FLOPS
Fayetteville Lovers of Pure Suds
445 East Township Street
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72703
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FLOPS/
FLOPS is a social organization committed to the art of home brewing. FLOPS meets beginning at 7:00 PM on the 3rd Thursday of each month at The Home Brewery in Fayetteville.
Andy Sparks Lynn Gann
Tom Ford Dr. John Griffiths
Steve Foley Keith Benson
Well, construction on the beer garden at Forde’s Publick House is progressing well. It should be done in time for Ford Fest 2002, and I hope to see everyone there. It will be in September on a Saturday to be named later. I will be brewing a few batches for that party soon, so be thinking about that if you are planning to contribute to the beer supply.
It looks like we lost some Fayetteville businesses. I understand that the Hog City Diner is now closed, as is Corky’s restaurant. As John has stated, there seems to be too much competition in the area and some are going to suffer as a result. Just the natural evolution of a college strip, I suppose. I understand that there is a large beautification project going on around the Dickson Street area and good things are supposed to be on the way.
Not much else to report as most of my time lately is spent at work. Blah! I should be taking business travel to BFE Alabama soon. Gee, I wonder what kind of wonderful regional beers I will find there? Ugh. I just hope the county is wet. Whatever the case, it will be better than the Beer Babe’s situation. Her pregnancy is very healthy, but the no beer thing is just no fun. Oh well, I will be sure to brew something special for when she is done nursing. Until next time…
Social Night
Join us for the August social night on Saturday, August 3rd at West Mountain Brewing Co. on The Square in Fayetteville. The gathering starts a bit earlier, around 6 PM, since it is on Saturday this time. Be there!
Raise a pint in honor of all FLOPS members celebrating birthdays this month!
Congratulations go out to Aaron, who reportedly tied the knot recently! We have not seen Aaron for a little while, but maybe he will come to the next meeting so we can meet his bride.
The August meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 15th at The Home Brewery. Business begins around 7:30PM. Be sure to bring your latest brew if you have any to share. Be there!
We might as well put this one in the beer Hall of Fame as it appears to be the homebrew club “old reliable.” Going to a beer club event and don’t know what to bring? This is the beer. 3 guests at the club barbecue last month brought some and our host, Dave, even served up Sierra Nevada Pale Ale mustard with the awesome brats he grilled. Their mustard is available at Ozark Natural Food Store in the Evelyn Hills shopping center in Fayetteville, and I highly recommend it. But back to the beer…
This beer is a fine example of American pale ale and has a nice kick at 5.6% alcohol by volume according to its distinctive green label. Certainly not the strongest of beers, but considering that it is very easy drinking you will understand why I commonly refer to it as “The Green Death.” Brewed from 2-row barley and caramel malts, this hop-head’s delight is bittered by perle and finished with a generous helping of cascade hops. Learn more about their other brews or buy yourself a T-shirt at www.sierranevada.com.
The July FLOPS regular meeting was held with Andy, Dr. J, Lynn, Daniel and me in attendance. We also had three guests. David, who I believe was a returning member. Andy described him as the best lager brewer in the area. We also welcomed Russ, who is a vintner who is interested in getting back into brewing beers. We also had Tony, who is currently working with our Tyson contingency and is not yet into the hobby.
We once again sampled some of Lynn’s fine ales and I also brought a keg of American wheat. Although I added no grain, everyone was surprised with how dark it was. This sparked quite an investigation into why the beer was so dark. The most plausible suggestion was that a particular homebrew supply shop may have sold me amber extract syrup in a light extract box. Said store will go unnamed to protect the guilty, but don’t worry. They know who they are and feel really bad about it.
The previous investigation launched a lively debate of extract versus all grain brewing. (Well, lively relative to usual club meeting goings on.) General consensus was that all grain brewing follows the true traditions of the craft and provides the brew master much more options and control over the brewing process. However, we extract brewers a capable of making some damn fine beers and spend less time doing it. End of story.
John reported that OBC is featuring happy hour every Wednesday from 3PM to close. (That’s quite an hour!) Draws of their fine microbrew selection are only $2.25 during that time. John also wants to organize a pub-crawl on Dickson Street, so attend the next meeting for more details. We estimated that there are about two-dozen pubs there now. Is it a coincidence that there are also 24 hours in a day?
A club brew was considered for the next meeting. We almost had a majority vote to have one at Super Dave Hildebrand’s house (since he wasn’t at the meeting to decline), but ended up tabling the issue. Looks like we might be having one soon, however.
Although we moved our celebration to the cooler fall months, don’t forget that Arkansas Homebrew Day is in late July. (Like you need an excuse to have a beer.) Thanks to our club members who played a part in making homebrewing officially legal in our state.