The snow started early Friday evening. It wasn't long before you knew this would be a big one. The salt crews were patrolling the streets, but the snow was coming down faster than they could spread their salt. By Saturday morning the Chicagoland area had its second largest snowfall of the season, and only those who had to braved the wintry conditions. Most people I am sure would prefer to stay in a warm bed, and dream of warmer days to come. But in Downers Grove there was a Drunk Monk that had to be cared for. It wasn't exactly the "frozen tundra of Lambeau Field", but I think most of the judges and staff felt that way when they trudged over to Founders Hill Brewery that morning. There was beer to be brought in, and sorted into flights. Lots of beer, with well over 200 entries. Tables to be prepped for the judges, paperwork readied, computer programs doublechecked -it was badges, buckets and bagels. This was the way the Drunk Monk Challenge started on March 6th , 1999. After only a small delay at one table, where the judging panel had no beers at all, the willing but mostly inexperienced stewards got everyone set up, and the event started close to 9am. The upstairs room at Founders varied between too hot or too cold for most of the morning, but the session went well otherwise. When the judges finished their first session, they either immediately dug into the excellent lunch buffet Founders prepared, or stopped first to ogle the impressive gathering of prizes for the raffle later that day. There was glassware galore, hats and t-shirts, hops and yeast, malt and a mash paddle. The real prize though that had everyone talking was an aluminum Coors Lite wall sign. Who would get to carry this prize home? With full stomachs and big eyes, the afternoon round started. And it went quite well, ending around 3:30pm leaving only the Menace of the Monastery and Best of Show judging to be completed. Since we had to vacate the room by 5:00pm, the raffle started while these last two events continued. With all the prizes the committee had worked so hard to get, it was going to take a while to give it away. With UKG prez Darrell Proksa pulling the winning ticket stubs and John Mains hawking the merchandise, the first prize handed went to the UKG's own Don Alton. It was good news/bad news for Don though. It was the first of his many wins, but it also was the hideous Coors Lite sign. Everyone else felt relieved that they didn't win that, and the drawing continued. There were a number of multiple prize winners and a few who didn't win a thing, but everyone seemed in a jovial mood as the raffle ended. With the judging now finished, the crowd emptied out of Founders Hill in Downers and headed west to Two Brothers Brewing in Warrenville for the post-competition party. All of you who could not fit this event into your weekend schedule missed a great time. There was a very nice selection of foods on the buffet line. The taps were open for the Two Bros. line of fine beers, along with a keg of Drunk Monk Ale from the Three Floyds Brewery, and a number of kegs brought in by club members John Mains and Shane Coombs. Apologies to anyone I might have forgotten that brought beer, but with so much of it around, it really was hard to keep track of what was what. Since we had run a little bit late at Founders, the ribbon ceremony was conducted here at Two Bros. It was a very good showing for the Knaves ribbon-wise, with the top two spots, Best of Show and Menace of the Monastery going to club members Shane Coombs and Mike Uchima respectively. Overall, it was the combined work of the organizing, facilities and food committees that made the First Drumk Monk Challenge the resounding success that it was. A tip of the Knave cap to all who participated in this joint effort. If you couldn't take part this year, I hope you will mark it down for next year's to-do list. You won't regret it.
The Maibocks and Bocks are being tapped (check out Two Brother's latest release) and that can only mean one thing - this year's Drunk Monk Challenge is officially history. After months of planning and preparation in a short 18 hours, 220+ beers were judged, hundreds of dollars worth of homebrew merchandise and breweriana were raffled off, and a feast befitting the spirit of the competition was held in the shadows of the fermentation tanks of Two Brother's Brewing. When "the dust had finally settled", two men had their hands raised in victory - Shane Coombs' Flanders brown was determined to be the best beer of the competition and Mike Uchima was awarded the distinction of MENACE OF THE MONASTERY 1999 for his Belgian dubbel. Congratulations to you both. Shane's honor also puts him one step closer to Midwest Homebrewer of the Year (stay tuned as this story unfolds).
I suppose it's fitting that Shane was awarded Best of Show Honors though it's minor compensation for the commendable effort put forth by himself and a small band of renegade volunteers (Laurel Coombs, John Mains, Joe Formanek, Don Alton, Steve McKenna, and John Kleczewski) who took it upon themselves to make this competition a reality for this year and hopefully many years to come. In addition, the Competition Committee was aided by two other subcommittees, Phil Moy's food committee (responsible for the post-competition menu) and Jim Ebel's facilities committee (responsible for coordinating setup of the post-competition banquet). Most competitions are money losing propositions, but we all have John Mains and Shane to thank for making this a "debt-free" club effort and putting next year's DMC on solid financial footing. As a result of their efforts to obtain donations of many valuable raffle prizes, the revenue generated from raffle ticket sales largely offset many of our expenses incurred as part of putting on this event. DMC 2000 will surely get off to a running start !
Even though they don't receive this newsletter, I would especially like to thank all the FOJ's (Friend of Joe's) who drove from Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and downstate in the second worst snowstorm of the winter in order to lend their judging expertise. They are truly a devoted lot !
I'm happy to say that the annual February train crawl was not impacted by any similar type of weather. Although it was a little on the chilly side (hey come on, it was February !), a dozen or so thirsty souls made their way from Aurora to Brookfield to sample the offerings from some of the western suburbs' finer watering holes. Unfortunately, due to a camera malfunction, there are no pictures to present of the surly train conductors, Tom Fitzpatrick's harem, or any of the other frivolity normally associated with these events. Contrary to the fact that no stamina awards were to be given out, club member Wendy Cottrell persevered through all five stops - and lived to tell about it !
Well, enough about the past, get your social calendars out and start blocking out some time for the following club and beer-related activities.
During the weekend of April 17, hundreds of homebrewed beers will descend upon Goose Island Brewery (1800 W. Fulton - near the United Center) for evaluation in the first round of the AHA national competition. All area judges and aspiring judges are strongly encouraged to plan on lending their educated palate to this monumental effort. Additional volunteers will be needed to help register entrants and provide competition day(s) assistance. You can likely expect to see e-mails and other correspondence about this in the near future.
The following Saturday, April 24, I will be hosting a brew-in at the Proksa stovetop brewhouse located at 128 Sherwood Court in Downers Grove. This will be an all grain affair with mash in commencing at 11:00am. If the weather is conducive, we'll burn some burgers on the grill after cleanup.
May 1st is scheduled to be National Homebrew Day. In continuing last year's tradition, the AHA is coordinating another world-wide "Big Brew" which is supposed to take place that day. Details are still sketchy (AHA SOP) even though the clock continues to tick closer to that date (kinda like Y2K preparedness). As of press time we are still trying to identify a host site and name a site coordinator. If you are interested in participating in this event, let me know ASAP since planning activities will need to be completed in a very short period of time.
Also in May, Founders Hill in Downers Grove is hosting their annual Spring Brewers Fest. As opposed to previous years, this year's event has been expanded to two days; Friday the 14th AND Saturday the 15th. Naturally, volunteers will be needed to help staff the brewer's tables. As more information becomes available I will let you know.
For those of you who attended the February meeting you'll recall some discussion about an area clubs get together. It looks as though plans are starting to solidify somewhat and a picnic type affair is expected to be announced for the May/June timeframe. As they say, news at 10.
Finally, our resident cyclist, Chris Campanelli, proposed an idea earlier this year to do a bike crawl along the Fox River. After some serious thought regarding distances between stops and other logistical concerns, it appeared that only the triathletes in the club would find it an enjoyable experience. So the idea has been scaled back to make it a normal pub crawl (on foot) but still with a Fox River theme - the drinking establishments of St. Charles. There have been a number of new openings, all in relative close proximity of each other and some with deck seating overlooking the Fox. No specific date has been set yet, but assume it will take place sometime this summer.
As you can see, we've got quite a few irons in the fire. I will make every effort to keep you fully informed when updates are received and plans become finalized. E-mail seems to be the most effective way to accomplish this. If you have an e-mail address but have not been receiving e-mail reminders about club meetings, etc. send a message to dproksa@fcmservices.com and I will include you in future distributions.
Don't forget, officer elections will be coming up mid year. If you aspire to the office of club President or Newsletter Editor please let me know so that your name can be placed on the ballot.
Cheers!
If you were planning on travelling to Crested Butte ski resort for the traditional beer party and nude skiing this month you might want to reconsider. Crested Butte Mountain Resort has issued warnings that this year the final day of skiing will be "prim and proper" and nude skiers may find themselves under arrrest or banned from the ski area for three years. The new no-nude policy puts the wraps on a 25-year tradition that had begun to get out of hand in recent years. When it began in 1973, a few locals celebrating the sunshine in free-spirited good humor streaked down the mountain in nothing but their Ray-Bans. But by last year, the birthday-suit ritual had turned into a melee, with dozens of drunk and disorderly nudes (what a sight that must be) tossing beer bottles at police and trashing warming centers and the Crested Butte Town Center at the base of the ski mountain. Embarrassed ski area officials vowed to do something to stop the nudity on a day that is also popular because skiing is free. To keep the nude skiing in check on April 18, Crested Butte resort officials are warning that anyone disrobing at any of the areas where liquor is on the menu will face arrest under a state law that bans nudity where alcohol is served. Off-duty police officers who will patrol these areas will issue two warnings to get clothed or leave before making arrests. Those who ski in the buff in areas where liquor isn't served will be collared by ski area officials and will not be issued season passes or lift tickets for up to three years. "We're not being prudish. It just got real indecent last year. It turned into a very perverted situation," said Crested Butte Resort spokeswoman Gina Kroft. According to Kroft this year "It will be more prim and proper than it has been."
A front page story by Harold Sperazza in the first issue of Great Lakes Brewing News for 1999 assesses the health of the homebrewing hobby in light of the apparent decline in the number of associated hobbyists (i.e. homebrewers). In reading the article I felt that there were a number of very valid points made that could possibly explain why our club has gone from around 75 members to a little over half that over the past few years. In case you didn't read the piece I'd like to summarize some of the thoughts presented.
It appears that a panel discussion or chat room may have been set up to collect these ideas. "Panel members" included Chuck (sic) Papazian, Scott Birdwell (DeFalco's), David Ittel (Brew & Grow stores), Bill Heller (Heller's Homebrew Supplies - closed), Ron Hartmann (L.D. Carlson), Byron Burch (The Beverage People), Seth Schneider (Crosby and Baker), and Judi Rudd (President - HWBTA).
Ironically, it seems that good economic times are bad times for the hobby. Hartmann says "With the strong economy, people have more money but less time for hobbies. When the economy goes bad homebrewing and wine making always become more popular." Burch echoed that statement saying "This is a business that thrives during recessions, we always look to the next recession. I've seen a 20% rise [in shop revenue] during hard times."
Another contributing factor is the growth of the microbrewing industry and the variety and availability of quality beers. Schneider argues, "Ten years ago someone interested in trying a wide range of beer styles had to get into [home]brewing, now you can go down to your favorite beverage center and buy 17 different stouts or travel a few miles to a half dozen brewpubs."
Ittel believes that the number of veteran brewers hasn't diminished; however, the number of new brewers starting the hobby is not growing. Several "panelists" felt that potential new brewers have been "turned off" by shady and destructive marketing practices. As an example, Hartmann sites a wholesale outlet (Sam's, Costco ?) that had pallets stacked to the ceiling with cheap beer kits (Mr. Beer ?). On a return trip he noticed that they were practically all sold and opined that there were probably a pallet-full of people who will probably never brew again. In his words, "People who purchased these machines simply followed the directions. They boiled a little malt and a couple pounds of sugar and dispensed it off a week later. When these first time homebrewers drank that stuff it completely turned them off to the hobby."
It was also proposed that the Internet may also be partially responsible for the lack of new homebrewers due to the overwhelming amount of information. Heller observes, "If you're thinking about getting into homebrewing and you look it up on the [net] and see what some of these guys are doing, especially all grain brewers, it could scare you away from the hobby. ... It just appears to the new brewer that it's not as easy as it used to be, and there's so much information on the Internet that it just boggles people's minds." Burch argues that, "The Internet can be a great source of misinformation about homebrewing. I've seen some bad advice given in chat rooms, people then make some bad beer and they stop brewing."
The discussion wrapped up with a summary of some efforts being planned by the HWBTA to reinvigorate the hobby. These include production of a homebrewing video that will be made available to shop owners for airing on local access cable channels, trade advertising in mainstream magazines, and sponsoring articles written about homebrewing in hobby magazines that share a traditional synergy with homebrewing.
It will be interesting to see what trends develop over the next few years for this hobby and whether or not the theory of economic cycles is true. Regardless, it's probably in our best interest now to assume the role of self-appointed spokesperson whenever the opportunity presents itself to promote our hobby.
It's often said that given an unlimited supply of time and paper, monkeys could eventually write all of Shakespeare's works. If old Bill had tried that approach it probably would have saved me from reading Hamlet in high school, but I don't believe there are enough monkeys to write stories like these:
In England, a local fishing club was having a birthday party for one of its members. A good time was being had by all, especially one guest who had apparently passed out from too much beer and punch. Fellow revelers decided to have some fun with him so they shaved his head and took photographs of him with a blow-up doll. Unfortunately, poor Ian Clifton, 35, had died two hours earlier from acute alcohol poisoning. Mr. Clifton's condition was realized only when a friend felt for his pulse after midnight. Damn, I hate it when that happens.
Here's another case for beer and firearms not making very good companions. Troy Gassner ,29, of Mayville, WI came home about 2:30am one Saturday night last February and found a 16-year-old relative and his friend, Justin Ruckel, 18, watching the movie "Dirty Harry". Gassner passed around some beers and got out his own .44 magnum. He then loaded the weapon several times with a different number of shells, each time cocking the hammer back, spinning the cylinder and pointing the gun at Ruckel, saying, "Do you feel lucky?". Gassner later told police that the gun was cocked and lying on his lap or his right knee when it discharged, striking Ruckel in the left knee. I hate it when that happens.
Now Troy Gassner did not kill young Justin Ruckel luckily, but had he done so, he might have tried a beer defense at trial like Montoun Hart of Brooklyn. Mr. Hart was arrested for the torture-slaying of a Bronx high-school teacher. He confessed to the crime, but later said he was too "wasted" and "hammered" on beer, (4-40oz. bottles), cognac (one pint), and marijuana (two huge bombers). Photos of a zombie-like Hart, taken hours into his interrogation, were the "clincher" in their decision, one juror said. There was no physical evidence liking Hart to the crime. Instead, prosecutors asked jurors to convict Hart based only on his drunken confession and a shaky eyewitness - a man who, eight months after the crime, claimed to remember Hart standing at the ATM where $800 was withdrawn from the teacher's account.
And finally, maybe it was monkeys that came up with this bonehead idea. Back Bay Brewing Co. of Boston MA has a line of beers tinged with local color, such as Boston Massacre Lager and Tea Party Porter. But their latest brand Boston Strangler Stout, has families of the victims, among others up in arms over the poor choice in naming their seasonal brew. The company says because it is a seasonal it is no longer available and when it comes out again next year, they will consider re-naming it. Maybe this is a way for some local brewery to get some attention. How about John Wayne Gueuze Belgian Ale?
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Last modified 5/4/99.