Stein Beir

To make a traditional German stein bier, use superheated granite to get your wort boiling. From the name - "stein" is German for "stone" - we can gather that Germans developed this traditional brewing method. Stein beer was most common in the Alpine regions of Europe, where stones were easily quarried and transported back to the brewery. With the Industrial Revolution came easier means of heating wort, and by the start of the 20th century, the method was obsolete. Homebrewers take note: Stein beer is all about a brewing method, not about a style. Any beer can be a stein beer, as long as you use rocks in the brewing process! Rocks and Wood From start to finish, everything about making stein beer is just like any of your favorite brews. The only twist is how you boil the wort. First: You'll need some rocks. Granite rocks are the only choice for homebrewers, since they can be superheated in a high-temperature fire. Other types of stones, like sedimentary rocks, might explode as the temperature rises. Local quarries are a good place to procure rocks, or try your favorite gardening store. The size of your rocks will depend on your boiling vessel. Obviously, they must easily fit inside the kettle. More important, though, is that they do not displace too much of the wort (thus leading to a major boilover). Fist-sized granite stones are a good choice for homebrewers. Not only do they complement the size of an average home brewery, they also heat faster and are easily transported from the fire to the kettle. You should acquire 10 to 15 rocks of this size. For a fire, good hardwood is the best choice. Hardwood burns hot and long, and it also gives subtle flavors to the stone. This will be imparted to the wort when you immerse the stones. Cherry and oak are two types of wood that burn well and add flavor to your brew. Once you have a red-hot bed of coals, about one-inch deep or more, use long, well-insulated metal tongs to place the rocks in the fire. (Note: You must be extremely careful! See "Stein Beer Safety Tips" on page 38.) Cover the rocks with coals. The rocks will start to "glow" after a little while, turning somewhat red as they heat up. When they turn white they have become superheated. Use the tongs to extract 3 or 4 rocks from the fire. Place the rocks in a stainless-steel colander and, using an insulated tong to grab each handle, place the colander in the wort. Almost immediately, your wort will rise to a boil. After about ten minutes, that boil will fade. Remove the colander and place the "cool" rocks back in the fire. You should have left some rocks in the fire. These will be superheated. Repeat the process, placing these new "hot rocks" in the colander and then in the beer. Over the course of at least one hour, you will rotate the rocks from the fire to the brew kettle, always keeping the wort at or near a constant boil.

Rob & Dawn Jones’s House Club Stein Brew Day September 21, 2014
Items needed for club brew day:
1. Lots of black and or pink granite.                                                            Rob
2. Rock screen( to keep the rock out of the ashes)                                       Rob
3. Hard wood                                                                                              Bryan?
4. Rocks Tongs                                                                                            Dick Wises?
5. Large mash tun (large enough for a sack o grain)                                     Brew Club?
6. Propane (to heat mash/sparge water)                                                       Brew Club?
7. Keggels                                                                                                    BYO
8. Oyster/shrimp basket                                                                               BYO
9. Fermenter                                                                                                 BYO
10. Hops                                                                                                       BYO
11. Yeast                                                                                                       BYO
12. Specialty malts                                                                                        BYO
13. Leather Gloves                                                                                        BYO

July 2014 Meeting Agenda

ATF!

It is almost time for our July meeting.

The details:
What: Monthly meeting, tech talk, updates and sampling of all fermented libations available.

Where: New Bern Homebrew Supply.

When: Sunday July 20, 2014 from 1pm until about 3 or 4 or whenever Travis and company kicks us out.  Pre-meeting happy hour will begin at about 12:00am while we get set up.

Sponsored by: Phil Smith.

Here are the items on the agenda:

1. Tech talk – Luke Dobbs (don't let us skip you).
2. CCBO 2014 update - ONE WEEK AFTER THIS MEETING!
3. Vote for brewer of the month.
4. Proposed changes to the by-laws.
5. Brew Bern Beerfest.
6. Next club competition.
7. Homebrewers festival - "Homebrew for the Homeless"?
8. Homebrew party/camp out – ATTENTION CAMPERS!  We need leads on some beer friendly campgrounds where we can try this out.

If there is anything that anyone would like to put onto the agenda, please email me or bring it up at the meeting's new business call.

Notes: We strongly encourage you to bring homebrew, even if you don't think it's the best beer that you have ever made (if it is then I demand you bring it!).  If you are going to sample, bring a designated driver or make arrangements to get home.  If you don't have any homebrew, try to bring some commercial beers. 

We hope to see you there,

Bryan

June 2014 Meeting Minutes

ATF Homebrew Club

June 2014 Meeting Minutes

By Bryan Conway

Here’s the meeting minutes from the June gathering held at 12pm on June 22, 2014 at New Bern Homebrew Supply.

First of all, a thank you goes to Travis Watson for providing the location and Ben Chapman for supplying the refreshments.

Introduction of Officers and Guests

We introduced the officers, held a roll call and the following members and guests were present at some point during the meeting:

Ben Chapman

Bryan Conway

Dave Girard

Dennis Overby

Dick Weiss

Greg Bergquist

Luke Dobbs

Mike Dawson

Pete Frye

Terry Laurie

Tim Martin

Travis Watson

Guests: none.

If anyone was accidentally excluded or a mistake to the list noted, please let me know and I will correct the minutes.

Brews Available for Sampling at the Meeting

·         Tim - IPA,

·         Luke - 2IPA,

·         Travis - Wheat,

·         Travis - ICE Wheat,

·         Ben - Amber,

·         Ben - Braggot,

·         Dave - American IPA,

·         Dave - Honey Ale,

·         Dave - Lemon Ale/Shandy,

·         Mike - American Ale,

·         Dennis - Smoked Cherry Porter,

·         Terry - Coffee Stout.

Program Speaker/Tech Talk

Terry was supposed to have this meeting's tech talk but the meeting was concluded by the time we realized it.  Hold onto it for another time. Scheduled tech talks:

• July – Luke Dobbs
• August – Mike Dawson
• September – need a volunteer (Terry?)
• October – need a volunteer
• November – need a volunteer

Treasurer's Report

Ben Chapman reported that we have $1,005.15 available to the club at this time, including the comp. fees already having been paid for this year's event. 

Committee updates

The Crystal Coast Brew Off Committee Chairman, Ben Chapman reported that we have 18 entrants and 58 beers registered for the competition.  Dick Weiss also volunteered to sponsor an award for the best female brewer, the "Sandy Weiss Award".  He donated $50 for a trophy and gift card.  Everybody needs to volunteer and be at the brew off, it is next month, see Ben.

The Monthly Club Competition Committee Chairman, Terry Laurie, oversaw this month's competition.  There were 4 entries, and they placed on a scale of 1-20 as follows:

1.      Bryan Conway - Cream Ale - 17 pts.

2.      Luke Dobbs - Kolsch - 15.2 pts.

3.      Rob Jones - Rye - 14.4 pts.

4.      Terry Laurie - Honey Kolsch - 12.8 pts.

The next club competition will be held in September, covering Category 16 - Belgian and French, and Category 18 - Belgian Strong.

Homebrew Festival Committee Chairman Rob Jones was unavailable for a report.

Old Business/Recent Events

Everybody was able to see the club's new tap towers, a magnificent design on Tim's part.  THANK YOU!  They will certainly be the envy of Brew Bern.  The new club Banner was also available for viewing.  We will make a good showing next week.

New/Ongoing Business

The floor called for nominations for this month's "Brewer of the Month", and Bryan Conway was selected.  Go to the website to see a quick bio on Bryan's brewing career.

Bryan discussed the progress of the incorporation project.  A revised version of the clubs by-laws was posted on The Yahoo Groups page as well as Facebook.  Motion was made to put the new by-laws on the website, email all members, and hold them for further discussion until the August meeting where a vote will be held regarding their approval.

Pete Frey volunteered to get into contact with Mark Vandersea regarding recovery of the old minutes book.  He called him and they appeared to have a meeting set...then Pete disappeared.  Perhaps to get the book?

Brew Bern 2014 is here (June 28).  All participants are to be there at 11:00.  The following members volunteered to attend with beer to serve:

·         Ben Chapman – “Pale Ale” and “Wheat Beer”

·         Bryan Conway – “Blackberries & Cream Ale”

·         Dennis Overby – “Dixie Hill American Pale Ale”

·         Gregg Bergquist – “Wood Smoked Hefeweizen” and “Blue Bayou (American Blueberry Wheat)”

·         Joe Stewart – Various Kombucha Offerings

·         Luke Henslick – Cider

·         Pete Frey of Brewery 99 – “Mexican Imperial Tasty Pants”

·         Rob Jones – “Resurrection Rye”

·         Terry Laurie – “Honey Kolsch”

·         Tim Martin – “Little Dog Pale Ale”

·         Travis Watson of New Bern Homebrew Supply – “Amber Lager”

Anyone that can, please make pretzel necklaces to sell. 

A Camping trip/Homebrew Party was proposed based on what the Maltose Falcons Club in San Francisco does three times a year.  The Falcons have three major homebrew parties each year and camp out as a group.  The members walk from camp site to camp site sharing homebrew and enjoying each other’s company.  A couple of members agree to look into some local camp grounds to see if they would allow such an event.  Tentative date is likely to be in October.

Next Meeting will be at New Bern Home Brew Supply, will be held on Sunday, July 20 at 1:00 pm and will be sponsored by Phil Smith.  With most of the members arriving for the meeting at 1:00 or close to it, it was agreed to try starting the meeting at 1pm instead of 12 noon.  We'll see how this works next month.  Pre-meeting happy hour will start at 12 instead of 11.

Meeting sponsors:

·         July 2014 sponsor - Phil Smith

·         August 2014 sponsor - Mike Dawson

·         September 2014 sponsor - Rob Jones

·         Oktoberfest 2014 sponsor - Dennis Overby

·         November 2014 sponsor – need a volunteer

·         December 2014 sponsor – need a volunteer

Motion made to adjourn the meeting, drink some beer….PASSED!