Home Brew Mart

Hello Brewers!

Just a short note this week. For those of you interested in the grapes, we
are still waiting for the phone call to tell us to go pick them up. I will
call people when the grapes come in.

This month I will be doing a full-length newsletter that will include
specials for Home Brew Mart’s 5th Anniversary in October!!! There will
also be Ballast Point specials for its first Anniversary!!!

Good brewing and look for upcoming competitions for Octoberfest!

Cheers,

Tom

CONTENTS:

BALLAST POINT

CIDER

PUB UPDATES

CLASS SCHEDULE

RECIPE

BEER TRIVIA

BALLAST POINT

Ballast Point will be on tap at Street Scene in the Microbrewery Plaza.
Not sure what the details are for tasters, but I know that they will be
bigger this year (4oz). It starts Friday night and runs through Sunday.
Its a great party and the bands just keep getting better.

The Grandstand in El Cajon will be having a pint nite with Ballast Point
White and Copper along with Liberty Tobacco Co. this Monday for Monday
Night Football from 6-9pm.

Next Wednesday we will another pint nite at Cheswick’s in O.B. Look for
Cheap pints all night.

Blue Collar Grill will have a pint nite on Monday, Sept. 22nd again for
Monday Night Football from 6-9pm

New accounts include: Acme Bar and Grill, Downtown Marriot, Pier Cafe in
Seaside Village, Old Town Mexican Cafe, Imperial House in Midtown,
Fiddler’s Green, Brewno’s in P.B. and Fireside Cafe (in Mid Sept.)

Barefoot Bar and Grill in Mission Bay will have both beers on tap the next
two Sundays.

Ballast Point will be debuting a new beer this fall our Yellow Tail Pale.
This is our popular kolsch beer with a name that carries local flavor.
When details are available I will pass them along.

CIDER

I am back from my first Cider run of the season with five gallons of Julian
Apple Juice just waiting to become Hard Cider. Hard Cider is among the
easiest of fermented beverages to make and enjoy. All you need is juice,
yeast, a fermentor and time. The best of the sweet apple juice will
start coming around the end of September.

I am organizing a cider day at Home Brew Mart that will bring fresh pressed
Julian cider down to our cold room! The juice will be available in one
gallon jugs for about $6. Right now I am looking at having the cider
brought down on Sept. 26th. It will stay fresh all weekend, but it will
need yeast by Monday. When I firm up the details we will be taking
reservations. If there is enough interest I will happily organize a second
run for October!

If anyone wants to go to Julian to get their own cider, the best place is
Farmer’s Market. The man to talk to is John Henry. If you call and set up
an appointment, he will be happy to fill your carboy or bucket with fresh
squeezed juice.

Unlike beer and mead there is no need to heat fresh juice. And though you
can add sulfites to your juice, a healthy yeast starter will eliminate most
contamination fears.

PUB UPDATES

San Diego Brewing Co. has the Mort Subite Peche Lambic on tap right now in 9 oz
glasses. If you like Lambics, this is one not to miss.

I will officially start rumors of a strong beer festival happening in San
Diego this Winter. I am trying to organize it along with a local pub for
mid-December. The plan is to showcase the many wonderful local strong
beers (8% a.b.v. and up). When it starts to form up I will pass along all
details. Count on several local barleywines to be there including Ballast
Point. How is that for a great rumor!

CLASS SCHEDULE

I’ll do a beginner/intermediate class this Sunday, Sept. 7th from 10-11:45
am. Class is FREE.

Other classes should be coming towards the end of the month, I will, as
always keep you posted.

RECIPE

Hard Apple Cider

Here is all you will need for 5 gallons of hard cider:

5 gallons of raw apple juice

2 tsp Yeast Nutrient (or make a starter culture for your yeast)

2 packs of Cote Des Blancs wine yeast, or for an interesting twist try the
California Ale Yeast

There are several other additives that you can add to taste in your cider.
The most common are: acid blend, tannin, lactose, and corn sugar for
carbonation. A bit of honey will help boost your alcohol content to make a
strong cider. Light spicing with cinnamon or cloves can add a nice holiday
feel to your hard cider.

BEER TRIVIA

Several folks have passed along some beer trivia which I’ve included here.
I have some doubts as to the accuracy of some of the statements, but its
beer trivia and it is supposed to be just for fun, so enjoy!

It was the accepted practice in Babylonia 4,000 years ago that for a
month after the wedding, the bride’s father would supply his son-in-law
with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey wine, and because
their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the “honey
month” or what we know today as the “honeymoon”.
(to add to the story, the mead maker was congratulated on his skill if the
couple had a male child nine months after their “honey-moon” – Tom)

Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb or
finger into the mix to find the right temperature for adding yeast.
Too cold, and the yeast wouldn’t grow. Too hot, and the yeast would die.
This thumb in the beer is where we get the phrase “rule of thumb”.
(I have an alternate explanation from Medieval texts. The phrase rule of
thumb referred to an old English law. This law held that a man could not
beat his wife with anything wider than his thumb, hence the phrase.
Believe what you will. I don’t make these things up, I swear – Tom.)

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old
England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to
mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It’s where we get the
phrase “mind your P’s and Q’s”.
(Yes, but do you know why there are no Q’s or Z’s on the telephone? – Tom)

Beer was the reason the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. It’s clear
from the Mayflower’s log that the crew didn’t want to waste beer
looking for a better site. The log goes on to state that the passengers
“were hasted ashore and made to drink water that the seamen might have the
more beer”.

After consuming a bucket or two of vibrant brew they called aul, or
ale, the Vikings would head fearlessly into battle often without armor
or even shirts. In fact, the term “berserk” means “bare shirt” in Norse,
and eventually took on the meaning of their wild battles.

In 1740 Admiral Vernon of the British fleet decided to water down the
navy’s rum. Needless to say, the sailors weren’t too pleased and
called Admiral Vernon “Old Grog”, after the stiff wool program coats
he wore. The term “grog” soon began to mean the watered down drink itself.
When you were drunk on this grog, you were “groggy”.

Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the
rim or handle of their ceramic cups. when they needed a refill, they
used the whistle to get some service. “Wet your whistle”, is the
phrase inspired by this practice.

Now you can appreciate the importance of BEER throughout history…..

That’s All Folks!