Category: homebrew

“Brew Like a Monk” author Stan Hieronymus at Northern Brewer

Here’s a quick note from Juno at Northern Brewer:

On Thursday, January 24th from 5-7pm Stan Hieronymus will be at our retail store discussing how to brew Belgian beers and signing copies of his book Brew Like a Monk. We will have discounts on Belgian products – yeast, sacks of grain, candi sugars, and books – the entire day. And we will give you a 10% discount on Brew Like a Monk from now until Mr. Hieronymus’s visit.

Courtesy of Stan Heironymus and Northern Brewer part-timer Kris England (BJCP Continuing Education Director) we will have two limited edition beer kits available for extract or all-grain batches:

The Number 8 (O.G. 1.084) Ready: 2 Months
A wonderful example of a Belgian Strong Dark Ale brewed in the Trappist tradition. A beer that seems lighter than its almost 9% abv would suggest. This beer should be highly carbonated, with peppery alcohol, spicey cloves, rum-raisin, and caramelized figs.

Petersbier (O.G. 1.041) Ready: 5 Weeks
The reverent Cistercian Brothers brew this beer on the left side of the Belgian town of Malle solely for their own consumption. It is not sold or served to the public, making it one of the rarest beers in the world. The monks make it from only Pilsner malt, hops, water, and yeast. The complexity that results from these simple ingredients is heavenly: perfumey floral hops, ripe pear, sour apple, cloves, candied citrus, and a slight biscuit character in a dry finish. All in all, a monk’s session beer.

Great Northern Brew-Ha-Ha

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Greetings and Happy New Year!

We are looking for volunteers to help steward and judge the 2008 Great Northern Brew-Ha-Ha in the Twin Ports of Duluth MN and Superior WI. The competition is set for February 8-9, 2008 and will be held at the Belgian Club in Superior, WI. Following the flights on Friday night, there will be an indoor pub crawl featuring samples of our local brewpub favorites. Saturday evening will have the awards ceremony at the Belgian Club, followed by a party at Thirsty Pagan Brewing.

To volunteer steward or judge, please visit our website at:
www.northernalestars.org/greatnorthernbrewhaha.html

Beginning January 14th entries will be accepted for the 2008 Great Northern Brew-Ha-Ha sponsored by the Northern Ale Stars Homebrewers Guild from the Twin Ports of Duluth, MN and Superior WI. The Great Northern Brew-Ha-Ha is the second leg of the 2008 Midwest Homebrewer of the Year award.

There will be prizes and medals for all 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners as well as Best of Show, novice, best brew name and our very own “Snowblower Brew” (you know, the brew you grab after a long day of cleaning up after a blizzard!). In addition, the Best of Show winner will have the opportunity to brew their winning entry on a grand scale, and have it featured, at Thirsty Pagan Brewing in Superior, WI.

To save on shipping costs, entries may be dropped off at the Upper Mississippi Mash-Out in St. Paul, MN on January 25-26, 2008. Or, they can be dropped off at the Thirsty Pagan Brewing in Superior, WI any time between January 14th and February 1st.

Cheers!

Dan Slick

Judge/Steward coordinator

Great Northern Brew-Ha-Ha

Midwest Homebrewer of the year…

is not me. No surprise there. Congrats to the winners and especially to the Minnesotans. For those of you playing along at home, I’m at about 216th place in that list. Of course that’s for one 3rd place at the Upper Mississippi Mash-Out.

Volunteer at UMMO

It’s that time again… time for the best homebrew contest in the Midwest, the Upper Mississippi Mash-Out. If you’ve never submitted a beer or volunteered at a beer event, this is the one. The clubs do a great job putting on such a huge contest and manage to keep it fun with extras like a great banquet, speakers and lots of extras for volunteers. I hear they have beer, too…

If you’re not a BJCP judge, you can still volunteer to steward. I volunteered as a steward for the first time last year. You follow the instructions, help the judges, check their (sometimes sketchy) math and tabulate score sheets, among other things.

One (of many) cool things with this contest is that they have a “new brewer” category for people who haven’t yet entered a homebrew contest. I got second place last year which brought me a medal and $40 (I think) at Northern Brewer. Not bad.

 I’m writing to invite you to join us for the Mid West’s largest homebrew contest the weekend of January 25-26, 2008 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The 2007 contest drew nearly 1000 entries from across the country.

In 2008 we’re awarding more medals and also have more events scheduled around a Belgian beer theme. Highlights include:

-Speaker Stan Hieronymous, author of “Brew Like a Monk
-The Brewer’s Forum – a Q & A and beer tasting with local pro brewers
-The Indoor Pub Crawl – no steenking buses, we bring the beer to you!
-Belgian-themed banquet
-commemorative beer & glass for all judges & stewards
-judging session food for volunteers

Visit our web site for more details and to sign up to judge or steward.

http://www.mnbrewers.com/events/mashout/

Let me know if you have any questions. I hope to see you at UMMO ’08.


Steve Fletty
2008 Judge Coordinator

Onion Homebrew Contest Results

Congrats to Ron Fitch from Eagan for winning the Onion’s homebrew contest. His Russian Imperial Stout won best of show. Enjoy all that beer, Ron.

Runners up include Curt and Kathy Stock (Classic American Pilsner) and Steve Fletty (Saison).