Meeting Recap: 1/3/12

LOVE IT!!

Excellent idea. There's a number of different directions we can take this, depending on the ingredients. People were asking for some educational substance, well, here it is! Hopefully, we'll have a good turn out and get a lot of input.

I'm in. Like the idea of the French Press as well.

sounds like a great idea to me

sounds like it was a good time, wish i could have made it. boyscots is on tuesdays, so i won't be able to make a lot of the tuesday meetings. i hope to be able to make some of the 2nd meeting though!

I've been doing a little more research on malt-teas. I found some pretty good resources here on HomeBrewTalk.com.

Please post a reply if this is something you are interested in doing. We could easily purchase a few $7 french press's for the 'Tea Series' for hops and grain. We really need to know if there is interest in attending these meetings before making that purchase.

Location: Jeb's
Time: 7-9
Attendees: Jeb, Mike P, Randi, Eric D, Mike F, Tyler S

Beers:
Lot's of dark beers were had. Eric brought his Galaxy laced Porter. Mike F also brought a Porter. Philleo's brought a Sweet Stout. Tyler brought an English Mild and an English Bitter. Jeb had several coveted commercial brews that he shared.

Business:
Mike Philleo's Introduction to the New Year:
In order to get more out of our meetings, we are going to be using a new format. As most of you know with the New Year beginning we’ve officially converted the second meeting to a brew day. So, we’ve got more time to brew, but less time for business. With the new format, we are looking into ways to add more education to the meetings. Each month we’ll discuss a brewing ingredient. It might be a hop, grain, or yeast. We’ll try to have examples of these on hand to discuss. If you feel strongly about an ingredient, you are welcome to present the ingredient of the month, just talk to Mike P for scheduling. Our meetings are also going to discuss the current brew of the month style. We’ll talk about history of the style, flavors, aromas, example, brewing experiences, and if we’re lucky have some available to taste. With that said, please keep the chatter to a minimum and hold on passing beers until the end. We will have lots of time for open discussion.

Club News

• Lagerator is up and running at the Philleo’s for Premium Members to use.
  
• Randi is currently cataloging our equipment for easier checkout.
  
• The Prairie Homebrewers are having their holiday party Saturday, January 14th. All brewers are welcome to attend. See the flyer for more details.
  
• The Brew of the Month will be held Saturday, January 21st starting at 2pm. Eric Delzer will be hosting the brew of an All Grain Irish Stout. The location is 2010 N 16th St. Apt. 1, Bismarck. All info is on the online calendar.
  
• Hosting dates are open for both Brew of the Month and regular meetings. We need to fill these locations for 2012. Our hopes are to make poster calendars for everyone, but we need those dates hosted first. If you can host, please talk to Randi or visit the Resources section of the website.
  
• Mike P is waiting to hear back from Jim at Beaver Creek regarding a tour of the Brewery in February.
  
• Randi is looking for suggestions both date and locations for having the Mashers host the ND Brewers Campout this year. All we need to do is set the date time and show up. If you have any campground suggestions, please let Randi know.

Brew Style of the Month
Irish stout or dry stout (in Irish, leann dubh, "black beer") is very dark or rich in color and it often has a "toast" or coffee-like taste.

Aroma: Coffee-like roasted barley and roasted malt aromas are prominent; may have slight chocolate, cocoa and/or grainy secondary notes. Esters medium-low to none. No diacetyl. Hop aroma low to none.

Appearance: Jet black to deep brown with garnet highlights in color. Can be opaque (if not, it should be clear). A thick, creamy, long-lasting, tan- to brown-colored head is characteristic.

Flavor: Moderate roasted, grainy sharpness, optionally with light to moderate acidic sourness, and medium to high hop bitterness. Dry, coffee-like finish from roasted grains. May have a bittersweet or unsweetened chocolate character in the palate, lasting into the finish. Balancing factors may include some creaminess, medium-low to no fruitiness, and medium to no hop flavor. No diacetyl.

Mouthfeel: Medium-light to medium-full body, with a creamy character. Low to moderate carbonation. For the high hop bitterness and significant proportion of dark grains present, this beer is remarkably smooth. The perception of body can be affected by the overall gravity with smaller beers being lighter in body. May have a light astringency from the roasted grains, although harshness is undesirable.

Overall Impression: A very dark, roasty, bitter, creamy ale.
Comments: This is the draught version of what is otherwise known as Irish stout or Irish dry stout. Bottled versions are typically brewed from a significantly higher OG and may be designated as foreign extra stouts (if sufficiently strong). While most commercial versions rely primarily on roasted barley as the dark grain, others use chocolate malt, black malt or combinations of the three. The level of bitterness is somewhat variable, as is the roasted character and the dryness of the finish; allow for interpretation by brewers.

History: The style evolved from attempts to capitalize on the success of London porters, but originally reflected a fuller, creamier, more “stout” body and strength. When a brewery offered a stout and a porter, the stout was always the stronger beer (it was originally called a “Stout Porter”). Modern versions are brewed from a lower OG and no longer reflect a higher strength than porters.

Ingredients: The dryness comes from the use of roasted unmalted barley in addition to pale malt, moderate to high hop bitterness, and good attenuation. Flaked unmalted barley may also be used to add creaminess. A small percentage (perhaps 3%) of soured beer is sometimes added for complexity (generally by Guinness only). Water typically has moderate carbonate hardness, although high levels will not give the classic dry finish.

Vital Statistics:
OG: 1.036 – 1.050
IBUs: 30 – 45
FG: 1.007 – 1.011
SRM: 25 – 40
ABV: 4 – 5%

Commercial Examples: Guinness Draught Stout (also canned), Murphy's Stout, Beamish Stout, O’Hara’s Celtic Stout, Russian River O.V.L. Stout, Three Floyd’s Black Sun Stout, Dorothy Goodbody’s Wholesome Stout, Orkney Dragonhead Stout, Old Dominion Stout, Goose Island Dublin Stout, Brooklyn Dry Stout

Ingredient of the Month
Pale Chocolate Malt from Thomas Fawcett & Sons
Pale chocolate malt is most often used in darker beers such as porters and stouts to add color and richness. It is used in preference to chocolate malt when less color from the grains is desired and a grain with milder flavors is needed. It is a lesser roast than most chocolate malts provides a unique flavor, as well as contributing to darkness of color on dark milds, browns, ambers, porters, and stouts.
Many brewers describe it as more nutty and toasty than roasty. Pale chocolate exhibits less bitterness than its full-fledged Chocolate counterpart. Using a lesser amount of Chocolate will work in a pinch as a substitute for Pale Chocolate, but it will not present the same flavors.
A version of Pale Chocolate Malt can also be found from Dingemans. It is a little darker at 200-250L.


Discussed:

• Mike F will be hosting the February meeting. At this meeting he wants to make malt-teas to give everyone a chance to taste the flavors that a malt imparts. The idea was well received and it was suggested that we do a series of these tastings and compare similar grains, such as a base malt series, dark malt series and so forth. If the project turned out well, we could do a hop tea series.
  
• Mike F discussed the prospect of using recently passed Michigan House Bill 4061 to draft a state bill that would allow for homebrewers in North Dakota to meet and bring beer into microbrew pubs without compromising the pubs liability.
  
• To finish the meeting off, attendee's discussed their favorite South Park moments.