Brewsletter - March 2012

by Jason Cox

HOPS – Homebrewers Of Pagosa Springs

 

Hello HOPS Heads,

A moment of reflection: Ode to an Eichmann. In about 2 hours from the time I write this, Pagosa Springs will lose a character. A guy that was hard to ignore. Most people liked what they found, and well, others, who knows what they saw. But for the most part I would say he is respected and most would agree he was a pleasure to be around. I am one of the latter. Not that I am a pleasure to be around, but I think he is. Jamie Eichmann and his girl Holly (and Holly’s son & Molly-dog) are off to the Holy Land of beer, cheese and brats: Wisconsin. I told him his accent would be in full swing within 20 minutes of crossing the border. He corrected me; it was required to cross the border, so it would be immediate. Se la vie (such is life, for the non-so-French – myself included). He’s a hard guy not to like, and I think this is a genuine dude that will be missed and Pagosa already ain’t quite what it used to be, and they haven’t even left yet. Cheers, my friend and God Speed. I like your brews and hope you land that gig with New Glarus Brewing Co. Anyway, enough about that guy, let’s get back to the topic at hand. ;-) Beer and all the fun fermentables to be experienced along the way, and especially to be enjoyed with good friends.

 

Cheers, and Best Wishes to the Eichmann Entourage ~

 

Randini the Beer Spammer

 

Tech Tip of the Day: About Yeast Starters and Growing Yeast: People have asked about easy ways to grow yeast. I will just cover one method today, as there are many. Freeze some wort at the end of each brewing session.  This gives you ready made starter wort with basically no effort. Defrost the starter wort and pitch the yeast in a sanitized flask.  Put it on a stir plate (if you have one) and you have a starter in no time. If you don't have a stir plate just make sure you don't tighten a lid of a jar and let it build pressure as the yeast starts (kaboom). I don't think it needs to be boiled again, as it has been boiled, cooled and frozen.  Others may disagree and it certainly wouldn't hurt anything to do so, but it would add some time. Also, for bigger beers I do typically start with a smaller beer and work up to it.  

 

Quote of the Day: Alcohol does not solve any problem, but then neither does milk.

 - Unknown

 

 

 

HOPS Meetings:

 

  • HOPS – New Business:
    • Next Meeting: Today, Tuesday, the 27th is the next HOPS meeting, Pagosa Brewing Co at 6:00 PM. The RED COLOR GROUP is up, so if you are in this group, make sure you have been in touch with your Color Group Leader (Eleanor) to find out what is in the pipeline.
    • Style of the Month: Scottish and Irish Ales
    • FFO (First Friday Out) – The first Friday of February (the 6th) we will meet at The Pagosa Bar (that’s right – the PB baby! They have some great beer on tap!).
    • Discussion: Some ideas we want to go over include the following:

A)      Membership Dues – Time for us to squeeze some money out of you!

B)      United Way Brew Event (Schedule date and recipe – more info below)

C)      Durango Pub Crawl – we are working with the homebrew club in Durango about doing to gathering / pub crawl in March. Bring ideas on what you would like to do. Tastings? Presentation Topics? Just looking for ideas…

D)      Homebrew Hoedown Plans – we need to decide if we are hosting another event. Last year we did it in June. Do we want to do it again?

E)      BJCP Club Competition? Also paired in June with the Hoedown maybe?

 

 

 

UPCOMING LOCAL NEWS & EVENTS:

 

Mark Your Calendars:

 

  • Tuesday, March 27th – HOPS Meeting: This coming Tuesday is the HOPS Meeting (normally the fourth Tuesday of the month). We will meet at Pagosa Brewing Company at 6:00 PM. This month we will be going over some of the upcoming events and agenda items above, along with the Style of the Month. This time is Scottish and Irish Ales. For more info on these styles, check out the descriptions listed on the BJCP website here: http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/catdex.php (Category 9) Check out the posts from local liquor stores on our website at www.pagosahops.org to see what is in stock.

 

  • First Friday Out, April 6th – The first Friday of the month we like to drink beer. Ok, we like to drink beer more often than that, but we usually get together somewhere around town, and this time around we will meet at the Pagosa Bar. See you there 6:00!

 

  • United Way Brew Event - Bill Tramarco in our HOPS club is involved with the local United Way chapter based in Pagosa Springs and we chatted with him recently about their upcoming annual appreciation celebration in April. We'd like to get HOPS club members together to brew some beers that we can donate to the event and use to help support United Way. We will send out more details soon and we should brew by early March to give the brews sufficient time to be ready by the event in early April. Post any suggestions or thoughts you have about this on this thread and we'll take everything into consideration. What better way to support charity than to make homebrew!

 

  • Durango Homebrew Gathering / Pub Crawl – Sometime in April (?) we are planning a get together with the Homebrew Club in Durango. This will probably include a homebrew tasting at Ska, along with tours & presentations then followed by a tour of beer spots including other breweries and Lady Falc’s. More details will follow as we get them.

 

  • AHA Big Brew Day, Saturday May 5th – AHA Big Brew is a celebration of National Homebrew Day (May 7). Each year homebrewers around the world invite family and friends to their brewing site on the first Saturday in May to celebrate the holiday. Everyone is encouraged to help out with the brew, enjoy the fun and join in on a world-wide toast at noon CDT. And yes, we will be brewing it up here in P-Town. For more info go here:
    http://www.homebrewersassociation.org./pages/events/national-homebrew-day

 

  • Archuleta County Fair, August 2-5 – Be sure to keep in mind the beer competition for the Fair this year!

 

 

Other Dates to Keep In Mind:

 

NEWS:

 

  • Ska 2012 GABF Pro-Am Homebrew Competition: Here is an email from Ska regarding the homebrew competition coming up:

 

Greetings Homebrewers!

Happy 2012 to all!  Just wanted to let everyone know that we will be holding our annual GABF Pro-Am HomebrewCompetition during American Craft Beer Week again.  The dates for American Craft Beer Week are May 14-20, 2012.  Registration will begin in mid-late February but just wanted to touch base with everyone so you could begin to plan ahead.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

Cheers,

 

Kristen Muraro

Events Coordinator

Ska Brewing Co.

Office:  970-247-5792 Ext: 35

Cell:  970-946-0715

Kristen@skabrewing.com

225 Girard St.

Durango, Colorado 81303

 

  • Hop Rhizomes Available – If you are looking to grow your own hops, Tony with Pagosa Brewing Co has sent some information on getting a wide variety at pretty good prices. They normally take about two years to get established. If you are interested in getting some let me know. They are about $2.50 each (unless you order 40 ormore) and they have a wide variety to choose from.

 

  • Beer News Around Durango – For the latest news on the beer scene in Durango, check out http://beerat6512.blogspot.com/. Our neighbors to the West have a great beer town, along with some great writers and this is a fun place to check up on the happninz. Erich Hennig, my brew-brotha-from-anotha-motha just joined the team. Check it out – I think you will enjoy it!

 

 

Pagosa Brewing Company News / Events:

 

~ On Tap This Weekend ~
Spring Hop -  Champion Belgian Ale - Colorado State Fair '11
Join us for the tapping of our annual Spring Hop Ale!  It's a hybrid Belgo/American Pale Ale brewed with Belgian & American hops. It's got a complex Belgian nose, followed by a easy drinking dry middle, and finishes with a spicy, lingering American bitterness.
Special Food Pairings:  Belgian Carbonade Stew, Salmon Pizza with Dill Cream Sauce, and NY Cheesecake with Whiskey Cream & Belgian Chocolate Drizzle.

~ On Tap Beginning of April ~
Alpine Abbey Blonde
Based on the Monastic Abbey biers of Belgium...  These world-class biers are brewed by Trappist Monks to support their Abbeys and Monasteries.  For authenticity, we procured our yeast from one of these Abbeys, copied their water profile, and imported specialty malts and hops from Belgium.  Alpine Abbey Blonde has a wonderfully complex aroma of light fruit and subtle spice, and it finishes exceptionally dry and smooth.  
À votre santé! (To Your Health!)!

~ On Tap Middle of April ~
Double Black
Imperial Black IPA - One of the most extreme, and yet deceptively quaffable IPA's we’ve ever crafted.  As such, we call it Double Black and it’s not for the faint of heart.  It’s got an amazing balance of black malts and hops with an intense depth of character of rich malts, but not too heavy.  First featured during the Opening Reception at the Big Beer Festival in Vail in January 2011. 

 

FRONT RANGE & BEYOND NEWS & EVENTS:

 

  • Hop Rhizome Source: Another source for growing your own hops. You can harvest wild hop rhizomes locally or you can purchase rhizomes from different suppliers. Here is one other one that sent our club an email: 
    To: Homebrewers of Pagosa Springs 
    I’d like to introduce myself, my name is Andy McCormick and I own Arrowhead Hops, a small hop yard in central Iowa 30 minutes north of Des Moines.  Arrowhead Hops is happy to announce the 2012 hop rhizome pre-order sale through March 1st! Pre-ordered rhizomes will be delivered in early spring.      All rhizome varieties will be $2.75 each for club members, quantities allocated for this sale are limited and no minimum purchase is required. Please email Arrowheadhops@yahoo.com with variety and quantity if you wish to place an order.

    Brewer’s Gold, Chinook, Galena, Mt. Hood, Nugget, Sterling, Willamette
    Thanks
    Andy McCormick
    Arrowhead Hops

 

  • Salida Brewer’s Rendezvous – July 14th (One of the coolest beer fests in CO if you ask me. And yes, I heard you askin.)

 

 

 

FOR SALE / FOR FREE / WANTED:

 

  • Free Fridge (Great for a Kegerator) – If a HOPS member is interested in building a kegerator I found a free fridge that would be great for the job. Email me for more info – randy@speeddirect.com. Again, don’t reply to this email or you will send it to every beer drinking fool on the planet. Really.

 

  • All Grain Brew Equipment Wanted – Yours truly is looking for some misc. all grain brewing equipment. I mainly need a wort chiller and a sparge arm.

 

Anybody else have anything you want to list? Beer related or not, just lemme know and I will circulate your stuff around the universe. Well, my universe…

 

 

 

Links:

 

  • Homebrewing News – A website started by our buddy Bill Downs here in the Four Corners area that focuses on product reviews and more: www.homebrewingnews.com

 

  • Local Beerlover Networking Website: Check out www.brewerfest.com for a social beer lover’s networking site. It works kinda like Facebook, only without all the loser teenagers counting how many totally irrelevant “friends” they can amass proving how completely lame they are. This site is actually cool! (Yes, a big fan of Facepuke here…) Joseph from Pagosa Brewing started this one up and it has some great photos of HOPS junk, plus it is free to join! Sign in and rock out with your beer out.

 

 

 

 

UNSUBSCRIBE – But before you do, come see me at the HOPS meeting tonight so we can discuss this further. I’d bet that after some Irish & Scottish Ale sampling you’ll change your mind!