The Not Dog — April
2008 — Issue 200
‘Walking The Dog’ is the official
newsletter of ‘FOSSILS’
(Fermenters of Special
We are a home
brewing and beer appreciation club
located in
For the past
several years, newsletters have been sent out
each month, electronically to FOSSILS members and friends
under the name ‘The Not Dog’.
For additional
information visit us online at
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Note: ‘The Not Dog’
is now published as a web page and should load much faster for those of you
still on dial-up internet connections.
If you experience a problem viewing this newsletter, please drop me a
note and I’ll try to fix it. Contact Ed Needham fossils.secretary@gmail.com
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On Tap This
Issue
Get out
your planners! Great events on the
horizon!
This
Saturday! Magical Mystery Brew!
Keg Liquors
–Fest of Ale
Calling All
Homebrewers!
BJCP Judges
still needed for
Free
Homebrewing Ingredients!
President’s
Choice FOSSILS Meeting
American
Homebrew Association National Conference
Get
out your planners! Upcoming events and
items of interest!
April 19 - Magical Mystery Brew (better start brewing now!)
(changed from April 12, Thunder weekend –make note!)
May 10 - President’s Choice FOSSILS Meeting – Wheat beers
June 7 - Keg Liquors ‘Fest of Ale’
Magical Mystery Brew FOSSILS Meeting – April
19
This Saturday! we feature our annual club
competition for beers that defy style guidelines – Magical Mystery Beer. Start brewing your out-of-style beers for the
April FOSSILS meeting. This meeting will
held on the third Saturday rather than the second
Saturday due to Thunder over
From our President—Bob Capshew
As Spring teases
and taunts us with warm temperatures, we dream of perfect brewing days - not
too hot or too cold. It’s been awhile since the propane burner was a
brewing tool rather than a heat source.
As for me, I’ve been waiting for a better brewing weather too. The winter doldrums have launched me into
other projects that will hopefully create more fermatables
when they all come to fruition.
One of my brothers loaned me his beekeeping
equipment to set up two bee hives. Cleaning and preparing the boxes has
been tedious but interesting especially when the prospect of golden mead will
hopefully occur after the bees are established. I can’t wait until the
bees arrive this week.
I've also grafted several pear trees this
spring. These grafted trees will mature for one year then will be
transferred to the orchard where they will easily outgrow me and possibly
outlive me. There is little that can compare to seeing a tree
cutting growing from a rootstock that you have joined together except for
the prospect of drinking the fermented juice of pear trees.
In winemaking, I'm doubling my blackberry
patch with the added sunshine from the removal of two poplar trees last
year. Brambles are one of the easiest and quickest of all fruits to
grow. With some luck, maybe there will be enough fruit for a whole barrel
this year. Nothing captures the essence of July heat like a good glass of
blackberry wine!
Hope you are all preparing for a bountiful
spring and summer. In addition to the Magical Mystery brew this weekend
we still have a brew-in at the BBC on April 26 which will be a great time to look
at different homebrew equipment and techniques. The May meeting will be
the President's choice - a wheat-based beer contest on May 10. At
the end of May, the annual campout with the LAGERS will occur prior to the
typical hot/humid mid-June weather.
At our next meeting on April 19 students of
John Doyle (IUS professor and FOSSILS member) will present their Brewer’s
Toolkit. This is software that they have
designed for recipes and brewer’s inventory management.
Brewing Equipment for
I have the
following brewing equipment for sale, which would be perfect for the beginning
brewer, but would also benefit and grow with the more advanced one, as
well. I have very much enjoyed brewing
my own beer – as well as having the total luxury and convenience of having it
on draft – but unfortunately the constraints of my life now do not allow me the
time to pursue this wonderful hobby.
Below is listed
what I am offering. The prices quoted
are what one would pay for the equipment new (quoted from the Northern Brewer
catalog). Where I have put a “~” is an
estimation of what this product would cost if bought new. As you will notice, the only 3 things needed
to start brewing are 1) a propane tank, 2) brewing ingredients (either extract
or all-grain, and yeast), and 3) a CO2 tank – all else is included! This equipment has only been used one year,
and all is in very good shape.
I wish to sell
this as a complete set, but I may entertain offers to split the products up by
category.
The buyer must
pick up and move all equipment. All
equipment is located in
Thank you!
Qty Description Price for new
Brewing
1 Igloo “Ice Cube” mash tun conversion
(for grain brewing) – includes $19.99
tubing, stainless steel mesh filter, and shutoff valve)
1 Cast iron burner (55,000 BTU) and
stand $~30.00
1 10 gallon stainless steel brewpot
(restaurant grade, approx 2mm thick $~60.00
walls, heavy gauge bottom)
1 homemade copper wort chiller (to cool
the boiling liquid quickly to $~35.00
proper fermentation temperature)
1 ½” Fermtech
auto siphon (for siphoning the liquid into the $12.95
Better
Bottles after cooled)
1 hydrometer (for measuring specific
gravity) and test tube $9.75
Fermentation
1 1000 ml Pyrex beaker with stopper and
airlock (for yeast cultivation) $~20.00
2 Better Bottle PET fermentation
vessels, both with liquid crystal $52.98
fermometers (thermometers)
1 Carboy handle for Better Bottles (to
carry them easily) $8.50
2 Carboy caps for Better Bottles (to
make an airlock for the $5.00
fermenting liquid)
5 feet wide blowoff hose
(fits perfectly in the Better Bottles) to allow $~8.00
the fermenting liquid to expand
1 aeration system (aquarium pump,
tubing, HEPA filter, and stainless $31.99
steel aeration stone) – to give the liquid proper oxygen to
ferment
Draft beer dispensing
1 Woods 10 cubic foot chest freezer
(with the top elevated to allow $~299
more storage for kegs)
1 Johnson Controls refrigerator thermostat
(analog) – to override $52.99
freezer control, allowing the perfect temperature for draft
beer
6 Corny (5 gallon stainless steel soda
kegs) kegs (with all connectors, $209.94
tubing, CO2 router, and I hand tap)
1 dual gauge gas regulator (for the CO2
tank) $68.99
Total (if new) $898.05
My asking price for all listed above - $395.00
Please call Greg at
502-773-8762 (or email at gmerz2@yahoo.com) if you should have any
questions or wish more information.
Thank you!
Keg Liquors ‘2008 Fest of Ale’
11 Breweries, 2 Importers, 3 Craft Beer Distributors,
over 100 craft and import beers, food
and more!
Our 3rd Annual Fest of Ale celebrating the goodness that is craft
beer on June 7th from
We will have 10+ microbrewers on site to sample their wares, as
well as food, music, and a charity silent auction to support the WHAS Crusade
for Children.
Brewers and Importers signed up so far are: Upland Brewing
Company, New Albanian Brewing, Barley Island Brewing, Bluegrass Brewing
Company, Warbird Brewing, Bells Brewing, Browning’s,
Mishawaka Brewing Company, New Holland Brewing, Brugge
Brasserie, Wabash Brewing, and Cumberland Brews. We are still lining up more breweries, so
expect this list to grow.
Also in attendance will be World Class Beverages and Cavalier
Distributing. Food will be available from Mark’s Feed Store, Stratto’s and Buckhead Mountain
Grill.
Price is $25 in advance, and $30 day of the event. Tickets will be
available at Rich O’s Public House & Sportstime Pizza, the BBC Taproom and
Keg Liquors.
Keg Liquors
Keeping
617 E. Lewis and
812-283-3988
Calling all Homebrewers!
It's time once again for the fourth annual Louisville Ale Club (LAC)
Brew-in/potluck day. We are looking for
homebrewers to come brew a batch of beer and educate
non-brewing beer club.
The LAC event starts at
Interested brewers can start earlier. 2400 gallons of 180+ degree Mash and sparge water is available.
There will be malt and hops available as well.
We have had as many as twelve people brewing in previous years and
would like to have another big year.
Bring food and homebrew to share.
People are welcome to attend without brewing.
Addendum
to the
The FOSSILS needs to make a lot of beer for upcoming events – the
annual picnic (late May), AHA hospitality room (June) and Beer & Sweat
(August). To meet this need, Bob Capshew
will bring his 60 gallon mash tun to the Louisville Ale Club brew-in. We will be able to make 50 gallons of wort
with this mash tun. Bring your brew
kettle and make some all grain beer.
Contact Bob if you are interested.
Call for BJCP Judges for and
----- Original Message -----
From: Brewers Cup <BrewersCup@indianastatefair.com>
Date:
Subject: Call for BJCP Judges for
an
To: Brewers Cup
<BrewersCup@indianastatefair.com>
What?: Entry Categorization Event
When?:
Saturday, March 15th from
Where?:
Is this a brown porter or is it more of a
robust porter?
On Saturday, March 15th we are going
to host the a Beer
Categorization Event from
Building at the
event open to all
teams of judges that will sit down with a
brewer, taste the beer
and discuss which BJCP subcategory best
describes the beer. No
score sheets will be completed so the
process should flow fairly
swiftly.
As an added enticement, the NUVO
Craft Brewers Round Table will
begin in the same building at 3 PM.
Representatives from all
aspects of the craft brewing industry will
discuss the current
and future state of craft brewing in
will be presented in the print version
of Nuvo and as a podcast
on their website.
Please drop me an email at brewerscup@indianastatefair.com
if
you can help us categorize beers at
this event.
Anita Johnson
Free
Homebrewing Ingredients
The FOSSILS club has a standing offer to pay for ingredients if
you will bring half of your beer to one of the club meetings. For example, if you make a 10 gallon batch,
bring 5 gallons to the next meeting and you will get your 5 gallons for
free. What a deal!
We also encourage homebrew bottles, growlers, mini-kegs and of
course kegs at our meetings.
President’s
Choice FOSSILS Meeting – May 10th
In keeping with the FOSSILS tradition, I would like to announce
that the 2008 President’s choice beer will be wheat beers. This will be a wide open choice of not only
the traditional German wheat styles of Berliner Weisse,
Weizen, Dunkel Weizen and Weizen Bock but also
American Wheat, Belgian Wit and Kolsch. Time to start working on your recipes! There will be prizes for this club
competition!
American
Homebrew Association National Conference –
For all interested in attending the AHA national conference from
June 19 – 21, registration is now open.
The seminars are great, comradery tremendous
and the FOSSILS will have a hospitality room for participants from all around
the country.
To register:
http://www.beertown.org/events/hbc/index.html
FOSSILS
Members! Pay thy dues!
FOSSILS membership dues are payable in January by cash or
check. Check with Treasurer Denny Stapp
at any meeting. As a reminder, FOSSILS
dues are $18 per year (a true bargain) and include sampling privileges at
meetings, member-priced premium items and voting rights. Dues are structured thusly:
“Family” membership = dual membership for a couple
consisting of wife/husband/significant other.
Both designated adults are considered to be active members for the
purpose of voting and other member benefits.
“Individual”
membership = single
membership with the privilege of bringing a guest to meetings. The dues-paying individual only is considered
to be an active member for the purpose of voting in elections and other member
benefits (sale-priced t-shirts, for example).
FOSSILS
Supporters and Friends
FOSSILS is
generously supported by and supportive of these beer -friendly businesses.
In no particular order:
·
RichO's, Sportstime Pizza and The New Albanian Brewing
Company
– As founding FOSSILS members, Roger & his crew have always been an
integral part of our club, serving as our home base since 1990. With a beer list unrivaled in the
·
·
The Keg Liquors, (Currently rated #14 in the world
for ‘Best Beer Retailer 2008’—way to go Keg!) FOSSILS member and Keg owner Todd
Antz carries a
fine selection of micro and imported beers at his Clarksville store at 617 East
Lewis and Clark Parkway, Clarksville, IN
(812) 283-3988. Check their
website for periodic beer and wine sampling nights.
·
Visit
FOSSILS members Becky and John Riley at
·
Sarah Ring with
·
FOSSILS sponsorship is an effective
way to reach discerning and intelligent readers who are your friends and
customers. Not Dog advertising is
bartered for goods and services donated to the club. If you are interested in becoming a FOSSILS
sponsor, please contact Bob Capshew, FOSSILS President at Fossils.president@gmail.com.
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FOSSILS Contact
Information |
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President--Bob Capshew (812)
952-3667 Vice President--Caleb Sunderman |
Secretary—Ed
Needham (812) 944-0370 Treasurer--Denny Stapp Website--Scott Boyer |