---

	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: janitor@hbd.org


***************************************************************
       THIS YEAR'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY: 

          Northern  Brewer, Ltd. Home Brew Supplies
        http://www.northernbrewer.com  1-800-681-2739

    Support those who support you! Visit our sponsor's site!
********** Also visit http://hbd.org/hbdsponsors.html *********


Contents:
  Melbourne brewers ("ben yep ben")
  Conical Geometry (Was RE: Fermentap) ("Dave Howell")
  Peppermint Mead ("David Craft")
  thanks for the advice on scales ("Patrick Finerty Jr.")
  Re: Ice to cool wort (Jeff Renner)
  Nylon washer in brew kettle? ("TED MAJOR")
  Beer Bellies ("Pete Calinski")
  Teeshirt vendor solution wanted... (Pat Babcock)


*
* Show your HBD pride! Wear an HBD Badge! 
* http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/shopping
*
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy!
*

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 cannot 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.

JANITOR on duty: Pat Babcock and Karl Lutzen (janitor@hbd.org)



----------------------------------------------------------------------


Date: Fri, 07 Dec 2001 15:42:10 +1100
From: "ben yep ben" <dundalinger at hotmail.com>
Subject: Melbourne brewers

Hi any Brewers from Melbourne Australia?



Return to table of contents


Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 22:14:35 -0700
From: "Dave Howell" <djhowell at qwest.net>
Subject: Conical Geometry (Was RE: Fermentap)

IN HBD #3807, Todd Bissel writes:

"I've read that 60-degrees is the "magic number", in terms of how steep this
bottom cone needs to be......"

Actually, if one cuts a semi-circle of sheet metal and rolls it to form a
cone, the conical angle is 60 degrees.  It's the easiest cone angle to
manufacture, and the least wasteful of rectangular sheet stock.  I think it
just happens to be a steep enough one to let yeast tumble down to collect at
the bottom.


Try it with a sheet of paper... just start with a semicircle.



Dave Howell
Mesa, Az [1630.2, 247.7] Rennerian



Return to table of contents


Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2001 07:27:35 -0600
From: "David Craft" <David-Craft at craftinsurance.com>
Subject: Peppermint Mead

Has anyone ever tried using peppermint sticks or peppermint extract in Mead?
Sounds festive, doesn't it?  My wife said sounded sick!

David B. Craft
Battleground Brewers
Greensboro, NC





Return to table of contents


Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2001 09:41:45 -0500
From: "Patrick Finerty Jr." <pjf at finerty.net>
Subject: thanks for the advice on scales

Howdy folks,

Thanks to everyone who provided suggestions about scales. It seems
that many people like to have dual use scales that can measure both
the small amounts required for water adjustments or hop additions as
well as the larger quantities required for grain.

I already have a Mettler 300 balance that can weigh (can you guess?)
up to 300 g with 0.001 g accuracy (definitely required for proper hop
weighing). I'm probably going to buy a decent analog scale that can go
to at least 20 lb since I'm impatient and don't like having to weigh
my grain incrementally.

Cheers to all and have safe holidays!

 -patrick

- -- 
Patrick J. Finerty, Jr., Ph.D.
Forman-Kay Laboratory
Hospital for Sick Children
Toronto, ON, Canada
http://finerty.net/pjf


Return to table of contents


Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2001 10:24:31 -0500
From: Jeff Renner <JeffRenner at mediaone.net>
Subject: Re: Ice to cool wort

"Adam Warren" <warrenal at mcmaster.ca> writes from the great frozen 
north of Hamilton, Ontario Canada:

>I don't understand why the use of ice for cooling is not discussed more
>often.
>I've never seen it even mentioned in a book.

and goes on to describe his clever method of using zip lock bags.

I'm surprised it isn't mentioned more often too, as it is a great 
method, provided you take similar precautions to what Adam does. 
It's not that your tap water may be contaminated, as someone recently 
posted.  Its that there may be nasty stuff in your freezer.  Of 
course, nothing should be actually growing at freezer temperatures, 
but I'll bet it's not a very clean place microbiologically speaking.

On a historic note, old German-American (and presumably German) 
brewers used "schwimmers" (pronounced schvimmers), which were metal 
boxes which they filled with ice and floated on the cooling wort and 
pulled around by ropes in warm weather.  This way they cooled the 
wort without diluting it.  Presumably they sanitized these first, or 
relied on the sanitizing effect of hot wort.

Jeff
- -- 
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: Fri, 07 Dec 2001 12:47:15 -0500
From: "TED MAJOR" <tidmarsh at charter.net>
Subject: Nylon washer in brew kettle?

Hi all--

I'm working on a new kettle drain for my boiler (9-gal
aluminum for 5-gal batches) and am putting together a
bulkhead fitting using a 1/4" NPT ball valve, 1/4" NPT close
nipple, and 1/4" NPT/3/8" compression adapter (all brass).
I have seen Teddy Winstead's keg conversion document at
brewery.org, which suggests using a teflon washer to seal a
no-weld bulkhead fitting. Those aren't readily available at
the local mega home improvement warehouse, but nylon washers
are. Is a nylon washer suitable for use in a boiler to seal
between a brass washer and the kettle wall? I've found a few
MSDS on the web for various grades of nylon, and it looks
like natural nylon is typically food grade and safe at
boiling temps. Any experience with nylon in the boiler?
Boiling is below nylon's melting point, but will the washer
soften too much?

thanks,
Tidmarsh Major
Birmingham, Ala.


Return to table of contents


Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2001 14:14:41 -0500
From: "Pete Calinski" <pcalinski at iname.com>
Subject: Beer Bellies


NEW DATA MAY HELP SLIM BEER BELLIES
from The Boston Globe

Although the cure won't come in time for this holiday season's weight creep,
Boston scientists think they have come up with information that could lead
to a new way to reduce the mostly-male problem known as beer belly.

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have identified a
specific enzyme in fat cells that causes them to cluster around the abdomen.
In the study, mice with excessive amounts of this enzyme ended up looking
like a rodent version of Homer Simpson.

If drug companies can create medications to turn off this enzyme, the
researchers say, it might help men lose abdominal fat.

Paring down that paunch has implications far beyond male vanity. The kind of
fat that sticks around the abdomen is the kind most associated with a higher
risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and certain forms of
cancer, researchers say.
<http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/341/nation/New_data_may_help_slim_beer_be
llies+.shtml>


Pete Calinski
East Amherst NY
Near Buffalo NY


***********************************************************
*My goal:
*      Go through life and never drink the same beer twice.
*     (As long as it doesn't mean I have to skip a beer.)
***********************************************************



Return to table of contents


Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2001 23:50:03 -0500 (EST)
From: Pat Babcock <pbabcock at hbd.org>
Subject: Teeshirt vendor solution wanted...


Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager...

Aaaaarrrrrgggggggghhhh! 

OK. Our teeshirt vendor has gone out of the business. Quite
suddenly. Out of the business. We need a replacement.

What we would like to have is a vendor who will produce "to
order" goods with the teeshirt competition design on them
(ability to do other things like hats, jackets, etc a plus), but
what we DON'T want to have to do is buy a bazillion of any item
at once to sell as we don't have the wherewithall to store and
ship orders. It is also not desirable to lock up any of the
HBD's existing budget in inventory. 

Our ideal clothing vendor will take care of order processing,
clothing "manufacture"  and shipping, either using our ordering
system, or from their own. If from ours, we will agree upon a
selling/processing cost from which a portion will go to the HBD
Server Fund, and the HBD will reimburse the vendor per order. If
from theirs: same deal, but they would provide the donation
portion to the HBD Server Fund on an agreed upon interval. The
HBD Server Fund Portion could be a flat percent of sale, or a
use/royalty fee for the HBD logo, designs, or whatever HBD
association the vendor wished to employ in clothing or other
merchandise. A marketing portal or link will be provided on the
HBD website

We are not interested in second-party leads to pursue, I'm
afraid, as we have little available time to pursue them. If you
have such a vendor in mind, or you are such a vendor yourself,
please have them contact me directly. The ultimate decision will
be made from whatever pool of interested vendors respond.

Thanks!

- -- 
 -
God bless America!

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
[18, 92.1] Rennerian
"The monster's back, isn't it?" - Kim Babcock after I emerged
                                  from my yeast lab Saturday





Return to table of contents

---