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 homebrewing. FLOPS meets beginning at 7:00 PM on the 3rd Thursday of each month at The Home Brewery in Fayetteville.
2003 Officers
Tom Ford Lynn Gann
Andy Sparks Dr. John Griffiths
Steve Foley Keith Besonen
Daniel Linton
So, who’s brewing? I know I am. I currently have 20 gallons (in 4 batches) in secondary fermentation. I would have more going, but it looks like I need to invest in more carboys. I guess I am ready for a few Christmas parties. For those of you who say that you would like to watch someone brew, etc., drop me a line. You are welcome to join me for my next batch, which should be anytime.
Looking for good Christmas gift ideas? Consider giving the gift of beer. Mix packs are always appreciated if you happen to have a number of styles bottled. This year for my neighbors, I am giving out a beer battered onion ring kit. It will basically consist of beer batter, an onion, and a bottle of homebrewed brown ale all neatly packaged. Oh, and for the homebrewer on your shopping list, I was reminded that gift certificates to The Home Brewery are still available. J
I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving. See you at the next Social Night!
Upcoming Social Events
The Christmas lighting of the Fayetteville Town Square is Wednesday, November 27th. I will be at West Mountain Brewing Co. with the Beer Babe and her family, so I hope to see some of you there.
Beer Camp this year is November 29th & 30th in Leslie, Arkansas. Contact Steve Foley for details.
Lynn Gann was not able to attend the meeting, as he was busy moving into his new home. We took the liberty to schedule a club brew at his new house at noon on Saturday, December 7th. Of course, none of us are really sure where his new house is, but I am sure Lynn will provide directions. Of course if he doesn’t, we can always reschedule the event.
A club dinner/social night to celebrate Christmas is scheduled for 7:00 PM on Friday, December 13th at Powerhouse in Fayetteville.
Another
candle in your cake?
Well,
that's no cause to pout,
Be
glad that you have strength enough
To
blow the damn thing out.
- Author unknown
The December regular meeting is scheduled for Thursday, December 19th at The Home Brewery. Plan to arrive around 7:00; business begins around 7:30.
While most of us probably consider “a Boulevard” to be a pale ale, most establishments that mention this on their list of beers available on tap are referring to the brewery’s unfiltered wheat. Boulevard’s wheat beer is a favorite from our Kansas City based regional brewery that is widely available here in Northwest Arkansas. It is pale, cloudy and satisfying and is brewed with locally grown Missouri wheat. Flavored with Nugget, Willamette and Magnum hops, this is a very easy drinking ale. I recommend a pint with your pizza in a frosty mug with a lemon wedge. Look for it in your favorite beer store in 6 or 12-pack bottles. Learn more about this brewery at www.BlvdBeer.com.
The November meeting was attended by Andy, Steve, Daniel, John, Russ, and myself. We welcomed Alan, a newly attending homebrewer, and my buddy Matt, whose horizons we are expanding beyond American light ever so gradually. Daniel shared some homebrewed cream ale this month that I enjoyed very much. Also available was the red ale we brewed at the September meeting, which Steve Foley was kind enough to keg for us. While drinkable, the final product was not quite what was expected. A debate broke out about whether the kit we brewed was actually red ale or a brown ale, but I think this was less debate and more a campaign of misinformation by the brew master. J
After a discussion of the kegging process and natural versus force carbonation, we discussed the November Social Night, which was held at Ghazi’s Pesto Café. While only four were in attendance, all agreed that it was a most enjoyable evening out and you just had to be there to appreciate it.
No major Christmas party is in the works this year, but we agreed on a dinner/social night. (Details are above.) The Christmas lighting on The Square is this week and some FLOPS members should be in attendance at West Mountain Brewing Co. While we should be enjoying their micro-brewed beers while watching the lighting of The Square, I am afraid that is not going to happen. They are still not ready and are now expecting December to be the month when they are ready. They did not specify what year, but we will hope for the best. Andy provided me the brew master’s name, so I will try to follow up with him.
While browsing the website of Ozark Brewing Co., I found that they are having a beer recipe contest. You can submit one entry per month. If your recipe is selected, you will receive a free dinner for two. If your recipe is actually brewed and used on their menu, your name will appear on the menu and you will receive a complimentary dinner for four and $250. (Note that all recipes entered become the property of OBC.) By that account, Dr. J figured he is owed a few thousand dollars for his Milligan’s Wee Heavy Scottish ale, a regular in the OBC ale lineup. Good luck collecting, John. Maybe you can at least score a free lunch. With December approaching, they should brew Milligan’s again soon (the local’s call it “crack beer” due to its high alcohol content), so be sure to look for it at the brewpub. In the meantime, check out the their website at www.ozarkbrew.com.
As a relatively new homebrewer, my activities are greatly assisted by the website www.BeerTools.com. I covered some of the advantages of using this site. Their free recipe calculator and generator are very helpful. You can upgrade to a GOLD membership for $15 per year and that gives you more selections of ingredients for the calculator compared to the free membership as well as supporting a great homebrewing website. Another great part about the website is the homebrewer’s forum where questions are asked and answered by the newest homebrewer to the most experienced professional brewer. The site’s webmaster offered a GOLD membership discount in the forum, so if you opt for an upgrade use promotion code BTGFRM and receive a year of GOLD membership for only $9.95.
I offered a shameless plug for our own Home Brewery, which is now carrying White Labs pitchable yeast tubes! These tubes contain approximately 60 billion yeast cells ready to pitch, which is equivalent to the pitching rate of a typical 1-pint starter of WYeast. They will get your wort to high krausen within 5-15 hours! The first order sold out quickly, but a larger order has been placed and should arrive soon. Learn more about this newly available product at www.WhiteLabs.com.
I solicited the members in attendance for suggestions about what they wanted to do for the next year as far as club activities are concerned. I came across an old website (still online) that outlined the club’s activities back in 1999, which gave insight into what kinds of things the club used to do. I was particularly interested in the monthly beer style analysis and the brewing competition that drew 88 entries. Are these the types of things we want to do again? Everyone offered suggestions, but no decisions were made, nor was that the intent. I was just sending out feelers for what the membership would like, so please provide your input to me. Personally, I would like to see some small club brewing contests or club participation in other brew-offs. I also hope that members can leave each club gathering feeling that they learned something about the hobby we are all a part of, but also that they had a good time doing it. Let me know what you think.
On a final note, Alan reportedly asked the owner of Liquor World in Fayetteville why he doesn’t carry New Belgium beers. His response was that he “does not want to cater to that type of customer.” WTF? We were not sure what to make of that. We debated going down there and breaking all of their plate glass windows with New Belgium bottles, but this is beer club, not Fight Club. But this certainly warrants further investigation.
Until next time… Cheers!