February 2014 - Primetime Brewers

RUBBER
CHICKEN
The
WWW.PRIMETIMEBREWERS.COM
NEXT MEETING: Jaden James Brewery (Cascade
Winery), 4665 Broadmoor SE, Kentwood
Wednesday, February 19th
with below freezing nights, and that’s when the
sap runs. I have three huge trees in my yard that
I tap every year. This sap can be used for makNHC Preparations
ing maple beers, should anybody be interested in
By now, if you entered the lottery for
making one. My Standard Operating Procedure
submitting beers to the National
is to collect the sap when it starts running, dump
Homebrew Competition, you should
it all in my 15 gallon kettle, and start it boiling. I
have been notified if you were
boil it down until bedtime, turn off the heat, and
drawn. Sounds like most regions got
the next day, dump more sap in and start boiling
97% of the requesters in! If you didn’t get any notification, all is not lost! Any unreg- again. Not too efficient since I am constantly diluting partially concentrated sap with fresh sap,
istered or unpaid-for entries will go back into a
but it’s easy. Once I get the sap boiled down
pool the end of this week, and more registrants
pretty close, I’ll take it inside and finish it on the
will be drawn from those not already sestove,
watching it very closely. It takes 35-40
lected. Final notifications, if you got a supplegallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup.
mental draw or not drawn at all, will be sent out
th
At any point during this process, if somebody
by the 19 .
wants some sap to make a maple beer, contact
me, and we’ll take some out of my process, and
Did any of that make sense?
you can be on your way.
Registration for the conference opens on Febru- I have done light maple, wheat beers, using just
ary 19th and goes through the 26th. Registration sap instead of water, and gotten good results,
info will be collected, analyzed, and a lottery draw although the maple flavor does not stick around
will ensue if demand exceeds supply! Details are for long. Maybe a light German Lager fermented
on the AHA website. cold would be a good attempt at holding onto that
maple flavor longer? I just might try that.
BEERS! I have been
collecting info on who Speaking of NHC Club Night, some clubs go hog
wild with themes, and costumes and decoraplans to brew/bring
tions. Are we interested in going all out? At the
what to the NHC for
either the Social Well very least, I think we should pool the club jockey
or the Club Night. I’ll boxes, faucets etc. and build a special tap syshave the signup sheet tem out of a 53bbl oak cask. I have two casks
that could be used. I envision cutting one in half
at the meeting, and
we’ll update it if nec- lengthwise, and mounting 10-15 taps along the
essary. So hopefully sides. Jockey boxes could be concealed behind
with lines going to the taps. Any other ideas/
you have started alsuggestions? Bring ‘em up at the meeting!
ready brewing your NHC Beers, Ciders and
Meads! And as a reminder – Maple Syrup Season is looming. We’ll be hitting 40 degree days,
From the Prez...
Fouch, expertly handled his duties and the auction raised just over $1300.00 for the club treasury. A BIG thank you to all of our sponsors you
donated this year and who have in the past. Next
time you happen to be at one of their fine establishments, give them a big Thank You for supporting us. I would like to take time to mention
two of them that went above and beyond what is
usually normal, and that is Siciliano’s Market and
White Flame Brewing Company. Both gifts have
to do with the beers we are brewing for our club’s
Speakers – I have a partial list of speakers that
I will send out to the potential speakers, some in presence at the AHA National Convention in
the club, some not In the club, so we can set up a June. Steve Siciliano gave the club a generous
schedule of interesting topics. Do you have a list donation which we are splitting between the 14 or
of topics you would find interesting? Let’s get
so members that are committed to serving beer
them on the schedule!
or cider at Club Night and in the Social Well. Bill
~ Eric
White donated a few hundred pounds of base
malt that is going into some of our KBS clones or
Meetings/Speakers
A couple of things for discussion at the next
meeting:
Regarding beer judging, a few suggestions
have been made to conserve meeting time: Hold
the beer judging sessions on a different night, attended only by those with beers to judge/
interested in judging beers. Or : Hold the judging early on club night: Start the beer judging at
6:30, and try to finish it up by 7.
Any other Ideas?
Christmas Party/Auction Recap
~ Jeff Carlson
Our Annual Christmas Party and Auction was
held on Saturday January 11 at the Rockford
President Fouch presents the Brewer of the Year
Award plaque to Jason Zomerlei.
brews of our choice. Thank-you both, very much.
The night ended with the presentation of the coveted PTB Brewer of the Year Award. CongratulaCommunity Cabin. A smaller than usual crowd
tions to Jason Zomerlei for his convincing win.
attended, but they were treated to some great
beer and food. And as always, our sponsors and Because Eric didn’t come in second, there was
no runner up trophy this year. Hope to see you
members came thru with a huge assortment of
all again next year.
auction items. Our auctioneer, El Presidente’
President Fouch plays auctioneer.
The 9th Annual Great Lakes International Cider & Perry Competition
The Pro-Am Event for Apple and
Pear Fermentations
March 22-23, 2014
Call for Entries Announcement:
Friday, February 14
Online Registration Window:
Friday, February 21 to Friday, March 7
Bottle Arrival Window:
Saturday, March 1 to Friday, March 14
The site for this year’s competition is The Emerald Golf Course in St. Johns, Michigan. Judging
begins on Sunday, March 23rd at 10 AM and
continues until approximately 5PM. Dinner and
an awards announcement will follow.
Online entry registration opens on Friday, February 22nd and closes on Friday, March 7th. All entries must arrive at The Emerald Golf Course no
sooner than Saturday, March 1st and no later
than Friday, Friday, March 15th. Complete entry
information can be found at greatlakescider.com/
glintcap2014.html.
A judges’ training seminar will be held on Saturday, March 22nd at The Emerald Golf Course.
The seminar begins at Noon and ends at 8 PM,
with a planned meal break from 4 to 6 PM.
Rally With the AHA at New Holland
Brewing Co.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Time: 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Address: 684 Commerce Ct. Holland, MI 49424
Web: New Holland AHA Rally
Space is limited, please RSVP.
AHA Rallies are free to current AHA members.
Non-members and expired members can join
now or sign up at a discounted rate at the door.
A man, whose level of drunkenness was bordering on the absurd, stood up to leave a bar
and fell flat on his face. "Maybe all I need is
some fresh air," thought the man as he
crawled outside. He tried to stand up again
but fell face first into the mud. "Screw it," he
thought. "I'll just crawl home." The next morning, his wife found him on the doorstep
asleep. "You went out drinking last night, didn't you?" she said. "Uh, yes," he said sheepishly. "How did you know?"
"You left your wheelchair at the bar again."
Siciliano’s Upcoming Homebrew
Events
~ Steve Siciliano
Team Siciliano has been busy lately touching
base with merchandise vendors, T-shirt designers, caterers, entertainers, printers, banner makers, venue managers, food truck operators, the
Grand Rapids water department, the Grand Rapids fire department, the Mayor’s office and the
office of special events. We’ve been dotting our
i’s, crossing our t’s and putting our ducks in a
row. I detest using clichés, but I just couldn’t think
of a better way of saying that right now we have a
lot on our plates.
brew the winning recipe on New Holland Brewing
Company’s seven barrel pub system. Complete
competition details can be found here.
Last year’s inaugural Siciliano’s Big Brew on the
Calder was a huge success and we’re making a
few changes that will make this year’s Big Brew
Day even better. The 2nd Annual Siciliano's Big
Brew on the Calder is scheduled for Saturday,
May 3rd. Details on how to captain or participate
on a brew team will be posted within the coming
weeks.
We are returning to Townsend Park on Saturday,
May 17th for our 11th Annual Homebrew Party.
Tickets are $40.00 per person and will go on sale
on Monday, March 24th. Tickets are limited and
must be purchased in advance.
The American Homebrewers Association is bringing its annual convention to Grand Rapids in
June and Siciliano’s Market will be participating in
a big way—we have signed on as both the Keynote Speaker Sponsor and the Volunteer Sponsor for this year’s event. Information pertaining to
the convention can be found on the AHA web
site.
—————————————————————A drunk is driving through the city and his car
is weaving all over the road. Eventually a cop
pulls him over. "Did you know," says the cop,
"that a few intersections back, your wife fell
out of your car?"
"Oh, thank heavens," sighs the drunk. "For a
minute there, I thought I'd gone deaf."
Here's what the team has been so busy working
on of late: The upcoming homebrew competition —————————————————————-and judging, the 11th Annual Siciliano's Homebrew Party, the 2nd Annual Siciliano’s Big Brew
on the Calder and last, but certainly not least, our
participation in the American Homebrewer Association annual convention.
We will be providing more details on each of
these events in future Buzz posts. In the meantime here’s a plate of tasty appetizers:
Entries for the Siciliano’s Homebrew Competition
will be accepted from Monday, March 24th
through Sunday, April 13th. This year’s Best-ofShow winner will receive a $500.00 gift card from
Siciliano’s Market and will have the opportunity to
PRIMETIME BREWERS COMPETITION PAGE
Club Only Competition (COC)
Calendar
2014
Jan:
Feb:
Mar:
Apr:
May:
Jun:
Jul:
Holiday Party (Rockford)
Scottish & Irish (9)
English Brown (11)
Cider (27 & 28)
Best of Cellar—Beer only
Beer pairing dinner
Individual Competitions can be found at:
www.homebrewersassociation.org
2013 Brewer of the Year
(Through December)
Jason Zomerlei
Chad Zomerlei
John Applegarth
Brent Zomerlei
Eric Fouch
Ric Brown
Jeremy Gavin
Jim Verlinde
Jeff Carlson
Eric Smead
Neil Johnson
76
52
40
32
24
20
16
12
12
8
4
Club Officers
SAVE THE DATE(S)
Mar 22-23: GLINTCAP in St. Johns
Mar 23: AHA Rally at New Holland Brewery
Mar 23: O’Connor’s All Grain Seminar
Mar 24: Siciliano’s HB Competition entries
May 3: National Big Brew Day & Siciliano’s Calder Big Brew Event
May 17: Siciliano’s Homebrewers Party
June 12-14: NHC in Grand Rapids
Aug 2: AHA Mead Day
Nov 1: National Learn to Homebrew Day
December Christmas Beer
Club Competition
1st
2nd
3rd
John Applegarth
Chad Zomerlei
Eric Fouch
Not Pale Ale
Imperial Brown
Baltic Porter
President: Eric Fouch ( fouch.eric@gmail.com)
V. P.: Brent Zomerlei (brent@zomerlei.com)
Treas: Jeff Carlson (carlsonj@gvsu.edu)
Secy & RC Editor: Jim Verlinde
(jbverlinde@comcast.net)
Webmaster: Brandon Roberts
(blroberts90@gmail.com)
SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS…
THEY SUPPORT US!!
O’CONNOR’S
HOME BREW SUPPLY
619 Lyon St NE
Grand Rapids 49503
(616) 635-2088
VANDER MILL
CIDER MILL
& WINERY
14921 Cleveland St
Spring Lake, MI 49456
(616) 842-4337
UNCLE JOHN’S
CIDER MILL
8614 North US 127
St Johns, MI 48879
(989) 224-3686
BREWERY VIVANT
925 Cherry SE
Grand Rapids 49506
(616) 719-1604
ROCKFORD
BREWING COMPANY
12 E Bridge St
Rockford, MI 49341
(616) 951-4677
HARMONY
BREWING COMPANY
1551 Lake Drive SE
Grand Rapids 49506
(616) 233-0063
PERRIN
BREWING COMPANY
5910 Comstock Park Dr
Comstock Park 49321
(616) 551-1957
PIKE 51
BREWING CO.
3768 Chicago Dr
Hudsonville 49426
(616) 662-4589
MITTEN
BREWING COMPANY
527 Leonard NW
Grand Rapids 49504
(616) 608-5612
GRAND RAPIDS
BREWING CO.
1 Ionia SW
Grand Rapids 49503
(616) 458-7000
GRAVEL BOTTOM
Craft Brewery & Supply
418 Ada Dr
Ada 49501
(206) 403-8563
OSGOOD
BREWING
4051 Chicago Dr SW
Grandville 49418
(616) 432-3881
ARCADIA ALES
103 W Michigan
Battle Creek
(269) 963-9690
FOUNDERS
BREWING CO
235 Grandville Ave SW
Grand Rapids
(616) 776-2182
B & B LIQUOR STORE
2440 28th St SE
Grand Rapids
(616) 956-9413
WHITE FLAME
BREWING CO.
5234 36th Ave
Hudsonville
(616) 822-8269
B.O.B.’S HOUSE
OF BREWS
20 Monroe NW
Grand Rapids
(616) 356-2000
BREW GADGETS
328 S Lincoln Ave
Lakeview
(866) 591-8247
COTTAGE BAR &
RESTAURANT
18 Lagrave SE
Grand Rapids
(616) 454-9809
HIDEOUT
BREWING CO
3113 Plaza Dr NE
Grand Rapids
(616) 361-9658
HONEY CREEK INN
8025 Cannonsburg Rd
Cannonsburg
(616) 874-4005
HOPCAT
25 Ionia SW
Grand Rapids
(616) 451-4677
INTERNATIONAL
BEVERAGE
2675 East Paris SE
(616) 942-7240
and
6859 Cascade Rd SE
(616) 954-0262
MARTHA’S
VINEYARD
200 Union NE
(616) 459-0911
MICHIGAN HOP
ALLIANCE
PO Box 1843
Traverse City 49685
NEW HOLLAND
BREWING
66 E 8th St
Holland
(616) 355-6422
PAULY’S
11250 Fulton East
Lowell
(616) 897-2669
RED SALAMANDER
902 E Saginaw Hwy
Grand Ledge
(517) 627-2012
SAUGATUCK
BREWING CO
2948 Blue Star Hwy
Douglas
(269) 857-7222
SCHMOHZ BREWERY
2600 Patterson SE
Grand Rapids
(616) 949-0860
SICILIANO’S MARKET
2840 Lake Michigan Dr
Grand Rapids
(616) 453-9674
CELLAR BREWING
COMPANY
500 E Division
Sparta
(616) 883-0777