| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| EHG_WHN_2002_09.pdf | 209.96 KB |
Hi everybody. Isn't is strange, twice before I let you know that what I wrote then was the last newsletter under my editorship - I must be a notorious liar. The fact is, it's time for another newsletter and a new editor has not been elected yet, and that makes me the one that's left. So, bear with me.
We've had the greatest ABC/MOCOMB yet, only a few months ago with 216 entries from Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C., Quebec and Texas, an all-time record. Our club members did great, both as competitors and also as hosts and judges. Congratulations, Harry, for best of show with his American Pale Ale, Roxy for Brewer of the Year (it surely would also be the decade, the century and probably the millennium) and all the others who placed and qualified for MCAB IV. In the picture Veryl Todd from Lethbridge receives a gold medal for his Fruit/Spiced beer entry.
Summer has been a time for everyone to relax, brew, enjoy the fruits of their labour and get ready for yet another season. It appears to me that the coming year has the potential to catapult our club to new and lofty heights. I have received two letters from Roxy, which should get you all excited. For one, I am looking forward to the revival of theme night. I remember, when I joined the club, that was the one thing I was looking forward to most for each of our meetings. The second initiative is that we will have another training course for the BJCP exam, and the date of the exam has already been set for Saturday 22 Feb 2003. This is one great opportunity for everyone to significantly improve their beer education and skills which will ultimately lead to you becoming a better brewer and helping others become better brewers. And it is fun!!!
I am sure by now that after the early summer hot weather, everybody's supply of gold medal winning beer has dwindled and they have had to stoop to drinking their lowly bronze medal swill. Or, if you are like me, you have had to suck it up and drink your beer that didn't even place. As we are moving into another season of brewing quality beer I would like to look back and thank everybody for supporting the 2002 Aurora Brewing Challenge. It turned out to be one of our best competitions ever thanks in no small part to all of the people who worked during the event, all of the entrants of course and all of our supporters including our venue Alley Kat Brewing. Speaking of supporters, we have one gift certificate left over from the generous donations of Harvest Brewing and Cap 'n' Cork Brewing Supplies. I will raffle that off at the upcoming meeting along with a few beer posters I picked up in Newfoundland this summer (that is a story in itself). See you in September.
Brewers, I think we should all give the past years executive a big round of applause for a job well done in taking the EHG through another great year. Although I know that all the executive had a special role to play, I think we should especially thank Kevin Zaychuk and Neil Herbst for organizing and directing our annual ABC/MCAB brewing competition. In case you haven't heard, this was the biggest competition ever held in Canada, with some 215 entries. Thanks to the hard work of Kevin and Neil, and other executive members and volunteers over the last few years, our ABC competition has steadily grown to truly become Canada's National Competition - far surpassing all other CABA sponsored events.
The only other competition of similar caliber is being hosted by sister Prairie club, the Regina ALES, who are coming on strong and mounting a significant challenge to our status as the number one brew club in Canada. Regina's regional competition is the second biggest competition in Canada, and considering that they are not yet a CABA sponsored event, that is no mean feat on their part. Regina deserves great accolades for their brewing abilities and great club spirit. They gave us a significant shellacking at the GCHC and did very well at our ABC. I for one hope that they get their CABA sponsorship and I hope the Guild supports their
endeavors to do so. It's great to see that, despite our national organization being centered in Toronto, the true heartland of home brewing is in western Canada. I see a great future in our two clubs supporting each other to promote home brewing at the national level. We're both great clubs.
That being said, now is not the time for the Guild to be resting on its laurels. Although were a great club we can be better. It concerns me that our membership has not grown in the last few years, and except for a small year end blip we have but very few new members. This is especially worrisome because Regina's club is growing like stink. How come they are growing and we're not? Given the close parallels between the clubs this makes little sense to me. Actually one thing does make sense. Recently Regina has devoted itself to doing well at national and international competitions. They compete fiercely at all levels and the club supports their competitive brewers, both through subsidizing their entries and through regular tasting sessions. Victory brings enthusiasm and enthusiasm brings in members. We used to do those things, and in fact much of our present success is built on a foundation of those very practices - practices which Regina has so successfully adopted. So it came as no surprise to me that all of Regina's entries came to us as one big shipment. The club sponsored its members to compete - that's spirit - that's what a successful club does.
So let's get it together boys and do what we used to do. And let's do it well. Let's compete with the world again! And I'm not just talking about more support for the 3-4 people who regularly compete successfully at the national level. I'm talking about support for all of our brewers. In the last few years I've never tasted better quality beer than I have at an EHG meeting. There are all sorts of national caliber brewers in our club, but yet few of you seem to have the confidence to step onto the national stage. Let's change that. Starting now - at this September meeting.
At this AGM I plan to introduce a four part plan to kick us into the next level. Here it is in outline, you'll have to come to the AGM to hear the details.
If you plan to take this exam I urge you to attend the September meeting and sign up for it then. You can sign up later, but we are going to start teaching in September.
My proposal is that we build our style nights around the bi-monthly AHA club competitions and then fill in the gaps for the other months. You will bring 3-4 beers to the monthly competition. A panel of 1 BJCP judge and 2 candidate judges will formally evaluate the beers and then lead the club through a tasting session. The beer chosen first by the judges will go on to compete in the AHA event (costs covered by the Guild, you will need 3 more bottles for this round). Members will also vote on what they thought was the best beer. The brewer with the most member-voted points at the end of the year will get an award at our annual banquet. At the end of a tasting session brewers will be given floor time to talk about their beers and reflect on the judges comments, giving everyone instant feedback. Commercial beers may be introduced as ringers to help fill out the field and to compare and contrast with homebrew interpretations.
Here's the styles list that Neil and I have come up with. AHA means AHA sponsored style.
October - Fruit and Vegetable - AHA + other specialty (non-AHA)
November - Stout/Porter
December - Bitter/English Pale Ale - AHA
January - Belgian Ales
February - Brown Ales - AHA
March - Euro Lagers - Pale, Amber and Dark
April - English and Scottish Strong Ales - AHA
May - American Pale Ales
Sign up sheets will be available starting in September. We encourage all levels of brewers to host a session, you don't have to be an all-grainer to show other members how you brew.
Let's put an end to the ridiculous situation. If you've got a great beer you should be able to enter it in national level competitions. Neil and I propose that the Guild cover the shipping costs of members sending beers to a select number of national and international events. I say we at least cover the cost equivalent of sending a six pack - that way beer hogs like myself are not unduly supported by the Guild and anything over 6 beers is really not that much more expensive to ship any ways. While the major competitors in our club would receive some support (and any winning team rewards its best) the aim of this proposal is to make national level competitions available to the new or small entry number competitor (winning teams also support developing talents). Believe me, once you start winning at the national level you're pretty much hooked. Once a lot of club members start winning, membership pretty much takes care of itself. Moral goes through the roof. We've been on this path before - I know it works.
The competitions I would choose are all the other CABA events: March in Montreal, Great Canadian Homebrew Competition and All About Ales. I would also strongly suggest two others: the ALES competition in Regina and the Foam Rangers in Texas. Regina deserves our support. Like us they've worked hard to build their event, they always send us a huge whack of beers and they are our sister club in western Canada. Similarly, the Foam Rangers are our biggest supporters in the USA, helping give our competition international status. I have received word from CABA that they are once again hosting an All About Ales this fall and the Foam Rangers has their MCAB event in late October. Let's use these upcoming competition to put some of these ideas into practice. Let's at least send a whole bunch of beers to T Town and lets go out and kick some butt! We're number one - let's prove it again.
We need you to show up to our AGM in September. This plan will cost us a bit of money and we need membership approval to go ahead with these ideas. In the past, similar plans have always paid us back in spades, but these decisions go beyond what an executive can impose. So show up and help rebuild the Guild.
The Beer Judge Certification Program has approved the Guild's application to host a BJCP exam. The exam will be held on Saturday February 23, 2003 at Alley Kat Brewing. The exam costs $50.00 US but the exam directors are asking that the Guild subsidize its members so that Guild members will pay $50.00 Canadian. The difference will be made up by the club account. Non-Guild members can take the exam for $50.00 US. If you want to rewrite the exam to get the percentage needed to advance to a higher level you have two options. You can rewrite the entire exam for $30.00 or rewrite just the essay or just the tastings for $15.00 each. Roxy will serve as exam administer with Neil Herbst and Martin Langshaw serving as proctors.
The date of the exam should allow time for judging candidates to receive their results in time for our annual ABC/MCAB competition in late May, letting successful candidates pick up judging points right away. Also, if you have served as an administrator or steward in previous competitions you will be eligible for retroactive points on passing this exam.
Roxy, Neil and Martin plan to hold monthly training sessions starting in mid-September. We will cover how to evaluate beers, how to identify beer styles, brewing procedures and all other things that we can think of that will help you pass the exam. The exam itself is 10 essay questions and four beer evaluations to be done over a 3 hour time period. The three instructors gladly invite other beer judges to participate in these training sessions, both to brush up on some skills and to provide a diversity of opinion.
If you plan to take this exam the three instructors highly encourage you to attend the September meeting. We will give you more details about the course, the exam, and our expectations of judging candidates. We do require a non-refundable $20.00 deposit to help cover the up-front costs of the course. If you absolutely cannot make the September meeting contact Roxy at <email removed> or <phone removed> for information about the course.
Long term Guild member Roxy Hastings ended last years brewing season on an especially good note. Having won seven medals at the Great Canadian Homebrew Competition she sent on four entries to compete in the AHA final rounds. Roxy's British Brown, King Ghob's Brown Ale, took a second place medal in the Brown Ale Category. Also the Canadian Amateur Brewers Association awarded Roxy as Canadian Brewer of the Year at their year end banquet this past spring. This award was given to the CABA member with the most points in CABA sponsored competitions over the past year. This is the first year the award was created and we are proud that it would go to a member of the Guild. Finally, to top it all off, in late July the BJCP program notified Roxy that she now had over 20 experience points and would be formally recognized as a National Beer Judge this fall. That gives the Guild two National Judges, Martin Langshaw having achieved that status a few years ago. We are the only club in western Canada to have National level judges in our ranks.
Here are two brews that Roxy used to take silver medals in international competition this year. King Ghob's Brown took a silver at the AHA finals and Gabriel's Touch took a silver in the MCAB finals.
King Ghob's Brown - Southern British Brown
5.5 U.S. 1.053 O.G. 24 IBU
8.6 lb Golden Promise - 2 row
1.0 lb Crystal - 75 L
8.0 oz CaraAroma
6.0 oz Chocolate malt
.75 oz Goldings - 5.0% - 45 min
.55 oz Bramling Cross - 5.0% - 45 min
Wyeast London Ale - 800 ml
2 step mash
1/2 R.O water
9 qts at 130 F - rest at 120 F for 20 minutes
5 qts at 170 F - rest at 155 F for 1 hour
Sparge at 190 F
Mash out at 190 F
Total boil - 1 hour - hops in for 45 minutes
Notes: What made this beer special was the Golden Promise and CaraAroma malt. Golden Promise is a deep, rich two row from Scotland. As the name implies CaraAroma is an aromatic malt - like a supercharged dark crystal. Use the latter with a bit of caution as it can be a bit astringent but it really packs a wallop in the malt nose. Both malts are only available from Paddock Wood.
Gabriel's Touch - German Pils
3.5 US 1.052 45 IBU
7.0 lb Budvar malt
8.0 oz Carahelles
8.0 oz Carapils
0.9 oz Mt. Hood - 4.7 % - 60 minutes
1.3 oz Sterling - 7.0% - 20 minutes
0.5 oz Sterling - dry hop
0.5 oz Mt. Hood - dry hop
Wyeast Steropramen 800 ml
2 step decoction mash
2/3 R.O. water
rests at 120 F and 155 F
pitch yeast at 60 F and cool over 4 days to 40 F
secondary ferment at 40 F
Notes: The Budvar malt is incredibly pale but luscious none the less. I am a total believer that the type of base malt sets the tone for the whole beer and for best results you should use a particular base malt for a particular style. I use Budvar for all my Euro Lagers whereas I use Golden Promise or Pipkin for all my British Bitters and Browns. I pretty much use only Westcan for my American style beers - its clean, simple profile lends itself well to the more straightforward American styles. The Steropramen yeast set the spicy, sulphery tone that dominated this lager - it is distinct and powerful, a character noted by all the judges. Coupled with the high noble hop character from the Sterling hops this beer danced on the edge of intensity. Both the Budvar malt and Steropramen are only available from Paddock Wood. Wyeast 2124 would give a softer affect. Sterling is a Saaz type hop.
My wife and I had the pleasure to visit our Eastern most province this past June. Newfoundland is an amazing place and I would highly recommend it to everyone. Just make sure you take your long underwear. It is not unlike Calgary in that it can snow pretty much any month of the year. Oh, yeah, take your black fly repellant as well. With that said, it is an incredible province with majestic scenary, a hugely variable landscape and the friendliest people that you ever met (sorry Saskatchewanians).
The only problem we had was that it was more difficult to find a good beer than a can of OFF!. On day 1 of our trip we were at the liquor… , I mean grocery store picking up supplies. While Lauren was trying to find some beer I noticed the guy behind me picking up his daily supplies, 1 litre of milk, 1 litre of rum and 6-pack of Black Horse. What is Black Horse you say? Sounds interesting but it isn't. It is just the regular 'Union Made' gnats piss but with a different label and it is 'brewed and bottled right here in Newfoundland'. Not to be outdone, the other big Brewery re-labels their brew as 'Jockey Club'. Nice name. Anyway, we happened to find a beer called '1892' which turned out to be a good pale ale brewed by the Quidi Vidi (pronounced kiddy viddy) Brewing Company of St. John's. They also make an Eric's The Red Cream Ale and a Kriek.
We soon found out that the further away we got from St. John's the harder it was to find that beer. We often got odd looks from store owners when we asked for it or else they would say something to us in Newfinese that was completely baffling. It ended up that there was a stretch of about 3 days where we were forced to drink Black Jockey Horse Club or whatever you want to call it. Then one fine day we were in a small town called Trinity where we happened upon a small restaurant and lo and behold the Quidi Vidi delivery van was unloading a few cases of beer. I sprinted for all I was worth towards the van and accosted the driver practically begging for a 6-pack. To my surprise he actually offered to sell me whatever I wanted right off of the truck. Must have been the crazed look in my eyes after having been forced to drink the Black Horse Jockey Club beer.
So it turned out the guy driving the van was actually the owner (talk about multi-tasking Neil!) who invited us to the brewery upon reaching St. Johns. We finally made it to the brewery on our second last day on the rock, picked up a lot of beer and brought back some posters that I will give away at our first meeting. Sorry but I could not save any of the beer that I brought back so you will have to travel to NF to taste it!
A drunk is driving through the city and his car is weaving violently all over the road. A cop pulls him over and asks, "Where have you been?"
I've been to the pub," slurs the drunk.
"Well," says the cop, "it looks like you've had quite a few."
"I did all right," the drunk says with a smile.
"Did you know," says the cop, standing straight and folding his arms, "that a few intersections back, your wife fell out of your car?"
"Oh, thank heavens," sighs the drunk. "For a minute there, I thought I'd gone deaf."
A man had been drinking at the bar for hours, when he mentioned something about his girlfriend being out in the car.
The bartender, concerned because it was cold, went to check on her. When he looked inside the car, he saw the drunk's buddy, Pete, and his girlfriend going at it in the back seat.
The bartender shook his head and walked back inside. He told the drunk that he thought it might be a good idea to check on his girlfriend.
The drunk staggered outside to the car, saw Pete and his girlfriend entwined, then walked back into the bar laughing.
"What's so funny?" the bartender asked.
"That damned Pete!" the drunk chortled, "He's so drunk, he thinks he's me!"
I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day.
-- Frank Sinatra
The problem with some people is that when they aren't drunk, they're sober.
-- William Butler Yeats
An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools.
-- Ernest Hemingway
You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on.
-- Dean Martin
Drunk is feeling sophisticated when you can't say it.
-- Anonymous
Abstainer: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.
-- Ambrose Bierce
Reality is an illusion that occurs due to lack of alcohol.
-- Anonymous