a need for Michigan barley and we had already been growing top grade cereal grains for the last 10 years. So they erected a barn to germinate and kiln grain and then, bingo, a malt farm was born. Recently, I paid a visit to the Vierzen s farm in Saranac, MI and spent the day learning more about the process from seed to grain sack. Mostly though, I moseyed about the grounds marveling at their field of barley that stretched into infinity. The Calypso Winter barley with its waist-high stalks swaying in the breeze looked like hairs wisping off an impressionist s paintbrush. We took a hay ride to the edge of the plot and Richard let me pluck a couple kernels for taste. Plump and healthy, they burst with a sweetness like a grass jellybean. The symmetry and size of the plant suggested a yield that might exceed even Richard s expectations. Last year the Vierzens harvested about 100,000 pounds of barley. This year the bounty could double, a win-win for Michigan s agriculture and its craft breweries alike. The way Danni sees it, there s a sense of pride to incorporating locally sourced crop. When I go drink a beer made with Mushroom Head malt, I know I am drinking something one-of-akind, she said. It has a flavor unlike anything you can buy online. The freshness that comes from buying local cannot be matched! Early adopters of Mushroom Head agree. The boys at Thornapple Brewing used some of their cracker malt for a SMASH (single malt and single hop) saison and were impressed by a level of quality not usually seen in our state. In another case, Gravel Bottom tinkered with their Hoppy Bliss wheat IPA recipe to include 2-row pilsner malt from Mushroom Head. Onsite expert Ben Darcie found that the malt gave the beer a bigger body and a better platform for the Michigan grown hops to shine too. It s an exciting reflection of where we are, Darcie said. It s our soil and sun encapsulated. We ve put Michigan in a glass.

4 For now, you can find Mushroom Head malt popping up for wholesale at homebrew shops like Siciliano s and in Michigan beers made by some of our best breweries. That said, it s well worth the field trip to meet the Vierzens and hear their story firsthand. They re a tight-knit family, charming and hospitable, and I m sure they d welcome you with open arms and beer in hand. While they continue to make a name for themselves with their exceptional product, watch as they grow like their namesake fungus. MILLER COORS TO ELIMINATE 350 JOBS AS PART OF COMPANY RESTRUC- TURING. MillerCoors will eliminate 350 salaried positions across the organization by the end of October, the company announced today in a memo. In the letter, CEO Gavin Hattersley characterized the job cuts as MillerCoors moving quickly and decisively to get our business back on track. To accomplish this, we know we need the financial flexibility to invest in our brands and solutions at the right level, quickly capitalize on new opportunities, and maintain a robust marketplace presence, he wrote. Our current fixed cost base limits our ability to do all this. As such, Molson Coors U.S. business is offering a voluntary severance program to existing employees as well as eliminating 150 unfilled positions. A MillerCoors spokesperson told Brewbound that the voluntary severance program allows people who may be ready to move on, the opportunity to do so with a generous package. So it s too soon to say at this point what the exact impact will be to each function, the spokesperson added. Once we know who has elected to volunteer, leaders will review requests against the organizational design and determine how roles will be impacted. However, the company still plans to hire a new chief marketing officer to replace David Kroll, who left his post on July 27. The new CMO s top priority will be turning around Coors Light. Hattersley s letter added that the company is committed to handling this restructuring with speed, dignity and respect for all involved and without marketplace disruption. While we know we still have some challenges ahead, we re establishing a realistic, achievable plan for 2019 to put us on the path to long-term sustainable growth, he wrote. According to the MillerCoors blog, the last time the company restructured was in During August s second-quarter earnings call, Molson Coors leaders conceded that the company would not meet a stated objective of right-sizing production volumes to return to flat in For the first six months of the year, the company reported a 2.2 percent decline in net sales, to more than $5.4 billion. In the U.S., the company reported second-quarter U.S. revenue and depletions declines of 3.1 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively. At the time, Molson Coors CEO Mark Hunter said reversing Coors Light s negative trends was urgent. On the same day that it reported those declines, Molson Coors announced the formation of a joint venture with a Quebec cannabis company HEXO, a recreational cannabis sister brand to The Hydropothecary, a licensed producer and distributor of medical cannabis. A week after reporting its second-quarter earnings, MillerCoors also announced the decision to cease production of Two Hats, a light beer brand targeted at 21- to 24-year-old consumers. However, the company last week said it plans to launch Cape Line, a new line of low-calorie flavored alcoholic beverages, next spring. MillerCoors is the latest beer company to restructure in In August, Constellation Brands terminated about 60 of its 100 or so craft and specialty reps throughout the U.S. Earlier this year, Ninkasi, Avery Brewing, Green Flash, New Belgium, and Pabst Brewing Company, among others, cut staff. In 2017, Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world s largest beer manufacturer, eliminated as many as 350 sales positions, many within its High End craft division. At the close of trading on Tuesday, Molson Coors stock (TAP), was down 2.77 percent ($64.89). The stock is down from its 52- week high of $ August Meeting Notes: This time we met at Trail Point, so hats off to them for putting up with us. I briefly lost my pen, so wasn t able to take notes, but Kathy gave an awesome presentation about mead. If you want to learn how to make great mead, talk to her. She is a great homebrewer & awesome mead maker, even if she does talk a lot. We also briefly talked about the results of the pro-am & discussed the MI homebrew fest. There s a new link on the website. If you want to join the AHA or renew your membership, please do it through the link on our website. The club will get a small kickback for each one done through the link. Club member Jessie Colcasure & his family could use some help after a fire destroyed their house a few weeks ago. Anything you can do to help him start brewing again would be appreciated. More on their story here. Send PayPal payments to: primetimebrewersmi@gmail.com

5 PRIMETIME BREWERS COMPETITION PAGE 2018 Competition Schedule January: Oatmeal Stout (16B) February: Best of Cellar Beer (1-34) March: New England IPA April: Best of Cellar Cider (All) May: Wee Heavy (17C) June: Beer and Food Pairing Dinner July: Standard American Beer (1A-D) August: Best of Cellar Mead (M1-4) September: Pilsner Extract Beer any style, no barley products but the extract. Corn, Rice, or Rye adjuncts allowed. October: Marzen, Vienna Lager, and Festbier (6A, 7A, and 4B) November: SMASH Beer any style December: Christmas Party Non-PTB Competitions can be found at: First Thursday Destinations Jan City Built Feb Founders Mar The Mitten Apr Railtown May Osgood Jun Cellar Jul Thornapple Aug Gravel Bottom Sep Two Guys Oct New Union Nov Pike 51 Dec Brewery Vivant SAVE THE DATE(S) 2018 Brewer of the Year Results Tom Malkewitz 36 Matt Moss 36 John Applegarth 28 Jessie Colclasure 28 Chad Zomerlei 24 Jeff Carlson 20 Ian Purvis 20 George Lawlor 12 Jeremy Gavin 8 Paul Curran 8 Kathy Troxell 8 Future RC or Food contributors: Paul Curran Jessie Colclasure Matt Moss Club Officers President: Jeremy Gavin V. P.: Ric Brown Treasurer: Matt Moss Sec & RC Editor: Chad Zomerlei (jabrews@gmail.com) (ricbrown67@gmail.com) (mossford11@gmail.com) (zomerlcp@gmail.com) SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS THEY SUPPORT US!! September 16 Primetime brew day September 29 Oktobrewfest Other events at: August Mead Club Competition Results: 1st Jessie Colclasure 2nd Kathy Troxell 3rd Jeff Carlson & Chad Zomerlei

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7 HOPCAT 25 Ionia SW (616) And lots of other locations PERRIN BREWING CO 5910 Comstock Park Dr Comstock Park (616) JADEN JAMES BREW- ERY 4665 Broadmoor Ave SE (616) PIKE Chicago Dr Hudsonville (616) MICHIGAN HOP ALLIANCE PO Box 1843 Traverse City RAILTOWN BREWING Co th St SE Dutton (616) MITTEN BREWING CO 527 Leonard NW (616) NEW HOLLAND BREWING 66 E 8th St (616) & THE KNICKERBOCKER 417 Bridge St NW RISHI S INTERNATIONAL BEVERAGE th St SE (616) and 6859 Cascade Rd SE ROCKFORD BREWING COMPANY 12 E Bridge St Rockford (616) O CONNOR S HOME BREW SUPPLY 619 Lyon St NE (616) SCHMOHZ BREWERY 2600 Patterson SE (616) OSGOOD BREWING 4051 Chicago Dr SW Grandville (616) SICILIANO S MARKET 2840 Lake Michigan Dr (616)

8 SPECIATION ARTISAN ALES 3721 Laramie Dr NE, Comstock Park THORNAPPLE BREWING th St Cascade TRAIL POINT BREWING COMPANY 6035 Lake Michigan Dr Allendale (616) TWOGUYS BREWING 2356 Porter St SW, Wyoming UNCLE JOHN S CIDER MILL 8614 North US 127 St Johns (989) VANDER MILL Cleveland St Spring Lake (616) & 505 Ball Ave NE Grand Rapids (616) WHITE FLAME th Ave Hudsonville (616)