In this edition:
- Blowoff from the Prez
- Secretary’s Report
- Birthdays
- 2013 Dues
- SAAZ Library
- Upcoming Events
- Next Meeting – March 30th
- Upcoming Competitions
- REWARD!
- Beers Available in the Area
- Beer Education
- SAAZ on Facebook
- Raffle
- Feedback
SAAZ Platinum Sponsor
Blow off from the Prez
Q: Who is the bees favorite singer?
A: Sting!
~Dave
Secretary’s Report
Commander SAAZ – Andrew is working with local hotels to begin visiting and having discussions to determine final date and location for the event.
Sonia will be ensuring that our AHA membership (and associated Zymurgy magazine) subscription is up to date.
~Kevin
March Birthdays – Happy Birthday!
Dave Bennett
Robin Bennett
Mike Ellis
Dan Shirah
Don’t see your name (and your birthday is in March)? It could be that Kevin doesn’t have a completed membership form from you. Ask him for one at the next meeting so we can include you!
2013 Dues
The first quarter of the year is over! That means you have surely renewed your membership so you can continue to enjoy all of the fun that comes with it!
Individual Membership = $15
Couple’s Membership = $25
Lifetime Membership = $150
Dues can be paid to the Treasurer (Anne Gregg) at any club meeting or online at our website via PayPal Click here to pay.
You don’t want to miss out on the benefits of membership!
SAAZ Library
Have you ever wanted to read up on how to make different styles of beer?
Or perhaps you would like to see different techniques for brewing.
If so, the SAAZ Library may have what you are looking for!!
You can view the entire list of publications Here.
If you see something that interests you, simply send an email to SAAZLibrarian@gmail.com with your name and the publication title, and the Librarian will bring it to the next monthly member meeting.
Upcoming Events
No events at this time.
**Keg Donations**
Attention Members
We realize that the beer you provide for events such as those above does not magically appear and cost you nothing. Therefore, SAAZ will be implementing a new policy to help reimburse you for the beer you bring to events.
1/2 keg – $20
Full keg – $40
All reimbursement requests can be given to the Treasurer.
Next Meeting – March 30th (Saturday)
This month’s meeting will be at Rotary Park in Suntree.
Rotary Park is located at the intersection of US 1 and Suntree Blvd
The meeting will be Saturday March 30th
Times:
11:00 – Arrive to help set up.
12:00 – Party starts.
?? – Help break down.
What to bring:
A side dish or dessert
Homebrew
This year we will have a LIVE BAND performing. Some of you may recognize C-Lane & Beav from their frequent bookings at World of Beer.
Next-Next Meeting: April 21st on the World of Beer Patio.
Upcoming Competitions
AHA Club Only
Think our homebrew club makes some pretty good beer? Have you ever wondered how it stacks up against other clubs’ beer?
The American Homebrewer’s Association Club-Only Competition (COC) program offers AHA-Registered Homebrew Clubs an opportunity to compete with other AHA-registered homebrew clubs. Each competition concentrates attention on a specific style of beer or mead, giving our club the opportunity to educate club members in these styles by focusing on them at club meetings or tasting events.
All AHA-registered homebrew clubs are eligible to compete in the COC. Each club may only send one entry per competition. So, bring your homebrew to the April meeting for the next COC!!
May 2013
Extract Beers
Hosted by Stan Backlund and the Hangtown Association of Zymugry Enthusiasts club of Placerville, CA, this competition covers BJCP categories 1-23 where 50% or more of the fermentable sugars must come from the use of malt extract.
So, bring your eligible homebrew to the April meeting and some of our resident expert judges will determine which beer should represent our club!! If your beer is chosen, SAAZ will reimburse you for shipping!!
Upcoming Florida Competitions:
The Palm Beach Draughtsmen’s 18th annual Hurricane Blowoff
Always an AHA/BJCP certified homebrew, mead and cider competition, will come ashore in suburban West Palm Beach @ El Encanto during the weekend of April 19th – 20th.
We encourage SAAZ participation in entering as well as judging!!
The entry window will open on March 11th and close at 5pm on March 29th.
Pre-Judging will be on the 5th-7th, with some additional pre-judging on the 12th-13th, if needed.
Judging will commence on Friday the 19th @ 2pm – ?? and judging on Saturday will run from 9am – ?? followed by the Best of Show.
The awards dinner (great food and homebrew!), party and excellent raffle will follow the BOS, starting @ 7pm at El Encanto .
http://palmbeachdraughtsmen.com/?page_id=26
The 2013 Hogtown Brew-Off
Will be held again at the beautiful Kanapaha Botanical Gardens May 24-25, 2013.
Kanapaha will be the site of judging Friday and Saturday, the Wild Boar Keg Competition Saturday afternoon, and the gala awards banquet Saturday night.
Entry Window Will Open On April 22, 2013
http://www.hogtownbrewers.org/Brewoff
Details of locations, times, etc. are available at http://miamihomebrew.org/
Check out the homebrewers association website for a list of the 2012 club-only competitions on the schedule.
REWARD!
Attention all SAAZ members!
Once again we will be rewarding our member(s) that has the highest point total in the Florida circuit in both the Beer and Mead categories.
Be sure to submit your favorite brews to the various statewide competitions.
Current list of competition winners:
| Name | BFBC | Coconut Cup | Totals |
| Sean Gregg | 1 | 6 | 7 |
| Andrew Carpenter | 1 | 1 | |
| Dave Webb | 1 | 1 | |
| Glen Weimar | 1 | 1 | |
| Mead | |||
| Andrew Carpenter | 3 | 3 | |
| Dave Webb | 1 | 1 |
Beers Available in the Area
Coasters Pub (Indian Harbor Beach) – facebook
- Sweetwater 420 Pale Ale
World of Beer – Viera
New bottles
- Mission Hefe
- Mission IPA
- Ommegang Biere d’hougoumont
- Victory White Monkey
Crispy’s Beer & Wine Bar
New Bottles and Cans Available.
- Troubadour Magma – 9.00% ABV Belgian IPA
- Troubadour Obscura – 8.50% ABV Belgian Stout
- Kopparberg Strawberry Lime Cider – 4.00% ABV (IT’S DELICIOUS!!!!)
- Fat Cat Lager – 4.90% ABV Vienna Lager
- Fat Cat Pale Ale – 5.10% ABV – American Pale Ale
- Fat Cat Sultan’s of Wheat – 4.90% ABV Witbier
Complete beer listing for Crispy’s is available using Findmytap.
SAAZ Platinum Sponsor
Beer Education
Making a Porter Recipe
The Porter Beer Style
Porter is a English beer style that has become very popular in the United States. This week we will look at the origins of Porter, how to brew Porter at home and provide a collection of sample recipes. When I started brewing back in the 1980′s, the microbrewery revolution was still in its infancy, and it was difficult to find anything beyond the classic American lager in the stores. Yet dark beers were a passion of mine, and Porter was a perennial favorites.
History
Porter is first mentioned in writings in the early 1700′s, and the name Porter is derived from its popularity with London’s river and street porters. There are many stories surrounding the origins of Porter, such as one about it being a blend of three other beers, but more likely Porter was derived from strong brown ales of the period. Original porters were substantially stronger than modern versions. Wikipedia mentions that hydrometer measurements on 18th century Porters indicate original gravities near 1.071, or 6.6% ABV – about twice the alcohol of a modern beer.
Taxes during the Napoleonic wars drove the alcohol content down to modern levels. Porter was also the first large scale beer to be entirely aged before delivery, often remaining in vats or casks for 18 months before shipment to pubs. As the 1800′s started, breweries mixed aged porter with new porter to reduce storage times. Stouts started as a stronger, darker version of Porter, with most including the name “Stout Porter”. Eventually the “Porter” tag was dropped giving the modern style of “Stouts”. (Re: Wikipedia)
In another interesting side note, Porter’s popularity was so high that it was stored in huge vats in the late 1700′s, and there was an arms race of sorts between major breweries to see who could build the largest vas. According to Ray Daniels book (below), the largest vats approached 20,000 barrels (860,000 gallons) at the end of the 1700s. This compares to the largest in the world today which clocks in at around 1600 barrels, less than 1/10th the size. In October of 1814, a huge vat at the Meux brewery ruptured and reportedly wiped out an adjacent tank and devastated the neighborhood in a 5 block radius. In the ensuing chaos at least 8 people were killed.
Designing a Porter Recipe
Designing Porter recipes can be a lot of fun as the Porter style includes room for experimentation. Porters have an OG of 1.040 and up, color of 20-40 SRM and bitterness of 18-35 IBUs for Brown Porter, or up to 55 IBUs for higher gravity Robust Porter. The color is brown to black, and they have low to medium hop flavor. They are almost always brewed with a full bodied mash schedule (higher mash temperature of 154-156F) to give a full body taste. They have low ester, fruitiness and diacytl, are well balanced and have low to medium carbonation.
Traditional porters start with a Pale malt base, and typically add a mix of Crystal, Brown, Chocolate and Black malts to achieve a dark color and taste. Roasted malts are used only in Robust Porter styles. Pale malt makes up 40-70% of the grain bill (60-80% for malt extract brewers). Dark Crystal/Caramel malts are used for color and body and provide at least 10% of the grain bill. Chocolate and Roasted malts each average around 5% of the grain bill, with roasted malt less common in Brown Porter.
A variety of grains including Munich malt, Roasted malt, wheat and additives are also used. I will occasionally brew “kitchen sink” Porter which consists of whatever malts I have laying around over a pale malt base. Traditional Porter also made heavy use of Amber and Brown malts, though these are less commonly used today. Ray Daniels recommends a mash temperature of 153F, though I often go a bit higher (156F) to provide a full bodied beer.
Traditional English hops are the appropriate choice for Porter, with East Kent Goldings being a favorite of mine. Other good choices include Fuggles, Northern Brewer, Northdown and Williamette. Light dry hopping is appropriate to the style, though hops aroma should not be dominant. English ale yeast is traditionally used for Porter for its fruity flavors, though other high attenuation yeasts are appropriate. Irish ale yeast is also occasionally used by homebrewers. Adjuncts are only rarely added to specialty Porters. A London water profile (high in carbonates) is best.
Do you have a topic you would like to know more about?
Do you have any burning questions about the brewing process?
If so, send an email to editor@saaz.org and we will try to feature your topic in an upcoming newsletter.
SAAZ on Facebook
Do you want to stay up to date on SAAZ events?
Then be sure to like the SAAZ page on Facebook!
Raffle
Do you have some homebrew supplies that you don’t use anymore? Maybe you upgraded or maybe you prefer another product? Consider bringing your dusty supplies to the next meeting for the raffle. We have brewers of all experience levels, so I am sure we can put any brewing supplies to use!
Feedback
We need your help! We are very interesting in improving the club and we’d like to hear what you think. If you have comments or suggestions about the Newsletter, Website, Activities, or the Club in general, please send an email to editor@saaz.org.
All feedback is welcomed! For example you can:
- Share a topic for Beer Education
- Share your Review of a Beer
- Correct something in the newsletter or website
- Express a criticism about anything related to the club
- Offer a suggestion to improve the club
We want to hear from you! Email editor@saaz.org.