Past Newsletters
Vol. 2 No. 4
| Brewery | Beers Featured |
| Estes Park Brewing Company | Trail Ridge Red Ale |
| Chicago Brewing Company | Legacy Red Ale |
| Saxer Brewing Company | Dead Armadillo |
Estes Park Brewing Company
Founded in May of 1994, the Estes Park Brewing Company is located 7,522 feet above sea level, at the foot of the Rocky Mountain National Park in Estes Park, Colorado. Estes Park is somewhat of a hybrid of a microbrewery and a brewpub as the 9000 sq. ft. building houses the brewery and an adjoining restaurant which serves burgers, pizzas, sausages and freshly baked multi-grain bread served with honey butter among other things – no sign of the notorious Rocky Mountain Oysters though...
A large wooden deck was recently added allowing guests to enjoy the majestic backdrop that encloses the brewery on all sides. They've hosted their own brewfest for the last several years which is generally held in August so be on the lookout for the listing in your newsletter as a brewfest in this setting would surely be a day to remember. In addition to their Trail Ridge Red, Estes Park brews a Blueberry Wheat, a Honey Wheat, an India Pale Ale, Golden Ale, Pale Ale, Porter, Raspberry Wheat, Raspberry Porter, and a Sweet Stout.
For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (800) 44-ESTES.
Serving Temperature: 45-50° F
Original Gravity: 11.0° Plato
Final Gravity: N/A
Int'l Bittering Units: 20.0
Alcohol by Volume: 4.0%
Trail Ridge Red is brewed with a combination of Great Western Pale, British Carastan, Carapils, Chocolate, and Munich malts. Chinook hops are added 30 minutes into the 90 minute boil primarily for their bittering characteristics while Cascade hops are added in two later additions to give this Red Ale it's floral hop nose. A London Ale yeast strain is used.
Notes From the Panel:
Look for a slightly floral hop nose with some malt characteristics also evident. Trail Ridge is a filtered, amber, medium-bodied Red Ale with decent head retention. Note a well-balanced malty sweet and floral hop body with a hint of toffee in the background. Trail Ridge finishes slightly sweet. Overall, a very clean, extremely well-balanced, very drinkable Red Ale.
Chicago Brewing Company
Chicago as a city, is by no means a stranger to beer. The city, once the brewing capital of the West, and home of the first national brand of beer, is also the home of the Chicago Brewing Company. The brewery, which produced its first beer in July of 1990, is the first newly constructed commercial brewery in Chicago in more than 50 years and is housed in a 1920 pickle factory. The highlight of the brewery is a 40-year-old, all copper Bavarian brewhaus imported from Kulmbach, West Germany.
The brewery has been recognized with over 25 medals for their product line in just 6 and a half years, making them one of the most award-winning American microbreweries. Family owned and operated, Chicago Brewing Co. is privately held. In addition to Legacy Red, the brewery also produces Legacy Lager, a German-style pilsner, Heartland Weiss, a Bavarian-style wheat, and Big Shoulders Porter, an English-style roasted ale.
For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (312) 252-BREW.
Serving Temperature: 45-50° F
Original Gravity: 13.0° Plato
Final Gravity: N/A
Int'l Bittering Units: 36.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.1%
In the mid-1800s, Irish brewers, such as Michael Keeley and John Fortune, provided Chicago with "healthful and exhilarating" ales described as rich and full of body and flavor. Legacy Red, a "Chicago-style" Irish Red Ale, takes its lead from those early immigrant brewers and is brewed with a combination of two-row Pale, Biscuit, and Caramel malts. Chinook hops are added at the boil for their bittering contributions while Willamette hops are added in two later additions of the 90 min. boil for both bittering and aroma. Cascade hops are added last to give the beer its spicy hop aroma. A British Ale yeast strain is used.
Notes From the Panel:
Immediately note a very nice, complex bouquet consisting maltiness, yeast esters, and both floral and spicy hop characteristics. Look for good head in this clear, deep amber, medium-bodied beer. Legacy Red starts with a very flavorful caramel and toasted character, moves into a rich malty body and finishes dry and bitter. Overall, a very nicely balanced and very flavorful interpretation of an Irish Red.
Saxer Brewing Company
In 1852, a German immigrant named Henry Saxer settled in Portland, Oregon, and established the first brewery in the Pacific Northwest. Appreciative beer drinkers immediately gave him a parade and nominated him for Territorial Governor. Henry graciously declined, and pursued his mission to bring quality beer to a thirsty frontier. The new Saxer Brewing Company was established in nearby lake Oswego in 1992 to carry on Henry's name.
The brewery's brand name, The Finger Jack is the name of a mountain range in Central Oregon and also the name of a notorious robber and murderer who was captured by State Rangers in Tucson, AZ and hanged in 1853. The brewery utilizes 30 barrel kettles, 23 lagering tanks and employs 21 employees. Brewmaster, Tony Gomes, is a graduate of Doemen's Brewing Academy in Munich, Germany. In addition to Dead Armadillo, the brewery also brews a Bavarian-style Dopplebock, Lemon Lager, Marzen, Roasted Red Hefedunkel, and a Stout.
For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (503) 699-9524.
Serving Temperature: 40-45° F
Original Gravity: 12.5° Plato
Final Gravity: N/A
Int'l Bittering Units: 25.0
Alcohol by Volume: 4.5%
Dead Armadillo is brewed with a combination of dried armadillo liver, ground armadillo tail skin, and portions of rubber from the tire that ran the little bugger over. This unusual brew is hopped up front with powdered armadillo toenails for their funky bittering characteristics and then dry-hopped aggressively with dehydrated armadillo nostrils for their obvious aromatic contributions. Or was it a combination of two-row Pale, sweet-roasted Caramel, and dark-roasted Black Patent malts? Might have actually been German Hersbrucker hops come to think of it.
Notes From the Panel:
Note a predominately crystal and dark maltiness in the Armadillo's nose so to speak. Look for great head retention in this dark amber, slightly hazy, light-to-medium-bodied beer. Dead Armadillo's flavor profile, as the nose would indicate is also primarily dark maltiness with some crystal malt sweetness and a trace of hop bitterness. Look for a tart, bitter end, as would seem appropriate for any beer bearing such a name. Overall, a very clean, crisp and drinkable beer.
Food For Thought...
Baked Crabmeat Legacy (appetizer)
1 lb. Round loaf rye bread
12 oz. Lump crabmeat
2 - 8oz. Packages cream cheese, room temp.
2 TBS Legacy Red Ale
1 tsp. lemon juice
tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 dash hot pepper sauce
¼ tsp. salt
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Slice the top off of the loaf and scoop out the center, leaving about a 1" thick shell. Cut the soft bread into cubes. Set them aside in a plastic bag. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly and taste for seasoning. Adjust for salt or hot pepper sauce, as necessary. Fill the bread shell with the crabmeat mixture. Replace the top. Wrap completely in foil and place on a backing sheet. Bake for 1 ½ to 2 hours. Unwrap and remove the top. Serve hot, with reserved bread cubes for dipping. Serve with a cold Dead Armadillo and watch for their expressions of pure delight.
Famous Moments in Beer
4300 BC Babylonian clay tablets from this time depict brewing and show detailed recipes for beer.
1600 BC An Egyptian text from this period contains 100 medical prescriptions that call for beer.
1200 AD Beer-making is firmly established as an important commercial enterprise in Germany, Austria, and England.
1420 German brewers begin to make lager.
1516 Germany's "Reinheitsgebot" purity law takes effect (it states that the only ingredients permitted for brewing beer are water, malted barley, malted wheat, hops and water).
1602 Dr. Alexander Nowell discovers that ale will keep longer if stored in glass bottles, sealed with corks.
1620 The Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock, bringing beer with them.
1623 The New World's first commercial brewery is built in Manhattan.
1786 Molson, the oldest surviving brewery in the New World is founded.
1788 Ale is proclaimed "the proper drink for Americans" at a huge parade in New York City.
1789 In the first year in which the U.S. Constitution is effective, James Madison proposes in Congress that a duty of 8-cents per barrel be levied on malt liquors in the hope "that this low rate will be such an encouragement as to induce the manufacture of beer in every State in the Union."
1842 The first clear, golden-hued lager is produced in the town of Pilsen in Bohemia. )(The town was granted brewing right by King Wenceslas in 1295.)
1850's The modern era of brewing in the U.S. begins to take shape as German immigrants bring a love of lager and the technological expertise to make it to their new land. By the late 1800s, aided by the development of commercial refrigeration, automatic bottling and pasteurization, the modern ear of big brands is in full swing. 1860's The first federal excise tax on beer was imposed as a "temporary" measure to help the Union during the Civil War.
1876 Louis Pasteur publishes Studies on Fermentation-The Diseases of Beer, Their Causes, and The Means of Preventing Them.
1880 Approximately 2,300 breweries are operating in the U.S. By 1914, the number of active breweries drops to 1,400. By 1935, only about 160 breweries survive prohibition. By 1960, there are only 34 brewers left in the country.
1895 Pabst is the first U.S. brewery to sell more than 1 million barrels of beer in a single year.
1933 The American Can Company and Kreuger Brewing introduce the aluminum beer can.
1938 Elise Miller John begins an eight year reign as head of Miller Brewing. She is the only woman ever to run a major brewery.
1965 Fritz Maytag purchases the nearly bankrupt Anchor Brewing Co.
1966 Budweiser is the first brand to achieve 10 million barrels in annual sales.
1973 Miller Brewing Unveils a new concept (and a new spelling) with the introduction of Miller Lite.
1976 New Albion, believed to be the first of a new generation of brewpubs and microbreweries opens in Sonoma, California.
1991 Murl, "The Original Malty Dog" is born and begins what is to be a life-long quest for higher knowledge of the sweet malty nectar that preoccupies his every thought assuming of course, that there are no rawhide chewies or cute FiFi's nearby.
Norm's Corner...
As spoken by Cheers' Norm
Woody: What's going on, Mr. Peterson?
Norm: The question is what's going in Mr. Peterson. A beer please, Wood.
True Brew Facts
BEER, THE MAGAZINE - France's Pecheur Brewery is betting on the bow-wows of approval with its new version of non-alcoholic beer for animals. Made from beer-making leftovers and enriched with vitamins and mineral salts, the concoction will be touted as a power drink for pets and is currently being test-marketed in Japan.
ON TAP (BREWER'S ASSOC. OF CANADA) - Almost 100 alcoholics were required to watch reruns of Dallas for a study conducted by the Addiction Research Foundation. Some patients watched the show with drinking scenes, others watched it with the drinking scenes cut out, and all patients viewed the program with either beer, non-alcoholic beverage or food commercials. Results indicated that the patients who watched both Dallas's drinking scenes and beer commercials were "more confident in their ability to resist the urge to drink heavily" than those who watched the drinking scenes with food commercials. The reports were published by the Journal Studies on Alcohol and contradict the assumption that beer commercials influence alcoholics to drink. Researchers are reported as feeling perplexed and should perhaps study the effects of food commercials.
ASIAN BUSINESS - Vending machines in Japan dispense an inspiring range of items: Beer, neckties, wine, flowers, whiskey, lingerie, batteries, socks, pornographic magazines, and canned coffee. The approximately 200,000 alcohol vending machines are proving to be most convenient to the under-age drinkers and have sparked petitioning for their ban from citizen groups. Districts in Tokyo have responded to the petitions and are keeping the machines in operation.
DAILY MIRROR - Cleanliness counts to barfly Brits. The British Brewer's Society reports that when it comes to choosing a pub, women's first priority is a clean toilet and men's is a clean bar. The sexes switched positions on the second order of priority, and both chose friendly staff for their third choice. Stocks of beer, by the way, came far down on the list after general comfort, value and speed of service. The report also found that pub-goers drink a pint almost two minutes faster on Saturday nights and that 86 percent of American prefer British pubs to their own back home.
S.F. EXAMINER - Pyramids built by beer drinkers. Egyptian excavations revealed that the workmen who built the Great Pyramids were beer-drinking, bread-and-garlic-eaters. Not unlike modern American, many died from cancer or industrial accidents. The mustachioed workers, whose tombs were discovered when a horse's leg went through the roof of one of the tombs, had learned to brew five types of beer and bake 12 varieties of bread, as evidenced by a menu on one tomb wall.
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Cigars & Flowers!
Through our Customer Appreciation Program
Your name has real value to your friends, co-workers, and family members! Every time a friend, family member, or anyone else you know joins any one of our clubs, [or gives a gift] for 3 months or longer, we'll give them 50% off of their first month, but only when they mention your name. And we'll also give you 50% off your next month too which can either be applied towards your current membership or you can try one of our other Clubs out! (We can add one more month to your order at 50% off for prepaid memberships!)
The Fine Print: Members giving gift memberships do not qualify for referral credits and you can't give yourself a gift to qualify! This Program is mutually exclusive of any other promotions.
Membership Q & A
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at home?
A: You should consider having our discrete box delivered to
your work location or to a neighbor 21 yrs. of age that can receive
it for you. As your shipment requires and adult signature to receive,
it's always best to ship it to a location where someone will be there
to receive it for you. The box is brown corrugated cardboard and doesn't
say "Beer" on it anywhere.
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A: Please call us prior to the 5th of the month to make all
account related information changes such as address changes, membership
extensions & terminations, or gift accounts desiring to continue
their memberships. Address changes made after that time may require
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early; however, you will be responsible to pay for the item that was
given to you as part of the promotion. If you received a discount
based on a specific term, the amount discounted will be charged to
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