The Herald Trubune

April Meeting

Meetings Schedule

When and Where

Friday, April 3, 7:30pm
Bill Pfeiffer
10676 Seitz Rd
Brighton, Michigan
(810) 229-0727

Directions

From the North
Take Us 23 south to the M-59 exit
Go west (right) to 1st traffic light
Go south (left) on Old-23/Whitmore Lake Road 3.6 miles to 1st traffic signal
Go east (left) on Hyne Road 1.3 miles
Go south (right) on Corlett to end, 1 mile
Go west (right) on Newman and continue south (left) on the paved road (Van
Amberg) 0.7 mile
Go west (right) on Seitz Road-house is 1Ž4 mile on left

From the South
Take US 23 north to Lee Road, Exit #58
Go north (right) on Old-23/Whitmore Lake Road 2.2 miles
Go east (right) on Spencer Road (3rd traffic light) 1.2 miles
Go north (left) on Van Amberg-see below*

From the East
Take I-96 west to Pleasant Valley Road
Exit #150
Go north (right) 1.1 miles
Go west (left) on Spencer Road 0.7 mile
Go north (right) on Van Amberg*
From the West
Take I-96 east to Spencer Road Exit #147
Go east (right) to Old-23/Whitmore Lake Road. (traffic light)
Go north (left) to Spencer Road (traffic light)
Go east (right) on Spencer 1.2 miles
Go north (left) on Van Amberg-see below*
*	Continue north on Van Amberg 1.5 miles then go west (left) on Seitz
Road-house is 1Ž4 mile on the left.

Guide for New Members

Style of the Month - Pilsner

AHA Style Guidelines

a) German-Style Pilsener

A classic German Pilsener is very light straw/golden color and well hopped. Hop bitterness is high. Hop aroma and flavor are moderate and quite obvious. It is a well-attenuated and medium-bodied beer, but a malty accent can be perceived. Fruity esters and diacetyl should not be perceived. There should be no chill haze. The head should be dense and rich.

Original Gravity (Plato)	1.044-50 (11.0-12.5)
Final Gravity (Plato)	1.006-12 (2-3)
% Alc./Wt. (Alc./V.)	3.6-4.2 (4.6-5.4)
IBUs	30-40
SRM (EBC)	3-4 (6-8)

b) Bohemian-Style Pilsener

Pilseners in this subcategory are similar to German Pilseners, however they are slightly more full bodied and can be as dark as light amber. This style balances moderate to high bitterness and "noble-type" hop aroma and flavor with a malty, slightly sweet, medium body. Diacetyl may be perceived in very low amounts. There should be no chill haze. The head should be dense and rich.

Original Gravity (Plato)	1.044-56 (11.0-14.0)
Final Gravity (Plato)	1.014-20 (4-5)
% Alc./Wt. (Alc./V.)	3.2-4.0 (4.1-5.1)
IBUs	35-45
SRM (EBC)	3-5 (6-10)

c) American-Style Pilsener

This classic and unique pre-Prohibition American-style Pilsener is straw to deep gold in color. Hop bitterness, flavor and aroma are medium to high, and use of "noble-type" hops for flavor and aroma is preferred. Up to 25 percent corn in the grist should be used, and some slight sweetness and flavor of corn are expected. A low level of DMS is acceptable. Malt flavor and aroma are medium. This is a medium-bodied beer. Fruity esters and citrusy flavors or aromas should not be perceived. Slight diacetyl is acceptable. There should be no chill haze.

Original Gravity (Plato)	1.045-60 (11.3-15.0)
Final Gravity (Plato)	1.012-18 (3-5)
% Alc./Wt. (Alc./V.)	3.9-4.7 (5.0-6.0)
IBUs	20-40
SRM (EBC)	3-6 (6-12)

***See the end for Jeff Renner's Michigan State Fair, 1st Place award winning American-Style Pilsner!

Stephen Klump's HDB Win

Hopped to the Hilt IPA

AHA Celebrates its 20th Year!

Big Brew '98 is the record-setting attempt of the simultaneous brewing of many small homebrew batches of the same beer recipe by homebrewers across the nation. Big Brew '98 will take place on National Homebrew Day, Saturday, May 2, 1998. The plan is to have homebrew shops, clubs or even individual brewers host and oversee each brewing site across the country. Then, on the day of the event, homebrewers would brew at these registered sites. We will gather information, such as, total number of participating brewers, total number of gallons brewed, total amount of hops and total malt used, etc.

Currently, I have a proposal in front of the Records Committee of Guinness Media, the publishers of Guinness Book of Records for them to include this homebrewing record in the 1999 version of their book. However, we do not have a guaranteed commitment from them that this record attempt will be included in their book. Yet!

The recipe that we will be brewing, "Big 10/20", is based on Little Apple Brewing Company's "Big 12" Barley Wine, created and brewed by Rob Moline and winner of the Gold Medal in the Barley Wine category at the 1996 Great American Beer Festival. We will have two versions of this recipe, an all grain and an extract/steeped grain version. We will be flying Rob out to Boulder to have him available to homebrewers via an online chat room on the day of the brewing.

Big Brew '98 is being sponsored by Lallemand Inc., Briess Malting Company and Schreier Malting Company. Because of their support, there's is no cost to homebrewers to participate in Big Brew '98. We truly hope this event will encourage homebrewing at all levels by any and all homebrewers throughout the country.

In addition, let me say that often in groups or forums, we homebrewers discuss differences in brewing levels, techniques and opinions. It's time we come together to celebrate our similarities and simply homebrew a batch together. I invite and encourage all of you to participate.

For a more information on Big Brew '98, including the "Rules & Regulations", send an email to me at brian@aob.org with "Big Brew '98 Rules" in the subject line.

     E Pluribus (Br)Unum!
     {From Many, One (Brew)!}
     Brian M. Rezac
     Administrator
     American Homebrewers Association

AABG Meetings

- Stephen Klump

Phil Wilcox On Harpers

Smoked Rye-A delicate winter warmer. Smooth rye overtones and a not quite subtle hint of smoke when its cold. As it warms the smoke fades into oblivion and a more malty presence quietly makes its way to the front of the palate. An Excellent brew that will only improve with age. Stout-Its a stout. Dark, dry, and roast. Nothing fancy here, just a good quality brew pub stout. Am Wheat-Their biggest seller. Its wheat. Its cloudy. Its not too clove and no Banana hints at all. It is however right in the middle of the Am. Wheat category. Note: Its cloudy beer! And its selling well in a brew pub smack in the middle of Michigan State University. That says something. Amber Ale-Its ale. Its amber. It had some hops. Uneventful Cream Ale-Or shall we say pale ale. Bland, Pale and not real "Creamy." MarketersŠ Mocha Java Porter-What a disaster. They should serve it in a cup and saucer. Or like English tee with a strainer to filter out the coffee grounds. Yelch! Hello, Bartender, I'd like some beer with this coffee! Way over done. Only flavor is that of coffee GROUNDS! According to brewing staff, it was made by steeping 5 10 lb bags of grounds for an amount of time. To say the least it didn't turn out the way they had intended. The bright/serving tanks are located on the same level as the brewery/pup because there is a HUGE Dance club underneath the pub that been there for 30+ years. They couldn't go straight down and create a cold room like most brew pubs. Instead they have to pipe it across roof into glycol-chilled copper-clad serving tanks located around the restaurant. Its visually beautiful-and practically awful (PITA) not to mention expensive. But there is no place left to go.

Now, I've only been there once, but I did catch them while they were brewing. I had a really good discussion with the brew master and assistants about their process, yeast strains and brewery design. And they were polite enough to warn me about the porter. I did sample ALL of his brews, ranked them by mostly empty glass and left instructions with the bartender for the brewer to see them. But beyond that, I took the time to really study the place. When I sampled the beer, I analyzed it as I proceeded slowly and carefully. The bartender was even nice enough to offer to pour our samplers one at a time. It's a nice establishment. Well, laid out and still being worked on. Please remember its new, The equipment is new, the staff is new, and yes the brewer is new too. He may look like a teenager wearing his dad's brewery shirts, but he's not. Their his, and they look old and faded because he earned them with the experience that got him to where he is today. The brew master at the newest brew pub in Michigan.

-Phil Wilcox

Michigan State Fair Homebrew Competition 1997

1st Place Pilsner

Jeff Renner

Your Father's Musache

Judges' Comments

See the first article for the AHA guidelines for this style.

Pico at Van Eck's

The system might not always be at its home, but Dave should be able to put you in touch with whoever has it.

Newsletter Editor
		Steve Darnell
313/487-4045
313/487-2316 fax
ced_darnell@emuvax.emich.edu