March 2004 - Primetime Brewers

RUBBER
CHICKEN
The
WWW.PRIMETIMEBREWERS.COM
MARCH 2004
Next meeting: March 18th 6:30 PM at Robert Thomas Brewery
PrimeTime Brewers take coveted the Lake, from Holland. The cup will be on
display at Siciliano’s. My thanks to Steve
SICILIANO’s
1st Annual BBQ and Quiz Bowl Cup and the gang at Siciliano’s. He hopes to
make this an annual event, so get your tickets
early next year as he sold out very quickly
The PTB quiz bowl team, consisting of John this year. A great BBQ rib dinner, t-shirt,
glass and bumper sticker were all included
Applegarth, Jeff Carlson, Tony Carlson,
Dave Kilgore, and Rich Gretz took home the for only $15.
first annual Siciliano’s Cup. The competition Great prizes were given away and there was
more homebrew then we could drink.
consisted of a written examination and on
Thanks again Steve, for your support of the
oral quiz bowl with other teams involved.
GR Homebrewing community.
Our team crushed team BOTL, Brewers on
Jeff Carlson
FROM THE PREZ:
Michigan Apple Cider
Michigan Apple Committee
This month’s meeting will be held at Robert
Thomas Brewing
Company, or by the time the meeting happens,
Founder’s East. We will need to start early, as
Patrick O’Connor, from Michigan State University, will be coming and bringing their ciders for evaluation. So let’s start our business
meeting at 7pm sharp. Social time will start at
6:30. After the evaluation and presentation by
Patrick we will judge our Mead, for entry in
the AHA Club only competition, to be held in
Alaska by the Great Northern Brewers Homebrew club.
See you all on the 18th.
"Michigan is one of the largest apple growing
states in the nation. The Michigan apple industry has been challenged by ever increasing imports from other countries flooding the market
with cheaply produced and cheaply priced apples. This has caused economic harm to the
hundreds of Michigan’s apple growing farm
families. Recently the Michigan and U.S. Departments of Agriculture funded a research
project designed to help Michigan’s apple
growers launch a hard cider initiative. As
members of the beer community, you are invited to participate in an evaluation of various
hard cider products as part of an ongoing consumer research project being conducted by
Michigan State University. MSU is seeking
your opinion on the acceptability of these various products. The sampling/evaluation will
not take too long, and will include a brief overview of the project (including disclosure of
what you have sampled!) following the evaluation. Your help is needed to keep this project
moving forward!"
Michigan is the cider capital of the Midwest, and perhaps of the nation. According
to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's apple production figures, Michigan is ranked
among the top apple producing states nationally. The state is renowned for its hundreds of farm markets and cider mills that
feature freshly pressed cider made from
apples picked in its bountiful orchards.
Because of their nutritional content, apples
are the traditional "keep the doctor away"
fruit. Apple cider is free of cholesterol and
fats and provides an array of nutrients,
such as potassium and vitamin C, along
with a soluble fiber called pectin.
Studies have shown that high consumption
of pectin-rich foods can contribute to a
lowering of blood cholesterol levels.
Many fans of cider like it simply for the
taste. Cider pressers typically use three to
five or more different apple varieties to
give their cider maximum taste appeal.
Red Delicious is the standard variety to
give cider its sweetness, while Jonathan
and McIntosh are often added to provide a
background effect of tartness and bite.
Your cider may also include such varieties
as Ida Red, Rome, Golden Delicious, Empire, Winesap, Northern Spy or Paula Red.
Today's cider pressers are part of a long
tradition in America. Apple cider, pressed
at thousands of orchards, was the nation's
leading beverage from colonial days until
earlier this century.
Chad & Neil Johnson
Guest: Dawn Cool (student from The Outdoor
Westside Cider Recipe
Cook)
Jeff Carlson
January 24th - Rogue River Brewers meeting 5 gals S.G. 1.056 F.G. 0.988
1pm - 4pm. The Outdoor Cook: by State
Police Post (off Northland Dr., old business
5 gals Hill Brother Cider (Sept)
131).
2.5 cups Table Sugar
Time to pay your dues - $20/year for renewing
2.0 cups light brown sugar
members, $15 for new members
1 12oz can Old Orchard Apple Juice concenAHA national conference - this year, in Las
trate
Vegas
White Labs English Cider Yeast 1 Qt. starter
FROG news (from Shaun): Building violations: Could not show building and equipment
Fermented cider for one month at about 62F.
drawings never done. FROG is down. Larry
Racked to secondary and let set at 50F in base& city of GR need to straighten things out.
ment for 3 months. Using a basic sugar syrup,
Plans being considered to move FROG to an1 part water to 2 parts table sugar, I sweetened
other location. No timetable at this point.
to my taste, about 1.008 SG. Added 2.5 tsps
End of Meeting
potassium sorbate, kegged, force carbonated
This month's brew is .. Stout
and counter pressure filled.
Six entries
Tie breaker -Dan H's score
Jim's - 41
Primetime Brewers
Art's - 39
January 2004 meeting
Label Total Pts.
Charlie Cope
The meeting was slapped to order at 7:29pm
11
403
Art Mac
15 in attendance
1st
Treasurer's report: 1578.85 or 1493.54
12
367
John Applegarth
November was Barleywine Charlie took
5th
first, did not place in the Club Only Competi- 13
400
Dan Humphrey
tion.
2nd
December Christmas Party
14
391
Paul
Auction $449.50
3rd
NEW BUSINESS
15
386
Eric Fouch
Beer Tasting - Flaw identification
4th
Kit with eight "flaw" flavors
16
403
Jim Verlinde
Jeff C. arranged a room at GVSU (GR
1st
campus) . Want to set up three meetings in
Primetime Brewers February 19, 2004
Charlie Cope
February. Tuesday nights.. 3rd, 10th and 17th
24
in
attendance
of Feb. Free for club members. Sign up by eVisitors...
mailing Dan.
Pub Crawl (Bus trip). Set a date in March 20th Robb T. from Grand Haven
Bill Robinette
Larry Bell has invited us to visit Kalamazoo
Brett
Brewing. Need a co-ordinator.. Eric Fouch
Neil Johnson
will do it. Dad's magic bus.
Old business read from January minutes
Report at February meeting
Presentation of the Brewer of the Year - 2003
Jeff & Dan took six metals at St. Louis.
to Jeff Carlson
Shawn's yeast - may be slow to start. Beware!
New Business:
Biggest news is the pub crawl - tickets available. Covers transportation only. Leave Founders at 10am. Arcadia - tour, eat and taste.
Next, Galesburg for a tour of Bell's new facility, then to Kalamazoo - Kraftbrau, Ecentric
cafe, Old Penninsula. We can bring homebrew
on the bus.
Original plan was to have a guy from MSU,
Patrick O'Connor here who is trying to start a
cider club. Didn't work out. Made a test batch
of cider at Uncle John's, plan was to have some
- will try to have it here next month.
Instead, Todd Carlson here to talk about water
treatment.
GR Brewing competition - John would like
some suggestions. Either something REALLY
big, or same as before. If you'd like to help
him, stop back in the brew room and introduce
yourself.
March 6th - Siciliano's - Rib Dinner, T-Shirt,
etc. Homebrewers, bring your own beer. St.
Lane & Watson. Sold out, except if you're a
PrimeTime brewer, give Steve a call.
Todd Carlson - Brewing Water Chemistry
Biochemistry prof. (handout)
Homebrewer for at least 15 years. Don't generally use recipes, don't measure anything,
don't measure gravities - just have fun! pH
level of wort - need to reduce bicarbonate &
carbonate ions in mash & sparge boil with
added calcium. add calcium - precipitate phosphates, stabilizes amylase enzyme, improves
run off
good target: 5.2 pH. Buffered water - stable
pH
caused by bicarbonates. important to remove
bicarbonates to bring pH down.. Boiling splits
bicarbonate into water and CO2.
lowers
alkalinity, makes it easier to adjust pH. TC did
some research into our water in Western MI.
residual alkalinity (RA) / 600 = 0.13 delta pH
this means water from tap is 0.13 higher than
distilled water. +0.3 - appropriate for very dark
beers. -0.x - appropriate for pilsners, light
beers. GR water is good, all purpose brewing
water. Add calcium to lower number
How efficient is boiling in reducing the number? Wouldn't change number much according
to homebrew digest guru.
Experiment - boil 3 gallons of Wyoming MI
water for 15 minutes
before...
hardness 160
alkalinity 116
after boiling..
alkalinity dropped to 85 (-31)
hardness dropped to 132 (-28)
delta pH - started at 0.13 dropped to
0.09
pH went up from 7.4 to 8.6 (pH doesn't
matter because water is less buffered). to get
things lower, add gypsum. brewwater3.com water calculator. commercial brewers do all
kinds of water treatment - don't use the water
out of the ground. water analysis companies look in yellow pages or..
WRI in Muskegon, DEQ in Lansing (department of Environmental Quality).
==== thanks Todd! ====
SHIRTS AND TOWELS
There are still a few PTB shirts and bar towels
available. Shirts are $23 and towels are $12.
See John Applegarth.
MEMBERSHIP DUES
It is the new year, don’t forget to renew your
membership. Renewals are $20. New members are $15.
AHA
Is your membership expiring? Renew now
with John Applegarth and save $5. New members can join at same rate. Check out
www.beertown.org for details on the NHC in
Vegas in June. First round entries are due
April 7-16.
PRIMETIME BREWERS PUB CRAWL
SATURDAY, MARCH 20TH 10AM – 7PM
The bus, a DADD’s 52 passenger, will be available for loading at 9:45, we will depart at
10am sharp, from the parking lot north and adjacent to the Brass Works building, which
Founder’s Brewing Company is located in, 648 Monroe Ave. N.W. The schedule is as follows, drive times may vary depending on traffic, but we will need to keep our departure
times as close as we can, to maximize our time at the pubs.
Bus Schedule
9:45 - 10:00
10:00 - 11:30
11:30 - 1:15
1:15 - 1:30
1:30 - 2:00
2:00 - 2:45
2:45 - 3:00
3:00 - 3:15
3:15 - 5:45
5:45 - 6:00
6:00 - 7:00
Board Bus
Travel to Arcadia B.C.
Arcadia Brewing Company
Board Bus
Travel to Bell’s Production Facility
Tour Bell’s New Facility
Board Bus
Travel to Kalamazoo
Kraftbrau, Eccentric Café, Old Peninsula
Board Bus
Travel back to GR
BEER: You may bring beer on the bus, homebrew is preferred, but not mandatory. Nate
Walser, head brewer at Founder’s will be providing a half barrel of one of their beers also.
SPECIALS: Remember to bring your tickets and hold on to them, they will get you special
prices at Arcadia and Kraftbrau, they will give happy hour prices on their normal house
beers, $2.50 a pint. Old Peninsula will give happy hour prices on their normal house beers,
$2.75 a pint. Larry Bell also said he will have some kind of beer special at the Eccentric
Café .
TOURS: At Arcadia and Kraftbrau, we will be offered a tour of their brewing facilities, it is
optional. It should take about 30 minutes. We will determine who wants to go, on the bus,
and plan accordingly. The tour at Bell’s will be a tour only, they offer no beer at the facility.
FOOD: Arcadia has a great selection of food. Kraftbrau offers snacks, Eccentric Café offers snacks and light meals, a full menu is available at Old Peninsula Brewpub. There are
two beer friendly bar/restaurants within a block of Old Peninsula, they are, Arie’s Singapore,
and Francois’.
The PrimeTime Brewers encourage responsible drinking. We support quality over quantity. Please don’t jeopardize future outings like this, arrange for a designated driver or we
will call you a cab, if you need one.
Lastly, if you haven’t had enough, after we get back, Founder’s will give happy hour prices
on their normal beers at $2.50 a pint. Founder’s assistant brewer, Jeremy Kosmicki’s band,
Oracle, will be playing in the pub. That is, if he hasn’t had too much to drink on the trip.
Most of all, HAVE A GREAT TIME!
PRIMETIME BREWERS
COMPETITION PAGE
Club Only Competition
Calendar
2004
January: Stout (16)
February: Cider (26)
March: Mead (25) AHA COC
April: Extract* (All Categories) AHA COC
May: Wheat Beer ( 17) AHA COC
June: Michigan Basement (Best of Cellar)
September: Smoked Beer (23) AHA COC
October: IPA (7) AHA COC
*At least 50% Extract
Individual Competitions can be found at:
www.beertown.org
2004
Brewer of the Year
Standings
Jeff Carlson
Art McLaughlin
Jim Verlinde
Paul Bierlein
Dan Humphrey
12
12
12
8
4
January Stout Competition
T 1st Art McLaughlin
T 1st Jim Verlinde
3rd
Dan Humphrey
4th
Paul Bierlein
5th
Eric Fouch
6th
John Applegarth
February Cider Competition
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Jeff Carlson
Paul Bierlein
Bob Schneider
Dan Humphrey
Eric Fouch
Steve Peterson
John Applegarth
Mike Winkler
Todd Carlson
Club Officers
President: Jeff Carlson
([email protected])
Vice Pres.: Charlie Cope
([email protected])
Treas.: John Applegarth
([email protected])
Secy & RC Editor: Jim Verlinde
([email protected])
Webmaster: Dan Humphrey
([email protected])
Yeastmaster: Eric Fouch
Foodmeisters: Art McLaughlin
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