HOMEBREW Digest #3276 Mon 20 March 2000

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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: janitor@hbd.org
		Many thanks to the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers of 
		Livonia, Michigan for sponsoring the Homebrew Digest.
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Contents:
  Re Sight Glass (tube) Components/Sources (RobertJ)
  Mash Tun Design ("Dan Schultz")
  Sight glass ("Dan Schultz")
  more digest/re: searching archives ("Stephen Alexander")
  Planning trip to San Fransisco (John Baxter Biggins)
  Water Adjustment, Lucky Lager and HP, St. Pats and Wyeast (Dave Burley)
  18th Annual Oregon Homebrew Festival ("Mark Kowalski")
  Philly Competition (Joe Uknalis)
  experimenting with rice? (darrell.leavitt)
  Torreied Barley Flakes (darrell.leavitt)
  Immersion Cooling In The 21st Century ("Phil & Jill Yates")

* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! * Entries for the 18th Annual HOPS competition are due 3/24-4/2/00 * See http://www.netaxs.com/~shady/hops/ for more information * 18th Annual Oregon Homebrew Festival - entry deadline May 15th * More info at: http://www.hotv.org/fest2000 Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!! To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE send an e-mail message with the word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" to request@hbd.org FROM THE E-MAIL ACCOUNT YOU WISH TO HAVE SUBSCRIBED OR UNSUBSCRIBED!!!** IF YOU HAVE SPAM-PROOFED your e-mail address, you cannot subscribe to the digest as we canoot reach you. We will not correct your address for the automation - that's your job. The HBD is a copyrighted document. The compilation is copyright HBD.ORG. Individual postings are copyright by their authors. ASK before reproducing and you'll rarely have trouble. Digest content cannot be reproduced by any means for sale or profit. More information is available by sending the word "info" to req at hbd.org. JANITORS on duty: Pat Babcock and Karl Lutzen (janitor@hbd.org)
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 10:31:26 -0500 From: RobertJ <pbsys at pbsbeer.com> Subject: Re Sight Glass (tube) Components/Sources "H. Dowda" <hdowda at yahoo.com> wrote: Want to add a sight glass to my keg wort boiler. What is the collective using for fittings? What is a source (material) for the tubes? Are there commercial 'drill and mount' assemblies available? - ---- We have kits & fittings available at http://pbsbeer.com/pbs/kits.html. Or you might want to use a 90 deg brass thru wall elbow with hose barb, plastic tubing and support tube Bob Precision Brewing Systems URL http://pbsbeer.com Manufacturer of 3 Vessel Brew Systems, HERMS(tm), SS Brew Kettles, SS hopback and the MAXIchiller Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 08:04:20 -0800 From: "Dan Schultz" <dschultz at primenet.com> Subject: Mash Tun Design Craig: I don't know much about grain bed depth but any of the three drain setups will work exactly the same with one exception. Any amount of wort below the drain valve level (regardless of pick up tube position) will not drain unless a siphon is maintained. In other words, on the Sankey type drain, if you close the valve and stop the flow once the wort level drops below the valve level, you will not be able to re-start the flow without sucking on the valve as in starting a siphon. This should not be a problem in a mash tun because you either sparge to a specific gravity and thus never let the mash tun run dry or start the flow while the wort level is above the valve and not shut it of until it drains. -Dan Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 08:28:18 -0800 From: "Dan Schultz" <dschultz at primenet.com> Subject: Sight glass Harold: I just purchased a great sight glass from Bill over at Moving Brews. You won't find anything on his web site yet but drop him an email and he will send you some pictures back. It is all chrome with a GLASS sight tube (not plastics like many of us has built). Drill a hole and install, then calibrate. He has different lengths for different vessels. Its almost too sharp for my equipment. Maybe I need to go have my liquor tank chrome plated too. I'll save Bill some work. I posted his pictures at www.primenet.com/~dschultz/sightglass.html . No affiliation, just well satisfied. Plus, I brought the sight glass idea up with Bill a long time ago. He said he was working on one. He never forgets). Burp, -Dan Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 12:13:36 -0500 From: "Stephen Alexander" <steve-alexander at worldnet.att.net> Subject: more digest/re: searching archives I'll add a vote for more HBD volume. I ask as a partially reformed offender that folks voluntarily limit themselves to abt 8kB/gest regardless of digest size. Dividing text into two posts to evade the 8k limit is sometimes justified (as Lynne O'Conner recently demonstrated - more please Lynne) but let's all agree to respect the intent. Brevity, well trimmed quotes, and humility in .sig-lines are appreciated. ===== Jim Liddil notes ... >[...] I beleive kunze mentions it that it is not a good idea to >raise the amsh temp too high since this can lead to [...] starch. This could be in Kunze. The lack of a usable index prevents a search. I do however have a couple JIB papers in which *mash* temps of 80C/ 176F did not increase the starch levels, and starch increase at 85C/185F was marginal. PA malt. YMMV (your mashout may vary). -S Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 13:38:04 -0500 From: John Baxter Biggins <jbbiggin at med.cornell.edu> Subject: Planning trip to San Fransisco Hi! I will be attending the American Association for Cancer Research's annual convention on the 1st week in April in San Fransisco. I know some obvious choices (Anchor, for starters...) to visit, but anyone real familiar w/ the city please tell me the best breweries & beer houses to visit. Perhaps a comprehensive web-site or guide which I can use? I will be staying in the Union Square/Moscone Center district. Private email welcome Thanks in advance -John - ------------------- John B. Biggins Cornell University Medical College Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences Student -- Program in Pharmacology Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Laboratory for Biosynthetic Chemistry Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics lab:(212)693-6405 fax:(212)717-3135 http://www.ski.edu/lab_homepage.cfm?lab=189 "Science, like Nature, must also be tamed With a view towards its preservation. Given the same state of integrity It will surely serve us well." -- Neil Peart; Natural Science (III) -- Permanent Waves Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 13:41:02 -0500 From: Dave Burley <Dave_Burley at compuserve.com> Subject: Water Adjustment, Lucky Lager and HP, St. Pats and Wyeast Brewsters: Jerry asks about how to adjust his water with a pH of 8. And on what and how much mineral salts to add. Jerry, your water is pretty good already, based on the analysis you submitted. Lots of bytes of HBD ( check the HBD archives) have been devoted to "water adjustment" when it should read "pH adjustment of the hot mash". You must always check the pH of the mash which has been heated to mashing temperature to ensure that all the calcium/phosphate reactions have taken place and <then> take a mash sample and cool it to RT and measure the pH. It should be in the range of 5.6 to 5.8. Chances are good yours will be with your existing water. Why? because the grist has many buffers which automatically adjust the pH for you. Adding acid or calcium to your water willy nilly will not produce the desired result, necessarily. Adding too much calcium can, in fact, deplete the mash of phosphate and cause problems for the yeast. Also just adding calcium sulfate powder guarantees nothing, as it is slowly soluble and pretty insoluble at that. If you really want to add it, then you should do it the night before to the entire mash water with stirring. Better to add calcium in the form of calcium chloride ( as I think AJ has suggested) which is very soluble, as long as you don't end up adding too much chloride and your beer becomes cloying. Calcium lactate is even better if you can find it. Without having ever tried this, I suggest that you can make your own by reacting lactic acid with calcium carbonate(chalk). Make up a solution of lactic acid and add the stoichiometric amount of chalk and stir until it stops fizzing, then boil briefly to release any bicarbonate/CO2 and use this solution. Dilute to a standard volume ( say 100 mls) so you know the concentration. This is pretty soluble, I imagine, and you could use this as a way of getting calcium into the mash easily and instantly with available reagents and without the effect of chloride. I don't know how stable this is biologically ( dilute lactic acid can be a problem) , but it should be OK chemically. If you want to "Burtonize" your mash to make Burton style Pale Ales by adding calcium and magnesium sulfates and chlorides, then I suggest you check out the many hobby books on how much to add, based on the water analysis you are trying to emulate. Treat the entire amount of water the night before. Bear in mind that these modern water analyses may or may not be what the brewery use(d)s for its brewing liquor, as breweries have been treating water by various methods ( e.g. lime addition) for a long time and many have switched from surface water ( like rivers) to wells and municipal sources over the years. The idea that only certain kinds of beer could be made at certain places is a nice fairy tale and good for commercials and to make your local beer unique, sort of like Terrior in French wine, but I'm not sure it's real. Bear in mind that today most kinds of beer can be made in most places with the local water without treating it. Yeast and malts and hops are the major flavor ingredients. Brewing skills are of paramount importance and probably why the local beers of renown became recognized for their quality. Mineral salts in extreme amounts can give a dryness or bitterness or smoothness to the beers, but, except in extreme cases, most drinkers would not be able to recognize the difference unless the beers were compared in a triangle test. I think far more amateur beers are ruined by blindly adding mineral salts than are helped by it. - --------------------------------------- Lynne O'connor of St. Pats supplied some really great information on beers and yeast. Thanks. I was puzzled by the comment to pitch (presumably to a starter) the Wyeast when the packet ( regular or XL?) is only expanded to 1" high and not to wait until it is fully expanded. It seems to me that it would be better to have yeast fully developed to minimize contamination. Please expand your discussion. Why? - --------------------------------------- According to WSJ on Friday 18 Mar, while renovating a Hewlett Packard site, a half case of Lucky Lager from the 1940s was discovered. This was a long lost remnant of HP beer blasts and "dress down", "blue sky thinking" Fridays, dating from that era. These beers will be put into a museum in the new HP building. One of the employees suggested that she might chance a taste. I wouldn't. I didn't like Lucky lager when it was fresh. - --------------------------------------- Keep on Brewin' Dave Burley Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 11:30:48 -0800 From: "Mark Kowalski" <mhkowalski at home.com> Subject: 18th Annual Oregon Homebrew Festival Heart of the Valley Homebrewers present the 18th Annual Oregon Homebrew Festival at the: Benton County Fairgrounds 110 SW 53rd Street Corvallis, Oregon Saturday, May 20, 2000 9:30 AM Special Guest Speaker Fred Eckhardt AHA Sanctioned Competition - Judging the 26 Recognized BJCP Beer, Mead and Cider Styles Preliminary judging and judge training session Friday, May 19, 2000 7-10 PM The Heart of the Valley Homebrewers invite you to participate in the Eighteenth Annual Oregon Homebrew Festival, the longest running event of its kind in Oregon. The focus of the event will be the judging of homebrewed beer. The competition is sanctioned by the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) and using Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) Recognized Style Guidelines. 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 year's activities along with the homebrew competition will include publicly judged home-made soda competition, homebrew label competition, rookie entry competition, several displays, a raffle and the opportunity to meet and talk with some of the best and most experienced homebrewers anywhere! Winners will be announced at approximately 5:00 PM the day of the competition. Ribbons will be awarded for first, second, and third place in each category. The winner of Best of Show will receive a gift certificate or other prize appropriate to the occasion. Judges reserve the right to not award all ribbons in any category if entries are judged to not be of sufficiently high quality. Entry Deadline: Monday, May 15, 2000 For any additional information, forms, etc. or to volunteer some time for this competition see http://www.hotv.org or contact the competition organizers: FESTIVAL COORDINATOR Mark Kowalski Phone: (541) 715-8574 - (541) 752-2008 Email: festchair at hotv.org JUDGE COORDINATOR John Sterner (541) 924-0272 Email: judge at hotv.org REGISTRAR Herky Gottfried Phone: (541) 757-8009 Email: registrar at hotv.org Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 16:03:38 -0800 From: Joe Uknalis <birman at netaxs.com> Subject: Philly Competition Homebrewers of Philadelphia & Suburbs (HOPS) announces it's 18th annual competition on April 8, 2000. Dropoff/mail in dates are from 3/24/00 to 4/2/00. Bookmark our homepage for info on the event: http://www.netaxs.com/~shady/hops/ Mail in location: Homesweet Homebrew 2008 Sansom St Philadelphia, PA 19103 215-569-9469 Any questions regarding the competition, volunteering for judging or stewarding can be directed to Joe (birman at netaxs.com) Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 16:19:08 -0500 (EST) From: darrell.leavitt at plattsburgh.edu Subject: experimenting with rice? I recently picked up a bag of "Roasted Brown Rice Flakes" and have tried a few batches with up to 2.5 lb out of a total grain bill of 10 lb (give or take)....I have not tasted any of these brews yes, but wonder if anyone else is / has experimented with this for lighter summer brews? // ........I have not tasted any of these brews YET..../// ..Darrell Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 16:23:25 -0500 (EST) From: darrell.leavitt at plattsburgh.edu Subject: Torreied Barley Flakes The spec sheet that came with a bag of "OIO Torrefied Barley Flakes" that I recently purchased says 'torrefied wheat reduces bitterness, torrefied barley flakes retain it'.....is this true? ...DArrell Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2000 09:07:48 +1100 From: "Phil & Jill Yates" <yates at acenet.com.au> Subject: Immersion Cooling In The 21st Century Dan Listermann, don't think you are going to get your hands on this one, I warned you about those lousy royalties you have been paying me. Barely enough to buy a digital camera to snap photos of Jill chasing me about the house with my very own "cat of nine tales". But that is a story you will have to ask Alan Meeker about. This one will be sold under the Doc Pivo line of products titled (*). And if you want to argue about the ownership of this title, well go and take it up with the Patents office, where it is registered. Fred Garvin offered attractive marketing possibilities, but being associated with homophobic macho types would hardly do much for my image at the Sydney Gay Mardi Gras, where I appeared this year in my very own float, right behind Molly. Wasn't Molly just beautiful darlings? Sorry, I'm going to get someone cranky by wasting space. Here is what I have put together and titled the "Hope This Helps Immersion Cooler". I took two immersion coolers and pushed them together, the coils fitting between each other like two springs fitting together. This reduced the diameter of the contraption to allow it to easily fit into my 60 litre brewing kettle. Now I had two inlets and two outlets allowing me to run cold water through both coolers in parallel. I bought enough garden hose and connectors to feed both inlets via a Y junction and for both outlets to feed to a Y junction and exit through a single garden hose which I connected to the extensive watering system in the garden. In Burradoo we love our gardens! The inlet of this arrangement I connected via garden hose to the garden tap just outside the garage. Here came the big surprise. Using my tiny brain I had previously thought that so long as outlet temp from the chiller was reasonably less than wort temp, then the system was operating efficiently and in the interests of not wasting too much cooling water, there was no point in pumping excessive water through the chiller at increased flow rates. Besides, the tubing usually blew off the tap if you cranked the tap open too far. But now with everything properly connected, and in the knowledge that all this water was making the garden very happy, I gunned it like a fire hose. I was staggered to find that in not much more than 15 minutes the wort was down to 25C. The tap water running through the system was 18C! This is the sort of Counter Flow chiller performance that Fred Kingston stakes his name on. But Fred has to keep the inside of the CF chiller sterile, presumably takes his cold break to the fermenter and worst of all, he doesn't get to water his garden! Of course to cool the wort down to lagering temps, I have to switch to a closed circuit using iced water and an immersion pump for circulation, but so does everyone else, unless your tap water is very cold, as in winter. This high flow rate has easily cut my cooling times in half and indeed made my garden very happy. Phil Yates Baron Of The Garden Burradoo Return to table of contents
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