Fellow Homebrewers,

I feel like I’m back in the swing of brewing again, multiple beers have been brewed so far this year. So I am right on schedule to hit my 200 gallon allotment for the year. ;-)

Before I get started, I need a homebrew…

Local News

Butler Winery has asked for our help to stop house bill 1190 from being passed in the State Senate. I thought I would use this section to post Amy’s letter and get the word out. It only takes a few minutes of your time to let your Senator know that you do not support 1190. I’ve attached the pdf that she forwarded that lists the effects that the bill, if passed, would have on the industry. Here’s the letter:

Hello dear friends of Indiana Wine,

We have very bad news. Last Thursday the Indiana House of Representatives voted 60 to 36 in favor of HB 1190. As written, this bill has the potential to shut down Indiana's 31 wineries. We need to kill the bill or amend it if possible. If you haven't yet done so, you need to contact your senator to tell him/her that you support Indiana wine & direct shipping. Here is a link where you can enter your zipcode to find your local legislators: http://www.in.gov/apps/sos/legislator/search/

Also, below, you will find a list of Indiana Senators & their districts. (I have included this as an attachment as well. It is a Word document & you can hit "CTRL + left click" on the senators names to go to their websites.) PLEASE CONTACT THEM NOW! TODAY!! We need your help to defeat this bill or amend it. If you do not act, noone will do it for you. As little as 5 people contacting one legislator will make them aware of an issue. PLEASE HELP US!!!

I have updated our website to include links to: a list of the house legislators & their votes on HB 1190 & some talking points Jim has written up that you may use when you contact your senators. I am attaching them to this email. ACT NOW TO SAVE INDIANA WINERIES!

Thank you so much for your help,

Amy Butler

Club Stuff

The next meeting is scheduled for this Thursday February 9th at 7pm. Dave Brodin will be hosting, here is the link for directions.

The second meeting in February is slated for Thursday February 23rd at 7pm. Bob Probst is probably going to host. I will send out an email that week to confirm and forward directions to the meeting.

We had a very full docket last meeting, but we managed to make it through. Thanks Bob Probst for taking the notes. The next meeting should be a less business and more social.

We decided on several events to have this year.

Have a homebrew competition. We’re going to go for an Iron Chef like format. Contestants would compete as individuals or teams. Each team would be allowed to bring base malt or extract and up to 2 other ingredients. All teams would then be issued a mystery box that would contain multiple ingredients. One or more of these ingredients must be used. We will still need to work out the details on the rules and format, but we should have the final rules and details released by April. We envision hosting this at a pavilion in Paynetown Recreation Park some weekend in May.
Host Teach-A-Friend-To-Homebrew Day on November 4th. We will probably only demonstrate all-grain brewing, but may do an extract batch as well.
Microbrewery trips/tours. Kris Walker is going to organize the first trip that should happen in either March or April.

We will also have planned a presentation each month over the next few months. Here’s the list so far:

February – Bob Probst will present on hop usages

March – Kris Walker will present on hop cultivation

April – I will present on water profiles and modification

Also as a reminder the club logo submission deadline is March 23rd. If you want to have the bragging rights to our logo, and maybe even a free pint glass to the winner, get ‘er entered. We’re looking for a logo that embodies the club’s name and our love for brewing and beer drinking. So far I haven’t heard from anyone who plans to enter, email me so I can get a feel for how many submissions to expect.

Beer Style of the Month

February was declared “Brew Something Red” month. I think it was Valentine’s Day related. I’m probably going to brew an Irish Red for St. Pat’s day, but that’s pretty boring for such an open ended style of the month, just don’t get too carried away with Red Dye #3.

Tips and Tricks

Dunn and I were brewing our bitters last week and needed to do an ABV calc. He said that he needed to grab his calculator to figure out the ABV from the OG/FG numbers he had. Since there was a hydrometer sitting right there, I said, “Why don’t you just do the hydrometer trick?” Instead of an “Oh, yeah”, he asked me what the hell I was talking about. I explained it to him, and he’d never heard it before. I figure that this might not be a well known technique, so viola, this month’s tip is…

The Hydrometer “Trick”

After measuring your finished gravity (FG), you usually want to know what your alcohol by volume (ABV) is. If you have a 3 scale hydrometer, you are good to go. First, subtract your decimal portion of the FG from your decimal portion of the original gravity (OG). Take this difference and look it up on the hydrometer, put your thumbnail on that line and rotate to the ABV scale, that’s your ABV. Here’s an example:

OG 1.075

FG 1.013

Get rid of the 1.000 and just do the math on the decimal.

75 – 13 = 62.

Now look up 1.062 on your hydrometer. Put your thumbnail on the 1.062 mark and rotate the hydrometer until your thumb is over the ABV scale.

The reading is just past the 8% mark. I’d say this beer is about 8.2%.

If you have any handy brewing tips or tricks send them my way to include in a future newsletter.

Cheers,

Ryan