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


Contents:
  bottle sterilizing... (abaucom)
  Decoction Mashing (Phil Brushaber)
  oxygen barrier caps (donald oconnor)
  NO SUBJECT                                                        (gbgg5tt5)
  George Fix Chill Haze Talk PART 1 of 2 (Norman Farrell)
  George Fix Chill Haze Talk Part 2 of 2 (Norman Farrell)
  Black and Tan (John_D._Sullivan.wbst311)
  Sticking to Business (Walter O'Briant)
  Kegs/Crabs/Salvator/Plugs/etc. (npyle)
  Recipe Request (Bob W Surratt)
  Difference between Priming w/ gyle and DME (Philip J Difalco)
  Kriek/Sour Mash (LPD1002)
  Bottle labels (mike.keller)
  Bass Ale Recipe and Dry Hop ("Bob Knetl")
  Judge Forum (x-4378)" <Simpson at po2.rb.unisys.com>
  SS Keg Conversion, or How I learned to Love All-Grain. Part 1 (Mike Peckar  05-Nov-1993 1252)
  SS Keg Conversion, or How I learned to Love All-Grain. Part 2 (Mike Peckar  05-Nov-1993 1301)
  SS Keg Conversion, or How I learned to Love All-Grain. Part 3 (Mike Peckar  05-Nov-1993 1303)


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

Date: Thu, 4 Nov 93 16:22:24 EST
From: abaucom at fester.swales.com
Subject: bottle sterilizing...

Paul asks about mass sterilizing bottles... Here's my 1/50 of a $1...

I used to sink 2 cases of bottles in a bleach solution and rinse but MANOMAN is
that time consuming and I suppose could quickly turn one off of brewing BEER!

Check your dishwasher to see if it has a sani-cycle setting. I have used my
dishwasher for many (>10) batches and have yet to have any infections.
I load up the bottom rack of the dishwasher with all the bottles upside down
each on their own peg (it fits about 2 cases) and run through a cycle. I
use the water-miser and sani-cycle settings.  The sani-cycle setting,
according to the dw manual, raises the water temp to >140F for the last 5+
minutes of the rinse.  I don't know if water manages to get up into all
the bottles but the hi temp seems to sanitize them just fine.  Hopefully,
you rinse your bottles out fairly well right after you pour the beer (a sure
sign of a homebrew addict!)  If so, the bottles should be pretty clean to
start with (no furry trees rooted in the bottle!).

BTW, I do use a small amount of dishwashing detergent in the cycle and have
had no problems with beer heads or off-flavors.  But you would have to
experiment since your water may be too hard or soft to completely rinse the
soap away. (a hi-temp cycle with no soap works ok too)

I have not tried a batch in a dw without the hi-temp-setting so I don't
know if it would be sufficient to kill the enemy.

So, If you're thinking of buying a new dishwasher, check to see if it has a 
hi-temp (sani) setting.  It's worth the extra $$$.

l8r,
Andrew

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Andrew W. Baucom               Phone: (301) 572-1327
| Swales & Associates, Inc.      FAX: (301) 595-2871
| 5050 Powder Mill Road
| Beltsville, MD 20705           "Rent this space for your quote!"
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Date: Thu, 4 Nov 93 15:25:00 -0600
From: phil.brushaber at lunatic.metronet.com (Phil Brushaber)
Subject: Decoction Mashing



Am I missing something here? Recently I asked how to develop that super
malty flavor which comes from German Dopplebocks. Many people were
kind enough to write me privately and suggest decoction mashing
(along with low hop rates) as the answer.

Upon re-consulting Noonan's book on decoction mashing I am a bit confused.
Simply put (although there appears to be nothing "simple" about it) it
seems to me that Noonan suggests starting out with a low temperature
for an initial dough in and then a temperature rise through each of the 
enzyme steps (protein, sacrification, mashout). It seems to me that
he must be talking about mashing in a Coleman Cooler or something as
the heat increases are brought about by removing some of the wort
at each step, boiling it away from the grain, and adding it back to
get the next temperature step. I suppose to a "cooler masher" this 
allows keeping the mash thick while raising temperatures.

I mash in a large canning kettle kept on a stovetop throughout
the mash. By turning the stove on I can go through all the heat
increase steps without removing ANY of the mash. Since the heat
comes from an external source rather than hot wort or water I can 
keep the mash as think as I want.

Am I missing something here? With my setup, won't I be accomplishing
about the same thing as a decoction mash??



 ... 43 years old and still getting a keg out of life!
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.11

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Date: Thu, 4 Nov 1993 21:55:51 -0600
From: donald oconnor <oconnor at ccwf.cc.utexas.edu>
Subject: oxygen barrier caps


There was a question a few days ago on rcb about the proper use of
the oxygen barrier caps.  these caps are either sold as PureSeal or
SmartCaps although I think the latter name may no longer be in effect
due to some legal mumbo jumbo.

the caps have a substance which reacts with oxygen.  obviously if the
caps did not have some type of activation barrier, they would react
with O2 in the air and be useless.  The caps are activated by moisture.
therefore they should be kept dry before use.  Each cap has the
capacity to react with 1.2 ml (i presume this is at 1 atmosphere and 
a typical brewery ambient temperature).  this equates to about 6 ml
of air which aint much.  in other words, if you boil these caps and 
activate them before bottling, you're wasting your money.  the
caps are properly used by capping dry and letting the beer activate
the stuff.  

there is no need to boil new caps of any type by the way.  i used to
do this but it's needless paranoia.

these caps really do lower oxygen levels in beer.  as a result, the shelf
life of beer is extended.  this has some value to homebrewers but
of course is of particular value to small breweries.  it allows 
breweries like celis to be more flexible in the brewing schedule because
it is now possible to store the beer longer and still maintain a fresh
and delicious brew.

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Date: Fri, 05 Nov 93 06:03:07 EST
From: gbgg5tt5 at ibmmail.COM
Subject: NO SUBJECT                                                       

- ----------------------- Mail item text follows ---------------

To: I1010141--IBMMAIL  Homebrew Digest su


Subject: Extract storage
>Extract storage: In planning for the days that I may not live near a
>homebrew shop and/or have not yet gotten into the swing of all grain full
>mash beering, could anyone offer tips on storing large quantities of liquid
>or dry extracts.

Depends on how long you want to store it. My father bought 56lb of dried
malt extract. Very soon after, he gave up home brewing. The DME was in a
tough polythene sack, tied tightly with string, inside a strong cardboard
drum with a close fitting lid. I found it *13* years later, and that
persuaded me to start home-brewing.

On opening the bag, I found that the 56lbs DME had turned into 56-ish lbs
SSME (Solid Sticky Malt Extract). I assume that it had very slowly been
absorbing moisture, and compacting under its own weight, until it was one
rock-hard lump. I had to use a hammer and chisel to break it up. After 3-4
hours I had weighed out about 50 1lb bags. There were chips of the stuff
within a 15 foot radius of where I was chiselling - thats how tough it was.
However, I did then go on to make a dozen or so good dark malty brews from
it and apart from an occasional excess of treacly taste, slightly lower
attenuation than expected, and difficulty dissolving it (even in boiling
water) I had no problems. Everyone loved the beer too.

Moral: Don't leave it 13 years in a bag in a cardboard drum.

Paul Slater
gbgg5ttg at ibmmail.com


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Date: Fri, 5 Nov 93 07:30:06 CST
From: nfarrell at ppco.com (Norman Farrell)
Subject: George Fix Chill Haze Talk PART 1 of 2

Chill Haze and Fining Agents in Beer

Part 1 of 2
I was fortunate enough to catch George Fix's
presentation at the 1993 Dixie Cup Milli-Conference.
I even had a small enough hangover to take notes.
George Fix spoke on chill haze and some recent work with
common agents used to enhance beer clarity.  I would call
them finning agents.  The work he presented is to be
published in an upcoming sequel/update of Principles of
Brewing Science.  Since the good Dr. Fix scooped himself,
I will try to convey the gist of his talk below
including some tables of results.  I am grateful for
George's enthusiastic cooperation in proofing this posting.
I have added further explanation and consulted other
sources and as I felt was needed.  I have also added
editorial comments (you can tell where).  Sorry to all for
the delay but it was important for George to proof my note
taking.  This posting will be in 2 parts since the size is over
8k bytes.

This talk concerns the causes and treatment of
chill haze that are not the result of some
technical brewing error.  We're talking about
colloidal haze, protein/polyphenol complexes.
We are not talking about:

1. Biological hazes caused by bacteria, non-
culture(wild) yeast or mutant yeast.

2. Starch haze caused by the presence of gums
like beta-glucans or unconverted starch.  Over
sparging, high sparge temperature or alkaline
sparge water can all cause this kind of
permanent haze.

3. Trace metals can also cause haze problems.
Iron levels above 0.05 ppm or cooper above 0.10
ppm are common culprits.  The most likely
source is from your water supply.  Your water
character may be variable throughout the year.
Seasonal haze problems may not be your
imagination.  Your water supply may also change
sources (Norman's does).  Check with your local
water department at different times of the year
to see if this could be a problem.  Norman has
found them more than willing to read off the
most recent analysis over the phone (call the
water plant, not City Hall).

4. Oxidation haze is cause by the
time/temperature history of the beer after it
has been bottled.  Thermal abuse is the enemy
here.  The telltale sign is a dull lackluster
appearance (not you and your drinking buddies;
the beer).  This problem is sometimes termed
"European Import Haze".

We are talking about chill haze resulting from
protein/polyphenol complexes (protein and tannins)
and haze caused by yeast biomass.  Note that chill
proofing and reduction of yeast biomass are two
separate things.  Now, let's discuss some of the
common fining agents.

Irish Moss
Irish moss is (according to Norman's
dictionary) the dried and bleached seaweed of
the red algae variety.  The two most common
species are Chondrus crispus and Gigartina
mamillosa.  The active ingredient is called
carrageen (carragheen) and is sometimes a
synonym for the seaweed itself.

Irish moss is said to aid in precipitating
coagulated proteins.  It is normally added
about 10 minutes before the end of the boil at
the rate of 1/2 to 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons (by
most homebrewers).  Fix adds Irish moss at
15 minutes left in the boil.  Some recipes call for a
"pinch".  The use of Irish moss has several
advantages and raises some concerns for the
(home)brewer.

Advantages:
1. Irish moss is a processing agent; not an
ingredient.  It will not survive the boil
kettle.  For this reason, it can be used under
the "German Beer Purity Law".
2. Infections are not a concern since Irish
moss is added during the boil.
3. A negative charge makes Irish moss selective
for large molecular weight proteins.

Concerns:
Since proteins have important roles in the
fermentation cycle and in the finished beer,
any agent that removes proteins should give
concern in the following areas:
1. Will it remove too many low molecular weight
proteins (amino acids) and have a detrimental
effect on the fermentation?
2. What effect will the protein removal have on
the body, viscosity and head
formation/retention of the finished beer?

The Punch Line
Sorry to say folks, but at the levels employed
by "most" homebrewers, Irish moss has no effect
whatsoever on chill haze, beer foam or
body/viscosity.

So, I should give up using Irish moss? No way.
The problem is not with the material but with
the dosage.  Irish moss dosage rates do not
scale down linearly from commercial to homebrew
brew length.

Norman's digression on scale up/down:
Malt or malt extract is an example of an
ingredient that scales more or less linearly.
Ignoring efficiencies of size and equipment
design, the amount you use (as dictated by
desired initial gravity) can be easily
estimated from the ratio of brew lengths to
pounds of malt(extract).  For instance, if your
brewing buddy has a recipe for 10 gallons of
Old Welding Glove Barley Wine that calls for 25
pounds of malt extract and you only wanted to
make 5 gallons of Old Welding Glove, just use
25 pounds times ( 5 gallons divided by 10
gallons ) equals 12.5 pounds.  Scaling other
things up and down is not always so easy.
Sometimes assuming a simple linear relationship
is way off.

And now, back to George:
Although it is not much of an increase (over
what we normally use), the correct level seems
to be about 1 tablespoon Irish moss for a 10
gallon batch.  The result of experiments was a
good hot and cold break.  Fermentation with a
"picky" yeast, Wyeast Bohemian Lager, produced
little noticeable effects on body, beer foam or
viscosity.  Irish moss is available in several
forms: large flakes, refined flakes and powder.
Use slightly less powder than flakes.
Rehydrate the flakes in plain water before
using.  DO NOT rehydrate the powder.

How good a job does it do?  Let's talk first
about units of haze.  The American Society of
Brewing Chemists has defined the following
scale:

ASBC Haze Units Description
    0                     brilliant
  < 100                   very clear
  < 200                   slight dullness
  < 300                   see through haze
  > 400                   murky
Now, the next time you call your friend's brew
murky, you'll know what your talking about.
The DeClerk Test was used to evaluate
various brews made with the different forms of
Irish moss.  The test is fairly severe: 5 days
at 140 degrees F then 2 days at 32 deg. F and
finally warm up to 50 deg. F and inspect the
beer. The results are below.

Batch                   ASBC Haze Units
Control (no I. M.)              400-500
Powdered I. M.                  100-150
Refined Flake I. M.             150-200
Large Flake I. M.               170-200

As you can see, the proper use of Irish moss
will help with chill haze in your brew.

End of part 1


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Date: Fri, 5 Nov 93 07:31:34 CST
From: nfarrell at ppco.com (Norman Farrell)
Subject: George Fix Chill Haze Talk Part 2 of 2

George Fix Presentation on Chill Haze from the 1993
Dixie Cup Milliconference

Part 2 of 2

Isinglass
>From seaweed to fish parts.  Isinglass is
derived from the internal membrane of certain
fish bladders (a Brazilian catfish and a Saigon
kingfish).  As you buy it, it is almost 100% collagen.

Isinglass has an isoelectric point of >5.0 and will have
a positive charge in any medium whose pH is <5.0 (ie.
in beer with a PH of 4.5).  Yeast will have a negative
charge.  The rest is hopefully easy to figure out.
Effectiveness may vary somewhat with yeast strain.
Isinglass is most effective in  reducing yeast biomass
and is an excellent  compliment to Irish moss.  It is
certainly better than beechwood chips or aluminum slats.

The dosage rate in the UK is 60 mg/l.  Full effect will
take about 48 hours.  It is most commonly used
in Great Britain's cask conditioned ales.
George recommended 30 mg/l for a 5 gallon batch
with preparation as follows.  Drop the PH of
6.0 ounces of sterile water to 2.5- 3.0 PH with
your choice of tartaric, citric or phosphoric
acid.  dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of isinglass.
Hold in refrigerator over night.  Do not let
this material see any temperature above 50
degrees F.  It will decompose and become
useless.  Norman has read other recipes and the
directions on your package may be different.
Siebel has isinglass already mixed with acid
blend ready to go!

Those wishing to observe the German Beer Purity
Law will have to lower the PH with the help of
some critters.   Norman wonders if those
wishing to be vegans should leave all the cask
conditioned ale for the rest of us.

Results of test brews treated as above in soda
kegs with a 3 day contact time showed
significant reduction in yeast biomass:

                                cells/ml in
mg/l isinglass dosage          finished beer
       30                    0.15 - 0.25  X (10)^6
       60                    0.01 - 0.10  X (10)^6

Other Possibilities
Polyvinylpyrdlidone, PVPP, or Polyclar is a
positively charged plastic powder that works
against the protein/polyphenol complexes.
Tannins are adsorbed and fall to the bottom of
the vessel where they can not complex with the
proteins.  PVPP has no effect on foam or body
but does reduce both hop bitterness and beer
color.  Add at the rate of 0.067 ounces per
gallon of finished beer.  PVPP may be added to
the beer at the beginning of storage or mixed
with diatomaceous earth in a filter.

Activated silica gel can also be used.  It acts
by collecting the proteins instead of the
tannins.  Norman assumes that Dr. Fix did not
give it much air time because of limited
availability to homebrewers.

Tannic acid has a large phenolic structure
which selectively reacts with high molecular
weight proteins.  The bottom line is
that this is the "active ingredient" in
beechwood aging.  Don't tell AB/Houston but
there are those who say it does not work very well.
Tannic acid has very little effect on beer foam.

Filtration
Now we're getting serious.  Isn't this what the
big brewers do?  Norman remembers a good
presentation on filtration by Steve Daniel from
the 1992 AHA National meeting.  It may be found
(in written form) in the Just Brew It! book
covering the meeting.  Cartridge filters have
gained popularity with homebrewers and if used
with C02 to push the beer will not cause
aeration problems.  Rinse your filter with
sterile beer first.

Pumping the beer is another matter.  Some pumps
(Little Giant among them) have been found to
introduce air.  Air is drawn into the pump
housing and vigorously forced into the beer.
Not too good, especially when you thought you
were improving your beer.  Plastic filter
housings can develop this capability over time
and damage your beer.  Fix prefers stainless
steel (don't we all) but winces at the price
(don't we all).

You may precoat the filter with sterile (cheap)
beer and diatomaceous earth.  Fix prefers a 3
micron stone (porcelain) filter cartridge over
plastic (polypropylene).

Why a 3 micron filter?  Consider what you are
removing from your beer.  That's right, a
filter will impartially remove all particles
above a certain size from your beer.  A filter
is a dumb device.  In order to be smarter than
your filter, look at the following table and
then we will discuss.

Membrane filter results

                            Filter microns
Property           0.22  0.45  1.0    3.0  Cntrl
Abs. Ext. (deg. P) 2.25   2.3  2.43   2.5    2.5
IBU (mg/l)         26.1  25.9  26.2  27.1   27.5
Color (deg. L)      2.9   3.2   3.9   4.6    4.6
cells (mg/l)        0     0     0    1-10   10^5

The control beer is unfiltered so it gives a
good idea of what you are starting with.  There
isn't much effect on gravity until you drop
below 1 micron.  Bitterness starts to be affected
below 3 microns.

George interjects:
"Remarkably, IBUs are little affected by filtration. The
small differences in the numbers reported are likely
due to errors in measurement. I did these with the
ASBC (chemical extraction) procedure, which is not as
accurate as chromgraphy.  Errors of the order 5% are
not uncommon with the ASBC procedure."

Color takes a hit below 3 microns.  Cell count is
nearly zero at 3 microns.  The results tell you that
filtering to less than 3 microns is stripping color,
flavor and body out of the beer.  Three microns
will not sterile filter (pediococcus is about
0.8 micron BTW) but it will leave the beer
chill haze free but basically intact.  You
don't even want to know the degree to which
some of the Mega brewers are filtering their
beer.  George told the sad tale and his time
ran out.  Next up was Paul Farnsworth to delve
into cask conditioning but that will have to
wait for another day.

As for me, I will revise my use of Irish moss
as a result of this presentation and since I am
an ale fanatic, I will try isinglass next time
I keg (which will be soon).

End of Part 2 of 2

Norman (nfarrell at ppco.com)

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Date: 	Fri, 5 Nov 1993 06:09:14 PST
From: John_D._Sullivan.wbst311 at xerox.com
Subject: Black and Tan

Hi all,
Keith sez:
>There is a Black & Tan available in bottles.  It's put out by a brewery in
>Saranac, NY (USA).  Obviously it's not layered.  I believe the label says they
>mix one of their lagers with one of their porters and bottle it.  Not a bad
>brew.
This is called Saranac Black and Tan, it's actually a German Lager and Irish
Stout mixed, and it's quite good I think. It's made by FX Matt's in Utica,
NY.They also contract out some beers, such as Sam__l  Ad_ms (tm)- Disclaimer,
etc.etc. (Hope I'm all legal now James).FX also makes a  Saranac Golden
Pilsener (very light, nice hop nose), and a Saranac Lager (deeper color,more
bittering hops, less hop nose). I think all are pretty good.
Be talkin to Ya,
John

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Date:         Fri, 05 Nov 93 09:58:48 EST
From: Walter O'Briant <WOBRIANT at UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
Subject:      Sticking to Business

I subscribe to HBD because I want to learn more about *beer,
homebrewing, and DIRECTLY related issues*. What gives some
subscribers/readers the idea that it is OK to introduce issues which are
highly personal, have nothing to do with brewing good beer, and far too
often resort to language which is almost certain to be offensive to some
of us because it is vulgar and out of place in this forum?

Let's keep in mind that this is a *public* forum, and that not everyone
has a tolerance for language which is crude in their judgment. In
particular, maybe some of us need to re-think what we include in our
signature line as well as how much space we are consuming with it.

It would also be helpful to me if headers or signatures gave a clearer
indication of where the sender is located.

I look forward to continuing to receive HBD. I'm in the Department of
Philosophy at the University of Georgia, and I've been brewing about
twenty years.

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Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1993 08:48:12 -0700
From: npyle at n33.stortek.com
Subject: Kegs/Crabs/Salvator/Plugs/etc.

Ed Wolfe asks about converting some SS kegs for brewing equipment.  I seem to
recall some sage advice in the Zymurgy Gadgets and Equipment issue.  Check it
out.

**
Just curious:  has anyone ever seen a crabtree?  Our yeast apparently know a
bit about it; you'd think a species as advanced as ours would know more than
yeast...  I've seen crabs of all types (except those scratchy ones!) and trees
of many types but no crabtrees.

**
Jim Kent asks about Salvator:
> .  How do they make that stuff so sweet ? I thought it tasted of
>licorice (sp?) as well.  Any time I try to make a high gravity
>dark beer it ends up becoming to dry (and sometimes even harsh)
>after a few months in the bottle.  (Havent been able to maintain
>cold temperatures for real lagering yet ;()

I think you said it right there, Jim.  You need the cold temperatures to knock
the yeast down, where they can't keep working on your sugars.  You might work
especially hard on sanitation, too, as any wild yeast or bacteria may break
down some dextrins into maltose and the like.  Then the yeast will take it from
there.  Cold filtering would help.  Drinking it in the first 3 months works
well, too.  I have the same problem, BTW.

**
Tom Kaltenbach says:
>   The recent Hops FAQ has got me wondering again about hop plugs.  For
>those of you who are not familiar with them, they consist of dried whole
>hops, compressed into a 1-inch diameter cylinder that's 3 or 4 inches long.
>The plugs are segmented so that it is easy to break off smaller chunks.

This either misleading or Tom has seen some plugs I haven't seen.  The standard
plugs come in 0.5 oz. bungs, approx. 1" in diameter, approx. 0.5" long.  They
are stacked, usually, in two columns of 5 (I think), packaged in foil for a
total weight of 5 oz.  My point is that you "break" off a known quantity of
0.5 oz of hops, not just some unknown "smaller chunk".

**
Todd Taylor, I'd make a 3 gallon batch to start.  The problem with making a 5
gallon batch with a small kettle is that you will leave lots of sugar in the
grain because you don't have the means to boil more liquid.  Its not a disaster
but its very inefficient.  It is typical to use about 2 pounds of grain (or
less) per gallon of beer, but it all depends on your goal OG and your extract
efficiency.

Cheers,
norm

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Date: Fri, 5 Nov 93 08:25:01 PST
From: Bob W Surratt <Bob_W_Surratt at ccm.hf.intel.com>
Subject: Recipe Request


Text item: Text_1

     I posted this last week & never heard from anyone.  So here goes 
     again.
     
     I'm looking for a couple of extract recipes to clone Watneys Red 
     Barrel AND Red Tail Ale.  I looked in The Cats Meow II, but didn't 
     find them.  I'm sure that somebody out there in HBD land has 
     attempted to duplicate these.  So if you have and are willing to 
     share, please send me a copy of these.  I am an extract brewer, so 
     please gear towards that. 
     
     Thanks for listening!!  Bob Surratt  Folsom, CA

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Date: Fri, 5 Nov 93 11:11:28 -0500
From: Philip J Difalco <sxupjd at fnma.COM>
Subject: Difference between Priming w/ gyle and DME


I don't see too much difference between priming with gyle and DME,
especially if the gyle was originally malt extract based.

Could someone elaborate?

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Date: Fri, 5 Nov 93 10:00:09 -0700
From: LPD1002%NYSHESCV.bitnet at UACSC2.ALBANY.EDU
Subject:  Kriek/Sour Mash

After spending far too much money on bottles of kriek for
my girlfriend, I decided that I should try to make a p-Lambic.
Has anyone tried the sour mash method and kriek recipe in the
back of TNCJOHB.  It sounds like it should work, as long as
I can get a hold of the 2 strains of Belgian yeast.
If anyone has had successful results (or unsuccessful) or has
made this type of beer with another method, I'd like to hear
about it.  Direct E-mail will be fine and much appreciated.
At $5.00 a bottle, I can make a lot of my own. ;-)

    Steve Septer

    LPD1002 at NYSHESCV.BITNET at UACS2.ALBANY.EDU


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Date: Fri,  5 Nov 93 03:28:00 BST
From: mike.keller at genie.geis.com
Subject: Bottle labels

In HBD 1163 Dion writes:
 
 ||I would like to make some labels for my bottles, but a little ||
 ||more creatively than I currently make with WordPerfect.  A    ||
 ||friend has Corel Draw and that would be fine, but I do not    ||
 ||have several hundred dollars to spend on software.  Can       ||
 ||anyone suggest software for DOS or Windows, (or even X for    ||
 ||that matter) which would be suitable to make *really* nice    ||
 ||bottle labels with?  Must have lots of fonts available and it ||
 ||would be really nice to be able to fit text into any shape    ||
 ||(like in a crescent shaped banner).                           ||
 
Well, my first choice would be to ask my friend if I could come over
and play with Corel Draw on his machine.<g> The next option, if you
have Windows already, is to try the Windows Paint program. If you
stick to black and white, you'll be able to get some decent artwork
going for your labels.
 
The one thing that IS going to cost you some bucks is getting exactly
that "fit text into any shape" feature. That is a most desireable
feature, and I don't know of any low-end software that allows you to
do that.
 
BTW, I suggest option number one. I'm doing some labels in Corel Draw
right now (I was working on my design as I captured this HBD, so I
mean RIGHT NOW), and placing text on a curve looks really spiffy and
is lots of fun!
 
 mike keller, beer sysop, food and wine RT, GEnie
 
 "homebrewers don't just recycle, they refill!"
 

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Date: 5 Nov 1993 08:26:13 U
From: "Bob Knetl" <bob_knetl at amber.spawar.navy.mil>
Subject: Bass Ale Recipe and Dry Hop

                       Subject:                               Time:08:15
  OFFICE MEMO          Bass Ale Recipe and Dry Hopping        Date:11/5/93
Does anyone have a reliable recipe for making a Bass ale using malt extract
(non-all grain recipe).  Also I am finishing up a Bohemian Pilsner and dry
hopping it. In the past I have used whole hop plugs and never worried how long
I left them in the chilled secondary fermenter.  When using hop pellets can you
also leave them in the secoundary until ready to keg/bottle? 
Bob Knetl



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Date: Fri, 05 Nov 93 09:46:00 PST
From: "SIMPSON, Mark (x-4378)" <Simpson at po2.rb.unisys.com>
Subject: Judge Forum


Howdy Brewpeople!

I just received my judgemanship certificate from AHA this Spring.  I have 
heard rumors that there is
a forum dedicated to this sport.  Does anyone out there know the 
subscription address???

Thanks,

Happy Brewing!

Mark Simpson

e-mail:  simpson at rb.unisys.com

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Date: Fri, 5 Nov 93 09:54:42 PST
From: Mike Peckar 05-Nov-1993 1252 <m_peckar at cscma.ENET.dec.com>
Subject: SS Keg Conversion, or How I learned to Love All-Grain. Part 1


	All it took for me to convert from all-extract to all-grain brewing
was stumbling across an orphan 1/2 bbl rounded stainless steel keg at a
scrap yard. For, not only was I able to easily fabricate a simple brewpot
from this keg, but an entire methodology for all grain brewing using a few
extra contraptions in conjunction with the keg's faucet. Both the
methodology for brewing and a detailed plan for modifying the keg are
explained herein. But first, more about the keg itself. 

	The rounded type keg which I used is commonly known as a "Golden
Gate"- type keg. This is to be distinguished from "Sankey" type kegs, which
are characterized by their straight sides, built-in handles on top, and
rounded top and bottom. Both hold 1/2 Barrel, or 15.5 gallons. While the
flat-sided Sankey-type kegs have the advantage of built-in handles, they
have the disadvantage of not having a built-in flat section on the bottom
side for installing the drain faucet, as do the Golden Gate-type kegs. This
may or may not be a problem if you are trying to repeat what I did, but
there is no doubt that trying to install a faucet on the rounded bottom
side of the Sankey-type keg may not work to well without first having a
sleeve welded on. I do know of at least one person who managed to bang a
flat in the bottom of a sankey keg so he could install the faucet with 
standard screw-thread plumbing fittings as I did.

	So, with standard parts available at most any hardware store and
simple tools (which if I didn't have, my neighbors or friends did), I was
able to put together not just a big brewpot, but a simple, easy way to brew
10 to 13 gallon all-grain batches with little fuss and no welding. The only
major new investment was for a Propane Burner. I of course had to move my
brewery from the kitchen into the basement, and I located the burner under a
window where a fan could vent the propane fumes, etc. Be warned, though,
that the propane tank's label clearly discourages use of propane indoors. 
The keg conversion itself took one Saturday and cost less than $20: In
short, you cut a big hole in the top of the keg and install a drain in the
bottom side using standard 1/2 inch I.D. standard thread plumbing supplies.
I tried to bang out the hardwood bunghole, but it was in there so tight, I
decided to just leave it be.  No problems after 10 batches with that. 

	Because I used standard plumbing threads, with a nipple that
extended out into the inside of the keg, I found that I could add removable
accessories to the set-up so that in one vessel I could mash, brew, and
even primary ferment. Only lautering would require the temporary transfer
out of the keg into food buckets.  For sparging, I used a standard toilet
stand-off and attached a couple feet of copper tube, bent it into a
pretzel, and drilled a series of 1/16th inch holes in it.  This screws onto
the inside of the faucet. I also fashioned what I call a "Trub Bypass",
which is nothing more than another copper toilet floor stand-off with a
bend which I attach the same way as the "copper Pretzel". This allows me to
primary ferment right in the keg so I can rack my beer directly from the
faucet, bypassing the trub on the bottom of the keg. It works just great:
input is adjustable from the very bottom of the keg up to about 7 inches
above the bottom. I must rack as soon as possible off primary, though, to
avoid infection. Also, this implies that I do not separate the wort from
the cold break material before pitching. If this sounds distasteful,
optionally you can use this trub bypass to rack off into another primary
fermenter after the boil if you wish. If this be your preferred method,
call the Trub Bypass a "Cold Break Bypass" instead. 

	The basic process I use for all grain brewing with my new toys is
as follows: Crush your grain; install the Copper Pretzel, calculate your
water requirements for mashing and put that amount of water in the keg,
Heat sparge water with propane and mash-in. I find no heat is necessary to
maintain mash temp, but I do wrap the keg in a camping pad. Next lauter out
of the spigot into food buckets. You do need another source of hot water
for sparging, such as hot tap water mixed with boiling water in food
buckets. I use my old brewpot on the kitchen stove. Fwiw, I've never needed
more than four food buckets for dealing with all this. Now, clean out the
spent grains and remove the copper pretzel. Install the trub bypass and
pour in the wort from the buckets. Brew as normal. Chill with wort chiller.
Option 1: Aerate, pitch yeast and cover the keg (I use aluminum foil).
After fermentation stops, rack from the spigot directly into Cornelius kegs
(I use a short section of sanitized garden hose fitted to the spigot to
minimize aeration while racking). Or, rack into a bottling bucket, prime,
then bottle. Option 2: after chilling the wort, let the break settle, then
rack from the keg directly into carboys or fermentation buckets, allowing
aeration during transfer. 

If you use the keg as a fermentation vessel, you must get the hops out 
before you pitch. Simply use muslin bags. This also assures the plumbing 
won't clog up on racking. A friend who uses my system and prefers racking 
to primary just throws his hops in, but prior to attaching the Trub Bypass, 
fastens a Chore-Boy on the end with brass wire to filter out the hops. All 
sorts of fun experiments can be made, like centifugal decanting ala the 
big boys.


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Date: Fri, 5 Nov 93 10:03:49 PST
From: Mike Peckar 05-Nov-1993 1301 <m_peckar at cscma.ENET.dec.com>
Subject: SS Keg Conversion, or How I learned to Love All-Grain. Part 2


ASSEMBLING THE EQUIPMENT:

	If you have trouble locating the parts in the list, it may behoove
you go to a plumbing supplier first, as they are sure to have all the
parts. The parts for the drain assembly are the same parts for a standard
faucet you would see on the side of a house for a garden hose. The parts
listed below are what I used; I chose brass fittings, but I see no reason
why you couldn't chose any other standard material that can stand up to the
heat from the propane burner. I found that keeping it as simple as possible
worked well to my benefit since by selecting a standard plumbing thread, it
allowed me to incorporate interchangeable and removable pieces into my
design, making the whole process of brewing simpler and more relaxing! 	A
friend prefers the Ball-type, lever-actuated faucets. These are a bit more
expensive, but will definitely decrease the chances of clogging up the
faucet. A good investment, but you'll have to use tubing other than a
garden hose for racking as mentioned above. 

Parts:

 1 15.5 gal. Stainless steel Keg, Please obtain it legitimately.
 1 1/2" faucet, flush-mount, brass. Inside-threaded.  $2.25
 1 1/2" x 1" pipe nipple, brass, counter-threaded. $1.17
 1 brass nut to fit pipe nipple. Fits 11/16" wrench. $0.75
 2 washers, ~ID 1" ~OD 1 3/8". Galvanized. had these lying around.
  
  Comments: You can substitute a faucet with the threaded nipple "built 
  	    in", i.e. the faucet has an outside-threaded extension.
	    The problem with these is that there is no flange for flush
 	    mounting against the outside of the keg. Ideal would be a 
	    faucet with a flush-mount flange and a built-in nipple extension
	    with outside threads. I didn't bother asking for one at the
	    plumbing supply shop since I had already bought the above parts.
	    	

Parts for optional Copper Pretzel and Trub bypass tube.

 2 1'    Copper floor stand for toilet or sink, w/ brass compression fitting
         on one end and flange to ID 5/8 on other. ($2.25 ea.)
   2     Feet of 5/8 OD soft copper tubing.
 1 1/16" Drill bit. You'll burn out a couple drilling holes.

	Comment: Feel free to use the "slotted pipe" method here, i.e.,
		 instead of drilling holes, hacksaw some slots. Also, many
		 Homebrewers get fancy and build sparging devices analogous
		 to really small septic leach fields. Knock yourself out.

Tools, etc.

 Flair pen.
 11/16" wrench.
 Ear protection.
 Eye protection.
 Power Drill.
 Drill bit, about 1/4", metal-cutting.
 Reciprocating saw ("Sawzall"), preferably variable speed.
 1/2 round metal file or honing wheel insert for power drill
 Emory paper
 3-in-1 oil.
 Bimetal sawblade for reciprocating saw. ($1.89)
 7/8" bimetal hole saw. ($6.97) 
 Mandrel for above to fit your power drill. ($7.60)

   Comments: Bimetal blades are a must for cutting stainless steel. You can
	     probably hack the drain hole by drilling a bunch of holes with 
	     the drill and then filing it round, but the $15 investment in 
	     a good hole saw/mandrel is worth it, and can be re-used in the
	     future for such things as installing a beer faucet in your fridge!

	     Use a reciprocating saw with variable speeds if you can find 
	     one. I found that at "6", my saw wouldn't cut at all, but cut
	     through the steel like butter at "4".


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Date: Fri, 5 Nov 93 10:07:31 PST
From: Mike Peckar 05-Nov-1993 1303 <m_peckar at cscma.ENET.dec.com>
Subject: SS Keg Conversion, or How I learned to Love All-Grain. Part 3

Procedure for converting keg:

 Mark off your opening hole with the flair pen. try to find a lid you can 
 use and size the hole based on your lid. You only have a little cheese here 
 with a Golden Gate-type keg. Drill pilot holes for the saw blade using 1/4" 
 drill bit and 3-in-1 oil. Have a helper steady keg while you drill the top 
 with bi-metal blade in reciprocating saw. Both you and your helper should 
 wear eye and ear protection.  Use oil liberally at cutting edge and rest the 
 saw every few minutes to prevent overheating. Relax, have a homebrew. 
 Smooth edge with stone or hone then emory paper. Mark hole for faucet from 
 inside high enough up from bottom of keg so that the flange will clear the 
 bottom. Drill out 7/8" hole, hone, sand, and install faucet, using 
 washers & nut w/ 11/16" wrench. The drain hole must be made on a flat 
 surface. If using the cylindrically-shaped keg, i.e., Sankey, which does 
 not have a flat section for a drain, you will have to bang a flat with a 
 hammer or otherwise force a flat.
 
Procedure for fabricating Copper Pretzel for mashing.

 The Sparging device. Basically a thing that allows the liquid stuff to be
 separated from the solid stuff in the mash. The holes or slots face down. 
 sweat or clamp a two foot section of soft copper to flanged end of stand-off.
 Drill holes on one side only. I made three rows of holes with each hole 
 about 3/8 inch apart. Optionally, use a hack saw to cut slots perpendicular
 to the length of the tube every 3/4 inch or so. Saw only 1/3rd through the
 diameter of the tube. Hammer down the open end to seal it shut. Carefully
 bend the tube into a pretzel shape, keeping in mind the holes will face
 down, and bending the tube such that gravity will help drain the liquid 
 inside the tube, i.e., the part of the tube closest to the crimped end 
 should cross over the top of the part of tube closest to the brass fitting. 
 Make the thing any shape you want: I chose this design because it doesn't
 require futzing with too many different joints and tees and elbows, etc.

Procedure for fabricating the Trub Bypass for fermenting in the keg.

 This device will allow you to ferment your beer in the same keg in which 
 you brew. It allows for the draining of the fermented beer off the trub.
 Or, use it to rack from the keg into primary bypassing the cold break. The 
 floor stand is simply a copper tube flared to 5/8" at one end and molded at 
 the other, with a 1/2" female compression fitting at one end. It just screws 
 right onto the protruding nipple on the inside of the keg. Bend it with
 care so that when attached to the nipple, the flared end sticks up a 
 couple of inches from the bottom of the keg. I got a little fancy and bent
 it so it followed the contour of the bottom of the keg into the center and
 then bent up from there. Take care not to kink the tube too badly while 
 bending. Adjust the intake height for trub or break bypass simply by 
 bending it up or down to the desired height. With practice, you'll get a
 better idea on what height to set it at for particular brews. 

Comments on the whole setup.

The biggest advantage is simplicity. A single vessel for all your all-grain
and/or extract needs up to bottling. A lot of friends have expressed
concerns about unsealed fermentations, but as long as pitching rates are
good, and you resist the temptation to "peak", i.e., disturb the headspace,
there should be no problem. An initial purging of the headspace with C02
helps, too. The disadvantage to this system is the fact that since it is
both a mash/lauter tun and brew kettle, the whole process takes longer, as
you have to decoct into buckets and then wait while you rinse out the spent
grains before you can start to brew. Also, since the sweet wort is sitting
in buckets, you can't start heating up the wort before sparging is
complete. To work around this, the next obvious step is a separate
mash/lauter tun. Since you have already built the sparging device, the
logical choice is another half barrel keg with faucet. With two barrels,
you essentially have a traditional brewery, but there are myriad setups and
possibilities for improving on this very simple basic brewing set up, like
a pump system from sparge water transfer, uC controls, ad nauseum.

>From crush to pitch usually takes four hours.

Another important note. At first, I built an easymasher ala Schmidling,
though I prefered to call it a "screen penis". I had a couple problems with
this. First, sparging rate was poor at lower mash temps (compared to what I
got with the copper tubing device); in fact, I had a couple of stuck
sparges. Second, the device didn't have the physical strength to stand up
to mash-in, i.e., it deformed, and once, broke off while I was stirring in
the grains. Its rather difficult to solidly clamp a screen around a pipe,
even when the pipe is outsied-threaded. In Schmidlings's defense, though,
the device was very simple to fabricate and yielded satisfactory results
when it did work, though I got no higher than 30 pts extraction. All things 
being equal, the copper tube yielded consistently better results, and, 
though it was a PITA to fabricate, it was well worth it. 

Mike Peckar, the penurius, paltry, parsimonius, yet pedantic picobrewer.

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End of HOMEBREW Digest #1266, 11/08/93