As you read this, a case of plain brown bottles of the Knaves' finest beer and mead is winging its way (or already arrived) in Livonia, Michigan for 2nd round judging in the AHA National Homebrew Competition for 2000. The Great Lakes region entries chosen for promotion to the send round were determined over Mother's Day weekend at Goose Island - Wrigleyville by a contingent of judges well represented by our club. I thank those members who committed time and judging expertise toward this "iron-liver" effort.
I'm honored to report that our club scored the most points in the first round of any club in the Great Lakes region. Spearheading that effort was 1999 Midwest Homebrewer of the Year, Joe Formanek, who alone accounted for 36 points which topped last year's high water mark set by Steve McKenna. For everyone's information, the club submitted 91 entries to this competition! That's a fantastic team effort. I thank all you brewers for your determination and support in our goal to repeat as AHA Homebrew Club of the Year. I look forward to reporting at least on high individual medal honors for some of our members at the June club meeting.
Some of you were fortunate enough to attend a technical seminar on yeast management conducted by club member, Wendy Cottrell. This was a very informative session with much good discussion and shared insight. You will find a brief summary of some of the seminar's highlights elsewhere in this newsletter. I would like to thank Wendy again for conveying a wealth of information in a clear and easily understood manner on one of the more complex brewing topics. I also thank John Mains for generously volunteering to host the event and especially Ed Bronson for providing the technical infrastructure (scope, monitor, and video interface) that greatly facilitated the learning experience for everyone that attended.
This being the June newsletter, you'll notice a ballot is included for the upcoming club officer elections which will be conducted at the June club meeting on 6/29. Past history tells us that attendance at club meetings typically follows a seasonal cycle with fewer members attending in the summer months than all other months. If you are unable to attend the June meeting due to vacation plans, keeping up with the yard work, golf, or any of the myriad activities that typically consume the three warm months of the year, please mail in your ballot per the instructions provided.
Finally, this is my last President's Corner (for a while at least) plus the last newsletter formatted and edited by Tom Oelrich. Tom and I assumed office three years ago and have collectively decided to step aside and allow other club members an opportunity to lead the club. We won't be totally out of the picture since the club by-laws specify that the immediate past officers maintain a seat on the club board of directors for at least one term.
It's been a great pleasure for me to work with Tom and our board these past few years and I think we've accomplished a lot of great things together. Please give the incoming officers the same support you've given me so we can continue to make the Urban Knaves of Grain one of the premier homebrewing clubs of the nation.
Cheers and good brewing!!
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all Knaves for their support, help, and attention during my time as Newsletter Editor. Without your kind words and pats on the back, the task at hand might have obscured the goals that were set, low as they might have been. I wish the next Editor the best, and pledge to assist in any way I can to make the transition a smooth one. I have had a great time putting these pages together and am sure the next person will enjoy it as much as I have.
The summer kicks off with a bang this year. First, it's off to Michigan for the Knaves and their beer in quest of the Holy Grail, shaped familiarly like a silver bottle capper. After the excellent first round results, hopes are high that the UKG will be AHA Homebrew Club of the Year one more time. If we do accomplish this, we might try to petition the AHA to be named Homebrew Club of the Millennium. Hey, it's worth a try. A few short weeks after Livonia, MI, it's off to Madison, WI for the annual great Taste of the Midwest. For some reason, summer is my favorite time of the year.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) -- A 350-pound man who had argued with his wife over her drinking may have suffocated her by lying on her for up to 15 minutes, authorities said. Darrell Moore, 30, was jailed without bail on suspicion of murder in the death of his 32-year-old wife, Bonita. She was pronounced dead at a hospital Friday shortly after her husband called for help because she wasn't breathing, police said. Officers found her unconscious on the living room floor of the couple's apartment. "They were having a fight," Sgt. Gary Condreay said. "They pushed each other and he wound up on top of her on the ground." The coroner listed the cause of death as asphyxia from chest compression. "They were arguing over her spending the rent money and drinking. She had been out buying beer. The argument started when she came home," Condreay said.
Truck driver Dorie Daniels forgot to check the birthdays of the two detectives investigating his tale of kidnapping and a stolen load of Bud Light. The detectives, not born yesterday, saw right through his allegedly bogus report. Police recovered about 1,000 cases of beer yesterday in the basement of a carpet store in Logan (PA) and were still looking for about 700 more. On Tuesday, Daniels, 48, a Californian who drives for a company based in Columbus, Ohio, reported to the police that he had been kidnapped, bound with duct tape, and driven around for two days in the back of a van while his abductors sold the beer from the back of his tractor-trailer. Capt. William Colarulo, commander of the South Detective Division, however, said that Detectives Thomas Fleming and Timothy Fitzgerald quickly concluded that Daniels' story had holes. Daniels then admitted that he had lied, Colarulo said, and was charged with making a false report, theft, receiving stolen property, and conspiracy. The police captain said that what really happened was that Daniels got into town over the weekend and started buying drugs and sex in the area of Pattison Avenue and Lawrence Street. When Daniels ran out of money, Colarulo, said, a drug dealer approached him about selling his truckload -- 2,156 cases of Bud Light, valued at $45,000. Police traced nearly half the load to Carpet Designers at 4938 N. Broad St. Colarulo said it was unclear whether the beer was sold out of the store or just stashed there. The owner of the store was cooperating with police, Colarulo said. In the last two years, about a dozen similar incidents have been reported to police from trucking terminals in South Philadelphia. "They're all from out of town, and they all think they're the first ones to say this," Colarulo said.
The stowaway arrive from the Czech Republic with a nasty hangover. The illegal was apprehended by the authorities -- but not without a fight. But instead of being sent back on the first ship out, he's become a star. Meet Vaclav, the raccoon who survived for weeks on beer and dog food. "He was one lucky raccoon," says Vladimir Thichor, head of the animal clinic in Pardubice. "If that consignment of beer had not been on board, he would not have lasted three days." Vaclav -- named by the Czechs with a wink at their ex-dissident President Vaclav Havel, another great survivor -- traveled in a container all the way from Canada to the East Bohemian town of Pardubice, deep in the provinces. He probably crept in for a free meal when the container was being loaded in Toronto. But when the door closed, he was trapped for more than three weeks. Vaclav tore into the packs of dry dog-food, then looked for something to quench his thirst. Something told him to sink his sharp teeth into a six pack, and from that moment on, Vaclav was one happy puppy. So to speak. As a result, when the container was opened, Vaclav did not want to come out: he had found beastie bliss. Two policemen specially trained in the capture of vicious animals were called in. Clad in protective suits and armed with gladiator nets, the team spent two hours trapping the rancorous raccoon, who fought them tooth and claw all the way to his allotted cage. There, he sulked in a corner and slept it off, suffering the raccoon equivalent of cold turkey. Nor was he as charmed when he was given a bath to wash the beer residue out of his matted coat. Vaclav is now the darling of the Czech media. The Pardubice animal clinic's phone has been jammed with calls offering him a home. Director Thichor, however, was not moved by the outpouring of sentiment. "A raccoon is not a family pet," he said. "Vaclav will go to a zoo where everyone can come and see him -- and where we will try to find him a mate." Now if he could just get a television and a six pack ....
Cheap beer is a leading contributor to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, according to a government report that says raising the tax on a six-pack by 20 cents could reduce gonorrhea by up to 9 percent. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study compared changes in gonorrhea rates to changes in alcohol policy in all states from 1981 to 1995. In the years following beer-tax increases, gonorrhea rates usually dropped among young people. The same happened when the drinking age went up -- as it did in many states during the 1980's. "Alcohol has been linked to risky sexual behavior among youth," said Harrell Chesson, a health economist with the CDC. Lobbyists for the beer industry, however, said recent statistics showed young people were already drinking more responsibly, thanks in part, they said, to efforts by brewers. "Excise taxes have little or nothing to do with alcohol abuse in society," said Lori Levy of the Beer Institute in Washington. "I think our members understand the importance of educating young people about how to make responsible choices once they're old enough, and they put a lot of money and effort into those programs." Gonorrhea, one of the most common venereal diseases, was examined in the study because long-term statistics are available and the disease is more evenly spread among states.
The CDC analyzed drops in gonorrhea rates after different tax increases and came up with the estimate that a 20-cent increase per six-pack would lead to a 9 percent drop in gonorrhea rates. During the study, various states raised beer taxes 36 times. Gonorrhea in the 15-19 age group dropped in 24 of those instances, and rates among those 20-24 dropped 26 times. Most increases in the minimum legal drinking age were followed by a decrease in the gonorrhea rate, especially in the 15-19 age group. About three million teenagers are infected with sexually transmitted diseases each year, Chesson said.
Beer may be better for your heart than red wine of spirits, according to new research. Vitamin B6 levels in the blood rise after beer consumption and may prevent the build-up of an amino acid connected to cardiovascular disease. But the Dutch team of scientists who carried out the research found increases in blood vitamin B6 levels after drinking red wine and spirits did not have the same effects. The studies in Utrecht monitored the drinking of 11 healthy men aged 44-59 and measured their levels of homocysteine, an amino acid which is affected by diet and found to increase the risk of heart disease. Drinking beer increase levels of vitamin B6 in the blood by 30% with no increase in homocysteine, the research, published in The Lancet, suggested. But homocysteine levels rose by nearly 10% after three weeks of consuming red wine and spirits -- an increase linked to a 10-20% increased chance of cardiovascular disease. Dr. Henk Hendriks, of the TNO Nutrition and Food Research Institute, said: "We know that moderate alcohol consumption protects against coronary heat disease and other studies show this may be an effect of the alcohol. But smaller moderating effects on heart disease by alcohol can be observed which may vary between different beverages." Mike Benner, head of campaigns for the Campaign for Real Ale, said: "Most of the recent research into the health effects of alcohol suggest that moderate consumption -- moderate being the key word -- can have health benefits. Most of this research since the mid-90's has concentrated on wine. If there are benefits from drinking beer in moderation then this is good news."
In a sign of changing tastes for intoxicants, Denver traffic managers are battling a new trend: thefts of Corona Street signs have fallen flat while dozens more get High. For the first time in years, vandals swiped more signs from High Street, a name that carries drug overtones, than Corona Street, which carries the same name as a Mexican beer. "They're stealing the High Street signs almost as fast as we can put them up," said Bob Kochevar, the city's director of traffic operations. We've replaced over 100 in the past year. At $50 a pop, it gets expensive." Though High Street runs the north-south length of Denver, sign thefts aren't exactly a citywide epidemic. "Not to cast aspersions on college students, but it's a fact that most of them are disappearing around the University of Denver campus," Kochevar said. "There's hardly anything gone north of Colfax." City officials said they haven't yet caught any sign thieves, who face up to one year in jail and $999 in fines. Workers have started trying to foil vandals by using rivets instead of bolts to fasten signs. But one city wag said he has another idea.
"I think the frat boys will still like to shinny up a pole for a sign, so we may have to start coating the poles with Teflon to make them slip off," assistant city attorney John Poley said. University of Denver spokesman Warren Smith said, "We haven't heard anything" about any campus craze for High Street signs. The only other target favored by Denver thieves is on the west side, where workers sometimes are called to replace signs on Hooker Street, named after the Civil War general. "Maybe they're selling them with red lights attached," Kochevar said.
Knaves New Clubhouse
The Knaves find a new home at John's Buffet for the April meeting. Thirty
(30) members attended. On tap: GI Honkers, Pschorr Weiss, SA
Doppelbock, Guinness. (How far we've come since then. -ed.)
Marc
Does Belgium
Marc Kullberg and friends tour Belgium in four days (bars listed).
Brussels to Antwerp: 't Paters Vaetje in the Kathedral Square.
Antwerp to Brugge: Oude Vlissinghe. Brugge to Brussels: A La
Becasse, Falstaff, and La Morte Subite plus a visit to the Belgian Brewers Guild
Museum.
UFO (Unusual Fermented Object) Sightings
Watney's Red barrel at Nancy's Pizza, Streamwood
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale at Front Street Cantina, Naperville
Pete's Wicked Summer Brew at John's Buffet, Winfield
Warm Weather Brewing
(Frank Dobner)
Frank offers tips on maintaining acceptable ale fermentation temps in
summer. Place fermenter in a cool water bath, change water as needed or
add ice. Or, drape moist towels around the fermenter to provide
evaporative cooling.
Editor's note: an abridged version of Kevin's excellent beer adventure appeared in the print version of Knave Knews. Here in cyberspace, you have access to the full story, complete with photos. Just go to Kevin's site and click on the beer kettle.
Thanks to John Kleczewski for submitting these notes.
These are my notes (from memory) from Wendy Cottrell's yeast seminar.
Clean everything with a mixture of 70% alcohol. (70% grain alcohol (Everclear) and 30% distilled water.)
Clean and half fill 1 pint ball jars with distilled water. Sterilize them in a pressure cooker/canner. (Note: must be distilled water!)
The beer is primary fermented for 1 week, then racked to another sanitized carboy. Wrap the necks with foil that has been sterilized so that the gap between the neck opening and the stopper is covered (this is where the majority of contaminants will collect).
Rack to secondary for one week (if a longer aging period is needed, rack to tertiary), then clean all equipment and rack off the yeast cake. Swirl the yeast cake to re-suspend the yeast and pour into the ball jars to get about 1/3 more volume in the jars.
Fill as many as you will need for your next few batches. Swirl the jars and place them in the fridge overnight to drop the yeast out of suspension. The next day remove the jars, clean them with 70% alcohol solution, and carefully pour off the water/trub from the top of the yeast.
Pour the remaining yeast into another cleaned half filled jar. If you are going to use the yeast soon (within the month?) this is all you need to do. If you will be storing the yeast for a longer period of time, repeat the last step again, into a third ball jar.
When it comes time to use the yeast, just pour off the water and pitch it into the wort. If you are doing a high gravity beer you might want to use two jars.
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Last modified July 04, 2002.