Back in 1988, then VP George Bush said, "Read my lips...No New Taxes!" Liking what they heard (or disliking what that other guy had to say), voters elected George President of the United States. But like a young boy's heart, a campaign promise is made to be broken. And in 1990, George broke his promise by raising the federal taxes on luxury items like yachts, furs, and high-priced cars. In that same bill the federal beer tax was doubled. But while the luxury taxes have since been repealed (by guess who) the beer tax (paid by guess who) is still bringing in $1.7 billion annually to the US treasury. But there is a move afoot to finally roll back the 1990 portion of the beer tax. You may wonder why US Rep. Richard Neal (D-Mass) is the chief Democratic sponsor of such a bill, since there are no breweries in his district. But he has two close friends - Dick Gephardt, congressman for Anheuser-Buschland, who asked him to sponsor this bill, and Ray McGrath a lobbyist for the Beer Institute.
For those of you that missed the June monthly meeting, let this serve as the official announcement that I have been "elected" to another term as club President. I am also happy to announce that our illustrious newsletter editor has also signed on for another six issues. My pledge to help facilitate educational and social activities for the membership that I presented in the first President's Corner last year still stands. And now, on to the business at hand.
We will continue to judge the UKG submission for the AHA club-only competitions at the regular monthly meetings as the entry deadlines allow. This program has been very beneficial to brewers and judges alike in providing brewers with immediate feedback on their beers from qualified BJCP judges as well as giving novice judges and "judge-wannabes" an opportunity to advance their judging skills. For the remainder of the year we have two more competitions to judge; one lager and one ale. At the September meeting, we will judge the Vienna/Marzen/Oktoberfest style. The final club-only judging will be for Scottish ales to be conducted during the November meeting (note meeting date change to 11/19). As always, if you have a beer you would like to submit for consideration as the UKG entry but are unable to bring it to the meeting you can drop it off ahead of time at The Brewer's Coop in Warrenville. Speaking of "The Coop", the club wishes to thank them again for supporting this activity by providing the shipping and handling of our entry to the designated national site.
The UKG Social Night (second Saturday of each month) has been somewhat successful. The August 8 edition will be held at the Weinkeller in Westmont (not sure if the newsletter will be out in time for this announcement). The September Social Night is September 12 at a location to be announced at the August monthly meeting and via e-mail.
The Urban Knaves have been graciously invited to join with the Brewers of South Suburbia (BOSS) in their annual picnic which will be held on September 19 (rain date the 20th). The picnic will include a pig roast, assorted side dishes, beer supplied by local brewpubs/breweries and homebrewers, games, volleyball, live music, and a bonfire at sunset. UKG members, families and friends are invited to attend. The picnic will be held at a private residence located in Lemont near the intersection of 111th Street and Route 83. There will be a nominal charge per person/family to cover the cost of catering, equipment rentals, ice, etc. If you are interested in attending, please contact me at 630-964-9172 so that we can get a feel for how many people will be there. This is a great opportunity to meet people from other area clubs and compare brewing notes, network, and basically extend the unofficial end of Summer for another week.
On September 26 we will be given the opportunity to participate in a cider pressing. A friend of mine operates an orchard in Sycamore with a hydraulic press and mixing tanks. He will provide me with a list of the varieties that will be available for pressing and we can come up with a club recipe that we will press that day (or go with the "house" blend). We will only press as much juice as people want to take home. So we will need to get enough people to participate in order to provide the manpower and make the set-up and press run worthwhile. If you're interested in being a part of this behind-the-scenes look at an operating orchard, contact me at the number above.
If all this talk about apples and cider has you in an autumnal mood, it's probably not to early to mention that this year's Real Ale Fest will be held October 16 and 17 in Westmont at the Inland Exposition Center. The change of venue from Chicago to the near west 'burbs may make this year's edition more appealing for the UKG membership either in terms of attending the tasting sessions and seminars or as a volunteer. Naturally, more information will be available as the year progresses.
Finally, in an attempt to keep you up to date with any time-sensitive information related to the club or local beer-related events, I am maintaining a list of member's e-mail addresses. If you have an e-mail address and would like to be included on the club mailing list, send me a message at dproksa@fcmservices.com.
Leading British brewer Bass recalled millions of cans and bottles of beer contaminated with a chemical coolant, mono-propylene-glycol, following a fault at one of its plants. Bass Brewers said it recalled about half of its weekly production of 17 million cases. The labels affected were Carling Lager, Caffrey's Irish Ale, Worthington Draught Bitter and Tennent's Gold Beer. Bass said the products affected had "a highly unpleasant taste and may be harmful if consumed in excessive quantities."
Thankfully, World Cup mania is behind us, and although the USA did not do well on the soccer field they took the Cup with their beer. The London newspaper The Express put together a Beer World Cup and gathered 8 judges for a blind tasting of one leading beer from 23 of the 32 countries competing in the actual World Cup. After all the tasting was done, the winner was...........Budweiser!?! Yes, somehow the judges, who were never identified in the news story nor were their credential given, named Augie Busch's beer better than Tennents (Scotland), Peroni (Italy), Kronenbourg (France), Faxe (Netherlands), Stella Artois (Belgium), Grolsch (Holland), Beck's (Germany), Carling (England), Kirin (Japan), San Miguel (Spain), and Red Stripe (Jamaica). With taste buds like that, it's no wonder the English are terrible cooks.
In the small Finnish town of Sonkajarvi, there is not much to do. Even the summer festival seemed to be lacking that certain something. So seven years ago, the residents decided to bring back the ancient and venerable sport of wife-carrying. This has proven extremely popular. So popular in fact, that this year's race was won by an Estonian couple. Estonian couples also finished second and sixth. Along with Estonia and host Finland, couples represented Norway, Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, Russia and Britain. It seems the Estonians have done a bit of a study on wife-carrying, and instead of using the more usual fireman's carry or piggyback, the Estonian woman dangled face down on the carrier's back with her legs over his shoulders and hands crossed in front of his chest. This left the Estonian man's hands free while he ran the 277 yard course of sand, grass, asphalt, water pool and two log hurdles. The winning couple got $1,260 worth of prizes and the woman's weight in beer.
The club wishes to thank everyone who either became members of the AHA or renewed their existing membership as a part of the AHA's membership drive the first half of this year. As a result of the percentage increase in club members who are also members in the AHA, we have been rewarded with the following:
For those interested in borrowing any of the 12 books we received, or any of the other items in the club library for that matter, contact the club librarian (Darrell Proksa).
Decatur AL.... The Spirit of America Festival, one of Alabama's biggest Independence Day events, dropped country music and switched to Christian acts, asking churches to pay the bills, rather than accept $10,000 from a beer distributor.Officials with the celebration said they feared allowing a beer company to sponsor the event would open the door to alcohol sales, even though the distributor did not propose selling beer. .....Columbia S.C....Beer or betting? Bars and convenience stores in South Carolina have to make up their mind which they want. The South Carolina Revenue Dept., which regulates the $3 billion video gambling industry and the alcohol industry , said any place with both an alcohol and a video gambling license will have to choose between the two by August 1. "It would be a tough decision for me," said Shang Skipper, manager of Jillian's, a combination pool hall, video arcade, restaurant and bar in Columbia. "The video poker machines would have to go." The policy will most likely be appealed and end up in the South Carolina Supreme Court. ....Durham N.C. ...We all know how diet conscious we have all gotten, but whoever thought so much fuss could be kicked up over a fat boy? PHAT BOY Malt Liquor really. U.S. Beverage Co. of Connecticut created the brand, got Coors Brewing to contract brew 2 million barrels, and is now caught up in the controversy over the marketing of PHAT BOY. Joe Fisch, president of U.S. Beverage Co., has insisted that the malt liquor with the funky red, yellow and black label is not aimed at underage African-Americans. PHAT BOY appeals to youngsters because it is cheaper, comes in a bigger bottle and has a higher alcohol content than regular beer. Phat means "cool" in hip-hop culture. Also, the brew is laced with ginseng, a reputed aphrodisiac. Coors Brewing naturally, is distancing itself from any connection with the drink. "This is a non-story that's being created for those who are looking for any way to take a shot at the beer industry, and particularly at Coors," said Jon Goldman, spokesman for the Golden CO brewery. "Coors is a very responsible company that markets its products responsibly." Coors has nothing to do with the sale or marketing of PHAT BOY and canceled its brewing contract this year. But it was Coors that filed the application for a certificate of label approval for PHAT BOY with the ATF. Coors is listed on the application as doing business as Memphis Brewing Co., which is the company on the PHAT BOY label. Coors simply agreed to be the brewer of record for the sake of speeding up the paperwork, Goldman said. ....Bushnell S.D. ...The fate of the tin-sided, lean-to outhouse behind the Bushnell Garage Bar has been decided. It's the only way Steve Kjellson could keep his beer license. For years, guys who got beered up at the bar sauntered out back, focused their thoughts and took aim at a cabbage-sized red sandstone rock in the outhouse. "It's kind of a ritual for them to get full of beer and urinate on the rock," said Kjellson. "Male members of society are going to miss it because some of them have been coming out here 30, 40 years." The rock was an issue during the May meeting of the Bushnell Town Board. Kjellson's beer license was up for a renewal. But some of the town's 85 residents objected. "There have been a lot of men who can't seem to make it out back there," said Julie Huebner, one of the three Bushnell town trustees. "We have an ordinance about indecent exposure. We've told (Kjellson) he's got to shut down the rock and make people go to the bathroom inside. The bar provides indoor men's and women's restrooms. But the rock has a special magnetism for traditionalists. "If they see a guy go the indoor bathroom, they (tease him) because he should be going to the rock," said bartender Rick Hiev. Kjellson said he planned to tear down the outhouse, but he will save the rock.
Food & Wine magazine has named its 20 top craft breweries in the US in the June 1998 issue. The list was compiled by David Lynch, a senior editor at the magazine, after researching lists of GABF awards, interviewing bartenders, beer publication editors, beer writers and industry analysts. The selections were, in alphabetical order:
Honorable Mentions went to:
First there was the ring-pull, then came the widget. Now beer drinkers are about to be offered the world's first non-drip lager. Scientists working for Carlsberg-Tetley have devised a digestible gel that can be incorporated into beers and wines, imbuing them with anti-splash properties. They believe the innovation, whose formula is protected by an international patent application covering more than 120 countries, could render beer mats redundant and reduce the dry-cleaning bills of careless socialites and jolted commuters. "We have found a property we want to protect," said a spokesman when asked about the Danish-owned company's patent application. "It could make for drinks that do no spill easily, which would be ideal in a crowded pub or on a bumpy ferry." The patent application refers to a "novel beverage: which is carbonated and characterized by a "light gel texture" and a "fizzing effect" in the mouth. "The gel is not completely set but will break along shear lines and flow when subjected to gentle stress, for example during pouring or drinking," states the application. As well as reducing the risk of accidental spillage or splash, the gelling agent, a derivative of seaweed called carrageen, absorbs the force of the escaping gas and dampens downs the spray from a shaken can of lager when it is opened.
A dozen brewery workers sacked for drinking beer on the job have won their claims for unfair dismissal. The workers are waiting to find out how much compensation they will be awarded because their old jobs have been given to other workers. They were fired from the Samuel Smith brewery in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England, after they were caught drinking by surveillance cameras. An industrial tribune hearing was told two secret cameras were set up when six crates of beer went missing from the bottling plant during May last year. The workers argued their firing was unfair and claimed they had always had a couple of drinks a day and thought it was part of brewery tradition. But the tribunal was told that company policy stated that drinking on the premises "may" be a sackable offense, and after disciplinary hearings the 12 were fired for gross misconduct and unauthorized drinking. The workers' representative argued that, "They believed it was accepted by the management that they drank, whether it was turning a blind eye through custom and practice, or part of the culture." The tribunal ruled in favor of the fired workers finding they were unfairly let go. The tribunal panel said the staff's conduct had contributed to their firings and the compensation award would be cut by 50% to take this into account. A spokesman for Samuel Smith's said the company has now made it clear to its employees that the brewery is "dry".
Everybody knows Bud is the King of Beers. It's a self-appointed title, but it helps sell a lot of suds for Augie Busch and Co. Now, a San Francisco entrepreneur is trying to sell the gay community on the "Queen of Beers". Phillip Feemster's Queer Brewing Co. produces, Q, a pale ale that comes in six-color, muted rainbow packaging. Feemster acknowledges there is nothing about the product beyond its marketing that is gay. But he wants Q not only to be a beer by and for the gay community, but also to be recognized for its own merits. Bottled just before the San Francisco gay pride parade, sales are off to a good start. Sam Bsisso, owner of Variations Market, a grocery and liquor store, said he went through about 15 cases of Q beer in two weeks, making it his second-best seller behind Sierra Nevada. Such stories have made Feemster slightly less nervous about quitting his $165,000/year job last January as a marketing executive and putting $30,000 of his own money into the one-man business. At his former job, Feemster had the opportunity to learn a bit about the beer business while working on the account of Pete's Wicked Ale. That's what gave him the idea and some of the know-how for Queer Brewing Co. Breaking even on his venture will be made even tougher though; Feemster has committed to donating 10 percent of all sales to various charities.
After drinking a bottle of Bud Dry, Steve Brown thought, "What a stupid name! Beer is 95% water-it's supposed to be refreshing. They should call it Bud Wet." Brown checked and found no brewery ever registered the name WET, so he filed his own trademark on WETBEER in March 1997. He had a name but no beer. Then he developed a logo and opened a web-site (www.wetbeer.com) to WETBEER T-shirts and other stuff. When he started to getting e-mail requests for where to purchase the beer, he struck a deal with a Minnesota brewery for 2,800 cases. Now Steve Brown's in the business.
A disabled Vietnam veteran put his old survival skills to use when he was stranded for two days without food or his heart medication. John Rotan, 50, was driving his pickup in rural Gloucester County, MA, on July 9 when he crashed and wound up stuck floorboard-deep in a bog. He worked to free his vehicle, but to no avail. That night, a heavy rain raised the water surrounding Rotan's truck to waist deep. The next day, John put his old survival skills to good use. Smearing mud on his skin as insect repellent, he dragged himself around the forest floor cutting down small trees with a machete and trying to shove them under his truck's tires for traction. When he got hungry, he dug grubs from a nearby termite hill and picked wild blackberries. He supplemented that with vitamins and the case of beer he had purchased just before crashing. The next day, July 11, he popped loose his wheelchair's wheels and threw them 20 feet to firmer ground. He tossed the wheelchair's body out too, but it landed short in knee-deep water. Rotan plunged in after it. He re-assembled the wheelchair on higher ground and began to roll the nearly half- mile to the nearest paved road. Several times he climbed out of the char and pushed it through mud puddles. Forty-five minutes later he hit pavement. After wheeling for nearly a mile and a half, John ran into his friend Victor Thurman who then drove him the rest of the way home.
Come New Year's Eve 1999, partygoers will have new beer decisions to make. Should they celebrate with "the official beer of the millennium", Miller High Life, or pop open a can of Coors, "the official beer of Y2K". Like everybody else, the breweries are jumping on the year 2000 bandwagon and trying to carve out some territory for themselves. While this may seem a bit silly for a can of ordinary suds, how about the Mayfield, OH company Elk & Elk which aspires to be the "personal injury firm of the new millennium."? Or the Batesville Casket Co of Indiana, selling the Millennium casket, made out of stainless steel. It seems a lot of these folks should get over to Bakers Square and order the dessert of Y2K, "Humble Pie".
I made my annual pilgrimage to the Summerfest grounds in Milwaukee in defiance of the local Taste of Chicago. I much prefer Summerfest over "The Taste" for the following reasons: less crowded, lakefront setting (literally), better food choices at lower prices, and a good selection of some of the local micro brews. Need I say more ? Although Miller Brewing still dominates the beer concession, a number of smaller breweries have been given an opportunity to compete for satisfying fest-goers thirsts.
In summary, the noteworthy changes over last year's fest included: the disappearance of Pabst products and their associated sponsorship of one of the music stages (Pabst's vacated tap handles were subsequently absorbed by Miller), the entry of Point Brewing, and the diminished variety of Old Style product offerings (not necessarily a bad thing). Geographically, the breweries divided the park with Point and Leinenkugel to the north, Miller and Old Style to the south, and Sprecher sandwiched in-between. Two beers each from Lakefront Brewing and Water Street brewpub were also available in secluded areas of the park.
Point offered four beers. I tried the Amber which tasted like their flagship American lager style with just more crystal malt added. They also served a Bock; although I didn't try it figuring I'd be just as disappointed.
Sprecher offered their Amber, Hefe Weiss, Pub Brown, and Black Bavarian (a Schwarzbier). The Amber was not as hoppy as I recall from previous years. The weiss was a very refreshing respite from the heat of the day; cloves dominated. The Pub Brown was very clean with a pronounced chocolate finish; a great way to cleanse the palate after downing a few bratwurst.
Lakefront offered their standard Summerfest selection of Eastside Dark (similar to Sprecher's Black Bavarian) and Riverwest Stein (somewhat of the Vienna/Oktoberfest style). I was a bit disappointed in the Riverwest as it was on the sweet side and had an oily mouthfeel to it. I suppose this could be explained by the fact the Lakefront just completed a move to larger quarters in the city and this could have been one of the last batches from the old facility that didn't keep well or was one of the first batches from the new location that wasn't adequately lagered.
It's encouraging to see that Summerfest organizers recognize the importance of brewing to the City of Milwaukee and, in general, the state and have loosened the reins somewhat to let other local brewers showcase their wares. I look forward to an even greater selection in future years.
As a side note, located about 6 blocks directly west of the Summerfest grounds is one of Milwaukee's newest brewpubs, the Milwaukee Ale House. The pub is on Water Street in a rehabbed loft structure. The brewhouse occupies the front of the space and is fully visible from the street through large windows forming the facade.
On tap are about a half dozen regular beers along with a seasonal and a handful of guest beers. Their seasonal, at the time, was a Belgian Wit; tasted true to style. I also tried their stout which was very creamy. If you plan to visit, time your arrival for evenings or weekends. The restaurant is located in a fairly busy commercial district and parking space is at a premium. It's even worse when one of the many ethnic festivals or other events are occupying the Summerfest grounds.
From the Times of London comes the following story about one of the most unpleasant aspects of beer drinking and how modern science is attacking the problem. We speak of course of, how shall I say, the beer toot? Beer flatulence, that is. Published in Gut - the British Medical Association's specialist journal about what goes on in the inner man or woman - extensive research into the normally unmentionable also showed that women were the worst offenders in terms of odor, although men made up for that in sheer volume. It is almost too much to believe, but supposedly, sixteen intestinally sound volunteers - six men and ten women - were fed a diet heavily supplemented by pinto beans and milk sugar. Each resulting "passage" of wind was collected in an impermeable bag and the volume was calculated by drawing the contents into a calibrated syringe, which was then given to two expert "odor judges". Tests showed that hydrogen sulfide was the main cause of the unpleasant smell. The gas is the by-product of sulfate-reducing bacteria that live in the gut. Sulfate is found in broccoli, cabbage, nuts, bread, and of course, beer. Sulfurous amino acids are present in protein. Women produced a significantly greater concentration but men tended to produce greater volume. The researchers then got eight volunteers to wear sealed pants, which they tested as gas-tight by submersion in water. Some were fitted with a charcoal coated cushion, to be marketed as Toot Trappers, which were found to reduce the sulfur concentration elevenfold. Kind of makes you wish you hadn't slept through science class doesn't it?
What do you do when it's 2 a.m. in Helsinki and you've run out of beer? One Finnish man decided what he would do was break into a grocery store and steal himself some more. Police responded to the burglar alarm, and the arriving cops told the culprit to come out with his hands up. "I can't", he said, "I'm stuck." The 41-year-old man had broken a window and tried climbing through the hole backwards. But the hole was too small and he couldn't move without hurting himself. The newspaper report said he suffered slight injuries from the broken glass. No mention was made of the condition of his pride.
A Kentucky man is in critical condition with a gunshot wound after a friend unsuccessfully tried to shoot a beer can off of his head. Larry Slusher,47 was shot by his best friend Silas Caldwell, 47, who is currently in jail on felony assault charges stemming from the incident. "The one that got shot put the beer can up on the top of his head and told his buddy to shoot if off," said Bell County Sheriff Harold Harbin, "He missed the can and hit his head." Caldwell fled the scene after the shooting, but was arrested three hours later. "He gave us his gun and didn't give us any trouble," said Harbin. "He was just drinking and acting like a fool, I guess."
You could have sworn it was 1968 all over again. What started out as a week-end arts festival turned into one of the worst riots in recent memory. The incident at Penn State University occurred as tens of thousands of people descended upon the college for the annual Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, a popular summer reunion of students and recent grads. Witnesses said the conflict began when police confiscated, then returned, a "party ball" - a mini keg of beer. The enthusiastic youngsters proceeded to tear down street lights, smash storefronts, and even strip naked and burn their underwear. In typical 60's attitude PSU junior Greg Pezza said, "It didn't seem all that violent - sort of like pep rally but with fire."
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Last modified 8/18/98.