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.
Primary Fermenter
Andy Sparks
Tom Ford
Steve Foley
Lynn Gann
Dr. John Griffiths
Keith Benson
As your duly elected Secondary Fermenter, I have assumed responsibility for recording the minutes (or should I call them hours?) of our club meetings and publishing a newsletter each month. I hope that everyone will have something to contribute to future editions so we can spread the knowledge. I know one of you must have a brewing tip that will shave 15 minutes off my brew time and I’m going to find out who it is.
A lot of you were missed at the last social night. It was held at West Mountain Brewing Co. and in attendance were Dr. J, Keith, Matt (a friend of mine from work), and myself. We have been scheduling social nights on Thursdays lately and everyone seems to be forgetting them, but admittedly we never set up a reminder on the club calendar. Therefore we are moving social night back to Friday and Saturday nights in order to increase participation so I hope to see many more of you at the next one.
We had an interesting conversation with the bartender at social night. Their keg if Rogue bitter was apparently floating and the barkeep said that they were no longer able to get bitter on tap in Fayetteville. This, of course, caused much consternation among those present. You will be happy to know that since then I visited Brewski’s and they still had Rogue on tap. I also visited West Mountain again and they now have E.S.B. on tap. A different bartender set the record straight and told me that they cannot reliably get these beers from their distributor so they have to get whatever is available. I find that favorable as I enjoy the variety. And hopefully they will have their own beers available soon and that will be all the more reason to visit.
I hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather as much as I am even if it does mean less brewing. I personally have not completely ceased my brewing activities. I have a Merlot about ready to bottle and will follow that up with another batch of extract-based Weizen, a great summer brew and an easy recipe too. (E-mail me for details.) Until next time, happy brewing and happier drinking!
Join us for the June social night on Friday the 7th at Ozark Brewing Co. on Dickson Street in Fayetteville. The gathering starts around 7 PM.
Happy birthday to all FLOPS members born in the month of June! Since I have no idea who that might be, an e-mail will be forthcoming soliciting information for a member directory. Be sure to watch for it and provide some feedback.
The June meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 20th at The Home Brewery. Be there!
Steve Foley was admitted to Springdale Hospital to be treated for a ruptured appendix. Steve, we hope to see you back on your feet soon!
Debbie Ford, a.k.a. the “Beer Babe” is expecting a “Beer Baby” this Christmas! Congratulations!
Do you have an announcement, article, recipe, or any other item for the next FLOPS newsletter? Send your contributions to Tom Ford at L48Shark@Yahoo.com. Thanks in advance for your participation!
Keith Benson brought this one to my attention. Dead Guy Ale was created in the early ‘90’s as a private tap sticker to celebrate the Mayan Day of the Dead (November 1st, All Souls Day) in Portland, Oregon. Dead Guy is a German-style Maibock. It is deep honey in color with a malty aroma, rich hearty flavor, and a well-balanced finish. And, as the brewery claims, it is “gratefully dedicated to the Rogue in each of us.” Dead Guy Ale is available locally in 6-packs of 12-ounce longnecks at Liquor World or on tap at Brewski’s in Fayetteville. Visit Rouge Ales on the Web at www.Rogue.com.
The May FLOPS regular meeting was kicked off with Andy, Steve, Dr. J, Lynn, Dave, Bill, Daniel and Tom in attendance. Rain forced the business half of the meeting inside, however we enjoyed a cool spring evening out back to relax afterwards. The highlight of the meeting was discussion of Dr. John’s huge victory at the 2002 Bluebonnet 16th Annual Brew-off! Bluebonnet is billed as the “largest single site homebrew event in the entire United States.” John scored a first place win in the English & Scottish Strong Ale category with his Milligan’s Wee Heavy. The last 3 bottles of this fine elixir were enjoyed by all present. We also got a look at the medal John received form the event. View it and other information online at www.hbd.org/bluebonnet. Congratulations, John!
Spring Fest was a successful event once again and the weather even cooperated this time around. Many entry forms were collected and a winner of the home brewing kit giveaway was drawn at the meeting. Congratulations go out to Tracy Goff, the lucky winner for 2002. Tracy’s comments on the entry ticket read, “please draw my name” and Dr. J obliged.
Bill’s porter that was giving him trouble as described at the last monthly meeting was sampled and it seemed to have righted itself. Good brewing, Bill, and thanks for sharing.
The club has quite a bit of web space available, so anyone with any useful content should get in touch with Andy to have it posted. Also, please submit your ideas for a catchy club Internet domain name because the search is on.
At the next meeting, Dr. J will be giving a talk on home brewing basics for the benefit of any guests we met at Spring Fest or any members who have not brewed anything for a long time. You know who you are. See you then!