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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Re: Hopbacks (Ed Jones)
  Competition Tips for Beginners? (cboyer)
  Hopbacks ("William Frazier")
  Re: Beer in Fort Collins CO (Dan Fink)
  Champaign Cork Source? (pacman)
  hydrometer/refractometer fermentation prediction, hops scale ("Dave Burley")
  Fwd: Quality malt guide? (Joe Gibbens)
  THIRSTY Classic Call for Judges and Entries ("Walsh, Susan")
  Re: Hopbacks ("Richard S Sloan")
  Split Rock 2004 HB Competition ("David Houseman")
  Re: A Handful of Hops ("Dave and Joan King")


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Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 05:04:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: Ed Jones <cuisinartoh at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Hopbacks

Fred Johnson wrote:

"I've finally concluded that I can't control the bittering of my beers
using my old methods. 

*SNIP*

I would like the hopback to be sealed, i.e, flow in and out is 
controlled by a pump, not gravity. I'd appreciate anyone pointing me to
sealed hopbacks that I could build or buy."

Fred, I've considered the very same thing, but haven't actually "gotten
around to it". Graduate school has pretty much kept me out of the
brewery for the last year. Anyway, here's what I've been kicking
around:

Get a short length of SS pipe...say 3" in diameter (maybe 4"?) and 10"
long. I haven't yet measured the volume of the pipe needed for the
amount of hope so adjust the length as needed. Get two 3" SS pipe caps.
Drill a hole in the center of each cap and weld a 1/2" SS coupling on
each cap. On the inside of one cap, screw on a Bazooka Tube then screw
on the cap. From the other side, fill the contraption with hops then
screw on the lid. Place it inline between the pump and chiller.

I have no idea if it will actually work. It's just an idea that's been
floating in my head for a while. If you don't have access to a sanitary
welder then you could try a pair of Weld-b-Gone's. 


=====
Ed Jones - Columbus, Ohio U.S.A - [163.8, 159.4] [B, D] Rennerian

"When I was sufficiently recovered to be permitted to take nourishment,
I felt the most extraordinary desire for a glass of Guinness...I am
confident that it contributed more than anything else to my recovery."
  - written by a wounded officer after Battle of Waterloo, 1815


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Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 10:16:21 -0400 (EDT)
From: cboyer at ausoleil.org
Subject: Competition Tips for Beginners?

Hi Folks,

A good friend of mine has decided to enter in the Dixie Cup brew
competition, and asked me for tips to get as high a score as he could. I
gave him my thoughts (I haven't been entering the past several years, but
am also sending beers on down there this time) and here's waht I came up
with:

1. Pick the right style to be entering in ... you may love your IPA, and
think it's the greatest, but if it is not within the specs, you'll be
judged lower than if it were in the proper style.

2. Look over the style you are going to be judged against, and evaluate
your beer as objectively as possible, using the guideline. The finer
points usually make the difference between a winner and an also-ran, so
pay attention to those. Try not to love your beer so much as lookat it
critically, because that's what the judges are going to do.

3. Get your beer there as early as possible so it has time to settle back
down. Last minute entries are usually shaken in shipping, and they don't
do as well because they need time to clarify.

4. Have fun with it, and don't expect to win so much as expect to get a
good evaluation. Criticism is just that, and use it to improve your beers
and coming from folks who know what they are talking about.

Any additions?

Good Brewing!
Charles Boyer
http://www.homebrewhelp.com
Now featuring access to usenet brewing groups!



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Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 09:33:11 -0500
From: "William Frazier" <billfrazier at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Hopbacks


Fred Johnson wrote "I believe I MUST go to a hopback for adding these.
(I probably also need to start adjusting when I add the earlier hop
additions
also.)  I would like the hopback to be sealed, i.e, flow in and out is
controlled by a
pump, not gravity. I'd appreciate anyone pointing me to sealed hopbacks that
I
could build or buy.:

Fred - See if you can locate a copy of "zymurgy, Tips & Gadgets".  There are
plans for a homemade hop back in this little book.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA




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Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 08:34:34 -0700
From: Dan Fink <danbob at starband.net>
Subject: Re: Beer in Fort Collins CO

For the gentleman in Idaho who is moving to Ft Collins soon....
I live in the mountains an hour west of Ft Collins, it's the closest 
town. Unfortunately the last homebrew store there closed a couple years 
back. So we have to go to Boulder for supplies (45 min drive from Ft 
Collins). Fortunately, it sounds like What's Brewing (in Boulder) will 
soon be setting up a system where folks in Ft Collins can order online, 
and the supplies will be delivered on a weekly run to a local 
homebrewer's house in the Fort.

I'm not involved in the local homebrew club, but I think they are still 
active...the AHA would know.

Hops grow quite well here with all the sun; you'll have to give 'em lots 
of water during a dry year though. I've grown cascade and hallertau when 
i used to live in town, now I'm at 8200 ft elevation and am still 
growing cascades (but they took a awhile to start -- see my "high 
altitude hop cultivation" posting here from a couple weeks back.

Ft Collins microbrews are abundant; in bottles you can get Odells, New 
Belgium, and Fort Collins Brewing, plus there are many brewpubs....my 
favorite brewpub is Coopersmiths. New Belgium has grown HUGE, it's the 
15th largest brewery in the country, and the largest fully automated 
microbrewery. Take the tour and check it out--they do all Belgian style 
beers. Try their sour red, called LaFolie -- it's a touch of heaven, 
same with their Transatlantique Kriek. My favorite local ale is Odell's 
90 shilling.

I hope you enjoy Fort Collins when you arrive. The music scene is 
excellent here too.

DAN F






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Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 10:51:34 -0400
From: <pacman at cox.net>
Subject: Champaign Cork Source?


I purchased some champaign bottles for my
now-fermenting pumpkin porter. I'dlike to cork
these champaign bottles with natural cork champaign 
stoppers. Funny thing- I cannot for the life of me
google a place that sells them. Thewire things,
foil capsules, etc... no prob. Regular wine corks,
no problem. Even a couple places that have the
plastic ones. Why is this so difficult? Don't people
use these to cork champagin, and mead?



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Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 11:19:05 -0400
From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley at charter.net>
Subject: hydrometer/refractometer fermentation prediction, hops scale

Brewsters:

I don't know if this is the reason for the discrepancy with Promash, but
hydrometers and refractometers are of no use once fermentation has started in
predicting the <exact> progress of the fermentation, even assuming you have no
CO2 giving you a false high SG reading. A mixture of alcohol and water has a
different density than you might predict from a simple arithmetic addition.
This will affect both the SG reading and the refractive index reading.

If you take 1000 mls of water and 1000 mls of alcohol and mix them you do not
come up with 2000 mls of solution but a substantially smaller volume due to
the hydrogen bonding of the water and alcohol.

This, of course, causes problems with using SG  or refractive index as a
measure once you have a three-way nuixture of water, sugar and alcohol as
different mixtures can give the same reading.

Alcohol (1.361)  has a slightly higher refractive index than water ( 1.333)
and lower than sucrose (1.5376) , so as sugar is used up and alcohol is formed
you get a tangled mess of numbers with refractive index, on top of the change
in physical density as sugar goes down but comes up as alcohol is added to the
mixture.

Despite my comments on this, a brewing buddy purchased a refractometer from a
well known purveyor of beer hobby stuff over the 'net. It was supposedly
"calibrated" to allow its use in beer making. I presume the designers assumed
a certain alcohol and unfermetable content to get this "instrument".  Brew
buddy could never get a consistent result and didn't understand why until he
did the following experiment.

For those doubting Thomases, make up some solutions of water and vodka ( 80
proof = 40%)  to the same concentrations found in beer as it ferments ( say
1% - 8%) , also make up mixtures of sugar and water and finally make up water
and sugar and alcohol mixtures. Make measurements of density and refractive
index. You will be surprised.

The only real way to follow your fermentation and know when it is finished?
Clinitest

- ---------------------
Jl asks how to approximate an ounce of hops.

A good handful of dried hops is about 1 oz.

Why not make a balance beam scale from a ruler and some kind of fulcrum and
calibrate it with water or coins. Tape paper plates/ saucers on either end to
hold the hops.

I have forgotten the coin correlation for smaller amounts, but it is usually
found in the older brew books. Perhaps another HBDer has these committed to
memory. One tablespoon of water is 1/2 oz of weight for these purposes.

Most postal scales will do this easily.   I use an electronic one that can be
tared, but no need to be that fancy or expensive.

Keep on Brewin'

Dave Burley




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Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 10:57:08 -0500
From: Joe Gibbens <jgibbens at gmail.com>
Subject: Fwd: Quality malt guide?

I'd like to try brewing a Vienna this year, but don't have a lot of
experience with judging high-quality malts.  The beer series guide for
Vienna advises caution when looking for base and specialty malts, so
I'm interested in some brand and vendor-specific advice on where to
find the best of the best.

Specifically..
German light/dark crystal malt, and 2 vs. 6 row.
Munich malt
Vienna malt
Aromatic malt
Pilsner malt

Has there ever been any talk about setting up a review/opinion site
for ingredients and equipment?  Maybe something similar to
epinions?

Thanks in advance
Joe Gibbens
Hopedale IL


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Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 12:26:00 -0500
From: "Walsh, Susan" <susan-walsh at uiowa.edu>
Subject: THIRSTY Classic Call for Judges and Entries

THIRSTY and Millstream Brewery present the 2004 THIRSTY Classic.
Saturday, November 6 at Millstream Brewery in Amana, IA.

This is an AHA/BJCP sanctioned event.
The 1999 BJCP style guidelines will be followed. 
Entries open October 24 and close October 30.  
Two bottles per entry are required and entries cost $6 each.  
Only 2 entries per category are allowed.    

Ribbons will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each style
category.  
The Michael Hansen memorial trophy will be awarded for Best of Show.
 
For more information, visit the THIRSTY website
home.mchsi.com/~thirsty/THIRSTY_Classic.html 
or e-mail Susan Walsh at susan-walsh at uiowa.edu 

Hope to see you there!




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Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 11:04:39 -0700
From: "Richard S Sloan" <rssloan at household.com>
Subject: Re: Hopbacks

FLJohnson at portbridge.com wrote -
>>I've finally concluded that I can't control the bittering of my beers
using my
>>old methods. I used to chill with an immersion chiller and added the
finishing
>>hops at the very end, just before I turned on the cooling. The kettle
dropped
>>its temperature in a relativley short time. Now, using a counterflow
chiller, I
>>can't easily prevent or control the length of time the hops are in
contact
>>witht the hot wort if I add the hops to the kettle at the end. I've made
a
>>number of beers with finishing hops that are definitely contributing a
lot of
>>bitterness to my beers, so I believe I MUST go to a hopback for adding
these.

Adding hops at flameout is great for aroma, but won't add noticeable
bitterness whether you steep them or use a hopback. Hops must be tossed in
the boil early on to fully isomerize the alpha acids which contributes the
bitterness. The long boil also kills the flavor and aroma compounds which
is why we want to add hops later in the process to harness those benefits.

A hopback is great for adding hop aroma as well as filtering hop sediment
and other gunk floating about your brew, but not altogether necessary. I
just toss my hops in at flameout, get a good whirlpool going and let it
steep for 10-15 minutes before passing it through my chiller. I get my hop
aroma and the gunk in the kettle settles in the middle away from my valve.

Richard Sloan
Brouwerij van de Grote Hund
San Diego, CA




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Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 20:06:10 -0400
From: "David Houseman" <david.houseman at verizon.net>
Subject: Split Rock 2004 HB Competition

I am pleased to announce that there will again be a homebrew competition on
November 20th,  at the Split Rock Resort in the Pocono's of Pennsylvania in
conjunction with their annual Micro Brew Festival.  Contrary to any other
information, judging will only be on Saturday.  Entry fees, $5, will go to
the American Diabetes Association.  This is a sanctioned competition
judging all beer, mead and cider styles.  Entries should be shipped to The
Resort at Split Rock, One Lake Drive, Lake Harmony, PA 18624, Attention:
Shelly Kalins Lutz, for receipt from November 6 to November 17.  Two (2)
brown or green bottles with no markings are required.  Any standard entry
forms identifying the brewer and the appropriate entry category/subcategory
are acceptable.  Any standard homebrew competition entry and bottle
identification forms are acceptable.  Take special note that we will use the
former, 1999 BJCP style guidelines; not the new 2004 guidelines.  Get this
from the BJCP web site at www.bjcp.org.

Judges and Stewards will be needed and they should contact Shelly Kalins
Lutz [srinfo at splitrockresort.com] or me to secure a position.  Judges and
Stewards can hand carry their entries if they pre-register with payment.
All judges and stewards are required to be present by 8:30 so we can get
started promptly at 9am.  Checks should be made out to The Resort At Split
Rock.  Judges will receive an entry to the beer festival or entry to the
beer dinner for their efforts and need to indicate which they wish when they
commit to participate.  The BOS winner will receive a complementary weekend
for two at next year's Split Rock Beer Fest as well.  But just entering
makes you a winner for helping a good cause.  More information will be
available at the Split Rock web site:
http://www.splitrockresort.com/beerfest/.   Or contact them at:
spevents at splitrockresort.com.

David Houseman
Competition Organizer
david.houseman at verizon.net



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Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2004 20:41:50 -0400
From: "Dave and Joan King" <dking3 at stny.rr.com>
Subject: Re: A Handful of Hops

Jeff Luck asked about measuring dried hops.  A quart jar will hold about 1.5 
ounces,  but then it depends on how firmly you stuff them in.  They work 
nicely, good for purging with CO2, if you've got it.  Then pop them in the 
freezer.

Dave King, BIER 




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