Past Newsletters

Vol. 5 No. 10

Brewery	Beers Featured
Brooklyn Brewing Company	Brooklyn Brown Ale
Smuttynose Brewing Company	Shoal's Pale Ale
Miami Trail Brewing Company	Red Ale

Brooklyn Brewing Company

In 1987, journalist Steve Hindy and banker Tom Potter quit their jobs and established the Brooklyn Brewery. Their initial goal was simply to bring good beer back to New York. They commissioned a fourth generation German brewer based in America to design Brooklyn Lager, their first beer. To find a recipe, brewer William Moeller consulted the notebooks of his grandfather, who had brewed beer in Brooklyn at the turn of the century.

It was hard going at first for the two. They made a test batch of beer in their Brooklyn basement, only to find that most distributors were controlled by the big breweries and uninterested in small, local brands. They bought a van and began distributing their own beer, however, hard-boiled New York tavern owners were skeptical about a full-flavored beer that cost as much as the leading imports and was unadvertised.

Slowly but surely, the lager caught on and soon they were distributing more than a dozen microbrews. With that success, Hindy and Potter opened a new microbrewery three years ago, some 20 years after the last of the great Brooklyn breweries closed up shop. The new 25-barrel brewery is one of the largest in the East. The stainless steel brewhouse is set in an 1860's steel foundry in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn - a mecca for artists and filmmakers such as Spike Lee. The Brooklyn Brewery's 50,000 square-foot brewing facility includes a tasting room, a 300-person party room, and a gallery for local artists.

Stephen Hindy, president and co-founder of Brooklyn Brewery, spent his earlier years working as a foreign correspondent for The Associated Press. Hindy says he learned homebrewing from American diplomats stuck in bone-dry Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Hindy covered the Iran-Iraq war, the hostage crisis in Iran, and the Israeli invasion of Lebanon. He was sitting behind Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat when he was assassinated in Cairo.

Hindy, a 1971 graduate of Cornell University, is also a pioneer in the pairing of food and beer in New York, collaborating with some of New York's best chefs at Windows on the World, Tropica, and The Culinary Institute of New York. He is a former director of the American Institute of Wine & Food and the Fund for the Borough of Brooklyn. He has chaired the AIWF's American beer and food tastings, and with the Fund he founded NY Beerfest, the annual International Beer and Food Tasting under the Brooklyn Bridge.

For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (718) 486-7422 or check out their web site at www.brooklynbrewery.com.

Brooklyn Brown Ale

Serving Temperature: 40-45° F
Original Gravity: 15.6° Plato
Final Gravity: N/A
Int'l Bittering Units: 30.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.6%

The Brooklyn Brown Ale has been recognized nationally for its complex and delicious flavor. Made exclusively with American ingredients, it took the Bronze at the Great American Beer Festival in the Strong Ale category in 1991 as well as the Gold in 1992 when entered in the American Brown Ale category. It's brewed with a combination of two-row pale, crystal, chocolate and black malts to attain a complex creamy texture. You should note that Brooklyn Brown is more heavily hopped than its well-known British forbears. Look for a complex, full flavor that is described by beer guru Michael Jackson as, "brew that is closer to Newcastle than London, but bigger than either." He gives it three stars in his Pocket Guide to Beer and we know you're going to like it too!

Smuttynose Brewing Company

The Smuttynose Brewing Co. is located on the New Hampshire coast in the historic city of Portsmouth. The brewery, which opened in 1994, is named after Smuttynose Island, one of the isles of Shoals - a small, rugged group of islands that lie nine miles off the coast of New Hampshire and Maine. It is believed that mariners in the 1600s named the island for the dark seaweed-covered rock ledge that projects from one end of the island. Steeped in history and legend, the isles of Shoals have been home to poets, pirates, fishermen, and now a brewery.

The Shoal's Pale Ale featured this month goes well with a wide variety of foods. Its assertive hop character stands up well to rich, full-flavored foods, yet its complex flavors are subtle enough to accompany lighter, more delicately flavored selections. Shoal's Pale Ale is a "live ale" which is naturally conditioned and unfiltered.

For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (603) 436-4026 or check out their web site at www.smuttynose.com.

Shoal's Pale Ale

Serving Temperature: 45-50° F
Original Gravity: 12.3° Plato
Final Gravity: N/A
Int'l Bittering Units: 23.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.3%

Brewed with a combination of Two Row Pale, Munich, and Caramel malts, Shoal's Pale Ale, an American interpretation of classic English ale, was awarded a silver medal at the 1998 World Beer Championships. The brewery aggressively hops this copper-colored, unfiltered, medium-bodied ale with Centennial and Cascade hops giving it a delightfully complex flavor. Look for a tangy fruitiness at the start, with an assertive hop crispness and a big malty mouth feel. Overall, a very complex, well-balanced and full of flavor.

Miami Trail Brewing Company

Before The Miami Trail Brewing Co. opened its doors last year, Ohio's Miami Valley had been without a brewery for 40 years. Enough to make ya want to move to Illinois or Iowa. The brewery, located in Xenia, Ohio, seems intent to make up for lost time as it currently produces 10 handcrafted beers. All of them are brewed in small batches, which allows a broad variety of ingredients to be used, allowing the brewery to develop a wide array of rich colors and flavors that have made these craft beers popular.

The owners are proud of the brewery and they welcome visitors at their state of the art facility. From the lobby, visitors can peer through the glass at the sparkling clean brew-kettle and fermentation tanks. They can also step up to the massive antique oak and brass bar and order any of the brewery's fine micros. The brewery's current beer list is extensive and varied. Miami Trail's core product line of a Golden Ale, Red Ale, Pale Ale, and Oatmeal Stout is augmented by six seasonal beers, an Oktoberfest, Doppelbock, Marzen, Maibock, Wheat n' Rye, and a Cream Ale.

For more information about the brewery and scheduled tours, call (937) 374-3660 or check out their web site at www.miamitrail.com.

Red Ale

Serving Temperature: 45-57° F
Original Gravity: 13.8° Plato
Final Gravity: N/A
Int'l Bittering Units: 24.0
Alcohol by Volume: 5.8%

Brewed with a combination of two-row pale, caramel, Munich malts and roasted barley, this ale's complex malt character balanced nicely with a slight bitterness derived from several additions of Cascade and Willamette hops. Immediately note a roasted nose with a complex sweet malty character also evident in this dark amber colored ale. We found the body to be full with a caramel maltiness and roasted flavor coming through as well. It's also a bit nutty. Note a fairly dry finish. Overall, a very unique, flavorful and creative ale. We really liked it.

Ask Murl

Dear Murl,

I recently started a new job where I'll be away from home quite a bit. I've changed the mailing address for my monthly shipments to a (non-beer drinking) friends house. I'm worried about it staying unrefrigerated for up to two weeks. Should I buy my friend a refrigerator for my BOM shipments or will the beer not be affected by the chill delay?

Suz (Susan Brower)

Yo Suz!

First of all, let me commend you on your wise decision to re-route the service to a non-beer lover. I've seen that kind of thing tear a friendship apart. First they blame it on the UPS driver breaking a few bottles, then shipments seem to get "lost" altogether. A quick call to our customer service department and the revelation that the "friend" signed for the beer is about the time when things get real ugly. We're doing everything we can to provide you with the freshest beers possible each month. Each beer featured is custom brewed for us and delivered straight from the bottling line. The beer only stays in our warehouse for 3-5 days before being packaged and sent to you. We also try and feature bottle conditioned, higher alcohol content or hop assertive beers in the warmer months as they tend to travel better. Bottom line? Put 'em in a fridge if you can, but if you can't keep them in the box and out of sunlight in a cool area (perhaps a closet or basement) until you can. If you wanted to store them for a longer period, say more than 6 weeks before drinking them, I'd push your friend to clear out 7-8 half-spent salad dressings, mustards, jams, and condiments you can't pronounce to make way for your coveted brew.

Woof!
Murl.

Food For Thought...

Brooklyn Brown Ale Bean Soup

• 1 lb. dried navy beans
• ½ cup diced bacon
• ½ cup diced smoked ham
• ½ cup diced leeks
• 1 cup diced onions
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 cup diced celery
• 2 qt water 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1 tbsp. minced fresh garlic
• 1 tbsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. black pepper
• 1 14-oz can tomatoes,hand-crushed
• 12 oz brown ale
• 2 tbsp. sugar

Soak the beans overnight in enough water to cover. In a large pot, sauté the bacon and ham over medium heat until the fat is rendered from the bacon (do not cook the bacon to crispness). Reduce heat to low and add the vegetables, cooking them until almost tender. Add the water, bay leaf, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper, and bring to a boil. Add the drained beans.

Cover the pot and simmer the soup until the beans are tender. Expect this to take 1-2 hours. When the beans begin to break apart, add the tomatoes, beer and sugar and simmer for a further 15 minutes. Be careful not to boil the soup at this point. Discard bay leaf. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve. This recipe makes 8 1 Cup portions.

Source: A Taste for Beer; Stephen Beaumont, Storey Communications, Inc.

Norm's Corner...
As spoken by Cheers' Norm

Woody: Pour you a beer, Mr. Peterson?
Norm: Alright Wood, but stop me at one....make that one-thirty.

True Brew Facts

THE REAL BEER PAGE - In her former role as wife of Canada's ambassador to the U.S,, Sondra Gotlieb often related tales of woe about being a Canadian in Washington. She said Americans know Canada for its three M's- Mounties, mountains and Molson's. That, and the "M"cKenzie brothers, eh?!

BEER: THE MAGAZINE - The Norwegian captain of a Dutch whaler that capsized as it was trying to pull aboard a giant whale went down with his ship while holding a beer in his hands, survivors reported. The 42-member crew of the 543-ton factory ship Tonna, landed at Funchal, Madeira, after being picked up by a Greek freighter when the whaler floundered about 220 miles off the Portuguese coast. The crew said the last thing they saw before the ship went down was Captain Vesprhein, 52, clinging to his bridge with a beer to his lips. They implored him to abandon ship but he refused. Did anyone else just get teary-eyed when they read that?

365 BEER TIME STORIES - Little Simon Barwell, of Carlton, England, planted a sunflower but it just wouldn't grow no matter how much he watered it. The youngster then poured some of his father's home-brewed beer on the plant out of sheer desperation. The plant grew to a height of more than 12 feet. So what! Kid would be grounded in my house for wasting the suds for no real apparent benefit other than he's got a big-ass flower in the back yard!

THE CELEBRATOR BEER NEWS - Paul Galegos, of Idaho, found out the hard way that you can lead a snake to beer but you can't make it drink. Paul tapped his friend's pet rattlesnake on the head in an attempt to pour beer through the snake's mouth, but all he got for his efforts was the snake's fangs through his thumb. Paul was taken to hospital and the snake was taken out of town and released. Paul later received the National Bone Head of the Year Award in recognition of his tremendous efforts to determine the effects of alcohol on reptiles.

THE ALE STREET NEWS - John Arity became something of a hero in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Like the fabled Dutch boy of old, John came to the rescue to halt the flow of suds from a beer keg when his hosts at a party found their spigot wouldn't fit a freshly opened tap hole. So, John stuck his finger in. Then he couldn't get it out. After guests drilled another hole to decant the beer into smaller containers, John was taken to the hospital where he lay on a emergency room floor while the barrel was removed from his finger. When asked how he felt after the ordeal, John reported that he "felt okay, but his little finger was a little woozy and it probably shouldn't have any part in his driving home that night".

MIDWEST BEER NOTES - If a woman fills a glass with beer and touches her lips to the foam, it is safe to bet that the froth will disappear more quickly than if a man does the same thing. It's the grease in the woman's lipstick that will cause such a scientific reaction. But then she can't get a beer-foam mustache which is half the fun of tossin' one back!

For Members Only

Give Your Friends FREE Beer, Wine, Cheese, Chocolate, 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

Q: What can I do if I'm having difficulty receiving my shipment 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.

Q: What should I do if I'm moving or want to extend my membership?
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 a repackaging and re-shipping charge of $12.00. Additionally, if your box is re-routed by UPS from an address different than what was originally specified, you may incur a $5.00 re-routing charge.

Q: What happens if my shipment is damaged?
A: If your shipment arrives damaged, please call us immediately toll free at 1-800-625-8238 and report the incident for a prompt resolution.

Q: What happens if my credit card is declined?
A: We will send you a courtesy notice asking you for an alternative payment method and your order will be temporarily suspended until we hear from you.

Q: What happens if I join under a special incentive program and don't stay a member for the entire term committed?
A: Not a problem. Although we want to do everything we can to keep you as a member, we will allow you to cancel your subscription 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 your card.