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The Barley Mow
March 2004

 

Text Box: Club Officers El Presidente for Life- Mike Norden Executive Vice-President for the New Millennium- Brian Glynn Brewmaster- Louie Bourbonnais Treasurer- Charlie (Enron) Parson Webmaster- Herb Bromenshenkel Sergeant- at- Arms- Todd Vonasek Librarian- Tom Kulkowski Membership Director Dan Luby In honor of St. Patrick’s Day on March 17.

Murphy was staggering home with a pint of booze in his back pocket when he slipped and fell heavily. Struggling to his feet, he felt something wet running down his leg. “Please Lord," he implored, "let it be blood!!"

 

An Irishman had been drinking at a pub all night. The bartender finally said that the bar is closing. So the Irishman stood up to leave fell flat on his face. He tried to stand one more time; same result. He figured he'll crawl outside and get some fresh air and maybe that will sober him up. Once outside, he stood up and fell on his face again. So he decided to crawl the four blocks home. When he arrived at the door he stood up and fell flat on his face. He crawled through the door and into his bedroom. When he reached his bed he tried one more time to stand up. This time he managed to pull himself upright, but he quickly fell right into the bed and is sound asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. He was awakened the next morning to his wife standing over him, shouting, "SO YOU'VE BEEN DRINKING AGAIN!" Putting on an innocent look, and intent on bluffing it out he said, "What makes you say that?" "The pub just called; you left your wheelchair there again."

 

Two Irishmen were sitting a pub having beer and watching the brothel across the street. They saw a Baptist minister walk into the brothel, and one of them said, "Aye, 'tis a shame to see a man of the cloth goin' bad." Then they saw a rabbi enter the brothel, and the other Irishman said, "Aye, 'tis a shame to see that the Jews are fallin' victim to temptation." Then they saw a catholic priest enter the brothel, and one of the Irishmen said, "What a terrible pity... one of the girls must be quite ill."

 

 

Kegs for Sale

 

 

Jeff Edmunds is again offering cheap (under $15.00 apiece) Pepsi-style ball-lock Cornelius kegs in great condition. A preferably in quantity of 5, as shipping is cheaper. He will place an order before spring. Contact him at 586-2332 or edmonds@paulbunyan.net by the end of March.

 

 

The Lauter Tun

By Jerry “Louie” Bourbonnais

News, Notes, Musings and other assorted ramblings from the Brewmaster of the Boreal Brewers

 

Featured Beer

 

We have 3 events coming up in March, April and May. They are the Winter/Spring tasting at the Keg n Cork, the Bockfest and the April Birthday party. The featured beers for the tasting and Bock Fest will, of course, be Bocks. I will be bringing a MaiBock, a Traditional German Bock, 2 Doppelbocks and Toddy’s fabled Spruce Bock. Many others will bring their Bocks, also.

 

The featured beer for the April Birthday party will be a Bavarian Dark Lager. Bavarian Dark Lager is simply a dark, light to medium bodied German lager. It differs from Bocks in that, while malty sweetness and lots of body dominate the Bocks, Bavarian Dark Lager is much lighter and dryer and has a small amount of roasted malt flavor.

 

Seasonal Brew Review

 

Tis the season for Bocks, one of my favorite styles by far. Bock beers are sweet and malty, with just enough hops to balance out the malt and keep it from being cloyingly sweet. They are generally brewed in the fall, lagered over winter and consumed to celebrate the spring. The traditional date for opening the first Bock beer is March 19th, St. Joseph’s day. There are several sub-styles under the Bock category. I will list them here, but space does not allow for a full description of each. From lightest bodied and colored to darkest and heaviest, they are: MaiBock, Traditional German Bock, Blonde DoppelBock, DoppelBock and EisBock. DoppelBock literally means “double bock” and they are a heavier, more alcoholic version of the Traditional Bocks. EisBock means “ice bock” and the style is made by brewing a DoppelBock, freezing it and then scooping out the ice to concentrate the alcohol and body even further. Generally, you begin the season by consuming the heavier, more alcoholic versions and then “lighten up” as the weather warms.

 

There is great controversy among beer lovers as to the origin of the word Bock to describe these beers. Nobody know which is the truth and which is legend, but one of my favorites was told to me by club member Marshall Oelmann, or genial host of the Effie tasting: Bock is a corruption of the German word for goat, hence the image of a goat on many commercial Bock beers. It seems the monks had to undertake a Lenten fast, which greatly restricted their intake of food, but beer rations were not limited. So they consumed greater quantities of this heavy, nourishing beer. Eventually, consuming more beer and less food left them a bit tipsy, at which point some of them would get down on all fours and butt heads like goats. Sorry, it’s much better told in person than in print, but there you have it.

 

Commercial examples:

 

Schells Brewery (http://www.schellsbrewery.com), New Ulm, MN

 

 

 

 

Summit Brewery (http://www.summitbrewing.com), St. Paul, MN

 

 

Lake Superior Brewery (http://cpinternet.com/~lsbrew/brewery.htm) Duluth, MN

 

 

Capitol Brewery (http://www.capital-brewery.com) Middleton (Madison), WI

 

 

 

Seasonal Brewing Schedule

 

Anything, really. For me, the brewing season is just about at its end. I have only 1 or 2 more beers to brew to fill out my brewing schedule for the year. Kolsch is a light, German ale brewed with a small amount of wheat for body and head retention. The style guidelines of the American Homebrewers Association describe it as: a warm-fermented and aged at cold temperatures (German ale or alt-style beer). Kölsch is characterized by a golden color and a slightly dry, winy and subtly sweet palate. Caramel character should not be evident. The body is light. This beer has low hop flavor and aroma with medium bitterness. Wheat can be used in brewing this beer, which is fermented using ale or lager yeasts. Fruity esters should be minimally perceived, if at all. Chill haze should be absent or minimal. OG 1.042-46, FG 1.006-10, Alcohol 4 – 4.5%, Bitterness 20-30 IBU, Color 3.5 – 5 SRM

 

My Kolsch is an all grain beer, so I have attempted to convert that to extract for the extract brewers in the crowd.

 

Extract

4 Lbs Light Malt Extract Syrup

1 Lb   Wheat Malt Extract Syrup (use pure wheat, not weizen which is wheat & barley)

1 oz    Hallertauer Hop Pellets (AAU 4-5%)(60 min boil)

.25 tsp Irish Moss

Kolsch Yeast

 

All Grain

8 Lbs German Pils Malt

1.5 Lbs Wheat Malt

Hops and yeast same as extract recipe above

 

Mash at 156oF for 1 hour

 

Note: yeast is very important to this beer style DO NOT attempt to make this style without Kolsch yeast.

 

Scali’n’ Up

 

A while ago, I saw an ad for digital postal scales on sale at a local merchant. Hoping I could upgrade my system, and get a scale that could measure both my hops (need: 0.1 oz sensitivity) and my grain (need: up to 20 lb capacity) at a reasonable price, I set out to town. It didn’t take long to be disappointed. A scale with 0.1 oz sensitivity and a 10 lb capacity was $80 on sale. Don’t even ask what the scales that could handle heavier weights cost, but they were well out of my price range. Undaunted, I came home and fired up good ol’ E-Bay, where I was able to purchase a scale with a 0.1 oz tolerance and a 30 lb capacity for $31, delivered. There were lots more just like it, if anybody’s interested.

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Other News-

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t forget to visit the 2 web sites for the Boreal Brewers including our latest site which allows members to use online blogger features to ask questions, post comments or offer items for sale or trade. That site is at http://borealbrewers.crosswinds.net/weblog/blogger.html

Our other site is at http://borealbrewers.crosswinds.net

 

Email the club at brewers@borealbrewers.org

 

 

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Club member Steve Benson is offering brewing courses in Grand Rapids and Remer. Steve ran a four-week course through Itasca Community College in Jan-Feb 2003, and will repeat the course in 2004. Interest was high enough to hold an additional course at the Remer High School in April 2003, and that also will be repeated in 2004. The courses cover basics of home brewing and some advanced topics. Lecture is done with through extensive PowerPoint presentations, the lab work

and tasting portions of the class follow.  Each night class is 3+ hours long.  Students brew and bottle four 5-gallon batches during the course, including one all grain batch.  Contact Steve at (218) 327-2776 for information.

 

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The Annual Big Brew will be held on Saturday May, 1, 2004 at the Union Station in Bemidji, MN at 8AM. All members are welcome to attended but be prepared to help in some way. Bring a fermenter and your own yeast. The website for the Big Brew is

http://www.beertown.org/events/bigbrew/index.html

 

Text Box: March 13, 2PM Regular Club Meeting at Keg-n-Cork March 13, 3PM Spring Tasting at the Keg-n-Cork April 17, 6PM Birthday Party at Bourbonnais’ May 1, 8AM America Homebrew Association Big Brew at the Union Station May 1, 4PM Bockfest at the Glynn’s  

 


Food for thought from Dan Luby…
If you had bought $1000.00 of Nortel stock one year
ago, it would now be worth $49.00. With Enron, you would have $16.50 left of the original $1,000.00. With WorldCom, you would have less than $5.00 left. If you had bought $1,000.00 worth of Budweiser (the beer, not the stock) one year ago, drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for the 10-cent deposit, you would have $214.00.  Based on the above, my current investment advice is to drink heavily and recycle. This is my new retirement program; I call it my 401-Keg program

 

 

Medical News

 

Hops Flowers Humulus lupulus, "Approved Herb";

Use: Mood disturbances such as restlessness and anxiety, sleep disturbances..

Contraindications: None Known.

Side Effects: None Known.

Actions: Calming,  Sleep promoting.

 

Ingredients 

Supplement Facts: Serving Size 2 Capsules, Servings per container: 50, Amount Per 2 Capsules: Hops Flowers (Humulus lupulus) 500 mg * *Daily Value not established 

Other Ingredients: Gelatin and water

 

 Although Hops have been used for brewing beer for over 1,000 years, their medicinal properties have also been valued from very early times. Hop pickers used to tire easily, apparently as a result of transferring some Hop resin from their hands to their mouths, gaining Hops a reputation as a safe sedative. Later, pillows filled with Hops were used for insomnia and nervousness. Small bags of Hops, wetted with alcohol and placed on the skin, were also said to reduce local inflammation. Experiments have shown that Hops relaxes the smooth muscles and acts as a sedative. It has been used to increase breast milk for irritable infants (and probably pass along its soothing effects).

 

 

Jerry Nice to meet you! We're working on the location for the campout now - we're hoping to get something in the Brainerd area. If any of you have a lead on some place that is "Beer-Friendly", and could support about 40 or so brewers, let me know. One club (this year, St. Paul Homebrewers Club) is responsible for hosting it, and making a feast for Saturday night. We also have a mini-contest at the campout: each club offers it's best beer, picked by their club, to represent them in each of four styles. Then the finalists are all judged in their respective styles to pick 1,2 and 3. Then the best of each style is judged against the others in a Best-of-Show to pick the Minnesota Master-Of-Malt winner for the year. The Master of Malt gets to pick the styles for the following year's campout. Of course there's PLENTY of homebrew - everyone brings what they've been working on, plus any rare or great commercial examples they can get their hands on. It's really a hoot!

Also, we'd love to get you guys in the Minnesota State Fair Homebrew Competition this year! Last year was the first one, and it went very well. A tentative date for judging  is Aug. 21, with the Best-Of-Show and Awards ceremony at the Fair on Aug 28. 

 

The website is http://www.mnbrewers.com/events/statefair. If any of you would like to judge, steward, or otherwise help out with the contest, let us know. Of course we'd love to get some entries from the brewers in your club too. We are also ramping up for our spring beer contest, the Upper Mississippi Mash-Out. Judging will be May 21-22, with the awards ceremony at Summit Brewery (free beer!) The website is http://www.mnbrewers.com/mashout. The contests are a lot of fun, and it's a great way to tie in with the greater brewing community. Lots of great prizes too! Hope to meet up with some of you guys at one of these events!

 

Ever wonder what the Founding Fathers drank? Using recipes favored by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, Yards, a Philadelphia based brewer, is recreating their beers of choice and offering them for sale in six-packs. Read Washington's recipe for beer.

 

George Washington's Beer Recipe

(Note: Following this recipe exactly will result in a beer with an alcohol content of about 11 percent -- making it at least twice as potent as most of today's commercially brewed domestic beers.)

To Make Small Beer: Take a large sifter full of bran hops to your taste-boil these 3 hours. Then strain our 30 gall[o]n into a cooler put in 3 gall[o]n molasses while the beer is scalding hot or rather draw the molasses into the cooler. Strain the beer on it while boiling hot, let this stand till it is little more than blood warm. Then put in a quart of ye[a]st if the weather is very cold cover it over with a blank[et] let it work in the cask-Leave the bung open till it is almost done working-Bottle it that day week it was brewed."

(Recipe courtesy Precious Book Department, New York Public Library. Spelling and punctuation have been left in their original form.)

 

Yards ALES are brewed in the tradition and style of English and Belgian Brewers with a Revolutionary American interpretation. All of our beer is naturally cask and bottle conditioned to bring you as close to the original characteristics of each style that we brew.

 

Ales of the Revolution

 

In partnership with Philadelphia's historic colonial restaurant, The City Tavern, Yards has proudly reproduced two historically correct Ales using the authentic recipes brewed by our founding fathers; General Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Yards released General Washington Tavern Porter and Thomas Jefferson Tavern Ale in October 2003! We think you'll agree that early Americans brewed some fine and substantial Ales. Contact Yards http://www.yardsbrewing.com if you are interested in more information regarding the availability of these or any of our other fine Ales.

 

 

Extra Special Ale

Relive Philadelphia's grand brewing tradition with Yards' Extra Special Ale. Dark copper in color and nicely hopped with a firm malt base, Extra Special is a bottle-conditioned ale that is truly a taste of history.

 

Philadelphia Pale Ale

Taste the spirit of Colonial Philadelphia with this traditional American style Pale Ale. The simplicity of this amber colored beer is achieved

through a basic hop and malt profile, which makes this a refreshing and drinkable brew.

 

IPA

Yards' IPA is brewed in the same tradition as the "India Ales" of England in the 1800's. Back then the brew was meant to supply the English troops in India, so it had to make the long trip by sea. The alcohol and hops were increased - with these two natural preservatives this strong, hoppy ale withstood the journey and became popular in the U.K. With an abv of 8%, our IPA definitely could have made the journey!

 

Love Stout

An English style stout made with pale and dark English malts, English noble hops and 150 whole oysters -- shell and all. The oysters are thrown into the brew kettle during the boil stage of the brewing process, adding calcium to the wort. The result is a passionately smooth stout. (Mysteriously, a large number of friends gather in the tasting area of the brewery during the brew.)

 

Yards Saison

Yards' Saison is a classic Belgian-style ale made for the warmer months. It is spiced with a haze of coriander and orange peel. This effervescent ale refreshes the palate and spirit. We recommend it be served in a goblet garnished with a slice of orange.

 

Old Bartholomew Winter Warmer

The winter warmer without the spice. Bart may give you a warming feeling on cold months. Old Bart is usually brewed around Halloween, and appears in taverns just before winter. We brew Bart once and when it’s gone its gone, until the next year!

 

Trubbel de Yards

Bet you didn't know about Philly's Trappist Monastery did you? The Monks are hanging out at Yards causing Trubbel. This is a substantial brew in the tradition of the big beers brewed by Belgian Trappist Monks. This beer is dark in color, sweet, malty, and high in alcohol. Just the thing to get you through that long session of meditative prayer.

 

 

More Irish jokes-

 

The Reunion

A man stumbles up to the only other patron in a bar and asks if he could buy him a drink. "Why, of course," comes the reply. The first man then asks, "Where are you from?" "I'm from Ireland," replies the second man. The first man responds: "You don't say, I'm from Ireland too! Let's have another round to Ireland." "Of course," says the second. Curious, the first asks: "Where in Ireland?" "Dublin," comes the reply. "I can't believe it, me too! Lets have another round of drinks to Dublin." "Of course" The second man can't help himself so he asks, "What school did you attend?" "Saint Mary's", replies the first man. "I graduated in '62." "This is becoming unbelievable!!!" They say in unison.

 

About that time, in comes one of the regulars and sits down at the bar. "What's up?" he asks the bartender. "Nothing much," replied the bartender. "The O'Malley twins are drunk again!"

 

 

Lost at Sea

Two Irishmen, Patrick & Michael, were adrift in a lifeboat following a dramatic escape from a burning freighter. While rummaging through the boat's provisions, Patrick stumbled across an old lamp. Secretly hoping that a genie would appear, he rubbed the lamp vigorously. To the amazement of Patrick, a genie came forth. This particular genie, however, stated that he could only deliver one wish, not the standard three. Without giving much thought to the matter, Patrick blurted out, "Make the entire ocean into Guinness Beer!" The genie clapped his hands with a deafening crash, and immediately the entire sea turned into the finest brew ever sampled by mortals. Simultaneously, the genie vanished. Only the gentle lapping of Guinness on the hull broke the stillness as the two men considered their circumstances.

Michael looked disgustedly at Patrick whose wish had been granted. After a long, tension filled moment, he spoke: "Nice going Patrick! Now we're going to have to pee in the boat."