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


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Contents:
  RE: Minneapolis Brewpubs ("Al Boyce")
  Minneapolis Brewpubs (Paul Hethmon)
  Re: open fermentation procedure? (Randy Ricchi)
  beer tripping in Napa (Philip J Wilcox)
  Open ferment ("Keith Anderson")
  Non-styles homebrew competition (Steve Jones)


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Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2006 22:55:42 -0500
From: "Al Boyce" <aboyce at mn.rr.com>
Subject: RE: Minneapolis Brewpubs

Raymond T. Gaffield asked: 

>>I'll be in Minneapolis in about a week's time. I'd appreciate any 
>> recommendations for good brew & food establishments.

Minneapolis Brewpubs:
Rock Bottom
Town Hall Brewery
The Herkimer

St. Paul:
Great Waters

New Brighton:
Barley John's

Maple Grove:
Granite City

Local Breweries:
Summit (St. Paul)
Surly (Brooklyn Center)

Great Beer Bars:
Happy Gnome (St. Paul)
Muddy Pig (St. Paul)
Williams Pub (Minneapolis)
Old Chicago (various locations)




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Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2006 08:17:43 -0400
From: Paul Hethmon <phethmon at hethmon.com>
Subject: Minneapolis Brewpubs

Ray asked about Minneapolis brewpubs for his trip, here's
my report from last February on what I visited:

<=== from February 2005 ===>
First, a thank you to all who responded to my requests for recommendations.

Minneapolis Town Hall was the most recommended place by far and I did
manage to make it there Thursday night. Decided on getting the sampler
set, 7 beers for 7 bucks in the little 3oz glasses. I can't particularly
say which one was best as my memory got fuzzier drinking through the
set. The double ipa (which I believe was seasonal) was tasty. The place
has some character about it. Food seemed reasonable, though I couldn't
bring myself to order a $30 steak there. If you go, bring your
darts. Also, an excellent selection of single malt scotches on hand.

Wednesday I found my way over to St. Paul and visited Great Waters.
Their draw for me was a chance to try out some cask conditioned beer,
something I hadn't had a chance to try before. I went with
the oatmeal stout and was pleased. They serve cask conditioned at 52
degrees. This one was nice and smooth. The food was nice also, grilled
pork chops with a portobello mushroom sauce and warm bread pudding
for desert.

Tuesday was spent at Rock Bottom in Minneapolis. That one was luck as I
was on my souvenir mission for my son to pick up the required Hard Rock
Cafe t-shirt for his collection. I was originally planning on just
eating at Hard Rock, but noticed the Rock Bottom looking for it. They
had a nice English bitter on tap that night. The waitress was concerned
when I selected it and urged me to try a sample glass first, little did
she know my tastes :-). I have to say I liked that particular beer
better than what I had at the Rock Bottom in Scottsdale last month.

Next time I'm there, it sounds like a trip to Barley John's would be
next on the list.

- -- 
Paul Hethmon
phethmon at hethmon.com
Farragut, Tennessee
[443.2, 182.3] Apparent Rennerian


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Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2006 09:03:28 -0400
From: Randy Ricchi <rricchi at houghton.k12.mi.us>
Subject: Re: open fermentation procedure?

I use open fermentation for most of my ales. My interpretation of "open" 
fermentation is that it is not truly "open", since I place a lid on the 
fermentation vessel (my 10 gallon SS kettle), but the beer is not under 
an airlock as in a carboy fermentor.  The lid is loose enough that CO2 
escapes easily.  Once the kraeusen falls, or is almost fallen, I 
transfer to a carboy to finish the fermentation. I like to do this while 
there are still a few gravity points yet to be fermented. This ensures 
that the carboy head space will be flushed of O2 with CO2.  I wouldn't 
want to leave the beer in the open fermentor long after CO2 production 
has slowed for fear of air exchange causing oxidation of the beer.
The nice thing about open fermentation is the ease of skimming 
(harvesting) top-cropping yeast.
>
> I've decided to explore the world of open fermentation. I have a few
> questions about the procedures.
>
> First and most importantly is, how long should I leave the beer in the
> open fermenter? Do I only leave it until the krausen recedes? If so,
> can I then transfer it directly to a keg, or should I follow the usual
> procedure of moving it to a closed secondary fermenter?
>
> If anyone could point me in the direction of articles, resources on
> open fermentation techniques, I would be forever grateful.
>
> Best,
> Ben Dooley
>
>   


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Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2006 09:28:21 -0400
From: Philip J Wilcox <pjwilcox at cmsenergy.com>
Subject: beer tripping in Napa

Hi all,

Its just about time for my trip into Napa, via Sacramento and Modesto... I 
have only heard from 2 or three folks about the area. Here is the frapper 
map I have been making for my adventures, so if you have any info for me 
or are interested, join in and add in some fun info...

http://www.frappr.com/mackiltrip

I have been searching for the big beer frapper map that somebody started a 
while back, they were trying to list all the breweries in the USA... I 
remember that it exists, but not where to find it.... any help?

Best of luck to everyone else who entered into the 2nd round of the AHA 
NHC this week, and special Kudos to my buddy Mark Tumarkin who helped pull 
this event together... About the time you folks toast a new winner with 
some awesome beer, I'll be toasting a new Bride with some massively 
overoaked Chardonnay! ;<)
 
Phil Wilcox
Poison Frog Home Brewer
Secretary - Prison City Brewers (Former Warden)
AABG, AHA, BJCP, HBD, Etc., Et. al ...


 Philip J. Wilcox
 Communications Consultant
 Consumers Energy, Jackson, MI 


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Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2006 10:25:35 -0400
From: "Keith Anderson" <keithxanderson at gmail.com>
Subject: Open ferment

Ben writes:

"I've decided to explore the world of open fermentation. I have a few
questions about the procedures.

First and most importantly is, how long should I leave the beer in the
open fermenter? Do I only leave it until the krausen recedes? If so,
can I then transfer it directly to a keg, or should I follow the usual
procedure of moving it to a closed secondary fermenter?

If anyone could point me in the direction of articles, resources on
open fermentation techniques, I would be forever grateful."

I've been open fermenting ever since I switched to 10 gallon batches a
few years ago.  I couldn't fit 10 gallons in anything but my 15 gallon
keg that I use to boil the wort.  You pretty much have the right idea
about when to transfer.  I wait until the krausen is either very thin
or is gone and transfer to 2 closed carboys.  I went straight to a keg
once or twice and found it tasted too yeasty but I'm sure you could do
this and just dump the first few pints.

The best source of info I found was the good old hbd archives
searching through Jeff Renner's posts.  His name is everywhere so try
searching with "jeffrenner" to pick the stuff he posted along with
open ferment (I use google).  I had my fears about sanitation and
spoiling beer but I haven't had any problems.  Since I boil in this
keg it is sanitized and I keep a lid on it during the ferment.  I
don't let it go more than a week tops in the keg but that is just me
being paranoid.  Different yeasts behave differently, some are done in
2 days and I try to move it to carboys ASAP.

Keith in Red Bank, NJ


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Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2006 10:54:43 -0400
From: Steve Jones <stjones1 at chartertn.net>
Subject: Non-styles homebrew competition

Are You Tapworthy?

The State of Franklin Homebrewers and Depot Street Brewing are
organizing a non-styles homebrew comp and I'd like to get some
input from the homebrewing community. This is our first attempt
at organizing a comp outside of our monthly club comp.

Here are some of the facts: (preliminary info is at
http://www.franklinbrew.org/other/tapworthy.html)

This comp will be judged based on overall commercial appeal and
drinkability rather than adherence to styles guidelines. We 
currently have a monthly club competition, and odd months are 
non-styles comps, so we have several members who are quite 
experienced in this type of judging. 

Should we solicit BJCP judges in addition to our club members? 
Will most BJCP judges be able to set the styles guidelines 
aside and judge to drinkability standards?

Grand prize is for the winner to brew his/her beer at Depot 
Street Brewing and have it featured as a seasonal offering 
by the brewery, so we figured that entries should be limited 
to persons residing within 100 miles of the brewery. Is this 
reasonable?

There are 3 major metro areas with >100,000 population within 
100 miles - Knoxville TN, Asheville NC, and Tri-Cities TN. How 
many entries might we expect?

Should we register with the BJCP/AHA and become a sanctioned comp?

We will have 6 categories (blatantly ripped off from the Austin 
Zealots Homebrew Inquisition), and will pass the top 2 or3 from 
each to the BOS round. 3 pro brewers (including DSB's head brewer) 
and 2 homebrewers will make up the BOS panel. Does this sound 
reasonable?

Any other feedback from you would be welcome too. 

Thanks in advance for your input.

Steve Jones, Johnson City, TN
State of Franklin Homebrewers
http://www.franklinbrew.org



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