Mike,
Thanks for the information. I believe item #1 can be addressed in much
the same way that it was addressed at the capitol. I would bet neither
the city council nor the EP police have even seen the law which requires
the containers to be sealed. They also need to realize they are the
*only* city in Minnesota with a brewpub that has not allowed licensing.
As far as #2 goes, this issue seems like it could vanish with some
letters to the editors. As far as I'm concerned, they have not only
formed a monopoly by owning all the liquor stores, they also control the
licenses. This is simply ludicrous.
Even though you may not live in EP, you certainly may participate in some
kind of commerce in the city. They would be foolish not to listen to any
suggestions on how their city/perception of their city can be improved.
On Fri, 08 Aug 2003 16:20:17 -0500 Mike Behrendt <MBehrendt(a)mn.rr.com>
writes:
>
> I've had several conversations with the staff at City Hall including
> the
> Police Dept.
>
> The problem with sales of growlers at Hops Eden Prairie is due to a
> city
> ordinance. There are two reasons:
>
> 1 - The police are concerned about public safety, i.e. people take a
>
> growler, drink it and do dumb things.
> 2 - The city controls off-premise liquor sales and actually owns the
> only
> stores in the city. They don't want competition. The Liquor
> Director was
> actually interested in selling the growlers at the stores, but that
> wouldn't be very good.
>
> To get this changed:
> 1 - we'd need to contact the City Manager and ask that the ordinance
> be
> repealed/changed/whatever.
> 2 - we'd need to give a presentation to the City Council and then
> they
> would have to approve it.
>
> Not sure what the club could really do, I don't know how many of us
> live
> and/or work in Eden Prairie.
>
> Maybe some petitions at the restaurant and other restaurants, maybe
> some
> emails, maybe boycott their stores (like both of us who live in Eden
> Prairie)
>
> email addresses of interest:
>
> sneal(a)edenprairie.org - City Manager - Scott Neal
> allcouncil(a)edenprairie.org - entire city council
> duram(a)edenprairie.org - he's the Liquor Director - Don Uram
> police@.........
> dcarlson@........ police Chief Dan Carlson
>
>
> //Mike Behrendt
> email - MBehrendt(a)mn.rr.com
>
>
>
>
David Berg
Head Brewer, Bandana Brewery
President, Minnesota Craft Brewer's Guild
________________________________________________________________
The best thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
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1- Superior Stainless Steel, 5 -1/2 bbl.keg capacity, 3 tower beer refrigeration cabinet. With 3 single tap towers $1050.00. With 3 twin tap towers $1250.00
Cheers,
Wayne
OK, every now and then, one of us needs to filter some beer. It's not because of a defect or a time crunch but some beer just looks really cool if it is polished and clear. Sometimes, you read something over and over and continue to ignore it until...........you know who you are.
Last week-end, I started polishing a bunch of beer for a few upcoming events. This beer will be transported long distances and likely will be on it's side so having a bunch of stuff getting mixed up would not look pretty. Out came the old filter.
Filtering beer is much like counterpressure bottling. Anyone can do it. Few enjoy it. Most have a horror story associated with filtering. Operating a filter for a bunch of hours can be a learning experience so here are a few filtering tips.
1. Clean up the equipment. I had a few gallons of star San left in the brew kettle and just tossed the filter stuff in the liquid.
2. Pad flavor. Filter pads have a flavor that is not real good. I trust my water supply and flush out the sanitizer and filter flavor with filter tap water.
3. Taste the outlet. If the water you are using to flush the filter tastes off, what will the beer taste like? Keep flushing until the water tastes normal.
4. Cold beer please. Crash cool your beer to freezing. It promotes chill haze which you are trying to remove.
5. Sans gas. Filter non-carbonated beer. It is amazing how quickly it goes through the filters. Honest! During the filtering of 20 gallons with one set of pads, I only lost a pint.
6. Filter high and tank low. Move your filter assembly a few feet above the supply. Keep your receiving keg at ground level. This seems to reduce the filter pad leakage.
7. Low pressure. Start with the minimum pressure possible. Usually 5-7 psi does the trick. I only turned the pressure up one time when the supply keg was almost empty.
8. Filter on a damp day. Moisture provides an accurate "level-meter" by condensing moisture at liquid level.
9. Outlet to outlet. Obviously the outlet goes to the filter but use an outlet fitting to fill the receiving keg to prevent o2 pickup.
So there you have some filtering tips.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
On another subject (and hidden at the bottom of This message to see if anyone reads This far) please stop over This Friday for the August club meeting. Meeting starts around 5:ish and goes until about 10:ish. Small BBQ with chicken, corn on the cob and anything anyone else decides to bring along. Kitchen and BBQ available. If you mess it up, clean it up.
Jonathan and self will have the "low carb contest." We have both secretly been working on lo-carb lagers. Mine started at 1.042 and ended at 1.010. His started higher and ended lighter than water! You be the judge.
Other beers that may be available include:
Irish Red (a beer without a BJCP category)
IIPA (another beer that exceeds a BJCP category)
APA (standard boring American Pale Ale)
Wheat (Wheat)
Stout lite (don't ask - try)
What else? Great question. Help determine future club events. This is an area where I can use some help. Planning on meeting at Barley Johns in September, Hops in October but those are tentative plans only. Share your opinions and thoughts.
Still not enough you say? Well then on Saturday, you go to St.Paul to Curt Stocks house. Curt is having a very similar event one day later although Curt dedicated his entire basement to a brewery - I was only able to use a 10-13 room!
Take care brewers. Hope to see you This Friday.
Sincerely
Rick Oftel
MHBA
P.S. If you don't know where I live, give me a call or send me a e-message.
I've lived in Eden Prairie for the past 7 years with my wife and son who
now attends the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities.
I work for IBM out of a home office in Eden Prairie and know there are
several hundred other IBM employees who live and work in Eden Prairie as
part of the 2,000+ IBM employees in Minnesota.
I'm a member of the Minnesota Homebrewers Association and the American
Homebrewers Association and we are affiliated with the St. Paul
Homebrewers as well as with other clubs throughout the US.
I'm writing about the refusal of the city to issue an off-premise sales
permit to Hops in Eden Prairie. Our organization was instrumental in
getting the new state law passed and has received thanks from the
Governor's office for doing so. Now, we discover that the only brewpub in
the area is not allowed to sell growlers due to a city ordinance. Hops in
Maple Grove is selling growlers, as is Rock Bottom, Town Hall, Great
Waters and Vine Park.
I'd like to make the city aware of several things:
1 - The law requires that containers be sealed by the brewpub. This
sealing is the equivalent of buying closed cans and bottles from a store.
The state legislature was not fully aware of this until brought to their
attention and it helped allay their fears about too much open drinking.
2 - People who are interested in growlers are not the same people who
would buy a keg of Budweiser and cause safety issues. The growler sales
are for hand-crafted high-quality beers, not the supermarket,
mass-marketed beers.
3 - Eden Prairie is the only city in Minnesota which is not allowing their
brewpub(s) to sell growlers. The reasons we've heard indicate there may
be a legal conflict of interest. By owning the only stores in the city
that sell beer, the city is furthering their monopoly power by restricting
competition and punishing a local business.
4 - Eden Prairie will lose business. It may not be major, but it will
certainly stand out as a bad example to the rest of the state. Our club
has regular events, that will now, NOT be held in Eden Prairie. Others,
will take both restaurant business and liquor/beer business to other
establishments in neighboring cities and towns.
So, PLEASE consider changing the ordinance to allow off-premise sales of
growlers in Eden Prairie.
Thank you!
//Michael Behrendt
E-mail - Mike.Behrendt(a)us.ibm.com
Greetings,
I normally just bounce these, but wanted to preface this
one. Many of us know Roger D and the excellent beer
served in Chicago and at CBS events.
This is very high praise from a well traveled beer hunter!
Note that Town Hall Brew Guru Mike Hops is in England
right now, Pete and the assistant brewer were in Madison,
and they still had/have great beer on line at TH. (Kudos all around!)
We have great craft beer here in MN. Please do what you
can to support the MNCBG and keep the beer flowing.
Have you purchased your tix for the Autumn Brew Reveiw? It's
just 26 days away (9/6/03)!
Cheers,
Jim
----- Forwarded message from Roger Deschner <rogerd(a)UIC.EDU> -----
X-X-Sender: rogerd(a)tigger.cc.uic.edu
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 11:58:35 -0500
Reply-To: Roger Deschner <rogerd(a)UIC.EDU>
From: Roger Deschner <rogerd(a)UIC.EDU>
Subject: Trip Report: Minneapolis Town Hall
To: CBS-HB(a)LISTSERV.UIC.EDU
Precedence: list
My just-ended vacation took me to Minneapolis, where I stayed at the
Holiday Inn Metrodome, which happens to be next door to the Town Hall
Brewpub. I'd heard of this place before via the Minnesota homebrewers,
but this was my first taste of their beers.
Very impressive! A top-notch lineup of extremely well-made beers,
headlined by a perfect and perfectly drinkable hoppy IPA that was to die
for, and a fruit lambic that was perfectly balanced and extremely
pleasant. I've always said, "It's the beer in the glass, stupid," when
rating breweries. Town Hall in Minneapolis is a winner and has a new fan
- me.
If in the Twin Cities, this place is a must. Directly across I-35W from
the Metrodome stadium on Washington Ave - in the shadow of the high-rise
Holiday Inn. Gets a very young, collegate crowd from the nearby
University of Minnesota campus.
(The hotel bar itself had very fresh Summit Extra Pale Ale and Grand
Pils on tap, brewed just a couple of miles down the street in St. Paul,
so there was great local beer all around!)
Roger Deschner rogerd(a)uic.edu
=================== "Draft beer, not people!" - Anon ===================
----- End forwarded message -----
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
Just received this from Scott Neal , city manager of Eden Prairie. He says
the growler issue is still alive in Eden Prairie. Write him and encourage
the Eden Prairie City Council to approve this measure!
Here's email addresses, according to Mike Behrendt...
sneal(a)edenprairie.org - City Manager - Scott Neal
allcouncil(a)edenprairie.org - entire city council
duram(a)edenprairie.org - he's the Liquor Director - Don Uram
- Al
----- Forwarded by Allan V Boyce/MN/USB on 08/11/2003 12:29 PM -----
"Scott Neal"
<SNeal@edenprair To: allan.boyce(a)usbank.com
ie.org> cc:
Subject: RE: Growlers in Eden Prairie
08/11/2003 12:08
PM
Mr. Boyce,
The City Council in Eden Prairie has not adopted an ordinance that
prohibits growlers. The Council has also not adopted the necessary
ordinance to enable the sale of growlers either. The Council has not
discussed or decided this issue yet. The Council is scheduled to
discuss this issue on August 19th, which is their next regularly
scheduled meeting.
I can't comment on the reliability of your source, but I can attest that
the information above is true.
Concerning my comments about "from e-mail", I have received the exact
same e-mail request about growlers from at least four different people
over the weekend. The exact same language verbatim. People are welcome
to do this, of course, but it is not very sincere or convincing.
I am still curious though. What is St. Louis Park doing with this
issue? Do you know? We are gathering information about other
communities.
Thanks,
Scott H. Neal
Your Friendly City Manager
City of Eden Prairie
8080 Mitchell Road
Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55344
952.949.8300
sneal(a)edenprairie.org
-----Original Message-----
From: allan.boyce(a)usbank.com [mailto:allan.boyce@usbank.com]
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2003 12:00 PM
To: Scott Neal
Subject: RE: Growlers in Eden Prairie
Mr Neal-
I was informed by a resident of Eden Prairie, and a member of the
Minnesota
Home Brewers Association, that the City Council had already decided on
this
issue. He told me that he has had several conversations with staff at
the
Eden Prairie City Hall and the Eden Prairie police department, and that
there was a city ordinance passed preventing growler sales, for the
reasons
I mentioned in my email. He is generally a reliable sort, and I trusted
his research as true. A representative of the Minnesota Craft Brewers
Guild told me the same news. Are you telling me that there is no such
ordinance, and that you are merely waiting for a request from Hops to
consider growler sales before acting on it?
I mentioned my home city just to tell you I'm not an Eden Prairie voter,
and as such have no electoral method of voicing my displeasure regarding
the disposition of growler sales in Eden Prairie.
Will Holway, owner of Wind River Brewing, informed me that the Eden
Prairie
city council will discuss this matter on August 19, 2003. I urge you to
approve the sales of growlers in Eden Prairie.
Thank you for your reply. I look forward to further discussion and
potential resolution.
- Al Boyce
PS - Neither this, or my previous email, is a form letter, as you
implied
in your letter to Mr. Holway. If others with similar opinions to mine
chose to use portions of my original email to voice their concerns, I am
flattered, and I hope you will take it to mean that they desire the
sales
of growlers in Eden Prairie as well.
"Scott Neal"
<SNeal@edenprair To:
allan.boyce(a)usbank.com
ie.org> cc:
Subject: RE: Growlers in
Eden Prairie
08/11/2003 10:54
AM
Mr. Boyce,
Thank you for your input. What is your home city doing with this issue.
I am disappointed that you will no longer shop here. I believe you a
bit premature with your economic boycott of Eden Prairie. I don't
believe that we've had an official request from Hops yet to sell
growlers. It's probably coming, but we haven't slammed the door on this
yet.
Discussion can lead to compromise. Boycott prevents discussion and
resolution.
Scott H. Neal
Your Friendly City Manager
City of Eden Prairie
8080 Mitchell Road
Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55344
952.949.8300
sneal(a)edenprairie.org
-----Original Message-----
From: allan.boyce(a)usbank.com [mailto:allan.boyce@usbank.com]
Sent: Monday, August 11, 2003 10:19 AM
To: Scott Neal; GRP-AllCouncil; Don Uram
Cc: mba(a)thebarn.com
Subject: Growlers in Eden Prairie
Mr Neal-
I am a resident of St. Louis Park, MN, and I frequently shop, do
business
and dine in Eden Prairie. I am also a home brewer and a member of the
Minnesota Home Brewers Association, and I appreciate good beer,
specifically the fine brewpub beer at Hops restaurant in Eden Prairie.
I
was disappointed to learn that the city of Eden Prairie opted not to
allow
the sales of sealed, off-sale "growlers" of beer from brewpubs,
following
the passage of the state law that makes such sales possible. I'm sure
that
you have considered the pro's and con's of allowing such sales, just as
our
representatives in the state legislature did. I was informed that two
issues in particular concerned you:
1) That people would act irresponsibly with growlers
As I understand it, the growlers would be sealed at the point of sale
with
a shrink-wrap band. Breaking this shrink wrap while in a vehicle would,
of
course, violate open bottle laws, just as cracking a flip-top on a can
of
beer from a liquor store would. I don't believe that people who would
never think of breaking the tab on a can of beer would for some reason
break the shrink wrap on a growler. I don't believe this argument has
merit.
2) That selling growlers would cause competition for city-owned liquor
stores
This may or may not be the case, but I believe that it is a
conflict-of-interest for the city council to refuse to allow the sale of
growlers for this reason, and a disservice to your community. In any
case,
you currently have ONE brewpub that could profit from your allowing the
sale of growlers. It seems unlikely that the thousands of Bud, Miller,
Busch, etc fans who purchase cases of beer for their events are for some
reason going to switch to growlers instead.
You may think that since I am not a resident of Eden Prairie that my
opinion doesn't count. But the Twin Cities metropolitan area is a very
small place, and my dollars do count. For the time being, I will be
patronizing businesses in other cities that have passed ordinances
allowing
off-sale growlers, and I am encouraging my friends and members of my
Association to do the same. I hope that Eden Prairie will soon rethink
their position on this, and we can begin to enjoy fine Eden
Prairie-brewed
craft beers in the comfort of our homes.
Thanks for your consideration
Al Boyce
member, Minnesota Home Brewers Association
Here's an interesting response I got from a city council member whe I wrote
him regarding the growler issue:
Here is my email:
Dear Eden Prairie City Council Members,
As a person who works in Eden Prairie, I would like you to take a moment to
consider a change in your city policy and/or laws in order to allow your
local brewpub, "Hops", to sell beer in small off-sale containers commonly
known as "Growlers"
As a patron of Hops, and a part-time worker at another Eden Prairie
business, I would certainly enjoy purchasing the occasional growler to take
home with me. From my experience, brewpub patrons are very particular about
their beer and they enjoy the fresh products available at places like Hops.
I understand that your city has a monopoly on off-site liquor sales. I am
sure that neither the volume nor the type of beer sold at Hops will
negatively effect your city's beer sales; most of the growler sales will be
to restaurant patrons who would like a little to take home.
I am sure, however, that allowing growler sales will provide a great benefit
for Hops' business and for the plans of any future brewpub that would
consider making Eden Prairie its home. Certainly these abilities to
continue to bring people into Eden Prairie to work and spend their money are
important to the city.
Once again, as City Council Members, please support any necessary changes to
your city's ordinances or policies that would allow "Growler" sales.
Here is the Response:
From: "Philip Young" <PYoung(a)edenprairie.org>
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2003 14:53:58 -0500
To: "Ric Heins" <ric(a)richeins.com>
Subject: RE: Beer "growler" sales and Eden Prairie Regulations
Dear Mr. Heins: I may be the only councilperson who agrees with you. I do
not favor our liquor monopoly and I think that the City should permit Hops
to sell "growlers." I do not know if the Eden Prairie News is aware of the
state enabling legislation which allows the sale of "growlers," but I think
it would be worth your while to see if our local paper is interested in this
story. I intend bringing it up at the next Council meeting.
Phil Young
I modified parts of Al's email and sent it to the Eden
Prairie City council. This is the response I reveived.
Hopefully when they take the issue up they will decide
in favor of it.
--- Scott Neal <SNeal(a)edenprairie.org> wrote:
> Subject: RE: Growler Initiative
> Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 10:58:46 -0500
> From: "Scott Neal" <SNeal(a)edenprairie.org>
> To: "Will Holway" <brew987(a)yahoo.com>
>
> I am receiving this same form e-mail from other
> interested parties. The
> legislation adopted by the State Legislature earlier
> this year requires
> the City Council to take a local action to enable
> the sale of growlers.
> Thus far, the City Council hasn't taken the issue
> up, so we haven't
> decided this issue either way, yet.
>
> The City Council will take up the issue for
> conversation on August 19,
> 2003.
>
>
>
> Scott H. Neal
> Your Friendly City Manager
> City of Eden Prairie
> 8080 Mitchell Road
> Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55344
> 952.949.8300
> sneal(a)edenprairie.org
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Will Holway [mailto:brew987@yahoo.com]
> Sent: Monday, August 11, 2003 10:42 AM
> To: Scott Neal; GRP-AllCouncil; Don Uram
> Subject: Growler Initiative
>
> Mr Neal-
>
> I am one of the proprietors of a small business
> located in Eden Prairie, WindRiver Brewing, a
> homebrew
> supply store. I am also a member of the
> Minnesota Home Brewers Association, and I appreciate
> good beer,
> specifically the fine brewpub beer at Hops
> restaurant
> in Eden Prairie.
> I
> was disappointed to learn that the city of Eden
> Prairie opted not to
> allow
> the sales of sealed, off-sale "growlers" of beer
> from
> brewpubs,
> following
> the passage of the state law that makes such sales
> possible. I'm sure
> that
> you have considered the pro's and con's of allowing
> such sales, just as
> our
> representatives in the state legislature did. I was
> informed that two
> issues in particular concerned you:
>
> 1) That people would act irresponsibly with growlers
>
> As I understand it, the growlers would be sealed at
> the point of sale
> with
> a shrink-wrap band. Breaking this shrink wrap while
> in a vehicle
> would, of
> course, violate open bottle laws, just as cracking a
> flip-top on a can
> of
> beer from a liquor store would. I don't believe
> that
> people who would
> never think of breaking the tab on a can of beer
> would
> for some reason
> break the shrink wrap on a growler. I don't believe
> this argument has
> merit.
>
> 2) That selling growlers would cause competition for
> city-owned liquor
> stores
>
> This may or may not be the case, but I believe that
> it
> is a
> conflict-of-interest for the city council to refuse
> to
> allow the sale
> of
> growlers for this reason, and a disservice to your
> community. In any
> case,
> you currently have ONE brewpub that could profit
> from
> your allowing the
> sale of growlers. It seems unlikely that the
> thousands of Bud, Miller,
> Busch, etc fans who purchase cases of beer for their
> events are for
> some
> reason going to switch to growlers instead.
>
> As a member of the Eden Prairie business community,
> I
> believe that it is good public policy to encourage
> new
> ways of generating revenue. Growlers may not be a
> signifcant revenue stream at the moment, but is a
> good
> way to introduce others to the quality product
> available at Hops. This, in turn, generates word of
> mouth referrals, and, in turn, will bring more
> people
> to Eden Prairie to come to Hops. Once in Eden
> Prairie
> thay may decide to shop at the Mall, see a movie
> etc.
>
> I sincerely hope the city council will reconsider
> allowing growlers to be distributed within Eden
> Prairie, as other cities in Minnesota such as
> Duluth,
> Saint Cloud, Minneapolis, Mankato and Saint Paul
> have
> already done.
>
> Thanks for your consideration
>
> Will Howay
> owner, WindRiver Brewing Inc
>
>
> __________________________________
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> design software
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>
__________________________________
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Mr Neal-
I am a resident of St. Louis Park, MN, and I frequently shop, do business
and dine in Eden Prairie. I am also a home brewer and a member of the
Minnesota Home Brewers Association, and I appreciate good beer,
specifically the fine brewpub beer at Hops restaurant in Eden Prairie. I
was disappointed to learn that the city of Eden Prairie opted not to allow
the sales of sealed, off-sale "growlers" of beer from brewpubs, following
the passage of the state law that makes such sales possible. I'm sure that
you have considered the pro's and con's of allowing such sales, just as our
representatives in the state legislature did. I was informed that two
issues in particular concerned you:
1) That people would act irresponsibly with growlers
As I understand it, the growlers would be sealed at the point of sale with
a shrink-wrap band. Breaking this shrink wrap while in a vehicle would, of
course, violate open bottle laws, just as cracking a flip-top on a can of
beer from a liquor store would. I don't believe that people who would
never think of breaking the tab on a can of beer would for some reason
break the shrink wrap on a growler. I don't believe this argument has
merit.
2) That selling growlers would cause competition for city-owned liquor
stores
This may or may not be the case, but I believe that it is a
conflict-of-interest for the city council to refuse to allow the sale of
growlers for this reason, and a disservice to your community. In any case,
you currently have ONE brewpub that could profit from your allowing the
sale of growlers. It seems unlikely that the thousands of Bud, Miller,
Busch, etc fans who purchase cases of beer for their events are for some
reason going to switch to growlers instead.
You may think that since I am not a resident of Eden Prairie that my
opinion doesn't count. But the Twin Cities metropolitan area is a very
small place, and my dollars do count. For the time being, I will be
patronizing businesses in other cities that have passed ordinances allowing
off-sale growlers, and I am encouraging my friends and members of my
Association to do the same. I hope that Eden Prairie will soon rethink
their position on this, and we can begin to enjoy fine Eden Prairie-brewed
craft beers in the comfort of our homes.
Thanks for your consideration
Al Boyce
member, Minnesota Home Brewers Association
My brother just gave me 7 bags full of clean quart bottles. I didn't
look closely at them but they are both green and brown. If anyone wants
them, call me: 952-591-9504. Otherwise they are going into the recycling.
rick
