Winemaker's and Brewer's Newsletter

Holiday Season 2011

Holiday Hours

The Wine Smith will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, November 24^th.  We will be open normal hours Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.  We will also be open our normal hours during the Christmas and New Years Day weeks.

Changing Malt Line-up

Our main malt supplier, Crosby & Baker, has been acquired by the Brewers Supply Group. As a result we will be offering a wider range of malted grains. Our current British Muntons line will be replaced by Crisp and Simpsons, Global will be added to Weyermann as our German offerings, Castle will replace the Belgian Dingemans and Rahr and Gambrinus will complement Briess and MaltEurop as our North American offerings.

Overall, we will be offering a more complete line of adjunct grains. For instance, we have already stocked Crisp Brown Malt and Pale Chocolate Malt as well as Simpsons Peated Malt. You can view all of the Brewers Supply Group products at www.brewerssupplygroup.com .  Let us know if there are any additional malts that you would like to have us stock.

Restricted Quantity Wine Kits for 2012

RJSpagnols has announced the Restricted Quantity wine kits that will be available on a monthly basis from December 2011 through April 2012.:

-California Hang Ten (Muscat, Symphony, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay), 12/11, $124  

-Spanish Toro (Monasrell Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon), 1/12, $139

-Argentine Tango (Tempranillo, Malbec), 2/12, $139

-Australian Down Under (Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot), 3/12, $139

-Australian Down Under (Syrah, Merlot Rose’), 4/12, $124

These are premium Cru Select wine kits that can be reserved through December 1st . You can get the specifics on each of these wines at the store or on line at www.rqcruselectwine.com 

Winemaker Magazine Conference

The Wine Smith will once again be a supporting sponsor of the Winemaker Magazine Conference. The 2012 Conference will be held June 1^st and 2^nd in the Finger Lakes area of New York.  This is an excellent chance for serious amateur winemakers to add to their knowledge with fellow winemakers.

You can get details on the store or on line at www.winemakermag.com/conference. Early bird registration in only $499. The host hotel is the Statler Hotel on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York.  Both the conference and hotel usually sell out early, so we suggest making your reservations ASAP.

Spices & Additives for Beer and Soda Pop

We recently increased the number of stock spices and additives for beer and soda pop.

Choose from bitter orange peel, sweet orange peel, coriander seed, licorice root, sarsaparilla, cardamom seed, rose hips, paradise seed, juniper berries, wintergreen leaves, dried woodruff, lemon peel, vanilla bean, cinnamon sticks, heather tips, lime peel and chicory root.