The Holiday season is upon us once again. Time again for office parties and Christmas parties. New Year's Eve parties and New Year's Day parties. All these parties means lots of drinking and good cheer and whatever else you can get away with. But there is a serious side to consider also. Without getting too whiny about it, let's just say here's hoping everybody uses their head while it is still sober, when it comes time to driving. I don't want to get into finger-scraping sermonizing, so let's all keep our wits about us and play it safe during the holiday season. Most of us are use to driving after sampling an ale or two at the monthly meetings, but remember - New Year's Eve is the biggest example of Amateur Night all year long. There will be plenty of people on the road who normally drink 2 cans of Miller Lite in a month but that night will think nothing of mixing champaign and beer and brandy and who knows what else. So here is hoping that you all have a wonderful holiday season filled with joy and good cheer.
The 1997 edition of the Urban Knaves of Grain will soon be history and I look back on the past year with much appreciation for the people that make this club a successful organization. This newsletter has taken on a fresh and exciting look with something for everybody in each issue. Full credit for this goes to Tom Oelrich who has brought an enthusiastic approach to gathering materials and presenting information in an imaginative layout.
Your board of directors has provided invaluable advice regarding the long term direction for the club in terms of future meeting programs, club sponsored events, and membership enhancement. I look forward to working with this group in the coming year to give you the information and opportunities you are looking for from this club.
On a legal note, I am happy to report that we were successful in getting the club's corporate status reinstated by the state after a two year renewal lapse. I thank Dave Maki for his effort to make this happen.
Unfortunately, I can't give recognition in this small column to everyone who contributed to the successes this past year which included spring and fall pub crawls, the weiss beer style seminar, two competitions, the Winfield Main Street event, a brew-in, a guest speaker, new club merchandise (which, by the way make, great holiday gifts for the person that has everything), etc. Needless to say, in a volunteer organization like ours it takes members to make these events a reality. And I thank all those who gave their time and energy in this regard.
As with most organizations, the membership roster is fairly fluid. Ours is no exception. On the loss side, we are saying good-bye to Mark Knoebel who is moving to cheese-head country (Wisconsin for you flatlanders) at the end of the year. This past year, Mark was instrumental in initiating the weiss beer style seminar, organizing the Beer in a Box competition, and providing the self-guided samplings/recipe analysis sessions that have been a part of the last few month's meetings. I hope Mark will keep in touch and let us know the latest happenings on the beer scene up north. On the gain side, we welcome Joe Formanek formerly from Champaign and a charter member of B.U.Z.Z. I look forward to talking to Joe to find out some of the things the "BUZZards" were involved with.
Please note, our December meeting will be held the 18th "on the road" at Lunar Brewing in Villa Park - usual time. Homebrew is welcome at Lunar (and also served by the owner). Also, January is membership month, i.e. club dues for 1998 will be collected at the Jan. 29th meeting at John's Buffet. In addition to dues I will also solicit e-mail addresses from those who have them. This will allow the club to communicate with you on short notice items and reminders. As always, please feel free to call or e-mail me with any club-related concerns or suggestions.
In closing, I would like to thank the membership for your support and wish you all a safe and "Hoppy" New Year.
DARRELL
When police in South Carolina found Virginia Russell's body near a soccer field, they didn't have much to go on. The 30-year old woman worked for an escort service, so she was likely to have been out with quite a few different men. There were however, two empty bottles of Michelob Light beer near the crime scene. After talking with Russell's friends, police were led to the apartment of Roy Gene Beck where three more Michelob Light bottles were discovered. A sixth Michelob Light bottle was found in Russell's white 1983 Oldsmobile Cutlass, abandoned at the the National Guard Armory. The bottle was un-opened and still in a cardboard six-pack carrier. What appeared to be blood was pooled in the car's console and smeared on the seats and steering wheel. Armed with this information Roy Gene Beck was charged with the shooting death of Virginia Russell. At the trial Mark Landers, director of quality assurance at the Williamsburg, VA Anheuser-Busch plant, read the code on the label of each of the six bottles. They were identical: 17OCT96WF58. That meant the bottles were filled on Oct. 17th, 1996. The "W" was for the Williamsburg brewery; the "F" stood for the line in the brewery that capped the bottles. The number "58" meant the beer was bottled during the 58th, 15-minute period of that day, or between 2:15 and 2:30pm. Prosecutors believe this strong circumstantial evidence will lead to the conviction of Mr. Beck.
Since the microbrewery revolution took off, there have been many and varied attempts at selling craft- brewed beer. This idea though takes the cake...or maybe the matzoh bread would be more appropriate. Jeremy Cowan of San Francisco has been joking about a Hanukkah beer for over a dozen years, but now he finally has done it. HE'BREW is the product of his years of thought. Brewed by Anderson Valley Brewing co. of Booneville, CA HE'BREW is certified by the Los-Angeles based Kosher Supervision of America, one of the country's many kosher certification programs. The beer label cites the Bible's praise of barley in Deuteronomy 8:8 and proclaims,"After 5,000 years of civilization, finally a microbrew with the chutzpah to call itself The Chosen Brew." Gerschon Horowitz, an observant Jew given the task of inspecting Anderson Valley for kosher certification says that beer, with its four basic ingredients is kosher on the face of it. Horowitz was looking for unclean conditions or borderline elements such as glycerin, and did not find them. "Some Jews might think it's a shtick - the connotation of Jews being 'The Chosen People'. but I don't think anyone should take offense. If they do take offense it's because they take offense at a lot of things, just to be taking offense." La'haim!
With little notice, but welcome anyway, news has just arrived that the AHA Club Only Hail to Ale will be held in Nashville TN on January 26th, 1998. If you would like to participate in this event, please bring your entries to the Brewer's Coop no later than Jan. 17, 1998. Judging will be done that weekend. In other beer judging news, Steve McKenna announced at the November meeting that any persons interested in taking part in the BJCP program should contact him. He has received confirmation that there will be an exam in late April or early May on next year. Before taking the exams you will want to join Steve and the others in a study group or two. Please contact Steve Mckenna if you are interested.
Editor's note: it has recently be confirmed that the BJCP exam will be held on May 10. Contact Steve McKenna for details.
Dear Santa,
I have been a good little homebrewer this year. I only boiled over once. The wife was out that day, and I cleaned up before she got home so she never knew. She did wonder why the cat was so sticky, but I don't think she put 2 and 2 together. So please Santa, here is a list of what I would like for Christmas.
Thanks Santa,
Tommy
Dear Tom,
I am a new member of the UKG and was just wondering. Are
there any other homebrew clubs in the area that have such friendly members, a
great meeting place, and a kick-ass newsletter?
Cheers,
New Knave
Dear New Knave,
No.
Hey Tom,
Where is the Brewer's Profile? That's one feature I really like in the
newsletter.
Prosit,
Just Curious
Dear Curious,
The Brewer's Profile is on vacation. If you would like to see yourself
profiled, please see me at a meeting, or write to the address on the back of
the newsletter. The Profile will stay on vacation until someone does.
Tom,
When and where is the December meeting? It sure would be nice if just for
a change it wasn't at John's Buffet.
Perry Patetic
Perry,
You are in luck. The December meeting is on the road! Join the rest of
the UKG crew at Lunar Brewing in Villa Park. It's on St. Charles Rd. just 4
blocks west of Rt. 83. See ya there.
Dear Mr. Editor,
You don't fool me. You're making all these letters up. Why I bet you're
just trying to fill space because you are too lazy to actually do REAL
journalism by tracking down breaking beer news. I'm appalled at your lack of
imagination and ambition.
Disappointedly yours,
Jack Squat
Dear Mr. Squat,
What was your first clue?
December's monthly meeting is going to be one not to be missed. Not only will we be meeting at Lunar Brewing, 55 E. St. Charles Rd., Villa Park, but there will be free food to boot. Okay, so it won't be exactly a pig-out, but the club is coughing up the dough for appetizers to be served to the UKG faithful. But even without that, Lunar Brewing is a place you will want to visit. On a stop there last month, I was impressed by its old-time feel and wide selection of beer choices. This spot has been a corner tavern "forever" in Villa Park, and it has all the warmth and congeniality you would expect from a local tavern. But it's not just a "shot and a beer" type of place. On tap you can choose from Fuller's ESB, Two Bros. Ebelweiss or Scotch Ale, or just say "Moon me!" and get a pint of Lunar Brewing's own Lunar Harvest Ale, a highly-hopped wheat ale. On hand pull they have Boddington's, but if it's ready in time, Lunar's own ESB may be on. In bottles, Lunar has a wide range of beers to choose from. There is plenty of parking both on the street and in lots behind and next to the bar.
At the November club meeting, Phil Gravel's entry in the club-only Bitter-Mania competition took first place and will be sent on to the nationals. On the judges scoring sheet Phil's Extra Special Bitter was judged, "very drinkable", with "residual malt sweetness present" but with "bitterness in finish". Although the competition was limited to only 4 entries, it was no easy decision. The other entries came from veteran prize-winning brewers Shane Coombs and Mike Uchima. The judges gave good scores to all the beers, but it was Phil's that nosed out the rest to take first place. Congratulations to Phil and all the participants, and thanks to the judges for their efforts.
According to a September press release from the Institute for Brewing Studies, the United States now exceeds Germany in the number of operating breweries. Germany now has 1,234 while the U.S. has 1,273. Of the 1,273 U.S. breweries, 1,250 are craft breweries. According to the same report, the largest number of U.S. micros are in California, Colorado and Washington state. California, Florida and Colorado have the most brewpubs. Oregon, California and Colorado lead with the most regional specialty breweries, while Vermont, Wyoming and Colorado have the most breweries per capita.
It sounds like a dream come true. One day you are drinking beer at your favorite bar, and the next you own your own pub, and in Ireland to boot. This was the case for Douglas Knight of Minneapolis who entered the latest edition of the Guinness "Win Your Own Pub in Ireland" contest. If you haven't seen this before, entrants are asked to complete a phrase in 50 words or less, and this year's phrase was "As the cool, creamy head of a pint of Guinness settles...". Mr. Knight and nine other finalists were flown to the town of Cahir in County Tipperary (and that's a long way) where sits the J. Morrissey Pub, this year's first prize. Valued at $232,000, the pub was being offered to the finalist who could ostensibly best the rest in darts, pouring the Perfect Pint, and delivering a convincing oral presentation claiming the pub for his own. Mr, Knight who is a professional Music Technician and Recording Engineer proved his mettle by playing the guitar while singing the song he wrote to his special "Perfect Pint". This was enough to sway the judges in his favor. He and his wife Suzanne plan to take over the pub in Cahir and run it to the best of their abilities.
Disease threatens to destroy the barley industry in the Midwest. Scab, a fungus that attacks grain heads especially hard during periods of high humidity and cool temperatures, has reduced the amount of acceptable malting barley in the region to about 40 million bushels, a drop of about 60 percent. "I think we're on the verge of losing an industry here," says John Mittleider, executive director for the North Dakota Barley Council. The Dakotas and Minnesota normally supply between 100 million and 110 million bushels of barley every year to malting companies for brewing. North Dakota produces about one third of the nation's barley. "We feel that if we can't come up with some new scab-tolerant lines within the next three years, then the U.S. malting and brewing industry is going to basically get most of its products out of other regions of the country or up in Canada," Mittleider said. A byproduct of the disease, known as vomitoxin, can ruin the taste of beer. Vomitoxin, so called because it makes cows vomit, can also cause beer to gush from bottles on opening. To prevent unsavory beer, brewers use only high- quality barley. Before 1993, about 80% of the barley grown in the Dakotas and Minnesota made malting grade. This year, only about 43% is expected to make that grade. This will cost the barley growers and estimated 75-100 million dollars. Industry leaders would prefer to get most of their barley from the Dakotas and Minnesota, says Mike Davis, president of the American Malting Barley Association. The industry is losing money in freight costs. Now, more barley must be transported from Western states and Canada to malt suppliers and places where beer is brewed Davis said. Davis says he is optimistic that researchers can put a scab-resistant barley in the fields of Midwest growers in "upwards of five years." Lee Hitchcock, a commodities purchasing manager for Miller Brewing Co. said a variety that meets the specifications of the Milwaukee- based beer company grows better in the Dakotas and Minnesota.
As a special treat for our readers, the club has obtained the services of DuPage county's most famous psychic - the Great Lagerini. We asked him to perform his wizardry at the December meeting, but since the Great Lagerini avoids Villa Park ever since that fiasco at the Odeum, he has left us with a few of his predictions for the beer world in 1998.
Wayne Huizenga will purchase Coors Brewing Company! He will hire the
best and brightest brewmasters and build a new state of the art brewery. His
new brews will quickly propel Coors past Budweiser and Miller and make Coors
the #1 beer in America. By the end of the year however, Huizenga citing huge
financial losses, will fire his newly hired staff and sell the brewery.
Anheuser-Busch, after its success with frogs and lizards in promoting their
beer products, will announce a new ad campaign featuring the Budweiser
Wombats. Although it will fail domestically, in Australia, Bud Light will
outsell Foster's.
On the internet, the newsgroup, rec.crafts.brewing will be changed to
alt.help.mybeerisattackingme. Homebrew Digest will be available by
subscription only.
Trying to reach a broader audience, the Dutch brewer Heineken will try
cross-marketing to put zip into its sales. Positioning the traditional
green-bottled brew for the "shot and a beer" type of customer, new ads will
depict a bottle of Jack Daniels next to a bottle of Heineken. The tag line
will read: "Put Some Spunk in your Skunk."
Sam Adams Beer Co. will introduce its latest flavor -
HONEY-ESPRESSO-LEMON-PEPPER Ale. When this fails miserably in the
marketplace, the company hits the financial skids. However, Jim Koch, in his
brightest maneuver ever, will take the remaining barrels, and after adding a
few more ingredients will come out with HoneyEspressoLemonPepper Cough Syrup
or H.E.L.P. for short. This will prove so successful he will get out of the
beer business entirely to concentrate on the home health products market.
Americans have our Great American Beer Festival, and the British have their
Great British Beer Festival, two of the best-known events in the world for
beer aficionados. The Belgians have theirs as well. Unofficially dubbed (in
English) the "Great Belgian Beer Festival", its real name in Dutch means "24
Hours of Belgian Special Beer". In Belgium it's referred to as simply "The 24
Hours".
Held every November in Antwerp, Belgium's second-largest city, the 24 Hours is now in its 10th year. It is staged by the Objectieve Bierproevers ("Objective Beertasters"), Belgium's beer-consumers' organization, the equivalent of Britain's CAMRA. Its purpose is to promote the appreciation of Belgian beer culture. I attended this year's 24 Hours, and set out to appreciate all I could.
The 24 Hours means exactly what it says: the festival lasts for 24 hours, spread over two days. It begins on Saturday at 2:00pm and goes until 2:00am; then after 8 hours of rest, it resumes at 10:00am Sunday and finishes up at 10:00pm. You can take advantage of as much of this grueling schedule as you like, since admission to the festival is free; you can walk in and out as you please. Drop in to taste a few beers in the evening, then leave for dinner; come back later to taste a few more. Unlike the 4-5 hour sessions imposed by the Great American and British beerfests, the Belgian approach is a truly leisurely way to enjoy great beer.
To try the beer at the 24 Hours, you must buy the festival glass, a small snifter, for about $3. If you leave the fest and return, you can bring the glass back in with you. You also need to buy plastic chips for $0.85 each, or 12 for $8.50. One chip gets you about a 5 ounce serving of beer. In typically fastidious Belgian fashion, the server at each booth will thoroughly wash your glass before filling it with beer. (In equally characteristic Belgian fashion, they're not always careful about draining the glass, so you may get a good measure of rinsewater in your beer as well.)
The 24 Hours is held in a large open hall, more on the scale of a theater
than the huge spaces used by the GABF and GBBF. Packed with people, it was
hot and stuffy even on a chilly November day. The nonsmoking movement has not
caught on here, so there's plenty of smoke as well, as in most Belgian
establishments. At times it got to be hard to move around, with traffic-jams
of people and children underfoot. Yes, children: in contrast to the strict
age requirements of American beer festivals, Belgians bring their whole
family. The kids weren't drinking beer, but there was plenty of food and soft
drinks for them, plus a big inflatable playground area guarded by watchful
volunteers. A wandering kilted bagpiper and a foursome in straw hats playing
Dixieland music added to the atmosphere.
It is significant that the full name of the fest is "24 Hours of Belgian Special Beer". The term "special" is a Belgian legal classification for beers. These days, it essentially means any kind of beer made in Belgium other than pilsner. Virtually every beer we think of as Belgian falls into the "special" category, but the fact is, 75% of the beer brewed in Belgium is standard European pilsner rather than special beers. There were no pilsners here, just Belgian ales--many of formidable strength--and lambics.
Fifty breweries attended the festival. There were several large independent breweries, like Moortgat (brewer of Duvel), Palm, and Haacht; but the breweries owned by the big conglomerate Interbrew were absent. Three of the five Belgian Trappist brewers were there: the abbeys of Scourmont (Chimay), Westmalle, and Orval. But brewpubs and microbreweries have just begun to become popular in Belgium, and there were many new breweries present with annual production of a few hundred barrels or less.
Most breweries brought several of their products, so there were nearly 150 beers available. All of the traditional Belgian ale styles were represented except for saison (perhaps not surprising, as this is made in the most southern, French-speaking part of Belgium, while Antwerp is in the most northern part of the country). There were blond, amber, and brown ales with strengths ranging from 4 to 12% ABV. There were Trappist ales and their abbey-style imitators. There were Flanders brown and red beers. There were lambics, with and without fruit. And there were several examples of Belgium's newest style, honingbier: strong (6-9% ABV), usually blond beers brewed with generous amounts of honey.
Lambic brewers, led by Cantillon in Brussels, have been experimenting with varietal grape lambics. Cantillon has long brewed a light-colored lambic ("Vigneronne") made with Italian muscat grapes, and recently produced the reddish "St. Lamvinus" using Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes from the St. Emillion region of France. Cantillon unfortunately did not attend the 24 Hours, but the well-respected lambic blender Drie Fonteinen did. They brought a Pinot Noir lambic--rosé colored, brilliantly clear, with noticeable grape flavor and a tannic finish--and a more delicately flavored Chardonnay lambic.
Among the regular Belgian ales, there were many outstanding examples. Strong (8% ABV) amber and blond beers are popular with the new breweries, and there were good ones from the Rochefortoise, De Ranke, and De Proef micros. Fresh Orval was insanely hoppy, totally unlike the tired version which reaches the U.S. My favorite tripel, surpassing even the prototype Westmalle, was Tripel Karmeliet, just introduced this year by Bosteels (brewer of Kwak). Brewed from three grains (wheat, barley, and oats), it has a big clean but estery nose, great flavor and body.
The 24 Hours is without a doubt the world's premiere Belgian beer festival. Antwerp, filled with 400-year old Flemish architecture, is perhaps the best beer-lover's city in Belgium--rivaling Brussels. It's a great combination, worthy of the traditional Belgian toast, "to your health": op uw gezondheid!
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Last modified 1/19/98.