Past Newsletters & Beer Archives

Vol. 7 No. 2

Western Reserve Brewing Company

After putting Joe Walsh on the rock n' roll tree, Michael Keaton in a Batman outfit and Arsenio Hall on television for 15 minutes, Kent State University has finally produced an alumnus who is doing something productive for society. Gavin Smith, a 30-year-old who graduated in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in general studies, and his partner Andy Craze, a Stanford University graduate, both worked for computer companies after graduation.
After a few years of computer work and home brewing as a hobby, the pair decided to throw their careers to the wind and start a brewery, just as the craft beer market started to go through the roof. Smith credits former President Jimmy Carter, who signed the law making it legal to brew beer at home, for the boom in craft breweries. As the good beer lovin' citizens began experimenting with different tasting beers at home they began to demand it at the store.
Smith and Craze incorporated the Western Reserve Brewing Company in 1995 and began earnest work perfecting their recipes. Early this year they leased their facility in downtown Cleveland and put in $500,000 of brewing equipment. For the next five months Smith and Craze went through experimental batches of their beer until they got the flavor just how they wanted it. "We're our own worst critics," Smith said. The pair went through eight experimental batches of their brews before they were ready to distribute.
The marketing strategy of the Western Reserve Brewing Company is simple - the name of the brewery and the style of beer on every label. "We're not gonna bombard people with a bunch of flowery marketing," Smith said. As the Western Reserve Brewing Company grows, Smith couldn't be happier with his newly found profession. "I can't think of anything more fun to do for a living," he said.

Cloud Nine Belgian White Ale

Serving Temperature: 42-47 F
Original Gravity: 12.5 Plato
Final Gravity: 1.5 Plato
Int'l Bittering Units: 19
Alcohol by Volume: 5.6 %

Brewed in the classic Belgian Witbier tradition, Western Reserve's Cloud Nine is an unfiltered spiced ale that's adds up to real satisfaction on a hot summer day. The guys use a combination of two-row pale and wheat malts, coupled with rolled oats to brew their interpretation of a Belgian Witbier. Ultra and Crystal hops are the only hops used to brew Cloud Nine White and they are used primarily to add bitterness. Western Reserve uses a proprietary Belgian Witbier yeast strain. We found it quite complex and very refreshing. It's hazy, crisp, and very smooth. The traditional spices come through in the nose and mouth feel offering a hint of citrus flavor and aroma. You're gonna dig it!

Dogfish Head Brewing

Dogfish Head began in June of 1995 when Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats, the first state's first brewpub, opened in the resort community of Rehoboth Beach. Not only was Dogfish Head Delaware's first brewpub, it was the smallest commercial brewery in America. The first batch of Dogfish Head beer (Shelter Pale Ale) was brewed on a system that was essentially three kegs with propane burners underneath!

Brewing 12-gallon batches of beer for a 150-seat restaurant proved to be more that a full time job. That would have been fine, except owner Sam Calagione was both brewer, CFO, CEO, President and Chief Custodial Engineer! When the doors to the pub first opened, Sam brewed three times a day, five days a week for the first nine months of the business. The one benefit to brewing on such a small system was the ability to try out a myriad of different recipes. Within the burgeoning Mid-Atlantic brewing community, Dogfish Head was recognized for brewing great beers. Barley Corn Magazine wrote, "Dogfish Head presents the most interesting and unique beers we've seen on this coast." For the local population, as well as the thousands of tourists that flock to Rehoboth Beach each summer, Dogfish Head Ales were a big hit.

With things moving forward quickly, it was apparent that the 12-gallon brewery would not keep up with demand. It was time to get help and install a new brewing system. Jason Kennedy, formerly of Wild Goose Brewery in Cambridge, Maryland came on board as a partner and head brewer. All that was needed now was a bigger system. While virtually all breweries that open today install turnkey brewing systems that are fabricated and installed by one of the six national manufacturers, Dogfish Head opted for a different approach. Sam and Jason scoured dairy and cannery auctions for generic, food-grade stainless steel vats that could be built into a brewery. This mission was accomplished and ten months after opening, Dogfish Head installed a piecemeal 300-gallon brewery and underwent a thirty-fold expansion of their brew house (financed solely from the cash flow of the extremely successful restaurant!). Because of the system upgrade, Sam and Jason were able to begin bottling and distributing Dogfish Head Shelter Pale Ale.

Sam realized that in order to successfully grow the distribution end of his business, it was necessary to separate the bottling operation from the restaurant. It was time to look for a second location. Sam and Jason found the site in nearby Lewes, Delaware: an empty warehouse just itching to be converted into a brewery. The Dogfish Head Craft Brewery opened at the Lewes location in the summer of 1997. Dogfish Head, now a brewpub and a microbrewery, continues to grow and please patrons by the hundreds in downtown Rehoboth Beach.

Shelter Pale Ale
Serving Temperature: 43-48 F
Original Gravity: 10.5 Plato
Final Gravity: 1.2 Plato
Int'l Bittering Units: 40
Alcohol by Volume: 5.0 %

Dogfish Head's Flagship beer is brewed with a combination of two-row Pale and Caramalt malts as well as with torrified wheat. Sam hops it up pretty well with Cascade for aroma and flavor and Columbus and Willamette for bittering and balance. Immediately note a pleasant floral hop nose with some caramel maltiness evident. We found Shelter Pale Ale to be a well balanced complex brew. Note a strong malty backbone and a slightly nutty taste. Overall, a great interpretation of a style with many interpretations! Big nose. Packed with flavor and well balanced. We loved it. This is an absolutely delicious pale ale!

Chicory Stout
Serving Temperature: 42-47 F
Original Gravity: 10.5 Plato
Final Gravity: 1.2 Plato
Int'l Bittering Units: 25
Alcohol by Volume: 5.3 %

This award winner took 2 gold medals (Best Stout and Best of Show) at the 1998 Real Ale Festival in Chicago, Illinois. And soon you'll see why. Chicory Stout is a rich, dark ale brewed with a combination of two-row pale, caramel, crystal, black patent roasted and chocolate malts as well as rolled oats! But wait! There's more! Sam also uses a touch of roasted chicory, organic Mexican coffee, St. John's Wort, and licorice root to brew this most unusual stout. Chicory Stout is hopped with whole leaf Cascade, Fuggles and Hallertau which is quite unusual these days. Most brewers use hop pellets. Look for a big roasted nose dominated by the black patent roasted barley. We found the body full and satisfying, offering a smooth texture and mouth feel. Note a full roasted body and slight hop finish. Overall, very complex, packed with unusual flavors that are unquestionably working together!

Potomac River Brewing Company

The Potomac River Brewing Company was founded in Chantilly, Virginia in 1993. Located just outside the Washington, D.C. area, Potomac River brews four different beers, making use of only American grown malts and hops. The brewery purchases hops primarily from the Pacific Northwest.

Potomac's beers feature distinctive paintings by wildlife artist Bill Bolen. Each is a different native Virginia wildlife scene, commissioned in oil on canvas and then adapted for their labels.

This month we're gonna turn you on to their Doublenut Brown Ale! To some, it might not be obvious that Nut Brown Ales don't actually have nuts in them. So we're telling ya right now. They don't! The style gets its name from the mild, almost nutty flavor of the roasted malts used in the brewing process. Nut Brown Ales are malty sweet and generally very mild. They are characterized by their low hop bitterness and mild smoothness.

Doublenut Brown Ale

Serving Temperature: 42-47 F
Original Gravity: 11.0 Plato
Final Gravity: 2.0 Plato
Int'l Bittering Units: 14
Alcohol by Volume: 4.2 %

Doublenut Brown Ale is brewed with a combination of English Pale, Crystal, Chocolate and roasted malts as well as malted wheat. The brewery hops it up with Fuggles for aroma and Kent Goldings for bitterness. Potomac River's Brown Ale is brewed in the tradition of the great English nut browns. Look for a sweet malty nose in this filtered, medium-bodied beautiful chestnut brown colored ale. We found it well balanced, offering a slightly sweet, nutty flavor up front which continues through the finish. Note a pleasant finish. A bit dry, nutty and somewhat toffee-like. Overall, a great representation of a Classic English Brown Ale! Very drinkable. You're gonna love it!

Ask Murl

Dear Murl,

I was kicking it back with some of my fellow engineers at Boeing the other day having some deep thoughts about jet streams, airflow, propulsion and other noteworthy subjects when we abruptly changed the subject to a much lighter discussion of Beer, and more specifically, just where are the breweries located across the U.S. So we put away our pocket protectors, slide rules and took off the propeller beanies long enough to contemplate some matters of serious consequence. We figured that you might only answer 2.47 questions and that the possibility of you not answering our questions at all, assuming that you receive 4.7899 questions per week, was just less than 43 % if we submitted more than three questions. So this is what we came up with. Which state has the most breweries? Who's got the least? And how the heck did you get a name like Murl!?

Michael Meekin
Santa Rosa, CA

Yo Meekster!

Although I can certainly appreciate your need to focus your gray matter on things that make planes go, me and my pals would like you to consider a few other often overlooked details when your laying down the specs for the next 747. Ever consider pumping a little music down to the cargo area where the pets are forced to fly? A little window would be cool. And is it asking to much to have a stewardess drop in every half hour or so to make sure the complimentary St. Pauli Girls are flowing freely? Right. Now we've got that cleared up, back to your other profound thoughts on breweries…

The nifty folks at the Institute for Brewing Studies in Boulder, Colorado, have compiled some both interesting and revealing factoids about the subject matter at hand. Most number of breweries? California baby! That's right. At a total of 208 combined breweries and brewpubs, simply put…We rock! We've also got a lot of hotties with bodies by Nautilus, brains by Matel and breasts by Dupont too. And movie stars and shit. Don't forget the movie stars. Colorado was second with 93. Not a bad turnout for the Rocky Mountain State, but you have to consider the fact that one of those 93 is Coors and therefore the state should be docked 5 points for harboring a beer producing imposter. Who's got the least? Take a guess. I was thinking the South. Maybe Kentucky or somewhere else where you know names like Milwalkee's Best, Stag, and Old Style are both honored and respected. But North Dakota was a sleeper coming in at just 2 breweries. One per each citizen.

I'm not done with you yet Propeller Beanie Boy! Wanna know who has the most breweries per capita? Give ya a hint. Think long ass nights. Think remote. No cable. Alaska you say? Good guess. They have one brewery per 34,417 every residents. And to disprove your highly educated guess that I will answer all three of you questions, I defer you to your encyclopedia Britannica to look up specific breeds of Australian Sheep Dogs to determine how I acquired my fine name!

Woof! Murl.

Food For Thought...

Doublenut Brown Ale Meat Loaf

1 19-oz can of stewed tomatoes
1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 egg
1-1/2 cup cornflakes
salt and pepper
1/2 cup doublenut brown ale

Place the stewed tomatoes into a sieve and gently mash them with a wooden spoon, releasing all their juices into a bowl beneath the sieve and saving the liquid for other uses.

Put the mashed tomatoes into a large bowl and, using your hands, mix in all the ingredients except for the beer. When everything is thoroughly mixed, add the ale and thoroughly mix it in. Place the mixture into a 9- x 5-inch loaf pan and bake for 1 hour at 350 F (180 C). Feeds 4 persons, 1 rabid possum, or Elvis in the later years.

Profound Beer Quotes…

We had an alehouse boy who attended always in the house to supply the workmen.
My companion at the press drank everyday a pint before breakfast, a pint at
breakfast with his bread and cheese, a pint between breakfast and dinner, a
pint at dinner, a pint in the afternoon about six o'clock, and another when he
had done his day's work.
--Ben Franklin

Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver.
--Jack Handy

Those families who are in the custom of using malt liquor freely as their
common drink all summer, keep and preserve their health while less fortunate
neighbors who are deprived of it are the victims of fever and disease.
-- Joseph Coppinger, letter to Pres. James Madison, Dec 21, 1810

I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day.
-- Frank Sinatra

Kindly observe the tankard of beer I offer you. This bock was not made simply
to drink. It was made to speak to you. And if you, with your tankard of beer,
could learn the dialogue, you would discover that in your tankard lives a
milky way of tiny bubbles. And inside each bubble, there exists an idea that
is waiting to be discovered. Each of these ideas can make you grand and large
and fortunate if you so desire to lean and talk with beer.
-- M. Bellot

True Brew Facts (250-425)

BEER WIRE - Beer is almost certainly older than wine; in fact, it was the first fermented beverage. Prehistoric hunters in central Africa may have drunk the fermented stomach contents of grazing animals they killed-a sort of ruminative beer, if you will. (Yum.) The oldest recorded reference to human brewing of beer from grain is found on a 6,000-year-old clay tablet from Babylon. "The Oxford Companion to Wine" dates ancient wine making to the city of Ur in Mesopotamia at around 2750 B.C. "The Oxford Companion to Wine" goes on to say that, "...by the first millennium, BC wine was as widely used as beer, at least in privileged circles." (italics: I wanna try some of that Dead Animal Gut Ale!)

REAL BEER PAGE - Court Bans "Sexist" Beer Ads - Venezuela's Supreme Court has ruled that a series of beer advertisements are sexist and encourage infidelity and ordered that they be withdrawn. The advertising campaign by Cerveceria Regional included television commercials and roadside billboards depicting a scantily-clad blonde woman who says "I'm the other one. If you try me, you'll stay with me." Regional calls its beer "the blonde" and "the other" in an effort to distinguish itself from market leader Polar, which controls about 80% of the Venezuelan beer market. "In the publicity messages of Regional, one can easily detect the continual reference to infidelity as something positive or at least amusing," the court ruled. The court said the advertisements were "offensive to public morals given the numerous psychological incitement to depersonalize women and transform them into a sex object." (italics: Upon further review, it was determined that the country's Supreme Court needs to lighten up and have a beer!)

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

Coach: "How's life in the fast lane, Normie?"
Norm: "Dunno Coach, I can't seem to get on the on-ramp."

Give Your Friends FREE beer, wine and cigars!
Through our Customer Appreciation Program

Your name is worth cold hard cash to your friends, co-workers and family members! Every time a friend, family member, or frankly anyone with a pulse, joins our Beer, Cigar or Wine of the Month 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.

For Members Only

Discounted Reorders!

Liked it? Gotta have it? Want some more? Microbrewed Beer of the Month Club members can re-order their favorite beers at serious discounts. Order a 12-pack of your favorite at $15.95 plus $9.00 for shipping and handling or a full case for just $32.95 plus $17.00 for shipping and handling. (Mixed assortments are available upon request)

Membership Q & A

Note: Please do not use the web site to make any account related information changes such as address or billing changes, membership extensions, or terminations. To ensure timely processing of your request, please call us at 800-625-8238,

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. The box is brown corrugated cardboard and doesn't say "Beer" on it anywhere. Consider having it shipped to your work location as many of our customers do.

Q: What should I do if I'm moving or want to extend my membership?
A: Please call us prior to the 10th 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 and will incur a $ 9.00 service charge from UPS that will be charged to your account. 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. As we incur a $ 2.00 re-processing fee each time your card does not clear, that charge is passed on to 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 which 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.