This looks like a fun event, and a great charity!
Please contact Mary at the phone number below if you'd like to attend, or if
you'd like to donate some beer to the event.
- Al
=======================================
P.I.N.T.S.
(People In Need Tsunami Survivors)
Craft Brew Tasting
A Celebration of Giving
$25 Suggested Donation
100% of your gift donated to Tsunami Relief
Sunday, April 10, 2005
12:00-4:00 p.m.
Music by Dan Israel, Joanna James & Apryl Electra
Lee's Liquor Lounge
101 Glenwood Avenue, Minneapolis
Private Event: Please RSVP to Pre-Register and be added to the Guest List
100-guest capacity. Pre-registered guests received free P.I.N.T.S. tasting
glass
Mary 763.772.3545 Pete 612.220.6957
Attendees to this event accept and acknowledge that he/she is attending a
private charitable
event with no financial obligation on their part and that handcrafted food
and beverages will be
served. Attendees assume all risks incidental to consumption and the event
itself and voluntarily
agree that organizers of the event and owners of the property are expressly
released from any
and all claims arising from the event.
-----Original Message-----
From: Peter Mack [mailto:peterjmack@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, March 11, 2005 7:52 PM
To: Al Boyce
Subject: PINTS
Hey Al!
Feel free to send this on to the MNHB mailing list.
Let me know if you plan to contribute any crafty brew!
Pete
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
-- Binary/unsupported file stripped by Ecartis --
-- Type: application/pdf
-- File: PINTS.pdf
Brewers, Friends, and Countrymen. The time has come to gather your kettles.
You know what they say about advertising. Too much is just not enough.
This is just another wild idea looking for the opportunity to sprout. And
just when you never thought it could get any better!!
The Big Brew Day is on May 7th and it's going to be interesting. We are
tentatively going to brew at least three batches and more if necessary or
practical. You can do the math if you like but please don't anticipate Brew
Cam.
The most interesting thing about this event is I have never seen a big brew
except in magazines. It appears that a bunch of folks gather at a location
and burn a bunch of propane and turn plain water into bitter wort. Such an
idea.
If all goes well, all kettles should be at full boil at high noon. Water
will start being heated fairly early and so far, we have found capacity to
heat about 35 gallons.
The BBQ is ready and waiting. Just bring your favorite dish and have at it.
Possibly something to share if you are so inclined.
Now the questions start. I wonder how many folks will show up? Especially
on the day of the pub crawl and a bunch of other beer events.
Anyhow, just wanted to add to the invite and let you know I really mean
business. Let me know if you can make it. Also let me know if you will be
needing water, spigots, hoses, shade, or a million dollars. You are reading
aren't you?
That's all for now. Drop me a message if you will be attending. Let me
know what you will need and if you are going to be brewing.
Until May 7 - may your kettles point to the sky cause you're not fond of wet
feet.
Rick O
Rumor has it that famous local homebrewer Rick Oftel will be there at the
club meeting to host, promote the AHA Big Brew event (May 7th) at his house
and sign autographs.
Cheers!
-----Original Message-----
From: mba-bounce(a)thebarn.com [mailto:mba-bounce@thebarn.com] On Behalf Of Al
Boyce
Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2005 8:13 AM
To: mba(a)thebarn.com; mnbrewers(a)yahoogroups.com
Subject: MhBA Meeting Saturday 2pm - Rock Bottom!
You are invited to a meeting of the Minnesota Home Brewers Association on
Saturday, April 2 at 2pm at Rock Bottom in Minneapolis, on 7th & Hennepin.
Bring your homebrew to sample, bring your questions, and bring your thirst!
Style of the Month is American Stout, so bring some along if you've got it.
Also, the April 2005 issue of the club newsletter, The Boiler, is now
available on the club's website:
http://www.mnbrewers.com/newsletters/2005_04.pdf .
This issue will not be mailed, it is only available electronically, so read
it there or download it and print it.
- Al
You are invited to a meeting of the Minnesota Home Brewers Association on
Saturday, April 2 at 2pm at Rock Bottom in Minneapolis, on 7th & Hennepin.
Bring your homebrew to sample, bring your questions, and bring your thirst!
Style of the Month is American Stout, so bring some along if you've got it.
Also, the April 2005 issue of the club newsletter, The Boiler, is now
available on the club's website:
http://www.mnbrewers.com/newsletters/2005_04.pdf .
This issue will not be mailed, it is only available electronically, so read
it there or download it and print it.
- Al
Don't forget the pre-AHA Competition Beer Critique at Gera's Thursday night
at 7pm!
- Al
_____
From: Al Boyce [mailto:alboyce@bigfoot.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2005 8:21 AM
Subject: [mnbrewers] RE: Beer Critique
I would like to challenge ALL brewers in the MhBA to enter at least ONE beer
in the AHA Nationals this year! Why? Top 10:
1) You might WIN!
2) The scoresheet may have comments to help you become a better brewer.
3) If you've never entered AHA Nationals before, you could enter in the
"NEW BREWER" Category.
4) No shipping! Just drive over to Northern Brewer and drop it off.
5) Support your club! Winning entries will help make MhBA CLUB OF THE
YEAR! (We're in FIRST right now!!)
6) Support your State! Let's show 'em how many good brewers are in
Minnesota!
7) Support your region! Let's make our region the one with the most
entries in the AHA!
8) It's a beer event! Do you need any other excuses?
9) Since you've entered, you may as well judge or steward on 4/29-30.
It's FUN!
10) THE CONTEST IS RIGHT HERE IN ST.PAUL! Let's show 'em TC brewclubs know
how to throw a Party!
And sure, the RECIPE said it was an American Pale Ale, but maybe it would
WIN as an IPA. Come to Gera's house (with your beers) and we'll pass them
around and discuss which category would be the best in which to enter them.
See you next Thursday!
- Al
PS - here's info about how to enter:
For general information about the AHA National Homebrew
Competition: http://www.beertown.org/events/nhc/
For specific information about first round judging in St.Paul April 29-30,
go to: http://www.mnbrewers.com/events/nhc/
-----Original Message-----
From: Gera Exire La Tour [mailto:gera_latour@hotmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2005 7:19 AM
Subject: Beer Critique
It is very cool that we get to host the first round of AHA Nationals.
Do you have a beer you want to enter, but as a newer brewer not sure what
category to enter it as? (Would it be better entered as a robust porter or
a brown porter?) Want some feedback before you spend $8/$12 an entry?
Please come to my house for a beer critique/suggestion session before you
drop your entries off in April.
When: Thursday, March 31st at 7 pm
Where: Gera Exire LaTour's House
3757 Dupont Avenue N., Minneapolis
(612) 381-2104
(Take 94W to the Dowling exit. Take a left on Dowling and go 6 block to
Dupont Ave and take a left. My white with turquoise trim house is on the
corner on the right side of the street. Be careful on the stairs.)
Please bring a bottle or two of the beer(s) you would like input on and a
copy of the BJCP guidelines, if you have one. See you there.
<http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=1292ktcpn/M=298184.6191685.7192823.3001176/D=gr
oups/S=1705041802:HM/EXP=1111760360/A=2593423/R=0/SIG=11el9gslf/*http://www.
netflix.com/Default?mqso=60190075>
<http://us.adserver.yahoo.com/l?M=298184.6191685.7192823.3001176/D=groups/S=
:HM/A=2593423/rand=666712092>
Jim,
I've also found the Belgian-style Farmhouse Ale (like Hennepin or
Saison Dupont) to work very well with white fish and Asian food. In
general, you can interchange Boho Pils for Farmhouse Ale when pairing
with food.
Contrary to the notion of pairing Pils with Sausages, I usually choose
a Hefe Weizen, and a Dunkel one at that for most sausages, though
weisswurst calls out for a traditional Hefe Weizen (not to mention
those heavenly French Apple Brats at Kramarczuk...)
Andrew
--- "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> wrote:
>
> Companion article, recipe.
>
> March 30, 2005
> PAIRINGS
> A Sharp and Salty Asian Dish to Partner With Beer
> By FLORENCE FABRICANT
>
> AT their cleanest and freshest, the pilsners from the United States,
> the Czech Republic and Germany exhibited a panoply of aromas and
> tastes, but none that would obliterate sharply flavored food. Some
> choices, like sausages and sauerkraut, are obvious.
>
> But another possible category with pilsners is Asian food. Spicy,
> salty, sweet-and-sour dishes from that part of the world are naturals
> with the alluringly bitter, sometimes floral pilsner-style beers or
> lagers. Even the carbonation serves a purpose, cleansing the palate
> for complex seasonings.
>
> The dish here, which I paired with an assortment of the better
> pilsners in the tasting, is the kind that, with a little experience,
> many good cooks could assemble from scratch, without consulting a
> recipe. The aromatic triumvirate of garlic, ginger and scallions is
> matched with soy sauce, rice vinegar and fish sauce. Shiitake
> mushrooms give substance and flavor, cornstarch thickens and sesame
> oil adds a whiff of toasty richness.
>
> Though I spooned the sauce over simply poached fish, it would work
> just as well with grilled, pan-seared or broiled fish, or on
> stir-fried strips of chicken breast, slivers of pork or beef, shrimp
> or scallops. Steamed rice could help sop up the sauce, but I served
> boiled fingerling potatoes.
>
> Potatoes with Asian food? Don't scoff. Chinese restaurants here do
> not serve them, but potatoes are a major crop in China, where they
> are eaten with gusto, especially in the center and north. Besides,
> potatoes are certainly favored in the countries that produce the best
> pilsners.
>
> Fish with Shiitakes
>
> Time: 40 minutes
>
> 2 cups chicken stock
> 1 1/3 pounds sea bass or gray sole fillets
> 2 tablespoons peanut oil
> 2 cloves garlic, minced
> 1 tablespoon minced ginger
> � cup chopped scallions
> 7 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
> 1 tablespoon soy sauce
> 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
> 1 teaspoon Vietnamese fish sauce
> 1 tablespoon cornstarch
> 2 teaspoons sesame oil
> 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro.
>
> 1. Heat oven to 175 degrees. Place chicken stock in a wok or skillet,
> and bring to a simmer. Cut fish into pieces about 3 inches square,
> place in stock, and simmer until just cooked, about 5 minutes. Use
> spatula to transfer to heatproof platter, cover loosely with foil,
> and place in oven. Drain and strain stock, and reserve. Wipe out pan.
>
> 2. Heat peanut oil in pan. Add garlic, ginger and scallions. Saut�
> briefly, and add mushrooms. Saut� until wilted. Add soy sauce,
> vinegar and fish sauce. Cook 30 seconds, then add reserved stock.
> Bring to a simmer. Dissolve cornstarch in 2 tablespoons cold water,
> and add, stirring. Simmer until sauce has thickened. Add sesame oil.
>
> 3. Transfer fish to serving dish, spoon mushroom sauce over, scatter
> with cilantro, and serve.
>
> Yield: 4 servings.
>
>
> Cheers,
> Jim
>
> --
> ------------------------------ *
> * 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
> *
>
>
>
Companion article, recipe.
March 30, 2005
PAIRINGS
A Sharp and Salty Asian Dish to Partner With Beer
By FLORENCE FABRICANT
AT their cleanest and freshest, the pilsners from the United States, the Czech Republic and Germany exhibited a panoply of aromas and tastes, but none that would obliterate sharply flavored food. Some choices, like sausages and sauerkraut, are obvious.
But another possible category with pilsners is Asian food. Spicy, salty, sweet-and-sour dishes from that part of the world are naturals with the alluringly bitter, sometimes floral pilsner-style beers or lagers. Even the carbonation serves a purpose, cleansing the palate for complex seasonings.
The dish here, which I paired with an assortment of the better pilsners in the tasting, is the kind that, with a little experience, many good cooks could assemble from scratch, without consulting a recipe. The aromatic triumvirate of garlic, ginger and scallions is matched with soy sauce, rice vinegar and fish sauce. Shiitake mushrooms give substance and flavor, cornstarch thickens and sesame oil adds a whiff of toasty richness.
Though I spooned the sauce over simply poached fish, it would work just as well with grilled, pan-seared or broiled fish, or on stir-fried strips of chicken breast, slivers of pork or beef, shrimp or scallops. Steamed rice could help sop up the sauce, but I served boiled fingerling potatoes.
Potatoes with Asian food? Don't scoff. Chinese restaurants here do not serve them, but potatoes are a major crop in China, where they are eaten with gusto, especially in the center and north. Besides, potatoes are certainly favored in the countries that produce the best pilsners.
Fish with Shiitakes
Time: 40 minutes
2 cups chicken stock
1 1/3 pounds sea bass or gray sole fillets
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
� cup chopped scallions
7 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon Vietnamese fish sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro.
1. Heat oven to 175 degrees. Place chicken stock in a wok or skillet, and bring to a simmer. Cut fish into pieces about 3 inches square, place in stock, and simmer until just cooked, about 5 minutes. Use spatula to transfer to heatproof platter, cover loosely with foil, and place in oven. Drain and strain stock, and reserve. Wipe out pan.
2. Heat peanut oil in pan. Add garlic, ginger and scallions. Saut� briefly, and add mushrooms. Saut� until wilted. Add soy sauce, vinegar and fish sauce. Cook 30 seconds, then add reserved stock. Bring to a simmer. Dissolve cornstarch in 2 tablespoons cold water, and add, stirring. Simmer until sauce has thickened. Add sesame oil.
3. Transfer fish to serving dish, spoon mushroom sauce over, scatter with cilantro, and serve.
Yield: 4 servings.
Cheers,
Jim
--
------------------------------ *
* 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 *
March 30, 2005
BEERS OF THE TIMES
Finding Gold in a Glass of Pilsner
By ERIC ASIMOV
FROM a strictly technical point of view, Budweiser beer is a colossal brewing achievement. It takes great skill for Budweiser to be able to make millions of barrels of pilsner each year and for it always to taste the same, no matter where you buy it. But from the beer-lover's perspective, Budweiser is good by the icy gulp on a summer afternoon when you require a cold sensation, but so flavorless and bland that, when your taste buds wake up, they might despair of the pilsner category altogether.
Pilsners should be refreshing and invigorating all the time, whether you've just played nine innings in the sun or are simply watching the game. Few other beers are as crisp and nervy as a good pilsner. It should snap your mouth to attention with a clean, bracing bitterness, delicate floral aromas and perhaps a suggestion of sweetness.
Unlike ales, which can be complex and even profound, pilsners make a virtue of their simplicity, offering instead an uncluttered purity and liveliness.
Pilsners are a subset of lagers, which along with ales are the two main groups of beers. Ale is the older style, dating back to ancient Mesopotamia. Lager beers were not developed until the 15th century or so. Back then, before refrigeration, beer could only be brewed in the cold weather. In order to have beer in the summer, Bavarian brewers began making and storing beer in frigid alpine caves.
Unlike the ales, which were ready to drink shortly after brewing, these cold-brewed beers fermented more slowly and needed time to mature before they were ready to drink. They came to be called lagers, after the German word for storage. It wasn't until much later, in the 19th century, that scientists discovered the role of yeasts in fermentation and that ales and lagers were the products of different strains of yeast. The yeasts in ale floated to the top of the brew, where brewers scooped them out to begin their next batch. In lagers the yeasts sank to the bottom.
These Bavarian lagers were mostly dark, but in 1842, in the town of Pilsen in Czech Bohemia, a new golden lager was introduced. The beer caused a sensation, especially since it was only recently that clear glass vessels had become generally available and people could actually see the color of what they were drinking. The golden lager was soon widely imitated. Called pilsner or sometimes pilsener or pils, it eventually became the most popular style of beer in the world.
When the Dining section's tasting panel decided to sample a selection of pilsners, we stayed away from the mass-market brands, which have as much relation to real pilsner as sliced American cheese has to a good English cheddar. Instead we sought out pilsners from the home territory of the Czech Republic and Germany, as well as from American craft brewers who are scrupulous about their beers. In all we tried 25 beers, including 11 from Germany, 8 from the Czech Republic and 4 from the United States, as well as 1 from Poland and 1 from Thailand.
Thailand? Singha beer, ubiquitous in Thai restaurants, is made in the pilsner style, though our bottle lacked any sort of personality. Many popular Asian beers, like Kirin, Tsingtao and Kingfisher, are pilsners, though they tend more toward the bland side, exhibiting less bitterness and character than true pilsners. Brewers of many of these beers, as well as of mass-market American pilsner-style beers, supplement malted barley with adjuncts like corn or rice. The best pilsners only use malted barley.
For the tasting Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Lew Bryson, a beer and travel writer, and Phil Markowski, brewmaster at the Southampton Publick House, a restaurant and brewery in Southampton, N.Y.
We were all struck by how vibrant and alive the American brews tasted in comparison to some of the European beers. The Americans easily took the top three spots on our list of 10 recommended beers.
Our top beer, the Prima Pils from the Victory Brewing Company, sounded a clear chord with its vivacity and assertive bitterness. The Stoudt Pils, our No. 2 beer, was a bit subtler but still highly expressive of the Bohemian pilsner style, while our No. 3, from the Great Lakes Brewing Company, was much fuller-bodied than the first two, fitting for a beer emulating the German Dortmunder export style.
Mr. Bryson, as much as he liked the Great Lakes beer, said it was quite a bit bigger than a Dortmunder beer would ever be.
"A German would throw his kids in the river if he brewed a beer like that," Mr. Bryson said.
It's a pity that we could not find many American craft beers made in the pilsner style. It may be that American beer fans (including most craft brewers) were weaned on the pallid mass-market beers and hence gravitated toward more full-flavored styles. Or it might be the difficulty of making good pilsner.
"It is a beer of great finesse," wrote Garrett Oliver in his book "The Brewmaster's Table" (Harpercollins, 2003). "Brewers sometimes refer to pilsner, with some trepidation as 'naked,' meaning that there's nowhere for imperfect flavors to hide."
Unfortunately for some of the imports, lack of freshness was a real problem. Beers that I have loved in the past, like the brisk, bitter Jever from northern Germany, seemed stale and dead. It was paradoxical, to say the least, since an attraction of the early lagers was how stable they were in comparison to ales of the day.
"They made me remember why I stopped drinking bottled imported beer," Mr. Bryson said. Unless you have a trusted retailer who keeps beer refrigerated, imported beers may best be enjoyed on tap, with the additional proviso - they never end! - that the bar carefully tends to its draft apparatus.
Nonetheless some of the imports were exceptional, like the W�rzburger Hofbr�u from Germany, exactly what I'd want at a ballgame or after mowing a lawn. The Radeberger, too, had plenty of character.
The Czech beers did less well than the Germans, which Mr. Markowski suggested was because they were less familiar and therefore sat on shelves longer, losing freshness. The two that made our list were the most familiar Czech names. Pilsner Urquell is the original pilsner, still brewed in Pilsen, and if our bottle was not as lively as we would have preferred, it still showed its pedigree.
Our other Czech beer, Czechvar, also has a proud heritage. It comes from the town of Budweis, and in Europe it is called Budweiser Budvar. In this country it is not permitted to use the name Budweiser, as Anheuser-Busch has prior claim to it, or even Budvar. So it is called Czechvar instead. No matter. Its malty, lingering flavor could teach our Budweiser a thing or two.
Tasting Report: Fresh, Lively Flavors With a Welcome Bitterness
Victory Prima Pils, Downingtown, Pa.
$1.40, 12 ounces
*** 1/2
Alive in the mouth, with citrus aromas and a fine bitterness.
Stoudt Pils, Adamstown, Pa.
$1.40, 12 ounces
***
Lively and refreshing with brisk, subtle flavors.
Great Lakes Brewing Dortmunder Gold, Cleveland
$1.30, 12 ounces
***
Full-bodied, with fresh fruit and floral aromas and a lively bitterness.
W�rzburger Hofbr�u, Pilsner, Germany
$1.40, 11.2 ounces
***
Crisp, bracing and balanced, bitter and malty. Importer: St. Killian Importing, Kingston, Mass.)
Radeberger Pilsner, Germany
$1.40, 12 ounces
** 1/2
Malty and bitter, with a fresh, lively character. (Binding Brauerei, Norwalk, Conn.)
EKU Pils, Germany
$1.80, 11.2 ounces
** 1/2
Lean yet substantial; assertively bitter. (Shelton Brothers, Belchertown, Mass.)
Dinkel Acker CD, Pils, Germany
$1.40, 12 ounces
** 1/2
Citrus aroma and a soft malt character. (Spaten, Little Neck, N.Y.)
Pilsner Urquell, Czech Republic
$1.50, 12 ounces
**
Spicy bitterness but also an unexpected sweetness. (Pilsner Urquell, Washington, D.C.)
Pinkus Organic Ur, Pils, Germany
$3.25, 25 ounces
**
Hazy, unfiltered appearance; lingering bitter aftertaste. (Merchant du Vin, Tukwila, Wash.)
Czechvar Lager, Czech Republic
$1.40, 12 ounces
**
Apple aromas, soft lingering flavor. (Distinguished Brands International, Littleton, Colo.)
--
------------------------------ *
* 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 *
OOPS! Sorry for the late reminder!
TONITE is the night MhBA is picking it's SOUR BEER champion to go to the
AHA National Club-only competition. We will be doing it at BJCP Class, at
John Longballa's house. Bring your sour beers by 7pm, and we'll pick which
one goes on!
Category 17
17A. Berliner Weisse
17B. Flanders Red Ale
17C. Flanders Brown Ale/Oud Bruin
17D. Straight (Unblended) Lambic
17E. Gueuze
17F. Fruit Lambic
http://www.bjcp.org/styles04/Category17.html
John Longballa
1211 Minnehaha Avenue W.
St. Paul, MN 55104
651-292-9693
>From 94
North on Lexington
West on Minnehaha
1-1/2 blocks, on the left.
See you there!
- Al
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