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


Contents:
  BrewCaps (tm?): how and why? (ROB THOMAS)
  Tun size, Lables (DJM1)
  Chorine & Septic Systems (Timothy J. Dalton)
  Re: BOTTLE LABELS (tmr)
  septic systems (Dennis_Birch)
  10 Gallon Picnic Coolers (Ed Sieja)
  Brewpubs in Amsterdam or Antwerp? (Peter OConnor)
  Mailing Strains (drose)
  Re: Tun size and cheepness (Spencer.W.Thomas)
  RE: Tun size (James Dipalma)
  Easily removed labels (Steve Jacobs)
  pico-Brewery (Spencer.W.Thomas)
  Coolers / GABF/ etc. (npyle)
  Homebrewing supplies in Germany? (Nir Navot)
  Brazil WishList (Nir Navot)
  Fridg conversion ("Hobson, Kevin")
  AERATION (Jack Schmidling)
  RE: Bottle labels? (Troy Howard)
  information sources (Brian John Roberts)
  cylindrical coolers (""Robert C. Santore"")
  Re: Bottle labels ("david p. atkins")
  Cl in H2O ? (Gene Zimmerman)
  regulator woes (Frank Tutzauer)
  labels (LLAPV)
  adios for now! ("David D. Hightower")
  yeast faq 1 of 8 (WEIX)
  yeast faq 3 of 8 (WEIX)


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

Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 10:02:31 MET DST
From: ROB THOMAS <THOMASR at EZRZ1.vmsmail.ethz.ch>
Subject: BrewCaps (tm?): how and why?

Hello all,
Could someone enlighten me on the purpose and use of the brew cap?
All I know (well, suspect) is that it is used on a carboy, which is
then turned upside down.
If this is a really obvious question please email me privately.
By the way, I've never seen one either, so a description might be
useful.

Isn't the quest for knowledge a terrible thing!

Rob Thomas.

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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 02:29:20 PDT
From: DJM1%CRPTech%DCPP at cts27.comp.pge.com
Subject: Tun size, Lables

Yes! Something I can answer:


Dave asks:

>From: dd853 at cleveland.Freenet.Edu (David Hyde)
>Subject: Tun size and cheepness


>3.  Can a rectangular cooler make a suitable tun?  I like
>the idea of a smaller grain surface area, but could sacrifice
>that for economy.

I use a coleman 48qt rectangular cooler with a slot-cut copper manifold, I 
think that I picked it up for <$18 on sale....It works just fine for me. The 
drain spiggot is just the right size for 3/8" pipe.


Gretchen asks:

>From: Gretchen Brannaman 250-8384 <BRANNAGJB at A1.GVLTEC.EDU>
>Subject: Bottle labels?

>Hello all,
>Does anyone out there know of any clever ways that I can label my beer and
>mead bottles? I'd like to design them on my computer, but they need to be
>easy to remove (peel or soak) so I wont add more to the headache of preparing
>bottles for the next batch.

Just use regular paper (Xerox or computer) and attach with a Glue Stick, the 
lable will stay on until you get it near any water.


Daniel Meaney



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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 07:18:44 -0400
From: Timothy J. Dalton <dalton at mtl.mit.edu>
Subject: Chorine & Septic Systems


CCAMDEN at delphi.com wrote:

> Is all this bleach going down the
> drain going to harm whatever magic occurs in the septic tank?  

It might.
The bleach might be diluted enough in the septic system that it will
not harm the bacteria churning away in there..then again, it might not
get diluted.

> I have considered dumping the bleach water in the washing machine 
> as it is on a separate drain line from the septic tank.  

We have a utility sink on the same drywell as the septic tank.
Thats where I try and put my bleach water, just to keep it out of
the septic system...

	Tim

- ----
Timothy J. Dalton                                   tjdalton at mit.edu
MIT, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Materials Etching Technology Lab

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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 08:07:43 EDT
From: tmr at fjtld.att.com
Subject: Re: BOTTLE LABELS

Gretchen,

I use a very basic UNIX program called 'pic' to draw my beer labels.
It combines lines, squares, rectangles, circles, ellipses and text
to make a decent beer bottle label.  There are many other graphics
software packages out that will do a much more sophisticated job.

As far as attaching them to the bottles, I used to use undiluted
Elmer's white glue.  I would brush it on to the outside 1/4" edge
of the paper and slap it onto the bottle.  I make up a different front
label for each batch along with the bottling date.  I have a "generic"
back label for all batches.  Thanks to a suggestion from this list, I
switched to using a white glue/paste stick (FaberCastle "uhu stic").
This works just as well and is much easier to apply.

Both glues and labels come off easily after an hour of soaking in water.

					Tom Romalewski

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Date:           Thu, 26 Aug 93 8:22 EDT
From: Dennis_Birch at vos.stratus.com
Subject:        septic systems

CCAMDEN at delphi.com (Cary Camden) asks about the dangers to his septic system
from dumping his weak bleach sterilizing solution down the drain.  I brewed
quite steadily for two years at a house that was on a septic system (the
house we're in now is on town water and sewer). I used about a tablespoon or
two of bleach per 5 gallons to sanitize my carboys, and a stronger solution
squirted into the bottles and rinsed before bottling.  My thoughts were that
the solution was so weak, and in such small quantity compared to the size of
the holding tank that it should not make a difference.  I had the tank pumped
twice during those two years, and was told both times that there were no
problems whatsoever with the system.  The amount of clean water used in the
brewing process for rinsing equipment off further dilutes this solution.  I
also washed my slurry down the drain after fermentation on the theory that
the animals in it would be beneficial to the breakdown process.  Not
definitive proof, but a datapoint -- I was very comfortable with the ability
of the septic system to handle these relatively small quantities of bleach.

                         Dennis Birch

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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 8:16:47 CDT
From: emsieja at ems.b17d.ingr.com (Ed Sieja)
Subject: 10 Gallon Picnic Coolers

David Hyde writes:

 ... stuff deleted...
I'd planned on using a cylindrical "picnic 
cooler", but haven't been able to find the larger ones.  Not 
true...I did find a large  (10 gal?) one at an "exclusive" 
outdoor shop, but I didn't have the kind of money they wanted.
I've found 5 gal ones at plenty of places, but that's the 
largest around here.  


So...three questions: 


1.  Would a 5 gal cooler make an adequate mash/lauter tun for 
5 gal batches with an average amount of grain?  

  Many people use them with great success, however an average batch will
  push the limits and give little room at the top.  Some view the deeper
  grain bed as an advantage - but I like the extra room the 10gal cooler
  provides, plus it gives me room for brewing higher gravity ales at
  times.

2.  If not, is there a relatively cheap source for large 
coolers?  

  I got mine at Wal Mart for around $30-$35.  They actually had two sizes
  for the 10gal models.  Both were made by Gott.  One had a push-in top
  and the other had a screw-on top which could double as a stool.  One
  modification I made was to remove the pushbutton spigot and drill the
  hole to fit a regulated spigot (available from most any homebrew supply).

  With this setup I rarely loose more than one degree during a 90 minute
  mash period.

- -- 
   =========================================================================
    Ed Sieja                   
    Intergraph Corporation   
    Huntsville, AL  35894-0001                         emsieja at ingr.com
   =========================================================================

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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 09:18:35 EDT
From: poconnor at lager.tn.cornell.edu (Peter OConnor)
Subject: Brewpubs in Amsterdam or Antwerp?

Hi there,
   Does anyone know of a good brewery/brewpub in Antwerp, Belgium
or Amsterdam,  The Netherlands?  If so, I would appreciate a 
response at "poconnor at lager.tn.cornell.edu" as I don't want to 
waste HBD bandwidth. -Pete OConnor
    

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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 09:24:43 -0400
From: Daniel McMahon <dmcmahon at blanche.acq.osd.mil>

From: dmcmahon
Full-Name: Daniel McMahon at pr
Subject: Ingredients Substitutions
To: homebrew at hpfcmi.fc.hp.com

I was recently given a recipe for an "excellent Belgian Trippel",
but my local homebrew supply store doesn't have all the exact
ingredients called for.

The two ingredients in question are: (1) Klages malt and 
(2) Liberty hops.

Not finding any comparative reference to Klages or Liberty
in Papazian's book, I've decided to substitute Pale malt
and Willamette (5.3%) hops respectively.
 
What are the special characteristics of Klages malt?
Ditto for Liberty hops.   

I've followed the ongoing discourse concerning experimentation  
with recipes.  I'm not concerned about deviating from a proven 
recipe, I am curious about the specific properties of the two 
ingredients I am substituting for. 

Any comments/suggestions?  Thanks! 


Dan McMahon
dmcmahon at acq.osd.mil


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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1993 09:45:01 -0400 (EDT)
From: drose at husc.harvard.edu
Subject: Mailing Strains

Hello:
	I came in late on this Weihenstephan discussion, so I don't really
know what it is all about.  However, I thought it worth mentioning that
there is a cheaper alternative to agar slants for mailing strains, and it
works just as well.  We routinely send out laboratory strains on filter
paper. Basically, you just put a drop of culture on a ~1 cm square piece
of filter paper (probably any absorbent paper would do) and wrap the
square in a piece of sterile foil.  Then pop it into an envelope and send
it off.  When it gets to the other side, they drop the paper on a rich
media plate, incubate for a day or so, and the yeast grow up.  Then you
streak for singles on another plate and you're set. I haven't rigorously
determined the viability of cells dried on paper, but they are very
stable.  It works.
	I can think of two possible disadvantages to this system.  First,
we use autoclaved paper and foil, and a surprising number of households
STILL lack an autoclave.  However, while commercial paper is probably not
sterile, I imagine it is pretty close; the yeast are going to far
outnumber anything else, and when you streak for singles you will get what
you want.  The foil you could always steam, but probably it would also be
close enough to sterile for most peoples purposes.  The second drawback is
that this method requires that you are set up to culture, and to streak
for singles in particular.  However, while this isn't absolutely necessary
in the case of slants, it is certainly advisable.  Anyway, just thought
I'd throw it out there.  

				Dave Rose
				Dept. of Cellular and Developmental Biology
				Harvard U.


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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 09:43:32 EDT
From: Spencer.W.Thomas at med.umich.edu
Subject: Re: Tun size and cheepness

2. I found my 10gal "Gott" cooler at Buildre's Square for $40.
They've got them again this year (it's a summer item).

1. Depends on how much beer and how strong you want to make it.  You
could manage up to about 1.050, but not very far above that.  As an
extreme example, I was able to make only 3 gallons of a 1.090 Scotch
Ale in a 7 gallon picnic cooler.

3. Yes.  I did my first batch in such a cooler, using a slotted copper
pipe manifold for sparging.  Make sure you get one with a drain hole,
though, as siphoning doesn't work very well (speaking from
experience).  I can send you a "plan" for the sparging manifold, if
you are interested.

=S

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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 09:46:11 EDT
From: dipalma at banshee.sw.stratus.com (James Dipalma)
Subject: RE: Tun size


Hi All,

	In HBD#1212 David Hyde asks:

>1.  Would a 5 gal cooler make an adequate mash/lauter tun for
>5 gal batches with an average amount of grain?

  Sure, I've been able to fit ~12 pounds of grain in a 5 gallon tun.
That much grain capacity is adequate for 5 gallon batches of all but very
high gravity beers.  If you want to brew a high gravity beer and 12 pounds
of grain won't get you to the target gravity, you can always just sparge
less and make a smaller batch.  Last winter, I brewed a 4 gallon batch of
bock, OG 1.076, in a 5 gallon tun by draining the tun, re-filling it,
then sparged just 2 gallons.

>2.  If not, is there a relatively cheap source for large
>coolers?

  I bought a 10 gallon Igloo at the local TruValue for $29, the
5 gallon coolers were less expensive.

>3.  Can a rectangular cooler make a suitable tun?

  Yes, lots of people on this forum use rectangular picnic coolers.  There
are fairly comprehensive instructions in the HBD archives.

                                     Cheers,
                                      Jim


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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 10:31:22 EDT
From: steve at garnet.spawar.navy.mil (Steve Jacobs)
Subject: Easily removed labels


>From BRANNAGJB at A1.GVLTEC.EDU

> Does anyone out there know of any clever ways that I can label my beer and
> mead bottles? I'd like to design them on my computer, but they need to be
> easy to remove (peel or soak) so I wont add more to the headache of preparing
> bottles for the next batch.

I used to use sticky-back (peel off) paper for my labels, but they were 
really hard to remove.

There are a couple of methods you could use:

1) Get some gummed laser printer paper. A homebrew shop here in Northern
   Virginia sells gummed paper that will feed in most types of laser 
   printers. It works well for me. Just wet the label with a little
   water and stick it on. Soaks off in warm water. 

   Brew America in Vienna, Virginia is the only place I've seen that carries 
   the gummed paper. I think that they will do mail order. Their number is 
   (703) 938-4805. I don't remember the price. 

   Standard disclaimer applies.

2) Use regular laser printer paper for your labels, wet the back with milk,
   and stick them to the bottle. 

   Sometimes the milk soaks into the paper too much and the label gets too
   wrinkly and the milk attached labels seem to take a little longer to soak 
   off than the gummed labels.

There are a couple of companies listed in some of the beer-related magazines
that specialize in multi-color labels, but they tend to be expensive.

For the artistically-impaired, gummed preprinted labels are available from
most homebrew shops. Not a whole lot of variety though.

Steve Jacobs
KSI Inc.

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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 10:46:34 EDT
From: Spencer.W.Thomas at med.umich.edu
Subject: pico-Brewery

Disclaimer: the owners of pico-Brewing Systems are friends of mine.  I
have no financial interest in the company or the system.

That said, I've used the system a few times, and it's a really nice
system.  There are still a few quirks, but it's one of the easiest
breweries I've ever used.  Last weekend, we made 15 gallons of Porter
in a brewing demo at the Michigan Renaissance Festival, under slightly
adverse conditions (only water supply is a garden hose, no sink, just
a drain in the "floor" that kept backing up on us.)  We arrived a
little after 11am, and finished brewing about 3:30.  (The clean-up then
took another hour and a half because of the problems mentioned above.)

It was almost effortless -- We started by running some water into the
hot water kettle and firing up the burner to heat it to mash-in
temperature.  Then we measured the (26 lbs) of grain into the mash
kettle.  After a little while, we pumped hot water into the mash tun,
then heated the mash slightly to our mash temperature.  Then we
transferred the pump to the mash tun and started recirculating.  This
really helps maintain a constant/uniform mash temperature without
stirring.  Tasting the outflow, it appeared we had complete conversion
after about 20 minutes, but we kept the mash going for a little over
an hour (partly because we were explaining how brewing beer worked to
all the people stopping by the booth, as well as telling them we
couldn't sell or give them any samples).  

Towards the end of the mash, we started heating more water for
sparging.  Moved the pump back to the hot water kettle, ran a hose
from the outlet of the mash kettle to the boiling kettle, and opened
the valve to start sparging.  Because of the constant recirculation
during mashing, the wort came out "clear" (I put this in quotes,
because it was a pretty black Porter).  We adjusted the valves on the
mash kettle and the hot water kettle to the same flow rate, and
sparged almost to the top of the boiling kettle (under which we turned
on the heat after running a bit of wort in).

As the wort boiled down, we periodically sparged a little more from
the mash tun into it.  At the end of the boil, we put in the immersion
cooler, hooked the pump to the boil kettle, started running water
through the cooler, and recirculated wort past it to chill it.  When
it was cool (about 1/2 hour?) we pumped the wort from the kettle into
our carboys with lots of splashing and foaming.

Cleaning up was pretty easy, as easy as it can be when you're
wrestling 15 gallon containers, and trying to keep from overflowing
the drain, which kept backing up (finally fixed this by wrapping a
rubber glove around the hose and sticking it down the drain).

Good points: 
* With the pump, and a good stand, you don't have to ever lift hot
  water or wort.
* Recirculation during mash and cooling means no stirring.
* Temperature wells in the pots make temperature control easy.
* Strainer screens in mash and boiling pot work very well.
* Easy to make 10 gallons, pretty easy to make 15, possible to make
  upwards of 20 (by also boiling in the hot water kettle).
* It's designed by home-brewers, for home-brewers.  They're constantly
  refining and improving the design.
* Good solid construction.

Problems:
* We had a slight problem with grain bed compaction during the mash
  recirculation.  But we had 26 lbs of grain in there, too.
* Hop pellets can clog the pump if you stop it for a while.  This only
  happened when I was rinsing the boiling kettle.  Blowing through the
  hose from the outflow cleared it.
* There's a pretty large "dead" volume under the filter screens.  This
  is probably most serious in the mash tun.  I'd say it's more than a
  gallon.
* The price!

A note: one of my brewing companions, an experienced brewer, had never
used the system before.  He decided, based on that experience, that he
wanted to buy one.

=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	|  313-764-8065, FAX 313-764-4133

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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 8:56:44 MDT
From: npyle at n33.stortek.com
Subject: Coolers / GABF/ etc.

Dave Hyde asks about rectangular cooler mash tuns.  This is what I use, Dave,
and am very happy with it.  Its very easy to make a manifold for this thing
(mine looks like a fork from the top).  The larger surface area to depth ratio
doesn't seem to be a problem, although I suppose it could cause marginally
lower yields (as the liquid flows through, it passes by less pieces of grain
and therefore pulls through less sugar).  Anyway, you can get them in various
sizes, from 24 quart to 48 quart, and cheap!  Go for it.

The Great American Beer Festival is planned for October 8 and 9 this year in
Denver.  I think it is at Currigan Hall downtown.  Is anyone involved in the
planning of the GABF a participant in this forum?  I'd like to know if there
are any provisions for designated drivers?  I don't recall any in the past, but
logic tells me there must be some plan for this.  It would be extremely
irresponsible for them to plan an event which will undoubtedly produce a large
number of intoxicated people, and not to have a way for them to get home
safely.  Anyone know?  The reason I ask is that my DD from the last few years
(my wife) will be out of town that weekend.  I want to go to it, but not bad
enough to risk my life.

(Bob Devine, I was waiting for your comment.  Good show!)

Someone (sorry!) brought up the question of hot liquor pumps.  I'm interested
in this subject, too (I'm tired of lifting gallons of hot water).  I don't need
to pump my wort, only hot water for sparging, etc. so I'm not too concerned
about sanitation.  Any experience out there with dishwasher pumps or the like?
As usual, I'm looking for something economical as well as useful.

Cheers,
norm
- -- 
Norm Pyle, Staff Engineer & Brewer               Storage Technology Corporation
npyle at n33.stortek.com                            2270 South 88th Street
"Youth is of course, the problem, as any         Louisville, CO 80028-0211
mature man knows."  -- Michael Jackson           (303) 673-8884

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Date:         Thu, 26 Aug 93 19:13:53 +0300
From: Nir Navot <LCNAVOT at WEIZMANN.WEIZMANN.AC.IL>
Subject:      Homebrewing supplies in Germany?

Let me give this one another try. A friend of mine will be in Germany next week
and I want to send him somewhere to get me brewing supplies. Anyone know where
to???
Please answer directly to LCNAVOT at WEIZMANN.WEIZMANN.AC.IL
Thanks, Nir.

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Date:         Thu, 26 Aug 93 19:20:58 +0300
From: Nir Navot <LCNAVOT at WEIZMANN.WEIZMANN.AC.IL>
Subject:      Brazil WishList

Another friend of mine is going to Brazil for a month. Do you know of any
special brews that I can ask her to bring me back (and would be worth the
trouble)?
She told me of a low alcohol beer they have there by the name of Choppe. Does
anyone know how it is made?
Nir

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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 12:21:00 edt
From: "Hobson, Kevin" <HobsonK at magic.dcrt.nih.gov>
Subject: Fridg conversion


HBDer's,
Please comment on or point me to the FAQ on converting a fridge to use as a
lagering appliance.

What I need is any set of info one of you good folks has put together.  In
particular the temperature guage to retro fix to the box.

I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the product that is always
recommended in this list!  "Air Temp"?  Manuf. and model # would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks ahead of time!
a direct response would be great/fine.
Kevin 8^)
Division of Computer Research and Technology
National Institutes of Health
hobsonk at magic.dcrt.nih.gov
"Hell, There are no rules here we're trying  to accomplish something"
    T.A. Edison
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 11:31 CDT
From: arf at genesis.mcs.com (Jack Schmidling)
Subject: AERATION

 
 >From: neilm at juliet.ll.mit.edu ( Neil Mager )
 >Subject: WORT AERATION & Sierra Nevada
 
  >One of the participants from SN said they like to achieve
 as high an oxygen saturation as they can - 100% if possible.
 
 This sounds like a rhetorical statement of wishfull thinking as it apparently 
 is not possible without injecting pure oxygen.
 
 >They use something called a fishtail which is basically a pipe
 with a flattened end which they use to spray the wort into the
 fermenters.
 
 Great minds really do follow the same path.  At the end of the hose coming 
 from my wort pump is a short piece of 1/4" copper tubing, the end of which is 
 flattened to spray the wort into the fermenter.  However, I wasn't clever 
 enough to call it a fishtail.
 
 Mine is formed into a "U" shape so I can just hang it on the lip of the 
 fermenter (after sanitizing of course).  It, like the airstone, creates more 
 foam than there is room for so I occasionally un-hang it and use the spray to 
 beat down the foam.  This is far faster than waiting for it to collaps by 
 istelf.
 
 >From: tmgierma at raphael.acpub.duke.edu (Todd Gierman)
 >Subject: yeast
  
 > Jack's comment on the reproduction mode is essentially correct.  Some yeast 
 do reproduce via fission, but you probably won't find this kind in your beer, 
 maybe your cider though.
 
 I though fission was another name for budding which makes it equally 
 incorrect as an explanation for flocculation.  The other reproductive process 
 encountered in yeast (but not beer yeast) involves sporulation and sexual 
 reproduction.
 
 >One final note, let's take a quick market survey concerning those desiring
 Weihenstephan....
 
 Pray tell, what is Weihenstephan?  One of those thereads I never bothered 
 reading.
 
 js
 

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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 08:59:58 PDT
From: troy at scubed.scubed.com (Troy Howard)
Subject: RE: Bottle labels?


Gretchen Brannaman 250-8384 <BRANNAGJB at A1.GVLTEC.EDU> asks:

>Does anyone out there know of any clever ways that I can label my beer and
>mead bottles? I'd like to design them on my computer, but they need to be
>easy to remove (peel or soak) so I wont add more to the headache of preparing
>bottles for the next batch.


This is what I do (for whatever it's worth):  I design my labels on the 
computer, copy as many of them as will fit onto a single page, and print
that page out.  So now I have a single sheet with 'n' copies of my label
on it.  I then photocopy this page to make as many copies as I need.  I cut
out the labels (not too difficult if you place them on the page wisely) and
affix them to the bottles with a glue stick ( I believe it is the same stuff
we all used as 'paste' to make those wonderful cardboard creations in 1st
grade).  Anyway, the labels fall off with just a quick soak in water (1 minute,
maybe two).


Troy


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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 01:29:59 -0400
From: bjr at po.CWRU.Edu (Brian John Roberts)
Subject: information sources



	Anyone have any good pointers to any sources of inforamtion
describing the design and construction of a home brewery?  I tried to
find a FAQ for this mailing list and even tried the listserv, but my
mail bounced back (anyone know if the listserv still exists)?


Thanks in advance,
- -- Brian


- --
Brian John Roberts               e-mail: bjr at po.cwru.edu
Case Western Reserve University 
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
postal: 3658 Shields Road; Canfield, OH; 44406-9504 USA  phone: (216) 792-9844

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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 13:07:43 -0400
From: ""Robert C. Santore"" <rsantore at mailbox.syr.edu>
Subject: cylindrical coolers


In HBD 1212 David Hyde writes:
> 1.  Would a 5 gal cooler make an adequate mash/lauter tun for 
> 5 gal batches with an average amount of grain?  

I use a 5 gal cylindrical cooler for 5 gal batches with good results.
However, I only use it for decoction mashes.  I use an enameled canning
pot in the oven (5 gal) for infusion and temp. controlled.  There are 
many equipment combinations that can be used and I'm sure you'll find 
your own odd ball favorite.  I can mash 10 pounds of grain comfortably
in the cooler, but obviously you can't use too thin a mash or too 
large a quantity of grain without exceeding its capacity.  Basically, 
if I'm short of a strike temp. in the cooler, I can adjust the sizes
of my decoctions, and in the pot just put it on the stove for a short
period.  If you intend to rely on boiling water infusions then you need
to leave a little more headspace for temp. adjustments.  Another use I
have for the cylindrical cooler is to store my sparge water.  Getting
double duty out of equipment is a real advantage.  I don't use it as a
lauter tun, but I know people that do.  Just be careful that you have
an adequate false bottom or equivalent - the tap on my cooler plugs too
easily for me to consider it.

> 2.  If not, is there a relatively cheap source for large 
> coolers?  
The cheapest I've ever seen 10 gal cylindrical coolers new is $38 which
is close to but not quite cheap enough for me (it is more than I've paid 
for any other piece of equipment including an 8 gal brew pot or my grain 
mill).  However, if I got seriously into high gravity beers or larger batch 
sizes I would get one in a second and make sure I could fit it out as a
lauter tun (in other words, it's just a matter of time).


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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 12:57:00 CST
From: "david p. atkins" <atkins at vms2.macc.wisc.edu>
Subject: Re: Bottle labels

>Hello all,
>Does anyone out there know of any clever ways that I can label my beer and
>mead bottles? I'd like to design them on my computer, but they need to be
>easy to remove (peel or soak) so I wont add more to the headache of preparing
>bottles for the next batch.
>
>Thanks in advance,
>Gretchen Brannaman
>brannagjb at a1.gvltec.edu
>


A method I'm going to try is rubber cement.  The labels should peel right
off and any excess cement on the bottle can be removed with a wee bit of
rubbing.  Haven't tried it yet though...give it a whirl.

David Atkins

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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 93 14:09:39 CDT
From: Gene Zimmerman <ezimmerm at hp.uwsuper.edu>
Subject: Cl in H2O ?

Salutations!
   I've just moved to Laramie, WY from Duluth, MN (Right on the shore
of the largest easliy accessable source of fresh water). Anyway, I
got a hold of the local water engineer, I guess a real chemist is not
needed in their estimation, and he told me they add 1.5 g Cl to 1 L of
H2O and that the time the water reaches town, 20 miles, the level
is about .3 g of Cl per l of H2O. He was telling me about half life
and that the use of Cl in the water was minimal. I asked if there were
micro-orginisms and he also said no. He's sending me a fact sheet.
   One and a half grams of Chlorine per Liter of water seems like a lot to
me, what about others? The city uses two sources of water, river
and underground. Does anyone have anything to say about this?
   I asked about water at the first homebrewer club meeting I attended and
was told the water was usually on the alkaline side, but that was it.
Our Club's name is Snowy Range Foamenters, by the way.

Gene in Laramie, WY


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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1993 15:46:32 -0400 (EDT)
From: Frank Tutzauer <COMFRANK at ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu>
Subject: regulator woes

I think my CO2 regulator is on the fritz.  Where would I go to get it
tested, and, possibly, serviced?  Would it be cheaper to buy a new one?

Thanks
- --frank

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Date: Thursday, 26 August 93 13:34:10 CST
From: LLAPV at utxdp.dp.utexas.edu
Subject: labels

Howdy--

In HBD #1212, Gretchen Brannaman wants suggestions for bottle lables.  Here's
my two cents.

I make small neck lables with a logo on them, instead of big labels that go
on the body of the bottle (except for special "commemorative" batches).  The
advantages are:

1)  Less paper.  Instead of four labels from each sheet of paper, I can get
    around a dozen.

2)  Easy identification.  Since I have about five different kinds of hombrew
    in six-pack holders, I can easily indentify the beer by the neck label
    instead of lifting the bottles to see the labels on the body.

3)  Less trash.  Face it, they end up in the trash, & we need less of that.

The ones I have now are rectangular.  However, I plan to try curved ones,
about the shape of Celis' neck labels, the next time I make some.  I have
a generic logo I use, & I ran off a master sheet.  When I have a freshly
bottled batch, I make a copy of the master, write in the name of the beer,
then xerox those.  Next I just cut them out & use a "Uhu" glue stick to stick
them on.  The glue washes right off with the paper.  Easy.  The rectangle shape
is easy to cut out, but fits on the neck funny.  It depends on what you want.

Enjoy,

Alan, Austin

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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1993 13:04:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: "David D. Hightower" <ddh3789 at aw101.iasl.ca.boeing.com>
Subject: adios for now!

Hello and goodbye for a while!  I have decided to follow my heart and not
my checking account for a while as I give up my job, desk and terminal for
a pair of rubber boots and a malt shovel.  Keep up the good threads and
flames and never forget that the people tasting your homebrew might just be
interested in hiring you to make beer too!

Good Luck and Good Brewing.
Dave Hightower  at  Maritime Pacific Brewing Co.
Seattle, WA
(unsubscribe sent separately, in plain brown wrapper)
- -- 
Dave
ddh3789 at aw108.fsl.ca.boeing.com


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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1993 16:23:27 -0500 (CDT)
From: WEIX at swmed.edu
Subject: yeast faq 1 of 8

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Date: Thu, 26 Aug 1993 16:24:10 -0500 (CDT)
From: WEIX at swmed.edu
Subject: yeast faq 3 of 8

SECTION II: YEAST PROFILES

PART 1: DRY ALE YEAST (Saccharomyces cerevisiae)

Coopers Ale Yeast
   Good to very good reputation. The Coopers is quite fruity fermented at 65F.
It's not phenolic at all and all the flavor is a very clean fruitiness.

Glenbrew Special Ale Yeast
   Specially designed for use in "all malt" beers. Contains a special enzyme to
obtain extremely low terminal gravities.

Doric Ale Yeast
   Ok to very good reputation.

Edme Ale Yeast
   Starts quick. Produces some fruity esters. Attenuative. Good reputation

Lallemand Nottingham Yeast
   This yeast is remarkable for its high degree of flocculation. It settles out
very quickly and firmly. Very good reputation. Quick fermentation at 62F. It's
very clean and only very slightly fruity in the keg, but tastes/smells nutty in
the bottled version. Nottingham appears to be relatively attenuative (more so
than the Coopers).

Lallemand Windsor Yeast
   Produces a beer which is clean and well balanced. This yeast produces an ale
which is estery to both palate and nose with a slight fresh yeast flavor. Very
good reputation. Not as quick as the Nottingham. Definite banana smell at
racking.

Munton-Fison Ale Yeast
   Starts quick. Produces some fruity esters. Attenuative. Fair to good
reputation. It is reported that a phenolic taste is no longer a problem due to
some strain changes.

Red Star Ale Yeast
   This brand had a very bad reputation in the past, and for a while production
was suspended. A different strain (AHY 43391) was selected by the company and is
now being sold as Red Star Ale Yeast. The new strain is much improved! Reports
from Dr. Fix, a brewer's yeast consultant, suggest that this is an excellent
general purpose ale yeast with a clean taste. Apparent attenuation 76-78%.

Whitbread Ale Yeast
   Fast starter. Distribution switched to Crosby and Baker with a change in the
yeast. Very good reputation despite past quality problems.

PART 2: LIQUID ALE YEAST

BrewTek CL-10 American Microbrewery #1
   A smooth, clean, strong fermenting ale yeast that works well down to 56F.

BrewTek CL-12 American Microbrewery #2
   Produces an accentuated, rich and creamy malt profile with hints of diacetyl.

BrewTek CL-16 British Pale Ale #1
   Produces a bold, woody and dry character which accentuates mineral and hop
flavors.

BrewTek CL-18 British Pale Ale #2
   A smooth, full flavored, well rounded ale yeast. Mildly estery, it is a
strong fermenter.

BrewTek CL-26 British Draft Ale
   Their (Brewteks) favorite Ale yeast, gives a full bodied, well rounded flavor
with a buttery rich diacetyl.

BrewTek CL-28 Irish Dry Stout
   A top fermenter, leaves a very recognizable character to Dry Stouts with
roasted malts coming through well.

BrewTek CL-30 Belgian Ale #1
   Produces a classic Belgian Ale flavor. Robust and estery with notes of clove
and Plum.

BrewTek CL-32 Belgian Ale #2
   Flanders style yeast. Makes a terrific strong brown and a good base brew for
fruit flavored beers.

BrewTek CL-40 Old German Ale
   For traditional Alt Biers, a strong fermenter which leaves a highly
attenuated, mildly estery flavor.

Wyeast 1007 German Ale Yeast
   Ferments dry and crisp leaving a complex yet mild flavor. Produces an
extremely rocky head and ferments well down to 55 deg. F (12 deg. C).
Flocculation is high and apparent attenuation is 73-77%. Optimum fermentation
temperature: 62 deg. F (17 deg. C). A good balance of sweetness and tartness. A
very pleasing yeast.

Wyeast 1024 Belgian Ale Yeast
   Banana estery flavor. With both clove-like phenolics and alcohol spice, the
Belgian will tell you right away that it's no ordinary yeast. Tartness often
develops over time. Ferment warm or with inadequate aeration and you're likely
to get a bubblegum-like note. Intended for abbey beers, and works very well for
that. And, depending on the wort composition, *lots* of banana notes.

Wyeast 1028 London Ale Yeast
   Rich minerally profile, bold woody slight diacetyl production. Medium
flocculation. Apparent attenuation 73-77%. Optimum fermentation temperature: 68
deg. F (20 deg. C). Complex, woody, tart, with strong mineral notes. It produces
ales of marvelous complexity and sophistication. This yeast was used for the
1992 B.0.S.S. Challenge 1st place Barleywine, brewed by none other than Brian
and Linda North.

Wyeast 1056 American/Chico Ale Yeast
   Ferments dry, finishes soft, smooth and clean, and is very well balanced.
Flocculation is low to medium. Apparent attenuation 73-77%. Optimum fermentation
temperature: 68 deg. F (20 deg. C). The cleanest of the bunch, but
mutation-prone. This is Sierra Nevada's yeast. Probably the best available
all-around yeast, this strain can be used for anything, without embarrassment.

Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale Yeast
   Slight residual diacetyl is great for stouts. It is clean smooth, soft and
full bodied. Medium flocculation and apparent attenuation of 71-75%. Optimum
fermentation temperature: 68 deg. F (20 deg. C). Soft, round, malty; the least
attenuative of the Wyeast line. Very nice for any cold-weather ale, at its best
in stouts and Scotch ales.

Wyeast 1098 British Ale Yeast
   Ale yeast from Whitbread. Ferments dry and crisp, slightly tart and well
balanced. Ferments well down to 55 deg. F (12 deg. C). Medium flocculation,
apparent attenuation 73-75%. Optimum fermentation temperature: 70 deg. F (21
deg. C). Tart, crisp, clean. Great in pale ales and bitters, good in porters.

Wyeast 1338 European Ale Yeast
   Ale yeast from Wissenschaftliche in Munich. A full bodied complex strain
finishes very malty. Produces a dense rocky head during fermentation. High
flocculation, apparent attenuation 67-71%. Optimum fermentation temperature: 70
deg. F (21 deg. C). It's clean and malty, especially well suited to Altbier.

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End of HOMEBREW Digest #1213, 08/27/93