Alternative Beverage
will be hosting the
Annual Mead Day event
this coming Saturday,
August 7th in the River
Side Park at our Belmont
Super Store. We hope to
have at least 10 local
beer makers, winemakers
& beekeepers bring their
equipment and brew a
batch of mead while
thousands of other
brewers worldwide
participate is this
same event. Bring mead,
beer, wine, lawn chairs,
covered dish, coolers,
lawn games, camping
equipment, family and
friends. NO PETS, please
and no swimming. Great
time to be had by all!
This event will feature
speakers talking about
beekeeping, mead making,
ale & honey beers.
Anything having to do
with honey and mead. We
will have ingredient
packages available for
individuals wanting to
participate in the mead
batch making process.
All you'll need to bring
is a plastic pail or
carboy for transferring
your mead home and maybe
a spoon for stirring.
Camping will be allowed
after the event. So
bring your tents,
sleeping bags and curl
up for the night.
The South Blvd store
will remain open during
this event.
Summer is still with us
but you can still make
some great Belgian Beers
and Wine! Both can
tolerate warmer
fermentation
temperatures better than
other ales and lagers.
If you want to know some
ways to beat the summer
heat so you can brew,
you might want to check
out our
Summer Brewing
article.
Are you looking for
a new beer recipe? We
maintain our private
brand of Brewmaster
Select recipes so you
are assured of getting
fresh products. This
month, we have 12 more
tested recipes on sale.
Bridget's Love Potion (a
Saison), Dead Dude Ale,
Honey Wheat, Monkey on
the Main Line Porter,
Oregon Rascal Golden
Ale, Red Cherry Ale and
St Alan's Wee Heavy
Scotch Ale to name a few
of the more popular
recipes. All of the beer
recipes are DISCOUNTED
15% all month.
There are a nice group
of wines on sales this
month. We are pleased to
offer all of white wines
kits made from Sauvignon
Blanc as well as the red
wine kits made from the
blend of Cabernet
Sauvignon and Shiraz
grapes.
These wines are some of
my favorites and I am
sure that you will enjoy
them as well.
Charlotte, NC -
The CAROLINA BREWMASTERS
meet the first
Wednesday of every
month. A short business
meeting/educational
presentation is followed
by informal homebrew
samplings when you can
meet other homebrews and
share your recipes and
thoughts on brewing. The
next scheduled meeting
is August 4th.
Membership dues are $25
annually.
The club hosts both
National & Club Homebrew
competitions as well as
organizing the famous
Charlotte Oktoberfest
which facilitates
the donation of over
$50k annually to worthy
& needy charities.
Tickets are now on sale
- don't miss out.
**********
Members of the HOMEBREW
& WINE MAKING clubs
receive DISCOUNTS on
their purchases. If you
would like your club to
receive discounts on
purchase contact us @
abclubs@ebrew.com.
When we receive wine
kits from our suppliers,
we place month stickers
on the kits so we can
maintain good rotation
on our stock. This
simple dating system
gives us and you a heads
up on products that we
want to discount beyond
our normal monthly wine
specials.
The wine kits from
RJSpagnol and Winexpert
have a guaranteed shelf
life of two (2) years.
Our dated discounts kick
in when a wine reaches
it's 12th month. In
other words, If a wine
is packaged on July 10,
2009, if that wine
remains unsold on July
1, 2010, we mark it down
15%. If the wine remains
unsold on August 1,
2010, we mark it down by
25% of its regular price
until it sells.
We have extended these
dated discounts to our
local customers for some
time and they have been
very helpful in location
and purchasing kits that
qualify. Now we want to
extend these discounted
items to our mail order
customers as well. If
you are interested in
these kits, periodically
go to our dated
discounts page and help
us keep our kits fresh
and save some money at
the same time.
The 2nd Saturday of
each month, (with a
few adjustments to
accommodate
conflicting
schedules), we hold
a brew session at
our Belmont
facility.
The sessions are
open to individuals
and groups to drop
in and get some
one-on-one insight
into the process of
ALL-GRAIN and
EXTRACT brewing
using BREW MAGIC rim
system. Mash in
usually occurs
between 10:30 and
11:30.
This August session
will be held on the
14th. We will be
getting into full
gear since
Oktoberfest is on
the horizon and we
plan on pouring at
least 12 beers on
that occasion.
Individuals can just
drop in without
notice. We would
like to know in
advance of groups
greater than six (6)
that would like to
attend.
We invite you to
be part of the
Primary News.
Contribute
articles,
suggest a story,
list a calendar
event, ask a
question.
The Primary News
editors are
always on the
lookout for new
writers and
fresh stories.
We welcome
author inquiries
and unsolicited
contributions of
articles and
images. We also
welcome tips,
ideas, and
suggestions. All
contributions
should pertain
to the hobbies
associated with
our products
lines. Articles
should be less
than 1500 words.
Contribute
photos: We are
also interested
in photos
showing
equipment and
people having
fun. Smiling,
clear faces with
first and last
names and
hometown work
great. Focus on
your subject
and start
shooting!
Please be patient: We
really do care about
your contributions, but
it may take us some time
to get back with you.
Contributors may be
compensated for their
work.
Deadline for calendar
events and articles for
the next newsletter will
be the 20th of the
month.
Direct articles,
suggestions,
calendar events and
inquiries to:
editors@ebrew.com.
This will be our first
newsletter going to our
complete mailing list.
We sent our first
newsletter to a select
group of customers on
the 15th of July and we
received some
very positive feedback.
l think we have most of
the kinks out of the
system but only time
will tell. We will be
learning as we try to
teach and share some of
the knowledge we have to
offer you.
You are receiving this
newsletter because of
contact that you
initiated with
Alternative Beverage,
Homebrew Adventures,
Beer & Wine Hobbies
Int'l or one of their
affiliated programs at
some time in the recent
past .
We have not published
anything except the test
newsletter last month
since we published our
last catalog in 2003 but
we hope to make this a
monthly staple.
Through this media, we
will strive to:
Keep you abreast of
information that you can
use to be more
successful in your hobby
of choice;
Communicate coming
events and
activities in our
immediate area and
important happens in
the region and
nationally;
inform you about the
items are
discounted,
discontinued items,
price changes, new
offerings etc;
Be a better steward
of the brewing and
wine making world.
We have gone through a
lot of changes over the
last few years so I will
endeavor to give you a
quick up-date of our
recent history.
In September of 2007, we
were forced to vacate
our location at 114
Freeland Lane in
Charlotte because our
new landlord wanted to
sell the property and
tear the building down
to put in condos. We
where given 2 weeks to
relocate in order to
receive some benefits
from 22 years of being
in that building. We
relocated our operation
to our present day
Belmont Warehouse on
banks of the Catawba
River @ 1500 River Dr.
We have over 20,000
square feet of space,
well stocked shelves and
a fantastic view. Join
us for an event if you
can or just stop by when
you need some brewing,
wine making or
distilling stuff. In
2009, Bill Mars was
hired to manage the
warehouse. His brewing
knowledge and expertise
have proven to be very
valuable.
In February of 2009, we
opened a store in the
area of Charlotte that
our previous store had
been. Our Charlotte
store has 2,000 square
feet of space in the
building shared with the
Sleepy Poet Antique Mall
@ 4450 South Blvd. Josh
Belfance manages that
store and would love to
help you with your
needs. When you go to
this location, do not
look for our signage,
look for the sign for
the Sleepy Poet Antique
Mall. Our entrance is on
the same side of the
building as the Poet,
just a little farther
from the road. We use
the name BEER & WINE
HOBBIES, INT'L at this
location. The South Blvd
location is well stocked
of all the popular items
that we offer and Josh
can have any special
needs delivered to that
store.
In December of 2009, the
landlord finally tore
down the old building
that they so urgently
wanted us to vacate.
We have just completed
the modifications of our
Belmont facilities. We
have rearranged the
lay-out in a more
customer friendly
environment. This SUPER
STORE lay-out will be
superior to anything
that you have ever seen
in the beer & wine
making industry. We
encourage you to drop in
and peruse our isles of
merchandise. I am sure
you will find things
that you didn't realize
that we offered.
I would to thank and
acknowledge the
contributions of Josh
Belfance and Bill Mars
for their contributions
to getting this
newsletter out timely.
Looks like most of us,
regardless of where we
live, have suffered in a
heat wave! So, it’s time
to start thinking
“Fall”! Some great fall
beer styles are IPA’s,
Browns, Porters and
Stouts. Seasonal
favorites also include
Oktoberfests and Saisons.
We have two (2)
Oktoberfest and one
Saison extract recipe
kits.
Now is a great time to
consider your holiday
season beers as well.
Brewing now will give
them more time to age
and improve. Beers like
Pumpkin Ale and Cherry
Forever Stout are
popular kits. We also
have a Christmas Cheer,
St Nick’s Holiday Ale
and High Sierra
Celebratin’ Ale. Two
other good choices are
Boston Winter Lager and
Ram’s Head Weizenbock.
Plan and brew early so
you and yours can enjoy
some great seasonal
brews.
The easiest way to
remove labels from beer
or wine bottles is by
soaking the bottles in a
solution made using
Straight A cleaning
solution. After removing
the labels, rinse very
good inside and out and
do any brush work
necessary to remove
stubborn sedimentation.
Once the labels are
removed and all further
cleaning is done, you
can utilize your
dishwasher for
sanitizing the bottles.
Place them into the
dishwasher without
detergent or sanitizer -
just using the high heat
dry feature and turn off
any sparkle features
built into the
dishwasher. Using a
detergent or sanitizer
can leave a residue on
the bottles and reduce
head retention.
A good habit to get into
is to rinse out your
bottles out as soon as
you empty them so the
use of a bottle brush
will be minimized if
needed at all. Consider
putting sections of
newspaper under the
bottle dividers in the
cases for storing the
beer or wine bottles.
When you empty the
bottle of its contents,
rinse it out good and
turn it upside down in
the case so it can drain
and air dry. Next time
you need bottles, they
are ready for inspection
and potentially read to
use with minimal work.
We recycle as much
as possible to help
keep cost down and
reduce our impact on
the environment. We
reuse cardboard
boxes for shipping
and plastic wrap,
packing paper and
shredded paper for
cushion in
shipments. However.
in our efforts to
conserve, we will
not compromise on
our over-all goal of
getting your items
to you in the same
condition that you
would select them
off our shelves.
Contact Us:
New to homebrewing or
wine making -
Alternative Beverage is
here to help with all
your questions or needs.
