“Hey Dad,
I finally got a chance to try Coopers Sparkling Ale.  So far, so good. I noticed it’s slightly bitter upon first taste and follows with a strong hops flavor. It’s not as mild as other ales that I have tried. Something I thought was neat is how you can see residue of yeast in the bottle. The label explains the reasoning for this in more detail: “Coopers Ale is brewed and fermented using a unique, centuries-old, method of top primary fermentation and natural bottle conditioning. Coopers are famous for this process which leaves a natural residue of yeast during maturation and gives a cloudy appearance with an enhanced flavour.” The clarity of this ale is definitely on the cloudy side and is a golden yellow color, giving it an appearance similar to honey. Overall, I would have to say Coopers Sparkling Ale is a nice brew with an abundance of texture and flavor.”

Cheers!

Moe

Present: Dale Sattler, Paul Ellerkamp, Rocky Stoltz, Ryan Jilek and Jon Stika.  Dues of $25 for 2010 were collected from the members present.

Beer of the Month was Finnegans Irish Amber Ale brewed by Summit Brewing Co of St. Paul, MN.  This ale tastes very similar to an amber lager with good malt up front, hops in the middle with a smooth nutty malt finish.

Ryan nominated Jon for Secretary and Paul for President.  Discussion followed where Paul asked that someone else take the opportunity to be president for a term.  Dale agreed that he would accept a nomination for President.  Ryan amended his nomination to Jon for Secretary and Dale for President.   Rocky moved (seconded by Ryan) to cease nominations and cast unanimous ballots for Jon and Dale; motion passed.  Jon will be Secretary until 2012.  Dale will be President until 2012.

Dale reported that Midwest Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies of Minneapolis, MN offers a 10% discount to members of a homebrewers club that can show a membership card for the club of which they are a member.   Ryan offered to produce membership cards for each member so anyone that patronized Midwest would be able to get the discount.

Paul brought Tyskie lager brewed by the Tyskie brewery of Poland.  The beer was very clean, malty and smooth with a spicy hoppiness that tasted very much like Saaz hops.  Jon brought an English Ale that he brewed some time ago that finished very neutral, to which he added whole Tettnang hops (that he grew) directly to the keg.  The beer was more flavorful than before, with a significant hop flavor and aroma.  Dale brought a Holiday Ale that he brewed from a kit from Midwest.  The beer was spicy, dark and malty.  The blend of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg was very good and in balance with the malt and hops.  Jon also brought a Campaign for real ale brochure from Scotland given to him by Chip Fisher of Rhame, ND.  Jon wore a shirt with an embroidered HRHB logo on it given to him by his son, Tanner.

Jon Stika
Secretary

Present: Ryan Jilek, Dennis Froemke, Jon Stika

The Beer of the Month from Town & Country Liquors was Murphy’s Red.  Murphy’s Red had a light copper color with a smooth malt aroma and flavor from start to finish.  It also had a subtle sweetness, fruitiness and hoppiness with a fine carbonation and head.  Murphy’s Red would serve as an excellent entry-level beer for those who seek more flavorful brews but have yet to venture away from light beers.

Jon brought an English Ale that he brewed back in September with his Dad.  The beer was smooth, but lacked much hop flavor or aroma.  The hops were all grown by Jon in 2008.  The alpha acid was estimated at 2%, but may have been lower as they did not produce the bitterness or flavor expected.  Jon brought his food dehydrator for Ryan to use to malt some barley.

Ryan brought Chokecherry Port and Strawberry wine; both of which were very good.  Ryan also brought some Cabernet Savignon and distributed it as Christmas gifts.

Jon brought some Spaten banners that he acquired from his brother Joel.  Jon distributed the banners as Christmas gifts.

Jon Stika
Secretary

Well the 2009 Barley-wine brew-day is complete and we made some serious gravity in the garage today.  With about 55 lbs of malt and over a pound of hops we ended up with 3 brews of all fairly substantial gravities.  Rocky’s Bigfoot clone kit came in right at around 1.080.  I did a partigyle brew with only one malt and one style of hops.  I split these between 2 batches.  First was a barleywine with and initial gravity of 1.136 and looked somewhat like maple syrup going into the fermenter.  The second runnings were collected and I made an IPA with an initial gravity of 1.068. 

During the course of the day we did have the opportunity to sample some very good beers along the way.  Rocky brought a bottle of his espresso/coffee stout that has been cellaring for about 4 years and was absolutely peaked as far as a complex and well balanced combination of malt, roast, coffee and hops. I particularly like the little almond notes that developed when you drank it.  We also enjoyed about a similar vintage of my chokecherry stout that really aged nicely as well. I was particularly interested in the development of the chokecherry flavor over time.  We also sampled my barley-wine from last years brew session which is really starting to come into its own with a year of age on it.

Below are Rocky’s pictures of the day’s work and the work in progress.  We had a blast and hopefully will have some good beer to show for it.

Ryan

Present: Paul Ellerkamp, Dale Sattler, Rocky Stoltz, Ryan Jilek, Jon Stika.

Beer of the month from Town & Country Liquors was Summit Kolsch.  This beer was light golden in color, slightly hoppy and dry with a lingering biscuit and hop finish.

Paul brought home-brewed; Honey Ale, Pale Ale, Cherry Stout and anise-flavored Red-Eye that he also made.  The Honey Ale was clean, slightly sweet balanced with hop bitterness.  The Pale Ale was good, but not in the Pale Ale style, as it was neither bitter nor hoppy.  The Cherry Stout was dark, roasty and flavorful, but the cherry flavor was almost lost in the other malt and hop flavors.  The anise Red Eye was very good.

Ryan brought a Simcoe hop India Pale Ale that had a very intense hop aroma and flavor (grapefruit) but a balanced malt sweetness and hop bitterness.  A very interesting brew…

Dale brought a strawberry-rhubarb wine that was very balanced and flavorful.

Jon brought samples of malt from the barley Paul gave him.  Jon is nearly finished malting all of the barley (5 gallon pail) and will weigh the finished malt to see how many pounds will result.

Rocky brought some munchies (potato chips and cashews).

The next meeting is scheduled for December 3rd.

Jon Stika
Secretary

Present: Ryan Jilek, Rocky Stoltz, Dennis Froemke, Todd Solem, Jeremy Jahner and Jon Stika.

Beer of the month is Breckenridge Oatmeal Stout.  The stout had good roasty, biscuity aroma and flavor.  It was very smooth with chocolate, coffee and fruit flavors in a good malt background.  The beer was not as full or “chewy” as expected and was perhaps a little thin for the style.

Ryan brought some Cream Ale that he brewed from a Northern Brewer extract kit.  It had a good aroma and flavor with a slightly tart, fruity, dry finish.

Jon brought some Sierra Nevada Porter.  Dennis brought some unidentified hops that had been grown near Nimrod, MN that had been harvested and dried.  Dennis plans to use them in one of his next brews.  Jeremy brought some photos of a drying cabinet that belongs to his mother.  Jeremy said we were welcome to borrow the drying cabinet if we wished to use it to dry hops or malt.

Jon Stika
Secretary

Present: Paul Ellerkamp, Rocky Stoltz, Ryan Jilek, Dale Sattler, Jeremy Jahner and Jon Stika.

Ryan brought a Miabock that he brewed last winter.  It was slightly sweet and a little hazy, but very good for the style.  Beer of the month this month is Summit Red Ale.  This red ale is not like a typical Irish red ale in that it is much hoppier; similar to an IPA than an Irish Red.  The Summit Red Ale had a deep copper color and crisp malt flavor with assertive hop bitterness and hop finish.  Dale brought some of his very good dandelion wine.   Ryan brought some of his Cabernet Savignon with prominent oakiness.  Rocky mentioned that he is growing Centennial hops.  Rocky also mentioned that he knows the location of some wild hops growing by the Pheasant Country golf course.

Jon Stika
Secretary

Present: Ryan Jilek, Paul Ellerkamp, Dennis Froemke, Todd Solem and Jon Stika.

The beer of the month from Town & Country Liquors was Boulevard Single Wide IPA.  This was an excellent example of the IPA style with a very complex hop profile balanced with good malt finish.  The beer had a nice deep copper color and very good foamy head.

The annual picnic is set for September 12^th at Jilek’s.

Ryan brought the pub pint glasses with the club logo etched into them.  Some of the glasses had small flaws in the etching and Ryan said he would do those again in the near future.

Dennis brought an English Bitter brewed from an extract kit.  The beer was good, but a little sweet with an extract-flavored finish.  The group suggested increasing aeration and yeast pitching rate to increase attenuation.  Jon brought a bottle of “Green Grape” wine made by his late mother (Lois) back in 1983.  The wine was a good, slightly sweet “country” wine with caramel and maple overtones.  Todd brought some chokecherry/grape wine that had a good balance and body that he thought Kenzie would surely love.  Paul brought some Lemoncello liquor that was very citrusy, sweet and carbonated.  The group suggested it would be best served over ice or in a ice-blended drink.  Ryan brought some Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale IPA.  It was hoppier and less balanced (drier) than the Boulevard Single Wide IPA.

Present: Rocky Stoltz, Ryan Jilek, Todd Solem, Dale Sattler and Jon Stika.

Ryan reported on logos for the beer glasses.  He said the stencils were cut such that they would not sit square on the pint glasses so he is going to re-cut them.  Ryan gave each member present the current stencil to use as they saw fit.  Ryan suggested that blue painters tape be applied to the stencil, then the stencil backing removed and the stencil firmly applied to the desired surface, then the blue tape removed to leave the stencil on the desired surface for etching and subsequent removal of the stencil. 

Rocky brought the certificate of incorporation issued by the state of ND to the Heart River Homebrewers, issued on the 4th of May, 2009.  The certificate was framed and posted on the wall of the board room of Custom Data world headquarters.  Rocky also presented the Treasurer’s report with an ending balance of $170.50 of which $5.00 is in a savings account and $165.50 in a checking account at Western Cooperative Credit Union.  Todd moved to submit the Treasurer’s report for audit, seconded by Jon.  Motion passed. 

Discussed potential dates for the summer picnic.  Ryan offered to host the picnic again this year at his place near Dickinson.  Two dates were proposed; August 29th or September 12th, 2009.  There was also some discussion of inviting members from another ND home brewers club to attend the HRHB picnic. 

Beer of the month from Town & Country Liquors was Honey Moon Seasonal from Blue Moon Brewing Co.   Honey Moon is a light wheat ale with a subtle orange-zest and honey flavors.  The beer was slightly sweet and very similar to Blue Moon less the coriander flavors. 

Todd brought some Pandora’s Bock from Breckenridge Brewery, CO.  It was a very good malty bock beer with alcohol evident in the finish.  Rocky brought a home-brewed wheat ale with pronounced clove spiciness and very light color and flavor… a good summer beer.  Dale brought pear wine and home-made Red Eye with anise.  Both were very good.  Jon brought some mead he made for Austin’s wedding/honeymoon.  The mead was slightly sparkling with good aroma and balanced flavor. 

Rocky also brought an old wooden beer case that held 36 bottles from the Jacob Schmidt Brewing Co. of Minnesota.  The case had a wooden lid with metal hinges and latch and it was estimated the case dated from the turn of the century.

Jon Stika
Secretary

Present: Paul Ellerkamp, Ryan Jilek, Todd Solem, Dennis Froemke, Rocky Stoltz and Jon Stika.

Dennis paid his dues of $25 for 2009.  Jon brought some ale that he and his son-in-law Moe, made in February.  The group judged it to be good and closest to the Kolsch style of ale.  The beer of the month from Town and Country Liquors was Breckenridge’s Small Batch 471 Double IPA (India Pale Ale).  The group described 471 as very hoppy from start to finish with each of the four hop varieties (Chinook, Centennial, Simcoe and Fuggles) expressed throughout.  The hoppiness was balanced with good malt sweetness.  Fruit-flavored esters from the yeast, citrusy (grapefruit-like) flavors from the hops, and 9.2% alcohol rounded out the flavor profile.

The group reviewed the Articles of Incorporation for the club and affixed the necessary signatures to prepare it for submission to the state of North Dakota with the $30 fee.  The Consent to Serve form was also completed naming Rocky Stoltz as the club officer to serve ($10 fee).

Dennis brought some 60 Shilling Ale that he brewed from an extract kit.  The ale was good for the style, but a bit thin in the middle of the flavor profile.  Ryan brought some Cave Creek Chili beer which was a pilsner lager style beer with a Serrano pepper in each bottle… the pepper dominated the flavor profile.

The group decided on the landscape format of the club logo to be used on the beer glasses Ryan purchased earlier.  Ryan will have the stencil produced to apply to the glasses and etch them with an acid solution.

Jon Stika
Secretary