Volume 8 Issue 8
By Mark Mykkanen
Greetings and salutations! I would like to thank everyone that made it to the Summit Brewery Tour this last month. We had a good turnout and certainly got our money's worth with this trip. I hope to see more suggestions for fieldtrips in the future.
Our July meeting of 2003 was a popular gathering with 14 members attending. Heck, even Everett showed! Beer dominated this meeting and was quite rewarding to many receiving door prizes.
Paul U. started us off with a "Working Man's Ale". A tasty and clean 'lawnmower' beer that was cloned after none other than Budweiser.
Empty pitchers were then passed around to Greg to pour some of his classic "Common Light". Another 'lawnmower' beer made with Mutton's and California Common. This was cloned from California's Anchor Steam.
Since we were savoring light beers, I decided to turn the notch slightly darker with my "Amber Light". This was just something I created one day containing 3# Amber extract, 3.3# plain light DME, 0.25oz Galena, 1oz Tettnanger, 2oz Hallertau, and some plain old Windsor dry yeast. Bottled on 04/27/03, time was friendly to this batch.
An unexpected guest arrived with Mike F., Bürger beer. A long lost (and forgotten) inexpensive beer that Mike discovered on sale for $3.99 / 12 pack somewhere near the iron range. "I would drink it," exclaimed Greg.
Next, Bob shared a generic English Ale. A traditional brew made with 2 cans Alexanders, Pearl, and Doric yeast. OG 1.054 and FG 1.010.
From a Northern Brewer kit, Paul P. brought us an Irish Red. A hearty aroma of Fuggles and East Irene Goldings present in this one.
"Tastes good, and good for you," was all Paul U. had to say about the Paulaner Hefe-Weizen that Wade shared. A well-balanced summer brew appropriate for this time of year.
Tom S. brought in one of my favorites, Lake Superior's Oatmeal Stout. Deliciously sweet and tasty.
To continue with our selection of dark brews, Jim K. shared a Helles Bock. Made from a Semplex kit, with a nice bock taste. Might have been slightly under carbonated though.
As we settled down to the end of our meals, the waitress came by to draw names for the large selection of door prizes donated this month. My name came up for a nice Murphy's key chain. Richard won a mashing system, complete with several buckets. The auto-siphon was drawn by Tom S. Lastly, Jim K., Wade, and Paul P. won black & tan spoons.
As a perfect aperitif for the evening, Richard shared a special Raspberry Mead. Sparkling and very pleasing. Nice job Richard!
