Newsletters - September 2004

August Meeting Minutes

The August meeting of the First State Brewers was held at the home of Marty Drinan. You could hardly call it a meeting, since most everyone was out of town. In fact, besides Marty, the only other die-hard brewers were Dave Lawrence and Garrett Sever.

In Garrett's words:
We sat around, drank some homebrew & other, talked about steam engines and steam boiler disasters. Marty gave us a tour of his RIMS system in the basement and his anti-freeze powered carboy chiller.


Here is the list of beers served:

Garrett Sever:Black Honey Ale batch 2 (brewed during the last meeting)
Red Honey Ale
Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre
Dave Lawrence:Franziskaner Hefe-weisse
Flying Fish Farmhouse Summer Ale
Marty Drinan:Cranberry Stout
Dark Lager
Spaten Optimator
Pocono Caramel Porter
Bitburger Premium

The September meeting will be held at the home of Scott Bieber on Friday, September 17th at 7:30 p.m.

Homebrew & Hot Tub! That's right, bring beer and a bathing suit to the next meeting if you'd like. (Sorry Jerry, no skinny dipping for you! Bathing suits are required, thank
goodness!)

Recent Club Communications

From: Garrett Sever
Sent: Monday, September 13, 2004 9:48 PM
Subject: Stuff for Wort's Hoppening

Couple more things for Wort's Hoppening:

Kennett Square Brew Festival on October 9th from 2pm-6pm: http://www.kennettbrewfest.com/

Dan Brzoska is in town the weekend of October 9th. Leaves that Tuesday - Maybe we could schedule a little rendezvous at Stewarts on Monday evening or something?

-Garrett
"I need assertion - devil's inside - won't let up any emotion
I need a surgeon - devil's inside - won't cut me any slack"
-Ohgr, "Devil"


From: Garrett Sever
Sent: Saturday, September 11, 2004 11:59 AM
Subject: September FSB meeting

Scott,

Hey man. Just wanted to let you know I'll be coming this Friday and bringing some of the Black Honey Ale we brewed at my place back during the July meeting. I'll also be bringing some Irish Red and Scotch Ale, and if its ready I'll bring some of the stuff I bottled this weekend - but I'm not holding my breath. I'm attaching the recipe sheet for it so you can send it out with the Wort's Hoppening (if you want). Tim Stumpf from Iron Hill had a couple of the BHAs and in his own words "They were excellent! Especially the black honey ale, very tasty!". I hope to get some more feedback from folks at the meeting, particularly those that helped me brew it!

Hop swap at the last meeting was a big bust. I was the only one who brought hops. Unless you get significant (advance) interest during this meeting, I won't bother bringing any. I just left the 4 oz over at Marty's so he can use them whatever (was 2oz Liberty and 2oz Northern Brewer). I still have about a half pound of pellets of each... but if no one else is interested, I won't bother.

Had a suggestion for a potential demonstration while we're there at the meeting. As you know I got some kegging equipment back in June which I haven't started using yet for lack of refrigeration. Well, Deloitte & Touche finally finished our 2003 tax returns and my wife has given the green light to purchase a kegerator once the government sends the check... so I'll be using the kegging stuff soon. I know at Jeff Ramberg's house we kind of talked through what one does to sanitize a keg prior to use, but I'd really like to see your methods in action. Would you mind doing a demo of sanitizing the keg & associated components while we're there? For me, seeing something sticks a lot better than hearing.

Look forward to seeing you Friday!

-Garrett



From: John Beesel
Sent: Friday, September 10, 2004 8:59 PM
Subject: The Grateful Shed

Yo ho ho, and a bottle of rum!
I heard about Doc's boat (Das Boot) , well Mike's boat. I wish I could have been there as I heard Mike was quite..........should I dare to say "upset." I guess Doc forgot to mention the new scupper system he installed all by himself. Hey....... Dam it Jim, I'm a Doctor, not a boat hull specialist! No wonder malpractice runs so rampant...........Who needs surgery...... any takers? At least it did not make it's way to the artificial reef program! So much for that romantic sunset cruise.
The Shed (Das Shed) is glowing with the hops vine draped so soft upon it's hardened interior. Just drinking a Purple Haze now as I lament over Mike's misfortune. Brew days are almost upon us as Ice Plant Daze dwindle into the winter abyss. We need to call a meeting to decide which day, goals, anecdotes, blah blah blah... and also give the Shrine a good cleaning.
It appears the snake population was well fed, but the few who escaped reeked havoc on the ton of rice hulls now cascading over the interior..... But no worry mates, this year we start the season with some seriously aged shit man. I believe there to be four or five kegs of premo, one keg of plain 'ol domestic, and maybe even some left over Rob's educational fulfillment! Can you taste the hops Man!
We missed the competition at 1st. State Brewers the end of last season. We will have to have an earlier one this year as we are only a seasonal club...... or maybe we will just have to give up on summertime follies.
Well, I gotta go ... the children are silent. If you could send this to Tom, Doc, and Rob and anyone who cares, I would appreciate it. Have them email me as well, as I lost their addresses in last years PC burnout.
Cheers!
John

The keeper of The Shed!


From: How Do You Brew?
Sent: Wednesday, September 08, 2004 4:44 PM
Subject: Re: First State Brewers Meeting

Hey Scott,

Looks like October would work out better for us. Tell people to bring chairs if they want to sit. We're also out of fliers to hand out to people, so bring a handful. Jan
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Scott Bieber"
> To: "'How Do You Brew?'"
> Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2004 9:09 PM
> Subject: First State Brewers Meeting
>
>
> > Pete and Jan,
> > Would it be possible to have our September meeting at your store?
> > Our meeting date is Friday, September 17th. If that date is bad,
> > how about
a
> > future month?
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Scott Bieber
> >

Subj: Split Rock 2003 HB Competition
Date: 9/1/2004 9:29:31 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: "Houseman, David L"

I am pleased to announce that there will again be a homebrew competition on November 20th, at the Split Rock Resort in the Pocono's of Pennsylvania in conjunction with their annual Micro Brew Festival. Contrary to any other information, judging will only be on Saturday. Entry fees, $5, will go to the American Diabetes Association. This is a sanctioned competition judging all beer, mead and cider styles. Entries should be shipped to The Resort at Split Rock, One Lake Drive, Lake Harmony, PA 18624, Attention:
Shelly Kalins Lutz, for receipt from November 6 to November 17. Two (2)
brown or green bottles with no markings are required. Any standard entry forms identifying the brewer and the appropriate entry category/subcategory are acceptable. Any standard homebrew competition entry and bottle identification forms are acceptable. Take special note that we will use the former, 1999 BJCP style guidelines; not the new 2004 guidelines. Get this from the BJCP web site at www.bjcp.org. Judges and Stewards will be needed and they should contact Shelly Kalins Lutz [srinfo@splitrockresort.com] or me to secure a position. Judges and Stewards can hand carry their entries if they pre-register with payment. All judges and stewards are required to be present by 8:30 so we can get
started promptly at 9am. Checks should be made out to The Resort At Split
Rock. Judges will receive an entry to the beer festival or entry to the beer dinner for their efforts and need to indicate which they wish when they commit to participate. The BOS winner will receive a complementary weekend for two at next year's Split Rock Beer Fest as well. But just entering makes you a winner for helping a good cause. More information will be available at the Split Rock web site:
http://www.splitrockresort.com/beerfest/. Or contact them at:
spevents@splitrockresort.com.
David Houseman
Competition Organizer
david.houseman@verizon.net



From: Garrett Sever
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2004 8:33 PM
To: 'Scott Bieber'
Subject: RE: First State Brewers Meeting

I brewed a hoppy red honey ale last week that I'm hoping is ready by the next meeting, and I did a pumpkin ale on Saturday night that might have to wait until the October meeting - its still downstairs in the chiller fermenting like mad. Wish I had a kegerator - it could be ready by this coming weekend, but with no way to get the beer cold... :-( Must wait for 2 weeks for natural carbonation.

Bottling sucks in that regard.
I'll probably be doing an abbey dubbel this weekend if I can find time... Something to age for a while before the winter is upon us. I'll also be bringing more of the Black Honey Ale to the next meeting so folks can try it...
* Garrett

"I need assertion - devil's inside - won't let up any emotion
I need a surgeon - devil's inside - won't cut me any slack"
* Ohgr, "Devil"




From: Scott Bieber
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2004 3:04 PM
To: Garrett
Subject: Re: First State Brewers Meeting

... By the way, I brewed last night. It should be an ass-kicking IPA! Will ready for the next meeting.

Cheers,
Scott


From: Hank and Anjou Keller
Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2004 4:55 PM
To: 'Scott Bieber'

Sorry I've been absent the past 2 meetings - doing traveling and vacationing with the family. July - I was in Denver, and August was in Myrtle Beach (got back last night at 1AM). I am not planning to go anywhere for a few months, so I should be able to attend the next few meetings. See you at the next meeting (or at the Sangerbund)!! HANK (aka The Pres)