February 1998 Issue 22
Inside This Issue
February 1998 Issue 22
Inside This Issue
 | European Beer Tour
| February CARBOY Meeting
| CARBOY Night at Harrisons
| Fun Facts
| Cooking with Beer
| Receive The Fermenter Electronically
| Upcoming Events
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The Carolina Brewmasters are opening up their 1998 European Beer Tour to nonmembers. They will be spending a few days in Munich and Bamberg, the home of rauchbier, from Nov 7 through Nov 15. The cost is expected to be around $1200 for airfare, lodging, tours and a charter bus to take us around the country. There are many brewery tours, castle tours, day city tours, etc. scheduled, including the Weihenstephan beer institute. If interested, contact John Mitchell at jlmitch@charlotte.infi.net or Brian Smyth, our new Pres., at BrianS3041@aol.com or 704-529-5828. They will take people on a first-come first-served basis. Deposits will be collected shortly. They are limited to 45 people for the bus, unless we get a lot more, in which case They might be able to get 2 buses.
The February meeting of CARBOY will be held on Wednesday, February 25 at 7:00 P.M.. We will meet in the BB&Y Restaurant. We will be selecting our entry for the upcoming AHA Club Only Competition: Stout Bout. A mini-competition will be held to selectCARBOY's entry. May the best stout win! Club president, Bill MacKenzie will be leading this month's beer education discussion. Bill will be discussing mashing and sparging. If you are currently an all-grain brewer, or you would like to start, come to the meeting and learn a few new tricks. It just wouldn't be a CARBOY meeting without beer. So, to keep the tradition alive, we will include a tasting of our members' beers. Please bring at least three 12 ounce bottles (or equivalent) of either homebrew or interesting commercial brew. Feel free to discuss your beers as much or as little as you prefer!
The BB&Y Restaurant is located on the first
floor of the Caswell Building at 3700 National Drive, in the Koger Center
off Glenwood Avenue in west Raleigh. Owner Nick Jones allows CARBOY to
meet monthly at his restaurant when we don't have picnics or field trips
scheduled. BB&Y is open for breakfast and lunch each weekday. We encourage
members to visit BB&Y for a relaxed informal meal. Please let Nick
know you're from CARBOY when you visit his restaurant.
The next monthly CARBOY night at Harrison's Bar and Grill in Cary will be held on Tuesday, March 3. Every month, CARBOY members gather for the sole purpose of enjoying beer, food, and friends. Tomcat Ales are served for $2/pint, and appetizers are 1/2 off. Avoid the post-Groundhog Day blues and stop by! The gathering starts at 5:00 and ends when the last of us leaves.
CARBOY member Mitch Hayes has been surfing the internet. He recently discovered a number of amusing beer facts that he wanted to share. I can't verify their accuracy, but they make a fun read, and that's much more important! It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know today as the "honeymoon." Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb or finger into the mix to find the right temperature for adding yeast. Too cold, and the yeast wouldn't grow. Too hot, and the yeast would die. This thumb in the beer is where we get the phrase "rule of thumb".
In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's".
Beer was the reason the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. It's clear from the Mayflower's log that the crew didn't want to waste beer looking for a better site. The log goes on to state that the passengers "were hasted ashore and made to drink water that the seamen might have the more beer". After consuming a bucket or two of vibrant brew they called aul, or ale, the Vikings would head fearlessly into battle often without armor or even shirts. In fact, the term "berserk" means "bare shirt" in Norse, and eventually took on the meaning of their wild battles.
In 1740 Admiral Vernon of the British fleet decided to water down the navy's rum. Needless to say, the sailors weren't too pleased and called Admiral Vernon, Old Grog, after the stiff wool grogram coats he wore. The term "grog" soon began to mean the watered down drink itself. When you were drunk on this grog, you were "groggy," a word still in use today. Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle," is the phrase inspired by this practice
Everyone at the CARBOY Superbowl party had nothing but great things to say about the desert provided by Steve and Donna Murphrey. If you couldn't attend the party, but want to taste a wonderful treat, here's the recipe:
Peach and Strawberry Trifle
2 (8-ounce) cartons vanilla nonfat yogurt 2 (3/4-ounce) packages vanilla instant pudding mix 3 cups skim milk 13 ounces angel food cake, cut into 3/4-inch cubes 1/3 cup strawberry jam 2 cans sliced peaches, drained well Fresh sliced strawberries (for garnish) Fresh mint sprigs (for garnish) Remove liquid from yogurt by spooning it onto several layers of heavy-duty paper towels; spread to &laqno;-inch thickness. Cover with additional paper towels; let stand 5 minutes. Scrape yogurt into a bowl, using a rubber spatula.
| Combine pudding mix and milk, stiffing with a wire whisk until blended.
| Stir drained yogurt into pudding mixture.
| Arrange half of cake cubes in a 2-quart trifle bowl.
| Spread half of pudding mixture over cake cubes.
| Drizzle jam evenly over pudding.
| Arrange half of sliced peaches in a circle over jam.
| Repeat procedure with remaining cake, pudding, jam and peaches.
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If desired, garnish with sliced strawberries and mint sprigs.
Makes 16 (normal size, not homebrewer size) servings.
Per serving: 152 calories, 0 grams fat (0 percent calories from fat), 2 milligrams cholesterol, 4 grams protein, 34 grams carbohydrate, 394 milligrams sodium.
The CARBOY Superbowl had the additional distinction of being our first chili cookoff. Much to everyone's delight, all of the chili was wonderful. Here are recipes for some of the tasty treats everyone enjoyed.
If you would like your recipe included in next month's issue, please submit it to Mike Lewandowski (mlew@ntrnet.net, or the snail-mail address.)
Mike Wallace's Texas Red
While in high school I got to know a neat old fellow who had really been a cowboy in the latter stages of the Old West: rode a horse, carried a "six gun", herded cattle, saw injuns'. He told me a lot of tales, some taller than others.Anyhow, here's my recipe for chili, a real bowl of Texas Red.
For each pound of meat (whatever you shoot) you will need:
Three dried New Mexico chile peppers (or Guajillo, Ancho, or a combination) Two cloves of garlic, minced On-half medium onion, chopped One teaspoon whole Cumin seeds One teaspoon Mexican Oregano One teaspoon salt
-Toast the chiles in a dry skillet over medium-high for about 30 seconds on each side, and set aside to cool.
-Toast Cumin seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly until they take on a nice golden color.
-Stem the chiles, remove the seeds and membranes, and tear into chunks.
-Grind the chiles in a blender or spice grinder, do the same with the toasted Cumin seed.
-Cut the meat up into chunks the size of your little toe, and brown in a little oil in a skillet.
-Remove to your chili pot.
-Lightly brown the onion and garlic in the fat remaining in your skillet, and add it to the meat in your chili pot.
-Chuck in the chiles, Cumin, and Oregano.
-Add liquid to cover. Water works fine. I use a combination of water and beer. (This is a great opportunity to use up that six-pack of Bud some well-meaning friend brought to your Christmas party!)
-Simmer it all for at least 2 hours, uncovered, adding liquid as needed to keep it from scorching.
-Add salt to taste during the last 30 minutes. Some folks like to thicken their chili with a mixture of masa harina (or corn meal) mixed with a little water, during the last 30 minutes. Personally, I don't.
-If you want to increase the heat level add few chile Pequin, to taste. (Careful! They're hot as fire.)
-If you like beans in your chili, you're a citified Yankee sissy.
-If you like beans WITH your chili, OK, but serve them on the side where they belong! Mike Lewandowski's Honking Chili 1.5 pounds beef chuck, trimmed and cut into 0.5 inch cubes 1 TBSP olive oil 1 large onion, minced 4 fresh jalapeno peppers, stemmed, seeded, and minced two 16 oz cans tomato sauce 12 oz Russian Imperial Stout chili powder, to taste cumin, to taste oregano, to taste hot sauce, to taste nutmeg, to taste 1 bay leaf dried red pepper, to taste coriander, to taste red vinegar, to taste brown sugar, to taste horseradish, to taste Worcestershire sauce, to taste hot salsa, to taste
-heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat -brown meat and onion in skillet -remove to a Dutch oven -add remaining ingredients -adjust seasonings to taste
-gently simmer for at least 6 hours, or until it thickens to an appropriate level -remove bay leaf -remove from heat and refrigerate over night (because we all know chili is better on the second day)
-reheat and enjoy
Receive The Fermenter Electronically
Receive The Fermenter Electronically You may now receive your copy of The Fermenter by e-mail. Just send a message to Mike Lewandowski (mlew@ntrnet.net) and you will receive the next issue in your electronic mailbox. Please specify whether you prefer your issue formatted as a Word, text, or Word Perfect 6.1 file.
CARBOY's Newsletter The Fermenter is the newsletter of CARBOY. As such, it relies on its membership for content. Please submit any articles, letters, recipes, comments, questions, or suggestions to the address shown below. Electronic mail to mlew@ntrnet.net is preferred, but not required. Thank you!
February 25: CARBOY meeting
March 3: CARBOY night at Harrison
March 11: TRUB meeting
March 11: Shamrock Open entries due
March 14: Shamrock Open
March 25: CARBOY meeting
The AHA Club-Only-Competition, Stout Bout, will be held in March. If you get started now, you should be able to get an entry ready.
If you find yourself with extra stout on your hands, you can always make a chocolate stout cake!