If you want it done right, you have to brew it yourself!

This may be old news already (I was on vacation last week), but Mike wanted me to pass this along . . . With the newsletter for June (mailed out this week), all members who told me they did NOT yet have membership cards should be getting their card with their newsletter. Sorry about the LONG delay - I don't usually procrastinate - but things with my new job have taken so much of my time, I do very little but sleep and work. Anyone who, after this newsletter still has not gotten a membership card needs to contact me ASAP so that I can do one up for you.

I believe we still need a brewer for next week's club brew. Any volunteers? The club provides the equipment and the ingredients. You supply the recipe and the know-how. Contact me as soon as possible if you are interested.

Unfortunately, being on vacation means that work piles up. I have the new newsletter and Steve's BOS Imperial Stout recipe ready to be web-ified. I will get them on the site hopefully on Friday.

Mike sent this along regarding our August picnic: The August picnic will be held at McAuliffe park in Green Bay on August 7th. We have it reserved from noon until 8 PM. More information will be following in the newsletter.

There are two new mailing lists served off the HomeBrew Digest server. They are (quoting from the HBD post):

The Home Vintners' Digest: for discussions pertaining to home wine-making, wine appreciation, and all things wine...
Request address: hvd-request@hbd.org
Posting address: hvd@hbd.org

The Distilled Beverage Digest: for the discussion of distilled spirits, appreciation of same and (non-US) home production
Request address: dbd-request@hbd.org
Posting address: dbd@hbd.org

These are unmoderated lists; however, posting is limited only to those subscribed to the list, and subscriptions are monitored. To subscribe, send the word subscribe in the body of a note to the applicable request address. For more available commands, send the word help in the body of an e-mail list to either request address.

As was alluded to in the above message, home beverage distillation is illegal in the United States. Fortunately, the enjoyment and appreciation thereof are not (for those over 21, anyway).

We need a brewer for the July Club Brew! If you are interested contact me, Mike Conard, or Bert Zelten as soon as possible.

A couple of people asked for my cyser recipe at Egan's last Saturday. You can find it under "Mead" on my homepage. Another excellent online resource for meadmakers is Mead Made Easy. Check it out!

Also at the meeting we decided to have a family picnic for our August 7 meeting to be held at the NEW Zoo or one of the Green Bay parks. Watch this page for more information soon!

If you get the Green Bay Press-Gazette, you saw some pictures and a brief write-up on the new Green Bay Brewing in their "Money" section this past Sunday. According to the article, they opened officially on Monday. They have a retail store, tasting room, and beer garden. Their hours are noon to 8:00 P.M. Tuesday through Saturday and package sales are available Monday through Saturday at the same times. Our esteemed President Bert checked it out himself and said it is very cool. Make sure to stop in! Their new location is 313 Dousman Street, right across the street from Titletown Brewing.

Ick! I just noticed that I had an improperly closed underline tag on the Group-Brew Recipes page. The result was that half of the recipes were underlined. Netscape users never would have noticed it because Netscape is a bit more forgiving of stupid webmaster tricks like that.

Oh yeah. Meeting. Tomorrow. Egan's. Be there.

The Titletown Open winners are now on (appropriately enough) the Titletown Open Winners page. I don't have Steve's B.O.S. Imperial Stout recipe yet, so feel free not to send me email about it. Also remember, this Saturday is our June meeting at Egan's! Be there! Barring death or dismemberment, I will be there . . .

One thing that I forgot to mention when I posted the winning beers is how happy I am that a Pilsner variety did NOT take Best of Show this year. Imperial Stout--now THERE'S a beer! Hey Steve, how 'bout bringing some to the meeting to I can try it this time?

In case anyone cares (and you probably don't) my next brewing projects are 1) a stout for my wife which will sort of be a cross between a dry and oatmeal stout, 2) my world-famous Altbier. After that, my IPA's next on the list. I'll let you know when that one's ready, Mike :)

And the winner is . . . Here is the list of winners from Titletown Open V! All entrants will be receiving their score sheets and a complete list of all scores in the mail soon. Once again, I didn't win anything. I think I'm going to have to start bribing Mike more.

Best Of Show Steve Olson, GB Rackers - Imperial Stout
Pale Category
1st: Paul Kerschefske, Manty Malters - California Common with Rye
2nd: Paul Kerschefske, Manty Malters - Czech Pils
3rd: Bob Bultman/Dan DeBeck, GB Rackers - English Strong
Amber Category
1st: Steve Olson, GB Rackers - Barley Wine
2nd: Dan Rogers, GB Rackers - Belgian Strong Ale
3rd: Chuck Golueke, GB Rackers - Scotch Ale
Dark Category
1st: Steve Olson, GB Rackers - Imperial Stout
2nd: Steve Olson, GB Rackers - Eisbock
3rd: Tom Parker, GB Rackers - Spiced Holiday Ale
People's Choice Steve Olson/Bob Packwood, GB Rackers - Imperial Stout

In other news, the club is trying to plan a trip down to Madison for the Great Taste of the Midwest to be held on August 14th. There will be 400+ beers, music, food, fun, and beerphenalia galore! Contact Mike Conard for more information or to order a ticket ($18). Please talk to him before June 15.

Yikes, has it really been 12 days since my last update? Mea culpa.

I was at the competition yesterday, as official enter-scores-into-the-computer guy. Other than nearly caving my skull in, everything went well. We had 50 entries this year with some excellent beers. Look for the scores to be posted here soon. Special thanks go out to Bob "Now go change a tire" Paolino for making it up to judge, despite car difficulties.

Bill Reis also passed information to me about a new brewclub in the Oconto/Oconto Falls area (yes, my neck of the woods). Fear not, gentle readers, I will remain your faithful webmaster (although I probably will attend their meetings too!). More information on this club will be forthcoming.

Kudos and thanks to Jeff at EZ-Net for taking care of the bug in the message board script. You should now be able to post messages as usual.

If you haven't done so already, please go sign our guestbook! No one's signed it recently. Click on the link at the bottom of this page. If you don't sign, I'll be forced to cry and stomp around like a two-year-old.

Richard "Beer (News) is My Life" Stueven passed along yet another morsel of joy. Thus he spake:

"If you need bottles, I've got 'em. More than 21,000 Chuck's Famous Ale returnable longnecks are headed for the recycling bin next week. You're invited to come take as many as you can carry. They're all in need of a good cleaning, but the price is right!

Also, Racker411 has been a little flaky lately, not letting people post messages. The good folks at EZ-Net are looking into it and should have it fixed soon.

Richard "gak" Stueven emailed me with this juicy tidbit which I once again quote verbatim:

"Big news here in De Pere: starting May 8, Egan Brewing Company will open at 11:00 am every Saturday. Now there's no reason to delay your weekend Pubcrawls until the late afternoon . . . both the bar and the kitchen will be open for your lunchtime eating and drinking pleasure.

Currently on tap at Egan's: Princess of Darkness Porter, Uncle Ivan's Dunkelweizen, 1916 Irish Stout, Chuck's Famous Nut Brown Ale, Eganator Doppelbock, Smokey the Beer, Raspberry Ginger Mead, Chuck's Famous Honey Ale, Harvey's Märzen, Chuck's Famous Pale Ale. Coming aletractions: Nitro Pale Ale, Moll Dubh Irish Ale, White Fathers Witbier, Pride of De Pere English Bitter."

As an aside, I would like to keep a page with current beers on tap at Titletown, Egan's, and Legend's, as well as the current offerings from Green Bay Brewing. I need someone to be a liason for each establishment and keep me posted of when changes occur. If you are interested in helping out with this noble cause, email me!

Remember: national Homebrew Day is this Saturday! Get ready to brew! Also, I redid the Old News section, arranging the news by quarters (Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, etc.) to make it easier to wade through.

Shameless plug: I finally got around to updating my own My Olde Brewery website, including my newest recipes, updated Red Wings info, and even a new Monty Python sound (especially for you, Jim!). I hope you will all take this for what it is, a desperate plea for attention :)

Our esteemed president and all-around swell guy, Bert, informed me that the mead bottling on May 4 (in lieu of a club brew) will take place at Egan's Brewing in DePere. It is a shame that it would also just happen to be pint night at Egan's. Sigh. The troubles one must go through . . .

At our next club brew meeting (May 4) we will actually be bottling. The club is going to buy a keg of (former Egan's brewer) Greg Nash's excellent raspberry mead from Egan's, bottle it, and sell it to club members at cost. Bring along some champagne bottles!

If you get a chance, make sure to stop by Egan's. Brewmaster Richard Stueven has a doppelbock on tap that you want to try, believe me. Tell them the Rackers sent you!

Whew! My computer's brain transplant is almost complete! Nothing like a new motherboard, video card, and sound card to bring joy whilst still raising the blood pressure :) Yes, I know I haven't updated the next meeting time yet. I'm waiting to find out what the skinny is on the May club brew.

The Titletown Open V is almost here! Judging will take place on Saturday, May 15, at Titletown Brewing in Green Bay. Time's a-wasting! Get brewing!

I just received this from Richard "gak" Stueven, brewmaster at Egan's Brewpub in DePere. He wanted me to pass along the following information, which I quote verbatim:

"Starting April 6, Tuesday nights are "Pint Nights" at Egan's. Buy an Egan's logo pint glass for $5 and get $2 refills all night, and you can keep bringing your glass back for $2 refills every Tuesday! Thanks! See you there . . ."

Hmmm, now I have to find excuses to head down to DePere on Tuesdays. Despite the date, this is no April Fool's joke. :)