News You Can Use 07062012

I hope that everyone had a great Fourth of July and is looking forward to another hot weekend. A few beer-related notes to get your weekend off to a good start.

1. Tomorrow is our big trip to Krebs for the Choc Brewery tour. We have 16 people confirmed and RSVPed to the brewery. IF YOUR NAME IS NOT ON THE LIST BELOW AND YOU ARE PLANNING TO GO, I NEED TO KNOW ASAP SO I CAN UPDATE OUR HEAD COUNT WITH THE BREWERY!!! The cost is $25, and that includes the tour, tastings, lunch, a glass and a tshirt. We are meeting in the south parking lot at the State Capitol (2300 N. Lincoln) tomorrow morning at 8:45 to carpool down. Confirmed attendees: Brent and Paula Adams, Julie Bennett, Ben and Katie Dickey, Wes and Robbyn Glinsmann, John Hobbs, Brandon Jones, Richard and Rebecca Magann, Adam and Andrea Silvas, Sue Wilson and Dave and Nancy Yockel.

2. Congrats to Richard Magann, who took 1^st and 3^rd place and to Julie Bennett (2^nd place) for their strong showings in last month’s club American IPA tasting. It was our strongest showing yet with more than a dozen entries and some really great beers. And a big thanks again to Patrick Lively and the other guys at COOP Aleworks for hosting us. We always have a great time there and look forward to coming back again. Click here for a full wrap-up of the meeting.
3. Our next regular club meeting is Thursday, July 26^th. Location is TBA, but probably at Jess and Tony’s neighborhood clubhouse (I just haven’t had a chance to talk to them about reserving it). This will be our porter (BJCP #12) tasting so bring your entry for that if you have one. If not, just bring some of your own homebrew or craft beer to share and just have a good time.
4. Speaking of meetings, at last month’s meeting, a motion was made and approved that we consider moving our meetings from Thursday to Friday. (There was also some discussion of Saturday, but general consensus is that we’d lose too many people once football season starts. J). To that end, I have set up a new survey. So please vote today and let us know what you think: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PPT9J6M
5. The new Red Earth Brewers website is (finally) up and running. It’s still in the very, very preliminary stages and there’s a lot of work yet to be done. But it’s a good place to send people for more information if they’re interested in learning about us. www.redearthbrewers.com
6. Ross has been in touch with a distillery in the Dallas area that is willing to cut us a deal on used 5 gallon oak barrels. They retail for$89 apiece but, if we can commit to buying a whole pallet (27barrels), we can probably get them for about $60 apiece. They barrels have been used for blue corn bourbon, single malt whisky or a spiced rum. Be thinking about this as we’ll have to move quickly and round up enough people to commit to buying 27 barrels before we can pull the trigger. So, if you are interested, please let me know ASAP.
7. Some OK craft beer notes:

· Battered Boar Brewing Company announced a summer seasonal to be released soon. Lion’s Tooth Floret is a farmhouse ale apparently brewed with dandelions. 5.5% ABV. No word yet on a specific release date.

· Firkin Friday this week at McNellies is this year’s Wild Brew, a collaboration between Choc Brewery and the folks with the FOAM homebrew club in Tulsa. This year’s version is a saison brewed with rye, and I’ve heard from some reliable sources that it’s pretty tasty. So try to make it out.

· Tapwerks has announced their second annual “IPA Day” on Thursday, August2. If you remember, last year’s celebration not only featured special firkins from Choc, COOP and Marshall, but several new menu items that featured IPA as an ingredient. So mark your calendars for another fun day.

Have a great weekend!

FUTURE CLUB MEETINGS/BREW SCHEDULES

July 2012: Porter(BJCP #12)

August 2012: Oklahoma Beer (O.G. under 1.040)

September 2012: Social (if you have a light hybrid beer—BJCP #6—to bring for the AHA club only competition, please bring that)

October 2012: American Brown Ale (if you have an Old Ale—BJCP #19A—to submit for the AHA club only competition, bring that as well)

November 2012: Fruit/Vegetable Beer (BJCP #20 or #21)

December 2012: Un-Session Beer (O.G. over 1.040)

January 2013: Social

February 2013: American Barleywine (BJCP#19C)

March 2013: TBA

April 2013: Extract beer (50% or more of the fermentable sugar must come from extract)

May 2013: TBA

June 2013: Wood-aged beer (BJCP #22C)

July 2013: TBA

August 2013: Sour Ale (BJCP #17)

June meeting report

Richard swears he didn't just enter a bottle of Pliny
with the label removed. We have our doubts.

It was another great meeting at COOP Aleworks. Patrick and the guys really go all out to help promote homebrewing, and we definitely appreciate their support.

This was our American IPA tasting, and it was our best one yet with over a dozen entries and some really great beer. Congrats to Richard Magann, who took first and third place, in the club competition. And Julie Bennett's hot streak continued with a second place finish.

Ross gave an update on an email that had gone out earlier--he has a line on some 5 gallon oak whiskey barrels from a distillery in Texas. They retail for $89 apiece but, if we can find enough people to buy a whole pallet (27 barrels), then we can get that price down to around $60 apiece (plus shipping). So REB is working with Gail at the Brew Shop to see if we can get enough people together to make this happen. If you are interested, or would like more information, email us at redearthbrewers@gmail.com.

COOP's Patrick Lively dropped some serious beer knowledge.

Wes gave an update on the REB trip to the Choc Brewery in Krebs. Due to some scheduling issues, the date has been changes to Saturday, July 7th at 11:30 am. He told everyone who wanted to go to RSVP as soon as possible, as he has to have a head count to Choc by next week.  The cost is $25 per person, but that includes the tour, tastings, lunch, a glass and a tshirt.

And last but not least, Gail has secured us two tables at KRXO's Beerfest to be held at Riverwind Casino on August 4th. If you are willing to help pour and/or donate some homebrew, please let us know ASAP. Remember--for this event, you MUST have your homebrew license from the ABLE Commission.  You can download it below.
Oklahoma Home Brew Permit Application

Hello and happy weekend Red Earth Brewers! Here is your semi-regular update on Red Earth Brewers and the OK beer scene.

1.       Don’t forget about next week’s club meeting. Thursday, the 19^th, at 7:00 PM.  The theme this month is Scottish and Irish Ales (BJCP #9), so there should be some great beers. Even better, grillmaster extraordinaire Brandon Jones and his lovely wife Julie have invited us to have the meeting at their place and he’ll break out the smoker for us. So come prepared for some great beer and barbecue. Please bring your own lawn chair and maybe a side dish or dessert to share. Brandon and Julie live at 220 N. Lakeside Terrace in Mustang (just off of Highway 152 between County Line and Morgan). Here is a map to their place. http://binged.it/HDwwwz

2.       If you haven’t paid your 2012 dues yet, be sure to bring your money to this week’s meeting. $15 will pay you up for the rest of the year. Where else can you get so much good beer year round for such a bargain price?

3.       We’ve had several requests for club t-shirts, so I just wanted to see how many would be interested. We’ve got several great graphic designers in our midst, so I’m sure we could put together something pretty cool. Anyway, I’ve created a survey just to see how many people would be interested in ordering a t-shirt if we get some made up.  Please click the link below to let us know your level of interest.  (Even if you’re not interested, please click it anyway just so we know whether or not it’s something we should pursue.)  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/F9RQ9VQ

4.       Choc Brewery in Krebs recently opened a new taproom and is giving tours on the first Saturday of each month. I talked to the guys down there, and they say they can accommodate 30 or so people at a time. So we wanted to see who might be interested in joining us in a Red Earth Road Trip to Krebs for the Choc Brewery tour, some taproom beer and maybe lunch at Pete’s Place. Please take the survey (same one as above) and there is a question to see who might be interested. Be sure to leave your email address so we can contact you if/when the trip is going to happen.  http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/F9RQ9VQ

5.       Saturday, May 5 is the American Homebrewers Association “Big Brew Day”, which is a chance to celebrate homebrewing with friends. Wes will be hosting anyone who wants to brew at his house, and I believe The Brew Shop is doing an all-grain class that day as well. If you are planning to brew that day and are willing to join with some fellow brewers, let us know and we’ll help spread the word.

6.       Upcoming beer events:Beer Sprocket: Due to tomorrow’s impending tornadoes of doom, Old Germany’s Beer Sprocket event that was scheduled for tomorrow has been postponed to May 12.

Red Earth Brewers May Meeting: May 17McNellie’s Pub Run: May 19Oklahoma Craft Beer Festival: May 19

7.       The Brew Shop still has a handful of Hallertau hops rhizomes for sale. So if you’re interested in growing your own hops, give Gail a call or swing by the store.

8.       The weather this weekend is supposed to be pretty crazy. So everyone stay safe and be sure you have plenty of homebrew on hand tomorrow night for The Gary England Drinking Game.

Have a good weekend!

Wes

Red Earth Brewers Rock the FOAM Cup!

FOAM Cup is the state’s largest homebrew competition (626 entries from brewers in 24 states). And I am proud to say that Red Earth Brewers had a great showing.  As a club, Red Earth Brewers finished in third place out of 26 clubs entered. And three of our individual members brought home medals, including four golds and the second-place Best in Show! (Here are the full results.)

This was a great showing for our new club, and I’m really looking forward to building on our success. If you’ve never entered a competition before, I would really encourage you to do so. While awards are nice, even more important is the great feedback you get. Entering competitions and learning from experienced tasters is a great way to improve your brewing. And isn’t that why we’re all here?

The American Homebrewers Association website has a full calendar of all the homebrew competitions going on around the country. I know that shipping can get pretty expensive so, if nothing else, start preparing for Bluebonnet Brew-Off, which will be in Dallas in March. We’ll be driving entries down, so feel free to enter as much as you can brew! (Plus, our vice-president Tony Tielli has a Best of Show trophy to defend.)

Again, thanks to everyone who has helped make Red Earth Brewers so successful and congrats to the guys below who are bringing home FOAM Cup medals.

Ross Harper

GOLD: Category 6 Light Hybrid (Blond Ale)

BRONZE: Category 13 Stout (Russian Imperial Stout)

GOLD: Category 19 Strong Ale (American Barleywine)

2^nd PLACE BEST IN SHOW (American Barleywine)

Tony Tielli

GOLD: Category 11 English Brown Ale (Mild)

GOLD: Category 18 Belgian Strong Ale (Belgian Dark Strong)

HONORABLE MENTION: Category 22 Smoke Flavored and Wood Aged (Wood-Aged Beer)

Brandon Jones

BRONZE: Category 21 Spice-Herb-Vegetable Beer

PAPER CUP: Special award for the participant with the most entries

The ABLE Commission Strikes Again

Many of you had planned to attend Saturday's Southern Plains Craft Beer Festival down at Learn to Brew in Moore. Red Earth Brewers was going to have a table set up and several of our members had volunteered to donate some homebrew and pour at the event. The folks at Learn To Brew had gotten everything squared away with the ABLE commission months ago (or so they thought) and it looked like it was going to be a great event.


But in yet another classic government agency example of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing, the ABLE Commission in its infinite wisdom (be careful not to let any of that sarcasm drip on you) and scuttled the deal.  The ABLE person who contacted Learn to Brew today (not the same person they had dealt with in the past) informed them that they couldn't have homebrewers giving away beer. It basically came down to an interpretation of the homebrew law: under the law that passed a year and a half ago, homebrewing is legal and you can give away samples, but you are not allowed to sell homebrew. ABLE, apparently, is interpreting the definition of selling very broadly. So even though all the proceeds from this event are going to charity and all of the homebrewers were donating their beer, free of charge, because the festival required a paid admission ticket, they are saying that falls under the definition of selling the beer. We debated about showing up anyway, but decided it would be much to big of a risk. Not only could ABLE then shut down the whole festival, but if they really wanted to be sticklers on the law, each individual homebrewer pouring there could be on the hook for big fines and even jail time. So it's just not worth the risk.


I'm not so much frustrated that ABLE Commission nixed the pouring of homebrew--I can kind of see their point (although I disagree with it) on the wording of the law. But I find it asinine that, when they've known all about this event for three months, they wait until the day before to let everyone know, "Oh, by the way, forget everything we've been telling you all this time."


So the short version is that all the Oklahoma brewers will be there pouring, as will a local liquor store that is donating craft beer. But any participation by Oklahoma's homebrewing community will be simply as spectators.


Sigh. Another day, another 1930's era Oklahoma beer law.

August Meeting Wrap-Up

It was a great meeting with a lot going on. So without further ado . . .

Membership Dues Take Effect 10/1
Wes unveiled the results of our Red Earth Brewers survey (see the full results here) and we voted on a couple of items. The most noticeable change will be that, starting in October, we will begin charging dues of $5 per quarter/$20 per year. This will allow us to send our entries to the AHA's club-only competitions, print flyers and newsletters, and otherwise promote our club.

Chase Healey. Leading the charge for good beer
in Oklahoma.

Club Elections
It's hard to believe that we've been up and running for almost a year now. But at our September meeting, we will be holding new officer elections. The positions available are: President , Director of Events, Director of Communications and Treasurer. We appointed an elections committee (Scott Cragg, Thad Burk and Jason MacKinnon) to come up with a slate of officers and conduct the elections at the next meeting. If you are interested in serving as an officer, please email Scott at cragg.scott (at) gmail dot com.

Chase Healey and Oklahoma's Beer Scene
Our special guest this month was Chase Healey, head brewer at Redbud Brewing and the mastermind behind all the great beers at both Redbud and COOP. Chase gave us some great insights into the brewing world and what the future holds for Redbud. He also had some great advice for both novice and advanced homebrewers. We really appreciate Chase joining us this month and all that he is doing to promote the craft beer scene in Oklahoma.


Southern Plains Craft Beer Festival

The Learn to Brew homebrew shop in Moore will be hosting a craft beer festival on Saturday, October 15th. Most of the local craft brewers will be there pouring, and they have also invited us to have a table at the event. If you can donate some homebrew for us to pour that day or can help us pour that day, please email Wes Glinsmann at redearthbrewers@gmail.com.

Also, as part of the festival, they will be hosting a Pale Ale homebrew tasting competition. Entry is free, so if you have a pale ale you would like to have judged, entries are due to LTB by October 1st.

Click here for more information on the festival.

Club Tasting Competition

Bacon and pecans. A winning combination.

Finally, the most exciting part of the night was our long-awaited tasting in the "Specialty/Historical/Experimental" beers category (BJCP #23). We had a lot of really good and very creative entries. The club vote winners were:

First Place: Wes Glinsmann, Imperial Bacon Porter (recipe below)
Second Place (tie): Scott Cragg, Pecan Brown Ale
Second Place (tie): Ross Harper, Pecan Porter


This is definitely a creative bunch, so we really appreciate everyone who brought some beer to sample.

For future planning, here are are upcoming meetings:

September 15: Cooking with beer social. Bring food made with beer--along with your favorite homebrew or craft beer--to share at this social gathering. Location TBA.

October 20: German Wheat and Rye Beer tasting (BJCP #15). Location Thad Burk's house in Bethany.

November 17: Social. Location TBA.

December 15: Winter Warmer tasting. Location TBA

Thanks again to everyone who has helped make Red Earth Brewers so successful over the last year! We're looking forward to even better things ahead.



Pigskin Porter

O.G. 1.074
F.G. 1.019

Ingredients (5 gallon batch)

12 pounds two-row pale malt
1 pound chocolate malt
1 pound crystal 60L
8 oz. cara-pils
8 oz. debittered black malt
8 oz. roasted barley
1 oz Chinook hop pellets (12.2% AA)
1 oz Cascade hop pellets (5.0% AA)
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 tsp Irish moss
White Labs California Ale (WLP001) yeast
Bacon extract (see directions below)

Bacon Extract
Fry one pound of bacon. Pour bacon drippings and crumbled bacon into Tupperware container. Pour in enough vodka to cover. Let sit 5-7 days to infuse. Place container in freezer and grease will separate to the top. Remove the grease layer (may want to repeat this step). Strain the infused vodka through a coffee strainer and set aside until secondary fermentation.

Process
Mash at 153 degrees for 60 minutes.
60 minute boil.
Add Chinook hops at 60 minutes and Cascade at 45 minutes.
Add yeast nutrient and Irish moss at 15 minutes left in boil.
Pitch yeast and let ferment 7-10 days. Transfer to secondary.
While in secondary, begin adding the bacon extract an ounce or so at a time. Let sit for a couple of days, then sample. Repeat as needed until you get the right amount of bacon flavor you are wanting.

Red Earth Brewers 2011 Survey Results

Last month, we asked Red Earth Brewers to help us plan the future of our organization. This survey was sent out via email and Facebook, and hard copies were distributed at the July meeting. We had a great response, and below are all the responses we got. (Those that received a clear majority are in bold.) 

We will be discussing these results at the August meeting, so hope to see you there!

Q1. To this point, we have moved our meetings around from place to place.  A couple of those places have worked well and could have potential for future meetings. However, we have to pay a nominal rental fee for those spaces.      If we can’t find a regular location that will let us use the space for free:

We should have a regular location for our tastings, even if it means having to pay to rent the space.	74%
We should keep moving our meetings around, even if it means we have to pay some months.	17%
We should have the meeting wherever we can get it for free.	9%

Q2. If we can’t find a regular location that will let us use the space for free:

I support charging annual dues for all Red Earth members to pay for rental costs.	57%
I don’t want to pay annual dues, but I’m OK with charging a cover charge at tasting events to pay for the facility.	43%
Tasting events should be free, even if that means having irregular or less-than-ideal meeting places.	0%

Q3. If the club does eventually decide to charge dues to defray our costs, how much would you be willing to pay per year?

$25-$50	30%
$15-$25	57%
$10-$15	4%
$5-$10	0%
I would not join if I have to pay dues.	9%

Q4. To this point, we've generally had homebrew tastings every other month, with social events in the intervening months. Regarding the number of tastings:

We have too few tastings—we should have them every month!	27%
I like the current rotation of a tasting every other month with a social event in the off-months.	68%
We have tastings too often—we should only have them quarterly.	5%

Q5. At past tastings, we have let everyone vote on their favorite beer of the evening. That method seems to be popular and working well.  However, some members have expressed interest in becoming better brewers “to style” and entering BJCP competitions. Regarding future tastings:

We should keep letting everyone vote for the “Best in Show”, but also have a panel of more experienced tasters rate all the beers according to the BJCP style guidelines to provide feedback to those brewers who want it.	45%
The panel mentioned above won't rate every beer, but anyone who wants their beers judged using BJCP standards can provide a couple extra bottles and have their beers judged.	41%
We shouldn’t worry about “to style” and only have a vote for favorite beer.	14%

Q6. At some meetings, we’ve had educational components (talks with professional brewers, discussions of brewing techniques, talks about certain styles and BJCP guidelines, etc.)  Regarding this educational component:

I like having an educational component. It might help make me a better brewer.	95%
Skip the educational component. The meetings should be for tasting and socializing.	5%

Q7. I get my info about Red Earth Brewers and upcoming events from (check all that apply):

Emails from The Brew Shop	77%
Talking to Gail at The Brew Shop	50%
Facebook (www.facebook.com/redearthbrewers)	73%
Twitter (www.twitter.com/redearthbrewers)	18%
Red Earth blog (www.redearthbrewers.blogspot.com)	27%
Other	4%

Q8. We will continue posting Facebook, Twitter and blog updates periodically, but would you like to see us publish a periodic (probably quarterly) newsletter?

Yes	82%
No	18%