Small Crowd Turns Out for Meeting in April

Okay, stop me if you've heard this one. What do you get when you cross a Scotch Ale, a Czech Pilsner and some hot peanuts?

A Displaced Brewery Fanatics club meeting! D'you get it? Yeah, I tell that one all the time.

Well, that's the report from our meeting in April 2006. It was certainly unusual, because only Tony and Wayne brought in some homebrew. The rest of us all had batches in progress or planning. Well, anyway, we did the next best thing. Store-bought beer. What else could we do?

Tony and Wayne provided us with their Scotch Ale at a previous meeting, so we had the chance to taste it again after some aging in the bottle. Very nicely carbonated. The additional month gave the ale time to get those tiny bubbles that feel so good on your tongue as you sip. Plenty of alcohol and a low hop aroma. It has a noticeable caramel flavor, slightly tart.

Their Czech Pils has a nice hop character – bitterness and aroma – that balances nicely with the malt flavors. Plus it goes nicely with hot peanuts! Oh, yeah! They're fantastic, but watch out for that hit when they go down the gullet! And for anyone who is not a fan of garlic (like me, the goofed-up Italian), those curvy things aren't peanuts! Tony adds garlic spikes to the mixture. You can make chile peanuts yourself, because they are our featured recipe.

On to business. Ed and I had talked about moving the club meetings to Fridays. We have several reasons: mainly, we want to improve attendance and avoid hangovers at work the next morning. Lots of heads nodded at the meeting (and not because people were sleeping in their chairs). So even though we will have to share the space at Park Winery with the wine-tasters, the members present gave their approval.

Brewing? Call a friend. It's always rewarding fun to share the experience. Want to brew, but don't have equipment? Same thing. Many club members are happy to loan their equipment and lend some expertise, too.

We made plans for the 2006 National Homebrew Day, which already happened as of this writing. See the related article.

Matt is making a Cherry Wheat. He wants to add the cherries after the boil. Here's how:

Prepare a solution of sodium metabisulfate
Clean whole cherries
Add to the sodium metabisulfate solution
Let sit for 24 hours, until the sodium metabisulfate disperses
Add cherries after fermentation (krauesening) begins

The yeast cells will kill any remaining bacteria and will not significantly affect the sugars in the cherries.

Skip announced his plans to make a Raspberry Wheat the following weekend, but he planned to add the raspberry flavoring after the fermentation. Well, because this report is one month late, I happen to know that Skip tasted the Wheat Ale and decided it is durned fine just the way it is. That's the mark of a great homebrewer – knowing when to leave it alone and start drinking.

Our club is right around 1 year old, so membership fees will be due again. We are getting closer to having membership cards, and AH Dave reminded us that the Detroit Brew Factory cards indicated when it was time to renew membership in the High Drinkers' club (or whatever it was called). So, we'll do something like that.

Here is a tip from Skip. This came during the planning for Homebrew Day. He owns a food-grade hose, so he can supply water outside. Look for them at Meijer, among other stores. The hoses are white, typically 25 feet long.