Brew Bayou is a not for profit organization dedicated to the advancement of zymurgy and is open to anyone 21 years or older. The annual membership is $12.00. Correspondence regarding the newsletter should be directed to Newsletter Editor, Brew Bayou PO Box 73 Clute Texas 77531.

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PRESIDENT'S WORDS Hey Brewbayou gang. I'm not going to be at the meeting this month. Work calls, and I'm saving my vacation for other fun things. We had a good meeting in December, even though it was right after Christmas. Lots of good beer and food. MCAB is coming up soon, (Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing) and we have 3 members competing in the same Category. MCAB is a contest of first place winners of Qualifying Events through out the year. Last Year, in Category 19, Strong Ales, Norm, Tom and myself won a first place. So we are all sending in an entry to not only compete against everyone else, but against each other too. It should be fun. Sunday, February 18th is an AHA membership rally at Saint Arnold's. The Tour of the Brewery is worth the drive alone. If you join the AHA, you will get Zymurgy magazine, which is a most excellent read. Below are the details. Hot Dogs and Beer, how can you turn that down? EVENT DETAILS WHEN: Sunday - February 18th, 2007 Time: 1-4pm WHERE: Saint Arnold Brewing Company 2522 Fairway Park Drive Houston, TX 77092 (713) 686-9494 www.saintarnold.com WHY: Learn more about the AHA and how you can become a part of the homebrewing community! For the cost of entry you receive an AHA membership and a chance to win cool door prizes. ENTRY: EVERYONE BECOMES A MEMBER! ?Join or renew in advance or at the event. A discounted AHA one-year membership rate of $33 will be offered at the door. ?Once you're a member - entrance is FREE! Already an AHA Member?- Entrance is FREE, but don't miss this great membership rate of $33. Renew at the event! Join with a FAMILY MEMBERSHIP rate of $43! You'll receive one Zymurgy magazine per household and all registered family members (limit 4) become card-carrying AHA Members with full benefits! Designated Drivers: We welcome designated drivers to the event. Entry is free, but does not include an AHA membership. I'm going to give the HBD a plug here. I read it every day, and there are lots of good posts. The Home Brew Digest is an email digest on homebrewing that you can have mailed to you every day. You can read the HTML digest and not get it mailed to you, if you prefer. That's what I do. The home page is http://hbd.org/. Explore the site; there is tons of information there. "The Brewery" has a library, with more articles than you can read, most by homebrewers like yourself. The "Discussion" section is another great section where you can discuss all aspects of brewing with other homebrewers in a chat type format. It's not real time, but you can get information or answers to questions in just a few minutes. The digest is more of you post a question or comment one day, and you may get an answer in the next day's digest. One digest is published every day. Explore the site and have fun!! Here is a typical article you might like. It is a response to a previous article. http://hbd.org/hbd/archive/5123.html#5123-4 We might have a few new members showing up this month. Try to make them feel at home and bring some extra beer for them and don't forget about Trent. Keep on Brewing!! Bill

Friends of Brew Bayou

Web Site http://www.defalcos.com/Email Scott Birdwell Remember, Brew Bayou members get a 5% discount at DeFalco's

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Styles can be found on the Houston Foam Ranger Web page and the AHA Web pages.

Brew Bayou 2007 Monthly Beer Styles
January	Dortmunder Export	July	Saison
February	Brown Porter	August	American Amber
March	Weizenbock	September	Dry Stout
April	Vienna lager	October	Octoberfest
May	Southern English Brown Ale	November	Mead
June	Belgium Dubbel	December	Old Ale

"Brewer's Helpline." Call if you are stumped and need some brewing question answered.
Betczynski Tom Lake Jackson Tx (979)285-9139
Tobler Bill Lake Jackson Tx (979)297-5134
Maudlin Valroy Lake Jackson Tx (979)297-7757
Tetlow Norman Lake Jackson Tx (979)297-6847

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CLUB OFFICERS

President	Bill Tobler
Vice Pres	Valroy Maudlin
Treasurer	Wayne Humbird
Newsletter	open
Librarian	Al Nardo
Web site	www.brewbayou.org
Email	"Brew Bayou Question"

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Beer and Cheese

Behold the power of cheese (and BEER!)

Feature Article by The Alström Bros / 04-04-2001

http://beeradvocate.com/news/stories_read/282/

Beer and cheese? The idea of the twosome is odd for many to swallow when in fact the marriage of beer and cheese goes way back. During the Middle Ages in Belgium, monasteries were known for their exceptional beers and cheeses - a staple of their daily diets and form of income. Even today, most beer bars in Belgium will serve small bowls of cubed semi-soft cheese sprinkled with celery salt to accompany your beer. What occurs is a gastronomic sensation of heavenly proportions.

But I thought wine went with cheese?
Sure it does, and that's what the public is fed by the mainstream "food & wine" press. Cheese can make a cheap wine palatable, even compliment a great wine on occasion, however the pairing of wine with most foods (especially cheese) is often a gastronomic catastrophe on the taste buds. Think about it, it's harsh sometimes. The overpowering acidity of wine usually kills any chance that your delicate taste buds have of actually enjoying a pairing. But hey, this is not a piece on wine bashing nor do we totally hate wine, so let's move on.

Traditionally, beer and cheese are farmhouse products. In fact, not so long ago the average farmer's diet consisted of beer, cheese and cold meat; commonly referred to in England as a "ploughman's" lunch and a menu item in pubs to this day. Farmers often made cheese when they had an abundance of milk that they wanted to keep and brewed during the winter when they couldn't farm. And both beer and cheese have a similar origin, grass. Barley is a cereal grass used in making beer and milk is a by-product of a cow eating grass. As a result, beer and cheese complement each other by sharing some common characteristics in both aroma and flavor, while the carbonation in beer also lifts the palate and brings out many nuances in the cheese.

So how do you pair beer and cheese?
First and foremost use your own personal preference whether you are cooking with cheese or just severing alone. Try pairing complex beers with complex cheeses. You can also try and make a perfect match or play around and make subtle contrasts. Here are some personal examples:

Feta and Goat Cheese work well with Wheat Beers, typically the more pungent the cheese the more of a full character you want in your Wheat Beer. Weihenstephan Hefe-Weizen, Schneider Hefe-Weizen and UFO Hefeweizen are suitable pairings.

Mascarpone, a cow's cream formless cheese that is used in desserts and sauces, pairs great with most Fruit Beers. Magic Hat #9, Sam Adams Cherry Wheat, Melbourne Bros. Apricot or Strawberry.

American Cheese, Muenster, Havarti and Monterey Jack with moderately hoppy Pilsners like Harpoon Pilsner, Radeberger and Stella Artios.

Colby, Gloucester and Cheddar with robust Brown Ales. Sam Smith Nut Brown, Shipyard Brown or Brooklyn Brown will suffice quite well.

Gorgonzola and Creamy Blues meld well with Barleywines. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot, Fuller's Vintage Ale, Rouge Old Crustacean and Brooklyn Monster make for a great duo.

Roquefort and Stilton have a strong pungent character so there is need for a Strong Belgian Ales like Lucifer, Duvel, Chimay Blue, Northcoast Pranqster, and Unibroue Don de Dieu.

Gruyére, Emmental and Swiss with Bock Beer, Dark Lagers or Oktoberfest Beer. Their sizable maltiness plays well against the meaty nut-like character. Sam Adams Octoberfest or Double Bock, Harpoon Octoberfest or Munich Dark, Salavator, Celebrator and Dornbusch Bock are appropriate picks.

Parmesan or Romano with moderately hoppy Pale Ales and Amber Ales like Harpoon Ale, Stone Cat Ale, Ipswich Ale, Shoal's Pale Ale, Magic Hat Bob's 1st Ale.

When cheese is part of a salad, try enjoying it with an India Pale Ale (IPA), with their citrus-like bitterness and fruity maltiness. Harpoon IPA, Wolaver's IPA and Tremont IPA are all suitable.

Garrett Oliver, Brewmaster of The Brooklyn Brewery, and the American Dairy Association (ADA) partnered to create a simple guide. It's an ideal starting point for the novice beer and cheese enthusiast.

Sharp Cheddar with Pale Ale

Feta with Wheat Beer

Mascarpone with Fruit Beer

American Cheese with Pilsner

Colby with Brown Ale

Gorgonzola with Barleywine

Gruyére with Bock Beer

Swiss Cheese with Octoberfest Beer

Parmesan with Amber Lager

Some tips on serving:

Buy raw milk cow, goat (chèvres) or sheep cheeses. Meaning unpasteurized unprocessed whole milk cultures. Pasteurized cheese has many of the country scents and flavours removed, where raw milk cheese is rich, full and complete and supports traditional cheese making. Goat and sheep cheeses are creamy soft cheeses with distinct assertive flavours with considerably less calories and saturated fat over cow milk cheeses.

If you are going to use crackers, use something that is neutral like English wafer crackers or flat bread.

When serving on its own, always serve cheese at room temperature.

Just remember to have fun with this, experiment with your own tastes and understand that beer is the most complimentary fermented beverage on the market -- with all types of food and even on its own.

Behold the power of beer and cheese.

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Dortmunder Export
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dortmunder_Export

The original Dortmunder ExportDortmunder Export or Dortmunder is a pale lager from the city of Dortmund in Germany. Originally brewed by Dortmunder Union in 1873, this soft pilsner style beer became very popular with industrial workers, and was responsible for Dortmunder Union becoming Germany's largest brewery and Dortmund having the highest concentration of breweries in Germany. With the decline of heavy industry in the area, the sales of Dortmunder also declined until, by 1994, the Dortmund Union brewery had shut down, and merged with several other Dortmund breweries to form Brinkhoff's Brewery.

History
Dortmund was one of the earliest commercial brewing centres in Germany, establishing itself as a major brewing city which exported its beers to the neighbouring Westphalian cities. The Dortmunder breweries originally brewed a wheat based, dark coloured, short fermented beer. However, in 1873, when the golden coloured, pale barley based, slow fermented beer as brewed in Pilsen and known as Pilsener, became popular, several of the local breweries grouped together under the name Dortmunder Union to produce their own pale lager under the guidance of the brewmaster Fritz Brinkhoff. There were originally two varieties: Lagerbier and the stronger Export. The weaker version proved less popular and was eventually dropped.

Description
The beer from Dortmunder is a pale lager influenced by the golden beer from Pilsen known as Pilsner, though is mainly labelled as Dortmunder Export. Like all other pale lagers the beer is a pale gold colour, with a moderate bitterness from the noble hops, a lean, well attenuated body, and a crisp carbonation. The local water contains more calcium carbonate (chalk) than average which tends to give a sharpness to the flavour of the hops. Brewers use less hops to avoid the harsh hop notes, giving the beers a subtle emphasis on the malt flavours.

Beers described as Dortmunder Export are also brewed in Denmark, the Netherlands, the US and Canada.

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Brew Bayou High Point Brewer List - 2006-2007
Last	First	Total points	Oct-06	Nov-06	Dec-06
Tetlow	Norman	55	10	25	20
Maudlin	Valroy/Adalia	50	20	15	15
Tobler	Bill	20	15	0	5
Betczynski	Tom	20	10	5	5
Maudlin	Darrel	10	0	0	10
McCulley	Rick	5	0	5	0
Chambliss	Critter/Karron	5	0	5	0
Nardo	Al	5	0	5	0

"2006-2007 YTD Most Valuable Brew Bayouer"	Totals
Tetlow, Norman/Donna	75
Tobler, Bill	70
Humbird, Wayne/Patty	60
Maudlin, Darrel	60
Nardo, Al	60
Maudlin, Valroy/Adelia	55
Becker, Larry/Arlene	40
Chambliss,Critter/Karron	30
Betczynski, Tom	25
McCulley, Rick	20
Morgan, Mike	20
Charpentier, Jess	10
Chelette, Leo	10
Dillon, Rob	10
Gardner, Gary	10
Latino, Mike	10
McElroy, Larry	10
Smith, Earl	10
Smith, Gerald	10
Taylor, John	10
Williamson, Brian	10

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Minutes Dec 27, 2006

Welcome, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year

Old Business-

Homebrewer's Christmas party St Arnold's- good time if you went.

New Business

Dues are due. $12 a year.

New Year's Eve party at Norms. 7:30- Beer guessing contest.

Topic review by Valroy.

Topic-Al Nardo- Hangovers- Myths & Facts

Questions about future brewdays from Bill. His experiment going well. Trying to reduce variations.

Next month style-Critter- Dortmunder Export

Next month topic- Beer and Cheese- Patty Humbird

Style-Eisbock- Darrell M.