Fresh Grapesthis Spring!
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KEYSTONE HOMEBREW NEWS Spring 2008 Greetings from Keystone Homebrew SINCE OUR LAST NEWSLETTER, we’ve enjoyed a great holiday season, followed by our most successful year-end sale/charity food drive to date, plus our biggest homebrew competition (554 entries)! We also crowned the first-ever “Philly Beer Geek” Steve Robson (a Keystone customer) who won this regional competition and went home with over $1,000 in prizes! Now, spring is here—and it looks like it’s going to be one of the most exciting spring seasons ever here at Keystone Homebrew. FOR THE BREWERS, we have hop rhizomes in stock and they’re selling fast. We’re also expecting a large shipment of Another Keystone First premium hop plugs, with more than 20 varieties of the absolute best hops you can get anywhere, any time! Of course we’re also Fresh Grapes This Spring! looking forward to our annual Big Brew at each of our stores to celebrate National Homebrew Day on May 3. This year marks the 20th anniversary since Congress officially recognized National See page 2! Homebrew Day back in May of 1988. FOR THE WINEMAKERS, the season may be even more exciting. Not only do we have our upcoming wine tastings and the annual Spring Sale from Brehm Vineyards to look forward to, but for the first time ever we’ll also be featuring fresh grapes and juice from Chile! PHILLY BEER GEEK We’ll be setting up the crusher/destemmer, stocking up on Steve Robson Triumphs fermenters, and offering classes for both new and experienced winemakers. So check out details packed onto pages 2 and 3 of this Congratulations to Steve Robson, newsletter, and get ready for a whole new kind of spring! winner of the First Annual Philly Beer Ferment on! Geek award! Steve impressed the judges with his dynamic stage presence, infectious enthusiasm, and a staggering knowledge of beer. He then staggered away with over $1,000 in prizes! Check out our Web site for more THE KEYSTONE CUP details about the event, and start studying for next year’s contest. Lehigh Leads, But Can They Win? This homebrew competition pits club against club, with the winning club taking home the Cup! The winning homebrew club will be determined by accumulated points from winning beers of each WAR OF THE WORTS REPORT qualifying contest. Club affiliation is determined by the club listed on the entry forms (so don’t forget to include your homebrew club!). Area’s Biggest Contest The War of the Worts results have been tallied, and the Lehigh The 13th War of the Worts was our biggest contest yet, by Valley Homebrewers lead with 77 points. Not far behind and within more than 100 entries! We had 30 Stewards, 61 Judges, and 554 easy striking distance are the Keystone Hops with 71 points. The entries. The amount of entries to be judged was a challenge, competition is heating up with some mild taunting between clubs, but especially in the Best-of-Show round! All those extra judges and the beer will speak the truth and reveal the best-brewing club! entries increased the organizational challenge, but Al Folsom, Start brewing now for Malt Madness, scheduled for Saturday, Vince Galet, and Jason Harris, and a crew of dedicated club September 6. Malt Madness will be the final competition in the members shouldered the job. Congratulations to all the winners 2008 Keystone Cup, with the winningest club triumphantly and our generous prize-donating sponsors, listed online at carrying the Cup back to its lair. Many clubs are in the running, www.keystonehops.org. David Grosch generously shared his best- check our Web site for scores, as well as complete rules: of-show winning recipe, which will be featured in the next www.keystonehomebrew.com/index.cfm?pgid=club. newsletter and is currently on our Web site. Two Locations: Montgomeryville: 779 Bethlehem Pike, Montgomeryville, PA 18936 (215) 855-0100 Bethlehem: 599 Main Street, Main Street Commons Building, Bethlehem, PA 18018 (610) 997-0911 [email protected] www.keystonehomebrew.com page 2 Keystone Homebrew Supply Newsletter Spring 2008 huge selection of fermenters, presses, bottles, corks, and other essentials. See our September 2007 newsletter for details: FRESH CHILEAN GRAPES & JUICE www.keystonehomebrew.com/index.cfm?pgid=newsletter. Target Arrival: Late April, Early May Available by pre-order only, and only at our Montgomeryville location KEY-2-EZ BLENDS Now you can make great wine from fresh juice and grapes twice a year! Chile is an outstanding new resource for fresh grapes Better Than Juice, Easier Than Grapes and juice for Keystone Homebrew and our customers. The grapes Available Exclusively from Keystone Homebrew will be coming from the Curico Valley, which has a Mediterranean Key-2-EZ-Blends™ provides many of the advantages of climate and soil conditions that are ideal for growing wine grapes. making wine from grapes—improvement in the body, color, aroma, These are very high quality grapes, and our supplier has a and mouthfeel of wine, without the extra work or the additional reputation for delivering them in excellent condition. And while equipment, such as a wine press or special fermenters. Key-2-EZ- many of the following varieties are also available from California in Blends™ have been a huge success for our customers in the fall, the fall, the change of terroir from a whole different continent and now we’re offering a special “South American Blend” that promises to deliver unique character for some great, new takes advantage of some of varietals for which Chile is now adventures in winemaking! famous. Our spring versions add one box (18 pounds) of freshly The grapes will arrive in 18-lb boxes, and the juice will be crushed grapes, conveniently contained in nylon straining bags, into available in 6-gallon pails. We plan to get only the grapes and juice we 6 gallons of fresh grape juice. The grapes and juice are then allowed need to cover the pre-orders that we receive in advance and some to ferment together for the duration of the primary fermentation varieties may sell out early, so be sure you reserve yours ASAP! (7 to 10 days), or until a hydrometer reads zero Brix. The grape- We will need a full deposit on each 18-lb box of grapes and filled bags are then easily removed and discarded, leaving only the 6-gallon bucket of juice to secure your order. Please call our desirable flavors and aromas in the wine. Montgomeryville store or place your order online now: Each Chilean Key-2-EZ-Blend™ kit will make approximately www.keystonehomebrew.com/Zilron/catalog99_0.html 7 gallons of wine and includes detailed instructions. Winemakers choosing to make a Key-2-EZ-Blend™ should bring or purchase Red Grape (18-lb box) White Juice (6-gal. bucket) the following items: Carménère $20.00 Chardonnay $46.75 One 7.8-gallon fermentation bucket Cabernet Sauvignon $20.00 Muscat $43.00 Two nylon straining bags Merlot $20.00 Pinot Grigio $48.50 Malbec $20.00 Sauvignon Blanc $46.75 Because we will be crushing grapes, please plan to pick up your Syrah $20.00 order at least 1 hour before closing time. You may already have most of the other equipment and supplies that you’ll need: a Red Juice Varieties (6-gal. bucket) hydrometer/hydrometer jar, stirring paddle or long-handled spoon, Barbera $45.50 Cabernet Sauvignon $46.75 potassium metabisulfite, yeast nutrient, racking cane/tubing, and Carménère $46.75 Merlot $46.75 carboys for secondary fermentation and racking. If not, it’s all Cabernet Franc $46.75 Malbec $46.75 readily available from Keystone Homebrew Supply. Chianti $44.25 Pinot Noir $48.00 Key-2-EZ-Blends™ are available as a single-grape varietal Cab./Merlot Blend $46.75 Syrah $46.00 (100% Syrah, Carménère, etc.) or any combination of one bucket of juice and one box of grapes, including the following Remember, you must pre-order with full payment to get yours! recommended blends: South American Blend This blend combines Carménère grapes with Malbec juice (or the reverse, if you prefer) to create a deep red wine that beautifully melds the rich, complex flavors of SPRING WINE SEASON two of the most remarkable varietals from Chile. Bordeaux Style Blend This is a true classic: a blend of As most of our winemaking customers know, we feature a Cabernet Sauvignon juice and Merlot Juice (together in one 6- number of seasonal products and special offers in the fall during gallon bucket), combined with Malbec grapes, to produce a wine of the traditional, North American, grape-harvest season. We will exceptional color, structure, and depth of flavor. offer virtually all of the same supplies and conveniences this spring Dave’s Choice: Merlot/Syrah This blend combines Syrah to help enhance your experience with our new Chilean grapes and grapes and Merlot juice (or the reverse if you prefer). The boldness juice. We’ll have a fresh supply of reliable, easy-to-use Accuvin test of Syrah with the rounder, more mellow Merlot will match two kits (to test acidity, pH, sulfite levels, and other key parameters), ultimate blending grapes together. Love the Rhone? Bordeaux too? fresh liquid wine yeast and malolactic cultures, and of course a Why choose? Two Locations: Montgomeryville: 779 Bethlehem Pike, Montgomeryville, PA 18936 (215) 855-0100 Bethlehem: 599 Main Street, Main Street Commons Building, Bethlehem, PA 18018 (610) 997-0911 [email protected] www.keystonehomebrew.com Spring 2008 Keystone Homebrew Supply Newsletter page 3 CRUSH GRAPES AT KEYSTONE GET BREHM YEAR ROUND! Available Only at Our Montgomeryville Location Select Varieties Stored Nearby An electric crusher/de-stemmer will be available to our Now Part of the Spring Sale, Too! customers every day while we have Chilean grapes in stock.