These are the people who will be organising events for you. If you have any suggestions, please contact any of the committee members.

Editorial

I this issue I have abdicated my responsibilities as the reporter and writer and demanded input from all and sundry. I think it worked. The news letter has less of what I want and a wide variety of interests. Part of the reason for the abdication (besides laziness) is work has demanded a little more of my free time over the past few months.

Andy Tasker has suggested a Bar Chat Column for short snippets from members – Excellent idea! So if you have a few minutes to type up a few lines that may be of interest to anybody send it to me. Andy kicks off with a couple of paragraphs on water treatment, web surfing and a new addition to the library. Whilst on the subject of the library read Jeremy’s contribution and visit or web site.

That’s all my ramblings for now.

Enjoy your brewing.

Donald

• On the subject of brew water treatment, Gypsum is a common additive for Ale type brewing. Some British brew books refer to Gypsum as ‘Plaster of Paris’ which is misleading because Plaster of Paris is actually insoluble in water and will not contribute to the condition of the water. You should use the soluble form of Gypsum ( calcium sulphate ) if you want to get closer to a Burton upon Trent type water for Ales. This information was given to me by Terence Tegner of Old Cape Ales brewing Co. In Jo’burg I get my supply of CaSO4 from Effective Lab supplies ( tel. 434 1450 ) who also stock other chemicals and the small pen type pH meters.

• Still with water treatment, I have started using phosphoric acid for brewing liquor pH adjustment. A little will go a long way so speak to a brewing mate to share a bottle. My supply water has an average pH of 8.4 and I use a dose rate of 3 drops per litre to bring the pH down to 5.7. The acid I use is 85% food grade acid from Chemical Repacks ( tel. 872 1660 ). Apparently this acid is also very useful for cleaning stainless steel.

• For those of you who enjoy surfing the Web for beer related subjects I came across a very interesting Irish brew pub site called ‘Biddy Early Brewery’. The web address is: www.beb.ie/ Just leave yourself plenty of time if you want to read the rambling Irish stories.

• I recently ordered the book ‘ New Brewing Lager Beer ’ by Greg Noonan from Amazon.com on the internet. When the delivery time for the book was overdue I contacted Amazon to see if they could track the delivery. They responded immediately saying that there must be a problem with the courier and they would send another copy of the book if they could not track the delivery. Three days later the book arrived. I contacted Amazon again and told them that the book had been delivered. They said they had already despatched the replacement book but said keep the duplicate with their compliments. Two good things came out of this ;

1. I was very impressed with Amazon. They provided a very efficient and personal service to me. I was always anxious about spending money over the net but found it completely safe and their prices are very good despite the current exchange rate. I can really recommend Amazon and they have a great selection of brewing books.
2. I have donated the spare book to the Worthog library. So if you want to borrow the book speak to Gavin.

*****

Big Brew was started in the US as part of their National Homebrew Day two years ago. Last year, the event went international. The idea behind the day is for homebrewers everywhere to brew the same beer recipe at the same time and participate in a synchronised toast. The recipe this year was called the "Nearly Nirvana Pale Ale", and was based upon the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Coenraad Vegter hosted a site in Pretoria.

Andy Tasker and I hosted a site in Johannesburg. We invited our relatives to come along and see what we have been up to for the last few years.

Andy and I both brewed a variation on the official recipe, based upon those ingredients we actually had available. Both beers will be tasted at the 14 June meeting. In terms of our objectives, I think that all present at the day were convinced regarding the quality of homebrew – I don’t recall a commercial beer being opened. As to our other objective; showing people how easy it is to brew your own, I am not sure how well we did. But then I believe that the tinkering is a large part of why we brew.

Overall, just over 17 000 litres were brewed on the day, with almost 2000 people taking part.

Ant Hayes

*****

* Brew Up An American Amber Ale *

Sparked by the intriguing thread posted on our forum,

you Guide is in the process of cooking up an American

Amber Ale. Besides being a great drink for the early

summer, this beer will test the theory of mash

hopping. The beer has been in the primary fermenter

for five days as of today and should be ready for

racking later this evening. If the hydrometer jar

sample is any indication, this mash hopping idea

might just catch on. Read the feature at:

*****

*****

I have got your address from Coopers. We are the agents in South Africa. The products are stocked at the following Pick n Pay Hypermarkets:

We will be selling Coopers Malt extracts on the web and by mail-order in the near future together with the grains, hops etc to make up the Coopers recipes you. We will also supply these to specialist homebrew shops as and when they emerge. Our address will be www.homebrew.co.za but the site will only be up in about 2 months time.

If you need any info please email me or call me on 083 400 2121 or (021)551 5974.

Best Regards

Guy de la Porte

*****

The supreme accolade was won in the face of fierce opposition from beers from more than 200 breweries in 40 countries at the world brewing " Oscars’ ceremony in England, the Brewing Industry International Awards.

In addition to the award won by Castle, SAB’s Hansa Pilsener won a silver medal.
Barry Axcell, chief brewer of The South African Breweries, who received the award in London today (April 11), said the victory vindicated the taste buds of South African drinkers who for 105 years have ensured that Castle is one of the country’s favourite beers.

"Since our founder brewer, Charles Glass, first brewed Castle in 1895 using only the finest natural ingredients, the brand has been the perfect thirst quencher for South Africa’s hot, dry climate. The original recipe and the art of brewing Castle Lager have been passed down through generations of brewmasters ensuring a perfectly balanced beer with a somewhat dry, somewhat bitter, but never sweet taste.

"We are delighted that this taste has found favour with the international panel of judges. We believe that Castle is a good example of the ability of South African companies and products to successfully compete on the world stage," he said.

This is the second time that a South African Breweries beer has won the supreme accolade at the Brewing Industry International Awards competition. The company’s other award was in 1990.

Over the three days of the competition - the world’s oldest and most prestigious- in the home of British brewing, Burton-Upon –Trent, 34 judges from 13 countries, including South Africa, evaluated all entries on taste, aroma and appearance, before whittling them down to 61 beers spread over eight categories.

The judging panel, which is formed by invitation only, included brewers from the world’s top brewing companies, including Guinness, Carlsberg, Budweiser Stag, Whitbread, Pilsner Urquell, Kirin, Bass, Boddingtons and Interbrew.

The competition attracted a record number of entries from countries such as Britain, the United States, Germany, Belgium, Japan, the Czech Republic, Ireland and Sweden. Castle Lager competed in Class 2 (beers with an alcohol by volume content range of between 4,5% and 5,5%) in the International Bottled and Canned Lager section.
To achieve the "world’s best" accolade, Castle had to win its class and then compete against the Class 1 and Class 3 winners.

To lift one of the eight championship trophies represented " the pinnacle of achievement in each respective beer style" and the award conferred the international mark of excellence on the winning brewer, brewing team and brand, said Brewing Industry International Awards spokesman, John Bass.

*****

As you're aware, the club aims to promote the hobby of home brewed beer and one of the ways we approach it is to try to maintain a library of good homebrewing references. Well, through the means of our members' annual subscription fees, we have been able to maintain a fairly up to date library that many of you have made

use of over the last couple of years. But, with recent membership contributions, we have been able to take a

significant step forward by being able to afford a umber of up to date, zooty and well written texts on the brewing of beer . . . yeh ! Club members get to borrow these books between meetings and this has surely got to be a MAJOR membership benefit ! More yehs ! For info on what's about to hit these shores, courtesy of our members' annual subs combined with our membership of the American Homebrewers Association and their club member discounts . . . go check the web site on:-

. . . and look for that flashing message deep down on the left side of the page . . . it'll lead you to a list of books . . .

THANKS TO THE MEMBERS FOR YOUR SUPPORT !

And then for something completely different . . .

It occurred to me that now we have pics up on our web site of our committee . . go see . . .

. . . why not get pics up of our members ?!

So, if you're a member for the year 2000, check

if you have any doubts, please :-

- Either email me a pic of you as you would like to appear to the world:- with a beer in hand, family by your side, naked on horse back last Christmas, trimming your hop plantation etc;

- And a few words to accompany the pic.

I will then put your contribution on our site.

Come on . . . who's first ?!?!

Cheers,

Jeremy.

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Visit me on the web at . . .

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Vol. 1 No. 1 January/Febuary1999

Brown Ale …..Beer of the meeting & Recipe

Brewer Grading System

Cane Sugar…..Some Descriptions

How to make invert sugar

Beer "hydrogenation"

Visit to hop and Barley farms

Vol. 1 No. 2 March/April 1999

Tout to Mitchell’s Gauteng Brewery

Millennium brews…Barley Wine and Mead

The History of Mead

Stouts and Porters.. Beer of the meeting

Brewer Grading System

Summary of equipment to brew

Yeast pro-Expansion

Buying beers like those you brew

Snake in a can

Gram scale

Vol.1 No.3 May/June 1999

Report on presentation by SAB Brewers

Big Brew ’99

Old Ale… Beer of the meeting

Flavours in Beer…Diacetyl, Vicinal Diketones

Millennium Prize Old Ale… Draymans Brewery

Brewing Basics…Mashing and Lautering

Vol.1 No.4 July/August 1999

The first Great South African Beer List

What you can get from Draymans

The secret of Alcoholic fermentation

Farmers Brewery

Old Cape Ale Brewing Company

Mead Matters – Part 1

An introduction to brewing with malt extract

Vol.1 No.5 September/October 1999

Octoberfest

The Reinheitsgebot

Malt Crushing

Competition No. 2 Feed back.

The Malt Mill

Female Hormones in beer

Mead Matters – Part 2

Vol. 1 No. 6 November/December 1999

Phenolics in Beer

How to Taste Beer

Flavours associated with beer.

The current German beer law.

SAB buys Pilsner Urquell

Mead Matters Part - 3

Vol. 2 No. 1 – January/February 2000

How to make A Counter Pressure Bottle Filler

The Birkenhead Brewery

Source List

Mead Matters – Part 4

Vol. 2. No 2. March/April 2000

How to use A Counter Pressure Bottle Filler

Nesbits Bulawayo Brewery

English Bitter – Beer of the meeting

Yeoman’s Bitter

Kölschbier – A Style unique to Cologne

Mitchell’s moves to Bavaria Brau

Range from golden to light copper colour. The style is characterised by American-variety hops used to produce high hop bitterness, flavour and aroma. American pale ales have medium body and low to medium maltiness. Low caramel character is allowable. Fruity-ester flavour and aroma should be moderate to strong. Diacetyl should be absent or present at very low levels. Chill haze is allowable at cold temperatures.