HOMEBREW Digest #1185 Tue 20 July 1993

Digest #1184 Digest #1186


	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator


Contents:
  Kegs to kettles ("Westemeier*, Ed")
  hot break (Darren Aaberge)
  Sprecher Brewery (Domenick Venezia)
  Regulators (Bill Newcomb)
  Re: Jever Pils (Bill Szymczak)
  Re:  Irish Moss - Extract vs All Grain (Eric M. Mrozek)
  Re:   1/2 bbl SS keg as brewpot (again)  (Mike Peckar  16-Jul-1993 1458)
  Irish Moss Fest/Hop storage/Turbo Dog (korz)
  Hot break & hop utilisation (korz)
  Guinness cans/Protein rest (korz)
  correct measurement of alcohol? (Dick Dunn)
  6oz bottles, bottling mead (Dick Dunn)
  Breweries under water/Alsacian (sp?) beers (waltman)
  Going to Israel? (Nir Navot)
  Recipe Needed (Nir Navot)
  Burton water treatment (Domenick Venezia)
  Belgian Ale Book Reply - At last (Joe Rolfe)
  Weather in Portland ("John L. Isenhour")
  Advertising / Beer in the White House (Jim Graham)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 16 Jul 1993 12:14:27 U From: "Westemeier*, Ed" <westemeier at pharos-tech.com> Subject: Kegs to kettles Mike writes: > Hi again. Last week I requested a copy of a bygone HBD article posted on > converting 1/2 bbl kegs. I never got a response. What I did get, > however, is lots of email expressing interest, so I felt compelled to > ask again for the article in question. This time my request is for a > repost, though, since there seems to be lots of interest... OK, I don't know about the original article, but maybe it would be useful to describe my own equipment. START WITH THE KEG Obtain a half-barrel stainless steel keg (the Budweiser ones seem to be the best, but most should work). Be sure you obtain one legally, as these are the property of the brewery and cannot normally be sold except by a licensed reconditioning firm. The fact that you can obtain one easily by simply getting a keg of beer for a party, then failing to return it to the distributor and forfeiting your ten dollar deposit, does not mean that you should even consider this method, I strongly advise against it, and sundry other assorted disclaimers. CLEAN AND GUT THE BEAST Make CERTAIN the keg is empty and that there is NO pressure left in it. Press down hard on the ball bearing in the top to be sure. Remove the built-in valve as follows: Take a small flat blade screwdriver and insert it just under the lip of the housing. You will find that a flat circular strip of spring steel is holding the assembly together. Pry under the end of this ring until you can coax it out toward the center, then grab it with a pair of pliers and pull it completely out. Then use your pliers again to grab one of the two opposing lugs, turn the whole assembly counter-clockwise about half an inch until it lines up with the openings in the housing. Then simply lift it up and out of the keg, tube and all. This may not sound simple, but if you read this with an actual keg in front of you, everything will be quite obvious. PERFORM SURGERY You need to cut out the top and make a hole in the side. Here's the way I did mine: Draw a 12-inch diameter circle with a magic marker on the top of the keg, centered. That's plenty of opening, and allows you to leave the top rim attached, with its built-in handles. Mark a spot on the side, an inch or so up from the bottom rim. That's where your spigot will be. I used my power drill to cut a hole at that spot just large enough to accommodate a half-inch ID Stainless coupling. I took the keg to a friendly neighborhood welder who specializes in TIG welding, and had him use a plasma cutter to remove the 12-inch circle on top. First, he partially filled the keg with water to catch the sparks dropping inside (made later cleanup much easier). Then he welded the SS coupling in the side hole, about half inside the keg and half outside, grinding and polishing the weld for smoothness. Cost me $30 and well worth it. Stopped at the kitchen gadgets section of a local store and picked up a pot cover for the top for a few bucks. SIMPLE PLUMBING I got a short SS pipe nipple, half-inch thread, and threaded it into the outside of the coupling. Attached a ball valve (the kind with the flat handle, a quarter turn from full off to full on) to that, and a compression fitting to the outside end of the ball valve. Put a short length of 3/8 copper tubing in the compression fitting and tightened it (this is where I attach a hose to drain the kettle). On the inside of the keg, I put a Swagelock fitting (like a normal compression fitting, but you can loosen and tighten it as often as you like) to attach a piece of 1/4 inch SS tubing. This tubing runs over to the center of the keg, then curves down to the bottom, almost touching it. I took a circular piece of perforated SS plate about 8 inches in diameter, cut a hole in the center and put the tubing through it. End result is that the perforated plate sits on the bottom of the keg, the tubing comes up from the bottom, through the plate and over to the fitting in the side. Put a brass compression washer on the tubing where it just sits on top of the plate in order to keep it stable. When the valve is opened to drain the kettle, the spent hops and hot break material are held back by the perforated plate, and the kettle drains completely, leaving only an ounce or so of liquid behind. | | | KEG WALL--> | | | |---- | COUPLING--> CCCCCCCCCCCCC | | PIPE NIPPLES--> NNNNNN NNNNNNN |||||||| | SS TUBING--> ---------SF-- --------|BALL |CF--- | | |VALVE | | | ------SF-- --------| |CF--- | | | NNNNNN NNNNNNN |||||||| | | | CCCCCCCCCCCCC | | | | | PERF. | | | | PLATE | | | - --- | | | --- --- \|/ W| |W --- --- PPPPPPP| |PPPPPPP--- ------------------ SF = Swagelock fitting CF = compression fitting W = compression washer The stainless steel perforated plate is hard to find. One source is Brewer's Warehouse in Seattle. For about $50 they will sell you a square sheet that you can cut in quarters and use for four of these. jobs. To clean the kettle after use, I just loosen the inner Swagelock fitting, remove the tubing and perforated plate, then clean everything thoroughly and reassemble it. About 10 minutes at most. This design was originated by Martin Manning, one of our local club members, and has been used with various adaptations by a number of us. It works extremely well, and with this beauty sitting on top of a Cajun Cooker, a converted water heater burner, or a small apartment size gas stove, you will be the envy of all the other brewers on your street. If anything is not clear, please ask questions before you start cutting. Ed Westemeier Cincinnati, Ohio westemeier at delphi.com Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 93 09:43:18 PDT From: dra at jsc-ws.sharpwa.com (Darren Aaberge) Subject: hot break I think the confusion about when the hot break happens is coming from the fact that we are trying to pinpoint an exact moment in time that it happens. In hbd 1183, Steve Casselman writes: >The hot break begins at the begining of the boil, >anyone unclear on this should bring an all grain >(extracts have small hot breaks) beer just to >boiling and then turn the burner down to observe >the floculation of proteins. the key word here is *begins*. The hot break does begin at the beginning of the boil but takes about 60 minutes to complete. I think the key about adding hops is to wait until enough of the hot break has occured to give the uncoagulated proteins nucleation sites of other protein instead of hops. Darren Aaberge Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1993 09:59:31 -0700 (PDT) From: Domenick Venezia <venezia at zgi.com> Subject: Sprecher Brewery My understanding of what happened at the Sprecher Brewery in Milwaukee is that a barge ran aground and smacked into the building. This little bit of info is from Mrs. Sprecher (Randy's mom) by way of his sister Cindy (who works here). This collision may have been the trigger for the events described by Roger Deschner. I'll post it as I hear it. Domenick Venezia ZymoGenetics, Inc. venezia at zgi.com Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 93 10:16:57 PDT From: nuke at reed.edu (Bill Newcomb) Subject: Regulators Someone asked about regulators for nitrogen (N2) and carbon dioxide (CO2), specifically whether there is any difference between the two. The mian difference between two such regulators in a scientific catalog would probably be either the range of output pressure adjustability, or the graduation of the gauges, as CO2 has a much lower primary (tank side) pressure than N2 (800 vs. 2100). Oh, and the connection to the tank is a different "nipple" (not my word) for different gases, except that most of the real inert gases (He, Ar, N2) use the same one (#580). Interestingly, the CO2 fitting (#320) is also used for some freons. Caveat: Your homebrew store regulator may not be rated to such a high tank side pressure, as it may have been designed with CO2 expressly in mind. Simply connecting the correct nipple for N2 to it (most of the connections to the regulator are 1/4" NPT) might not be such a good idea. This is based on a certain regulator I saw once that was mostly machined aluminum. For all I know, it's probably fine. YMMV. Bill - -- Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 93 13:57:53 EDT From: bszymcz%ulysses at relay.nswc.navy.mil (Bill Szymczak) Subject: Re: Jever Pils In HBD1183 Chris Pencis asks: >Ok, here's a question from my homebrewing partner...does anyone out >there know anything about the beer Jever...on the label it says >something about using "freisian herbs" (where's fresia?!) ... does >anyone know what these things are - has anyone tried to replicate this >brew ... in general, can anyone give us the low down on this beer (its >not in Jackson, Finch or anywhere in Papazian) ... thanks. I had the pleasure of having Jever (pronounced yay-ver) while in Ekenforde, Germany last year. This is a beer in the north German pilsener style, which in general is very dry with lots of hop bitterness, but Jever is even more so. I think the "fresnian herbs" are simply referring to the flavoring hops used, which give a nice spiciness to this beer. I'm not sure which type although I would guess Satz. When I first tasted this beer I thought it was too bitter for my tastes, but since returning home, I've been longing for more. By the way, Jever is mentioned in Jackson's pocket guide, in the northern German section (I don't have my copy handy). It is one of his 4 star beers. Fresnia is the name of a province in Northwestern Germany. Bill Szymczak bszymcz at ulysses.nswc.navy.mil Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 93 11:28:09 PDT From: mrozek at gandalf.etdesg.TRW.COM (Eric M. Mrozek) Subject: Re: Irish Moss - Extract vs All Grain In hbd #1183 lyons%adc3 asked: > I've noticed in Charlie's book that he lists Irish Moss as an > ingredient for All Grain recipes, but not for Extract recipes. Am I > correct to conclude that only All Grain recipes will benifit by > using Irish Moss during the last 15 minutes of the boil? Up until last Fall, I was only brewing with extract and adjuncts, and I "always" used Irish Moss. The "break" material would settle out and I wouldn't have any chill haze. The couple of times that I did forget the Irish Moss, chill haze was a major problem. I'm not sure how much of the haze was from the extract as opposed to the adjuncts (I always used adjuncts). In any case, I strongly recommend using adjuncts if your brewing with extract (past HBD issues have had lots of discussion on the merits of using adjuncts), and using Irish Moss (or some other clarifying agent). Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 93 11:58:40 PDT From: Mike Peckar 16-Jul-1993 1458 <m_peckar at cscma.enet.dec.com> Subject: Re: 1/2 bbl SS keg as brewpot (again) Well, this time around I got lots of great suggestions. Thanks to all who replied to me directly. When I've completed my project, I will roll up all the good advice and repost. A thorough read of /pub/homebrew/docs/all_grain_equipment.Z in the hbd archive was invaluable as well. Thanks to Ray Brice for that pointer. Mike Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 93 16:33 CDT From: korz at iepubj.att.com Subject: Irish Moss Fest/Hop storage/Turbo Dog lyons writes: >I've noticed in Charlie's book that he lists Irish Moss as an >ingredient for All Grain recipes, but not for Extract recipes. Am I >correct to conclude that only All Grain recipes will benifit by >using Irish Moss during the last 15 minutes of the boil? Both may benefit, but I suspect that some of the hot break that occurred during the production of the extract has been removed (judging from the much smaller amount of hot break in extract brews). I'd also like to add that I just read the article by George Fix that Jeff referred to in his post and that, based on George's tests, different forms of Irish Moss behaved very differently. All reduced haze in varying amounts, but some also reduced head retention significantly. The best results, in my opinion were from "refined flakes" at a rate of 1/8th grams per liter, which performed slightly better than "large flakes" and much better than "powdered flakes." I'm not sure what type of flakes I was using -- they were not powdered and were on the order of 2mm wide and 10mm long -- so I'm off in search for a supplier of "refined flakes!" *********************** Mark writes: >deteriorate. Oxygen also causes the alpha acids to oxidize and one of the >oxidation components is responsible for the "cheesy" aroma of old hops. The and then later: >The oils also deteriorate and oxidize over time. It is believed that some >oxidation of the oils is beneficial to the hop aroma. Since most homebrewers I've read somewhere that Hallertauer hops benefit from a small amount of aging (most certainly under controlled conditions), but don't recall where. I'll look for that source over the weekend and see if I can post something about it on Monday. Since I brew pureculture Lambieks, I intentionally have been buying more hops than I can use and then storing part of them at room temperature in bags open to the air. As has been reported in various articles (one that quickly comes to mind is in the Hops Special Issue of Zymurgy) different the bouquets of different varieties of hops change differently with age. I have at least six varieties of hops aging and I can attest that some age more gracefully than others. The dominant bouquet of well-aged Fuggles is "cheezy." No doubt about it. No other hops have as much of this "cheezy" aroma as do the Fuggles. Hallertauer and Willamette have a definate "piney" smell which is quite pleasant, but the Willamette also have a "grape soda" aroma which is highly distracting when associated with beer. Goldings seem to age incredibly gracefully, their "candylike" classic aroma just simply fades. Perhaps a bit of a grassy aroma is also evindent, but only very slightly. Well-aged Cascades also have the "piney" aroma, but their characteristic "citrusy" aroma is still noticable, even after two years! The point I'm trying to make is that "cheezy" aromas are not the only ones that manifest themselves as hops age. The other lesson to be learned here is that for pLambieks, Hallertauer and East Kent Goldings are the best choices of the hops I happen to have tried (reportedly Saazer hops are also very good for pLambieks, but I've yet to take them out of CO2-purged/oxygen-barrier cold storage -- I will when this year's crop becomes available). I feel that Willamette and Cascades may be a bad choice, but the Willamette are not that old yet, so time may tell otherwise. Also: >Variety % Alpha Remaining after 6 mo. > at 20C or Storage Quality >Liberty 40% >Perle 85% While the data I have (from HopUnion) is consistent with all the other storagability factors Mark listed, the averages I have are 45% for Liberty and 83% for Perle. ****************************** Jim writes: > Abita Amber - nice amber beer. good stuff > > Abita Golden - only tried a small bit of this, seemed OK, but nothing > real notable > > Turbo Dog - an interesting dark beer. kinda (excessively) roasted > malty tasting to me, you might like it if you like dark beers, hard > to say. About the name - "yeah, the owners were sitting around > drinking one day after brewing the first batch and came up with that" The story I heard was that it was selling poorly under another name and when they changed the name to "Turbo Dog" they couldn't brew it fast enough. Al. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 93 16:42 CDT From: korz at iepubj.att.com Subject: Hot break & hop utilisation Spencer writes: >What Jeff says meshes nicely with some of the books on historical >brewing I've been reading recently (things like _The English Housewife > ..._, by Gervase Markham around 1600; _Wines & beers of old New >England_, S. Brown, 1978). You find statements like "boil it until >it 'breaks'". This seems to imply that the break happens at the end. Then Steve writes: >The hot break begins at the begining of the boil, >anyone unclear on this should bring an all grain >(extracts have small hot breaks) beer just to >boiling and then turn the burner down to observe >the floculation of proteins. IMHO no hops should >be added untill a hot break occurs as hop introduce >nucleation sites that would otherwise be started >by the larger proteins. This will give a brighter >beer. By the way the hot break happends when the >larger proteins come in contact with the interphase >between steam and wort cooking them just as blood >will form a solid when heated. I've seen flocs >the size of dollar bills in my 40-gal brew system >allways at the begining of the boil. With all due respect to Jeff and Spencer, I have to say that in my experience, the majority of the hot break occurs within the first 15 minutes of the boil. When I got home yesterday, I checked Papazian, Miller, Noonan, Fix and Hough (The Biotechnology of Malting and Brewing). Papazian says: "After a short period of boiling, your wort begins to exhibit a coudiness and has flakes of coagulated protein floating in it." Miller does not say exactly when he feels the break begins to occur, but does mention that "wort can stand at the boiling point for any length of time and, unless it is agitated, will remain turbid. It is the rolling action of the boil which bumps the protein molecules into one another, causing them to clump together." From this I'd like to point out that the geometry of the boiler, whether or not there are mechanical stirrers and the intensity of the heat source all are factors in the intensity of the hot break and it may be *that* which influences various authors' opinions on when the break occurs. Personally, I noticed a much quicker hot break when I switched from my electric stovetop to a 12,000BTU gas burner. I'm only speculating, but since the Electrim Bins are quite popular in the UK, perhaps Line's experience has been with these types of heat sources and not with the significantly hotter heat sources some of us are using (I know brewer's around here using upwards of 100,000BTU burners! Jack? Tim?). Moving on to Noonan, this is another one of those sources that Jeff mentioned, that is quite unspecific as to when the hot break occurs. Fix appears to confirm Jeff's position: "For standard boiling temperature (100C), the precipitate increases sharply during the first hour, and often continues to rise (though at a diminishing rate) for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Excessive boil time (3 hours or more) can lead to a redissolving or the precipitate." However, this is still does not contradict my assertion that a large portion of the hot break occurs during the first 15 minutes of the boil. Later, he says: "[hot break] comprises the the coagulated material and gums suspended in otherwise clear hot wort at the end of the boil." I'd like to caution reading this statement as if the "end of boil" means that that's when the break occurred, rather that at the end of the boil, this material is *still* suspended in the hot wort. Finally, Hough also is not clear as to when the break occurs, but has a very detailed description of the protein reactions during the boil. Several interesting points are: "The larger denatured [protein] molecules tend to exceed their solubility, especially if close to their isoelectric point [this is dependent on the pH of the wort]. When they coagulate, often tanned by the malt and hop polyphenols, hop resins tend to adsorb to them and so valuable hop material is lost. Indeed it is common for only 30-50% of the alpha acid material to be represented as iso alpha acids in the wort. The utilisation falls to 20-40% by the time that beer goes into package." Al. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 93 16:46 CDT From: korz at iepubj.att.com Subject: Guinness cans/Protein rest Russ writes: >>It's not NO2 and I don't believe there's any nitrogen at all in the cans. > >While you are correct that the Draught in the cans is a unique recipe and so >tastes considerably different from what we are used to (the bottled version) >there "is" liquid nitrogen added to the Draught as it is canned. This is used I stand corrected... nitrogen is added to the cans, but I think the *liquid* nitrogen part was created by someone on the HBD. The most definative post was a copy of an article posted to the HBD -- here's part of it: >>> "The extra ingredient in a can of draught Guinness" >>> NEW SCIENTIST, 22 July 1989 p. 34 >>> >>> Written by Andy Coghlan >>> >>> According to Alan Frage, the product development director at >>>Guinness... >>> >>> Draught Guinness owes its creamy texture to a surge of bubbles in >>>the beer as it passes through a series of tiny holes in the special >>>dispensing tap. The tap has a system of tiny holes which creates pressure >>>differentials. >>> These differentials force the gases out of solution and produce a >>>"surge". Unfortunately, the gasses wil remain in solution if people simply >>>pour Guinness from the barrel into a glass. >>> The new system essentially mimics this process from the inside of a >>>can. The device is a plastic chamber with a minute hole at the top, which >>>sits on the base of the cans. >>> For the system to work, the pressure in the can must exceed >>>atmospheric pressure. The canners fill the can with beer that is cold >>>enough, at between 0 C and 1 C, to retain gas that would bubble out of >>>solution at higher temperatures. >>> The canners put 440 milliliters of Guinness in a can that can hold >>>500 milliliters, in order to leave enough room for the creamy head to form. >>>They also "dose" the beer with extra nitrogen, which raises the pressure >>>when the can is opened. >>> Once the lid is on, the pressures in the can and inside the chamber >>>reach an equilibrium that forces beer and gas into the device. When someone >>>opens the can of beer by pulling the ring-pull, it initiates the same >>>process that happens in a tap for Draught Guinness. ************************** Conn writes: >could be useful for ales which have not received a protein rest. As ale malt >is not reputed to contain protein digestion enzymes anyway, I presume the >problem that Miller is really referring to is that of using wheat malt and/or >flaked cereals without a protein rest. I just checked Miller's TCHoHB and I can't find where he says that Pale Ale malt deficient in proteolytic enzymes. He does say that the higher kilning temperatures mean that Pale Ale malt is lower (overall) in enzymes, but does not specifically say that proteolytic enzymes are denatured excessively. Pale Ale malt actually has less need for proteolytic enzymes because of the fact that it is more fully modified (than traditional, undermodified Lager malt) and therefore more of the proteins have been broken down during the malting process (this is from Papazian's TCJoHB). An additional piece of interesting data I recalled from re-reading Miller was that just as there are two main types of amylase enzymes (that break starches down to dextrins and sugars), similarly there are two main types of proteolytic enzymes: proteases and peptidases. The optimum range for the action of the proteases is 122 to 140F and for peptidases, the optimum range is 113 to 122F. The proteases prefer to work on larger proteins and the peptidases can only break down smaller proteins. Sound familiar? Therefore, a higher temperature protein rest will favor the proteases and leave more small proteins (which we want for head retention, body, etc.) and a lower temperature protein rest will favor the peptidases and cut more of the smaller proteins down to amino acids. Miller does mention that a high-temperature protein rest could result in a wort low in the amino acids needed by the yeast for nutrition, but adds that well-modified grain already has quite a bit of the amino acids already (this is confirmed in Papazian) and thus should not be a problem. Since there are few modern, severely undermodified malts available, I don't think this should be a problem for us to worry about. In any event, this is just one more factor that we should be wary of when considering the big protein/small protein/ amino acid composition of our wort, and not just write "I did a 30 min protein rest, then raised the temperature to..." Al. Return to table of contents
Date: 16 Jul 93 23:40:54 MDT (Fri) From: rcd at raven.eklektix.com (Dick Dunn) Subject: correct measurement of alcohol? Anybody know how to do accurate alcohol measurement? I'm looking for the equipment to do a single post-fermentation measurement; I'm trying to get away from the initial/final SG "potential alcohol" approach. I know the principle: distill a known quantity enough to get all the alcohol, add water to get a known final volume, measure gravity of result. What I *don't* know is where to get the equipment to do it with reasonable accuracy, and the details of the procedure. It doesn't seem like it should be rocket science. (Aside: is there a procedure other than the one I've described?) Also, since I mentioned the naughty "d" word in the process...and since I'm not interested in meeting any of the nice government folks who watch weapons, beverages, and carcinogens...what are the legal implications of measuring alcohol by the process I described? Incidentally, the reason I need to get away from initial/final measure- ments is that they don't work when you've got lots of fermentable solid matter (such as fruit pulp) at the start of fermentation. --- Dick Dunn rcd at eklektix.com -or- raven!rcd Boulder, Colorado USA ...Simpler is better. Return to table of contents
Date: 16 Jul 93 23:19:58 MDT (Fri) From: rcd at raven.eklektix.com (Dick Dunn) Subject: 6oz bottles, bottling mead Rex K. Perkins <70651.1611 at CompuServe.COM> asked: > I am about to start my first mead and was recently pondering the problem > of bottling the stuff. As it is going to be mighty strong, I won't really > want to drink it 12oz at a time... Let me interject before we get to the main point: Are you sure you won't want 12 oz bottles? My experience is that most of the meads I've made, I've wanted either in 12's or a combination of 12's and 25's--the latter for parties, the former for home. The only exceptions for me have been a rather dearly obtained prickly-pear melomel, and a very strong, spicy, sweet metheglin that's almost like a liqueur. I reason thus: Most mead is comparable to wine, both in alcoholic strength (10-12%) and in general character and strength of taste. The standard size of a wine bottle is just over 25 oz, and that's just right for two people. Thus half of that (a standard 12 oz beer bottle) is theoretically right for one person. Two more bits, one on either side. In favor of small bottles, mead is precious stuff; you don't want to be pouring heavy just 'cause that's the bottle size you've got. BUT!...remember that a mere 5-gallon batch is one *hundred* 6-oz bottles! If you like bottling as much as most of us do... need I say more? But all of that is just an "are you sure...?" > It will also be sparkling, so re-sealable > screw caps won't help either. So, the natural solution would be for > smaller bottles. ... > My question is: Where can I get 6-8oz bottles from?... Old Foghorn (Anchor's barley wine) comes in 187 ml (6.3 oz) bottles... that's an excellent way to get some. Now, you may object "But if I get the bottles that way, they'll already have something in them!" This, however, turns out to be an easy problem...;-) Thomas Hardy's Ale (another barleywine) comes in 180 ml bottles, so there's another source, but quite expensive. Both OF and TH are nice bottles, though. It's probably not an immediate solution to your problem (people don't seem to drink much barleywine in mid-summer) but over the longer term it's a way to acquire nice bottles, a taste for very strong beer, and either incipient liver damage or a bunch of friends who are glad to help you obtain empty bottles. My turn to ask: Since Anchor has had to obtain the little bottles, somebody somewhere makes them in substantial-but-not-staggering quantities. Might it be possible to find out who supplies the bottles to Anchor and see if they'll supply in few-case quantities? --- Dick Dunn rcd at eklektix.com -or- raven!rcd Boulder, Colorado USA ...Simpler is better. Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 1993 02:09:10 -0400 (EDT) From: waltman at BIX.com Subject: Breweries under water/Alsacian (sp?) beers Roger Deschner (U52983 at UICVM.UIC.EDU) asks in HBD #1183 about breweries clobbered by the Great Flood of '93: CNN had a story last week about a brewpub near the riverfront in Davenport, IA that had just opened this year, had had some minor damage in a spring flood and was pretty much wiped out by the current deluge. I did not catch the name of the pub or the owner. It was sad to listen to him as he told how all of the tanks had to be dumped. As a former Iowan, I am proud of how civilized people are still with all the tribulations. I doubt that here without running water and/or electricity. I have always liked Alsacian beers and was wondering if anyone had any ideas or suggestions for duplication. Thanks in advance. Fred Waltman. waltman at bix.com Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 93 10:51:36 +0300 From: Nir Navot <LCNAVOT at WEIZMANN.WEIZMANN.AC.IL> Subject: Going to Israel? If you are planning a visit to the HolyLand any time in the present or future, please give me a call. I'll make sure you won't miss your homebrew while here. At least I give it a try. Nir Navot Tel 972-8-474580 Email LCNAVOT at weizmann.weizmann.ac.il Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 93 11:03:18 +0300 From: Nir Navot <LCNAVOT at WEIZMANN.WEIZMANN.AC.IL> Subject: Recipe Needed I need an all grain recipe for a dark, sweet, non-bitter ale of O.G. around 1.040. Yes, I have looked through the Cat's Meow. Please reply by private Email. Many thanks. Nir Navot Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 1993 08:05:44 -0700 (PDT) From: Domenick Venezia <venezia at zgi.com> Subject: Burton water treatment I recently bought some Burton Water treatment salts from Alternative Beverage. Unfortunately there is no info on what is in it or how much to use to attain a target PPM. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Also the stuff contains Papain (not mentioned in the catalog!). Since Papain acts at pretty low temps (~120-125) I assume that it is deactivated in a single step infusion mash at ~150-155? Why would someone add Papain to a water treatment. Isn't it generally used in the secondary? And why wasn't it mentioned in the catalog? Domenick Venezia ZymoGenetics, Inc. venezia at zgi.com Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 93 17:47:50 EDT From: Joe Rolfe <jdr at wang.com> Subject: Belgian Ale Book Reply - At last hi all, sorry for the long delay - to refresh your memories - many months ago several people posted directly to me questions about Pierre Rajjottes book Belgian Ale. The questions were delvered to Pierre (just after the blizzard) started this past winter/spring. Pierre has been very busy looking up source to give the best answers possible. I now have the answers in hand. only a small problem prevents me from posting them here: they are on MAC formatted disks and hard copy - i have a dos PC - damn computers. any way what i am going to do is either scan and ocr them or c convert the media. in either case i will post the results to the net of your choice. if the original posters could email me at jdr at wang.com i would thank you : the orignal posters i have are: Al Korzonas Conn Copas Tim Fahrner Martin Lodahl Jim Liddel The document Pierre has given me (today, in person) is about ten pages long and contains several pointers to other docs. Sorry if i have missed anyone e else that has posted questions to me - but Pierre has mentioned that you may contact him directly in Montreal. Please do not post messages thru HBD as of late i do not read this list as often as i would like. please reply to me directly at the email enclosed. again pierre is sorry for the large delay as am i. we both hope the info resolves the errors/problems you have had. later.......and good brewing........ - -- joe rolfe - President/Brewer - Ould Newbury Brewing Company jdr at wang.com - X Wang Employee, but still have an account 508-462-1980 - the brewery Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 1993 22:43:41 CST From: "John L. Isenhour" <isenhour at lambic.fnal.gov> Subject: Weather in Portland I was interested in how to pack for Portland, and I thought others might be interested, but not have access to a server, so... Weather Conditions at 8 PM PDT on 18 JUL 93 for Portland, OR. Temp(F) Humidity(%) Wind(mph) Pressure(in) Weather ======================================================================== 68 63% NORTH at 12 30.17 Partly Cloudy PORTLAND METROPOLITAN AREA FORECAST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 345 PM PDT SAT JUL 17 1993 TONIGHT...A FEW EVENING SHOWERS TAPERING OFF WITH PARTIAL CLEARING. LOW 50 TO 55. WEST WIND TO 10 MPH. SUNDAY...PARTLY SUNNY AFTER MORNING CLOUDS. HIGHS ABOUT 75. NORTHWEST WIND 10 MPH. SUNDAY NIGHT...FAIR. LOWS 50 TO 55. MONDAY...PATCHY MORNING CLOUDS...OTHERWISE PARTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS 75 TO 80. CHANCE OF MEASURABLE RAIN 30 PERCENT TONIGHT AND 10 PERCENT SUNDAY. If I dont get flamed off the net for posting this and there is a significant change in the weather conditions, I'll post it in right before the CRAZY TRAIN leaves Chicago. I was just interested in the normal HI/LO temp. cheers, - -- John L. Isenhour internet: isenhour at lambic.fnal.gov Library Systems, et al NASA/NSF/ES/HEP decnet: lambic::isenhour Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory bitnet: isenhour at fnlib "When your work speaks for itself, don't interrupt" - Henry Kaiser Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1993 10:48:34 -0600 (CDT) From: jim at n5ial.mythical.com (Jim Graham) Subject: Advertising / Beer in the White House Regarding the subject of adverts here, I think I might have a solution that would make everybody happy. I, for one, would prefer to keep a list of my options in terms of who I buy liquid/dry extract, hops, kits, etc., from, and when I eventually get the money and space for mashing, there'll be a lot more that I'll want to keep up-to-date on. But not everyone wants that here on the digest, which is a side I can see, as well (I don't necessarily agree with it, but I can understand it). A list could be published here on the digest either every two weeks or every month (probably once/month would be enough) of all of the people here who own mail-order homebrew supply shops. As far as the digest would be concerned, it ends there. This list, however, would give an e-mail address for each supplier. The suppliers could then keep a mailing list of people who want to receive new product announcements, price lists, etc., and could then send that stuff along via private e-mail (this would need to be indicated in the list published on the digest in order to really work). In other words, you get the list of the homebrew suppliers here, and a pointer to the address for getting the rest via e-mail. Sound like a good idea? - ---------- Now, regarding the White House beer recipes listed here by scott.powell at amail.amdahl.com, I've got a few questions..... First off, are these actually beers, or are they more along the lines of something like root beer (which, btw, is something I'd like to try brewing sometime, too, if I ever find out how)? > Hop Beer > > Take five quarts of water, six ounces of hops, boil it three hours; then > strain the liquor, add to it five quarts of water, four ounces of bruised > ginger root; boil this again twenty minutes, strain and add four pounds of > sugar. When lukewarm put in a pint of yeast. Let it ferment twenty-four hours > it will be ready for bottling. Let's see if I've got this right.... Five quarts (not gallons) of water, a *pint* of yeast, and it only needs to ferment 24 hours? Is that just because of the incredibly large amount of yeast? (Well, wait a minute, the next recipe doesn't use that much yeast, and it still looks like a 24 hour ferment.) > Ginger Beer > > Put into a kettle two ounces of powdered ginger root (or more if it not very > strong), half an ounce of cream of tartar, two large lemons, cut into slices, > two pounds of broken loaf sugar and two gallons of soft boiling water. Simmer > them over a slow fire for half an hour. When the liquor is nearly cold, stir > into it a large tablespoon of the best yeast. After it has fermented, which > will be in about twenty-four hours, bottle for use. What exactly is ``broken loaf sugar'' ??? Where would one get powdered ginger root to use for this? And again, only 24 hours? Final question---how long would these need to age in the bottle? Anyone have any idea? Thanks, --jim - -- #include <std_disclaimer.h> 73 DE N5IAL (/4) - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ INTERNET: jim at n5ial.mythical.com | j.graham at ieee.org ICBM: 30.23N 86.32W AMATEUR RADIO: (packet station temporarily offline) AMTOR SELCAL: NIAL - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ E-mail me for information about KAMterm (host mode for Kantronics TNCs). Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1185, 07/20/93