HOMEBREW Digest #4118 Fri 13 December 2002


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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Re: Brewing as a profession ("Chad Gould")
  Using an A/C for a beer cooler (Mike Bardallis)
  Corking Gueze (Hayes Antony)
  Bottle Conditioning ("Kenneth Peters")
  Re: Amusing brewery story (Jeff Renner)
  Beer event coordination ("Fred Scheer")
  pumpkin pie beer ("Byron's Yahoo Account")
  Re: Al Capone (Bill Wible)
  Re. WL vs Wyeast (Bill Wible)
  Re: Yeast info pages (Bill Wible)
  Hop bags and bleach (David Towson)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 23:35:32 -0500 From: "Chad Gould" <cgould11 at tampabay.rr.com> Subject: Re: Brewing as a profession > And why would you want to take all the risk and expense > of starting your own so you can either get crushed by AB > or squashed by the gov't? > It doesn't make sense. I don't like the professional brewery career path. :) But brewpubs is another story. There are too many microbreweries in the US right now... I honestly think the microbrewery market is saturated in the US at this point... the "fad" has sort of died out. In its place are the charcoal-filtered, sweet puke-inducers that seem to be popular among those who like to get drunk... go figure. But brewpubs still are around, and several of the ones I know are doing quite well. I would think that one can operate a good brewpub business... if you provide *good food* and *good beer*... that diminishes the anti-alcohol argument (and adds an attraction to your restauraunt). It's hard to argue that a brewpub who serves classy food and classy beer is promoting teenage alcoholism and rampant DUIs. Especially when you refuse to serve some of the "other" products (e.g. no "malt beverages", maybe restaurant hours depending on the city). Obviously, the climate differs from place to place in the US and around the world. Obviously, there's a lot of expense involved in any restaurant. Many aren't very profitable. This is something though I see people opening for the love of the beer and food, and doing for the right reasons. There's a lot of bureaucratic hoops to jump through still, but I personally think it could be accomplished in many American cities. It's not all doom and gloom for beer, after all. I'm sure there are plenty of people that are anti-alcohol of any sort... MADD types perhaps too. But health statistics are so much more kind though to moderate drinkers (beer or wine in moderation is healthy for you; next to alcoholics, teetotaler parents are more likely to have alcoholic children; etc.) that their shrill speech sort would get slammed down if sensibility spoke up in a louder voice. In the places where sense does not rule (only some of the US), if one had the time and the effort, campaigning might be necessary to change things. Come to think of it, I've always wondered whether an international brew pub would do well. I don't know of any. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 00:17:07 -0500 From: Mike Bardallis <dbgrowler at provide.net> Subject: Using an A/C for a beer cooler My two cents: I tried this in Michigan in the summer. It can be fairly humid here, what with the lakes and all. I had a basement pantry, three walls made of concrete block, two of which were outside basement walls. I fitted a thermostat that could be set to below 50F to a window A/C cut into the fourth wall, which was made of 2" thick lumber. Set to 55-60, the A/C iced up pretty quick. I added seals and insulation to the door. Ice. I rigged up an intake for the A/C which drew the air across an approx 3-4 sq. ft. bed of dessicant. Iced up a bit slower. I insulated, then stapled vapor barrier over the ceiling (open joist) and walls. Still iced up at around 55F, and the huge puddles of condensate that collected on top of the ceiling vapor barrier quickly spawned colonies of near-sentient mold. At various points along the way, the control circuit was tweaked; limits on compressor duty cycle, delay on fan shutoff to clear ice, etc. After the mold started demanding its own TV, with cable, the experiment was discontinued. I don't think this "experiment" directly contributed to the demise of my marriage, but it certainly might have been noted in the list of justifications for canning my a**. You can get a pretty darn big chest freezer for about $300, and it will use a lot less electricity. Need more space? Two pretty darn big chest freezers cost about $600! Mike Bardallis Brewing in the shadow of the big tire in Allen Park, MI Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 09:44:14 +0200 From: Hayes Antony <HayesA at aforbes.co.za> Subject: Corking Gueze I opened a bottle of my first attempt at corked gueze last night. Unfortunately the beer was petilant, rather than highly carbonated as I would have liked. I have had success with crown caps, but think that corks look better (and impress the hell out of my mates) The corks I used were normal wine corks - are champagne corks denser? Ant Hayes Johannesburg; RSA Confidentiality Warning ======================= The contents of this e-mail and any accompanying documentation are confidential and any use thereof, in what ever form, by anyone other than the addressee is strictly prohibited. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 08:04:59 -0600 From: "Kenneth Peters" <kpeters6 at cox.net> Subject: Bottle Conditioning In his book, "Homebrewing Guides", Dave Miller states that in bottle conditioned beer, the yeast will have fermented the priming sugar within 24 hours and the remaining time is only required for the beer to absorb the CO2. If Dave is correct then a correct procedure MIGHT look like this: 1- prime beer and let ferment in bottle at room temperature for 3 days, 2- refrigerate beer and shake each bottle daily to facilitate CO2 absorbsion. I've searched the archives on this subject and there seems to be a majority counter opinion that the fermentation process takes longer and that other significant changes are occurring at this time. .What is the current thinking on this? If Dave is right, couldn't one save several weeks from fermentor to bladder :) Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 09:10:40 -0500 From: Jeff Renner <jeffrenner at comcast.net> Subject: Re: Amusing brewery story Brewers In response to a private email request: >I've been a long-time reader and lurker of HBD. If I recall, you >posted an amusing story about a brewery worker from years past who >was asked by his boss to demonstrate his ability to drink a pail of >beer. Either I forgot to save that post or have since lost it. Do >you recall the story?? If you can find it, it might be worth >re-posting on the HBD for newer readers who didn't see the original >post. As I think about it, this probably sounds like a letter to >Ann Landers to re-print an old column! Thanks for any help. Merry >Christmas! Well, this is probably different each time I tell it. It seems that during the golden age of American lagers (late 19th century early 20th), a banker called on a brewery that wanted a loan to expand. The brewery owner was giving the banker a tour and wanted to impress him. "Our lager beer is so healthful and drinkable, why I'll bet you that Hans, here, my foreman, can drink a pail of it straight away without stopping. Can you do that, Hans?" "Chust a minute, if you please, Herr Fehrenbach," replied Hans, who then stepped though a door from the brewhouse to a side room. A minute later he returned and said, "OK, Herr Fehrenbach," proceeded to the brewery tap, drew a pailful of beer, tipped it to his mouth and drank it straight down. The banker was suitably impressed and the owner beamed proudly with his thumbs in his suspenders, thanked Hans, and continued with the tour. Later that day, he spoke to Hans, "Thanks for the demonstration, but tell me, why did you leave for a minute before you drank the beer?" Vell, Herr Fehrenbach, I didn't vant to disappoint you mit dat big banker man, so first I had to go and make sure I really could do it." Hope you enjoyed this again. Jeff - -- Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner at comcast.net "One never knows, do one?" Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943 Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 08:31:55 -0600 From: "Fred Scheer" <FHopheads at msn.com> Subject: Beer event coordination HI Guys: The new MCB's President askd me to be the beer event coordinator. So, now I'm here and don't really know where to get all the events or where to look for other than Zymurgy. Is Z the only real source for info? If any of you have beer events going on, please email me, so I can inform the club. Thanks for your help, Fred Jeff, did you hear about the beer you brewed 10 hours south of your home town? Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 07:17:50 -0800 (PST) From: "Byron's Yahoo Account" <btowles at yahoo.com> Subject: pumpkin pie beer Ladies and Gentlemen, Wise ones, Learned Sages, I have a question. I'm interested in doing a pumpkin pie flavored beer. I'm particularly set up for ales, but I could, theoretically, make a lager, considering it's wintertime. I'm looking for an all-grain recipe, 10 gallon if possible, but will make 5 if that's all I can find, that tastes like pumpkin pie. Not overwhelming, but tasty. Any suggestions or things to look for would be very much appreciated. Also, if anyone else has a reliable recipe, that would as well be very much appreciated. I've seen some of the recipes available online, but most of these are posted prior to tasting, and I'd really like to find a recipe from someone who's tasted the final product. TIA Byron Towles New Orleans, LA Crescent City Homebrewers http://hbd.org/crescent [misplaced AR coords go here] ===== - --------------------------------------------- The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity. - --------------------------------------------- Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 10:32:33 -0500 From: Bill Wible <bill at brewbyyou.net> Subject: Re: Al Capone >Remember; at age 32 Al Capone made over $32million >a year- quite a bit from "penny beers". Just remember to pay the taxes on it! They were never able to convict Al Capone for bootlegging. They did Bill Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 10:56:37 -0500 From: Bill Wible <bill at brewbyyou.net> Subject: Re. WL vs Wyeast >that the whole 'which is better?' debate is a waste of time. Oh, I wholeheartedly agree, and my comments on this have never been to which is 'better'. I like both, and as you said, there are individual strains from each that I like more so than what the other has. I like many of the White Labs Platinum strains, like the Bedford British and the Zurich Lager. And I'm excited when I hear they're bringing out Orval and Ayinger yeasts! I use the East Coast Ale and Burton Ale strains regularly myself. From Wyeast, I do prefer 1056 over California Ale, (they are not the same yeast to me) and I use 1275 alot. I think their 3068 has it all over White Labs Hefeweizen. And I am also interested in their new 'Belgian/Canadian Ale', which is supposed to be Unibroue yeast. The major concern is that White Labs now all but owns the yeast market. Wyeast has been having a number of problems for some time, including availability, packaging, and a lack of information about the fact that they also make 'pitchable' yeast, just like White Labs. For some reason, whenever anybody thinks of Wyeast, they automatically think of those old gold 'smack packs'. Its understandable, because that's what they became know for, and got their reputation from. But times have changed now. As I said before, people can't be bothered to actually plan a brew a few days in advance anymore and smack a pack of yeast. It's the 'instant gratification' 'we want it right now' society we live in. White Labs was the first to make 'pitchable' yeast. So they became known quickly for that. Wyeast has been playing 'catch up' since. Everybody automatically thinks of White Labs when they think of 'pitchable' yeast, same way everybody automatically thinks of "smack packs" when they think of Wyeast. White Labs has done an incredible job of advertising and marketing. They are very well known now. Meanwhile, as I've said before, Wyeast has pretty much sat on their reputation as the original yeast supplier. They have no marketing programs, and it doesn't even look like they're trying to compete. White Labs has a 'freshness assurance' program, where they allow shops to return a percentage of expired tubes that don't sell. This makes it easier and more comfortable for shops to order their product. I get a full set - one of every tube they have available - once a quarter. And now I just order my 'extras' from my regular supplier. They give away posters and yeast selection charts by the thousands. Last time we had a contest, THEY CALLED ME to offer prizes!! If you go to their website right now, they have a program running where you can exchange empty White Labs vials for merchandise and 'awards'. You can exchange empty tubes for more yeast, hats, T-Shirts, and if you get 5,000 empties, Chris White will come to your house, brew with you, and bring the yeast! They aggressively market, and Wyeast has not done any of this. The major suppliers Like LD Carlson stopped carrying Wyeast a couple months ago. They switched entirely to White Labs. I'm told its 'one or the other' due to refrigerator space concerns, and everybody has told them they want White Labs. I want both!! I'd like to not see there be only one yeast supplier. I think there's room for 2, and I like having choices. Bill Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 11:02:31 -0500 From: Bill Wible <bill at brewbyyou.net> Subject: Re: Yeast info pages Have you seen: http://www.skotrat.com/brewrats/yeast.cfm This is the one I always look at. Bill Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 16:06:35 -0500 From: David Towson <dtowson at comcast.net> Subject: Hop bags and bleach While referring to hop bags in HBD 4117, Jeff Renner mentioned, "I always boil mine before use, and soak it [in] a bleach solution when I remove it. " The hop bags I've seen are made of Nylon, which is damaged by Chlorine bleach. If yours are Nylon, I hope you don't use a very long soak, and you rinse them well afterwards. Dave Bel Air, MD Return to table of contents
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