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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: pbabcock at hbd.org


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Contents:
  Sacred Beer (Alexandre Enkerli)
  link of the week - calculators (Bob Devine)
  Judges & Entries Needed, 12th Annual BUZZ Off May 21st ("Christopher Clair")
  Smithsonian:  Prohibition and Medical Beers (hazan)
  error in 2004 BJCP style guidelines (McNally Geoffrey A NPRI)


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JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
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Date: Sat, 26 Mar 2005 01:20:23 -0500
From: Alexandre Enkerli <aenkerli at indiana.edu>
Subject: Sacred Beer

My fellow believers in good beer!

Peter Ensminger (in the Iroquois capital of Syracuse, NY) sent us a 
link to a recent NPR item on a Tarahumara/Raramuri (native group in 
Sierra Madre, MX) Easter ritual involving corn beer:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4532569
As a cultural anthropologist, I tend to be weary of statements about 
cultural isolation, especially in a clear case of syncretism. But this 
might be a good opportunity to think about beer and beliefs.

While some members of contemporary US society may equate alcohol with 
unholy behaviour, many contemporary and historical societies have 
developed very positive beliefs about alcohol and other substances. In 
fact, many religious communities base their practice on the effects of 
specific substances. The Peyote Cult is a classic example as those who 
belong to the group take the peyote hallucinogenic alkaloid (from which 
mescaline comes) to undertake spiritual activities. Even Muslim Sufis 
consume wine to achieve the proper state of consciousness in their 
religious practice. Rastafarians use cannabis (ganja) for religious 
purposes and frown upon recreational use of the substance.

Now, beer seems rather weak as compared to many of the other substances 
used in ritual contexts. But the connection between beer and belief 
systems is longstanding and quite powerful.

Yes, we all know about different divinities, patron saints, and 
religious figures (especially monks) associated with beer. Of course, 
we know how gruit was controlled by religious authorities as a form of 
taxation. And, as we can attest, consuming beer together represents an 
important shared experience. This experience may help a group of people 
develop a strong bond, a sense of belonging to a community. Beer 
brewing is also a "mystery," in the strongest sense. We may now know 
several dimensions of beer chemistry but brewing still remains quite 
mysterious to most of us. No surprise that there has been a number of 
brewing guilds in European history. In the contemporary equivalents of 
these guilds, brewers may openly exchange knowledge instead of 
transmitting secrets. Yet some of us still see brewing as a wonder.

So why should it be surprising that beer is sacred in some communities?

Happy Easter!

AleX near Notre Dame, IN
[129.7mi, 251.5] Apparent Rennerian



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Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2005 13:15:37 -0700
From: Bob Devine <bob.devine at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: link of the week - calculators

Some handy web-based calculators.

http://www.netbeer.org/english/tips.htm

Bob Devine
Riverton, UT


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Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2005 21:55:22 -0500
From: "Christopher Clair" <buzzclub at verizon.net>
Subject: Judges & Entries Needed, 12th Annual BUZZ Off May 21st

Brewers Unlimited Zany Zymurgists (BUZZ) is proud to announce that the 2005
BUZZ Off home brew competition will be held on Saturday, May 21st at Iron
Hill Brewery & Restaurant in West Chester, PA.  For another year we will be
a qualifying event for the prestigious Masters Championship of Amateur
Brewing (MCAB) as well as the Delaware Valley Homebrewer of the Year.  All
BJCP recognized styles (2004 guidelines) including meads and ciders are
eligible for entry. For complete details and forms, please visit the BUZZ
web site at http://hbd.org/buzz.

Entries will be accepted between May 1st and May 15th.  For drop off and
mail in locations please refer to the BUZZ web site.  Please, do not send
entries to Iron Hill.

BJCP Judges and stewards will be needed. If you are interested please
contact me or another committee member (contact information can be found on
the web site). All judges must be BJCP certified (any ranking).

Good luck and cheers!

Christopher Clair
buzzclub <at> verizon.net
http://hbd.org/buzz

"The mouth of a perfectly happy man is filled with beer."
 - Ancient Egyptian Wisdom, 2200 B.C.





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Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2005 14:07:43 -0000
From: <hazan at ptd.net>
Subject: Smithsonian:  Prohibition and Medical Beers


Interesting read about Prohibition and medical beers in this months 
Smithsonian Mag. 

http://www.smithsonianmag.si.edu/smithsonian/issues05/apr05/presence.html

Enjoy

Al Hazan
NE PA.



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Date: Mon, 28 Mar 2005 09:17:15 -0500
From: McNally Geoffrey A NPRI <McNallyGA at Npt.NUWC.Navy.Mil>
Subject: error in 2004 BJCP style guidelines

All,

  As part of organizing this year's South Shore Brewoff (held on March 26th),
I found an error in the full version of the 2004 style guidelines.

  See:  http://www.bjcp.org/finalstyles/2004BJCPGuidelines.pdf

  The "style chart" on page 41 lists blonde ale as 6A and cream ale as 6B.

  However, the full guidelines on page 6 lists blonde ale as 6B and
cream ale as 6A.

  All of the other versions of the guidelines (rtf, html, and xls) all
show blonde ale as 6B and cream ale as 6A, so the error only seems to be
in the style chart of the pdf version.

  Unfortunately I used the pdf style chart while logging entries and
after discussing this with the entrant, reclassified a blonde ale as 6A.
It subsequently got judged as a cream ale since the full guidelines
were used during the competition.  However, it still scored well and
ended up placing first in it's category.

                                             Geoffrey McNally
                                             Competition Organizer
                                             South Shore Brew Club

PS:  Results from the competition should be posted on the club website
(http://www.southshorebrewclub.org/) in the next couple of days.




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