With only a few weeks to go before September, Labor Day stands like an iceberg in the path of the Titanic that is our summer. And as the thermometer starts to drop into the more temperate zone, the brewing season for most of us will be just starting to heat up. Time to put the golf clubs away, and get the brewpot ready. And just as you can't brew good beer without being well prepared, our club is starting to get ready to be host to the AHA national "Weiss is Nice" competition. This started back in July, when Two Brothers brewery hosted a Weiss seminar (see story elsewhere in this issue) that gave those who attended a new or better appreciation for this complex ale. I for one would never have thought that Weissbier was the perfect pairing with your breakfast sausage and pretzel. Volunteers will be needed to make this event a success, so please consider donating a bit of your time to the club so that success will be ensured. To get everyone in the mood for the competition (and because there are still quite a few good Weiss beer-drinking days ahead, this issue will feature a number of different articles about Weizen. So 'hefe' a good time reading this issue, and hold the lemon.
As the dog days of summer begin to fade, the club is gearing up for a number of events this coming fall and winter. Your new board of directors met for the first time at the beginning of July to discuss ways to grow the club membership as well as make sure the club is providing "value" for your dues. In the coming months we will be trying to initiate a number of activities to further these causes as evidenced by the calendar of events and other items in this newsletter.
The last newsletter mentioned the club's involvement with the Main Street-Winfield organization and our participation at their beer and wine tasting event. I'm happy to report the Knaves made a great showing (despite the last minute notification of change in starting time) and offered a well rounded selection of beers from four of our members: John Mains, Mike Uchima, Shane Coombs, and Jay Kash. A big thank you to Chris Campanelli who orchestrated the acquisition and conditioning of the beers, as well assuperivising our booth. Also thanks to those who volunteered their time to help pour beer and inform people about the club: Chris, Mike, Jay, Don Alton, Phil Moy and Steve McKenna.
We had a well attended style seminar on weiss beers at Two Bros. brewery. I would once again like to thank Two Brothers for hosting the event, and especially Jason Ebel for sharing his wealth of knowledge on this style. The seminar concluded with a sampling of some of the more notable German examples as well as a number of domestics that were provided by Mark Knoebel. Mike Uchima was brave enough to share a few bottles of his latest weiss creations.
Speaking of Mike, you may or may not know that Founders Hill brewpub in Downers Grove sponsored a competition for IPA's only and Mike's entry was judged the winner....CONGRATULATIONS! The award being that Mike's recipe would be scaled up and brewed on July 20th at Founders with Mike assisting with the brew. Hopefully Mike will fill us in on the gory details of brew day and let us know when we can expect to see his brew on tap at the pub.
By the time this issue is published, we will have had a club outing at the Kane County Cougars game. We hope to conduct more social events like this, such as, gatherings at some of the lesser known/undiscovered bars in the area offering uncommon tap and bottled selections.
As if a club T-shirt was not enough, we have more club merchandise on the way. Thanks to Phil Moy, we will be adding a club hat to the mix. The price for this item will be the same as for the shirt: $15.
Finally, I am extremely pleased to announce that we will have a special added attraction as part of the regular September meeting. Noted author, beer judge, and world traveler, Ray Daniels, has agreed to speak to our club on two topics. First is a presentation on the porter style, entitled "Arsenic and Brown Malt: The History of Porter"; which will then be followed up by the latest information on the Real Ale Festival taking place in November. In addition, Ray will have available for signing, copies of his latest book "Designing Great Beers: The Ultimate Guide to Brewing Classic Beer Styles". It promises to be a very interesting evening.
Keep an eye out for the next newsletter which will contain information regarding a new club position on the entry fees for AHA club-only and national competitons.
DARRELL
Don't miss the club's September meeting on the 25th at John's. Noted author and organizer of the Real Ale Fest, Ray Daniels, will give a talk to the club on the history of Porter, and afterwards, give us the latest details on the Real Ale Fest in November. Ray will also have copies of his book, "Designing Great Beers" available for signing. You won't want to miss it!
The second annual Real Ale Festival looks like it will be even better than the first. In addition to the exhibition of American cask ales, plans for this year's festival include a bar dedicated to past Champion Beers of Britain, a tasting of hop varietal beers, and a comptetion among homebrewed beers served by handpump. "This promises to be the greatest collection of cask ales ever assembled in the U.S.", said Ray Daniels, lead organizer of the fest. "This will be the first American tasting for some of the beers and the first tasting anywhere for others."
Both commercial and homebrewed real ales will be judged by blind taste panels. "This year, we'll separate the British from the American commercial beers during judging," Daniels said. "We'll also dispense the homebrews by handpump in order to stage the first major competition of homebrewed real ales ever conducted in America."
RiverWest Brewing Co. will host the festival. "We'll use River West's 10,000 square feet of space to make this year's fest far bigger than last year's," Daniels said. For more info on this event call The Craft Beer Institute(773-665-1300) or visit http://www.mcs.com/~rdan/RAF.html. Ray Daniels is also scheduled to be our guest speaker at the September meeting. Don't miss it!
To get you in the proper frame of mind for Real Ale Fest (Nov 7-9 at Riverwest Brewery in Chicago), here is a recipe from Ray Daniels.
Raymo's Real Ale
OG 1.045 /FG 1.010
8 lbs. Pale malt
5 oz Biscuit malt
5 oz Dark Crystal malt (120ù L)
5 oz Light Crystal malt (10ù L)
Mash at 150ù (use 2 tsp. gypsum in mash water and 1.5 tsp in the sparge water)
1.5 oz Spalt (75 mins. -entire boil)
2/3 oz Cascade (30 mins.)
2/3 oz Liberty (5 mins.)
2/3 oz Saaz (Steeped at end of boil)
Ferment with Wyeast strains London III or Irish. The London version gives you an assertive hop character and a definite citrus taste, while the Irish is more well balanced and smoother. Use just 1/3 cup corn sugar for priming for lower carbonation level. Serve at 50ù.
Gray's brewery is located about 100 miles north east of John's Buffet, in Janesville, Wisconsin. I had become familiar with Gray's while camping just north of Janesville. One of the local grocery stores, Woodman's, has a great selection of beers, and it was there I bought some of Grays Oatmeal Stout. For the last two years I had been trying to plan a trip to the brewery. I was fortunate enough to call Gray's on a rainy Saturday morning. Tours are at 1:30pm on the first and third Saturdays of the month. I was met in the tasting room by Tim Gray, the youngest of the Gray males in the business, and Greg Hammond, Head Brewer. We chatted for a while in the tasting room while waiting for the rest of the group to gather. The tasting room walls are covered with Gray's pint glasses from over the years, and a photo album full of brewery pictures from over the years sits on the copper covered bar. Tim and Greg made themselves busy dispensing Gray's Honey Ale, Oatmeal Stout, Cream Ale, and brewery history.
Gray's has been a family owned business for over 140 years. Brewing was suspended during prohibition, and the Gray family turned to bottling soda, most notably Dr. Pepper and Sundrop. It was not until 1994 that the Gray's began brewing again.
The first stop on the tour was the mash/lauter tun. The Gray's use single infusion mash in a large stainless steel, open, rectangular vessel with a false bottom. The pale malt is brought in from a grain elevator by an auger system and electronically weighed prior to being milled and poured in to the mash/lauter tun. Specialty grains are added by hand. From the mash/lauter tun the wort is pumped in to the direct fired kettle. The kettle has a side port where recirculated wort is pumped through to create a whirlpool in order to remove trub. A large heat exchanger cools the wort as it is pumped into one of the large gylcol jacketed conical fermenters. Yeast , in pre measured amounts, is infused in to the wort as it is being piped in to the fermenter. Once fermentation is complete the beer is piped in to a bright tank where it is cooled and allowed to settle prior to being carbonated and filtered for bottling.
The bottling line is quite impressive, reminiscent of the old Lavern and Shirley show. Since bottling was Gray's sole business from 1912 to 1994, the capacity of the line outstrips beer production, and the Gray's continue to produce their own sodas as well as bottle for other accounts.
Back to the tasting room and some more of the real reason to go on a brewery tour. The Honey Ale has a clean slightly floral and hop aroma. The honey flavor comes through yet is well balanced by the hops. Well carbonated, the Honey Ale is a great summer cooler but is available year round. New to the brewery is the Cream Ale. Typical of the style, light in color, high in carbonation, low in hop flavor and aroma, a very mild pale ale. My favorite is the Oatmeal Stout. The roasted grains are strong in the aroma and follow through to the flavor. Full bodied and creamy it is a real treat any time of year.
For more information on Gray's you can call the brewery at 608-752-3552.
NAME: RICH CULLOTTA
AGE: 47
CITY: WHEATON
OCCUPATION: MECHANICAL ENGINEER
WHEN/WHY DID YOU START BREWING?
My wife gave me a beer making kit for my birthday. After opening the kit, I
called around to talk to shops that sold beer making supplies. After much
discussion and $175 at Beer In A Box I was hooked.
FIRST BATCH MEMORIES:
SURPRISE! Couldn't believe the hop aroma was so strong during the boil.
Couldn't believe you could strain the wort through such a fine strainer while
pouring into the carboy. My friend couldn't believe I made the beer he was
drinking - it was actually good!
HOW OFTEN DO YOU BREW?
About every month.
ALL GRAIN/EXTRACT:
I had been extract brewing, but recently completed my first batch of all
grain.
KEG/BOTTLE:
Bottle - what a pain!
FAVORITE BREW - COMMERICIAL/HOMEBREW:
Schneider Weisse Original; Hacker-Pschorr Hefe-Weiss, Sam Adams Cherry Wheat
RECIPES:
Consult books and the internet for recipes. At this point I don't have enough
experience to develop my own.
DESCRIBE YOUR HOMEBREW SET-UP:
5 gal. brew pot Copper wort chiller 6 gal. carboy, 5 gal. carboy, 2 - 3
gal. carboys, stove-top burner (electric-which makes it hard to prevent
boil-overs) Igloo cooler mash/lauter tun, bottling bucket, sealed thermometer
& hydrometer
DESCRIBE BREW DAY:
The night before, I put out a bottle of beer as offering to the Brew Gods to
ask for good fortune the following day. Since the beer is gone the next, I
guess this works, but I still wonder why my dog sleeps til noon on my brew
days. Brew day starts with equipment sterilization. Heat water to 160ù F
then add the specialty grains, let the grains steep for 30 mins. , and remove
them, and bring the liquid to a boil. Take pot off the burner and add
extract, return to heat and bring to a boil, trying very hard to not boil
over. Add bitteringhops, and with 5 mins. to go add Irish Moss and aroma
hops. Then I chill - the wort that is, and pitch the yeast. Then clean up and
after 6 hours it's done!
BEST PART OF BREWING:
Drinking the product - what else!?!
WORST PART OF BREWING:
Takes a lot of time and my wife goes shopping to retaliate for my "stinking
the house up".
OTHER HOBBIES/INTERESTS:
Trying to grow hops. Fuggle hops are starting to form. How do you dry these
things?
MUSIC TO BREW BY:
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band - "Nine Tonight", Tchaikovsky's Greatest
Hits and Tanya Tucker's music.
Although he is not running for any office that I know of, Jason Ebel demonstrated on a hot and steamy night in July, that he is quite capable of handling this job. The occasion was the "Weiss is Nice" seminar held on the 17th at Two Brothers Brewery in Warrenville. A crowd of thirsty Knaves gathered to further their knowledge on this difficult to brew, but easy to drink German ale. The night opened with Club Prez Darrell Proksa going over our handouts on the weizen style. Of particular note, was the fact that many Germans make a habit of drinking Weissbier at breakfast with a white sausage (Weisswurst) and pretzels smeared with mustard (Brezen). After this Jason took the floor, and gave an in-depth talk on the intricacies of brewing Weiss. Because of the high amount of protein in the malted wheat, numerous rests in the mash schedule are just one of the problems that face the homebrewer in recreating this style. After answering our questions, we gladly proceeded to sample various commercial examples, along with homebrewed samples from Mike Uchima and Mark Knoebl. Nothing could have tasted better, on this sultry July night than a few gulps of cold weizen. Regardless of the temperature, Jason Ebel made this event enlightening for all attendees.
It was a gray, rainy day for the UKG pub crawl, and a perfect day to be bussed around to beer pubs. We left Winfield train station on April 5th at 11:05AM. The bus driver was fashionably late, but we crawlers were not. Upon our entrance onto the bus we were each given ballots, a schedule of the days beer tasting events, and a handy notebook (courtesy of Tom Oelrich).
Our first stop was Mickey Finn's in Libertyville, and we were thirsty. It was about 12:15PM and the place was pretty busy. Ryan Ashley introduced himself as our tour guide, and pointed us toward the bar to get beer for the tour. With beer in hand, we were ready. We learned that Ryan was the Head Brewer and holds classes for Siebel students. He enjoys teaching, but he confessed that any student that jams the Mill is sentenced to cleaning out the Mash Tun.
Ryan has very definite ideas about how certain styles should be brewed, and how they should taste, which is reflected in the beer they serve. We were particularly interested in the cask conditioned beer. These are beers that are left in kegs to age and carbonate naturally. A hand pulled delight was one the Crawlers' favorites. The tour at Finn's took a little longer than anticipated, so many beers, so little time:
Abana Amber
Wee Heavy
Main St. Wheat
Raz
Mr. C's Pale Ale (also available on hand pump)
Oatmeal Stout
It was 2:17PM and we were on to the next stop, Flatlanders. This place was airy, with lots of glass, brass, wood, high ceilings, and lots of light. Here our tour guide was Chris, a co-Head Brewer.
Chris's story was interesting. He started out as an assistant and became co-Head Brewer almost overnight. Their brewing area was as spacious and light as the bar with one unque feature: the mill was in the floor. Our gracious host brought us a round of their version of Märzen, and we gulped it down. Again, we ran into the familiar problem of so many beers, and so little time:
Locomotive Stout
Abe's Honest Ale
80 Shilling Ale
Harvest Amber Ale
Olde Orchard Ale
Märzen
We headed off to O'Grady's where we met Chris Akin, who took us on a tour of their glass-enclosed brewery situated behind the bar (how appropriate). Chris shared with us his preference for Willamette and Fuggle hops. When you taste the beers you can tell. We experienced beers of different colors:
Mai Bock -Dark
Prohibition Porter -Dark Brown
Chicago Fire -Amber
Haymarket Pilsener -Light
Cobalt Wheat -Gold
Magnificent Mile - Maize
India Pale Ale -Dark Gold
Scotch Ale - Brown
It was time again to leave and join in a special celebration of the Two Brothers Brewing Co.'s first two brews. Jim and Jason Ebel were gracious hosts, and when we arrived at the brewery we got our choice of their first and second batch of Ebel Weiss. It was a tough decision, so we had both. Jason took us on a tour and explained to us about the set-up and design.
It was great to see their new location, and even better to taste some maiden batches of beer. These brews got a big thumbs up from the UKG Crawlers as two of the favorites. After drinking and arm wrestling for growlers, it was time to bid the Two Brothers farewell and crawl back on the bus and go home.
Shane's article mentioned at the beginning, that ballots were handed out on the bus. The results of those ballots returned are as follows:
FAVORITE BEER OF THE CRAWL:
5 votes for Mickey Finn's "Mr. C's Pale Ale (hand pump version)
2 votes for Two Brothers "Ebelweiss"
1 vote for Mickey Finn's "Wee Heavy"
Second Favorite Beer
5 votes for Two Brothers "Ebelweiss"
2 votes for Two Brothers "Weizenbock"
1 vote for Mickey Finn's "Mr. C's Pale Ale" (hand pump version)
--Ed.
The cartel has been broken! This year, Milwaukee's Summerfest offered patrons a true choice in beer. Besides the usual barrage of Miller and Old Style products, a few micros were allowed within the confines: Sprecher, Lakefront and Water Street (technically a brewpub). Sprecher decided to go for a big presence by sponsoring one of the music stages and had the largest offerings of beers: Special Amber, Hefe Weiss, Pub Brown Ale, and Black Bavarian. Lakefront Brewery got somewhat lost in the shuffle with no real signage and only two taps: Riverwest Stein beer and East Side Dark. Both were respectable lagers but didn't get the exposure or proper handling they deserved. Water Street Brewery./Brewpub went for a middle-of-the-road effort by taking over one of the newer structures on the grounds and converting the roof deck into a covered outdoor beer garden. This provided a nice respite from the heat and a good view of the surrounding happenings. They offered two somewhat strange selections: Honey Lager Light and Bavarian Weiss. I can't comment on the lager since I rarely drink anything with "honey" in the name - much less honey and lager in the same name! The Bavarian Weiss was very disappointing in my opinion, way too lactic. It's good to see the micro revolution making some inroads into some of the larger fests and giving festival goers a real choice.
On a side note, while in Milwaukee I decided to visit the Sprecher Brewery in nearby Glendale, just north of the city. I was there on Wednesday before the 4th of July and got in on one of the few weekday tours, offered only during holiday weeks. I was surprised to see a large tour group for mid-week -about 50 people.
The tour costs $2 which gets you tickets for four 8 oz. samples of beer (unlimited samples of their sodas). The brewery occupies a 1/2 sq. block, one story building, which used to house an elevator car factory. A small section is used for the brewing equipment, with the remaindeer used for a large number of fermentation tanks, their bottling line, specialty grain storage, and soda inventory. The tour was fairly non-informative and consisted mostly of pot shots at the big brewers. The end of tour sampling took place in a tented indoor beer garden, just past the bottling line and next to a number of pallets of grain. You had your choice of sitting on a picnic table (probably left over from the elevator factory days) or what looked like church pews arranged around the perimeter of the tent. All in all, an unusual setup. But as the tour guide explained, they prefer to spend their money on the product and their employees and not so much on appearance.
Rumors abound that English brewer Whitbread's deal with Boston Beer Co. has turned sour. Whitbread had agreed to brew and sell Sam Adams Boston Ale in an attempt to bring an an American microbrew-style beer to English drinkers. Unfortunately, instead of simply licensing the American brew, they adapted the recipe for the British market, thereby removing any American connection altogether. The beer was far from the success that Whitbread anticipated, and now seems to be disappearing from pubs faster than it appeared in the first place.
In Belgium, the Sixtus brewery is being taken to court by the monks of the St. Sixtus monastery. The St. Sixtus monks operate one ot the five remaining Belgian trappist breweries, producing the legendary Westvleteren beers. For many years, the monastery allowed the Sixtus brewery (which is nowhere near the monastery and is in fact nothing less than a commercial brewery) to brew a commercial version of the Westvletern beers, under the name "St. Sixtus". However, the deal was cancelled in 1992, although Sixtus continued to use the name "Sixtus" (de-canonized) for their own beers. Now, the monks have take the matter further, and have insisted that Sixtus remove the word "Sixtus" and the picture of the monk from their bottles, in an apparent bid to dissassociate themselves from the commercial brewery. The matter remains un-resolved. In the meantime, the Sixtus beers can be found under the monicker "St. Bernardus" (but still with a picture of a monk on the bottle).
There have been strange goings on in the Philippines, as the two leading brewers there, San Miguel and Asia Brewery become locked into an increasingly bitter battle for supremacy. In the latest development of what has become a long-running feud, Asia Brewery has accused San Miguel of "kidnapping" their bottles. Up until 1992, the companies operated a "bottle swap" agreement, whereby they would collect and then exchange each other's empties. However, this agreement has fallen apart and a recent armed police raid (!), triggered by Asia Brewery's complaints, revealed that San Miguel was holding 5,400,000 empty bottles belonging to Asia Brewery. Asia Brewery promptly issued a damage suit for $4 million, claiming "unjust, oppressive and high handed methods". Even if this row is resolved, the brewers still have other issues to argue about, including copycat beers and cost-cutting tactics. The resumption of diplomatic relations is not expected in the near future.
As crazy as it sounds, "Virtual Beer" is on its way to England! Larkinson's brewery in Yorkshire has become the first brewery to produce Virtual Beer. Virtual beer is a revolutionary new concept aimed at providing the busy net-surfer with a way of experiencing the atmosphere and feeling of having a pint down at the pub, but in the comfort of their own home. Phillip Larkinson, Managing Director of Larkinson's explains: "As home entertainment has increased market share, the brewers are losing out. We are hoping to reverse this trend by targeting drinkers in their homes." Virtual beer is made possible by using a piece of high-technology called a "whatsit". This is a device which can be fitted to a standard can of beer, to give it the texture and taste of real beer, whilst providing the additional benefit of allowing the beer to be served and drunk in the home. "The opportunities are endless!", continued Mr. Larkinson. "With the advent of the Internet, it will soon be possible for drinkers in separate parts of the to link into a Virtual Pub and share a pint." As Ripley says. "Believe it or not!".
Just because we are celebrating Weissbier in this month's issue, I thought you might like to try eating some instead of drinking it. Here is a recipe I picked up from All About Beer e-zine. The recipe itself comes from Zip City Brewing in New York, which unfortunately has closed (but not because of this recipe I am sure). I have made this myself, and will vouch for its ease of preparation and great taste. You may substitue any kind of pasta for this sauce, but the wide fettuccine noodle does work well. Try a Marzen or hefe-weizen with this dish - something malty and full-bodied but not too heavily roasted. This recipe make 4 servings.
1 pound fettuccine
1/2 cup butter
1 1/3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 cup weissbier
1 pint heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tablespoon minced parsley
Grated Parmesan cheese
Don't let the last days of summer going flying by you - join your fellow Knaves in a Pub Crawl of Chicago Beer Gardens. The weather will be warm, the sun shining and the beer flowing - what else could you ask for? Circle the date on your calendar and make your reservations with Darrell today! Call 630-964-9172.
Bring your checkbooks and get ready to brew, because the annual fall bulk grain purchase is almost upon us. Prices should be around what they were last year, so whether it's Pale Ale or Pilsner, Munich or Wheat, plan now to save some money on your base malts. Orders for the bulk grain purchase will be taken at our September meeting. See you there.
Johnny sat in the King of New York - one of the many small, dark bars in the Sprawl. Not a good place to go if you were on the "right" side of the law, but a place you could find anonymity if you were on the "wrong" side. But who knew what "right" and "wrong" were anymore? He was drinking a new beer called 'Milk Plus', a synthetic beer manufactured for the masses. The producers had called it Milk Plus after the beer in a long-vanished obsolete paper book, trying to cash in on the 'feel-good factor' offered by such historical curios. Not long after the Great War of 2018, when old-style 'crops' could no longer be grown on the blackened earth, the chemical companies realised that they could manufacture a synthetic beer out of nothing but the chemicals in their own databanks, and without need for crops. The frenzied takeovers and mergers of 'artisanal' breweries in the late 20th Century had left a legacy of an industry divided between only two companies - the mighty Busch-Miller and Kirin-Asaki. In this environment, it was easy for the chemical companies, with their vast reserves built up from decades of providing a growing population with the cure to every (literally) imaginable illness, to buy into the industry. Which is exactly what PharmaCon did - obtaining 100% stakes in both Busch-Miller and Kirin-Asaki with one quick swipe of old man Yokima's platinum CrediChip. The breweries closed the next day, and production of all beers switched to PharmaCon's huge Tokyo refineries. All new beers were piped directly into bars and vending machines all over the fourth-world. Nowadays, the only place that you could find 'real' beers was in the SimStims. Johnny had tried a black market copy of a SimStim for an old beer called "Boddington's" once. It tasted pretty good (not that Johnny was old enough to have ever tasted the original), but the pirate chipset kept falling and you'd get a reality-flash where you realised that all you were drinking was bottled water. But hopefully all of that was about to change. A group calling themselves the MicroBrewers (the name was a bit misleading; rumour had it they intended to produce it without the aid of any microchips) were planning on setting up an old-world brewery on the Bridge. The complete plans for the last fully-functioning non-chemical brewery (including a virtual tour before the site was destroyed by PharmaCon's Yazuka) had been uploaded into Johnny's long-term memory. As soon as J-Bone turned up with a fully loaded CrediChip and a new Personal Information Neuroplant (PIN), the plans would be downloaded, and in the hands of the MicroBrewers, with their promise of a Brave New World.
This story written by Wilhelm von Berg in the style of William Gibson
and stolen from the internet by un-named sources.
--Ed.
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Last modified 9/17/97.