Recent Forum Posts

Fire-brewed porter

Jim Leach writes about his porter, brewed on a wood-fired stove in his backyard, in his blog.

March, 2010 meeting

Please note: you must be at least 21 years old to attend AABG meetings.

The March meeting will be hosted by Jack Carr, starting at 7:30PM on Friday, March 12.

Read more about the meeting online, including an interactive map to the location, or download the newsletter, which contains information about the meeting and features American Ale, the style of the month.

February, 2010 meeting

Please note: you must be at least 21 years old to attend AABG meetings.

The February meeting will be hosted by Claudia and Alex Pettit, starting at 7:30PM on Friday, February 12.

Read more about the meeting online, including an interactive map to the location, or download the newsletter, which contains information about the meeting and features English Brown Ale, the style of the month.

Sourdough Starter Instructions

©1995, 1999, 2003 Jeff Renner    jsrenner@umich.edu

Sour dough bread has its origins in the times before reliable commercial yeast was available for leavening. A baker had several options available to leaven bread. The local brewer was a source of yeast that, while rather slow and often bitter, was usually reliable. People away from a brewery could make a starter by capturing wild yeast from the environment, a chancy proposition at best. Because of the ubiquitous presence of Lactobacillus spp., this starter would inevitably become sour. In a true starter, wild yeast and bacteria establish a relatively stable equilibrium. When a particularly good starter was found, it would be prized, and the baker would save a portion of the previous dough or sponge in a covered container to use for the next batch. This starter is a very vigorous one that a friend brought me several years ago from a famous Parisian bakery. It is subtly sour, and as a matter of fact, the French object to calling their naturally fermented bread “sour dough.” They prefer the term “pain au levain.” While it isn’t very sour, it is far more flavorful bread than bread fermented with commercial yeast. You can make more sour bread by letting each stage ferment longer than the minimum. Continue reading Sourdough Starter Instructions

January, 2010 meeting

Please note: you must be at least 21 years old to attend AABG meetings.

The January meeting will be hosted by Randy deBeauclair, starting at 7:30PM on Friday, January 8.

Read more about the meeting online, including an interactive map to the location, or download the newsletter, which contains information about the meeting and has a nice article about mashing!

December, 2009 meeting

Please note: you must be at least 21 years old to attend AABG meetings.

The September meeting will be hosted by Rolf Wucherer, starting at 7:30PM on Friday, December 11.

Read more about the meeting online, including an interactive map to the location, or download the newsletter, which contains information about the meeting and features sour ales, the style of the month.

November, 2009 meeting

Please note: you must be at least 21 years old to attend AABG meetings.

The November meeting will be hosted by Chris Frey, starting at 7:30PM on Friday, November 13.

Read more about the meeting online, including an interactive map to the location, or download the newsletter, which contains information about the meeting and features Belgian Strong Ales, the style of the month.

AABG Brewola 2/10

What’s a Brewola? It’s a club brewing event of a special kind. Have fun, show off your brewing skills and learn how different beers can be from the same recipe.

This Brewola has an additional purpose: to create an AABG entry for the February, 2010 AHA club-only competition. We are selecting a “Dark Mild” style recipe, and will be providing “kits” so that we are all really brewing from the same recipe and ingredients. There are two recipe options, each of which can be brewed all-grain or extract.
Continue reading AABG Brewola 2/10

October, 2009 meeting

Please note: you must be at least 21 years old to attend AABG meetings.

The October meeting will be hosted by John Rathmell, starting at 7:30PM on Friday, October 9. This months meeting is being hosted at the house of John’s friend Matt Frech. There is a long drive up to his house and he requests that cars be parked along the edge of the long drive, starting at the house, lining up to the road.

Read more about the meeting online, including an interactive map to the location, or download the newsletter, which contains information about the meeting and features European Amber Lager beers, the style of the month.

September, 2009 meeting

Please note: you must be at least 21 years old to attend AABG meetings.

The September meeting will be hosted by Bob Scholl, starting at 7:30PM on Friday, September 11.

Read more about the meeting online, including an interactive map to the location, or download the newsletter, which contains information about the meeting and features European Amber Lager beers, the style of the month.