BURP News April 2013 Page 1

BURP NEWS

The Official Newsletter of BREWERS UNITED FOR REAL POTABLES

“Fill with mingled cream and amber, I will drain that glass again; Such hilarious visions clamber ” - Edgar Allen Poe

Rich Sampson, Editor [email protected] April, 2013 www.burp.org

Cannon’s Canon By Tom Cannon, Fearless Leader

It was a sort of snowy March, but there were some moments you could get some outside brewing done. We got a done and will bring a keg of it April Meeting to the April meeting. Let me Light & Amber Hybrids Competition know what you think. I hope all Saturday, April 13 of you, like us, are planning on bottling for entry into this year’s Spirit of Free Beer, only a month away now. I think you all know my position on BURP’s Spirit of Free Beer: that it is one of the core things we do as a homebrew club and it involves everything this club should be about, brewing, evaluating, and drinking, May Meeting plus, as always, spending a day with some of the best beer folks in the area. And, if you’re not judging, think Chili Cook-Off & about volunteering to steward at the competition or Best Beer with Chili Competition helping out in other ways. Mike Reinitz is leading the Spirit of Free Beer Entry Drop-Off SOFB group this year and probably could use all the help he can get! Saturday, May 4 We had a glorious day for the March meeting. Thanks go to Bob Andres for getting his community center for the meeting. We had fair turnout for a March meeting, but it was great seeing everybody. As usual it was a spirited competition with thirty entries. We were more than happy with our third place ribbon, but congratula- tions to the other winners, and all who entered.

The April meeting in Rockville should be fairly calm, but it’s just the calm before we all start getting really busy. ______Please submit all articles for publication in either plain text or Microsoft Word format to the e-mail address above. Deadline for articles is 2 weeks before each scheduled BURP meeting unless otherwise indicated. Changes to membership records should be sent to [email protected] . BURP News April 2013 Page 2

We have the chili competition in May (my favorite meet- forgiving of minor flaws. Its popularity was borne out in ing of the year), and then SOFB. Then we’re into Sum- the large number of entries we had this year – 30 in all, mer with the AHA convention in Philadelphia in late with good representation from all six stout sub-styles. June. Lots going on, so I hope we can all have a couple Curiously, the largest number of entries, with 8, was of fairly calm beers in April before life starts to get a lot Oatmeal Stout. The 2 nd highest number was Russian more hectic! By the way, Colleen Cannon is looking at Imperial Stout with 6 entries. There were even two spe- potential dates for a BURP day at the ballpark, hopefully cialty , one entered in the Sweet Stout category by sometime after the new Blue Jacket Brewery, near the Howard & Emily Michelsen and brewed with cacao stadium, opens. If you have any ideas for that, you can nubs and cherry flavoring, and the other entered in the chat with her during the April meeting. Russian Imperial category by Rich Powell and brewed with chocolate, coffee, and Irish Creme. Many thanks to So, with all of those April flowers in bloom, I hope you the judges: Kathy Koch , Bob Rouse, Mike Reinitz, all have those brewpots going. This is one of the best Hope O’Keefe, Tom Cannon, Rich Sampson, Andy times of the year to brew, so please take advantage, Anderson, James Wisnieski, Steve Marler and and get those beers entered into BURP’s Spirit of Free Matt Pyle. They narrowed it down to five beers, which Beer. Entry registration information should be elsewhere went to a Best of Show round judged by Rick Garvin in this newsletter. and Keith Chamberlin . Third place went to Tom & Colleen Cannon and Pat & Janet Crowe for a Dry See you at the April meeting! Stout. Second place went to Nick Griner for his Oat- meal Stout named Diabeetus Stout. And first place went to Paul & Jamie Langlie for Peter the Great, a Russian Imperial Stout. Their recipe appears below. Many thanks From the Ministry of Culture to all of the brewers. By Wendy Aaronson & Nick Griner Co-Ministers of Culture April Competition: This month’s competition is for Light and Amber Hybrid beers, which include the two The purpose of BURP monthly competitions is to en- traditional German styles, Kolsch and Alt (with its two courage brewers to advance their brewing skills by im- sub-styles, Dusseldorf Alt and N. German Alt) that were proving recipe formulation and/or technique based on discussed briefly in last month’s column. In addition, the objective feedback from score sheets or by experiment- Light category includes Blonde , , and ing with styles they’ve never brewed. Competitions pro- American Wheat or , and the Amber category mote education and the availability of great tasting includes California Common Beer. The style guidelines homebrewed beer at meetings. can be found at

http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style06.php and http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style07.php . Pre- registration of entries is required by sending an e- mail with details on your entry to [email protected] . De- tails should include brewer name(s), catego- ry/subcategory, and beer name (if you have one). Only 2 bottles are needed for this competition.

May Competition: The May BURP meeting will be the annual BURP Chili Cookoff. In addition to voting on the best and the hottest chilis, BURP members will have an opportunity to vote for the best beer to accompany chili. Full details on these competitions will be in the May newsletter. Entries in the Best Beer with Chili competi- tion will be accepted in any form of container (kegs, growlers, bottles, party pigs, etc.).

March Results – Dan McCoubrey Memorial Stout Spirit of Free Beer XXI – Saturday, May 11: It’s Competition – As Bill mentions in his historical column only a month away! BURP’s premier homebrew competi- this month, this competition began 30 years ago and is tion is now open for registration. Details will be provided now BURP’s longest running monthly competition. Stout later in this newsletter by SOFB organizer Mike Reinitz . is a that is very popular with homebrewers Keep your eye on the BURP SOFB website at because it can – due to its roasty character – be very http://brew.burp.org/Events/SpiritofFreeBeer2013.aspx BURP News April 2013 Page 3 for full details and information (including an awesome 8.0 gallons. Boiled for 2 hours with the following addi- list of sponsors). And remember – BURP members can tions: drop off their entries at the May club meeting. 2 oz. Magnum flowers (20.5 alpha) 60 min. July Competition: We are calling this the Fruit and 1 oz. Northern Brewer flowers (10 alpha) 30 min. Spice and Everything Nice Competition. This is BJCP cat- 1.5 tsp Irish Moss 10 min. egories 20 and 21. Summer is a great time to enjoy a 1 oz. Northern Brewer flowers (10 alpha) 5 min. splash of fruit in beer. It’s fun to experiment with fruit. Not sure you want to have 5 gallons of ? Then Obtained 5 gallons wort. Used White Labs WLP099 try removing a gallon for your fruit beer from a 5 gallon yeast. Original gravity 1.100, Final gravity 1.042. batch when you rack into your secondary. Consider how Imperial was stored in fridge for 1 year. wonderful it is to have a Pyramid Apricot Ale or Magic Hat #9, Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, or a New Glarus Second runnings of the mash (only) were used to make Raspberry or Cherry ale and you’ll be hooked into the 10 gallons of low gravity beer. This was a 50 minute boil challenge. At the March meeting, Anne Stevens pre- with 2 oz. of Goldings for 50 minutes and 1 oz. of Gold- pared spiced teas and demonstrated how to use these ings for 20 minutes and 1 tsp. Irish Moss for 10 minutes. spices in the brewing process. The OG was 1.040, FG was 1.009. Used 2 packets of Fermentis #04 dry yeast. The style guidelines can be found at http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style20.php and Bonus Recipe http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style21.php . Bill found the recipe for the winning beer in BURP’s first October Competition: This is a clone competition. homebrew competition held on April 14, 1983 at the After receiving some recommendations and considering home of Dan McCoubrey in Wheaton, MD. The compe- how we can work this in with an enlightenment session, tition was for “High Gravity ”, and the winning beer we decided that the clone competition will be for Port was a stout brewed by Bill Quittman & Fred Dormer . City’s . This is a robust porter and is readily avail- Here is the recipe (for 5 gal): able in the metro area, including Montgomery County. We will have beer available at the April meeting to taste 1 can Edme Stout Extract and discuss, but you can get a head start by visiting the 2 lbs Munton & Fison Light Dry Malt Extract Port City website. Some basic specs on the beer can be 1 lb Munton & Fison Dark Dry Malt Extract found at http://www.portcitybrewing.com/beer/porter/ . ¼ lb Black Patent Malt (crushed and steeped) 2 oz Bullion Hops (Boil) 1st Place Stout Competition Recipe: Here is Paul ½ oz Saaz Hops (Finish) and Jamie Langlie’s Russian Imperial Stout recipe. They named it Peter the Great. This is a party-gyle reci- Boiling time 1 hour 15 minutes, with Saaz added for last pe. They made 5 gallons from the first runnings. The 15 minutes. Fermented with 2 packages Edme Stout second runnings were used to make a 5 gallon low grav- yeast. At bottling, added 1 cup Corn Sugar. ity beer. Brewed Nov 17, 1982; Bottled Jan 9, 1983 Mashed for 90 minutes at 152 degrees: OG – 1.055; FG – 1.008

14 lbs. Maris Otter pale 14 lbs. Briess 2-row pale 1.5 lbs. Roast Barley 2 lbs. Flaked Barley The BURP Institute for 2 lbs. Torrified Wheat Enlightened Brewing Practices By Joe Federico, Steve Marler and Robert Stevens And, steeped for 60 minutes at 140 degrees: Co-Ministers of Enlightenment

1 lb. Pale Chocolate It has been nice that the March weather has been cool .5 lb. Black Patent so we could finish brewing our before summer 1.5 lbs. Crystal 45 L. arrives. Hopefully you have now finished brewing your lagers and are brewing your summer ales. At the March Combined the first runnings of the mash with the monthly meeting, Anne Stevens led a group discussion steeped grain runnings (approx. 1.5 gallons) for total of of spices used in beer. The group tasted and comment- BURP News April 2013 Page 4 ed on teas prepared using Grains of Paradise, Fenu- Either unfiltered wort or filtered wort that has been re- greek, Sage, Cardamon, Coriander and Juniper berries. seeded with yeast can be used to bottle condition or Fenugreek is an annual herb with a slightly sweet, nutty naturally carbonate beer. A variety of sugars, additional flavor often described as a cross between celery and wort, or malt extract can be added to the beer and then maple. There were definitely strong maple-like flavors in placed in a sealed bottle to “referment.” As CO2 is cre- the Fenugreek tea, which could make an interesting ated by the yeast, it is adsorbed into the beer. Last beer. There was agreement that a little bit of Cardamom month, Scott Burns described his procedures for sani- goes a long way. Those participating in the discussion tizing and getting bottles ready for bottle conditioning. also brought some of their spice beers for the group to There are a number web sites that provide detailed taste. Pat Crowe offered tastings of two different years steps for naturally carbonating beer. Several of these of their homebrewed Christmas spice beers. They were sites are: both good, but the aged spice beer had layers of malt http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/02/homebrewing- and spice flavors that melded together to make a deli- how-to-carbonate-and-bottle-your-beer.html , cious beer. We look forward to the spice beers the group http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter11.html creates for the July monthly competition. and http://www.northernbrewer.com/learn/homebrewing- On March the 12 th the BURP was held at 101/step-4/ . Pizzeria Paradiso in Georgetown. We were treated to some unusual sour and specialty beers from Italy. The To complicate matters, not all beer styles taste good at variety of styles and complexity of flavors of these beers the same carbonation level. The amount of carbonation was a pleasant surprise. in beer is measured in volume of carbon dioxide per vol- ume of beer. Milds – for example – taste better at about Steve Marler took advantage of the Craft Brewer Con- 1.64 volumes while wheat flavors of a Wiezen taste best ference being in Washington. He worked with the Brew- at a volume of around 2.5. There are a number of calcu- ers Association to arrange for Mitch Steele to talk to lators to assist you in determining how much sugar is the area homebrewers about IPA. See Larry Jackson’s needed to bottle condition different beer styles including article about the event later in this newsletter. http://www.northernbrewer.com/priming-sugar- calculator/ and Upcoming Events http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html .

At the April monthly meeting, there will be a presen- Force carbonating beers requires a kegging system to tation on Porters. We will begin with an overview of Por- infuse carbon dioxide under pressure. The temperature ters and Porter styles. Since the October monthly com- and amount of pressure to the beer play important roles petition will be a Port City Porter clone competition, we in determining CO2 concentrations in the finished beer. will end with a discussion of the Port City Porter. We will The lower the temperature of the beer, the easier the start the presentation at 1:30pm beer can absorb Carbon Dioxide. The procedures for force carbonating beers can be found at http://blog.brewps.com/2012/04/homebrew-keg- The April BURP Happy Hour will be at the Big Hunt and carbonation-chart-how-to-force-carbonate-beer/ and they are planning something special for us. Thanks www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0GQOg5PyLY . again to James Carroll for setting up the Happy Hour.

When force carbonating beers, achieving the proper An Introduction to Carbonating Beers concentration of Carbon dioxide or volume for a beer style can be accomplished by creating equilibrium in be- Carbonating beer is one of the final steps in the brewing tween the amount of pressure being applied to the beer process and is an important flavor component in beer. It and ability of the beer to absorb the carbon dioxide. For- adds effervescence and life to beer. We can taste the tunately, there are web sites like Carbon Dioxide that carbonates beer as sourness, http://www.simgo.com/draft1.htm and http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm http://www.kegworks.com/faqs/Draft-Beer-Quality- ?id=carbonation-has-a-taste-09-10-16 . The carbonation Manual.pdf that calculate a beer’s final Co2 volume contributes to perceived "fullness" or "body" and en- based on the pressure (PSI) and temperature. hances foaming potential of beer. The Carbon Dioxide bubbles enhance the aroma of beers. Carbon Dioxide also plays an important role in extending the shelf life of beer. There are two ways to create and control the amount of carbonation in beer, bottle conditioning and force carbonation. BURP News April 2013 Page 5

Saturday, May 4. We will need lots of help checking-in and labeling entries that day, so please lend a hand for a half-hour and this way, everyone can enjoy all the great chili and beer. Judging will take place on Friday, May 10 ( Pat & Janet Crowe's Community Center in Annandale) and Saturday, May 11 (Mad Fox Brewing Co). If you're interested in judging, please contact Judge Coordinator Andy Anderson ([email protected] ), and if you're interested in stewarding, please contact Steward Coordinator Terri Fischer ([email protected] ). If you have any questions, comments, or want to help out, you can con- tact me at [email protected] .

For full details on the event, visit the BURP SOFB site at: http://brew.burp.org/Events/SpiritofFreeBeer2013.aspx

Mel Thompson uses a PSI gauge attached to a corny keg fitting (see picture above), to check the pressure of his real ales to assure that the pressure doesn't exceed Mitch Steele Speaks to BURP 10#. If the pressure starts to creep up above 10#, he de-gasses the keg to the appropriate pressure. During Members the secondary conditioning, he checks the pressure dai- By Larry Jackson ly . Our Ministers of Enlightenment asked Mitch Steele , Hope you will find this information useful in your quest Brewmaster of Stone Brewing Co., to address members to create the perfect beer. of BURP and other local homebrew clubs on March 25 at the Old Dominion Brewhouse. Mitch was delighted to accept having been a member of the homebrew club Brew Free or Die back in his days in New Hampshire. Spirit of Free Beer Update Steve Marler introduced him, and he dove right into By Mike Reinitz his Powerpoint presentation on the history of IPA, which Spirit of Free Beer Coordinator proved to be a vital dress rehearsal for the speech he would give to the Craft Brewers Convention four days The 21st Annual Spirit later. of Free Beer is quickly approach- ing! Registration is now open, and with 4 weeks of registration remaining, we have about 100 registered entries already. This year's competition is shaping up to be our largest yet! Bob King and his team of prize- mongers have been amassing a large col- lection of sponsors, with nearly 60 at last count, so you can ex- pect some great prizes again this year. Registration is Steele's highly acclaimed book, IPA: Brewing Tech- open until Thursday, May 2 at 2pm. Entries will be ac- niques, Recipes and the Evolution of India cepted at our drop-off locations beginning Thursday, (brewers publications) covers the topics in much more April 18 and ending on May 2 as well, though BURP depth, but his talk touched on four periods of IPA brew- members can bring their entries to the Chili meeting on ing: The London Years: 1750-1820, The Burton Years: BURP News April 2013 Page 6

1820-1900, The Temperance Years: 1900-Prohibition tually moved to the horse farm of their dreams about 5 and the Craft Years. He almost immediately punctured years ago. The Kensington house sat on a hill which the myth that George Hodgson invented the IPA. No one overlooked the huge Mormon Temple complex in Ken- really knows for sure who did. Hodgson's Bow Brewery sington, quite an imposing sight. The spring weather was on the River Lee, conveniently located just north of had finally arrived and with it the cherry blossoms and the Thames, which gave him easy access to transport other floral delights. So the meeting brought everyone’s ships heading to India. Hodgson's ale had more hops spirits up. There were two main events at this meeting. than other styles of his day, but it was just one of the On the educational side, Enlightenment Minister Wendy products to reach beer enthusiasts in mid-18th century Aaronson and her erstwhile partner Bill Ridgely put India. Far more Porter made it there than IPA. The first on a brewing demonstration and tasting of Chang, the English advertisement to mention the words "East India indigenous Himalayan rice beer. Bill & Wendy had been Pale Ale" didn't even show up until 1835. extensively studying the indigenous beers of the world since 1992. Their early work culminated in an article on The early versions of IPA’s had little to do taste-wise (Andean corn beer) and Chang published in Zy- with today's West Coast IPA-style standards. Some of murgy and an invitation to speak at the 1993 AHA Con- the early tasting notes described it as "sparkling, cham- ference in Portland, OR. Ten years later, that interest pagne-like, with a peculiar fine flavor." That flavor would had progressed to other indigenous beers, including surely leave today's hopheads quite startled. The IPA Finnish and African Sorghum Beer. Wendy felt hop profile has undergone a lot of changes from EKG to there was enough curiosity about the subject to conduct Fuggles to Cluster to the high alpha acid varieties prized a series of demos and tastings at BURP meetings. This today. was to be the first of these events. Fortunately, a sam- ple of the key ingredient required for brewing Chang, a One of the more interesting charts in Steele's presenta- yeast and fungal cake called “phap” (similar to Japanese tion was the 1878 English Military Specification for Pur- koji) was brought back from a trip to Asia by BURPer chased IPA (which is twice as long as the Reinheitsgebot Steve Marler . So the timing was good. Samples of of 1516). He also pointed out that the East India Pale Chang that had been made several days before the Ale was the first beer English people drank cold, making meeting were provided as Wendy and Bill prepared the use of salt peter in the chilling process. Another chart he rice mass and then mixed in the crushed phap. It was a highlighted was a breakdown of modern IPAs with the fun event, and everyone seemed to enjoy the finished data showing only one anomaly: The IPAs of the Pacific product. It would be another 8 years before Bill & Wen- Northwest are, on average, slightly maltier than the rest dy would make another batch of Chang for Ralph of the country. Bucca’s “Indigenous Beer Brewing Challenge” at the 2011 MASHOUT. Following the brewing demo, Culture For any BURP member interested in IPAs, Steele's book Ministers Tom Cannon & Betsy Kepler conducted the is a must read. The inclusion of 50 different recipes will monthly club homebrew competition, this time for Eng- ensure you have a wide variety of blueprints to help lish & Scottish Strong Ales. Entries were accepted for guide you toward making just about any kind of IPA. English and Scottish Wee Heavy. The competi- Steele was asked about new hops, as in which one will tion was a tie-in to the upcoming AHA Club Only compe- replace Citra as the new "hot" hop. He mentioned Mosa- tition for the same styles. The final results, announced ic and El Dorado and, rest assured, there will always be at meeting’s end, were: 1 st , Keith Chamberlin (Wee more high alpha acid/yet-to-be-named hops, coming Heavy); 2 nd , Andy Anderson (Old Ale); and 3 rd , Dan down the pike. The time to make IPAs has never been Fapp (Old Ale). so good. The April 2003 edition of BURP News featured some of the whimsical and “April foolish” writing that regularly graced the newsletter each year at this time. The This Month in BURP History pseunonymous Raki Tsipouro reported on BURP’s sur- Compiled By Bill Ridgely prise move to sign a 15 year lease on a big new club- house at the University of Maryland’s “fraternity row”. 10 Years Ago (Apr 2003) – The article included a photo of the graceful former Zeta The April 2003 BURP meeting Beta Tau house, which now had “BURP” inscribed above took place at the home of Jay its gothic columns. This new facility was destined to be & Dale Chiorini in Kensing- the long-awaited BURPWorld “assisted brewing” retire- ton, MD. This was another ment home, with all the amenities needed for the club’s excellent meeting location that seniors, including a 7-barrel brewing system. Other is sadly no longer available to great seasonal writing included a report on the new the club. The Chiorini’s even- BURP News April 2013 Page 7 combined brewpub and Amsterdam-style “coffee house” extract was boiling, the three BURP officers ( Bucca , that was soon to be opened by Bill Madden . The Fraver , and Ridgely ) who had recently returned from a brewpub portion of this project would eventually come trip to Belize and Guatemala showed slides of their ad- to fruition, of course, as “Mad Fox Brewing Co” but, alas, venture, which included a private tour of the Beliken without the “herbal component”. Finally, reporter Brewery . The slide show was followed by a tasting of Jedran Seglawi alerted club members to the great the Belize brewery’s two products - Beliken Premium Bedouin Wedding Feast planned for the 2003 MASHOUT. and Beliken Stout. BURPer Joe Gold announced Never heard of a feast of this type? It’s easy to prepare. that rumors were swirling about a new small brewery Simply stuff an egg in a chicken, stuff the chicken in a soon to open just outside of Baltimore. This turned out lamb, stuff the lamb in a goat, and stuff the goat in a to be the British Brewing Co , Baltimore’s first true mi- camel. Spit roast the camel over a charcoal fire for 18 crobrewery, which produced an English-style hours. Spike with lots of garlic and serve with mustard. called “Oxford Class”. Yum! 30 Years Ago (Apr 1983) – BURP held its very first 15 Years Ago (Apr 1998) – A fine spring festival and club brewing competition at this meeting. The style was competition took place at the home of Pat and “high-gravity ale”, and the top prize (for an extract- Janet Crowe in Annandale, VA. The Dickhead Brewery based stout) went to Bill Quittman & Fred Dormer . A (Cannons & Crowes) provided a keg of its famous “My photograph of the two (reproduced below) graced the Cock Maibock”. Jim Busch took care of the commercial May edition of the club newsletter, one of the first pho- side of things with a keg of Victory Brewing’s “St Bois- tos to ever appear in the newsletter. This seminal event terous Maibock”. Not unexpectedly, A.J. DeLange took became the basis for what is now known as the Dan both 1 st and 3 rd in the pils competition with two versions McCoubrey Memorial Stout Competition , BURP’s of his famous Bohemian Pils. Jay Adams came in 2 nd longest-running club competition. Mike McClary of Uni- with his interpretation of a Classic American Pils. The can (maker of steel beverage dispensing containers) was April 1998 newsletter featured a sad tale about the spill- also present at this meeting as a special guest and gave age of 16,800 barrels of beer into the Chesapeake Bay. a short talk on his products. The beer, lost during transfer to the bottling line at the Deacon Jack Brewery (location undisclosed), caused no lasting environmental damage, but for awhile, the bay was reported to have a “truly gorgeous white head”.

20 Years Ago (Apr 1993) – The April 1993 BURP meeting featured a Scottish and Scotch Ales competition and tasting. Mike Horkan beat out eleven competitors with his Strong Scotch Ale. Rick Garvin wowed the crowd with five pounds of homemade sausage. The raf- fle featured yet more cases of Sammichlaus & Corsendonk beers from the large stash contributed by George Saxon of Phoenix Imports. The Apr 1993 newsletter featured an article about a do-it-yourself Yorkshire Squares kit for homebrewers, comprised of easy-to-assemble slate squares that could then be used to recreate those great Yorkshire ales of yesteryear. On the less whimsical side, the newsletter also reported on the opening of a new brewpub in Arlington called “Bardo The Need for Mead Rodeo”. By Allison Abernathy Montgomery County Beekeepers Association

25 Years Ago (Apr 1988) – A small but lively crowd attended the April 1988 BURP meeting at the Oxon Hill Montgomery County Beekeepers Association (MCBA) Jaycee Center in Ft Washington, MD, which featured Master Mead Maker Yancy Bodenstein opened his Phil Hugill’s simple extract brewing demonstration. Phil brewery to six MCBA members on March 16 for a hands- brewed a 2 gallon batch using a single can of Mountmel- on beginner mead making class. Truly, we were being lick Hopped Malt Extract a nd nothing else except water coached by a master, as Yancy has won international and yeast. A couple of younger brewers at the meeting awards for his mead in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 in were overheard to say that if they’d known it was that the International Mazer Cup Competition. Last year, he simple, they would have started long before. While Phil’s won a gold medal for his semi-sweet berry melomel, “Rubis Hagrid ”, and this year he won silver in the semi- BURP News April 2013 Page 8 sweet melomel category for his “Hey That is My Cher- ry!”. How cool is that? Our Summer Vacation (St. Pete’s Beach in January) By Pat & Janet Crowe

Yancy’s Gaithersburg brewery is nestled on a hillside under a stand of hardwoods, his beehives conveniently nearby. The brewery is well-equipped with mead and beer making equipment, sound system, and even a We recently had the opportunity to take a quick beer hammock. To start us off, Yancy talked about the history and real estate trip down to sunny St. Petersburg, Flori- of mead, basics of equipment, recipes, and selection of da. Specifically, we wanted to do a recon mission of the yeast. Early on, he spurred our already keen interest by St. Pete’s Beach and St. Petersburg area to see if offering a sample of his delectable bourbon-flavored enough quality foam and suds could be found down mead. Finally, it was time to prepare our individual un- there to spend the winter months there. We arrived at fermented mixtures, or “must”, that will be turned into Tampa-St. Pete International Airport (TPA) Thursday mead. We had come equipped with apple juice and hon- 01/17/13 @ about 5pm. We didn’t realize how close we ey for the must, and Yancy generously provided the were to our first brewery until the rental car shuttle yeast and additional equipment we needed – such as drove past Spruce Street. That is where Cigar City Brew- rubber stops, air locks, and hydrometer – from his ing Company is located. We quickly picked up the rental brewery. He showed us how to use the hydrometer to car and headed to Cigar City check the sugar content and make the final adjustment to the honey/ juice ratio. We added the yeast and left WOW, the place was our starter batches bubbling away to be bottled, with cool, but they had no Yancy’s help, in about six months. food and we were hungry but, delicious All in all, it was a very gracious and enjoyable transfer of beer….beer is liquid knowledge from a master to eager beginners. In addi- bread, bread is food. tion to learning about mead, we enjoyed getting to Done. Cigar City had know our fellow beekeepers in such a congenial set- seventeen of their own ting. beers on (Hop Heads pay attention) featur- ing FOUR IPAs and a . They had an additional six guest

(mostly) Florida beers on. The only non- Florida beer was Green Flash Candela (a 15% Rye beer aged on Spanish Cedar). You just know you’re gonna like a place like this. They had recently undergone a major expansion of their tast- ing room. So the area was huge and packed with BURP News April 2013 Page 9 lotsa happy craft brew drinkers and a few dogs (not sure which is located in an in- what they were drinking). Throughout our trip, it be- dustrial park tucked in came apparent that Tampa and St. Pete are very pet amongst the bayous of friendly. Cigar City’s beer selection was posted on a Tarpon Springs. Bob large flat screen TV and they also had a flat screen brews Belgian ales with showing different areas in the brewery so you could gusto. He noted that he watch the brewers making their delicious tasty treats. has established a Tarpon This gave the place a cool vibe. They offered pick your Springs “house flavor” and own samplers (for which they had a neat little order is proud of the special funk form) and pints and, of course, some of the stronger he had created. He had beers came in smaller goblets. I started off with the Jai three different that Alai IPA, a smooth 7.5% ABV ale with a great citrus fla- morning and each was vor from copious amounts of Citra hops. Janet jumped delicious. The first we on the Florida Cracker Wit which she describes as spicy, tasted was Cynthiana not fruity, with a strong coriander flavor. We decided to brewed with native Cynthi- switch to samplers. There were way too many good ana grapes. It weighed in @ either 8.0 or 8.5% ABV and beers to drink pints all night. The samplers demonstrat- was simply delicious. He also had a collaboration beer ed the quality of Cigar City’s beer. Their use of hops to that he had brewed with Red Light. It was a version of add nuanced flavors to their IPAs and pale ales was his Pays Du Fleurs or Pays Du Soleil infused with sage amazing. They also are not afraid to be irreverent as and tamarind. We thought this to be spectacularly deli- their “Oatmeal Raisin Cookie” demonstrated. It was a cious. The third beer on was one of his standard good beer and absolutely tasted like an oatmeal raisin offerings called Caitlin, which was a stand-up saison. cookie. Dessert has never been better. We vowed we would return. We moved on to the 7th (Seventh) Street Brewery in the newcomer to Dunedin. We had made a stupid mistake Peg’s and BrewPub and not had breakfast. Actually, this is typical for us … (Cycle Brewing Company) ugh! But again, there was no food and we were hungry (continuing theme). So we only had a couple of beers. The next day we drove north from St. Pete’s Beach Janet had the Graffiti Orange which weighed in @ 5.9% along Rte 699 (Gulf Blvd), the main road that traverses ABV. There was a whole bunch of citrus in this American the barrier islands north to south. What we found were Wheat - orange and vanilla and a little lactose. I had many different shades of beach town. We didn’t do the Intergalactic Pale Ale (figures, right?). It was billed much in the way of beer recon along that route because as a West Coast IPA with Galaxy hops and @ 60 IBUs our prior research had found there wasn’t much, but in and 5.5% ABV. It was a very balanced but hoppy beer. this case, that was okay. We were not looking for beer, They had eight of their own beers on and a couple of we were looking for “feel.” And we had a plan which we guest drafts. We wish we could have sampled more, but executed. After several hours in the car we took a we needed food. causeway (lotsa causeways in St. Pete’s) to the main- land and pointed the car south towards Peg’s Cantina in Dunedin Brewery Gulfport, (not Mississippi but Florida), an area south and west of the downtown in St. Pete’s. Why were we We moved on to Dunedin Brewing Company - the origi- jonesing for Mexican? Well the Mexican was a bonus, nal brewery in Dunedin. FOOD FINALLY! We had been but Peg’s Cantina is home to the Cycle Brewery. Cycle to Dunedin before and knew they had a great beer se- had six solid beers on, including their Wee Wee Scottish lection as well as a great menu. They had 14 beers on Ale which was an excellent quaffable version of the which we know from experience are tasty. We were fo- style. Cycle brews in back of the restaurant, because cused on the food though and our notes are sketchy. Peg’s is a relatively small place. But they have an AWE- We had the apricot wheat ale (5.6%), pale ale (6% SOME Biergarten. And rumor on the street is that Cycle ABV) and the maibock (6.5% ABV) there. The place has is going to strike out on their own and open an inde- a laid back wide open feel, we are not sure whether the pendent brewery. building was a garage or firehouse in it’s past life. They feature live music on weekends. The next day we started out at Saint Somewhere in Tar- pon Springs, FL about 45-60 miles north of St. Pete’s Next stop on St. Pete’s/Tampa beer crawl was Rapp Beach. Bob Sylvester is Owner/Brewmaster and runs Brewery. Rapp, new to the Tamps scene, is only open the brewery pretty much as a single person operation. on Thursday/Friday/Saturday. So, if we were going to He was there Saturday to give us a tour of the brewery, get there, it was then. But with a full day of crawl- BURP News April 2013 Page 10 ing already under our belt and (finally) a belly full of young husband and wife team. We understand that they food, we opted to head back to the hotel. do most of their brewing during the evening and in the middle of the night. We’re not sure if this is their full Next day (Sunday) touristy thing….Universal Studios time job or just their passion. The place had a great feel which other than the tourist value (Janet wanted to go and a pretty big draft selection considering they had a to Hogwarts) was highlighted by Hurricanes @ their Pat 2/3 barrel brewing system. Barley Mow had eleven of Obrien’s Universal Studios bar. On the way back to St. their own beers, a guest beer and a cider. They seemed Pete’s Beach, we treated ourselves to another local fa- to be inspired by Dogfish Head Brewing Company. They vorite – Tampa Bay Brewing Company. We had been had lots of imaginative (and flavorful) beers and a cou- there before and had big expectations. This brewery and ple of photos of themselves and Sam Calagione on the Dunedin were two of the original breweries we had been wall. They featured a Quackalope IPA (7.5%ABV) which to in previous visits to the area. We were not disap- was quite good, a Passion Fruit Blonde, a Double Drop- pointed. out Double Pale (this one had a story), and a Tinsel . They also had “The Unkindness”, a fantastic American Black Ale (7.5% ABV). We sampled all of their wonderful beers. All in all, a very pleasurable experi- ence.

Tampa Bay Brewing Company still had good beer. They had seven of their own on plus guest taps and cask beers. It has more of a restaurant feel but still has deli- cious beer. They have a nice outdoor patio too. We watched the Ravens put the finishing touch on the Patri- We managed to make it to downtown St. Petersburg and ots while we were there…Yeah! found an awesome beer bar named The Ale and Witch. That particular night, they had live music (they regularly feature local bands) and they were having an “after-run” party for a local running club. They feature 20 plus Flor- ida microbrews and a great selection of other national micros. After a long day away from the beach, we head- ed back to St. Pete’s Beach. Our goal was to find a good beer bar on the beach. We had heard about a place called the Undertow. We set the Garmin to “Beer Navi- gate Mode” and found the place. If memory serves us correctly, it was a bottles-only place. But they had a very good selection. And when you stepped out the back door of the bar, you stepped onto beautiful white sand. This was a nice way to cap the night.

Monday, we journeyed to Barley Mow Brewing Company in Largo. This was a wonderful little place run by a BURP News April 2013 Page 11

Tuesday was time to go home. We slept late. For some We went for several of the more unusual offerings, in- reason, our heads were feeling like medicine balls. We cluding the Dos Anos Kumquat , the Fruit drove “expeditiously” to Cigar City Brewing Company. Juicy Lager, and the Rum Stumbler Baltic Porter, which We had to complete our mission. We drank the rest of we contrasted with the Kalevipoeg Baltic Porter and the beers we had not had the first night and some new maybe a few more. Lesson learned: good beer exists beer they had put on since. throughout the Tampa/St. Pete’s area!

BURP Doxology

Praise BURP from whom beer blessings flow, Praise BURP ye brewers here below, Praise BURP above ye heavenly hosts, Praise barley, hops and yeast the most Aaaaaaaaaaa, Drink! Al Lowry, 1994

2013 BURP OFFICERS

Office Officer Contact Information Fearless Leader Tom Cannon [email protected] Minister s of Enlightenment Joe Federico, Steve Marler & Robert Stevens [email protected] Ministers of Culture Wendy Aaronson & Nick Griner [email protected] Minister of Prosperity Bob Sholtes [email protected] Minister of Membeersip Howard Michelsen [email protected] Ministers of Propaganda Bill Ridgely & Matthew Pyle [email protected] Newsletter Editor Rich Sampson [email protected]

BURP News April 2013 Page 12

Designated Driver Program Guide for New Members In its quest to promote the safe and responsible enjoyment of Bring more beer than you drink; bring more food than you eat. homebrewed beer, BURP is pleased to offer its Designated Driver Find the nametags and put one on. Sample (i.e., drink a small Program. If you are a designated driver, you will receive compli- quantity of) other people’s beers and make constructive com- mentary door prize tickets. Note: Non-alcoholic beverages ments. Give other people samples of your beer. Chat freely with are not provided by the club. Please bring your own sup- the first stranger you meet; that person won’t be a stranger for ply to club events. long. Don’t drive while intoxicated.

BURP News Editor 211 E Oxford Ave. Alexandria, VA 22301