Old News
April through June 2004
June 28, 2004
Trevor LaRene has volunteered to host our November club brew. Thanks Trevor! So you can come to my place in July to find out how to make bad beer, and Trevor's place in November to find out how to make good beer!
June 27, 2004
There have been some changes made to our corny keg policy. The cost is now $15 for non-members and $10 for members. That's still dirt cheap, kids! All shipped orders must be in multiples of five kegs. For more information, compliments, complaints, or anything else to do with kegs (that your beloved webmaster certainly doesn't want to have to deal with), email our keg czar Mike Conard.
June 23, 2004
It has recently been brought to my attention that one of our members was not in Bob's mailing list. This meant that he was not receiving emails regarding the club brew locations or the bulk grain purchasing. If you have not been receiving email from Bob before the meetings, please email him to get added to the list. We apologize for any confusion this might have caused.
June 19, 2004
I posted some swell pictures that Bob and Chuck sent from the picnic earlier this month. This is my first attempt at posting pictures in the new layout. Let me know what you think.
June 11, 2004
Congratulations go out to the following Rackers members for winning awards at the State Fair Competition: Jeff Wright for winning a gold, silver, and "best amber"; Fred Matzke for winning a bronze; Trevor LaRene for winning a gold and a bronze; and to Jeff Trofka for winning a silver. Congrats on your fine work!
May 21, 2004
OK, apparently there's been a change of plans. The club picnic has to be moved back one day to Sunday, June 6. Everything else will go on as usual.
Also, Titletown is planning their Party on the Patio on June 2. They will have a cook out and music from Jerry Voelker. Mug Club members get in for $15, new members get in for $25. Mug Club members will also enjoy happy hour prices throughout the party. For more information, contact Jen Swette at Titletown at 437-BEER.
May 12, 2004
Sometimes you have to love the Internet. Other times, you have to loathe it. This is one of those days for the latter. Some virus and/or worm got a hold of the rackers.org domain name, so I've been flooded with bounced message alerts. I'm talking with EZ-Net about it. Thankfully, there is a relatively easy solution that will stop 99% of this. It's still annoying. All you Windows-using folks: patch your boxes!
May 7, 2004
Long time Rackers member, George Ehrenberger, died yesterday after a prolonged battle with liver problems. He was 69. He is second from the right in the picture below from December 1997. Rest in peace, George.
May 3, 2004
Bob Paolino informs us that tickets for the Great Taste of the Midwest sold out the morning they went on sale, May 1. Mail orders are being worked on. If you haven't gotten your tickets, well, you're out of luck.
Oh, and don't forget about the club brew at John Allen's place tomorrow! President Bob has emailed directions out to everyone. John is crazy enough to try a double decoction pilsner! That'll be worth the trip all by itself. Hope to see you there!
April 29, 2004
OK, there's a bunch of news so I'll whip out some bullets and lay it all on you.
- The Rackers are getting a bus to the Chilton beer festival on May 23. You must get your ticket in advance from the Roll Inn (but do it quickly!). This transportation is open to anyone, but non-members must contribute the $20 club membership fee which, of course, will make them a member! The bus will leave from the Park-n-Ride on Van Road at noon and return at approximately 7:00 P.M. It is located a block south of the Hwy 172 and County Road GV intersection and a half block west. For more information, contact President Bob.
- Mike sent along a pdf announcement for the 5th Annual Wisconsin Homebrew Bash (aka the ALE's pig roast, picnic, and music extragavanza).
- There will be another Beer Appreciation Course being taught at Titletown from 7:00-9:00 P.M. on May 11,17,25 and June 8,15,22. The course will be taught by David Siegel. The cost will be $72. Class size is limited, so to register or for more information, email David Siegel as soon as possible.
April 25, 2004
Even though I'm trying to get out the door to go to a conference, I'm such a dedicated webmaster that I quickly typed up the winners from yesterday's Titletown Open X in HTML format. Thanks also go out to our lovely and talented competition coordinator, Mike Conard, for getting the results to me so quickly. You can see all the winners on the Titletown Open Winners page. Congrats go out to Steve Olson and his gaggle of brewers for taking Best of Show with his very tasty Imperial Stout. Start brewing those big beers for Titletown Open XI next spring! Sadly, my beers did not win anything, so I'm calling for an immediate investigation.
April 23, 2004
UPDATE! I was at Titletown tonight for the beer drop-off for tomorrow's competition. We got a whopping 81 entries, a full 30 more than our previous high, and almost double what we had last year. Thanks for supporting the Titletown Open!
Bill Rogers from the MHTG sent along a reminder that tickets for their Great Taste of the Midwest go on sale on May 1. Last year, tickets sold out within a week and a half. For more information, visit the 2004 Great Taste website.
April 22, 2004
The Titletown Open is this weekend! Get your beers to Titletown Brewing tomorrow night! Check the Titletown Open page for rules and entry forms.
gak sent along a juicy bit of information. Apparently someone is trying to open up a microbrewery right here in Oconto Falls! I'll pass along more information as I get it.
April 5, 2004
gak and I bought out Valley Liquor's very limited supply of Zum Uerige Sticke Altbier. It is quite a bit maltier than their regular Altbier. I like it . . . but I like their regular Alt better.
<rant>I'm sick and tired of having to code around Internet Explorer's limited or incorrect CSS support. I'd like to find the folks in charge of that and express my displeasure with a tire iron. Please try Mozilla, Opera, or some other browser that gives a rat's about standards compliance.</rant>