July meeting and tasting recap

Wow, what a fun meeting that was. A lot of new faces and a lot of good beer. Thanks to Tony and Jessica Tielli for hooking us up with a good meeting spot at their community clubhouse (we'll be back there next month). A few notes from the evening's festivities:

1. Every May, the American Homebrewers Association sponsors Big Brew Day, an event aimed at getting experienced homebrewers to invite their friends to brew with them and introduce new people to the hobby. So this month's tasting competition was for all those beers we brewed for Big Brew Day. No specific style guideline--the only requirement was that the beer had to be a tag-team effort between a Red Earth member and someone new to homebrewing.




A few of the entries ready to go



Let the tasting begin

And the winners are . . .

1st Place: Jason MacKinnon and Wes Glinsmann (American Wheat--recipe below)
2nd Place: Daniel Waterburg and Brandon Jones (American Pale Ale)
3rd Place: Chris and Jase (India Pale Ale)


The big winners

 Congrats to our winners and thanks to everyone who entered!

2. In addition to the contest entries, thanks to everyone who brought their homebrews to sample. We had everything from a 13 year old tripel to keg-hopped IPAs to chocolate coconut schwarzbier. I'm pleased to report that the beers keep getting better every month, so be sure you don't miss next month's meeting.

3. Speaking of which, next month's meeting should be very, very interesting. You may recall, our tasting next month is in the BJCP #23 category of "specialty/experimental/historical" beers. So basically the rules are there are no rules. Anything you can come up with--weird styles, crazy ingredients--that doesn't fit into another category is valid. So plan to be there for what promises to be a great tasting. The meeting info is:

Thursday, August 25
7:00 pm
17804 Silverhawk Way
Edmond, OK
(Southwest corner of 178th and Penn)

4. KRXO's Beerfest is scheduled for August 6th, and Red Earth Brewers will be there pouring some of our finest samples. If you would like to donate some beer for the cause or would like to volunteer to pour, please contact Gail at The Brew Shop for all the details. (One catch--if you plan to pour, you MUST have your homebrewer's license from the ABLE Commission. If you don't already have it, I encourage you to print off the form below and get it submitted ASAP. It's free, but it can take ABLE a few weeks to get it processed.)

Oklahoma Home Brew Permit Application

5. Red Earth Brewers is coming up on its 1st birthday, and we want to make sure that the club is giving Oklahoma homebrewers what they need. So if you haven't already done so, please take our quick survey and let us know what you think of a couple of important issues that will determine where we go from here.

6. The American Homebrewers' Association club-only competition for September is mead. So if you are a mead maker who would like to enter one of your meads for consideration, please contact Gail.

7. The future tasting schedule is as follows, so be thinking about what you want to bring to these meetings:

August: Specialty/Experimental/Historical Beers (BJCP #23)

October: Hefeweizen (BJCP #15 A, B, C and D)

December: Winter Warmer (no specific style guidelines, but any high alcohol beer--imperial stout, barleywine, old ale, etc.--for those cold winter nights)

Thanks again to everyone who came out on Thursday! I look forward to seeing even more folks in August.

(Below is Wes' and Jason's winning recipe, along with some more pictures from the evening.)

Wheatcha Doin? American Wheat
O.G. 1.053
IBU 15.3

7 lbs, 4 oz wheat liquid extract (put in half at beginning of boil, and the other half with 5-10 minutes left)
1 lb flaked wheat
8 oz crystal 10L
1/4 oz magnum hops (60 min)
1/4 oz cascade hops (5 min)
1/2 oz cascade hops (1 min)
White Labs California Ale (WLP001) yeast

Help Us Improve Red Earth Brewers!

Please take our brief survey and help us make Red Earth Brewers a better group and resource for you and the Oklahoma homebrewing community!

June Meeting and Belgian Tasting

A big thanks to everyone who came out to our club meeting and tasting last night.  A good time was had by all, and thank you to Inca Trail Peruvian Restaurant for hosting us.  (FWIW, the food was amazing--if you haven't had a chance to try it yet, click here for a $14 coupon for $7.) 


Goes great with a cold beer. And since Inca Trail is BYOB, you can bring your favorite homebrew.

Our theme this month was Belgian-style ales and, wow, did we do it up right! A whole lot of variety and some really great beers. Our club tastings just keep getting better and better!  In the end, we actually had a tie for the favorite beer of the night.  Congrats to Tony Tielli, who kept his winning streak going with a Belgian Dark Strong, and Ross Harper, who got his first club win with an excellent tripel.  (I apologize to those at the meeting who heard me announce the results incorrectly. Math was never my strong suit.) Third place went to Rich Brucker for his Dark Strong.

Just a few of the great beers we got to sample.

Also, congrats go out to those who had the "best of style" in each category:

BJCP 16A Witbier:  Wes Glinsmann
BJCP 16E. Belgian Specialty: Nick Slepko
BJCP 18C Belgian Tripel: Ross Harper
BJCP 18E Belgian Dark Strong: Tony Tielli

In addition to the tasting, we also conducted a little business.  Tony gave a brief presentation on the history and characteristics of Belgian beer styles.  Wes reported that we're going to try to have an educational component at each of our future meetings.  Next month, we'll be talking about proper sanitation techniques.  So if that topic (or something else you're knowledgeable about) piques your interest as something you'd like to talk about, let Gail or Wes know and we'll make sure to plug you in.  Also, Bricktown Brewery has given Gail an obscene amount of Perle hops. So if that's something you could use in a future brew, stop by The Brew Shop with a zip-loc bag and Gail will hook you up.

Don't forget--the July meeting (tentatively scheduled for July 21st) is our "pro-am" competition, at which we'll be sampling all the beers we brewed with our friends for the AHA's Big Brew Day last month. So be sure to bring your friends with you and introduce them to our club and the wide, wide world of homebrewing.  We've got a good lead on a location for our July meeting, and we'll let you know for sure once we have that confirmed. 

Hope everyone is able to stay cool this weekend.  Happy brewing!

The Army Needs Brewers!

While I'm sure the SEALs who took down Osama Bin Laden will never have to buy themselves another beer as long as they're on a Navy base, I had no idea the military actually made its own.

If you've ever wanted to be a professional brewer, here's your chance:  Fort Sill is hiring a new brewmaster. 

Here's the job description:

Plans and manages the day-to-day operation of a brewery. Prepares and/or oversees the preparation of beer following and creating recipes. Develops operating budget, identifying labor, equipment and supply cost elements. Controls pricing, beer production methods and techniques. Supervises assigned staff. DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY NONAPPROPRIATED FUND INSTRUMENTALITIES ARE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYERS.

Sure they pay's not great ($22,020 a year) and you'd have to move to Lawton. But you get to put "Brew Master" on your resume.  And, as the guy (or girl) making the beer, I'm guessing you'd be pretty popular on an Army base.

 

So good luck!  Click here for a link to the application.

April Meeting Notes

A big thanks to everyone who came out to our meeting last night at Convergence Collective.  I know several people were out of town and, let’s face it, it’s hard to compete with a Thunder playoff game, so our attendance was down a bit.  But a good time was still had by all.  Some highlights and news from the night:

1.       This month’s tasting was SMaSH (single malt and single hop) beers.  One type of grain, one type of hop, one type of yeast, water . . . and nothing else.  Definitely makes you appreciate specialty grains.  Congratulations once again go to Tony Tielli, whose light but spicy Czech pilsner (recipe below) took first place in the tasting completion. 

First Place: Tony Tielli, Czech Pilsner

Second Place: Wes Glinsmann, Centennial IPA

Third Place: Stephen Law, Amarillo IPA

And, although not entries for the tasting, thanks to Richard Magann (jalepeno ale) and Blaine Stansel (black licorice doppelbock) for bringing some extra beer to the party.

2.       The American Homebrewer’s Association annual “Big Brew Day” is May 7^th.  Big Brew Day is designed to be a good day to help introduce new people to the hobby of homebrewing. So here is what we decided to do: every Red Earth Brewer who will be around on the 7^th should invite a friend or friends who are interested to come brew with you.  Just do something simple that they can help with—an extract only or extract/specialty grain beer.  Go through the whole process with them. Then, invite them to come with you to our July meeting, where they can get to know us as a club and we’ll have a big tasting event of everybody’s extract homebrews.  This will be a great way to introduce people to the hobby of homebrewing as well as welcome them into our group.

3.       Our future tasting schedule is as follows, so brew accordingly:

June: Belgian Style (BJCP Styles #16, 17 and 18)

August: Specialty Ale (BJCP Style #23).  Here is where the fun starts.  The American Homebrewers’ Association Club-Only competition is a “specialty/experimental/historical” beer. In other words, anything the far reaches of your imagination can come up with.  So this will be your chance to finally brew that one really crazy idea that you’d always wanted to try.

October: Hefeweizen (BJCP Style #15)

December: Those who have a lagering fridge should do a dark lager (BJCP Style #4) to be ready for the AHA’s January club-only competition.  Everybody else should brew some kind of Winter Warmer (i.e. imperial stout, barleywine or other malty, high-alcohol type of beer). 

4.       Our next meeting will be Thursday, May 19^th.  We should have a location finalized shortly and will let everybody know where the meeting will be.

Just a reminder: Gail sends out the meeting notices via email, but we post a lot of other information on our Facebook and Twitter pages. Sometimes informative, sometimes humorous, always entertaining.  So be sure you follow Red Earth Brewers on Twitter and Facebook. 

Happy brewing!

Tony’s SMaSH Czech Pilsner

6 gallon batch

Target OG 1.052

Target FG 1.010

Color 4 SRM

IBU - 43

ABV - 5.1

5.36kg (100%) German Pilsner Malt (Wyermann)

68g Czech Saaz - 60 minutes

47g Czech Saaz - 30 minutes

25g Czech Saaz - 15 minutes

30g Czech Saaz - 1 minute

White Labs WLP800 Pilsner Yeast

Mash using the modified double decoction method.  90 Minute boil. Pitch a massive quantity of yeast at 45F and let ramp up to 50F (I repitched slurry from a previous batch). Ferment at 50F for 3 weeks, cold crash and lager for 6 weeks.  Keg, Filter, Carb, Drink!

Celtic Brew-Off Invitation

Slainte Mhath! (Good Health)

       On behalf of the Knights of the Brown Bottle Homebrew Club of Arlington, Texas, We invite you to participate in the annual Celtic Brew-Off Homebrew Competition.  This year will mark the “CRYSTAL ANNIVERSARY” of the Celtic Brew-Off and the Knight’s goal is to make 2011 the best to date.  The Celtic Brew-Off is the largest homebrewing competition in the country devoted exclusively to beers, meads, and ciders with origins in Celtic nations of the world.  In 2010 the Celtic received over 300 entries and 2011 looks to be even larger.  

      Entries will be accepted from Friday May 6^th through Thursday May 12^th.  First and second round judging will be held May 21^st and 22^nd at the Coor’s Distribution Center in north Fort Worth.   Judges and stewards of all levels and experience are welcome.    A light lunch will be provided and there will be door prizes for those participating in the judging.  As in years past, the 2011 Celtic Brew-Off will conclude at the Texas Scottish Festival and Highland Games in Arlington held the first weekend in June.

       New for 2011 will be 15^th Anniversary Commemorative Trophies given to the first place and BOS winning entrants.  Second and third place winners will receive custom ribbons made with Celtic tartan.  Style guidelines, contest rules and on-line registration may be found on the Celtic Brew-Off link at www.kobb.org.   

Cheers,

Richard Graham and Dave Girard, Co-directors

2011 Celtic Brew-Off

Red Earth Brewer Takes Best of Show at Bluebonnet

Ladies and gentleman, we have a celebrity in our midst!

As you may know, last weekend was the Bluebonnet Brew-Off, one of the nation's largest and most competitive homebrew competitions. Congratulations to our own Tony Tielli, whose American Stout not only won 1st place in the Strong Stout category, but beat out almost 1600 other entries for 1st Place Best of Show!

For those of you who were at our February meeting in Guthrie, you'll remember that Tony's stout took 1st Place in our club stout tasting (proving we have good taste!).

So congrats Tony! This is a huge honor for you, and a great start for our new club.

Here is the recipe for Tony's award-winning stout:

Tony's American Stout
BJCP Category 13E
Target OG : 1.080
Target FG : 1.022
ABV 7.69%
Batch Size: 6 Gallons (at the end of the boil)
Calculated at 70% efficiency.
75% (6.44kg) Pale Ale Malt
9% (800g) Chocolate Malt
5% (480g) Roasted Barley
5% (400g) Crystal 40L
2% (160g) Crystal 80L
4% (350g) White Table Sugar
33g Magnum (13.6%aa) - 60 minutes
20g Centennial (10.0%aa) - 10 minutes
20g Cascade (5.5%aa) - 10 minutes
30g Centennial (10.0%aa) - 1 minute
30g Cascade (5.5%aa) - 1 minute
30g Centennial (10.0%aa) - Dry Hop
20g Cascade (5.5%aa) - Dry Hop
White Labs WLP007 Dry English Ale (repitched slurry from previous batch)
Ferment at 65F until complete, dry hop for 7 days following fermentation.