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


Contents:
  Belgian Bannana Yeast (Randall Holt)
  Another yeast question... (Davin Lim)
  Bluebonnet Brew-off (Bryan Baker TTC-7262)
  QQ: modification, pumpkins (Chip Hitchcock)
  Re: Pumpkin Ale (Jacob Galley)
  Weizen yeast (Rob Malouf)
  mailed any homebrews lately? (Norma Young)
  Re: vit C and potasium sorbate (misuse of term DMS!!!) (Victor Reijs)
  going to colorado (Estes of Manang)
  HBD Field Report #2: East Anglia (Phillip Seitz)
  Miller's kegging suggestions in B&B 12 (Frank Tutzauer)
  Re: Pumpkin Ale (Brewing Chemist Brian Walter)
  100% wheat (Brian Bliss)
  Barley-Free Brew (Brewing Chemist Brian Walter)
  Trouble Getting Wyeast Going (Phil Hultin)
  Micah's Traquair House Ale recipe ("Spencer W. Thomas")
  Re: Plastic Kegs (Justin Seiferth)
  snpa yeast/plastic petri dishes (dave ballard)
  Minnesota Homebrewer's Festival (Tony Ernst)
  Dryhops/Oats/100% wheat extract (korz)


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

Date: Wed, 28 Oct 92 13:03:11 -0500
From: rxh6 at po.CWRU.Edu (Randall Holt)
Subject: Belgian Bannana Yeast



Last week I started culturing yeast, using the WYeast Belgian strain.
Three days ago I made a 1.060 Brown Ale and pitched. Slow start, but 
then got into a good ferment, but after the first day when I took a reading
I noticed a very different smell. My first fear was that the culture
had violated sterile procedure, but by the second day, only a hint of the 
odor remained, and has persisted. 
 
Then today I read of bannana ester tendencies of WYeast Belgian, and the
connection is complete. The undefinable smell just became obvious. Thanks
to Jeff Frane and others for pointing it out. I'll just have to wait it out
and hope that long-term storage/conditioning mellows it.
 
 

- --
Randall W. Holt - rxh6 at cwru.po.edu     | 'Bibo ergo sum'
                                       |  - Jean Descartes 
                                       |    (Rene's little brother)

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Date: Wed, 28 Oct 92 11:03:35 MST
From: Davin Lim <limd at csn.org>
Subject: Another yeast question...

I posted a question a couple of days ago about using glycerol
for freezing yeast.  Thanks for the replies sent (so far.)

Anyway, I forgot to ask a related question about cleaning
yeast slurry samples.  I seem to remember a posting a while
back on doing sterile water washes of yeast.  This procedure
is done to remove excess trub, hop sediment, grain particles
etc... from the rest of the yeast.  Anybody out there have
this info handy (or can point me to the proper HBD # so I can
look it up in the ftp archives?) 

I realize that one can take washing yeast a step further by
doing acid washes to more effectively eliminate bacteria.  This
is also of interest to me, though I'd be pretty comfortable
with the contamination risks involved without going to this
extra process.

Thanks again!

Davin Lim (limd at arraytech.com)

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Date: Wed, 28 Oct 92 10:26
From: BBAKER1 at Novell.tis.tandy.com (Bryan Baker TTC-7262)
Subject: Bluebonnet Brew-off

- ------------- ANNOUNCEMENT ---------------

  The Reports of the Bluebonnet's demise (in a publication associated with
another Texas regional brewing competition) are greatly exagerated.
The Bluebonnet Brew-off is alive and well and living in Ft. Worth this
year.

  For those of you not familiar with the Bluebonnet Brew-off it is the
regional competition held in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and is sponsered by
the Ft. Worth, Dallas, and Arlington homebrew clubs. It usually takes place
around the end of February or beginning of March each year and rotates
locations between the three sponsering locations. This year it WILL be held
in Ft. Worth on the 5th & 6th of March. The site is still under discussion,
but will most likely be at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. The
Regular cut-off date for entries will be February 20th. The Late cut-off
date (for which an additional fee is charged) will be February 27th.

  The categories will conform to the AHA & HWBTA guidelines and a more
detailed break-down will be posted later. We want to get as many entries as
possible this year, so enter early and enter often. We also are putting out
the call to all those in the judging program that are looking for points.
If you are interested in judging (or just want more info) you can e-mail me
and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Bryan Baker
Member of the 1993 Bluebonnet Brew-off Committee


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Date: Wed, 28 Oct 92 12:05:07 EST
From: cjh at diaspar.HQ.Ileaf.COM (Chip Hitchcock)
Subject: QQ: modification, pumpkins

  The recent thread on modification raises a question for this non-masher:
what is the advantage of less-modified malt that professionals use it?
Darryl's ZYMURGY article on Pilsner Urquell mentioned that it used
relatively undermodified malt; was the reason why one of the things that
was cut to fit, or did I miss it? I would think professionals would be even
more interested than homebrewers in good extraction, as the barley is a
significant fraction of their costs (yes, they get it in bulk, but they
also ultra-wholesale the beer, probably at ~25% of what you pay for
sixpacks) and full modification shouldn't take so much longer as to raise
the cost significantly.

   We're into the season when a lot of people are brewing pumpkin beers.  I
tried one of these myself and didn't think much of the result, which gets
me to wondering---how much flavor do you extract even from cooked&smashed
pumpkin (let alone the steeped cubes recommended in the recipe I used)?
We're talking about a gourd here, after all, relative of the summer
squashes that are excellent receptacles for (e.g.) butter, pepper, and
onions but blah on their own. The recipes I've seen mostly have pretty
substantial amounts of spice in relation to the malt; has anybody tried a
split/twin batch in which the only difference was the presence/absence of
the pumpkin itself?

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Date: Wed, 28 Oct 92 13:17:49 CST
From: Jacob Galley <gal2 at midway.uchicago.edu>
Subject: Re: Pumpkin Ale

Brian Walter whips up:

> Charlie Brown Pumpkin Ale
> 
> To make 5 Gallons:
  [. . .]
> Procedures:
> 	Clean and quarter the pumpkin, bake for 30 minutes at
> 	350 F.  Puree the pulp in food processor or blender.  The
> 	grains and pumpkin were mashed for 90 minutes at 154 F.
> 	This thick mess was then strained into the brewpot (a long
> 	process!), and then a standard 90 minute boil took place.

My brew-ally, Rus, at Vandybilt recently bottled his first pumpkin
ale, but he refrained from mashing the mush, and simply dry-pumpkin'd
the beer in the primary. I think he said that the guy at the homebrew
store warned him that mashing pumpkin meat would make a holy mess.
(Rus also mentioned that this guy wore an expression that said "Uh-oh,
another brewing-as-a-personal-statement type.") I don't remember
offhand if he cooked it. We'll soon see how this works.

My brew-partner (no, not me, really) is about to embark on a project
that could easily be a complete disaster: the thought of FERMENTING IN
A PUMPKIN SHELL obsesses him. Normally, he makes pretty good, if not
very straight beer. (His artichoke steam beer was surprisingly tasty!)
Can anyone provide evidence that this project is doomed? If it matters
(I don't think it does), he will be lagering it on our porch at about
40-45^F, which may slow the pumpkin's decomposition. Since I have
never heard of anyone trying anything like this, I can't change his
mind. "We'll soon see how well this works."

(I have a couple substantial, interesting, useful questions to post
soon to make up for this last paragraph. Please bear with me.)

Cheers,
Jake.

Reinheitsgebot <-- "Keep your laws off my beer!" <-- gal2 at midway.uchicago.edu

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Date: Wed, 28 Oct 92 13:04:34 PST
From: malouf at Csli.Stanford.EDU (Rob Malouf)
Subject: Weizen yeast

In HBD #1000, R.Deschner writes:

>Also, use the right yeast. We who judged wheat beers were startled by the
>number of brilliantly clear weiss beers which we judged, even though the
>style is allowed to be hazy. The problem is that many of these crystal
>clear weissens had no weiss character, such as the familiar clove
>phenolic. Use of the right yeast might have produced some of these
>characteristics, although clarity could be sacrificed. Yeast is one of
>the least costly ingredients, so it pays to use the right one.

You shouldn't assume that the brewers made no attempt to use the right yeast.
I have entered several weizens in competetions, all made with Wyeast's
Bavarian Wheat strain, and all with minimal (though noticable) clove
character.  In every case, at least one judge responded "No cloves=not a
weizen.  Use the right yeast next time" and didn't look any further into the
beer's other faults and virtues.  Since I did use the "right" yeast, this
advice is less than helpful.  Perhaps judges should not assume the worst of
homebrewers.  In this case, I know what a weizen is supposed to taste like,
I just don't have the skill to achieve it.

Rob Malouf
malouf at csli.stanford.edu

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Date: Wed, 28 Oct 92 13:49:04 PST
From: Norma.Young at Eng.Sun.COM (Norma Young)
Subject: mailed any homebrews lately?

Hi-

I haven't received any homebrews since #992 on 10/16.
Have there not been any sent out, or have I somehow 
been dropped from the list?

		-Norma 

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Date: Wed, 28 Oct 92 22:56:53 +0100
From: Victor Reijs <Victor.Reijs at SURFnet.nl>
Subject: Re: vit C and potasium sorbate (misuse of term DMS!!!)


==> From: Chip Hitchcock

>    Please post an explanation of what you mean by DMS---in UK/US this is
> a substance produced by mishandling wort and is generally disliked in
> beer even in low quantities (gives a taste like canned corn) (stands for
> DiMethyl Sulfide, I think). It's also fairly volatile, which suggests it
> wouldn't be much good as a disinfectant.

Sorry I thought that Dimethyl Sulfide was Potasium metabisufide (a
desinfectant). Used by some wine brewer to kill unwanted bacteria and
fungi. So in my earlier mail about Vit. C and potasium sorbate you 
should read this desinfectant. Sorry about this misunderstanding. In
future I will never use these difficult XYZ;-)


All the best,


Victor

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Date:         Wed, 28 Oct 92 16:45:55 EST
From: Estes of Manang <WOESSNER at VM.CC.PURDUE.EDU>
Subject:      going to colorado

   I'm going to Colorado for Christmas.  I will be in Evergreen, which is a sub
subburb of Denver.  I am very interested in visiting the brewpubs in and arroun
Denver.  Anyone who lives in the area or knows the area could please e-mail me
a list of pubs and breweries I would very much appreciate it.  You can leave
COORS of the list ;-).  I will be there from Dec 21 - Dec 31 .  if there is any
Can't miss event durring this time period please send details.

                                                        Thanks in advance.

                                                        Estes of Manang

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Date: Thu, 29 Oct 92 01:17 GMT
From: Phillip Seitz <0004531571 at mcimail.com>
Subject: HBD Field Report #2: East Anglia

Our 11-day trip focused on East Anglia, particularly the counties
of Suffolk and Norfolk, where breweries have taken more than
their share of prizes recently.  Black Adder from Mauldon's was
CAMRA's Best of Britain last year; Woodforde's Wherry Best Bitter
took the Best New Brewery prize in 1990, and their Norfolk Nog
just took the 1992 Best of Britain; Adnams took the Bitter award
in 1990.     

THE BEERS:
1) Greene King & Sons (Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk)
      GK is the predominant brewer and pub owner in Suffolk
and much of Norfolk.  An independent (i.e. with fewer
than 2000 tied houses), it is expanding and behaves like the big
brewing companies.  This includes efforts to acquire (and close)
competing breweries, and a tendency to treat beer more like a
product than a labor of love.  Their main brews are XX Dark Mild
(1.030, 19 IBU), IPA (1.035, 24 IBU), and Abbot (1.048, 36 IBU). 
Quality varied widely from pub to pub, mostly on the down side
IMHO, and even the well-known Abbot was underwhelming.  
      The brewery itself covers 40 acres and includes 450
employees.  GK does its own malting, producing 12 tons a day for
in-house use only.  Germination takes place in hugh rotating
drums, and the malt is kilned at 70 degrees C.  All the
by-products of malting are collected and sold, including the
acrospires.
        GK also maintains wooden vats of a high-gravity beer
called XXXXX, which is aged for one year and then blended with a
brown ale for a gravity of 1.060 (+/-).  The final product is
called Strong Suffolk, and is available in bottle only (I haven't
opened mine yet, sorry!).
        GK also brews for others.  As we toured the bottling line
(2,000 dozen bottles/hour) they were bottling and pasteurizing
Watney's Red Barrel for export to the US. 

2) Tollemache & Cobbold (Ipswich, Suffolk)
      The Tolly Cobbold brewery and all its tied houses were
bought about three years back by Brent Walker, a food and
beverage company, and brewing at the TC brewery was terminated. 
Soon it was clear that Brent Walker wanted to tear down the
brewery building for a development.  The city of Ipswich--not
happy about losing the brewery--stepped in and declared it a
historic site (it is a wonderful tall, gravity fed Victorian
brewery), making it useless to Brent Walker.  Two of TCs
directors managed to buy the brewery back, and to re-hire some of
the discharged brewery workers.  They've now been on line for a
little under two years, and are brewing quality beer. 
        But TC has lost its tied estate, and hence a ready market
for the beers.  The Brent Walker-owned houses takes some, as does
the free trade, but currently they are way below capacity (400
36-gallon barrels is being produced per week), and only 8 people
work in the brewery itself.  However, the brewery has been
repainted, a splendid public house and restaurant have been
added, and the beer is quite good.  
      Brews include a mild, a bitter, a best bitter, a strong
ale, and several specialty beers.  (Because of the changes of
management and related recipe changes I don't have the stats.) 
They produce a special bottled beer each year, starting with last
year's Ipswich Pride.  This year's is Cobnut, a re-creation of
one of their beers from years past.  It is an
intensely malty, nutty beer, similar in flavor to some of the
richest barley wines I've tried--but 3.2% ABV.  (This was my
wife's favorite beer on the trip.)  Also good was the Anniversary
Ale, available for two weeks only.  As an indication of their
relations with Brent Walker, I never saw this beer in one of the
former Tolly pubs.  However, I saw it in two free houses where
attention to quality beer was quite evident.
      Tolly uses Challenger and Goldings hops, with stiff mashes. 
Strike temperature is 159 degrees farenheit, with an average mash
temperature of 145 degrees.  Sparge water is 175 degrees, with
fermentation at 70 F.  Tolly also manufactures its own isinglass.

3) Earl Soham Brewery (Earl Soham, Suffolk)
      Small: the brewery is in the garage, and they have one pub
which is deliciously shabby and filled with pictures of Victoria
and Albert.  A great place, with beer to match: Gannet Mild
(1.030), with a bit of black malt in the palate and some perfumy
hops character; Victoria Bitter (1.035), clear gold with a spicy
aroma and very spicy hop flavor, but not very bitter; and Albert
Ale (1.040), a deep russet brew with a spicy hop nose, full body,
and a rich, spicy hop flavor.  If you like hops, and especially
hops flavor, this is the place! 

4) Woodford's Norfolk Ales (Woodbastwick, Norfolk)
      Another small brewery--doesn't accept visitors.  The full
range of their products is available at the Spread Eagle in
Erpingham (Norfolk).  Having just taken the Best of Britain for
their Norfolk Nog (a black, sweet, aromatic brew) I hope their
beers find wider distribution.
      At the Spread Eagle I asked for a quarter pint of each of
the six beers available.  These included Spread Eagle (a special
brew for the pub, probably dry hopped), Wherry Best Bitter,
Nelson's Revenge, Norfolk Nog, Baldric, and Headcracker (a sweet,
vinous, almost Belgian-style beer that can undoubtely live up to
its name).  These beers ran the gamut of styles, from clear,
light and hoppy to rich, red and sweet.  All have outstanding hop
character and flavor, many have substantial body, and most have a
certain spicy quality that may be yeast-related.  Having tried
all the beers I was incapable of picking a favorite--they were
all fantastic.  So we started from the beginning again, but this
time with full glasses!

5) Reindeer Freehouse and Brewery (Norwich, Norfolk)
      An excellent brew-pub.  In addition to six of their own
brews they offer well-selected guest beers (this included Tolly's
Anniversary Ale and Mauldon's Black Adder).  The clientele ranges
from ties to mohawks and the food is primarily Malaysian (and
delicious).
      We pulled the quarter-pint routine here, too.  Brews
included: Moild, 3.5% ABV (i.e., mild, but imitating the East
Anglian accent--"Give us a point o' moild"), with a black malt
tang; Bevy, 4% ABV, a gold/amber beer that was slightly sweet and
hopped with subtlety; Gnu, a gold beer with full body and a good
hop/malt balance; Reindeer, 5% ABV, copper red, sweet, and
lightly hopped; Porter, near opaque black with a roast malt aroma
and flavor; and Red Nose, 6% ABV, near opaque red with a slight
alchohol aroma and a sweet, malty flavor.  All were rated good to
very good by our jury.

5) Fuller, Smith & Turner (Chiswick, London)
      As a brewery tour this was less interesting, as there is a
lot of expansion going on and because the guide was not very
knowledgable.
      Fullers uses Challenger, Northdown, and Target hops in the
kettle, and its Chiswick Bitter (1.034, 28 IBU) and ESB (1.054,
35 IBU) are dry-hopped with Goldings (their London Pride--1.040,
30 IBU--is not).  Marris Otter malts are used throughout, with
mash strike temperature at 69 degrees C (156 F?).  Their
strongest beer, Golden Pride (a very malty brew, and 9.2% ABV) is
made from the first run-off only, while their other beers are
sparged at 76 C (169 F?).
      In the casking area we also encountered huge stacks of
polypins (soft plastic beer containers in a cardboard box, with
tap).  Fullers sells these at near-cost to CAMRA members only.   

6) Other
      We were unable to visit the Mauldon's Brewery (Sudbury,
Suffolk), and had difficulty finding their beers.  The Adnams
Brewery (Southwold, Suffolk) doesn't accept visitors.  Their
Bitter and Broadside have pretty general distribution, but I
wasn't very impressed.


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Date: 28 Oct 1992 21:49:04 -0500 (EST)
From: Frank Tutzauer <COMFRANK at ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu>
Subject: Miller's kegging suggestions in B&B 12

Hey now.

I just finished reading Just Brew it! (Beer and Brewing, vol. 12), the 1992
AHA proceedings.  Lots of HBDers in it.  Not only are several chapters written
by contributors to this august forum, but it seemed like every few pages
someone was quoting an HBDer, or thanking an HBDer, or revealing an HBDer's
brewing secrets.  Seriously.  For those of you who haven't seen it, it's
surprising how well represented the HomeBrew Digest is.

Anyway.  Enough bragging; on to my questions.  I, like many Cornelius keggers,
have had problems with getting nothing but foam.  Turn the dispensing pressure
high, turn the dispensing pressure low--it doesn't seem to matter.  Well, Dave
Miller's chapter in Just Brew It looks like it contains The Answers.  
Briefly, his argument is that two things contribute to excess foam.  First, if
the line pressure is too low, gas escapes en route to the tap, foaming the
beer.  Second, if the dispensing pressure is too high, the velocity of the
beer as it hits the glass bottom foams the beer.  And if that's not bad
enough, it's possible that BOTH of these conditions hold at the same time: 
Given the right set up, a pressure which jets out the beer (causing problem 2
above) might still be too low to prevent problem 1.  Thus no matter how you
finagle with the dispensing pressure, you still end up with foam.  Dave's
solution is to pick a line length/diameter/etc. such that the resistance
provided by the line exactly equals the pressure in the keg minus one or two
psi to dispense the beer.  Pretty straightforward.  Nonetheless, I have a
couple of questions about his chapter.

1.  What the heck is a "cobra" tap?  He talks about two kinds of taps:  "bar"
taps and "cobra" taps.  One of them requires a 2 psi adjustment, but I have no
idea what this cobra gizmo is.  My tap looks like the kind that you get on the
hand pump of a beer ball.  I suppose that if your imagination is whimsical
enough, and if you've had enough homebrew, you could say that the tap looked
like a spitting cobra, but geez I dunno.

2.  What is line "width"?  Dave talks about two factors that influence the
resistance on a line:  it's length and it's width.  Makes sense.  It takes
more pressure to force beer over a long distance or through a skinny line. 
But by "width" does he mean inside diameter?  If so, why didn't he use this
term instead of the ambigous "width"?  If not, what *does* he mean?

3.  What's the deal on the material composition of the line?  Dave has a table
showing the resistance for different lengths and widths of line.  No sweat. 
But the resistance for a fixed length/width varies according to whether the
line is vinyl or polyethylene (more resistance in vinyl).  Why?  I can't think
of any good reason why the composition of the line would make a difference. 
Maybe one is more gas permeable than the other, but if that's so then wouldn't
the outside diameter also make a difference?  For example, I've got two
different 3/16" i.d. vinyl lines.  One is fat, nearly 1/2" o.d., and the other
is skinny, maybe 1/4" o.d.  Will the resistance in these lines be different
for an equivalent length?  Relatedly, does anyone know the resistance for
copper (1/4" i.d., 3/8" o.d.) for times when I want to use my jockeybox?

4.  Is lift canceled out by drop?  In addition to line length and width, you
also have to consider whether or not you are pushing the beer uphill--what
Dave calls "lift" (it takes 1 psi to push the beer up two feet).  From my
college physics I remember that the work done in a closed path is zero
(because the work going up is canceled out by the "negative work" going down). 
Does beer work the same way?  For example, if my line goes up two feet, down
three, and then back up one, is the net contribution to resistance zero?  Or
is the resistance gained by going up different than the resistance lost by
going down?  If the answer is a net of zero, then all I have to worry about is
the height of the tap; if nonzero, then I have to worry about all the bobs and
dives that the line takes.

All in all, a good chapter in a good book.  Now if I can just get these
questions answered . . . .

- --frank


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Date: Wed, 28 Oct 1992 23:26:48 -0700
From: walter at lamar.ColoState.EDU (Brewing Chemist Brian Walter)
Subject: Re: Pumpkin Ale


Jake whips out (In HBD 1001)::

>My brew-partner (no, not me, really) is about to embark on a project
>that could easily be a complete disaster: the thought of FERMENTING IN
>A PUMPKIN SHELL obsesses him. Normally, he makes pretty good, if not
>very straight beer. (His artichoke steam beer was surprisingly tasty!)
>Can anyone provide evidence that this project is doomed? If it matters
>(I don't think it does), he will be lagering it on our porch at about
>40-45^F, which may slow the pumpkin's decomposition. Since I have
>never heard of anyone trying anything like this, I can't change his
>mind. "We'll soon see how well this works."

Wow!  A "real" pumpkin ale.  That I would have to see.  Is he going
to leave the seeds?  He could take them out, malt them, and then use
them in the brew!  Has anybody ever fit an airlock to a pumpkin?  Wow!
We may be the midst of a brewing revolution.  Call Papazain!  He now
has a story to  rival his "cock ale" recipe! ;->


Seriously, I also doubt it will work.  But what the hey?  How much
wort will fit into a pumpkin?  1 Gal max.  I think it would be a 
great novelty if it works.  We all brew serious brews most of the time,
but also need time to relax, don't worry, and make that funky homebrew
we have always dreamed about.

Good Day,

 -Brian

Brian J Walter            |Science, like nature, must also be tamed|  Relax,
Chemistry Graduate Student|with a view towards its preservation.   |Don't Worry
Colorado State University |Given the same state of integrity, it   |  Have A
walter at lamar.colostate.edu|will surely serve us well. -N. Peart    | Homebrew!


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Date: Thu, 29 Oct 92 00:41:14 CST
From: bliss at csrd.uiuc.edu (Brian Bliss)
Subject: 100% wheat

>I have a roommate who is violently allergic to barley (very sad), and thought
>I would try to brew up something sans barley. I have looked at a few wheat
>beers, but they all contain some percentage of the forbidden grain. I have not
>yet found a recipe that is 100% wheat.

I beleive M&F has wheat malt extract - not sure if there's any barley in it.
(I think it said 100% wheat malt...)

The (consensus on) the problem is: you need the barley husks to help
with the sparge bed.  Try grinding up a mash of 100% wheat malt (it
does have plenty of enzymes if it's fresh & made right), and do
anything you have to to get the runoff out.  stir like crazy; squeeze
the sparge bag; don't recirculate.  Afterwards, let the runoff
settle, and siphon off of the particulate.  (the procedure works
well for stuck sparges, put you don't get quite the efficiency).
 
bb

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Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1992 00:04:54 -0700
From: walter at lamar.ColoState.EDU (Brewing Chemist Brian Walter)
Subject: Barley-Free Brew

In HBD1K Randall Holt queries,

	Are there any extracts which are 100% wheat?  (paraphrased).

In reply, (and I may be wrong), but I have always heard that the 
IREKS Bavarian Wheat malt extract is 100% wheat.  It comes in big 
cans, 7 or 8 lbs I think, it has been awhile.  I brewed a couple
wheats with just a can of this, few ozs hops, and of course the
WYEAST Bavarian Wheat yeast.  They turned out well.  As I said,
I may be wrong on this, (in which case I will login Thur to a
mailbox full, I am sure!).

On a lighter side, (and I don't suggest this for your roommate!)
While most American "beers" (BudMillCoors) are very low in barley
content, they too are probably above your roommates allergenic
theshold.  But, there may be hope!  According to the Fort Collins
Coloradoan (Yes, the city with the BOMB at the Gore Speech, oh joy)
on Sun 4 October, 1992, Coors is trying out a new "CLEAR" brew.
The article says pretty much nothing substantial about it, brewing
wise.  It is called Zima ClearMalt, and is being test marketed in
Nashville, Syracuse, and Sacramento.  According to Peter Coors 
himself, "Customers have described Zima's tast in different terms,
ranging from a gin and tonic mixed drink to Sprite.  But, with
hops and malts, it qualifies as a beer, and has a similar alcohol
content of about 5%.

I believe they are making it mostly from high fructose corn syrup.
As I understand it, Coors used to use cracked rice from CA to 
bastardizd, uh, I mean, as adjunts when they brewed.  Supposedly
they have found a way to use enzymes to process high volumes of
corn into high fructose syrup.  My guess is this is the main 
ingredient of Zima.

I think it is about time for an American Purity Law.  How about
you?  I would venture to say this may make Bud taste heavy!!

Well, enough for now,

Good Day,

 - Brian


Brian J Walter            |Science, like nature, must also be tamed|  Relax,
Chemistry Graduate Student|with a view towards its preservation.   |Don't Worry
Colorado State University |Given the same state of integrity, it   |  Have A
walter at lamar.colostate.edu|will surely serve us well. -N. Peart    | Homebrew!


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Date:    Thu, 29 Oct 1992 08:53 EDT
From: Phil Hultin <HULTINP at QUCDN.QueensU.CA>
Subject: Trouble Getting Wyeast Going

Perhaps Micah or one of the other yeast gurus can give me some pointers.
I recently started actually buying envelopes of Wyeast, rather than using
an Nth generation culture I got from CAV at bnr.ca.  While the Nth generation
stuff (1098) took off like a rocket whenever I used it, my 1098 from the
packet was essentially dead.  It swelled the packet, and I pitched it into
a starter and it seemed to ferment there, although the krausen was rather
weak.  But, nothing at all in the brew.  Roused the brew, still nothing.
Suggestions?

Actually, one relevant point was that the packet was 7 months past its
code date.  Is Wyeast that sensitive to shelf life?  Should I use a yeast
nutrient in the starter?  Is it worthwhile to actively aereate the starter
during the entire growth phase, eg by using an airstone/airpump system?
Comments by email or posting if you think it worthwhile.  thanks.  P.

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Date: Thu, 29 Oct 92 10:07:01 EST
From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <Spencer.W.Thomas at med.umich.edu>
Subject: Micah's Traquair House Ale recipe

Summary: Yum!

As my first all-grain batch, I brewed a batch of this in August and
bottled it last night.  Since my mash/lauter picnic cooler wasn't big
enough for the whole recipe, I made a half batch (2.5 gallons).
Particulars (if you don't remember the original):

9# British (M&F) pale malt		2# (M&F) crystal malt
1# toasted malt (350F/10min)
2oz roasted barley			.5# chocolate malt
1 oz Northern Brewer  at  6.8% (75min)	 3/8 oz Tettnanger  at  4.8% (15min)
1/2 tsp gypsum in mash water
Wyeast 1056 in 2c (1.020) DME starter.

Strike pale, crystal, toasted malts with 4 gal H2O  at  170F (160F
initial mash temp), 45 minutes later, temp was down to 152F.  Add
roast grains, "mash out" with 1.5gal  at  200F (but only went up to
160F -- obviously I need a better mash tun). Take first runnings only
(2 hours to collect ~4 gallons -- first time with this lautering
system, too.)  Boiled for 75 minutes total.  Left with approximately
2.5 gallons (closer to 3, as it turned out), O.G. 1.094 (temperature
corrected).  Force cooled to 80F.  Siphoned into 5 gal glass primary,
pitched yeast.  Fermented at "cellar temperature", around 70F.

3 weeks later, racked to 3 gal glass secondary (at this point, I noted
that I definitely had more than 2.5 gallons to start, as about 2.75
gallons ended up in the secondary.)  S.G. 1.026.  The taste was
heavenly!  Wonderful malt notes in the nose, definitely alcoholic.  It
sat in secondary for about 5 weeks.

Last night, I bottled.  The S.G. was down to 1.020.  I added 1/4 c
corn sugar for priming, assuming that the fermentation has now
basically finished.  I got 26 12oz bottles.

Besides bottling, I drew off a glass for immediate consumption (of
course!).  The malt was less evident in the nose than it was at
racking (it may not help that I've got a minor cold, though), but was
stil there.  It looks quite syrupy, but doesn't have a thick mouthfeel
(but it's not "thin", either!).  Hop bitterness is quite evident, with
very little apparent aroma or flavor (see note about cold, above).
There is a slight tartness, and surprisingly little sweetness.  I'll
have to go out and get a bottle of the original now, for comparison. 

I'm definitely happy with it.


For those of us who are numbers freaks, here are some:
#malt in mash:	13
first runnings:	4 gal  at  1.066 (16 Plato)
Extract: 21pts/lb/gal (3gal at 1.094 after boil gives 22pts/lb/gal)
OG: 1.094 	OE: 23 Plato
FG: 1.020 	AE: 5 Plato
RE = 0.1808*OE + 0.8192*AE = 8 Plato	 (G. Fix, HBD 880)
Attenuation: 65%
Alcohol: 8% w/w or 10% v/v
Calories/12 oz = (6.9*A + 4.0*(RE-0.1))*3.55*FG = 320!	(G. Fix, HBD 880)

=Spencer W. Thomas 		|  Info Tech and Networking, B1911 CFOB, 0704
   "Genome Informatician"	|  Univ of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Spencer.W.Thomas at med.umich.edu	|  313-747-2778, FAX 313-764-4133

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Date: Thu, 29 Oct 92 8:19:16 MST
From: seiferth at rufous.cs.unm.edu (Justin Seiferth)
Subject: Re: Plastic Kegs

I've got one of these plastic kegs, they are fantastic! I brought it
back from England (So, said the custom's officer as I passed through
the green line with my Irish wife, just what exactly it that!) though
it was manufactured in the US (Ohio).  You do have to be very careful with the 
seals and I've found that unless you orientate the floating ballcock
properly you'll get a lot of foam.


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Date: 29 Oct 1992  10:08 EST
From: dab at donner.cc.bellcore.com (dave ballard)
Subject: snpa yeast/plastic petri dishes


Hey now-  Just a little addition to the info on snpa yeast longevity.
I have about 4 bottles left from a case given to me for my birthday 
in April.  They were in the basement until about 3 days ago when I
moved them up to the fridge.  Last night I drank a bottle and dumped 
the dregs into a glass jug with about a quart and a half of apple
cider that had started to turn.  This morning there was a big foamy 
head not unlike a normal batch of brew pitched with 1056.  Not to
shabby for some spent yeasties that have been laying in the bottom of
a bottle for almost a year.

Also, did we ever get a definitive answer (not that there is such a thing 
around here) about how to sterilize plastic petri dishes?

thanks

dab

=========================================================================
dave ballard	
dab at cc.bellcore.com    
=========================================================================


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Date: Thu, 29 Oct 92 10:33:23 CST
From: tee at teak.cray.com (Tony Ernst)
Subject: Minnesota Homebrewer's Festival


  Here are the results of the Minnesota Homebrewer's Festival and Competition,
  held last weekend at Sherlock's Home Brewery in Minnetonka, Minnesota.

  This was the first year of what we hope will be an annual event.  Special
  thanks to all of the Chicago area judges who came up to help.

  There were 280 entries total.

  Best of Show was awarded to Mark Konings for his Brown Ale by BOS judges
  Michael Jackson, Steve Hamberg and John Isenhour.

  Barley Wine				7 entries
	1st  -	Brian & Linda North,		Brewtown Brewmasters
	2nd  -	Ken Kraemer, 			Minnesota Brewers Association
	3rd  -	Jerry Bourbonnais,		Boreal Bottlers

  Belgian Style				14 entries
	1st  -	Ken Kraemer,			Minnesota Brewers Association
	2nd  -	Tim Hultman,			Northern Ale Stars
	3rd  -	Kelly Kuehl,			Minnesota Brewers Association

  Brown Ales				17 entries
	1st  -	Mark Konings,			no club
	2nd  -	Donald L. Seipke,		Northern Ale Stars
	3rd  -	Tom Burton & Peggy O'Neill,	Prairie Homebrew Companions

  English Style Pale Ales		35 entries
	1st  -	Rick Larson,			Minnesota Brewers Association
	2nd  -	Joe Dols,			no club
	3rd  -	Todd Orjala,			no club

  English Bitters and Scottish Ales	29 entries
	1st  -	David Williamson,		no club
	2nd  -	Patrick H. Lewis,		WIS-SOTA Area Homebrewers
	3rd  -	Andrew R. Ruggles,		no club

  Porters				27 entries
	1st  -	Tony Lowe,			no club
	2nd  -	Carl Eidbo & Jim Gebhardt,	Prairie Homebrew Companions
	3rd  -	Neil Gudmestad & Ray Taylor,	Prairie Homebrew Companions

  English and Scottish Strong Ales	4 entries
	1st  -	Peter Klausler,			no club
	2nd  -	John Burke,			no club
	3rd  -	<no 3rd place awarded>

  Stouts				40 entries
	1st  -	Lillian Gulbrandsen,		no club
	2nd  -	John Bjork,			no club
	3rd  -	Mike Kamrad,			no club

  Bock Beers				15 entries
	1st  -	Andrew R. Ruggles,		no club
	2nd  -	Todd Orjala,			no club
	3rd  -	Mike Valentiner,		Minnesota Brewers Association

  Munich Helles				6 entries
	1st  -	Mick Walker & Vi Klostriech,	Prairie Homebrew Companions
	2nd  -	Steve Niedenfuer,		no club
	3rd  -	Thomas Humphreys,		no club

  Classic Pilsner			17 entries
	1st  -	Tony Lowe,			no club
	2nd  -	Neil Gudmestad,			Prairie Homebrew Companions
	3rd  -	Pete Marsnik,			no club

  Vienna/Oktoberfest/Marzen		17 entries
	1st  -	Dean Stalheim & Dan Zaayer,	no club
	2nd  -	Steve Niedenfuer,		no club
	3rd  -	Jonathon Waugh,			no club

  Fruit Beers				31 entries
	1st  -	Karl Bremer,			no club
	2nd  -	William Lax,			no club
	3rd  -	Robert Silvernale,		Northern Ale Stars

  Wheat Beers				21 entries
	1st  -	Dennis Davison,			Beer Barons of Milwaukee
	2nd  -	Brian Shamblin & Mark Oruidas,	Minnesota Timberworts
	3rd  -	John A. Kennedy,		no club
 
- -- 

 -Tony Ernst
  Minnesota Brewers Association
  tee at cray.com


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Date: Thu, 29 Oct 92 11:28 CST
From: iepubj!korz at ihlpa.att.com
Subject: Dryhops/Oats/100% wheat extract

Barry_Gillott asks:
>  I have a dry hopping question for y'all:  Do I need to be concerned
>about sanitation of the hops?  Can I just open a package of plugs and
>drop one in?  I assume that the alcohol present after initial 
>fermentation will provide some degree of protection, but... enough?

I don't sanitize my dryhops in any way (just plunk them into the
fermenter 7 days before bottling) and have not had any wild yeast or
bacterial problems.

Sandy Cockerham
>Can someone give this extract + adjunct neophyte brewer some more detailed
>information on exactly what to do with oatmeal? Is it possible to put it in
>something other than a stout and not have a bizarre beer? 

You will have to mash the oats -- just using it as a specialty grain
(steeping) will give you *oatmeal* -- a real mess.

Randall Holt asks:

>I have a roommate who is violently allergic to barley (very sad), and thought
>I would try to brew up something sans barley. I have looked at a few wheat
>beers, but they all contain some percentage of the forbidden grain. I have not
>yet found a recipe that is 100% wheat.
> 
>As yet, I have not plumbed the mysteries of mashing, but as no commerical
>wheat-only extract kits seem available, this would be as good an excuse as
>any to get started.

Ireks makes (what they claim to be) a 100% wheat malt extract in 6.6 lb cans.
I've brewed a batch that contained only the can of Ireks and an ounce of
Hallertauer hops and the resulting beer was quite good (although I think
I scorched it in the kettle -- if yours comes out very dark, please post).

Al.

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End of HOMEBREW Digest #1002, 10/30/92