FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator


Contents:
  homebrew club responsibility question (adietz)
  ENOUGH FLAMING ALREADY! (David Van Iderstine)
  Re: A Guide to Micro's (David L. Kensiski)
  U.S. beer sales  (card)
  Re: Pre-crushed Grain (Richard Stueven)
  Re:  UPS Shipping of Alcohol (Michael J. Tuciarone)
  Chlorine (George Fix)
  Re: Homebrew Digest #820 (February 10, 1992)  (Nick Cuccia)
  new staling-inhibiting bottle caps (Tony Babinec)
  Yeast culturing, cheaper (NCDSTEST)
  Re: Liberty Ale (korz)
  Re: Liberty Ale (OOPS) (korz)
  Liberty Ale (David Pike)
  Quantity of yeast to use (John Dilley)
  Re: Homebrew Digest #819 (February 07, 1992) (Douglas Allen Luce)
  American brewing terminology (Tony Quince)
  Pilsner Urquell bargain (Carl Hensler)
  Wyeast Starter - DO IT (Norm Hardy)


Send submissions to homebrew at hpfcmi.fc.hp.com
Send requests to homebrew-request@ hpfcmi.fc.hp.com
[Please do not send me requests for back issues!]
Archives are available from netlib at mthvax.cs.miami.edu


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

Date: 10 Feb 1992  10:01 EST
From: afd at hera.cc.bellcore.com (adietz)
Subject: homebrew club responsibility question


A question for the homebrew club officers out there.

How do you handle, ummm, "release of responsibility" in your club?  
Namely, if someone gets into trouble after a meeting, you don't want 
the club to be held responsible.  

I'm part of a group organizing a new club in NJ.  Right now, this
responsibility is "understood,"  that is, we're small 
enough that the charter members tend to know this implicitly, and handle 
themselves accordingly.  I'm somewhat concerned that down the road, when the 
club is larger, when we are more active, that something will happen and 
the officers will get their asses burned.

We won't always be meeting in a bar. So we won't always have the 
legal cover that such a place like that provides.

I'd appreciate knowing how people handle this. 

 -A Dietz
Bellcore, Morristown

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Date: Mon, 10 Feb 92 10:57:36 EST
From: orgasm!davevi at uunet.UU.NET (David Van Iderstine)
Subject: ENOUGH FLAMING ALREADY!

This post is not about beer. It's about the level of FLAMING and HOSTILITY
that's been going on in this journal.

			ENOUGH IS F**KING ENOUGH!!!

I used to enjoy reading this journal, but the level of hostility
between posters has been pumped up so high, that quite frankly, reading
the journal just plain sucks sometimes!

Is it possible for people to disagree here while still remaining civil
and courteous? Would you talk to this other person face-to-face with the
same disgust and anger that you do on the network? You'd probably go home
with a broken nose if you did! I don't read this journal to pick up 
tension and anger; I think we all have enough to deal with in our jobs
and lives elsewhere. THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE A HOBBY, REMEMBER???

So let's cool it, huh? And discuss the brewing we enjoy with a little
lighter heart? Thanks.

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Date: Mon, 10 Feb 92 08:27:34 -0800
From: kensiski at nas.nasa.gov (David L. Kensiski)
Subject: Re: A Guide to Micro's

In HBD #820, "(Mr. Tom Denny)" <dennyt at prism.CS.ORST.EDU> writes:

> I am interested in starting a guide of Micro's and BrewPubs around
> the world....  If anything else - please send me a list of good pubs
> in the SF (Treasure Isl.) area.

Tom,

A couple of years ago, I transcribed a list of brew establishments
that I found in the California Celebrator.  The list contained brew
pubs, micro-breweries and supply houses.  At the time, the list was
probably quite complete, but by now it's likely out of date.  I'll
append a copy anyway, as there are hopefully more additions to the
list than there are deletions.  (I'll not append the list to HBD as
it's already in the archives (file 8910.shar.Z).  However, if an HBD
reader would like the list, I will happily entertain mail requests.)

I doubt you'll find much in the way of quality brew *on* Treasure
Island, as it's mostly (if not entirely) a naval reservation.  It is,
however, but a short drive from there to Oakland, Berkeley and San
Francisco, where a number of pubs/breweries are located.  Since the
list is so old, I suggest you call first to see if an establishment is
still in business before visiting.

There is also a "tour" in the Bay Area called BART'n'brew.  BART is
Bay Area Rapid Transit, a train/subway system we have here in the Bay.
I have not yet done this, but there are supposed to be a number of
brew pubs (6?) within a few blocks walking distance from BART stations
throughout the bay.  I'll try to get details from a friend who has
done it.

- --Dave
________________________________________________________________________
David L. Kensiski [KB6HCN]              Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation
kensiski at nas.nasa.gov               NASA Ames Research Center, M/S 258-6   
(415)604-4417                       Moffett Field, California 94035-1000


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Date: Mon, 10 Feb 92 11:24:51 EST 
From: card at apollo.hp.com
Subject: U.S. beer sales 


>>>Issue #233						Sat, Feb 08 1992
>>>			The New England Beer Club
>>>
>>>Contents:
>>>  1991 US Beer sales (STROUD)
>>>
>>>Send submissions to beer at rsi.com
>>>Send requests to beer-request@ rsi.com
>>>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>>Date: Fri, 07 Feb 92 17:19:51 EST
>>>From: STROUD <uunet!leia.polaroid.com!STROUD%GAIA>
>>>Subject: 1991 US Beer sales
>>>
>>>
>>>In some beer related info., Beverage Industry has just released sales figures
>>>of beer in the US for 1991.  Total barrelage in the US dropped 2% last year,
>>>down 3.8 million barrels to 189.3 million.
>>>
>>>In an encouraging note, even AB's sales were down, albeit a minor 400,000
>>>barrels.  It is the first time that AB's volume sales have dropped in over a
>>>decade.  The brand "Budweiser" took it on the chin for the 4th straight year,
>>>as sales dropped to (only) 48.5 million barrels, its lowest barrelage since 
>>>1986.
>>>
>>>Apparently the popularity of "the king of beers" is beginning to wane,
>>>although sales of Bud Dry and Bud Light were both up substantially. Year-end 
>>>total sales for Miller and Coors were unchanged from 1990, while sales for 
>>>both Stroh and Heileman were down substantially.
>>>
>>>Sales for the super-premium beers like Michelob (off 20 %), Lowenbrau (Miller)
>>>(off 33%), etc. were hammered, as they deserve to be.  Ho-hum.
>>>
>>>Import sales declined for the 3rd straight year, off 9% from 1990. (Heineken
>>>down 13%, Corona down 8%, Molson down 2%, Beck's down 10%, etc)
>>>
>>>We know that homebrewers had a GREAT  year.  I wonder how the  micros and
>>>brewpubs did?
>>>
>>>Steve Stroud
>>>
>>>------------------------------

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Date: Mon, 10 Feb 92 09:23:25 PST
From: Richard.Stueven at Corp.Sun.COM (Richard Stueven)
Subject: Re: Pre-crushed Grain

Regarding storage of pre-crushed grain:  I buy 20 or 40 pounds at a
time, then split it into four-pound bags.  One-gallon Ziplock baggies
are about the right size for four pounds of grain.  I store them in a
kitchen cupboard so they're handy.

gak

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Date: Mon, 10 Feb 92 10:01:32 PST
From: tooch at auspex.com (Michael J. Tuciarone)
Subject: Re:  UPS Shipping of Alcohol

> The official answer is that for UPS to ship alcohol (knowingly), the sender 
> must have a shipping permit from the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms 
> office of the U.S. Government.

How could I resist? I called the San Jose office of the Treasury Department
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and had a pleasant conversation
with Jerome Stayer and Inspector Amy Ulszewski. It turns out that BATF
does not issue any such document as a "shipping permit." They do issue
*operating* permits to breweries, wineries, and distilleries, and it's
possible that this permit is what UPS wants to see. However, Amy said
that BATF has no Federal policy or regulation concerning the shipment
of alcohol by individuals, save that alcoholic beverages may not be
shipped by the US Postal Service. So far as Federal law is concerned,
any private carrier can ship beer anywhere.

Now for the bad news: although there is no Federal policy, there is
a patchwork of state regulations which carriers must obey, and the
Inspector speculates that the difficulty in complying with these
regulations is what keeps shippers out of the shipping business.
(My wife belongs to the Alexander Valley Vineyards wine club, and
we get two bottles every couple of months or so, shipped through UPS!
The box does have a stamp on the front saying "Contains alcoholic
beverages; adult signature required.") Amy suggested contacting every 
private carrier in the book until you find one that will accept the shipment.

So I thanked them very much and called the local Federal Express office.
Big surprise: they won't accept alcoholic beverages from individuals.
A very pleasant and sympathetic fellow read to me from the policy book,
which said (somewhat abridged), "Alcoholic Beverages: Due to various state
regulations alcoholic beverages can only be accepted if processed by 
[some automatic FedEx computer device whose name I didn't catch], or
if they are shipped from one licensed distributor or manufacturer to 
another licensed distributor or manufacturer." Large Fed Ex customers
(>= 10 packages/day) can get a hand-held thingy from Fed Ex for processing
the packages, and it apparently already knows the state laws or something.
The whatchamacallit is free, but you have to have volume to get one.

That's as far as I went today. Anyone else care to run with this?

There's a business oppotunity in here somewhere, but I just can't
figure out where it is. Speculation: could a liquor store or distributor
be conned into providing this service, for a hopefully modest fee?
Perhaps the AHA should negotiate with shipping companies, so that at least
sanctioned events could get policy approval? (Let's ship a case or two
of real IPA to UPS' chairman and CEO.)

- -----
Mike Tuciarone				Auspex Systems
tooch at Auspex.COM			Santa Clara CA 95054
"Who wants to wallow in champagne?"	408-492-0900

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Date: Mon, 10 Feb 92 12:02:52 CST
From: gjfix at utamat.uta.edu (George J Fix)

Subject: Chlorine (George Fix)

I am somewhat uneasy about the dilute chlorine solutions recommended
in recent posts. These will control  health threating bacteria 
relevant to swimming pools, but I am concerned about the effectiveness
of say a 10-20 mg/l (ppm) free available chlorine (FAC) solution on
bacteria that are relevant to beer. Remarkably, the latter, like our
yeast, are health positive, and the last things one would want to
remove from a swimming pool. On the other hand, they are capable of
turning our beers into pickle juice, and tend to be more resistant to
chlorine than pathogens.

It is my belief based on personal experience as well as data published
in the literature that 100 mg/l FAC is needed to properly sanitize
brewing equipment. In the context of bleach one sometimes sees a 200mg/l
figure quoted, but I believe this refers to the sodium hypochlorite
(NaOCl) content. As noted in an earlier post, the molecular wts. of
Na, O, and Cl are 22.99, 15.999, and 35.453, so the concentraion of
NaOCl is roughly double the FAC. Bleach is theoretically 5.25% NaOCl,
but this can decrease both with age and temperature. I recall measuring
some where the NaOCl content had dropped to 2.5%. Thus, Bob Jones'
recommendation of 1oz. (2T) per gallon sounds like a good figure to
work with. Experience has shown that with 100mg/l of FAC only 15 mins.
of contact time is needed ( and generally usually less).

This subject is somewhat complicated by the fact that if we were 100%
efficient at cleaning, then chemical sanitation could be eliminated
entirely. From 1975-1985 I was on the faculty of CMU at Pittsburg, and
had during this period the good fortune to work on several projects at
the tiny Straub Brewery in St. Marys, Pa. Gibby Straub, who was the
brewmaster at that time, told me that they went from 1933 to 1954
without ever using any chemical cleaners or sanitizers. Never once
during this period did they dump a brew. In fact, they operated at
full capacity during the entire period, and were only one of three
small breweries (say 30,000 bbl/yr. or less) to survive the 1950's
and 1960's. Anchor and Frankenmuth were the other two. When they
cleaned in the old days they really cleaned. Gibby told me that 
their rule was 2 hrs. cleaning for each hr. brewing. In the 1950's
came modern union work rules, and in particular a 8hr. work day. At
that point chemically based sanitation systems became a necessity.

As mentioned in earlier posts I now prefer iodophor to chlorine. 
Something I forgot to mention was that dilute solutions of iodophor
(1oz. per 5 gallons) is entirely satisfactory. Moreover, a 5-10 min.
contact time is adequate. There is another product called peracidic acid
which has become very popular in German breweries. It is a modern
version of vinegar sanitation (widely used in traditional German brewing),
and consists of acetic acid and some hydogen peroxide. The latter seem
more natural to beer than iodine. If anyone has had any experience with
it, or knows where to get some, I would be gratiful for the info.
 
 


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Date: Mon, 10 Feb 92 10:56:22 -0800
From: Nick Cuccia <cuccia at eris.berkeley.edu>
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #820 (February 10, 1992) 

Here is my list of Bay Area brewpubs, broken down by mass transit transfer
point.  Most of the directional information is pretty general (I don't have
street addresses), but should get you there.  I make no claims of completeness;
this is off the top of my head, and the top of my head is pretty weak when it
comes to the San Jose area (I know that there is a Gordon Biersch and a Tied
House there, as well as a third brewpub downtown; I just don't know where they
are located).

BART:
	Berkeley
		Triple Rock Brewery (Shattuck Avenue, about three blocks north
		  of BART station).
		Bison Brewery (Telegraph Avenue, seven blocks south of UC-
		  Berkeley.  Walk or take AC Transit 40 southbound).

	Oakland Civic Center
		Pacific Coast Brewing Company (On Washington near Eighth Street,
		  about four blocks south and one block west of BART station).
		Tied House Alameda (Take AC Transit 51 southbound to first
		  Alameda stop; walk north to the estuary, and continue west).

	Hayward
		Buffalo Bill's Brewpub (On B street, two blocks west of BART).

	San Francisco Embarcadero
		Gordon Biersch (The old Hills Brothers plant, about three or
		  four blocks south of Embarcadero station on Spear Street.
		  (not open yet)).

	San Francisco Powell/Montgomery
		San Francisco Brewing Company (Columbus Street, between Broadway
		  and Montgomery; walk north on Stockton (long!) or take MUNI 30
		  Stockton).

	San Francisco Civic Center
		Twenty Tank Brewery (11th Street between Folsom and Harrison,
		  about four blocks south of Civic Center station).  

CalTrain:
	Palo Alto
		Gordon Biersch (On Emerson, 1-2 blocks east of University, 2
		  blocks north of CalTrain station).

	Mountain View
		Tied House Mountain View (corner of Villa and Bryant, 1 block
		  south and one block west of CalTrain station).

Golden Gate Ferry:
	Larkspur
		Marin Brewing Company (Larkspur Landing Shopping Center, across
		  Sir Francis Drake from Larkspur ferry terminal).

Note that this is just a list of brewpubs; I've left off microbreweries (only
two--Anchor in SF and Lind in San Leandro--are accessible via transit these
days; Pete's is contract brewed by August Schell, and Devil Mountain has moved
their works from the old Walnut Creek train depot to Benicia) and beer bars.
Hopefully some kind soul will correct my errors and fill in my omissions.

Cheers,
- --Nick

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Date: Mon, 10 Feb 92 12:58:28 CST
From: tony at spss.com (Tony Babinec)
Subject: new staling-inhibiting bottle caps

The AHA has distributed some anti-oxidation bottlecaps to homebrew clubs
and encouraged their trial use.  Recently, I witnessed a comparison
taste test.  Steve Kemp, of Brewers of the South Suburbs (of
Chicago), brewed and bottled a hoppy spiced beer in December and randomly 
capped his bottles with either regular bottle caps or the anti-oxidation
caps.  Last Friday, this split batch was distributed at the B.O.S.S.
meeting for side-by-side tasting.  The anti-oxidant-capped beer was in
no uncertain terms more hop- and spice-aromatic and hop-flavored than
the regular capped beer.  Note that the tasting was not done blindly,
but instead side-by-side, but there was no doubt regarding differences
between the beers.

I have no other information on the bottle caps.  I am a member of AHA,
but have no affiliation with the manufacturer of the caps.

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Date:    Mon, 10 Feb 1992 14:49:44 -0500 (EST)
From: NCDSTEST at NSSDCA.GSFC.NASA.GOV
Subject: Yeast culturing, cheaper

In the HBD of 2/7/92, Jeff Frane notes the fine work that Wyeast has
provided the brewing community.

<Incidentally, I peeked in to the CompuServe beer forum today for the
<first time in a long time and noticed a thread about WYeast's monopoly
<of the homebrewer's yeast biz. !!  Someone there has a confused idea of
<capitalism; I know for a fact that Dave and his wife, Jenny, have busted
<their asses to make WYeast a successful business.  They provided a
<breakthrough package and exquisitely high quality control (they come by
<it honestly; both of them were Food Science students under my pa!) and
<created an economic niche that didn't exist previously.  A brief look at
<the recipes of winning beers in the last few years' AHA competitions is
<enough, I think, to convince anyone of the quality of their product.
<What isn't obvious is the number of microbreweries and brewpubs who rely
<on WYeast to maintain their yeast bank or supply.

<Ooog, what a diatribe!

<- --Jeff Frane

Jeff is right, Dave and Jenny have done well.  The problem is they charge
an outrageous amount for thier product and they wont sell direct to YOU
the homebrewer (I know, cause I tried hard).  So Jeff is right, capitalism
is not dead and no longer does Wyeast have a monopoly on the market.  They
do have a monopoly on that fancy package that seems to explode on so many
of us (my friend lost $4.50 worth of the stuff last night :-) :-).  So the
market has responded with another manufacturer.  This guy provides the basics,
a Yeast bank (if you want it), and culture media.  Granted, its not as easy
as breaking a seal but, you get what you need for massive cost savings.
Think about it, is 50 ml of yeast slurry out of some package that was sittin
around for how long, in how hot a temperature really what you want to throw
into your seven hour labor of love?  And if you are making a starter, then
how much more effort is it to make several starters and work the yeast up?
That way you know what you have and you can culture your house flavors/
house characteristics if you want to.  Once again, I HAVE NO FINANCIAL
INTEREST IN THIS EFFORT.  I JUST WANT MORE HOMEBREWERS MAKING BETTER BEER
FOR LESS MONEY!  If interested,

You can reach Martin Schiller, Phd. at :
The Yeast Culture Kit Co.
6005 Mustang Place
Riverdale, MD 20737
1-800-742-2110 6-8PM EST weekdays

Jim Busch
ncdstest at nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov

DE HOPPEDUIVEL DRINKT MET ZWIER 'T GEZONDE BLOND HOPPEBIER!"


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Date: Mon, 10 Feb 92 14:29 CST
From: korz at ihlpl.att.com
Subject: Re: Liberty Ale

Caitrin asks about Anchor Liberty Ale.

Well, Dick Dunn wrote a great post in dec of 1991 on Anchor.  Note that
the answer to your question is simply "Cascades," but Dick's post was
so informative that I can't read it too often.  I agree that Liberty
Ale great and it is one of my top ten favorite Ales available in the
US in bottles.
Al.

Here's the main part of Dick's post:

>Overall brewery stuff:  3 vessels--mash tun, lauter tun, brew kettle--all
>beautiful copper.  Brewery is a showplace.  Brewhouse 110 bbl capacity.
>(This is a brewer's barrel - 31 gal.)  37 employees.  1990 production 68k
>bbl; 1991 production est 75k bbl.  (not bad growth!)
>
>Current beers: 6 were presented for tasting after the tour; notes such as I
>	gathered:
>Wheat: about 70% wheat malt, rest pale malt, alcohol 3% wt
>Steam: 3.9?% alc, combination pale and crystal, all Northern Brewer hops.
>	They formerly used mixture of hops (I recall Galena mentioned on
>	earlier tour), now only NB
>Liberty Ale: all pale malt, only Cascade hops, alc 4.5%
>Porter: mix of pale, crystal, chocolate malt.  Forgot to ask about hops
>Old Foghorn: barleywine, 7%
>Christmas: spiced brown ale, fairly strong (but < OF)
>
>Brewing process (Steam typical): 3 day primary ferment, 3 weeks in
>secondary, krauesened, then centrifuged, filtered (diatomaceous earth),
>flash pasteurized (170F for ~15 sec) and bottled.  Liberty Ale is dry
>hopped.
>
>Misc notes:
>All alc given by weight; multiply by 1.25 for volume figure
>
>All barley malt is from 2-row.
>
>Oxygen - chemist says they end up with about 250 ppb in bottle.  Bottling
>process is careful to let the beer foam up a bit, thus headspace is CO2.
>
>They do reculture their yeast--carefully!  (Usual commercial procedure--
>wash, adjust pH?)  They're watching it for mutation all along.  They don't
>reculture from Old Foghorn because of the strength.
>
>I asked about the current "cold filtering" (and not pasteurizing) hype
>that's currently the rage for television beers.  They say it's a process
>developed by Sapporo, licensed in US.  Very expensive, for large breweries
>only.  Also some doubt whether their beers would make it through the
>filter without removing a lot of interesting stuff, let alone clogging the
>filter.
>
>Old Foghorn may be available in bottle again sometime early next year.  The
>bottling line can now handle it; the problem is switching it between the
>two bottle sizes.  (Background: Since the very first OF, Fritz has insisted
>that it go in the little "nip" ~ 6 oz bottles because of the strength. 
>This is a massive vexation at all stages of bottling/handling.)  The new
>bottling machines are said to be able to handle the bottles, so let's
>hope.  Meanwhile, it's available on tap here and there...nirvana.
>
>I was really struck by how much different Liberty Ale tastes fresh from the
>tap as compared to bottles.  On tap, it seems more like a cross between
>Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Celebration - the Cascades really come through
>in a way they never have in the bottle.
>
>Anchor is an inspiring place to visit--both from the brewing standpoint and
>because it's a business run the way a business should be:  They all know
>what they're doing; they believe in it; they don't cut corners; they are
>out to do the best job they can, and they do.  If you want to learn about
>brewing, this is one of a couple places to start.
>  ---
>Dick Dunn    rcd at raven.eklektix.com   -or-   raven!rcd    Boulder, Colorado
>	...Simpler is better.

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Date: Mon, 10 Feb 92 14:39 CST
From: korz at ihlpl.att.com
Subject: Re: Liberty Ale (OOPS)

I forgot to answer Caitrin's question of HOW to get that great
Cascades aroma.  You're right -- *dry hopping*.  Add a ounce of
Cascades leaf hops (the fresher the better -- they start to smell
stale after six months or so -- even refrigerated) to the primary,
immediately after the kraeusen collapses.  The acidity, alcohol and
very active yeast should take care of any nasties that may be lurking
among the hops.  Just make sure the hops are stored dry so they don't
begin to mildew.  I love dryhopped beer so much that my brewpartner
had a heck of a time talking me out of dryhopping a brown ale we made
(not true to style, you see).
Al.

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Date: Mon, 10 Feb 92 13:00:26 PST
From: davep at cirrus.com (David Pike)
Subject: Liberty Ale


Liberty Ale from Anchor uses 100% cascade hops. And yes, they do dry hop
it, during secondary/conditioning fermentation.



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Date: Mon, 10 Feb 92 13:19:47 -0800
From: John Dilley <jad at aspen.iag.hp.com>
Subject: Quantity of yeast to use


	The last time I was at Beer Makers, my local brew store, they
sold me some G. W. Kent dry yeast.  I used it to make my beer, which
practically fermented overnight (VERY rapid fermentation; I still let it
sit seven days in the carboy).  I commented to them thusly: "If that one
packet of yeast fermented that fast I could have probably have done OK
with half the packet."  They told me that I should always use the whole
packet, that using half the yeasts in one batch and half in the other
was not a good idea.  "Why?"  I asked.  The answer was on the order of
"just because" ... no real reason.

	So, home brewers of earth -- is there any reason why one cannot
use half a package of virile yeast such as the G. W. Kent English Ale
and save the other half for the next batch?  Inputs appreciated!  Cheers,

                          --      jad      --
			      John Dilley

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Date: Mon, 10 Feb 1992 16:21:15 -0500 (EST)
From: Douglas Allen Luce <dl2p+ at andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #819 (February 07, 1992)

arf at ddsw1.mcs.com (Jack Schmidling) writes:
>  As a scientist you MUST trust NOBODY.

since when is homebrewing a science?  sounds like no fun at all!

doug

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Date: Mon, 10 Feb 92 19:41:13 GMT
From: tony at tag.co.uk (Tony Quince)
Subject: American brewing terminology


As an English new subscriber to HBD, I am finding some of the terminology
used by the transatlantic brother/sisterhood a mite confusing. 
With particular reference to HBD#820, what the hell is 2-row/6-row malt?

If I can sort out what it all means, I'll post one or two of my
favourite recipes in a form that can be understood over there.

Also, I've caught the end of the discussion on using bleach as a 
sanitizing agent. This has probably been said (and shot down in 
flames) here before, but I find the use of any chlorine-based sanitizer
"a bit daft". So, ok, it kills all known germs, but it also kills all
known yeast. Therefore, you have to rinse the equipment. If you rinse
with tap water, you might as well not have bothered to sanitize, if you
use 'sterile' water, you're going to spend a lot of time/money boiling
rinse water.

"So what do you use, you smart-ass limey?" Basically, a strong, warm
solution of sodium metabisulphite acidified with citric acid.
Because the yeast can withstand sulphite ions in low concentration,
you don't need to rinse at all - just drain it off properly. I've
been using this approach for 15 years and have only ever lost two 
batches of beer (due to infestation by a wonderful British phenomenon 
called thunderflies). Sorry if this sounds a bit self-righteous.

Tony Quince, TAG, UK.
email: tony at tag.co.uk
voice: +44 (0)665 604895

I drink, therefore I am.
I'm drunk, therefore I was.

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Date: Mon, 10 Feb 92 18:27:44 -0800
From: Carl.Hensler at West.Sun.COM (Carl Hensler)
Subject: Pilsner Urquell bargain

People living in Southern California or traveling this way might
be interested in a bargain (I think) in Pilsner Urquell:
$4.99/six at the Trader Joe chain.  I had been paying more like
$8/six.  Does this reflect a nation-wide price reduction or is it
just a local fluke?

Carl Hensler
carlh at West.Sun.COM

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Date: Mon, 10 Feb 92 18:25:54 PST
From: polstra!norm at uunet.UU.NET (Norm Hardy)
Subject: Wyeast Starter - DO IT

While one can just allow a Wyeast pouch to puff up before pitching, there
are some problems:
(1) Timing:  it is tough to get the pouch to be at the right place when YOU
             want it to be.  Some brewers have had exploding pouches.
(2) Quantity:  some beers like lagers need a higher volume of yeast to get
               off the starting block.

Making a starter is pretty routine stuff, after a little practice:
[1] sanitize a 32 oz bottle, cork, airlock
[2] boil 50 oz water w/.75 cups light malt extract (I use the dry stuff) for
    30 to 45 minutes or until you have 22 to 26 oz, or thereabouts.
[3] Chill in sink down to 65-75f.
[4] Add contents of pouch.  Shake well.  Put air lock on top.
[5] Leave at room temperature for a day or so.  High krausen should occur 
    within two days easy. 
[6] a sprig of hops can be used if you wish.

Read Papazian
 for his treatment of the issue as well.


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End of HOMEBREW Digest #821, 02/11/92