BON VOYAGE, MARK AND LYS by Kendall Staggs
The Heart of the Valley Homebrewers is bidding a fond farewell to Mark Kowalski, who is moving with his family to Massachusetts this summer. Mark has served HOTV in many capacities, most recently as director of the Oregon Homebrew Festival. He also earned the respect of fellow brewers and beer lovers with his many outstanding creations, earning the unofficial title of King of American Brown Ales.
Lys Buck is moving with her partner Liz and their son Jordan to Milwaukee, Wisconsion, the city that made many brands of American beer famous (and vice-versa). A longtime member of HOTV and a brewer of many great brews, Lys has brought warmth, charm, and humor to our club. Last year she performed a super job as HOTV president. I believe I speak for all the club in saying that Mark and Lys will both be dearly missed. It is my hope that they will keep in touch with us, and will visit us whenever they are able.
PARTY INVITATION from Lys Buck
Hi HOTV Friends ! Before Liz, Jordan, and I head to Wisconsin, we are holding one last soiree which you are all invited to attend. You are all invited to a DUMPLING potluck. Bring your favorite stuffed food to share and we'll all stuff ourselves. Some food ideas include egg rolls, spring rolls, tortellini, gyoza, ravioli, empanadas, crepes, pierogies, blintz, dolmas, wontons, tamales, eclairs, pasties, calzones, samosas, cream puffs, cabbage rolls—basically anything that fits the theme. We hope you can make it on Saturday, June 17th starting around 4:30. Our address is 1208 NE Lafayette Street in North Albany.
Directions: From Corvallis, take Highway 20 and turn left onto Springhill—the light just before the bridge into Albany. Take Springhill between .8 and .9 miles and then turn right onto 13th. Turn left at the stop sign. Turn right onto Lafayette. Call 928-3531 or email with any questions.
COOKING WITH BEER by Helen Smith
MUSSELS STEAMED IN SPICED BEER
Tangy beer makes a good match with sweet, briny mussels.
Here the brew is seasoned with a spice mixture akin to
that used in a Louisiana-style crab boil.
Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.
a 12-ounce bottle of beer (not dark)
2 bay leaves
4 whole cloves
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 lemon wedges
36 mussels, preferably cultivated, scrubbed well in
several changes of water and the beards scraped off
if necessary minced fresh parsley leaves for garnish
In a kettle bring the beer to a boil with the bay leaves,
the cloves, the coriander seeds, the mustard seeds, the
cayenne, the salt, and the lemon wedges and boil the
mixture, covered partially, for two minutes. Add the
mussels, steam them, covered, over moderately high heat,
stirring once or twice, for 4 to 7 minutes, or until
they are opened, and discard any unopened ones. Serve
the mussels sprinkled with the parsley.
Serves 6 as a first course.
MICROBREW NEWS by Kendall Staggs
This year's winner at the Toronado Barley Wine Festival, held February 19 at San Francisco's Toronado Bar, was Beer of the Horn, by the Anderson Valley Brewing Company of Boonville, California. The runner-up was Old Gubbillygotch from the Russian River Brewing Company of Guerneville, California. Forty one beers competed.
Beer Marketer's Insight, an industry newsletter, reports that in 1999 U.S. beer sales increased 1.6 percent, the largest growth since 1990, with sales rising from 196.6 million barrels to 198.8 million barrels. Anheuser-Busch sold 96.8 million barrels, increasing its share of the American beer market to 47.5 percent. Miller remained in second with a 21.6 percent market share, followed by Coors at 10.7 percent. Pabst, Heineken, and Labatt USA were the leaders in the "all the rest" category.
BEER AND HEALTH from Scott Leonard
A study in the May 20, 2001, British Medical Journal announced that the authors had found a protective effect of beer drinking against heart attacks among middle aged men in the Czech Republic. Over 900 men who drank only beer were studied. Those who drank 5 to 9 liters per week were less than half as likely to have a heart attack than those who drank no beer. [Editor's note: Isn't 9 liters per week a hell of a lot of beer?]
THE BEER CAN's 65th BIRTHDAY by Kendall Staggs
On June 24, 1935, canned beer was introduced in the United States by the American Can Company and the Krueger Brewing Company of Newark, New Jersey. Uncertain as to the public's reception of this new package for beer, Krueger decided to test market the beer can in Richmond, Virginia, outside its prime marketing territory. To their surprise, the beer can proved to be a hit, and before the end of the year dozens of breweries were selling beer in cans. The first beer can was a familiar 12-ounce flat-top can with elaborate instructions printed on the side concerning the use of the can opener. Within the first year, the rival Continental Can Company was marketing a 12-ounce cone-top can that could be sealed with the same cap as bottles. The flat-top can, however, proved to be more popular and it evolved into the modern beer can. Cans featuring pull tabs were first marketed in 1963, and aluminum cans began to replace steel cans in the 1970s. The distinctive cone-top beer can was used by a few breweries until the 1950s. I collect older beerr cans. If you have questions regarding beer cans, their value, and their history, contact me at .
WHERE ARE THEY NOW DEPARTMENT from Joel Rea
>From Kelly Ivors, a postcard from Ireland addressed "H.O.T.V. c/o Joel Rea." [Editor's note: the postcard is of a smiling pint of Guinness with the quip, "Guinness As Usual. Guinness is Good For You."] Kelly writes, "These Irish really put the Guinness away. The pubs have dozens of empty kegs lined up on delivery day. I went to the Guinness Brewery last week and Bushmills today. I put 1050 miles on the rental car. In the Republic of Ireland every 5th business in town is a pub. There are a lot less in Northern Ireland. Day after tomorrow I will be in Scotland."
Kelly was recently in Belgium presenting a paper on mushrooms (and not the ones you find at your local grocery store—wink, wink).
BEER WEBSITE OF INTEREST from Mike Bennett
Check out this interesting beer site from Russia:
http://www.razin.ru/english/main.htm
BEER HISTORY by Kendall Staggs
On May 9, 1785, Joseph Bramah received a British patent for a beer pump that allowed for the mixing of two of the four beers to be dispensed. One of the mixed beers was "Stale Porter," which was aged over a year in order to acquire a "bite" from acetic acid. It was more costly because of the age, but patrons could now choose how much of the extra "bite" they wanted to buy.
ASSORTED BEER STORIES from Dianna Fisher, via the Internet
Cheap beer is a leading contributor to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, according to a government report that says raising the tax on a six-pack by 20 cents could reduce gonorrhea by up to 9 percent. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study compared changes in gonorrhea rates to changes in alcohol policy in all states from 1981 to 1995. In years following beer tax increases, gonorrhea rates usually dropped among young people. The same happened when the drinking age went up—as it did in many states during the 1980s.
"Alcohol has been linked to risky sexual behavior among youth. It influences a person's judgment and they are more likely to have sex without a condom, with multiple partners or with high-risk partners," said Harrell Chesson, a health economist with the CDC.
Beer industry lobbyists, however, said recent statistics show young people are already drinking more responsibly, thanks in part to efforts by brewers. "Excise taxes have little or nothing to do with alcohol abuse in society," said Lori Levy of The Beer Institute in Washington. "I think that our members understand the importance of educating young people about how to make responsible choices once they're old enough and they put a lot of money and effort into those programs."
There are some strange cat laws in America. In Natchez, Mississippi, cats are forbidden to drink beer. In Dallas, Texas, local law requires any cat running on the street after dark to wear a headlight.
Stechuhr, translated "stopwatch," is a chain of German brewpubs that allows its cutomers to drink all they want in one hour without keeping a tab. For the first hour, men are charged $6.50 and women are charged $3.20, with the price decreasing for additional hours.
German police arrested a motorist last month with a blood-alcohol content of 4.46 percent after he drove his car into a motorway crash barrier. Police said the alcohol reading was the highest ever registered by the authorities in the southern German town of Karlsruhe. The legal limit is 0.5 percent. The 40-year-old motorist, who suffered only slight injuries, was said to be "completely inebriated" but managed to apologize to the police for his "stupidity." They still took away his driver's licence.
Now for a story that has nothing to do with beer, but is compelling nevertheless:
A Canadian farm woman is still shaking after a crazed beaver attacked her two giant Newfoundland dogs named Bonnie and Billy, pinning them against a fence and savagely biting them. "It pinned them. I never though beavers were capable of that," Sam Pshyshlak told Reuters news from her Manitoba farm 60 miles north of Winnipeg. "I've lost all respect for beavers. I never would have imagined this from a beaver," she said of the recent incident. She said the beaver "terrorized" her dogs, which weigh nearly 200 pounds each. "There was definitely something wrong with it," Pshyshlak said. The thick pelts of beavers were once Canada's main export and the flat-tailed animal has long occupied a place of honor on the country's five-cent coin. Most Canadians see them as cute and industrious but farmers often regard them as a nuisance for the dams they build and the flooding they cause.
Pshyshlak said the beaver that attacked her dogs weighed about 30 pounds and tore at Billy's leg and face. "In the shed, the whole floor was pooled with blood," she said. Pshyshlak said the conservation authorities assured her that they would try to trap the animal, although she said she hasn't seen hide nor hair of the beaver since the attack occurred. [Editor's note: A spokesperson for beavers, when asked if this story were true, replied, "Gnaw."]
A FINAL BIT OF HUMOR from Dianna Fisher
A driver was pulled over by a police officer for speeding. As the officer was writing the ticket, she noticed several machetes in the car. "What are those for?" she asked suspiciously. "I'm a juggler," the man replied. "I use those in my act."
"Well, show me," the officer requested. So he got out the machetes and started juggling them: first three, then four, finally five at one time, overhand, underhand, behind the back, putting on a dazzling show and amazing the officer.
Another car passed by. The driver did a double take, and said to his wife, "My God! I've got to give up drinking. Look at the test they're giving now."
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