Well there is a lot going on right now. First we need to discuss our meeting place! Castaways has elected to make a golf school out of the back room we have been using for our meetings. While they have offered us the use of a part of the dinning room, it remains to be seen if that will accommodate our needs. In the past we have tried other places that didn't have a separate room, but they never seemed to be conducive to the meetings. Let’s face it we need all the help we can get. So I have requested that anybody with an idea for a possible meeting location to please gather the following information and bring it to the next meeting for consideration.

1. Name and address of the facility

2. contact name and phone number

3. nights of the week that it is available

4. can we bring homebrew

5. beer selection

6. type of accommodations available

Please have these items and any other information that you think is important on a piece of paper so it can be collected and discussed.

Next item is the business meetings. They will now be held on the last Tuesday of every month. The time is 7:30 PM. The place is Hubbs, on the corner of 45th Street and Village Boulevard. Any one with something to contribute is welcome and encouraged to attend.

OKTOBERFEST!!! We have successfully procured the Center Drive Pavilion at John Prince Park for Saturday the 3rd of October (thank you Vince). This is the flagship pavilion for this park and should provide us with the best facilities yet! As this is a new location for us, it might be a good idea to hold a planning meeting at the park to help us decide on our setup. Probably some time close to the party would be good. The day draws near and there is still lot to do. The tasters choice competition needs to be squared away, including the trophies, we need raffle items, game prizes, music, food, and beer. We are going to need ticket collectors, beer servers, cooking help, game organizers just to name a few. So volunteer your time, and raffle items, to help make this our best celebration yet.

Well I hope to see you all at the next meeting.                                                                                 

Peace "drewbrew"

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Here’s yet another newsletter full of interesting beer stuff. There are some more recipes, a recap of the Pub Crawl, and a interesting letter about beer packaging. We really can use more articles for the newsletter. Maybe you have a story to tell about your beer adventures over the summer or a great beer recipe or some beer humor; get it to me so it can be shared with everyone in the club.

Oktoberfest is coming upon us quickly, if you have not brewed your beer for Oktoberfest you still have time. This years judging will be a tasters choice, allowing for any style or not to style beer, cider, wine or mead. The beer must be kegged to make it easier for dispensing and to allow for enough beer for everyone to vote.

So get brewing and don’t forget to write an article for the next newsletter.

Time to Blowoff

Editor--------Jamie Latimer

Co-Editor---Patti Latimer

5332 Courtney Circle

Boynton Beach, FL 33437

Reporters---You-Our members

To write articles or send

comments, please forward to the

above address, fax to (561)392-4090

or (preferably) E-mail to

Editor reserves the right to edit

due to space or content.

President----------------Drew Griffin

Vice President---------Gorman Selph

Secretary----------------George King

Treasurer---------------Andy Rodusky

Education----------------Victor Sears

Activities-----------------Betty Turso &

Dan Oliver

Oktoberfest--------------Troy Webster &

Vince Yeck

Hurricane Blow-Off---Mel Thompson &

Tiffany Griffin

Membership-------------Victor Sears

Newsletter----------------Jamie Latimer

PBD Web Page----------Jan Lobota

Membership Information

Applications for membership

are available at Homebrewer’s

Outlet, at 4734 Okeechobee Blvd.,

West Palm Beach.

Or write to Palm Beach Draughtsmen,

Inc. at PO BOX 210174, Royal Palm

Beach, FL 33421-1074

Visit our Web Site at:

For club information contact:

PUB CRAWL TO THE STADIUM FORMERLY KNOWN AS JOE ROBBIE

It was a small but faithful crew that met this past Saturday to Drink our way down to the stadium formerly known as Joe Robbie and see the Florida Marlins play the Cincinnati Reds. As usual we met in West Palm at the Airport Hilton. We were treated to a mini-keg of Victor’s Bitter for the van ride. We piled into the van and headed down to Independence Brewery, for some pre-game Brew and Food.

While at the Independence Brewery, we met up with Jan, who was kind enough to buy a round of drinks for all of us on the crawl. It was now nearing game time, so we had to down the Pints and pile into the van for our final destination. We got into the Parking Lot with just enough time have one more real beer before heading into the stadium where pickings are slim. Some of us did not suffer to much, since we found a Bar-B-Que stand that had Bass and Samuel Adams. Some of us did not care to get up to get real beer and settled for Coors Lite and Budweiser, but I can not reveal their names because they bribed us with a real beer. We started the game with our group split into two sections but were able to sneak everyone down to the seats 5^th Row behind Home Plate. This made it like watching the game on Big Screen and allowed us to egg on the opposing team.

The Marlins were winning for most of the Game, but they let the Reds tie the game in the Ninth. The game went one more inning and ended after the Reds hit a two-run double to end the game with a score of 7-9. I think Dan said it best when he said "It’s a #$!%ing Son of a B-tch." This was the Marlins 13^th loss in 15 games. I sure wish we still had last year’s team.

We would like to Thank Home Greetings for the contribution of the game Tickets, making the rental van our only cost for the Crawl. The Marlins may have lost but we sure had a good time.

Vince and Laura gave birth to a girl July 23 at 6:32pm. She is 7 lbs 5 oz and 20" long.

Her name is Ahleah Alamanda Yeck. That name really gives my spell check a hard time.

Thought you all would like to know.

Joe Hughes received a Gold Medal in the Mild/Brown Ale category for his Mild Ale at the American Homebrew Association 1998 National Homebrew Competition. It is nice to see a member of The Palm Beach Draughtsmen on the List of winners. We will do our best to get the recipe from him for the next issue.

Gold Medal Amber & Dark Lagers

1998 Hurricane Blowoff

Ingredients for 5 U.S. gal

8 lb. Pilsener Malt

1.8 lb. Munchener Malt

1.5 lb. Munich Malt

1 oz. Crystal Malt (60 LV)

.5 lb. Cara Pils Malt

4 oz Chocolate Malt

1 oz. Hersbrucker hop pellets,3.3% alpha acid (60 min)

1 oz. Hersbrucker hop pellets,3.3% alpha acid (30 min)

1 oz. Hersbrucker hop pellets,3.3% alpha acid (2 min)

Wyeast 2308 yeast

Original specific gravity 1.067

Final specific gravity 1.017

Boiling time: 90 min

Primary fermentation: 9 days at 50 degrees F in glass

Secondary fermentation: 45 days at 33 degrees F in glass

Mash grains for 90 min. At 155 degrees F

Gold Medal Pale Lagers

1998 Hurricane Blowoff

Ingredients for 11 ½ U.S. gal

15 lb. Muntons Lager Malt

3 lb. Muntons Rice Malt

2 oz MAC Daddy whole hops (90 min)

.5 oz MAC Daddy whole hops (25 min)

Wyeast Danish Lager yeast

Original Specific gravity: 1.049

Final Specific gravity: 1.008

Boiling time: 90 min

Primary fermentation: 14 days at 48 degrees F in glass

Secondary fermentation: 30 days at 39 degrees F in glass

Step Mash grains for 60 min.

Gold Medal English Bitters

1998 Hurricane Blowoff

Ingredients for 5 U.S. gal

8 lb. Marris Otter Malt

1 lb. English Crystal Malt

.5 lb. Wheat Malt

1 cup Brown Sugar (15 min in boil)

2 Tablespoons Molasses (15 min in boil)

.5 cup Brown Sugar (in Secondary Fermentation)

1.5 oz East Kent Goldings whole hops,6.5% alpha acid (60 min)

1 oz East Kent Goldings whole hops,6.5% alpha acid (15 min)

1 oz East Kent Goldings whole hops,6.5% alpha acid (dry)

Wyeast yeast

.75 cup Corn sugar(to prime)

Original Specific gravity: 1.052

Final Specific gravity: 1.012

Boiling time: 60 min

Primary fermentation: 7 days at 62 degrees F in plastic

Secondary fermentation: 14 days at 62 degrees F in glass

An actual letter sent to Miller Brewing Company and their response:

Miller Brewing Company

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201

Dear Sir or Madam,

I have been a drinker of Miller beers for many years (actually, ever since that other company donated a big chunk of change to Handgun Control Inc. back in the mid 80's). Initially, my beer of choice was Lite, but some time in mid-1990 while in Honduras I switched to MGD smuggled up from Panama. Now, for nearly six years, I have been a faithful drinker of MGD.

For these past years, I have come to expect certain things from Genuine Draft. I expect that whenever I see that gold can of MGD, I am about ready to enjoy a great, smooth brew. But wait! Sometime around the first of the year, my beloved MGD changed colors, so to speak. That familiar gold can was no longer gold! Knowing that I am, by nature, somewhat resistant to change, I forced myself to reserve judgment on the new can design. Gradually, I grew to appreciate the new label. That was until about May of this year. That was when I discovered (empirically) that I really didn't like the new design.

Further investigation of the cause of my distress resulted in the following observations:

1. Your cans are made of aluminum.

2. Aluminum is a great conductor of energy.

3. Your beer is commonly consumed outside, and thus, the container may be exposed to sunlight.

4. Sunlight striking the can causes radiant warming of the surface of the can.

5. The resultant heat (energy) is transferred through the aluminum, by conduction, to the contents of the can (the beer).

6. Warm beer sucks.

This is a process that can be observed in just about any beer. However this process is significantly accelerated in MGD because you painted the damn can...black!!! Who was the rocket scientist that designed the new graphic for the can and implemented the change right before summer? Granted, this process may not be real evident up there in Wisconsin, but down here in Oklahoma (OR TEXAS) where the summers are both sunny and hot, this effect is quite a problem. There's no telling what the folks in Texas and Arizona are having to put up with.

Knowing that you would probably not address this issue unless you had firm evidence of a problem, I and several other subjects conducted extensive experimentation. The results of these experiments are listed below. The experiments were conducted over two days on the deck next to my pool. The study included seven different types of beer (leftovers from a party the previous weekend) that were initially chilled to 38 degrees F and then left exposed to sunlight for different lengths of time. These beers were sampled by the test subjects at different intervals. The subjects, all normally MGD drinkers, were asked at each sampling interval their impressions of the different beers. The length of time

between the initial exposure to sunlight and the point where the subject determined the sample undrinkable (the Suck-point) was determined. The average ambient temperature for the trials was 95 degrees F.

Beer Type Average Suck-point (minutes)

-----------------------------------------------------

Miller Lite (white can) 6.2

Bud (white can) 5.5

Bud Lite (silver can) 5.2

Ice House (blue and silver can) 4.4

Coors Lite (silver can) 4.1

Miller Genuine Draft (black can) 2.8

Coors (gold can) 0.1

It was evident that the color of the can directly correlates to the average suck point, except for Coors which was pretty much determined to suck at any point. It is to be hoped that you will consider re-designing your MGD cans. All beer drinkers that are not smart enough to keep their beer in the shade will thank you.

Sincerely, Bradley Lee Beer-drinker

 The Miller response appears below. They have had a lot of fun with this guy's letter. Enjoy...

Dear Bradley Lee,

Thank you for your letter and your concern about the MGD can color as it relates to premature warming of the contents.

Like you, we at Miller Beer take beer drinking very seriously. To that end, we have taken your letter and subsequent experiment under serious consideration. Outlined below are our findings and solution to your problem. May we add that we have had similar letters from other loyal beer drinkers, mostly from the Southern United States.

First, let us congratulate you on your findings. Our analysis tends to agree with yours regarding Coors. It certainly does suck at about any temperature. Now, it was our intentions when redesigning the MGD can to create better brand identity and brand loyalty. Someone in marketing did some kind of research and determined we needed to redesign the can.

You will be pleased to know, we have fired that idiot and he is now reeking havoc at a pro-gun control beer manufacturer. The design staffer working in cahoots with the marketing idiot was also down-sized. However, once we realized this mistake, to undo it would have been even a bigger mistake.

So, we took some other actions. From our market research, we found a difference between Northern beer drinkers and Southern beer drinkers. Beer drinkers in the South tend to drink slower than beer drinkers in the North. We are still researching why that is. Anyway, at Miller Beer, it was never our intentions to have someone take more than 2.5 minutes

to enjoy one of our beers. We pride ourselves in creating fine, smooth, quick drinking beers and leave the making of sissy, slow sipping beers to that Sam guy in Boston. However, it is good to know that you feel our Miller Lite can last as long as 6 minutes. However, may we suggest in the future you try consuming at least two in that time frame.

From your letter, we had our design staff work 'round the clock to come up with a solution that would help not just MGD but all our fine Miller products. We hope you have recently noticed our solution to your problem. We found that the hole in the top of the can was not big enough for quick consumption. So, we have now introduced the new "Wide Mouth" cans. We hope this will solve all your problems.

Might I also suggest that if you want to get the beer out of the can even faster, you can poke a hole on the side near the bottom, hold your finger over it, open the can, tip it to your mouth and then pull your finger off the hole. This is a common way to drink beer at parties and impress your friends. This technique is known as "shot-gunning". You should like the name.

Again, thank you for your letter and for bringing to our attention that there might be other beer drinkers taking more that 2.5 minutes to drink our beers. Let me assure you that I will have our advertising department work on campaign to solve this problem, too.

Sincerely,

Tom B. Miller

Public Relations

Miller Brewing Co.

P.S. And remember, at Miller Beer we do favor gun control, too. So please use two hands when firing.

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