Last Monday I planned on making a simple medium gravity porter to kick
off the start of the 2003 brewing season. Everything was in place.
Water drawn and mineralized, yeast starter at high krausen, grist
milled, yeast weighed, pumps and plumbing assembled, and cooler cleaned.
Everything looked ready for an interesting and fairly quick 4-5 hour
brewing adventure. Well, it was an adventure.
I understand that equipment wears and stuff happens but why is it always
in multiples of three? I would have sworn I was working at a commercial
brewery!! The actual brewing process went flawlessly. Hop additions
were on time with the help of two timers. Strike water temperature
exact. Mashing sparging collecting and original gravity all hit their
targets. Things were going so well that I decided to have a beer.
Well, I was in a brewery and it was a large glass.
Here starts the interesting part. After knockout, I recirculated the
bitter wort through pump and counterflow cooler to ensure sanitization.
I opened the cooling water throttle valve and adjusted the flow.
Started collecting cool wort in a carboy and everything seemed fine.
Wondered why the lift pump (used to pump drain water to the laundry
room) hadn't kicked on. I stopped wondering when my feet started
getting wet.
I read a posted article about what a professional brewer should do if
faced with a power interruption or major calamity during brewing. His
answer was to dump the stuff and start on the next batch as soon as
possible. With his words clearly in mind, I decided I could salvage the
beer, clean up the mess, and let the beer stand for a few more moments.
Out to the garage for a spare garden hose to drain away the cooling
water. I brought one hose down to the basement and connected it to the
counterflow cooler. Routed it to the laundry sink and started the
water. Guess why it was in the garage? Yep, it had a nice hole. Now I
had two wet messes to mop up. Hose number two installed and functioning
correctly - whew. Back to cooling bitter wort and making beer.
Remember those messes? They hadn't gone anywhere yet so as the wort
cooled, it was time to start mopping or at least get the mop and
industrial mop bucket. Got the bucket and mop and dropped it in the
deepest puddle. Something seemed to work. Put the mop between the
rollers and started to wring it out. That's right - mop fell apart from
corrosion.
By now the beer was almost done cooling so I did the next logical thing.
Waited for the beer to finish cooling, shut down the beer pump, and had
another cold one.
After the event, I threw all my rags on the floor. Who says you can't
clean up a big mess with little rags? Anyhow, the beer is fermenting.
The Ringwood yeast appears happy. The floor is dry and I need to go
shopping for a new and improved sump pump.
Understand the name PITA PORTER?
Have a great day and hope to see you at the beer festival tomorrow. The
MHBA will be serving up a selection of various brewing waters from
around the area. Come by and have a sample or two.
Rick Oftel
VP MHBA
Greetings,
The Autumn HOMEbrew Review awards ceremony will start at 2:45 Sept 7, at Peavy Plaza. We will announce the 2nd and 3rd place awards, then at 4:45 we will announce the 1st place and Best of Show. Even if you don't have a ticket to the tasting festival, you can still attend the event. You can visit the booths, mingle, listen to the bands, and eat, you just won't be served beer. Come on down and cheer for your fellow club members when they win.
See you there!
Mike Moranz, President
Minnesota Home Brewers Association
Hi Russ,
Thanks for the note and the effort.
Is there a new address for commands.
e.g. do we send the un/sub's to majordomo@thebarn
or to ecartis@thebarn or ???
Are you coming to the ABR tomorrow? Judging tonight?
Are you interested in the Summit Event on 9/14?
Cheers,
Jim
>
> Due to the age and limitations with majordomo I have switched the
> mba list to use ecartis as the mail serving software.
>
> No real changes should be noticed by the user as most of the
> commands "subscribe" "unsubscribe" etc... remains the same.
>
> -Russell Cattelan
>
>
>
>
>
Call for Entries
5th Annual Hoppy Halloween Challenge - 2002
BJCP/AHA Sanctioned Homebrew Competition
The Prairie Homebrewing Companions are hosting the Hoppy
Halloween Challenge Homebrew Competition for its 5th year.
We accept beers in all 26 BJCP/AHA styles including mead and
cider. We've grouped them into 15 competition categories
and added a special category for a Halloween Theme beer with
a worthy prize. See the description of this special
category at the end of this message.
Only two 10 to 16 oz bottles are required! Any style of
glass or plastic will be accepted. Just think 6 bottles of
your precious brew gets you 3 entries instead of 2. Cheaper
shipping, less bottling, more beer for you so you may as
well double your entries and double your chances of winning
one our great prizes.
Use a standard entry form (ProMash is fine) or use ours:
http://www.linkup.net/users/dtrautmann/entry.html
Put a bottle label of your choice on each bottle of beer or
use ours:
http://www.linkup.net/users/dtrautmann/BottleID.html
Send your beer so it gets to our Registrar between Sept 21
and Oct 4 at this address:
The PHC % Dave Trautmann
1914 10th St N
Fargo, ND 58102
701-237-0756
Oh, we must ask you to include a little money to cover our
costs. The first four beers you enter are $7.50/each and
all entries after that are $5.00/each.
For additional questions and all the details, visit:
http://www.linkup.net/users/dtrautmann/phc2002.html
If you're in Fargo, ND on Oct 26 be sure to join us for the
Best-of-Show ceremonies, always a great time!
Competition Coordinator,
Karl Gunderson
E-mail: kgunders(a)microsoft.com
Home: 701-282-4966
Work: 701-281-6550
Halloween Theme Beer
--------------------
27a - WIDE OPEN STYLES (NOTHING THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED A
HEALTH HAZARD PLEASE) Any beer with characteristics that
would identify it as being made for, and in the spirit of,
Halloween. Individual qualities such as aroma, appearance,
and flavor should be part of the "Halloweeness" of the
entry. Brewers should specify the style (if any) and any
unique ingredients as appropriate.
NOTE: This category will be judged with the theme in mind.
The beer will receive points for overall quality AND for its
"Halloweeness" (i.e. how well it fits the Halloween theme).
The name of the beer will be considered in the judging
process. To insure anonymity, brewers are encouraged to name
their beer accordingly (i.e. please don't incorporate your
name, initials or any other wording that would identify the
beer as yours). Have fun!
Due to the "unique" nature of this category, the Gold medal
winner will not be eligible to compete for Best of Show.
Also, medalists in this category will not accumulate points
toward the Great Pumpkin Award. Brewers are allowed to enter
more than one beer in this category.
Original Gravity (Plato): 1.030-110 (7.5-27.5)
Final Gravity (Plato): 1.006-30 (2-8)
% Alc/Wt (Alc/Vol): 2.0-9.5 (2.5-12.1)
IBUs: 0-100
SRM (EBC): 1-100 (2-197)
The Upper Mississippi Mash-Out, the Spring homebrew contest
co-sponsored by the Minnesota Home Brewer's Association and the
St.Paul Homebrew Club, has been chosen as a qualifying
competition for THE HIGH PLAINS BREWER OF THE YEAR AWARD!
The High Plains Brewer of the Year is an award given to an
individual brewer from Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, South
Dakota, North Dakota or Minnesota who demonstrates outstanding
and consistent brewing skills. The award recipient is chosen
based on performance in several regional competitions.
Qualifying events are hosted by Kansas City Bier Meisters, Iowa
Brewers Union, Minnesota Home Brewers Association and St.Paul
Homebrew Club, Prairie Homebrewing Companions, OmaHops, and
Fellowship of Oklahoma Ale Makers.
To be eligible a brewer must reside or belong to a club located
in one of the aforementioned states. Points will be awarded on
a 5 for 1st, 3 for 2nd and 1 for 3rd place finish in a qualifying
competition. A brewer can only receive points for the highest
scoring beer per category (ie, you can't win for first AND
second....)
The winner of the 2003 High Plains Brewer Award will be presented
with an engraved plaque or other suitable prize.
HIGH PLAINS BREWER OF THE YEAR 2003
HIGH PLAINS BREWER OF THE YEAR WEBSITE
http://kcbiermeisters.org/highplainsII.htm
SANCTIONED COMPETITIONS
1. KCBM (Kansas City Brew Meisters)
Feb 21-22
http://kcbiermeisters.org
2. "IBU Open" - Iowa Brewer's Union
March/April
http://www.iowabrewersunion.org
3. "Upper Mississippi Mash-Out" - MhBA, SHC
May 2-3
http://www.mnbrewers.com/mashout
4. FOAM (Fellowship of Oklahoma Ale Makers)
Early August
http://www.alemakers.com/foam%20cup.htm
5. River City Roundup - OmaHops
Sept 13
http://www.douglascountyfair.com/ochandbook/beerwine.htm
6. "Hoppy Halloween" - Prairie Homebrewers Companion
Late October
http://www.linkup.net/users/dtrautmann/phc.html
Mark your brewing calendars and let's take this trophy HOME!
- Al
The Top 15 Names for Wal-Mart Wine
Box O' Grapes
Chateau du Crack Chardonnay
White Trashfindel
Big Red Gulp
Grape Expectations
Domaine Wal-Mart "Merde du Pays"
Sam's Dog 20/20
Chef Boyardeaux
Trucker's Choice
Blue Light Special Nun
Chateau des Moines
Mogen Darryl
I Can't Believe It's Not Vinegar!
World Championship Wriesling
and the Number 1 Name for Wal-Mart Wine...
Nasti Spumanti
--
Michael Valentiner, Minneapolis, Minnesota
mpv(a)yuck.net
Thanks a lot to everyone who replied!
Seems like France 44, Cellar's and Winestreets are the recommended places.
Kirby
-----Original Message-----
From: Kirby Richter
Sent: Wednesday, September 04, 2002 11:20 AM
To: 'Minnesota Brewers club (mba(a)thebarn.com)'
Subject: Good places to buy beer
Hello:
I'm running out of types of craft brews to try at my local beer store in
Eden Prairie. Any suggestions of where I can go to find a good variety of
microbrews and foreign beers (UK, Germany, Belgium, Czeck) would be
appreciated. I live in Eden Prairie so something on the west side of town
would be more appropriate. I know about Surdyks and Blue Max.
Someone said there is a good place at 50th and France, is this true?
Anything else in the Edina area? I'm working by France and 494 right now.
Thanks
Kirby
>
>
> Due to increasing product liability litigation, American beer
>brewers have accepted the FDA's suggestion that the
> > following
>warning labels be placed immediately on all beer
>containers:
>
> WARNING:
> The consumption of alcohol may make you
> think you are whispering when you are not.
>
> WARNING:
>
> The consumption of alcohol is a major
> factor in dancing like an asshole.
>
> WARNING:
> The consumption of alcohol may cause you
> to tell the same boring story over and over again
> until your friends want to SMASH YOUR HEAD IN !!!
>
> WARNING:
> The consumption of alcohol may cause you
> to thay shings like thish.
>
> WARNING:
> The consumption of alcohol may lead you
> to believe that ex-lovers are really dying for you
> to telephone them at four in the morning.
>
> WARNING:
> The consumption of alcohol may leave you
> wondering what the hell happened to your pants.
>
> WARNING:
> The consumption of alcohol may make you
> think you can logically converse with other members
> of the opposite sex without spitting.
>
> WARNING:
> The consumption of alcohol may make you
> think you have mystical Kung Fu powers, resulting
> in you getting your ass kicked.
>
> WARNING:
> The consumption of alcohol may cause you
> to roll over in the morning and see
> something really scary (whose species and
> or name you can't remember).
>
> WARNING:
> The consumption of alcohol is the leading
> cause of inexplicable rug burns on the forehead.
>
> WARNING:
> The consumption of alcohol may create the
> illusion that you are tougher, smarter and more
> handsome than some really, really big guy named FRANZ.
>
> WARNING:
> The consumption of alcohol may lead you
> to believe you are invisible.
>
> WARNING:
> The consumption of alcohol may lead you
> to think people are laughing WITH you.
>
> WARNING:
> The consumption of alcohol may cause a
> disturbance in the time-space continuum, whereby
> small (and sometimes large) gaps of time may seem to
> literally disappear.
>
> WARNING:
> The consumption of alcohol may actually
> CAUSE pregnancy.
>
>
>
> http://blackroses.textfiles.com/food/beerwarn.txt
>
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
_________________________________________________________________
Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com
Hello:
I'm running out of types of craft brews to try at my local beer store in
Eden Prairie. Any suggestions of where I can go to find a good variety of
microbrews and foreign beers (UK, Germany, Belgium, Czeck) would be
appreciated. I live in Eden Prairie so something on the west side of town
would be more appropriate. I know about Surdyks and Blue Max.
Someone said there is a good place at 50th and France, is this true?
Anything else in the Edina area? I'm working by France and 494 right now.
Thanks
Kirby