President..........Jon Northrup danorthrupseh@earthlink.net

Vice President......Jim McMillan brewyourself@earthlink.net

Secretary...................Rick Gray grayrph@earthlink.net

Treasurer................Franz Albright albrighter@juno.com

Webmaster/Editor.......Mike Bardallis dbgrowler@provide.net

-    Real Ale in Boston

-    Treasurer's Report

-    New Secretary

-    Requiem for a homebrew shop

-    Millenium Bonus!

The Guild will again be celebrating National Homebrew Day by participating in Big Brew at Tom Yaeger's house in Wyandotte. Follow the link in the calendar above for a map to Tom's house. The recipe is in the hands of Tom; we expect he will have the brewing underway before noon, although the official kickoff time and worldwide toast is scheduled for 12:00 CST. Brewers are encouraged to bring a dish to pass and some beer to share, despite Tom's assurances that he can cover the group. "Pot lucks" are always the most fun, eh?

"Boston was laid out by the cows, but there are worse surveyors."...Emerson
 

Do not try to drive though downtown Boston...walk! Walk immediately to the Commonwealth Fish and Beer Co. on Portland Street in the North End. On that small street, you 'II find a casual neighborhood restaurant with a wait staff that is friendly and knowledgeable about the beer. The brew kettle pokes up through the floor from the cellar. I ordered the sampler with six cold-draft and four cask-conditioned.ales. All were very good, my favorites being:  -Wye Challenger, featuring that famed English hop. -Burton Ale, with a softer-than-expected gypsum bite. -Barley Wine, deceptively light in color, but not lacking any of the punch!  Brewrnaster Jeff Charnick brought me a fresh glass of Burton Ale from a newly-opened cask, explaining, "Your first one may be a little tired. "  Down in the cellar, you'll find square, open tanks used for primary fermentation and horizontal tanks used for secondaries. Grundy tanks are used as serving vessels. The cask-conditioned ales are in a line of half -sized Grundys that are directly under the beer engines-one for each tap. The Commonwealth serves Real Ale at its best. We at GROWLER HQ have always liked the Commonwealth motto: "Let no man thirst for want of real ale." - Ed.

From the Office of the Treasurer

As of today, the Club treasury has $450.00.  This includes all monies collected at the March 9, 2001 meeting.

  I still have several of the rejected club tee shirts available for sale.  The logo on the back just didn’t meet my high quality standard but they are still very nice looking.  Where else can you get a heavyweight all-cotton shirt for only $3.00!  I also have a very limited number of perfect large and extra large white club shirts for $6.50.  Call me or see me at the next meeting if you are interested.

  I recently paid a visit to the Adventures in Homebrewing shop located in Dearborn at 23439 Ford Road between Telegraph and Outer Drive.  I was pleasantly surprised to find a very well stocked store with friendly owners.  Adventures has been open for just under two years and by the number of customers that came in while I was there, it looks like they will be around for some time.  Owners Jason Smith and Jon Stawowy were very helpful.  The following is a sample of products carried and prices:

Briess  2-Row Malt $1.19/lb
Fresh Hops 2oz pack   $2.95
L.D. Carlson Hops 1oz pack $1.69
White Labs Pitchable Yeast $5.99  OUCH!
Bulk Briess Extra Light Malt Syrup $2.29/lb.
Bulk Honey $1.99/lb.

They carry more types of grain than I have ever seen before including some very unusual ones like Biscuit, Flaked Wheat, Flaked Oats and Rye. They have the usual variety of canned malts from Muntons, Coopers, Edme and others.  Of special interest is the Bulk Briess Malt Syrup.  It comes in what appears to be 24 gallon barrels and they draw off exactly what you need. I am told they go through about 2 barrels a week so they know it’s very fresh.  They also sell bulk honey.  Both the malt syrup and honey are reasonably priced.  Adventures carries their own brew kits which look interesting as well as a selection of wine kits and equipment.  I am told that if they don’t carry something, they can get it for you within 5 days.   Adventures is well stocked and the prices don’t seem out of line (except perhaps the White Labs Yeast).  The bulk malt syrup and the huge selection of specialty grains makes Adventures definitely worth a visit and if you show your DBG card you get 10% off.

Happy brewing,
Franz

As most everyone has likely heard, John Kroll has been forced to resign his DBG membership, and his post as Secretary General, due to health reasons. John's warmth and generosity will be missed; during his time with the guild, he frequently volunteered his time and other resources such as: the generous donation to the DBG library of an autographed copy of "Brewed in Detroit," produced the DBG 'fridge magnets for the AHA conference, recovered the "two babes pouring beer" graphic file for the most recent t-shirts, contributed to the GROWLER (especially appreciated by yours truly), and much more. Rick Gray has volunteered to end his brief retirement and serve out John's term as Secretary.

The  Parting  Glass
Requiem for a homebrew shop...

 The Brew-it Yourself Center has now been closed for a couple of months and I have been able to reflect on my time there without the distress that I felt when I was in the process of closing.

Regrets I’ve had a few

 Obviously I regret the fact that I found it necessary to close after six years. I don’t think that most people realize the incredible amount of time and effort required to run even the smallest businesses, and when you close you can not help feeling that your efforts were in vain. I regret that the last couple of years have been tough financially on myself and my family. I regret that I will no longer share in the excitement a new brewer feels when his first batch turns out better than he felt possible.  I also regret the fact that I now have to pay retail for brewing supplies-ouch!

Thanks for the Memories

       I started The Brew-it Yourself Center for three reasons. The first reason was to have a career doing something that I would truly enjoy. The second reason was to share my love of brewing with others. The third was to make a decent living. I guess two out of three ain’t bad.

  When starting out I had not yet realized how important some of my customers would become in other parts of my life. Since the Downriver Brewers guild had not yet come into being, I had no idea how important The Brewers Guild would become to me. I must say my affiliation with the Downriver Brewers Guild has given me countless memories (almost all of them good!).  I find it hard to imagine not having the meetings to look forward to, or the parties and get togethers that have become so important to both Nadine and myself

  The most important thing to come out of the Brew-it Yourself Center are the friendships that have formed. When starting out I never dreamed of the friends I would make. Not just friendly acquaintances but true friends, the kind of friends that will be with you the rest of your life.  I am also certain that others have formed friendships through the store that may not have happened otherwise. For this alone the Brew-it Yourself Center was truly a success.

Thanks to Franz, Richard, and Jimbo for providing material for this issue.