Prost0401




					*April 2001* *Volume 24* *Number 3*

		*The San Andreas Malts' Newsletter* *Our 24th Year*
	INSIDE &OUT:			OYSTER TIME!!! When: Sunday, April 29, Noon to Dusk. Where: San Pedro Park, Pacifica (Linda Mar east from CA 1 until it ends; R a block, then L into the lot. Parking was $4 last year - may be a buck more this year - if the lot's full, there's street parking, but you have a bit of a lug if you have coolers, kegs, etc. If you live south of Half Moon Bay - DON'T USE 1! There's usually an air show in HMB that causes a major traffic jam - instead, take 280 to Westbrook, which becomes Sharp Park Blvd, then go south on 1 to Linda Mar.) PRICES: Malts & 1st guest - $14/each Additional Guests - $16/each Kids 6-12/Non-oyster eaters - $6 Kids under 6 - FREE Get your checks in by April 23!! Bring: Quaffs of your choice, eating utensils (we'll have plastic if you forget, but we like to be eco-friendly - on that same note, try to conserve plates!!), something to drink out of, and a salad/side dish/appetizer/dessert. Last year we got a pretty good balance. As an added feature we're staging ELECTIONS ... all paid-up Malts as of 4/25 are eligible to vote. Send us your nominations for prez, VP, treasurer, & Editor - we'll leave the Webmeister slot to Jay for the time being. *I do not want to wear 2 hats, & I prefer being Editor - so somebody get your name out there to be El Presidente!!* Henceforth, officer terms will be July 1- June 30 if this works - we'll use May-June for transition! *MJK*
a melange for your reading pleasure, including... BHJ - Musings OYSTER BBQ ALERT STOUT BOUT RESULTS
STOUT BOUT results *(another good year for the homeys!)* Tho attendance was an abysmal 6 - we who were there tasted some damn good homeys & a varied lot of commercial brews. Brewbird Kelly Dunham brought some BW to taste afterward, KJ brought another of his unique fruit brews for a warm-up, and of course we sampled some of what host Pat Loughran had on his taps. Thanks again for hosting, Pat & Chris! Now to the results: 1. Kevin "KJ" Johnson (no style given) - 15.41 2. Jack Dawson (foreign - dry style) - 13.75 3. Marin Brewing Breakout Stout - 13.50 4. Rogue Shakespeare Stout - 13.42 5. North Coast Rasputin Imperial Stout - 12.33 6. Kelly Dunham (Oatmeal) - 12.00 7. Jay Stanley (Dry) - 11.92 8. Beamish Irish Stout (nitro can) - 11.67 9. Pat Loughran (Oatmeal) - 9.5 Irony of ironies, Pat took first place at the World Cup of Beers with that same stout - we suspect that what we drank from his tap was tainted from serving line problems - Pat hasn't made that bad a stout in years!! Wonder what kind of score Ken Schroeder would have given the swill bucket this year?? - *MJK*
			WHEN YOU SEND IN YOUR DUES, PLEASE GIVE US AN E-MAIL ADDRESS IF YOU HAVE ONE, PLUS AT LEAST ONE PHONE NUMBER - WE NEED TO UPDATE OUR RECORDS!



2 APRIL PROST 2001

		B^REWER'S Comments & Opinions Home Journal
	SAN ANDREAS MALTS P O Box 884661 San Francisco, CA 94188-4661 http://www.river.org/~mumbly/malts/ Prez/Editor - Mark Kornmann 510/528-5351 (h) 510/466-3495 (w) yupbashr@pacbell.net (h) beerman49@msn.com (anywhere) Vice President - Jack Dawson 415/841-1433 (h) jsdawson@pacbell.net Treasurer - David Najman 415/585-1384 (h) dnajman@earthlink.net Webmeister - Jay Stanley 415/990-6951(cell) jaystan@well.com Contributing Emeritus Officers Pat Loughran Alec Moss Bill Stender Russ Wigglesworth Dave Suurballe Honorary Lifetime Malt - Steve Norris *** * * * * * * It's easy to become a San Andreas Malt. Dues are $15/year, renewable in January. Mail them to our PO Box or pay at any meeting/club event.** The Malts publish the Prost* semi-monthly. Our copy deadline generally is the 25th of the even-numbered months. You may reprint our articles as long as you cite the *Prost* as the source. *Editor's note:* Send me material on the net/on 3.5" disk (< 1.44 Mb) in Word (< 7.5), WordPerfect (< 6.5) or ASCII (text only) files. If you send Word/WordPerfect files, send an ASCII backup just in case. Mail discs to: Mark Kornmann 1621 Mariposa Street Richmond, CA 94804-5017 * prost \pröst\ interjection, [German fr. Latin], used to wish good health, especially before drinking.	B^REWER'S Comments & Opinions Home Journal
		I've kegged the dark lager & now am awaiting the final fermentation & carbonation - brewed a pale ale over the weekend, & damn if it didn't turn cold again! Guess this is going to be the year of the slow fermentation - Jack Dawson had the same complaint when I talked to him today (4/4). KUDOS this month to KJ for winning the Stout Bout, Pat for getting a 1st at the World Cup of Beers with the same brew we dissed at the Stout bout, Web-meister Jay for finally entering a contest & getting a 3rd (unfortunately the WCOB does not post entrants' names on the web with the results - not even the ribbon winners!), to our good buddy Kelly Dunham for winning the Barley Wine Blue Ribbon, and to the Mashers for another fun Saturday!! The food was quite good - especially those Aidell's sausages with habanero pepper in them. I stewarded the bock table at which former Prez Tim Mc Nerney was a judge - they had one brew that got the highest score of the day - 43 out of a possible 50 - & another that was nearly as good. Other groups weren't nearly as lucky. I wonder how the electricity shortage is going to affect the brewpub and micro scene this summer - already I've noticed prices creeping up & up! I hope places like Magnolia can survive the pending onslaught. Pyramid's food prices have gone up 20-40% over the past 6 months, but the pint price has only risen a dime & the 22-oz is still just a buck more than the pint. Last time I was there, they had a stout back online, but the bartender told me it was a 1-shot deal; they've caved in to the Swilloors crowd & now offer a lager, which is quite malty, but lacks the requisite aging. I wish they'd junk the Wheaten Ale & bring back the Stout. On the import front ... saw something in a recent *2-Minute Beer Break* (a weekly e-mail newsletter that the Real Beer folks put out - to subscribe, go to www.realbeer.com - they also put out an excellent monthly, *Real Beer News* that I've pirated stuff from on occasion) that the Czechwar now sold here is the same as Budvar sold in parts of the world where A-B can't stop it. If we ever do a lager/pils taste (hmmm - maybe we'll host such a meeting late this summer!), I'd love to see how it stacks up to PU & some others. When I bought the commercial brews for the Stout Bout at BevMo on 3/16, they were offering freebie tastes of Caffrey's Irish Ale, Murphy's Irish Stout & Pub Draught Guinness - the catch was that you got the 2 stouts "blind" & had to guess which was which. I've drunk enough of both, so I passed the test - Guinness is a bit drier than Murphy's. Picked up some Black Hart (North Coast of Fort Bragg) Irish Style Dry Stout at TJ's ($4.99/6 + CRV), which I've been sampling as I do this *Prost -* it's a nice brew, &, typical of California stouts, much more alcoholic than most of those from "across the pond". I'd guess that it's in the 5.5-6% ABV range. *continued on page 3 ...*



	3 APRIL PROST 2001

				BHJ, CONCLUDED (FINALLY!) From what I've been hearing, we'll have a lot of homebrew at the Oyster BBQ - don't forget to bring your share to share!! Romulan Ale will be back, courtesy of Dave Suurballe & maybe KJ; Jack, Pat, & I (& maybe a couple others) will be bringing Steve Norris "Memorial/Tribute" brews made primarily, if not totally, from the remnants of his Home Brew Shop stock. If I can find the time, I'll resurrect my truffles (I'll have to stay offline one night!) - I trust the rest of you & your guests to balance out the side dishes, desserts, etc. As long as there's no rain, we'll be in business - Mike Porter & Joe Byrnes will be doing the oyster run again, the park's paid for (except for the "bribes" to the rangers), & the grillmeisters are chomping at the bit. Seeya at the grills real soon! Please try to remember to bring your own flatware & conserve on the paper plates - and pass this reminder on to your guests, too! Peace & Good Brewing! MJK

	BHJ, CONTINUED Baseball season is here at last!! Wonder if we could get a week-end outing to Pac Bell Park with a post-game stop at 21st Amendment? Anyone interested in setting this up? I'd do it myself, but I just don't have the time. I go to San Diego so often for my job that it's becoming my home away from home - I'll be there the whole week before Easter for a class & then a friend's daughter's wedding ... will finally get to one of the Karl Strauss pubs to hook up with a guy I worked with almost 20 years ago. Karl Strauss is one of the better San Diego brewers - they make a good hoppy pale, which I've had a few pints of while waiting for planes home (the micros at Oakland suck by comparison & the selection changes every 6-12 months - the only constant has been Sam Adams, which I refuse to drink). Their amber isn't bad, & they make a decent porter as well - their pils is passable, but not special. When I hit the pub, I hope to find some varieties I haven't tried before - full report next month, with perhaps some Temecula winery reviews as a bonus. As for the other SD brews I've tried, I like Stone's Arrogant Bastard Ale the best, but since Alec told me that their owner was the one who forced Speakeasy & all the musicians to move (sure lived up to the Arrogant Bastard moniker!), I won't buy it. Stuft Pizza is the San Diego version of Tied House - decent food but mediocre beer. Your best bets there are the darker ales - the lighter ones are wimpily hopped. The downtown one that used to get good reviews for its brew closed before I ever had a chance to check it out (often I have coworkers along & we usually have only 1 car & are forced to eat out together - this time I'll be on my own - YES!!). Now back to some club stuff before I run out of room ... Tentative newsletter schedule for the rest of the year: May/June issue to come out in mid-May; July/Aug issue in late June (I'll be gone most of the week of July 4); Sept/Oct issue the week after Labor Day - State Comp volunteers, it's never too early to step up to the plate!!; then a holiday issue in mid-November (Xmas party host needed!!!). I'll print larger *Prosts* if you send me material - the e-mail lines are always open - I won't "crib" very often unless I'm really desperate for space. Elections - GET THOSE NOMINEES TO ME ASAP!! We need a couple of vote counter volunteers - we'll do the voting thing sometime between 2 & 3, timed around a charcoal reload. Next planning meeting will be the start of the State Comp stuff - anyone who's interested call Jack or me - we hold the meetings almost always at his conveniently-located house; date will be May 3, 8, or 10 - by the time you get this we'll have decided & will announce it at the oyster BBQ *only half a column more to go ... -*

				WE ARE HAVING ELECTIONS!! (repeated - just in case you missed it last month!) The only time most of the members are in the same place at the same time is at the Oyster BBQ ... therefore - we will vote for President (MJK declines - only willing to be Editor), VP, Treasurer, & Editor next month ... the floor is open to nominations! Officer terms will be July 1-June 30 henceforth. Nominate yourself or anyone else in the club - preferably via e-mail - with a short sup-porting statement (snail mail to 1621 Mariposa St, Richmond CA 94804-5017; fax to 510/466-3082) that I can distribute at the oyster BBQ *Nomination deadline is April 21.* Once I get all the nominees (incumbents are automatic unless they decline), I'll create ballots to be given out to members at the oyster BBQ - those who can't make it will get theirs via e-mail or snail mail - May 10 deadline for return. We've survived for a long time because we've had enough influx of "new blood" to give the "old-timers" a break from the admini-strative stuff ... & we have a huge loyal cadre to help out at the 2 big events (Oyster BBQ & State Comp). Howsomever - we're in a bit of an "old fart" rut these days & would welcome some new points of view to keep us vibrant! We officers like what we do & the occasional "perks", but we feel that the general membership should have a say in who runs the show - so get those nominees into my inbox ASAP!!!! - *MJK*


4 APRIL PROST 2001
		CALENDAR
	Saturday, Nov 10, all day - STATE HOMEBREW CLUB COMP @ STERN GROVE (no confusion in 2001 like there was last year!). *Recreational/Educational Activities:* Devise a weekend "road trip"/outing! Call an officer/attend a Planning Meeting/post details to the PO box to run it up the proverbial flagpole! WE HAD A DEAD Y2K - LET'S MAKE 2001 BETTER!!!!! *YOUR '01 DUES arE DUE!!* *if you got the dreaded red dot this month!!*
Fri-Sun, April 27-29, MCAB3 @ Pyramid Alehouse, Berkeley. Check out www.bayareamashers.org/mcab3 if you're interested. Sunday, April 29, noon to dusk - OYSTER BBQ @ San Pedro Park in Pacifica (see page 1). WE NEED A MEETING HOST FOR MAY! Call/E-mail your editor if you're willing!! Tue/Wed/Thurs evenings or Saturday afternoons are fine!




*1ST CLASS*