Volume 8 Issue 11
By Mark Mykkanen
Quite the gathering this month! We had an amazing 17 people show up, not to mention 5 new members!
Tim started the evening out with some Bitburger (http://www.bitburger.de/) a tasty German pilsner with notes of hoppy Apple.
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.
Switching back to commercial brews, Bob shared "The Shipyard" Export Ale from a brewing company of the same name. (http://www.shipyard.com/) Made with 2-Row British Pale, Crystal, Cascade, Willamette, Tettnang, and a English Top-Fermenting yeast. Bob also poured some of his "English Ale", made with 8 lbs. Alexander Pale Extract, 0.5 oz Kent Goldings, 0.5 oz Target, and another 0.5 oz Target for finishing. Gravity was 1.055 - 1.012. Tasty!
Moving on, Brent and Wade both found out they were wearing the same dress...er, brought the same beer this evening, the not too disappointing Leinie's Oktoberfest (http://www.leinie.com/). Made with 2-Row Pale, Caramel, Munich, Tettnang, Perle, and an unknown yeast.
Robert P. decided it was time to sweeten things a bit by sharing his short supply of Raspberry Mead. Quite a treat! Made with 12 lbs. honey, 2.5 lbs. Frozen Raspberry Puree, and Champagne yeast.
Back to commercial beers, Brent and someone else (I do not recall) brought in some Shiner Bock (http://www.shiner.com/) of the Spoetzl Brewery. Described as dark in color, light in taste.
Paul decided that Scotch Ale was the next order of business. I'm not quite sure how this beer sparked some special interest, but Richard decided to whip out the vegemite (http://www.vegemite.com.au/) to make a comparison. Our new member Tracy described it's taste as "Burnt chocolate cake with salt," the vegemite that is.
Speaking of Tracy, he brought in an 8 week old Oktoberfest, made from a Brew & Grow kit.
Jim K. brought in a most unusual beer that had us all talking. Lancaster's Milk Stout (http://www.lancasterbrewing.com/). Made with real lactose, this one was definitely sour.
Restoring our taste buds back to their somewhat nominal state, Richard shared some of his finest Raspberry Mead. Sweet and bubbly, definitely one of my favorites!
Moving along, Mike shared some traditional Leinie's Red. Made with Pale, Carapils, Munich, two specially Roasted Caramel malts, Cluster and Mt. Hood.
As the room became darker, so did the beers. Tim shared the complex taste of Koestritzer's Schwartzbier (http://www.koestritzer.de/); an excellent German beer.
Lastly, Brent passed around some familiar Killian's Irish Red (http://www.killians.com/). The website, however, is not very helpful.
Several door prizes were given out from Summit Brewery merchandise to homebrew equipment. With so many attending, it was hard to keep track of the winnings.
