Posts filed under 'homebrew'
November 15th, 2007
Update: For all of you with your panties in a bunch, please note that I just got a call from the Onion and you’ll be happy to note that you only need to submit two beers and it’ll be BJCP sanctioned. Adam Stern is involved with the judging. They’ll also be having a corresponding event at Town Hall on Tues., Dec. 18th at 7:00pm.
Details:
Bring a home brewed six pack by December 18th to the Onion, 212 3rd Ave. North, #334, Minneapolis, MN 55401.
Prizes?
-An autographed copy of Land of Amber Waters: The History of Brewing in Minnesota by Doug Hoverson.
-10 cases of beer from Minnesota breweries including: Summit, Gluek’s Schell’s, Grain Belt, Brau Brothers, Town Hall, Great Waters, The herkimer, Flat Earth and Surly.
-$50 gift certificate to Northern Brewer.
Commentary:
There’s been a bit of talk about this one among local homebrewers, both with enthusiasm and a healthy dose of skepticism. It sounds like fun and the prizes are certainly good, however a six pack is a lot of precious homebrew to give up for a contest. I’m not sure if the Onion staff knows what their up for, given the size of Minnesota’s homebrewing community. Six beers per entry is a lot of beer, and no doubt the judges will be drunk and tired by the time they’re finished.
There’s also a bit of curiosity among brewers as to what will constitute a winner. I’m assuming it’s just “best beer,” sort of a “best of show.” It doesn’t sound like an easy task, though that opinion comes from a beer nerd. From what I understand, local BJCP judges haven’t been asked to take part, either.
And then, of course, the prizes. 10 cases of local beer sounds great and that certainly makes sense for the breweries, but what about the brewpubs? A case of growlers perhaps? Count me in.
Perhaps the Onion needs some “celebrity” local beer nerds as judges? I know five local beer bloggers that consume their fair share of local beer! Ahem.
November 8th, 2007
Note: I started writing this piece on Saturday afternoon after stopping by Midwest. My visit to Midwest, coupled with a visit with Dale from Lake Superior Brewing Co. the weekend before (not to mention conversations with other brewers) reminded me just how important it is - now more than ever - to support your local breweries, brewpubs and homebrew shops. Seeing this article in the Pioneer Press was refreshing - people need to know that this is a big deal.
MNBeer readers are a mixed bag, so for some of you, this comes as news and others are all-too-aware of the hop shortage that is affecting breweries, brewpubs, homebrew shops and homebrewers. A weekend visit to Midwest Supplies found their normally-full freezers fairly picked over. The same thing is happening with our favorite varieties over in St. Paul at Northern Brewer as well. Prices on bulk hops for homebrewers from sources such as HopsDirect and Freshops have (or will) rise significantly. Less acreage (or yield, for that matter) = less hops. It’s bad. Homebrew shops have been forced to limit the number of hops that they sell to individuals. Newer and smaller breweries are scrambling to find hops. I’ve even heard stories of larger breweries outside of Minnesota that will be using 3-4 year old hops this year.
Malt prices are on the rise as well. The outlook for beer isn’t as rosy as one might like it to be, and as much as I hate to say it, some of the little guys will likely get pushed out of the business before this all settles out.
So what do we do?
Support your local.
Nearly a year ago, I attempted to limit my craft brew intake to Minnesota beers and to whatever might be local when I traveled outside of Minnesota. I was largely successful barring the occasional Belgian brew or domestic micro. In light of everything, I’m planning on trying this again and I’m hoping that some of you will join me as well. It is my sincere wish that not a single Minnesota brewpub, microbrewery or homebrew shop bites the dust. And though I can occasionally drink for two (my liver disagrees), in order to make even the slightest difference, I can’t be the only one doing this.
Drink Minnesota beer. Keep Minnesota brewing. We’ve got some great beer here in Minnesota and I’d like it to stay that way. If you must drink beer from outside of Minnesota, please drink beer from regional and microbreweries and drink it in places that support (Minnesota) craft brewing… bars such as the Blue Nile, Buster’s, Acadia Cafe, Stub and Herb’s, the Muddy Pig, etc., etc.
The people that run and work in the homebrew shops, breweries, brewpubs and local bars are our friends as well as our gateway to quality fermented beverages. Let’s treat them well and thank them for all of the work they’ve done to bring great craft beer to Minnesota. Drink Minnesota beer.
Let’s keep our locals strong! Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll finish my pint of Summit Winter and go to bed.
Drink locally, drink early, drink often!
September 11th, 2007
Got an Email update from Vine Park today. Here’s the beer-related info. More info of course at www.vinepark.com.
A huge thank you goes out to all of you for making this the busiest summer on record at Vine Park!
The custom wine opportunity in July has come and gone but the wines are silently aging all over the area. This was such a hit, we are already planning how to offer more types of wines and to make it easier to get everyone a reserved spot.
And the Belgian recipes in August again drew crowds. This year we offered a series of Belgian Brew Clubs in addition to the custom brewing option and this sold out in record time.
We have a few new things in the works; only some of which are detailed in this email. And to update all of you asking about the growlers; we have been so busy brewing we paused in our efforts until we resolved one issue. Now that we are past that, we intend to work with the City to finish what we started.
Please don’t worry, you will hear from us just as soon as we can offer our first Growlers to you.
WOW! Again, we thank you for your patronage.
Andy & Dan
Brew Club
Time to get the beer fridge refilled and just in time Vine Park is starting our special seasonal mixes.
Autumn Mix kicks off on Sept 12th with just four nights of brewing. Get those traditional rich & delicious beers of autumn!
Winter Mix always fills fast so we’ve set aside 5 (!) Brew Clubs starting Nov 21st. This mix is chock full of powerful & tasty beverages to keep you warm this winter.
Re-Opening on Mondays
Starting Monday, Oct 15th you can brew beer & make wines again at Vine Park.
Just in time for the annual Fall rush to brew for football season & holiday social events, Dan will be back from Bavaria and with a full crew of Brew Coaches we can again handle six days of brewing and wine making.
Check our on line reservation system or give us a call at 651 - 228 - 1355.
July 21st, 2007
Vine Park is offering, for a limited time, a chance to brew six different Belgian styled beers including Bière de Garde, Saison, Dubbel, Tripel, Wit and a clone of Stella Artois.
July 21st, 2007
…and you can download it here.
June 20th, 2007
You’ve heard about the big inter-club campout in New Ulm, haven’t you? Minnesota homebrew clubs galore and no doubt a good beer or fifty…
Anyway, here’s another little teaser from Dave Berg at Schell’s. You’re chance to taste some great kellerbier and get the all-access tour of the Schell Brewery. Something not to be missed!
Hey Folks-
Just a little teaser for you to think about if you’re on the fence (besides the tour that is, I hope I can find all the keys I need and I hope I don’t get us all lost in the cellars…) By the way, bring your cameras for the tour…you’ll get to see a couple of the old Cyprus fermentation tanks that were still in use not that long ago. Where else in the US are you going to see that? But I digress…
I’m going be serving some Bier von dem Fass at the event. Let’s call it Kellerbier or Zwickel Bier, your choice…Unfiltered Pils from the Ruh tank served gravity pour via my new super-nifty German Keg thingy do-dad. I’ll try to figure out how the heck it works before then, or maybe we’ll just roll with the punches. We’ll have some Pils in a keg with some taps and a hammer…our task will be to figure out how to get it out…
Cheers!
db
May 1st, 2007
Here’s some news from our friends over at Northern Brewer:
DRIP TRAY SALE
Stainless, 6†wide drip trays are now on sale for 25% off! Was $31.10, now $23.33!
Offer begins April 30! Get ‘em while they’re hot: link
3 GALLON BETTER BOTTLES
These were discontinued by our supplier, but we found a small
supply of these rare 3 gallon better bottles! Sold in sets of two 3 gallon bottles. Limited quantities! Order while supplies last: link
MALT EXTRACT IN BULK FOR SAVINGS
Northern Brewer house brand malt syrup available in 33# jerrycans and Briess DME in 50# sacks. Find them online: link
LOWER PRICE ON NEW 5 GALLON KEGS
Was $145.00, now $119.95! link
NEW BEER KITS FOR SPRING!
We have added two new wheat-based fruit beers to our kit line – Peach Wheat and Dawson’s Kriek. Check them out at
link and link
NEW ITEM ROUNDUP
Belgian Soft Candi Sugar
link
Wyeast VSS Strains for April-June
link
Island Mist Blueberry Pinot Noir
link
Rahr White Wheat malt
link
Stainless Hop Steeper
link
NB AT THE NHC
NB will be at the National Homebrewers Conference in Denver, June 21-23. Stop by and say hi!
April 11th, 2007
If you’re a BJCP judge, they need you. If you’re not a total buffoon, you’d probably make a good steward. There’s beer involved… good beer even… Seriously, though, if you’re a beer fan, at the very least, consider stewarding. It’s a great way to learn more and meet some great people. Hell, you might even get to taste some beer!
Online entries for the Midwest Region First Round of AHA Nationals: 531
Number of judge/stewards signed up: 41
41 ain’t gonna cut it.
Judges and stewards are still needed.
Details:
Judging for the AHA Midwest Regional 1st round will be held on the 20th and 21st of April 2007.
Location:
Roseville VFW Post 7555
1145 Woodhill Dr
St Paul, MN 55113
Schedule:
Friday April 20th two sessions:
3:00PM and 7:00PM
(Dinner served between flights)
Saturday April 21st three sessions:
9:00AM, 1:00PM, and 3:30PM.
(Lunch Served before 1:00PM session - No food served prior to 9:00 AM session, plan accordingly. No sponsored meal plans after judging last session. In process of planning a post-judging event of some kind)
If judging is finished on Saturday the results will be announced after the last flight - if not there will be more flights during the following week.
To sign up for judging/stewarding please send an email to: thomas@stderr.net Indicate which sessions you are interested in judging/stewarding in. Include categories you can not judge due to having entries in the competition. For out of town judges the closest hotel is:Country Inns & Suites by Carlson
2905 Snelling Ave N
St Paul, MN
(651) 628-3500
Thanks,
Curt Stock - Organizer
Thomas Eibner - Judge Coordinator
March 24th, 2007
Once again, it’s time to vote for th AHA Governing Committee. There are a number of good candidates, but when you’re picking your four, I’m going to suggest that you choose Susan Ruud. She may not live in Minnesota, but North Dakota is our neighborand dagnabbit, that’s good enough for me…
VoteÂ
March 24th, 2007
This is in Minnesota, folks, and it will be a good experience for BJCP judges. Not a BJCP judge? Fear not, there’s room for you too as they are in need of stewards as well.
Judges and Stewards,
This is a call for judges and stewards for the AHA Midwest Regional 1st 2007.
Judging for the AHA Midwest Regional 1st round will be held on the 20th and 21st of April 2007.
Location:
Roseville VFW Post 7555
1145 Woodhill Dr
St Paul, MN 55113
Schedule:
Friday April 20th two sessions:
3:00PM and 7:00PM
(Dinner served between flights)
Saturday April 21st three sessions:
9:00AM, 1:00PM, and 3:30PM.
(Lunch Served before 1:00PM session - No food served prior to 9:00 AM session, plan accordingly. No sponsored meal plans after judging last session. In process of planning a post-judging event of some kind)
If judging is finished on Saturday the results will be announced aftert he last flight - if not there will be more flights during the following week.
To sign up for judging/stewarding please send an email to:
thomas@stderr.net
Indicate which sessions you are interested in judging/stewarding in. Include categories you can not judge due to having entries in the competition.
February 26th, 2007
Yes… right here. Congrats to all of the local winners.
February 26th, 2007
You can grab the March issue now…
February 15th, 2007
The Masters Championship of Amateur Brewering is in need of BJCP judges and stewards:
We’re still in need of judges for MCAB IX:
Judges and Stewards,
This is a call for judges and stewards. Please follow the instructions
below indicating which sessions you want to judge and if you want to
attend the banquet.
Competition Date: February 23-24, 2007
Location:Â Â Â Â Â Â The Happy Gnome
498 Selby Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55102
Event Schedule:
Friday
5:00 PM Gordon Strong - BJCP Grand Master III will be introducing
a new score sheet - All registered judges will recieve a
link to review this scoresheet prior to event.
5:30 PM Friday judge session begins
8:00 PM Hors Deurves / Snack food served at Happy Gnome after judging
(No food served beforehand - so plan appropriately)
Saturday
10:00 AM Flavor Aktive Session lead by Kris England - CEP Class
12:00 PM Lunch served for judges
1:00 PM Saturday judge session begins
3:30 PM Best of Show Judging
3:30-7 PM Try some of the 24 taps the Happy Gnome has to offer
or take advantage of the generous 15% off discount that
Northern Brewer is offering.
Possible Talk/QA event.
7:00 PM Dinner and Awards Ceremony (Dinner will cost $25, please request
reservation by Friday 2/16 - if enough people do not sign up for the
dinner we will just announce the winners and retire to the bar for those
that wish to hang around and socialize)
Dinner Menu (family style):
- Chef’s Seasonal Vegetable
- Fresh Baked Bread
- Mixed Green Salad
- Baby Red Potato Hash with Onions and Bell Peppers
- Bone-in Chicken with Rosemary Chicken Jus
Throughout the event there will be a ‘Waters of the World’ station.
Brewing waters of different regions around the world will be presented
along with examples of the associated beer styles. Completion of self
administered exam will count towards CEP credit.
If you are interested in judging email the organizer and
include:
Name:
BJCP Number:
BJCP Rank:
Preferred Categories:
What Sessions you want to judge Friday 5:00 PM and/or Saturday 1:00 PM:
Dinner Reservation for Saturday night: Yes or No
Dinner Price: $25
Menu TBA by the 14th.
Hotel information for out of town judges:
Best Western - Bandana Square
1010 Bandana Boulevard W
Saint Paul, Minnesota, 55108-5107, US
Phone: 651-647-1637
Fax: 651-647-0244
mailto:curt@sphbc.org
Curt Stock & Thomas Eibner
February 15th, 2007
Results of the Northern Ale Stars‘ Great Northern Brew-ha-ha have been posted here.
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