HOMEBREW Digest #2017 Mon 22 April 1996

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


Contents:
  copyright (Robert Rogers)
  Brewing before 6am... (CHRISTOPHER DIIORIO         )
  Grains of Hardness ("Joseph G. Spears")
  Grains/Bottle Inspections/Ice Beer (A. J. deLange)
  Accidental Ice Beer (Phil Slotter)
  Movement from boil to fermenter ("Thomas A. Wideman")
  Sparge arms.  Wheat beers (Paul Rybak)
  Re:Flavenoids (Debisschop)
  Dry ice for air purge & automatic sparge control (C.D. Pritchard)
  Irish Brewpubs (Ulick Stafford)
  competition anouncement (Mark Taratoot)
  Beer Engine use with Corny Kegs (Fred Brende)
  special ocasion beer (Robert Rogers)
  Re: WORT CHILLING (Eric & Carolyn Metzler)
  Priming with maple syrup (Mike Kidulich)
  Fructose Remedy (Charlie Scandrett)
  Cooper's Extract (Charlie Scandrett)
  Mini Kegging & Tuppers Hop Pocket Ale (RedlackC)
  Re: Hot Bottles-Jeff's correct! ("Val J. Lipscomb")
  Source of idophor (Al Stevens)
  Carbonator (Art McGregor)

****************************************************************** * POLICY NOTE: Due to the incredible volume of bouncing mail, * I am going to have to start removing addresses from the list * that cause ongoing problems. In particular, if your mailbox * is full or your account over quota, and this results in bounced * mail, your address will be removed from the list after a few days. * * If you use a 'vacation' program, please be sure that it only * sends a automated reply to homebrew-request *once*. If I get * more than one, then I'll delete your address from the list. ****************************************************************** ################################################################# # # YET ANOTHER NEW FEDERAL REGULATION: if you are UNSUBSCRIBING from the # digest, please make sure you send your request to the same service # provider that you sent your subscription request!!! I am now receiving # many unsubscribe requests that do not match any address on my mailing # list, and effective immediately I will be silently deleting such # requests. # ################################################################# NOTE NEW HOMEBREW ADDRESS hpfcmgw! Send articles for __publication_only__ to homebrew at hpfcmgw.fc.hp.com (Articles are published in the order they are received.) Send UNSUBSCRIBE and all other requests, ie, address change, etc., to homebrew-request@ hpfcmgw.fc.hp.com, BUT PLEASE NOTE that if you subscribed via the BITNET listserver (BEER-L at UA1VM.UA.EDU), then you MUST unsubscribe the same way! If your account is being deleted, please be courteous and unsubscribe first. Please don't send me requests for back issues - you will be silently ignored. For "Cat's Meow" information, send mail to lutzen at alpha.rollanet.org ARCHIVES: An archive of previous issues of this digest, as well as other beer related information can be accessed via anonymous ftp at ftp.stanford.edu. Use ftp to log in as anonymous and give your full e-mail address as the password, look under the directory /pub/clubs/homebrew/beer directory. AFS users can find it under /afs/ir.stanford.edu/ftp/pub/clubs/homebrew/beer. If you do not have ftp capability you may access the files via e-mail using the ftpmail service at gatekeeper.dec.com. For information about this service, send an e-mail message to ftpmail at gatekeeper.dec.com with the word "help" (without the quotes) in the body of the message.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 20 Apr 1996 04:59:27 -0400 From: bob at carol.net (Robert Rogers) Subject: copyright al, i'm not a lawyer, so i don't give legal advice, but: yes, you have a natural copyright... but, you can only sue if you register it. the gentleman in question, if he is duping HBD to CD ROM is violating the natural copyrights of everyone who posts. we could technically launch a class action suit against him, but since none of us has any money involved (excluding any home brewing authors, of course) it might be hard to prove any sort of monetary damages. i would be interested in obtaining the CD, though, since i could erase all the old digests from my hard drive. bob -- brewing in the buckle of the bible belt. bob rogers, bob at carol.net Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 1996 07:07:47 -0400 (EDT) From: CHRISTOPHER DIIORIO <pher at acc.msmc.edu> Subject: Brewing before 6am... All, Well, I have just learned the hard way that, no matter HOW bad you want to do it, you shouldn't brew before 6am (at least not alone). This morning I got up early. Having to go to work at 7am, I thought I'd get a batch in before I left (saving me time for another after work). So, being obsessed, I got up at 4am and began brewing. By about 5:45 I was quite sleepy (having slept only 4hrs) and was ready to pitch the batch with my first, what I call successful, starter when, in my blurry haze, I knocked the bottle over, spilling it all over the floor! I saved about 20% that didn't spill, but my "perfect" starter went all over everywhere. My wife awoke, quite surprised, to a small tirade of cursing and anger (at myself, not her). She then politely told me that I should have woken her and she "would have helped me." Anyway, I sat and pondered, over a rare pre-work 6am homebrew, and decided to use the 20% in conjunction with a dry yeast I had for such "emergencies". I'll see how it turns out. Now, I'm not AGAINST brewing before the sun comes up, or after it is LONG gone, its just that I recommend doing so with a partner. In the very least, you can have someone to complain to (and maybe even blame?, just kidding) if your starter/wort/brew pot is knocked over. For me, I'll be waking her up (maybe tomorrow) to see just HOW serious her consoling effort was! Thanks for reading this far...I'd like to nominate myself Thumduck of the day. Brewingly yours, Chris DiIorio (Boy, this homebrew in my coffee mug is Darn good, just don't tell my boss!) BTW -- I was wearing PLAID boxer shorts, could this have been the cause? Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 1996 07:17:45 -0500 From: "Joseph G. Spears" <aquashed at Interpath.com> Subject: Grains of Hardness A grain is a unit of weight equal to .0648 grams or .000143 pounds or 1/7000th of a pound. Grains per gallon (gpg) is a common method of reporting water analysis results in the US and Canada. One grain per gallon equals 17.1 parts per million (ppm) or 17.1 milligrams per liter. Thus water reported as 18 grains would have hardness of 307.8 mg/l. Joe Spears, CWS-V, CI Phone: 704-459-2426 Certified Water Specialist FAX: 704-453-7617 Aqua Shed 3474 Duck Pond Drive Conover, NC 28613-9458 aquashed at interpath.com Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 1996 08:25:44 -0500 From: ajdel at interramp.com (A. J. deLange) Subject: Grains/Bottle Inspections/Ice Beer Shane asked about hardness expressed in grains. There are 7000 grains to the pound, 453592 milligrams to the pound and 3.7853 litres to the gallon so 1 grain per gallon = (1/7000)*(453592)/3.7853 = 17.12 milligrams/Liter (ppm). The gpg numbers represent grains per gallon as calcium carbonate. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * There has been some discussion of bottle inspections. These are avoided by "buying" a bottle from one of the larger gas suppliers. When you need a refill they simply swap "your" bottle for one that has been refilled at the plant. If your bottle is out of inspection it is serviced before being put back into circulation. The only problem with this system is that you get grungy, beatup looking old gas bottles. If you want to keep a nice shiny new one you have to fill it yourself or take it to someone who refills yours (doesn't swap). Note that you rarely get 5# in a 5# bottle this way. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Jim Duensing asked about the process for making ice beer. Here's a paragraph from the patent (send me e-mail if you want the whole thing). BRIEF STATEMENT OF INVENTION It has now been found that if, in the brewing process, and preferably prior to aging the temperature of beer is rapidly reduced to approximately its freezing point in a manner such that only a minimal amount of ice crystals are formed, and the thus cooled beer is contacted with an agitated slurry of ice crystals for a relatively short period of time and without collateral concentration of the beer, the aging stage of the brewing process can be significantly reduced, and, perhaps, even eliminated. The process of the present invention ensures that all the beer is invariably subjected to the same low temperature treatment and hence is uniformly processed. Moreover, the resulting finished beer is less harsh, smoother and more mellow compared to regularly processed beer, especially if care is taken to remove substantially all of the yeast cells emanating from the fermentation from the green beer prior to it being treated. (END OF QUOTATION FROM PATENT) The mixing is done in a "crystalizer" which "forms part of commercially available freeze concentration systems" i.e. there is some elaborate refrigeration involved. The agitated slurry of ice crystals referred to above is of ice crystals in beer. This gives the basic principle. Given the homebrewer's legendary bent for innovation I'm sure someone will come up with a way to implement the process on a small scale. Something along the lines of an ice-cream freezer comes to mind. A.J. deLange Numquam in dubio, saepe in errore! ajdel at interramp.com Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 1996 08:30:45 -0400 From: Phil Slotter <pslotter at ids.net> Subject: Accidental Ice Beer After Reading Jim Duensings request for an ice beer procedure I remember a litle "accident" I had a few month's ago. I made a Bohemian Pilsner that was force carbonated to 2.5-3 volumes of CO2. I CP bottled half the batch and returned the rest to my lagering fridge which was set at 30F, a few days later I decided to try bottle conditioning the rest of the batch and released the gas from the corny keg rather quickly. When I opened the keg to prime it I had about 6" of ice on the top of the beer. So with a freshly cleaned spagetti ladle I pulled the ice from the brew and let it thaw in my bottling bucket. The total amount of ice melted down to about 1 gallon of the 2.5 gallons in the keg. The remaining beer which was primed and bottled without incident tasted a bit sweeter and A LOT more alcoholic then the first bottling and the thawed ice was primed and bottled as a thin tasting apparently non(low)alcohol beer. My assumption on what happened is that the release of gas chilled the beer even more and the foam that formed had a lower alcohol content allowing it to freeze. I may try this again under more controlled conditions. Does this make sense? Phil Slotter Flying Goat Dog Pico Brewery Return to table of contents
Date: 20 Apr 96 10:10:58 EDT From: "Thomas A. Wideman" <75710.1511 at CompuServe.COM> Subject: Movement from boil to fermenter I am looking for a good way to transfer from the boiling pot (10 gal SS) to the fermenter (6 gal. glass carboy) after immersion chilling. I have generally been swirling, allowing to settle for a half hour or so, then racking through a cane into a large funnel inserted in the carboy mouth. This aerates quite well and leaves almost all of the trub and spent hops behind -- especially when using hop plugs, where this technique works great. Unfortunately, my last batch was a barleywine that used some plugs and lots of pellets, and boiled down to a thick gravity (1.139 -- we're talking pancake syrup here). I chilled, swirled, and waited an hour, but the stuff was so thick and there was so much hop residue that racking flat plugged up after only 1/2 gallon had transferred. I ended up straining the wort through sanitized panty hose (hey, it works pretty good, so what the heck). Any thoughts? Private email is fine. Cheers, Tom Wideman Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 1996 12:25:22 From: PERSAND at gnn.com (Paul Rybak) Subject: Sparge arms. Wheat beers I'm thinking of using either a Listerman-type sparge arm or a pan with holes to trickle the sparge water so as to not stir up the grains. Is a device like this used throughout the process or only with rinse water? My concern would be HSA so maybe the first runnings would not be put through this. Also, to anyone interested in wheat beers, I highly recommend Eric Warners' book 'German Wheat Beer'. Really explains decoction mashing and wheat beer brewing techniques. I've only made 7 all-grain batches and my first attempt at a wheat turned out, IMHO, just GREAT!! (sorry for yellling!). Paul Rybak Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 1996 14:36:50 -0400 From: Debisschop at aol.com Subject: Re:Flavenoids OK, here's the scoop on flavonoids: What are they? Flavonoids are a heterogenous group of several thousand organic compunds found in plant life. They help with plant growth, reproduction, respiration, etc. Their function is similar (and in many cases probably the same as) vitamins, i. e. enzyme cofactors, etc. They also contribute to plant pigmentation. I'm not sure if they're related to melanoidins. What do they do to us (humans)? Flavonoids seem to have anti-oxidant and free-radical scavenging properties. They also influence human immune and inflammatory systems. There is also thought that they may tend to decrease platelet adhesion (similar to aspirin). This latter thought has been strengthened by the recent publication of the Zutphen study, a large, longitudinal study (15 years) in which flavonoid intake was inversely correlated with relative risk of stroke. ( I haven't had a chance to read the text of the study yet, so I cant comment critically on it right now; I have the citation if anyone would like it.) Black tea was the major source of flavonoids; people who drank 4.7 cups (or more) of tea had about 1/3 the risk of people who drank 2.6 cups or less. Anyway, the antioxidant properties may prevent LDL cholesterol from oxidizing and adhering to artery walls, and antiplatelet activity helps prevents clots from forming around the atherosclerotic plaques (and other places) in people at risk. What are flavonoids doing in my beer? It seems natural that these plant compounds would be present in a drink made from plants; as a previous contributor pointed out, our beer is rich in B vitamins, etc. Beer and tea are made from parts of the plants which are high in enzymatic activity, i.e., endosperm, leaves. As to why dark beer contains more than light beer, good question. Perhaps, as the same previous contributor pointed out, beer made from all-malt (ours), vs beer made from a high proportion of adjuncts (the Big 3), is actually what the article meant by "darker" beer. But shouldnt adjuncts like corn and rice, being plants, also contain flavonoids? Are flavonoids and melanoidins related? I suspect that guy at UW owes us some answers about why darker beers contain more than lighter beers. He should also explain that statement about "particles called wort" being removed from lighter beers, if in fact those *were* his words. What are the conclusions? Flavonoids *may* help us reduce the risk of stroke and oxidative damage through their antioxidant and antiplatelet activities. Of course more studies are necessary. Treat these reports with the same credulity with which you treat the claims made of other antioxidant coompounds. The conservative thing to say is to get your flavonoids through generous helpings of fruits and vegetables. As to why some types of beer are said to contain more than others, I believe the answer to that question lies with Dr. Folts in Madison. My recommendation? Be on the safe side, drink a glass of porter every day. Sorry to be so long-winded, but there it is. Stay well, Mike Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 96 15:00 EDT From: cdp at chattanooga.net (C.D. Pritchard) Subject: Dry ice for air purge & automatic sparge control Randy Huyck <rwh0303 at hub.doh.wa.gov> wants to use dry ice to purge air from his secondary fermenter and wonders about contamination from the condensed water vapor and how much to use. Dry ice can contain oil. I'd observe the bottom of the fermenter for oil before I transfered the brew into it. Any oil would probably reduce the finished brew's head. Dry ice in a sealed vessel makes a pretty powerful bomb. A tablespoon full in a capped 2 liter plastic pop bottle is said to be enough to blow the bottle up. Based on that, I'd *guess* 3-4 Tbs. ought to purge most of the air from a 5 gallon carboy. If the dry ice can be weighted, the required amount can be calculated from pv=nrt. Sorry I can't help more, all my tech books are at work. - --------------- How does this automatic sparge control look: +-X--------- sparge water line with solenoid valve controlled +-|--+ by liquid level sensors | | | +<----- high liquid level sensor tun->|-+--| +<----- low ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' | | |<----- sight glass (tygon tubing) +-|--+ | +----+--X-<-- wort-out line with manual throttling valve The liquid level sensors can be built using a couple of ICs- probably LM1830s. I want 'em out of the tun since condensation on them might cause false readings and I use a sight glass anyhow. A soleniod valve from a dishwasher in the sparge water line might work if the plastic in it is appropriate for 170 degF or so. If it doesn't work, a gear motor driven needle or globe valve should work. The level controllers would just open and close the sparge water valve as the level in the tun rises and falls- maybe a differential of 1/2" or so. I'd sure like to hear from anyone that's been tried something like this or any critiques of the idea. TIA! C.D. Pritchard cdp at chattanooga.net Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 14 Apr 1996 20:47:07 +0100 From: Ulick Stafford <ulick at indigo.ie> Subject: Irish Brewpubs In case anyone is visiting Ireland and is interested, the country's first brewpub, which opened last September is Garvey's 'Biddy Early Brewery' in Inagh, Co. Clare (on Ennis-Ennistymon road). It produces 'Black Biddy Stout', a dry Irish stout similar to Beamish. It may be brewed with Pale, wheat, and roast malts, roast barley, Galena, Fuggles, and Pride hops, and Carageenan moss. It is drunk by most customers of the pub in preference to draught Guinness and there are plans to supply other pubs in Clare. Another brewpub is opening in Dublin on Parliament Street in the near future. I'll update this list if there is interest and review its brews once I get the chance. _____________________________________________________________________________ Wexford Brewing Company | Ulick Stafford, Proprietor Purveyor of Advanced Homebrewing Supplies | ulick at indigo.ie Ballyhurst, Taghmon, Co. Wexford | Phone/Fax: +353-53-47957 Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 1996 14:49:11 -0700 (PDT) From: Mark Taratoot <taratoot at PEAK.ORG> Subject: competition anouncement Heart of the Valley Homebrewers Present: The 14th Annual Oregon Homebrew Competition and Festival At the Oregon Trader Brewery 140 Hill Street, NE Albany, Oregon 97321 (Off Street Parking Available) Saturday, May 11th, 1996 From 11 am to 5 pm JUDGING FOR THE 24 RECOGNIZED AHA BEER STYLES PLUS ALL THREE MEAD CATEGORIES The Heart of the Valley Homebrewers invite you to participate in the fourteenth annual homebrew competition and festival, the longest running event of its kind in Oregon. The focus of the event will be a judging of homebrewed beer sanctioned by the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) and the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). In addition, the club will host a festival to promote awareness and knowledge of various beer styles, provide opportunities to share information about the homebrewing craft, and encourage interaction between homebrewers in a social atmosphere. This years activities will include several displays, a raffle, food concessions, and the opportunity to meet and talk with some of the best and most experienced homebrewers anywhere! Entry fee is $5.00. This year there will be NO ENTRIES ACCEPTED THE DAY OF THE COMPETITION. Entries may be mailed directly to or dropped off at the festival site or dropped off at one of our remote pick up sites. We are also offering on-line entry and judge registration. Special guest speaker: The world renowned Fred Eckhardt Complete details, entry requirements, rules, drop-off site locations, and directions to the festival are available at our web site: http://www.peak.org/~taratoot/fest.html or contact Lee Smith at (541)926-2286 or Mark Taratoot at (taratoot at peak.org) - -- Mark Taratoot "...though my problems are meaningless, taratoot at peak.org that don't make them go away." -Neil Young Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 1996 15:04:20 -0700 From: fbrende at cris.com (Fred Brende) Subject: Beer Engine use with Corny Kegs Well, I just got back from the UK and sampled some very fine real ale there. While I was out there a kind pub owner sold me a used hand pump beer engine for cheap. Now that I've got it here at home I am trying to figure out a way to use it with my Corny Keg CO2 setup. I don't want to use the CO2 to PUSH the beer out. Rather, I would like to pull the beer out with the engine, and use the CO2 to displace the beer in the keg. I could just put in a check valve, but then oxidation would set in... Are there any suggestions out there? TIA, Fred Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 1996 18:49:23 -0400 From: bob at carol.net (Robert Rogers) Subject: special ocasion beer my dad and i go on an annual camping trip, and i want to brew a beer there to mark the occasion. we could then start next year's trip with this year's brew. i'm thinking of a barley wine so it will keep. since it has to be easy to move, make, and transport i came up with: 3/4 gal water, 1 pound dry extract, 1/2 oz 7.8AA hops. boil one hour (to 1/2 gal water). cool. put into 1 gal. jug, pitch 1 package of M&F dry ale yeast. this would then have to travel in the car about four hours back to where i live. i would like to use about another 1/2 pound of extract, but i wonder if the yeast would be able to ferment that much (espceially since we will both be wearing kilts). will the sloshing in the car be bad for the wort? if i go with the extra DME, will i need to pitch more of some other kind of yeast? would i be much better off using a smack pack of some sort, and if so which one and why? tia bob -- brewing in the buckle of the bible belt bob rogers, bob at carol.net Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 1996 07:26:51 -0700 From: Eric & Carolyn Metzler <cwmetzler at telplus.net> Subject: Re: WORT CHILLING In HBD #2012, Barry Finley wrote: >. . . I know that the faster the wort can be chilled, the better the beer will be. But How can this be done? At the present time, I've been filling the sink up with ice, then placing my brew pot in the sink. This works ok but I wish to get a little more sophisticated. What exactly is the principle of an immersion chiller and how could I go about making one? < I'm too cheap to buy a wort chiller, and too "lazy" to make one myself. A recent _Zymurgy_ special issue on brewing gadgets would have lots of suggestions. "Phil's Phittings" is a kit of the necessary connectors that you could add to your own locally-bought copper tubing. What I do, I learned from a contributor to _Zymurgy_ a few years ago. (This method might be more suitable for extract brewers who only have 2-3 gallons of wort concentrate boiling for a 5-gallon batch.) I keep 3 2-liter soda bottles, with the labels removed, 85% full of clean water in our freezer. When my wort is about done cooking, I rinse them in sanitizing solution and then water, then immerse them in the strained wort concentrate to which I have added cool water for dilution. Swirling occasionally, the temp. goes from about 100 to about 70 in 20 minutes. Good luck! --Eric W. Metzler ewmetzler at mem.po.com Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 20 Apr 1996 23:57:16 -0400 From: Mike Kidulich <mjkid at ix.netcom.com> Subject: Priming with maple syrup I am brewing a maple lager, and am considering priming with maple syrup, or possibly maple sugar. Does anyone out there have experience with this? How does maple syrup compare with, say, honey as far as priming beer goes? I also have 4 ounces of maple sugar (ok, I ate one piece). Can this be used for priming? TIA - -- Mike Kidulich mjkid at ix.netcom.com mjk at rfc.comm.harris.com DNRC Minister of Home Brewing, Relaxation, and Really Cool Toys Holder of Previous Knowledge O- Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 1996 23:05:56 +1000 From: merino at cynergy.com.au (Charlie Scandrett) Subject: Fructose Remedy In recent years an Australian doctor proved the theory that ulcers were caused by bacteria by isolating it and infecting himself, causing an ulcer and curing it with antibiotics. I'm no heroic medico, but in the search for a cure to my drastic allergenic type reaction to *some* beer, I'll try anything. Basically if my body doesn't like the beer (or especially wine) I'll get a headache after three stubbies over 2 hours. (hardly swilling) The next morning at about 9.30 am I'll throw up bile on the half hour for 12 to 24 hours. (When I give a beer the thumbs down, I mean it from my "inner" being!) This has lead to a two stubbies a day rule unless I am confident of my tipple. I suspect Tannin (red wine kills me) and stale aldehydes or trans-2-nonenal (old beers kill me) and some byproducts of higher temperature maillard reactions. (harsh roast flavoured stouts kill me) I am slowly investigating all of these by brewing to minimise them and overdosing myself with the experiment. Some experiments let me drink 6 stubbies with no ill effect and some put me in bed for 2 days!? I was interested to read A.J. deLange's post about alcohol blocking metabolic pathways, causing a pooling of aldehydes in the liver. (presumably) He claimed that fructose metabolism was not blocked by alcohol and suggested it as a hangover cure. I have deliberately exceeded my tolerence for beer on 5 occasions since and got the warning headache that means nausea toomorrow. On each occasion I have consumed 3-7 heaped teaspoons of fructose in warm water with a little lemon juice. When the fructose dose exceeded about 4 teaspoons I have cleared the headache in about 3-4 hours and woke up with a clear head, feeling energetic. (wired with fruit sugar!) I can certify that fructose works for moderate drinking! Thanks AJ, especially from my family who were living with a beer loving bear with a sore head. My experiments continue. Charlie (Brisbane, Australia) Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 1996 23:25:26 +1000 From: merino at cynergy.com.au (Charlie Scandrett) Subject: Cooper's Extract Mark Montminy questioned the continued production of Cooper's unhopped extract. To the best of my knowledge( and I talk to the brewery) they now only produce one kind of unhopped (there were three) and it is still available in 28 kg metal pails and 1700kg "Pallecons". I will quiz them this week and give you the official line. Charlie (Brisbane, Australia) Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 1996 14:10:39 -0400 From: RedlackC at aol.com Subject: Mini Kegging & Tuppers Hop Pocket Ale Hello fellow Brewers, I just have a couple of quick questions and suggestions. I have decided to move away from bottling, but I don't have enough room for a 5 gallon keg, so I am deciding wether or not it is advantageous to move to a mini kegging system. Does anyone have any opinions on minikegging (good, bad or ugly). How far should one fill the mini kegs? Has anyone tried to duplicate Tuppers' Hop Pocket Ale via a mash-extract or extract recipe? I would be greatly interested in a recipe. For those of you who are still stuck in the world of bottling, much like myself, here's how you can drain your bottles more easily.If you swirl your bottles in a circular motion a whirlpool will develop inside of the bottle creating a smoother and faster flow as you pour out the contents. This also works well with carboys. On a final note. Don't throw away those boxes that you carboys come in. If you cut off the top of the box and make a small hole in the bottom about the same size of your airlock. You can flip the box over and use it to cover your carboy to protect it from harmful light rays.The hole in the bottom will allow the airlock to poke through. I'm sure the e mini kegging topic has been covered in the past, so if anyone's interested in responding, please feel free to correspond directly to my E-Mail address. Thanks a million in advance for your help. I apologize if any of my suggestions are old hat. Best regards, Chris Redlack redlackc at aol.com Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 1996 15:25:32 -0500 From: "Val J. Lipscomb" <valjay at NetXpress.com> Subject: Re: Hot Bottles-Jeff's correct! To All Other Bottlers: I have been lurking for a good while, being a computer newbie. I was, however, driven to this post by the Hot Bottle thread and my experience with the procedure. In F.H. Steinbart Co. Newsletter, Spring 1987, there was an article, that I think Jeff Frane wrote, since he was the editor, entitled "The Basics of Bottling". It laid out the bottle baking procedure as covered in recent HBD issues. I started doing it that way in 1987 and still do. I have never had a bottle break from it and have also never had any bottle borne infections. I use mostly Champagne bottles, which fit in my oven, laying down, 12 at a time, stacked 5 with 4 on top of them and 3 on top of them. I start them at 250F and move them up to 350F after 15 minutes and leave them at 350F for 1:15. I always let them cool in the oven, usually doing a batch at breakfast and another at supper. What I'm trying to say is, it works great and the bottles will stay okay for up to a week (maybe more-a week is my max). I really enjoy the HBD and the input from people like Jeff, whom I've never met, practical advice can only help the hobby grow and IMHO, is preferable to some of the more esoteric, high tech stuff. I enjoy the the high level water and electronic equipment threads, but that stuff is pretty heavy for the beginners and even the intermediate brewers. Thanks for the bandwidth and to Jeff Frane for helping make my brewing better and easier back in '87. Val Lipscomb Return to table of contents
Date: 21 Apr 96 21:48:28 EDT From: Al Stevens <72704.743 at CompuServe.COM> Subject: Source of idophor The easiest place to find idophor is at a farm supply store. It is used for sanitizing dairy equipment. It usually only comes in large containers (4 L). But that ammount should last you a long time. Al Stevens Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 21 Apr 1996 22:03:55 -0400 From: apmcgregor at nmaa.org (Art McGregor) Subject: Carbonator Hi Everyone! Just a quick question on the use of the Carbonator (TM). I used the carbonator the other night to fill two 2 liter soda bottles, and took them to a soccer game to share with the team -- you know how thirsty you can get :^) Well, the beer was drinkable, but not as carbonated as I would have liked it. I suspected that might happen when I filled them, because when I removed the carbonator to screw the soda bottle caps on, all the psi's I had pumped in there came rushing out. The ideal situation would have been to leave the carbonator on, and the 25 psi of CO2 would have kept the carbonation at a good level. Problem is at $10-12 a carbonator, it gets too expensive to think about filling these soda bottles to give to friends ... and you know how many friends homebrewers have :^) Is there some other way to use the carbonator to charge these 2 liter bottles with CO2, or some other simple, cheap way to charge these bottles homebrew to be gifts for friends? TIA! Hoppy Brewing! Art McGregor (Day: mcgregap at acq.osd.mil) (Evening/Weekend: apmcgregor at nmaa.org) Return to table of contents