Walking the Dog 181; December 2005

WALKING THE DOG …

… Is the electronic newsletter of FOSSILS (Fermenters of Special Southern Indiana Libations Society); a home brewing and beer appreciation club located in New Albany, Indiana. It will be sent out on the first of each month from now on. Visit FOSSILS on the Web at www.fossils.org

Since 1990 … FOSSILS: Carbonated – Not Carbon Dated!

The newest compiler of "Walking the Dog" is I, Scott Boyer (admin@fossils.org). Don’t hesitate to contact me with anything you like, dislike, or want to see changed about the newsletter or web site. Submissions for the Dog will be credited to the author of the submitted material, but please be sure to get yours to me early; I need some time to get everything together.

Fossils is generously supported by the following beer friendly businesses (In no particular order):

• Youngstown Cigar Shop - Tobacco lovers will find cigars, pipes, pipe tobacco, lighters, humidors, and many other accessories at Mike's fine establishment. The shop is located behind Regions Bank, East 10th Street in Jeffersonville, 1 mile from I-65 (exit 1).

• RichO's & Sportstime Pizza - Roger & his crew have always been an integral part of the Fossils Club. They graciously host many of the club meetings and have always given us their support. His establishment has the best beer selection in the area, and his food is excellent. As for the beer brewed there: Indiana State Fair's professional best of show '04 - Bourbon Barrel Stout. What can I say; we know it, we love it. Keep it up Roger & company!

• Cumberland Brews - Matt Gould has some great beers on tap. The atmosphere is great, and the food is very tasty. Our club meeting there was a lot of fun, and I know we will all be back again, again, and again! 1576 Bardstown Rd., Louisville, KY. (502) 458-8727

• Memphis Meat Processing - These are the guys who donate the very cool buffalo femurs we make into lamps. They offer great quality buffalo meat at good prices. Click here for their contact information & a full price list.

• Old Mill - These guys have a great selection of both beer & wine. They are so good that they made '03 best of Louisville. Old Mill is in the modern shopping center at Blackiston Mill and Charlestown Roads, just off I-265 south of the Charlestown Road (IN 311) exit. (812) 941-1350

• Destinations Booksellers - New to Southeast Indiana, the store is located just west of St. Mary's Catholic Church, at 604 East Spring Street. The owner is Randy Smith, and he helped us out with our new library cart & some nice additions to our brewing library. Randy has a nice selection of beer and beverage books, and out-of-stock customer orders are usually filled in a day or two. Call the store at (812) 944-5116 or e-mail. FOSSILS members are especially welcome.

• Sarah Ring with Harrison Realty - Understanding the needs of beer drinkers since 1993 through Bluegrass Brewing Company, Now wheeling and dealing houses for FOSSILS and Friends in Southern Indiana. Referrals always welcome, Call 502-550-9503.

FOSSILS sponsorship is an effective way to reach discerning and intelligent readers who are your friends and customers. Not Dog advertising is bartered for goods and services donated to the club. If you are interested, please contact me (admin@fossils.org).

ISSUE NUMBER 181 - December 2005.

As many of you know, the Fossils web site is in the process of changing. Be sure to check it out (www.fossils.org). If you see anything you would like to add or modify, feel free to contact me (admin@fossils.org). You will be seeing significant expansions & additions in the future as I get the time. In addition, I need help rebuilding the email list of all of our members; much has been completed, but I want to make sure I have not omitted anyone. Have anyone you know who should be receiving the newsletter contact me at the address above. If you see anything that isn’t working or needs to be updated on the web site, please let me know; I’m an amateur webmaster doing this in between a lot of other activities.

Message From Your FOSSILS President:

Hello folks, I would like to begin by thanking Ed Tash the stewards and judges for all their hard work in regards to the porter competition. A good time was had by all. I would also like to congratulate all the prizewinners and thank them for their hard work. I think it is worth noting that as the porter competition gains notoriety we have seen more entries and winners from people outside the club. This is a good thing and I hope the competition continues to grow. For more info on competition results, see Ed's article in this issue of the Dog.

We will be having our annual Christmas party December 17th at the home of Bob and Maureen Capshew again this year. This is one of my personal favorite FOSSILS activities of the year. Denny Barry, Bob Capshew and myself brewed 3 beers for the party this past Friday. If all works out they should be kegged and ready for the party! My personal thanks goes out to Dave Pierce of BBC for donating yeast and Denny and Bob for their hard work brewing these beers. I would also like to challenge folks to dig deep for raffle items for the party this year. In keeping with the holiday season lets wrap the raffle items to add to the surprise! As you may know the Christmas party is also when we award the FOSSILS of the year to one individual who has worked hard for the club. The final decision is up to the president, but I very much need and want your input. I would like any of you who have an individual in mind to please email me at beersnobs@msn.com. Include the person’s name and a brief description of the reason you would like to see them get the award. Please remember current office holders cannot receive the award. See the Christmas Party invitation in this issue for more info on the party.

Lets get funked up for the annual Pungent and Funky Appetizer Competition coming on January 8th. Create the most pungent and funky appetizer and have it judged by local celebrities! The winner will get a cool prize and the opportunity to judge next year’s competition. Keep in mind there is also a sub category in the competition for pungent and funky entries that use beer as an ingredient. More to come on this meeting at a later date.

Well That's All For Now Folks....

Cheers,

Dave Howard

The 12th Annual FOSSILS Porter Competition was held on November 13th, 2005.

First things first, thanks those who helped the competition go smoothly, my judges; Scott Boyer, Leah Dienes, and Dibs Harting, everyone's favorite steward - Tac Milne, and FOSSILS prize maker Tom Henderson. Also thanks to Jay Hulbert for getting the Porter Competition plaque engraved with the winner's name and to Roger Baylor of allowing us to start the judging a 5:00 PM (an hour before the meeting). Without these people my job would have been a lot tougher and someone else might be running the competition next year.

There were 6 entries this year:

Mike Barker (FOSSILS) and Jim Frazier (FOSSILS)

Bob Capshew (FOSSILS/LAGERS)

Ryan Clarke (Hop Jockeys)

Bob Probst (Hop Jockeys)

Kris Walker (Hop Jockeys)

Eric Waters (FOSSILS)

I hope next year that there will be more entries. I plan to register the competition with the BJCP again. I will send the BJCP registration off in January. This may increases the entries. I also plan to advertise on the Homebrew and Beer Judging forums next year. I my goal for next year is to have 12 entries and have 6 judges. Next year the competition will officially be expanded to include brown, robust, Baltic, and specialty porters. Also, for next year I need someone to be in charge of taking pictures of the competition and the giving out the awards.

Okay now for the Winners;

Ryan Clarke (Brown Porter), 3rd Place - $15 gift certificate to Rich O's.

Mike Barker and Jim Frazier (Brown Porter), 2nd Place - a year’s membership to FOSSILS.

Kris Walker (Robust Porter), 1st Place - a mash paddle (made by Tom).

I am thrilled that the Bloomington Club did well and I hope they send entries in next year.

Ed Tash

FOSSILS Christmas Party!

Saturday, December 17th

6:00 pm

Bob & Maureen Capshew

7720 Corydon Ridge Rd.

Georgetown, IN 47122

952-3667

Once again it's time to celebrate the holidays in true Fossils fashion. Festivities will begin around 6:00, dinner to be served about 7:00, raffle to follow. We're smokin' the meat here this time and need some help around 5:00 to help get the meat off of the pig, so if you want to show up early to help with this process please do. Please bring a dish to share, either an appetizer, side dish or dessert, your choice. Don't forget raffle items! Anybody have a copy of the Halleluiah Chorus?

We expect everyone to behave responsibly! If you don't have a designated driver and will be drinking, please bring a bedroll and plan to stay the night. We have some extra beds/sofas and lots of floor space.

Directions to the Capshew’s are here

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree (etc, etc). I'm sure you know all the words.

By Ed Tash

For the past 3 years I have brought a Beer Christmas Tree to the FOSSILS Christmas party. I plan to do so again this year. For those of you who have never seen it let me try to describe it to you. The first thing you need to know is, "Yes, I know that the tree is tacky, that's the whole point of doing it". The tree it is about 3 feet tall and was rescued from a yard sale, it cost Kira about $5.00. The tree stand is a Samuel Adams galvanized bucket, filled with rock and some fence post hardware. The lights on the tree are small beer bottles of Beck’s, Heineken, and Amstel Light. They are two garlands; one is made up of wine bottle corks and the other is made of pull tabs (from the early 1980's). The ornaments consist of anything beer related that will fit on the tree (coasters, openers, key chains, Farquar wearing a Santa Hat, a German shepherd in lederhosen drinking beer). The star (or angle) on the top of the tree has been replaced by a Christmas Ale Tap handle. I also have a Guinness and a Bass Ale Christmas stocking that adds to the fun. Anyone who would like to bring an ornament to please do so, I would love to see new ornaments added every year. I would also like to point out that no club money has been spent on the Christmas tree and I don't want to spend club money on it. If you want to place something on the tree please feel free to bring it to the Christmas party. If you want the item back, make sure your name is on it or take it home at the end of the evening. If you don't want the item back after the party, it will be placed in a box in my basement until next year. My long-term goal is to place the tree in the Kentucky State Fair tree trimming competition.

Also, if anyone has a Goose Island Christmas Ale beer tap handle of the goose head handle wearing a Santa hat please let me know, I'm willing to pay for it.

Christmas Raffle

By Ed Tash

As always we need raffle items, as it has been said many times before the raffle is the lifeblood of the club. Without it we can pay for the fun things we like to do. I'm hoping for a big raffle this year. If we want to have another beer class or road trip, we need to raise more funds. For as long as I can remember Roger Baylor has generously donated items to the Christmas Party raffle. Roger also gift-wraps some of these items in Christmas wrapping paper. These items are always appreciated. It's always fun to watch the winner open their prize. I suggest that everyone try to wrap one of their donated items for the raffle. We can even place all of the wrapped items under the Christmas tree and take a picture with a digital camera. With photo shop it could even be used as the FOSSILS Christmas card.

FOSSILS Library

By Ed Tash

The following books are now part of the FOSSILS Library:

1. Brewing Up A Business - Adventures In Entrepreneurship From The Founder Of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery by Sam Calagione - This book was donated by Destinations Booksellers.

2. Pocket Guide to Beer - 7th Edition by Michael Jackson. Donated by me, (I found two of them at a discount book store).

3. The I Like My Beer Diet - A 12-Day Weight-Loss Program That Includes Two (Or Three) Beers A Day By Martin R. Lipp M.D.

4. Wild Brews: Beer Beyond The Influence Of Brewers Yeast by Jeff Sparrow.

5. Good Beer Guide Belgium by Tim Webb

6. Beer School - Bottling Success At The Brooklyn Brewery By Steve Hindy & Tom Potter

Irish Nursing Home Keeps Spirits Up With Own Pub

DUBLIN (Nov. 14) - A nursing home in Ireland has hit on a cheering way to keep up the spirits of its elderly patients -- by providing its own pub. St. Mary's Hospital in County Monaghan, near the Irish border with Northern Ireland, believes ready access to a good pint may help its patients -- average age 85 -- actually live longer. "We would say the whole social aspect of life does extend the years -- it means the patients aren't bored to death," Rose Mooney, assistant director of nursing told Reuters. The pub, which opens at 11 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m. and charges normal bar prices, had also led to an increase in the number of visitors, she said. Having its own bar made the hospital, which has around 140 patients, unique in Ireland, she added.

Hurricane Relief Raffle

As we did with the 911 tragedy, FOSSILS decided to donate an entire raffle to the hurricane relief fund. The raffle was held during the October meeting & raised $370. Your generosity was greatly appreciated. Here is the thank you that we received from the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund. If you would like to contribute again or if you didn’t get a chance to participate in the fundraiser raffle, here are a few links to assist you:

http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/

http://www.bushclintonkatrinafund.org/

As some of you already know Rich O's and the BBC Tap Room have sold pints of Abita Gold and Abita Purple Haze to raise money for The American Red Cross. At this time Abita Brewing Co is New Orleans' largest craft brewery with distribution across the country. Their web site is http://www.abita.com/. On it they are selling items who's profits go to disaster relief.

FOSSILS dues are $18 a year for an individual, with the privilege of bringing a guest to meetings. The dues-paying individual only is considered to be an active member for the purpose of voting in elections and other member benefits (sale-priced t-shirts, for example). Dues are $18 a year for a family: you and your husband/wife/significant other. Both designated adults are considered to be active members for the purpose of voting and other member benefits. Make sure your dues are current.

The End.