November 2005 newsletter

Dunedin Brewers Guild Newsletter
DBG Contacts:
TARTAN TIMES
November 2005
President:
Dave Morgan
[email protected]
Secretary:
Phil O’Reagan
[email protected]
Treasurer:
Kandi Bryant
[email protected]
Calender / Events:
KK
[email protected]
Recipes:
Butch Luxenberger
Newsletter:
Chris Wilson
[email protected]
DBG
Competition
Medal Count
BOS: 1
Gold Medals: 11
Silver Medals :17
Bronze Medals :3
Honorable Mention:
1
Total: 43
President’s Corner
By Dave Morgan
Time for the latest addition of the Tartan
Times. I hope everyone read last months, as
there were some good articles and a lot of
info. All the previous newsletters are
archived on the website, under club stuff, so
that you can always reference any of the
previous newsletters.
Please everyone note the new web address, www.dunedinbrewersguild.com, you can
go to the old site and it will redirect you to the new site.
Well, to get thing rolling here, the November meeting will be our 8 year Anniversary,
sometimes it seems like a long 8 years and other times it feels like it was just
yesterday. We could not have made it this long without help and support from
everyone in the club, and we hope to keep it going for many more years.
Which get me to the next point, after 8 years of being president, I am stepping down.
We will be holding Nominations for positions, and holding elections through
November/ December and announce a new president, vice president, secretary etc…
If any one wants to hold a position or see how you could help out, now is a good
time. We will have a new copy of club bylaws for everyone. We are looking into
some type of absentee ballot for people who can’t make the meeting. I would say this
would be a good time to come to the next couple meetings so that we can make sure
we keep the club heading into the right direction. And if anyone is worried, I’m not
going anywhere just taking a small break and will still be extremely active with all
club functions.
This time of year is extremely busy, lots of beer related events, check some of them
out, we have them all listed on the website, check them out, we even have a club
camping trip schedule for the first weekend in January, great time to come out and
hang in a relaxing atmosphere with a bunch of homebrew and fellow home brewers.
I know that we actually missed the Queen of Beers Competition, but we have several
interested people, I have somebody working on (supposedly) a women’s brew day
anyway. As soon as I can get something together I will let everyone know.
The first Saturday in November is actually “Teach a Friend to Brew Day”, this is
exactly what its call, so fire up your kettles, invite your friends over and teach them
what you have learned.
Well, anyway I guess that is about it for now. Hope to see everyone at the meetings,
hope everyone is brewing.
Dave
From the Editor…
Once again a BIG Thanks goes out to everyone who submitted
articles and other items for the newsletter. The newsletter is really
fun to read when members submit articles based on their personal
experiences! Please keep it up! If you have an idea for an article, by
all means write it up & submit it!
Also, No you didn’t miss the Oct. newsletter. We wanted to catch
up and have the newsletter come out @ the beginning of the month.
Just tell yourself that it probably would have sucked anyway,
as the editor was a little cloudy last month from the
Octoberfouch party. Speaking of the Octoberfouch party, if
you missed it, you missed a GOOD time! There were fun
beer games, great food, LOTS of great beer a raffle and
auction. Butch picked up the coolest neon sign ever! Also,
Mike Cotherman and I brought out the brew truck and
brewed some beer. Thanks to Mike Fouch for orchestrating a
great event that the proceeds went to a great charity!
~Chris
The Elections are here! The Elections are here!
Wow…. after only a quick eight years wi th the same board in place, the DBG will finally have
their first elections…..
And to make sure we continue on this course of YEARLY elections, we have crafted by-laws by which
to keep ourselves on track. As you can guess with the same crew in place for 2,816 days, we have become
somewhat stale…..we do things that same tried and true way we have learned over the years.
Anyway, all present board members except myself (VP), will be stepping down. Dave (President),
Kandi (Treasurer) and Phil (Secretary) are handing over the reigns to who they hope will care and continue
to grow this club as they have. I would like a break as well, but much like the structure in the by-laws that you
see below, we want this BIG transition to go smoothly. In the future we should never have a completely new
board and have structured it so that the terms overlap…. so the knowledge of the successes and failures can be
passed on.
I am willing to take on whatever position that is open or for a position that a member who would like to
run would want me to be on the board with them i.e. Billy Bob Brewer would be willing to run for President if I
was willing to be VP or visa versa OR she’ll only run for President if I won’t be the VP. Either way or anyway,
I’m flexible. Send me an email with proposals.
With the creation of the by- laws it makes it very straightforward as to what is expected of each position.
None of the positions should be time overwhelming, maybe about 1-2 hours a week. From the experience I’ve
seen with other clubs starting elections, it takes a couple of election cycles to allow people to see other people
live through it and see feedback that it did NOT take over their whole life . The Board IS A TEAM and if
everyone does a little they can get alot accomplished.
Too often the “shy about volunteering people” and the “ones fearing not having enough time” don’t step
forward…. which forces the previous board to go out and go begging for replacements…. We are in a different
position, we are a big and mature club, and we hopefully have shown from the way we run the club and it’s
activities in the past, that members should feel comfortable about volunteering.
If the message from the members is that we can’t field four people willing to help guide this club, we should
not have a club.
How bad can it be?…. the current board has stayed on for eight years (yes, we’ve done some skating in
these last years), but we ALSO have over the years, done things that were , yes alot of work, yes it seemed
thankless while organizing the m… but then gives you the wonderful reward of accomplishment of seeing this
work come through as a class event or competition…. basically something that people from other homebrew
clubs say “That Dunedin club has their shit together”.
In the past years, some of our more committed brewers have drifted away and we are now struggling to
come up with decent amounts of entries into the various state’s competitions Granted some have had changes
in their life that necessitate this, but for others it is more likely that the DBG did not fulfill their ideas of what
they thought a top notch homebrew club could be and direction that it takes to get there.
NOW is the chance for them and others, to step up and help reshape the club to what it will be in the future. It
will be a time for new ideas, new events, a new format for the meeting, new places to have the meeting,
different ways of spending the club’s money etc. Some changes will make this a better club, some will fail, but
without trying new things, we can’t develop any further.
As far as the time factor, I know none of us have a lot of it, so the direction of the new board should be
one where, as much of the administration of the club that can occur, (board voting, event planning etc) will be
done by email. We have members with a lot of talent who live nowhere near Dunedin… as far away as Spring
Hill to Venice to Riverview, the club cannot afford to not avail themselves of a talent just because of the
distance. If you do not have a computer or you are not willing to check your email on a daily basis, a board
position may not be right for you. You DO NOT have to be a brewer, you just have to have an appreciation for
the art of homebrewing. I’ve seen some wonderfully committed board members from other clubs who either
used to brew or were spouses of brewers…. the abilities we are looking for are organization, creativity and a
willingness to work as a team.
Okay… now that I’ve whipped you into this “come to Jesus frenzy”, which should be about the
same feeling you had when you saw your first Ginzu knife ad cutting a can and THEN a tomato!.. .and you’re
ready to take that jump…. send an email to our current Secretary, Phil O’Regan at [email protected]
and tell him what position you would like to take on.
We need you to decide by NOVEMBER 15th , so that we can present the nominees names at the
November meeting and vote on at the December meeting. This vote will be in secret, there will be no moments
of embarrassment where you have to speak or state your platform at a meeting. Phil will email you a format to
fill in as a Beer Resume… this will be what the voters will have by which to gauge the candidates.
PLEASE…. do not wait for others to step forward, come on aboard…..
Dunedin Brewers Guild Club Bylaws
Article 7. Elections
•
Section 7.1 Election Timeline
October - President announces the positions open for the upcoming year .
November - Secretary announces the candidates and hands out and emails their beer resumes.
December - Voting by all current dues paid members at the meeting, and via proxy vote.
•
Section 7.2 Members wishing to run for an office may have their names put into nomination by
submitting a email of the “beer resume” to the Secretary no less than 48 hours prior to the November
meeting
•
Section 7.3 Officers shall be elected by a majority vote of the members present at the meeting and via
email proxy vote.
•
Section 7.4 Proxy email votes must be received by 48 hours of the December meeting by the club
secretary via email, and must originate from that members known computer address.
•
Section 7.5 If two or more candidates are competing for an officers position and no candidate
receives a majority vote of the Members, there will be a second run-off election between the two
candidates at that same meeting.
•
Section 7.6
•
Section 7.7 Officers may hold multiple offices in circumstances where there are no other candidates,
but still only get one officer vote at meetings.
•
Section 7.8 Voting for officers shall be by secret ballot to the Secretary and overseen by the
President. Candidates receiving the highest number of votes cast at the meeting shall be declared elected
and announced at the December meeting.
•
Section 7.9 Officers-elect and outgoing officers all convene in an early January meeting to transition
their positions.
•
Section 7. 10 As a matter of tradition…..Each outgoing officer must present their successor with a beer
of significant quantity and alcoholic strength commensurate with “the challenge” they are about to take
on.
Current officers can run for the same office in the future or other offices if desired.
Article 8. Officers
•
Section 8.1 The Club shall be governed by the Club Officers, also referred to as "the Board,"
comprised of the Club's elected Officers, and three offices appointed by the incoming board and the
outgoing President.
•
Section 8.2
All Club members in good standing are eligible to serve as Officers.
•
Section 8.3
The Club shall have the following Eight Officers:
1) President (One year term)
2) Vice President (One year term)*
3) Treasurer (Two year term)
4) Secretary (One year term)
5) Newsletter Editor (One year term appointed by the Officers)
6) Webmaster (One year term appointed by the Officers)
7) Competition Coordinator (One year term appointed by the Officers)
8) Outgoing President. (Legacy)
*note: the Vice President is a two year term, one year as VP, the next as President. For our first
year of elections in 2006, the initial President election will be an one year term.
Article 9 - Duties of Officers
•
Section 9.1 As a team: To direct the club in support of it’s listed goals. To organize the clubs calendar
for the upcoming year and make decisions as to which events the club will organize and participate in;
and to develop proposed expenditures or expected income if any, associated with those activities.
•
Section 9.2 The President shall:
a) Preside over all monthly and Officer meetings of the DBG.
b) Represent the DBG at outside functions.
c) Direct the VP to establish committees as needed for special projects.
d) Present initiatives and ideas for club activities.
e) Delegate club business to appropriate officers.
f) Oversee all voting. Oversee all Club activities
g) Create the agenda for the monthly and Officer meetings from input from the officers.
•
Section 9.3 The Vice-President shall:
a) Assist the President, in any way required, and shall act for the President in his or her absence.
b) Organize any needed committees (i.e. membership, newsletter, State Fair, Events).
c) Serve as the facilitator for those committees and take recommendations from these committees to the
officers for approval.
d) Organization of speakers, education and special demonstrations at the monthly meetings.
e) Oversee or perform the procurement of raffle prizes for monthly meeting
•
Section 9.4 The Secretary shall:
a) Maintain a record of all monthly and Officer meetings and will report those minutes to the officers
for approval with one week of the meeting.
b) Maintain a spreadsheet of the names and contact information of current and past members
c) Provide each member in good standing a membership card and at meetings with a name badge.
d) Initiate at the request of the president all items to be voted upon and record and present the results to
the Officers (and to the membership as dictated by the officers).
e) Edit, add and delete items from the by- laws as determined by the Officers.
f) Collect nominations for electable positions and coordinate dispersement and voting to the members.
g) Add, edit and delete to the DBGNET group based on members in good standing.
•
Section 9.5 The Treasurer shall:
a) Have all responsibilities for the Club's financial activities, including collection of dues and other
funds paid to the Club.
b) Recording all receipts and disbursements, and maintaining the Club's bank account.
c) Pay out valid expenditures of no more than $50.00 or less to any household in any given month.
d) Expenditure exceeding $50.00 shall require a vote by the officers or at the officers discretion, from a
vote from the general membership.
e) Maintain a listing of all the club’s physical assets (dispensing equipment, tent, etc) and will keep
track to whose possession it is in at all times.
f) Report the club financial statement at each meeting to the membership, includes all new income and
expenditures.
•
Section 9.6 The Competition Coordinator shall:
a) Organize of all monthly DBG intraclub competitions. Publishing a list of categories for the year.
b) Organize all AHA Club Only competitions, including the collection and shipping of winning entry.
c) Record and present to newsletter and website editor the current statistics for Homebrewer of the
Year (HOTY)
d) After approval from the Officers, procure the prize(s) for the HOTY award.
e) Post to DBGNET all Florida Homebrew Competitions, AHA Regionals etc to elicit entries from the
f) DBG members to support other clubs competitions. Reminders of deadlines.
g) Organize the packing party for the out of town Florida competition.
•
Section 9.7 The Past president shall:
a) Act in an advisory capacity to the Officers and have full voting rights on The Board.
b) Head up one of more of the special projects committee.
c) In conjunction with the current present and Treasurer, provide a mid- year and end of year audit of
the club finances. Report finding to the Officers.
•
Section 9.8 The Newsletter Editor shall
a) Act as the Newsletter Committee Chairperson and be responsible for formatting and editing all
newsletter articles.
b) Writing and soliciting articles and keeping track of upcoming events relevant to the club.
c) Edit, publish and email the monthly newsletter near the first of the month.
•
Section 9.9 The Web Master shall:
a) Maintain the DBG site of the web and coordinate all Internet-related activities of the Club.
b) Post upcoming events in a timely manner.
c) In conjunction with the club registrar for the BFBC Homebrew Competition, develop and maintain
the on-line registry program.
d) Maintain archives of past newsletters, past results of competitions, HOTY, club awards
•
Section 9.10 Miscellaneous
a) If an Officer cannot fulfill his/her obligations, the Officer Board shall appoint a replacement to fill
the balance of the term. However, if such Officer is the President, the Board will nominate a
candidate and hold a special election at a general meeting of the Club.
b) An Officer or may be removed from office with a removal vote from six of the eight officers.
The Florida State Fair is right around the corner!
We need YOU to consider volunteering some of your time for this event as we will be running the competition.
Also make sure you keep 3 bottles of all your beers to enter into the event!
Guest Writer Series….
I wanted to do an article on Belgian travel and in beginning my research, I saw that Jim
Ritchhart had done a wonderful series of articles for our neighboring homebrew club in
Gainesville “The Hogtown Brewers” and asked if we could reprint his travel in Belgians..The
first part of theis article can be found in the September newsletter. This is the second and last
part.
-KK
Belgium Trip Spring 2002 (Part 2)
By James Ritchhart
After leaving DeDolle, I traveled south in hopes of making it to St. Sixtus (Westvleteren) before they closed.
Actually, I was hoping to get to In Der Vrede St. Sixtus's off site restaurant before they closed. For those
unfamiliar with Trappist monasteries, most do not allow visitors. The Brothers (monks) are cloistered for life.
They do not allow visitors and frown upon any conversation, except conversation essential to edify the Lord.
This precludes visits from outsiders that would ask questions about life inside the walls. Some monasteries do
allow visitors, especially those in the U.S. and Canada, but the Trappist frown upon this. St. Sixtus, Westmalle,
Achel, Orval, Rochefort and Chimay are included in the ones that don't allow visits. Now, all of these places do
have visitor center's where you can sample their
wares, but are off site from the actual monastery. (In
Der Vrede is across the street, in a new modern
building with an interactive exhibit showing the
daily life of the brothers. This building replaced the
old two story building that had been the visitor
center since the forties. The old center looked more
like a biker bar and on weekends became one, so the
brothers tore it down and moved it further away to
cut down on the noise. Anyway, when I got there
about 5:00 it was closed. I later found out that it was
some Belgium holiday and they had not been open
that day. (If anyone ever goes to visit, keep in mind
that In Der Vrede is ALWAYS closed on Friday!)
So I headed into Poperinge where I was staying my first night. I stopped into Brierard for a cold Hommelbier on
tap and then drove to Watou to check it out. (I was scheduled to have dinner at t'Hommelhof at 8:00.) The trip
to Watou takes about 7 minutes. 15 minutes by bicycle. On the way I saw the biggest Hog I have ever seen. The
thing had to weigh a thousand pounds. I found out that it was feed on spent grains from the four local breweries.
(A word of caution.) Watou consisted of one of the smallest town
squares I saw on my trip. It was very quaint and forties looking.
Back to Poperinge I checked into my hotel, which was right on
the square and was built in the 16th century. My room was huge!
The bathroom was about the size of the other rooms I would stay
in on my trip. They had a very nice restaurant that was packed
that night as well as a cozy bar with about 40 beers available. I
made it to t'Hommelhof and had a fantastic dinner. Waterzooi for
soup, rabbit in beer sauce and hop shoots for a salad. (Hop shoots
were out of season, but Stephen (the chef) grows the shoots in a
greenhouse.) Very Unique! After dinner I went back to
Poperinge and stayed out way too late. It didn't feel like it, but
when they started kicking
me out of one pub after
another, I got the idea.
The next morning, I got
up early and headed to St. Sixtus. I had pre-arranged, through months of
communications, a visit to the monastery. This visit was to be for the
purpose of attend ing Eucharist. I was told in advance that there was to be
no dialogue, no pictures and definitely, no tour of the brewery! Eucharist
was great. I was in the dirt floor sanctum where the brothers take their
daily devotional and have been for 150 years. I sat on some wooden
benches in the back and they all filed in and made a semi-circle around
the alter in the front of the room. The entire service was in Dutch, but
they gave me an English missal to follow along with. Since I had German
in High School it was pretty easy. Towards the end of the service the 6
people in the back were invited into the circle to take communion. This
was one of the highlights of my visit. After the service, Brother Godfried,
asked me to wait for him in the entryway, as he would like a word with
me. Brother Godfried was the one that I had pre-communications with.
After about a ten minute wait, Bro Godfried ushered me into a small
conference room for the word with me. The word actually was a dialogue
of about an hour. Seems Godfried had been to New York and Seattle once before his decision to join the cloth.
He was very well educated and spoke English very well. I could tell he missed some of the outside world, but
appeared content with his decision. (You must understand that once one joins the Trappist order, they never
leave the grounds. They are there for life. No trips to town for the weekend. They live there and die there. I saw
the cemetery.) I was able to snap a few discrete pictures. Not that I wanted to break the rules; I just wanted a
reminder.
After the service I drove around to where I would purchase my case of Westvleteren 12 for $24. I found out
later that $6. of that was for the wooden case and the bottles. (No the case wouldn't fit in my suitcase!) I then
went over to in DerVrede and had a snack and a 6, 8 and 12 before heading out to Brugge for my second night
and more beer adventures.
San Francisco “Trippin” by KK
Would like to say it was all about the beer…but had to give music an
equal spot on this trip. The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival near the
Haight-Asbury area of San Fran. gave me the push to go…. Two days of
60 bands, five stages and the price… FREE (yes free!)
www.strictlybluegrass.com
THE MUSIC…
Austin Lounge Lizards, The Del McCoury Band, Doc Watson, Earl
Scruggs, Eliza Gilkyson, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Guy Clark,
Jim Lauderdale w/ His Bluegrass Band, The Knitters, Los Super Seven ,
Patty Griffin, Peter Rowan & Tony Rice Quartet, Ralph Stanley & His
Clinch Mountain Boys, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Robert Earl
Keen, Rodney Crowell, Rosanne Cash, Split Lip Rayfield, Steve Earle & The Bluegrass Dukes, Th' Legendary
Shack*Shakers, Tim O'Brien, Todd Snider, The Waybacks w/ Darol Anger.. to name only half.
THE BEER SCENE
Went to Speakeasy (micro), 21st Amendment, Thirsty Bear and Magnolia
,, all brewpubs.
Tap bars were Toronado, Rogue Publick House, Jack’s and Kennedy's
Irish Pub & India Curry House (nothing real special on tap, good curry).
You can skip Jack’s at the wharf unless you are at the wharf and need a good
basic craft beer. In my opinion, others will disagree, skip the wharf unless
you wanna do the tourist thing or have you wife with you and shopping is on
the agenda. In fact, if you have very limited time, spend it all in the HaightAsbury area and go to Toronado (46 taps.. La Folie on draft for 2.75 10
ounces, excellent keg selection and hand-drawn casks)
and Magnolia Pub & Brewery www.magnoliapub.com
(very good beers and growlers to go).
The Haight-Asbury district, the
birthplace of the cultural revolution that
sparked the 60’s, and more importantly
to beginning of “hippiedom”, appeared
to be safe at night, but I was only out
there till 11pm. Lots of unique
“quirky” shops and eateries, too. (PS if
anyone out there knows of one, I need a
nearby hotel B&B reference for my next trip)
21st and Thirsty Bear had good beers, but the a surroundings were a little upscale for my comfort level.
The Rogue P.H. is worth a stop at, their full lineup plus a special and a comfy pub and beer garden…
MISSED GOING TO
The heralded Anchor Brewing as their tours book up weeks ahead. I missed Beach Chalet and San Francisco Brewing
(others have said okay beers, good food) and I usually don't do Gordon Biersch’s if there are other places to go.
RETAIL BEER SCENE
Whole Foods 1765 California St, San Francisco, 94109 - (415) 674-0500.
Beverages and More on Geary 3445 Geary Blvd. San Francisco, CA 94118
BEER WE BROUGHT BACK
Russian River Damnation 7% Golden Ale
Russian River Supplication Brown Ale with Cherries ages in Oak 7%
Russian River Temptation Blonde Ale in Oak 7%
Anderson Valley Brother David’s Tripel 10%
Moylans’ Old Blarney Barleywine 10%
Moylan’s Kiltlifter Scotch Ale 8%
Laganita’s Nuevo Noir Belgian Brown 6.3%
Alaskan Amber
Drake’s IPA (GABF Gold, San Leandro)
Bear Republic Big Black Bear Stout 8%
Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA 7%
and a growler of from the Rogue Public House – a Strong Ale
OUT OF TOWN
Just north of S.F. is a wonderful “little” town, (for California) called Santa Rosa.. two great brewpubs (Russian
River and Third Street Aleworks) and they have a micro.
Marin Brewing, Powerhouse B.C., Dempsey’s and Laganita’s (the later two in Petaluma) breweries are in
nearby towns. Laganita’s is one cool micro.. I highly recommend spending some time in their tasting room and
tour.
Hey DBG’ers, been on a trip? Give us the lowdown on your pub crawling…
Bottle conditioning v/s Force carbonation
At the October DBG Meeting, Danny Williams traveled to the meeting @ the Dunedin Brewery with Hurricane
Wilma on his tail. With him, he brought gifts of beer for some lucky members who wanted to sample a few
different beers he brewed. Now, for those of you who don’t know… sampling Danny’s beer is a special
experience in itself, but there was a twist. Danny had taken his beer, and force carbonated some while letting
some condition in the bottle. The whole idea of this sampling was to see if the group could tell the difference
between the two methods of carbonation in a side by side taste test of the same batch..
Danny wrote a great article about their findings, so click this link to be taken to the article in its entirety.
Brewer of the Month – Dave Morgan
With the news that our brave leader will be stepping down, it’s only appropriate for the Tartan Times to make
him the featured brewer of the month! We all have to thank Dave for his enthusiasm, and perseverance through
the years to not only keep the club together, but to grow it to the size it is today.
Tartan Times: Right off the bat…Dave, THANKS for all you have done for the club over the years. You have
given so much of yourself to this organization; one has to believe it is a labor of love. I bet you have some
stories to tell!!!! What would you consider to be your proudest moment as president of the DBG?
Dave Morgan: Its really hard to say as I have not been sober for any of it. But really, there have been many
things that have made me proud, but I would have to say that I am proud at every meeting, Its nice to look out
over the people and see many people who came to as beginners or as a novice and are still actively brewing
some really great beer
TT: How ‘bout you’re most embarrassing moment?
D.M. Honestly, I can not think of one, you might have to ask KK, or the gang about this one
TT: Dave, how did you start the DBG? What were those first meetings like?
D.M. I hope we have enough room in the newsletter, I will try and break it down. Actually, the DBG had been
registered non-profit for approximately 2 years before I had started, but nothing was ever done with it(no
officers, no meetings, no nothing). One year I was in Denver for the GABF with the Dunedin Brewery, after
brew pub hoping, the Festival drinking and the several pitchers of beer into some pool games at Wynkoops,
Mike Bryant started talking all kinds of ideas, as usual, and then out of nowhere he asked me if I would be
interested in getting it started, I said I wouldn’t even know where to begin but sure why not, (well they say,
always doing sober what you said while drunk, will teach you to keep your mouth shut).
Well, after being back in town for a couple weeks, I received a fax at work, It Said: Okay, you ready, lets get it
going.
As far as first few meetings, we posted flyers at World Of Beer, called all our friends, and held our first few
meetings at Skip’s, had about 15-20 people show up, most of them though were beer people I was all ready
been meeting, some through Tampa Bay Beers Club and others through the World Of Beer Radio Show, some
through Dunedin Brewery. Our first meeting included, Cathy, KK, Teri Kight, Phil O’regan, Savino, Mike &
Kandi, Ralph & Steph, several others that still come to events but just have had life changes and can’t make
meetings, If I’m correct we only had 1-2 members that had ever done any all- grain brewing.
TT: you have taught so many people to brew great beer, who can get the credit for teaching you how to brew?
D.M. To correctly answer that, I would have to say my cousin (also roommate) and our best friend (neither have
been brewing for several years now). But technically it would have to be some guy named Bill- I do not
remember his last name. He no longer lives in the area. My cousin worked with him and he came up to show us
how, but I played Flag football and had a game that night, when I got home they were cleaning up, the next
week we bottled the week after we drank, the next week we brewed. Here I am still brewing.
TT: Do you have any hobbies other than homebrewing?
D.M. Beer, Homebrewing, Music, I have always loved music, If you asked me 10-12 years ago if I would be
listening to what I do now, I would have laughed in your face. I started in Punk & Metal, moved to thrash when
Metalica first came out ’83 moved forward to Death Metal, and was extremely into it, could have told you about
every band that existed, Orlando had a big scene, then it died and Tampa became the Death Metal capitol of the
world, I saw many many bands, Now I listen to Americana, Zydeco, Bluegrass/Old Time. Big change ahh, I’m
am slowly teaching myself to play guitar, I’m not naturally gifted in this department, seems to take me a lot
longer than most to figure thing out, I hope some day to carry on from my dad, and learn to play fiddle.
TT: What is your favorite beer related event to attend? Why?
D.M. I would probably have to say, it is just after the State Fair, at the Brewers Ball watching 300-400 fellow
beer lovers having fun and enjoying everything that we worked so hard for, Oh and Its much better on the years
that they announce the DBG as the Winners of the Big Ass Florida Cup.
TT: What, if anything do you look forward to when you wo n’t be president anymore?
D.M. Talking loudly in the back ground during a meeting with the new president trying to talk
If you could give the new board members (whom ever they will be) a little advice, what Would you tell them?
D.M. Don’t lose focus on promotion, with out heavy promotion to continuiosly get new people, we would
currently be 4-5 people sitting around drinking beer.
Once again Dave, Thanks for everything. I think everyone in the club owes you a round…
Reward !!!
“Lost Kangaroo”
By Manny Bonewitz Oct. 2005
Well we found it in downtown Bradenton at the Lost Kangaroo pub. A European style pub located on
Old Main Street that was surrounded by shopping, restaurants and a short walk to the Manatee River. This pub
pours 27 beers on tap and none of them are BMC (Bud, Miller, Coors), however one the taps was our very own
local favorite “Dunedin Red”. Others included Chimay Blanche (White), Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel,
Franziskaner Weissbier, Spaten Optimator, Lindemans Framboise lambic, Fullers London Porter, fullers ESB
on cask conditioned hand pull to name a few. The lightest American style beer on tap was Yuengling. If you
cannot find a beer on tap this pub has over 80 different bottled beers as well as a full liquor bar.
Pub keeper and owner Robert Woodring Jr. “Woody” was in the pub during our visit and calls this location
home as he owns 2 other pubs in the Bradenton area. He said the pub was in existence from the early 90’s and
he has owned it for the last 11 years. A super nice guy, earlier that day he had bought the whole bar a round.
Rico, the bartender, was very friendly and quite knowledgeable about the beers.
My first beer was the Chimay which poured flawless, this big malty Belgian ale was a good first choice at
9%ABV and an authentic trapist ale. Afterwards I had to try the cask conditioned hand pull from Fullers, which
was in excellent condition considering its long journey from England. This classic bitter with very low
carbonation and balanced malt to hop profile was truly wonderful. Next it was on to the German Franziskaner
Hefe-Weissbier Dunkel which you do not find on tap very often. After my first taste of this malty Weiss beer
the up front and very noticeable clove spiciness was evident and is typical of some German Weiss beers.
However my preference is towards the banana profile of the southern German Weiss beers so I decided to ask
Rico to add a splash of Lindemans Framboise lambic on top to balance out the clove. This was the right move
as it added a slight sweetness and fruitiness to the Munich malt profile while lowering the clove notes. I ordered
a sample of the Pear cider they had on tap that was almost champagne like with high carbonation and pear
aroma. This was a very interesting cider to have on tap. The pub also has TV’s which is not very European and
more of the sports bar feel which turned out to be a nice feature because the Buc’s were playing at home that
Sunday. Other amenities included a Steel tip dartboard, outdoor seating, indoor smoking and lots of unshelled
peanuts to make up for not serving food. A great selection of beer and European feel make this a worthwhile
visit if you’re in the area.
Lost Kangaroo pub
427 Old Main street
Downtown Bradenton
Florida
(941) 747-8114
A Gueuze tasting with Peter Bouckaert of New Belgian Brewing
By Cathy Schulz
Fellow homebrewer and renowned beer writer for Southern Brew News www.brewingnews.com, Jim Ritchhart
called and asked if I would like to come up to his Belgian house bar "De Oude Proevende Zaal” in Ocala, for a tasting of
30 Geuezes….now I like the tart, low pH smack of a Geueze just as much as the next gal, but 30 of them?? At this point
my mind was reeling with thoughts of an acidotic seizure, when I heard Jim finish his sentence with “and Peter Bouckaert
will be there”… Hell yea, I’m there!
I’ve been a fan of Peter’s La Folie (a Flemish Sour Red Ale aged in red wine casks) since it exploded on
the beer scene in 2000. Peter was the former brewmaster at the famous Brouwerij Rodenbach in Belgium,
and is now a brewmaster at New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, CO.
Here’s a rundown of the tasting list…..
Jacobins
Kriek
3 Fonteinen
Oude Kriek
3 Fonteinen
Oude Geuze
Bellevue
Geueze
Boon
Oude Gueze
Boston Brewing
Lambic (Special)
Cantillion
Geueze
Cantillion
Kriek
Cantillion
Iris
Cantillion
Loerik
1997
2004
2003
2004
97-98
Proprietary
2003
2000
2004
1998
DeRanke
Giardin
Hanssens
Hanssens
Lindemans
Lindemans
Mort Subite
New Belgium
St. Louis
St. Louis
St. Louis
St. Louis
Timmerman’s
Timmerman’s
2004
2004
2000
2004
1980
2003
2004
2005
2004
1994
1985
2003
2003
2003
Kriek
Geueze
Oudbietje
Mead/Geueze
Geueze/Lambic
Cuvee Renee
Geueze
Le Terroir Lambic
Kriek
Peche
Geueze/Lambic
Geueze Fond Tradition
Blanche/Lambic
Geueze
and as aperitifs… Flemish Sours and Browns: Cuvee de Tomme, Italy’s
Panil, Liefman’s Oud Bruin, etc. And lastly, a Flanders Red Ale named
“Alexander” from the aforementioned Rodenbach brewery. The beer’s
vintage was 1994, a year when Peter was still at the famous brewery. His
wife Frizi described the experience of her favorite beer as “angels peeing on
my tongue” and added to the visual imagery with a story "Janneke Pis” the
female counterpart to the famous statue “Mannequin
Pis”(see pic).
As this is was a vintage tasting and what WAS a
wonderful beer may now be crap, and what WAS good may have become wonderful, it’s really a
tasting into the unknown. I have tasting notes on all of them, catch me at one of the DBG meetings
for more details, but for now some of my top picks were:
Giardin Geueze, 3 Fonteinen Oude Kriek, Hanssens Oudbietje (Strawberry), and Cantillion Loerik.
The Loerik also had the most interesting story… as described by Tim Webb in his new book “LambicLand”… “variously
described as a "freak of nature", it is a lazy geuze. "Loerik " is Brussels' dialect means something like "lazy yeast". It is a
geuze that, by an unknown reaction in the blended lambics, refuses to re-ferment at first and eventually does so, only very
slowly. Jean-Pierre Van Roy allows this beer to make itself comfortable in his cellars and take all the time it needs. The
resulting geuze, always at least a couple of years old before it is released, bears the delicate effects of the slow maturation
process. 1998 was the last bottling, and nobody knows when another Loerik will come around.”
Another one of the very interesting experiments was Peter’s Le Terroir, available only at the brewery, it is a single Barrel
sour beer that is dry-hopped with Amarillo hops… BUT, this bottle he inoculated three months ago with Brettanomyces
Anomolus. The result was a pleasant grapefruit aroma from Amarillo, a light brett “horsy” character with a wonderful
peach/apricot overtones. Flavor has some brett and oak, with a very tart acidity. Overall a wonderful beer, but I still like
the more balanced nature of the La Folie (Le Terroir is La Folie casks that are not blended)
So what did I learn from a master brewer about Lambics in the short four hour tasting, (given that he is a little hard to
understand until you get into the Flemish linguistic flow)… he said and I quote “Lactic acid should be double the Acetic
acid in the flavor profile ”. These words will be with me forever.
What’s next? A Wit tasting with Pierre Celis in Hudson, Florida? Been there, done that… HEY… Fritz Maytag! get
your wrinkly old butt over to Dunedin with some foggy, steamy beers!
DGB Calendar
There are lots of events coming up, so get off the couch and check them out!
11/5 Coconut Cup, Miami Homebrew Comp
11/9-13 Riverhawk Music Fest - Come join the the DBG members in 4 days of camping, beer & music
www.lindentertainment.com more info KK 727 734-6968
11/12 Dunedin Wines the Blues - Downtown Dunedin, Street party, Live Blues on Main Stage, multiple Blues
bands through out the local establishments. Beer, Wine, food, fun.
11/12 Orlando Beer Festival - Universal Citywalk, 2 days, Specials, lots of beer. Visit the parks also. More
Info
11/15 Hogtown packing Party 7pm at the Brewery free shipping
www.hogtownbrewers .org
11/19 Hogtown Brewoff, Gainsville More info to come, packing party TBA
11/19 Dunedin Celtic Fest - 7 Nations, Bad Haggis, Jackdaw www.dunedinhighlandgames.com/celtfest.html