HOMEBREW Digest #3620 Mon 30 April 2001

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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Farenheit scale, was re: degrees C -> degrees F (John_E_Schnupp)
  Mills ("rkalvig")
  temperatures (mash..not C->F) (leavitdg)
  CO, WY, UT, NM Beers (kingkelly)
  Re: degrees C -> degrees F (Jeff Renner)
  Hopfen und Malz, Gott erhalten (Wayne Aldrich)
  O2 Regulators / Homebrew Clubs ("D. Schultz")
  Re: Mills (Bill Riel)
  AHA Board candidate support statement: Dave Dixon ("Dean Fikar")
  Jim's 1st Compendium of Unusual Beer Links (Jim Adwell)
  RE: Which ROller MIll / Valley Mill ("Steven Parfitt")
  Valley (Pat Babcock)
  Drill Speed (Rick Lassabe)
  Air lock in RIMS (David N Boice)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 00:12:32 -0700 From: John_E_Schnupp at amat.com Subject: Farenheit scale, was re: degrees C -> degrees F Alan asks: >Why would anyone pick 32 as a starting point? Actually there is a good reason. I knew that 0F is based "somewhat" on the freezing point of salt water. I was going to spout off and say this too, but I actually thought for a minute and decided I wanted to make sure I had the story correct. I also knew there was a reason that the boiling point of water is 212F but had CRS syndrome. SO I went poking around on the www. I found this on the Mad Sci Network. A good explanation to the Fahrenheit scale. http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/mar99/921961717.Ph.r.html The Celsius scale uses the freezing and boiling points of water as its fixed points. In the 17th century they used the lowest attainable temperature (achieved by mixing salt with water) as their Zero degree and the temperature of the body as the other fixed point. At this time a man called Roemer had invented a scale which Daniel Farenheit used as the basis for his own scale. Farenheit did not understand Roemer's scale properly, but he took it to mean that the freezing point of water was at 7 1/2 degrees and that the body temperature was 22 1/2 degrees. He put Roemer's scale on one of his thermometers and then sub-divided each degree into four parts to make it more accurate. This now gave him a scale where the freezing of water was on the 30th sub-division and the body temperature was on the 90th sub-division. Farenheit did not like the fact that the fixed points were not exactly on a major division on Roemer's scale so he altered it. He set the freezing point at 8 degrees and the body temperature at 24 degrees. When he sub-divided each degree the freezing point was at 32nd sub-division and the body temperature was at 98th sub-division. This is very close to the modern Farenheit scale. At some stage the idea of using the boiling point as a fixed point gained more acceptance. Now Farenheit reported in an article that on his scale the boiling point of water was actually 212 degrees. This was not accurate but that did not matter. Everybody who used the Farenheit scale set the fixed points at 32 and 212 degrees. When body temperature was measured using this final scale it was found to be 98.6 degrees Farenheit. Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 01:20:24 -0600 From: "rkalvig" <rkalvig at msn.com> Subject: Mills Check out this mill I got one and love it . www.crankandstein.com I bought the 3 roller one . if you have any questions don't hesitate to email me. Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 06:20:28 -0400 (EDT) From: leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu Subject: temperatures (mash..not C->F) thankyou for all the comments on C-> conversion...but this comment has to do with Jeff's comment below: on commenting on Dave's higher than wanted final gravity: yes it does seem to make sense that the Munuch and CaraMunich...along with the high (154F) mash temp could be the culprit/s. My question is this: What would be the difference, in terms of the final product if one were to: 1) proceed directly to mash out temps (170F) after the rest at 148F or so.. <do not pass go,...do not collect 200 dollars> OR 2) take a short rest at 154F before proceeding to mashout? I have been thinking about this for a while...and finally saw the opportunity to ask. Any thoughts? ..Darrell (thinking way too much about brewing.......) Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 07:38:54 -0400 From: kingkelly at juno.com Subject: CO, WY, UT, NM Beers Hi All, First post from me, although I really enjoy reading the HBD everyday (except Sunday, of course.) My husband and I are going to CO and surrounding area this June. This is a request for assistance in finding the best brewpubs and drinking the best microbrewed beer while there. We are going to be in Denver, Colorado Springs, Grand Junction, and Telluride over a period of 12 days. In between those places, we will also be in Cheyenne/Laramie, WY, eastern UT, and northern NM. I have researched the web at Realbeer.com and Allaboutbeer.com, but those sites are sometimes not up-to-date. The best site that I have seen is beerismylife.com. I have also read the comments and suggestions of Mitch Mather at http://www.henge.com/~mmather/, but his site was last updated in August, and you know how quickly brewpubs close (and new ones open, fortunately!) Any ideas on the places to definitely visit, as well as those to definitely miss would be much appreciated! Brew on! Esther King President (aka SWMBO) Star City Brewers' Guild Roanoke, VA http://hbd.org/starcity/ Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 08:31:50 -0400 From: Jeff Renner <JeffRenner at mediaone.net> Subject: Re: degrees C -> degrees F Alan in PEI <elal at pei.sympatico.ca> wrote > - thin ice on puddles, about 0 C so that must be 32 F. Why would >anyone pick 32 as a starting point? You're showing your Celsius bias! Fahrenheit's starting point wasn't the freezing point of water. As a kid I heard that Herr Fahrenheit waited until his unscaled thermometer registered as low as it ever had (not sure of how long he waited - maybe all winter?) and chose that as 0 degrees, then took his temperature (following the Australian footie rules) and used that as 100 degrees. Evidently he was running a slight fever. (World Book Encyclopedia it was the freezing point of water, salt and ice. It also says that he chose 96 as the temperature of the human body. That seems implausible. Why would you choose 96 rather than 100?) One nice thing about the Fahrenheit scale is that in our climate, the outside temperature generally ranges between 0 and 100. Another nice thing is that it is more finely divided, and sometimes one degree F makes a difference. As opposed to metric units, Celsius is really no better intrinsically than Fahrenheit. It is just as arbitrary and makes calculations no easier. Of course, it is so completely associated with the metric system that it makes no sense to use metrics and Fahrenheit. It would require new units, for one thing. >1 degree C = 1.6 degree F No - it's 1.8. It sure is ridiculous for the world's largest economy to have refused to join the rest of the world on this. In 1975 the US Congress passes the Metric Conversion Act, but it called only for a voluntary conversion, despite a congressional study's recommendation that there be a planned conversion. Even that was going forward when the Regan administration halted the government's participation, which killed it. I don't know when/if we will ever get on board. Maybe after we lose another Mars mission? Jeff - -- ***Please note new address*** (old one will still work) Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner at mediaone.net "One never knows, do one?" Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943 Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 16:56:40 +0200 From: Aldrich4 at t-online.de (Wayne Aldrich) Subject: Hopfen und Malz, Gott erhalten Hopfen und Malz Gott erhalt's. This is a very old German saying that refers to the brewer's art. The Hopfen and Malz does indeed refer to hops and barley. The Gott erhalts roughly translated into English means god will provide or god takes care of the rest. This is taken from the verb erhalten, meaning to maintain, sustain or preserve. I agree with Jeff, this is a colloquialism of the verb so it will rhyme nicely with Malz. This last part of the saying is a reference to yeast. Before Louis Pasture isolated the yeast cell as the means of fermentation in beer (1860) it was believed that a miracle took place in the creation of beer. Incidentally, I've brewed a couple home brews that tasted as if there had been divine intervention. However, I have also brewed a few that could use a miracle! Prost! Wayne Aldrich Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 09:23:56 -0700 From: "D. Schultz" <d2schultz at qwest.net> Subject: O2 Regulators / Homebrew Clubs O2 Regulators: If you haven't gone the Liquid Bread/Bernzomatic route yet let me present an alternative. Go to Ebay and find yourself a medical grade O2 regulator. They can usually be picked up for around $20. Don't get the style that hooks up like a scuba tank (see Ebay item# 582607009). Get a welding style (see Ebay Item#582557195) one even if it has the scuba type hookup because the tank fitting can be replaced with a conventional fitting. Apparently, they retire a lot of the medical grade regulators for some reason. Then just go down to your local welding supply and get a welding grade tank of O2, buy an airstone. Total outlay should be just under $100. Yeah, it's not cheap but those Bernzomatic cannisters will add up. If you brew 15 times a year, your return on investment will be about 2 years and you won't have enven refilled your O2 tank yet as they hold >2Ksi. The Medical O2 regulators are cool in that they adjust by volume flow not pressure so it's hard to blow off your airstone and lose it in your wort. ________________________________________________________ Homebrew clubs will vary by club but don't trust any member to be a proper judge of your beers until you have had the opportunity to see how well he/she evaluates beers. I had beers that many say are good to excellent and then have a more experienced person pick up an obvious flaw. I also had one of the experienced tasters pick up a flaw and then start running around the place annoucing loudly for everyone to share the beer to confirm the flaw. A note to club members: when you spot problems with someones beer, they'll usually appreciate honest and QUIET feedback! Burp, -Dan Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 11:30:28 -0700 From: Bill Riel <bill.riel at home.com> Subject: Re: Mills The man from Plaid wrote: > Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager... > > "John Lovett" <john.lovett at amcor.com.au> writes... > > > I am thinking of buying a roller mill. It would seem to come down to a > > choice between the Listermann and Valley mills. Has anyone experience of > > either of these and the pros and cons of each? I'm just trying to get some > > recommendations. > > Do they still even make the Valley Mill? I thought they had gone out of > business a few years back. If so, that would significantly narrow the > field for me: hard to get support from a dead company. Don't know where you got that particular idea from (or was this a sly, covert effort to revive the 'mill wars' ;-), but they're still in business and doing fine: http://www.web.net/~valley/valleymill.html fwiw, I own a Valley Mill - I've only owned it about two months, but I *love* it. Well made, adjustable, easy to motorize and a good sized hopper. On a slightly different tangent, I've tried Dave Burley's recommendation of double milling, first at a courser setting, then very fine, and I really like the results. It is surprisingly fast, too. - -- Bill Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 17:23:00 -0700 From: "Dean Fikar" <dfikar at flash.net> Subject: AHA Board candidate support statement: Dave Dixon I would like to take this opportunity to put in a plug for a friend and fellow brewer who has been nominated for the AHA Board of Advisors. I have known Dave Dixon for about three years now. We have attended many of the same local brew club meetings and competitions and I have gotten to know him pretty well. I think Dave's greatest asset is his enthusiasm for brewing. I have had the pleasure of meeting a lot of homebrewers both locally and nationally over the last few years and can honestly say that I know of no one more enthusiastic about homebrewing than Dave. This guy gets more pumped about brewing, club meetings, competitions, and beer in general than anyone I know. As a relatively new brewer, I believe that his infectious enthusiasm would be a big asset to the AHA board. Dave also possesses another quality that would be of benefit to the AHA board. He has done a wonderful job as founder and organizer of the NET Hoppers homebrew club here in North Texas and, more recently, as director of the 2001 Bluebonnet Brewoff. For those of you not familiar with the Bluebonnet Brewoff, it is the largest single site competition in the country and it takes an enormous amount of effort and skill to put all the pieces together, as anyone who has ever organized a big competition knows. Those of you who attended the Bluebonnet last month are aware of what a great event it was. I believe that it was the best run competition of any that I have attended, here or elsewhere. Lastly, aside from being a good all round guy, Dave is an excellent brewer and has won a bunch of awards in regional and national competitions. He is an experienced beer judge and is quite good at it. He has competently judged a number of my beers in competitions and has given me helpful feedback. His only flaw in this regard is that he has not a awarded me enough medals and ribbons for the beers he's judged! ;^) I'm finding it quite difficult to pick the six candidates to vote for. The problem is not finding six worthy candidates but rather eliminating three from the list of nine very qualified people. I do know, however, that one of my votes will go for Dave Dixon and I would encourage others to follow my lead. Dean Fikar Fort Worth, TX Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 18:37:02 -0400 From: Jim Adwell <jim at jimala.com> Subject: Jim's 1st Compendium of Unusual Beer Links Informative, odd, funny, and/or just plain weird beer links, to entertain and educate, amaze and amuse. The name says it all (or does it?) : http://www.mothersmilkbrewing.com/ http://www.threestoogesbeer.com/frameset.htm Ever wondered how old that beer in the store is?: http://www.bauser.com/beer/ Yeast weirdness: http://www.sirius.com/~merojo/hopheads/gm_yeast.html http://www.purefood.org/ge/devioddna.cfm Weird beer recipes: http://www.usd.edu/~jwortham/saloon.html http://www.olympus.net/personal/skyline/madcow/hotbeer.htm http://bbq.about.com/food/bbq/library/weekly/aa100400a.htm Beer here and there: http://www.fas.usda.gov/info/agexporter/1997/beerch.html http://www.hawaiianhistory.org/brewing.html http://www.radio.cz/beer/ http://www.erm.ee/pysi/engpages/olu.html Free beer, anyone?: http://urbanlegends.about.com/science/urbanlegends/library/blmiller.htm Hops are really, really good: http://www.junkscience.com/news/thisbud.htm http://www.lougehrigsdisease.net/als_news/990106beer_could.htm Ultrasonics and beer: http://www.tsc.co.jp/~honda-el/cat_e/cat_030.html http://www.discovery.com/news/briefs/20010109/te_beer.html By the time you read this I will be on my way to Nashville for a week, where I hope to find Dave Miller's brewpub, if he's still there, and chastise him severely for advocating starting a siphon by sucking on the hose - yecch!! ( just kidding, Dave ). If any one out there in HBD land has any fun beer links to add to these, I hope they will post them in future Digests. Cheers, Jim Jim's Brewery Pages: http://brewery.jimala.com Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 20:40:45 -0400 From: "Steven Parfitt" <the_gimp98 at hotmail.com> Subject: RE: Which ROller MIll / Valley Mill Pat Babcock <pbabcock at hbd.org> Replies to JOhn Lovett with ..... >Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager... ..... Snip >Do they still even make the Valley Mill? I thought they had gone out of >business a few years back. If so, that would significantly narrow the >field for me: hard to get support from a dead company. - -- - See ya! ... No, since they are still in business. I bought mine in February of this year for $119 + $19S/h. They sell direct, so the shipping to the US is a little high. Try (613) 731-6436, or e-mail at valley at web.net I dropped a set of shieves and a intermideate shaft to set the rpm to 100. works like a charm. No affiliation, satisfied customer, yada, yada, yada. Steven Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 22:20:48 -0400 (EDT) From: Pat Babcock <pbabcock at hbd.org> Subject: Valley Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager... Seems I was confused and Valley is still around making a fine product! My apologies! - -- - See ya! Pat Babcock in SE Michigan pbabcock at hbd.org Home Brew Digest Janitor janitor@hbd.org HBD Web Site http://hbd.org The Home Brew Page http://hbd.org/pbabcock "The monster's back, isn't it?" - Kim Babcock after I emerged from my yeast lab Saturday Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2001 07:54:59 -0500 From: Rick Lassabe <bayrat at worldnet.att.net> Subject: Drill Speed With the re-birth thread about which grain mill is best, I started wondering, Hmmmm??? Just how does one go about determining how many rpm the drill is turning while crushing grain? Is there some way to attach a tachometer? Perhaps place a white mark on the chuck then use a timing light with built in tack. If there is a timing light with tachometer? I bet someone has already figured this question out, or I may have some of you falling on the floor from laughter at either the question or just how simple the answer is. At any rate, to quote someone; "The only dumb question is one that's not asked". Rick Lassabe Bayrat's "Bayou Degradable Brewery" Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 29 Apr 2001 14:13:46 -0400 From: David N Boice <daveboice at juno.com> Subject: Air lock in RIMS Well I've been racking my brain to no avail, but maybe someone else can figure it out. My brew setup is a RIMS built around a converted keg. It uses a false bottom with a 1/2" copper pipe coming up through the center of it and then to a welded coupling on the side. After a 1/2" ball valve on the other side of the coupling, wort then runs down about a foot, through 1/2" braided vinyl tubing, into the pump, through another 1/2" ball valve, more vinyl, and on to the heater, before returning to the top of the mash. The reason I describe all of this in detail is I can't understand why I'm getting air in-line, sometimes to the extent that it air locks and stops the flow altogether! When I brewed last Saturday I filled the mash-tun with enough water to give me 1.5 qts. per pound , heated the water to strike temps. but instead of dumping the grist in immediately I just let I cycle for a while to try to see what was happening. Nothing! No air bubbles to be seen, no problem at all. Well at least there was no problem until I finally did put the grain in, then it started in. The bubbles seem to be coming out of the mash-tun itself and collect in the vinyl line between it and the pump, but remember the grains are covered by several inches of water and the inlet to the line is completely submerged. My brewing partner and I were completely baffled. We shut down the flow to next to nothing using the valve on the outlet side of the pump to make sure we weren't pulling wort out faster then it could flow through the grain, but it didn't help. We removed the quick connects and even the valve from between the mash-tun and the pump mid-brew (wasn't that fun!) to make sure they weren't leaking, but the air bubbles kept showing up. Lastly we turned off the RIMS heater to see if the heat might somehow be responsible, but of course it wasn't. It seems to me to have to be some kind of a stuck sparge type of problem because straight water worked fine, but we really did play with the flow rate a lot with no success. It's not a constant phenomena either, it might recirculate fine for 30-40 minutes, then the bubbles start, then back to OK. I'm out of ideas, and would greatly appreciate any ideas the collective has. It's a pain to deal with not to mention HSA issues. Thanks in advance. Dave Boice Lancster Ohio Return to table of contents
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