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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: pbabcock at hbd.org


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Contents:
  Walk In Cooler ("Susan Ruud")
  Re: Diatomaceous Earth for Bug control ("Craig S. Cottingham")


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Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2009 08:58:42 -0600
From: "Susan Ruud" <susan.ruud at ndsu.edu>
Subject: Walk In Cooler

Hi,  I am sure there are a ton of engineer/do it yourselfers out there and I
could really use advice.  My husband promised a walk in cooler and has been
watching auctions, etc. for one at a reasonable price and has now decided it
will be more economical to just buy the cooling system and build his own.
If anyone has plans for building a cooler, good suggestions on things to
do/not do, best location for parts, etc.  I would really appreciate the
help.  

Thanks,
Susan Ruud




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Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2009 09:33:34 -0600
From: "Craig S. Cottingham" <craig.cottingham at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Diatomaceous Earth for Bug control

On Feb 2, 2009, at 11:36, slaycock at discoverynet.com wrote:

> All that said, can I safely add [Diatomaceous Earth] to my barley  
> grain and even Bulk DME
> stock for bug control WITHOUT harming the health of my yeast during
> fermentation?

Setting aside for the moment that there are probably more effective  
ways to control infestation in your malt products (see below), I  
suspect that diatomaceous earth will have little effect on the  
*health* of your yeast. I couldn't find any details on the average  
particle size in DE, but since they're the silica exoskeletons of a  
variety of algae, I would guess that they're in the same ballpark as  
yeast cells. Between that and the fact that both DE and yeast are in  
relatively low concentration in your beer, I don't think you'll have  
to worry about DE particles tearing up your yeast cells.

That being said....

One of DE's properties is that it absorbs lipids, which makes it  
effective both as an ingredient in facial masks and insecticides. I  
would not be surprised if DE binds to the lipids in yeast cell walls,  
causing them to flocculate out in a manner similar to bentonite. In  
other words, your yeast may remain healthy, but they're all sitting  
on the bottom of the fermenter where they can't do as much good.

If your primary concern is keeping insect infestation at bay, few  
things work as well as carbon dioxide. Put a small chunk of dry ice  
in the bottom of a reasonably gastight container (a plastic bucket  
should be fine; a brown paper grocery sack not so much) and pour your  
malt or DME on top. The CO2 will displace the oxygen, leaving an  
environment that's inhospitable to insects.

- --
Craig S. Cottingham
BJCP Certified judge from Olathe, KS ([621, 251.1deg] Apparent  
Rennerian)
craig.cottingham at gmail.com
+1 (913) 826-6896 or Skype me at CraigCottingham





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