Local flavor

Students, A2 residents influence colorful 'U' community

They meet Thursday evenings to learn the history, theory and practice behind a tradition as old as time itself. No, they aren't contemplating the wise words of Plato or Socrates, but what they produce is almost as timeless.

Beer.

As Engineering senior Chris Schwartz explained, a group of friends at the Michigan Co-operative House were sitting around on the porch one afternoon in early May 1997 when something dawned on them: They didn't have to settle for commercial beer when they could brew their own. The North State Brewers Co-op was born.

ADRIANA YUGOVICH/Daily Chris Schwartz displays the fruit of the Brewers Co-op's labors.

"We'd all been living in a co-op, so we knew that cooperation was the way to go," said LSA senior Michael Janson, another founding member.

The beer co-op began with five members, but the smell of hops drew new members from outside the house. Today, the group boasts about 20 beer-lovers.

Meetings of the Brewers Co-op are well-organized. The members are meticulous about the topic at hand, to say the least. Their typed agendas, circulated a few days in advance of meetings, outline subjects ranging from yeast to malt to water.

"We meet every two weeks and have educational sessions on the history of brewing," Janson said. "We have a lesson plan at each meeting and we basically do what other organizations do - we collect dues, we take care of our equipment."

The co-op members have divided beer brewing into six steps, which are facilitated by a number of elected officers: Brewmeister, Bottle Shepherd, Scribe and Chief Catalyst. The officers guide newer members in the subtleties of brewing.

Beer brewing is a complicated matter, explained current Brewmeister Schwartz.

"Basically, it's a question of sitting down with a book to formulate a recipe," he said. "There are tons of different styles to choose from. You can mix and match styles."

The process begins by sanitizing equipment, which includes a large glass jug, fermenter and pot in which to boil ingredients. Vital ingredients includes water, malt and hops, a flower used as a preservative and to make the beer bitter.

Once a beer mixture has been heated and cooled, it is put with yeast in a fermenter and stored in a cool place for two weeks. It is then bottled and stored for another week before it is ready to drink.

Different beers call for different ratios of ingredients or methods of brewing. In the co-operative spirit, the members vote on the kind of beer to brew at each meeting.

"IPAs (India Pale Ale) and porters and stouts are probably the most popular," said Bottle Shepherd Charlie Remsen. He added that the group has "done some mash brews, too, where we've stirred it up on the stove for two or three hours with big wooden paddles."

All members are over 21. They enjoy the benefits of learning about beer production, and also enjoy the actual beer produced. The group produces an average of two and a half cases of beer biweekly. The beer is only for members and reflects a variety of influences.

"Charles Woodson Imperial Stout is probably the most interesting concoction we've come up with lately," Schwartz said.

"We've also brewed an IPA with a local band who came over and brewed with us," Janson said. "We named it the Poignant IPA, and it was poignant."

Home brewing, as the co-op has found, is a rewarding hobby that improves with practice. The group is composed of men and women with a variety of home-brewing experiences.

"You can basically make your brewing process as complicated as you want and we've done both extremes," Schwartz said. "You can make it so it's straight out of a can and you just boil it up - and that's like the hour, two-hour process. Or you can make it a long and elaborate chemical process that takes eight hours."

In the end, the work pays off.

"It gives me an immense sense of accomplishment," said member and Engineering junior Bryan Abueva. "Sometimes you can get bogged down studying. But you come here once every two weeks, get together with the brethren in the co-op, and brew some beer."

- For more information about the North State Brewers Co-op, call 997-0732 or e-mail nsbc@umich.edu

04-09-98