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


Contents:
  RE: tannin leaching by boiling water, free ads in BT (Jim Busch)
  Water for weiss ("Dennis Lewis")
  Wyeast results for Weiheistephan Wheat. ("McGaughey, Nial")
  Campden/Parallel Starters (KWH)
  hop bugs, bottles (Mark Bunster)
  Sanitized siphoning??? (Steve Armbrust)
  Siphoning/Keg as 2nd ferm./Keg carbonation (David Allison 225-5764)
  Converting Extract Recipes to All Grain ( LARRY KELLY)
  "Malta" (Steve Moninger)
  Fish Tank Foam Filter to Filter Beer ( LARRY KELLY)
  Fruit in the secondary (Pierre Jelenc)
  Microbreweries (LSPANTEL)
  Brewing manual progress/Method for malting? (Ron Hart)
  How do I compute pts/lb/gal ( LARRY KELLY)
  Beer Bright (John W. Carpenter)
  Various ramblings ("Mark B. Alston")
  Is Sierra.Stanford.Edu FTP working? or is it me? ("Upward, not Northward!")
  sierra - crowded or dead? ("Charles S. Jackson")
  As black as black could be! (Ulick Stafford)
  Startrek and Candi Sugar (Don Put)
  Questions, Questions. ("Danny A. Rossi")
  Wreck a keg? (Geoff Scott)
  Washing Machine Masher ? (Maltstir)
  Preserving brew (Phil Miller)


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


Date: Fri, 3 Jun 1994 14:09:06 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jim Busch <busch at daacdev1.stx.com>
Subject: RE: tannin leaching by boiling water, free ads in BT

Ron writes:
> Subject: spruce/1098/buggy bines/calling Jack/bine id
> 
>         To Jack Schmidling: Like many on HBD, I'm a kettle masher, 
>      thanks to your write up. One item, you tell us to sparge with 
>      boiling water (you say something like, "trust me on this one.") I 
>      have (and I do), but I'd like to know why. Speak? Speak?

I just got done skimming this misinformation as printed in the latest
issue of Brewing Techniques.  I got pretty peeved for two reasons, one
is that "tips" like these have no basis in brewing science and are
contrary to accepted practice, especially with regard to increased 
leaching of tannins from the lauter tun.  Secondly, the "article"
is basically free advertising for JSP and had no buisness being in
the articles section , it belonged in some product review area.  Im
sure the "Oracle" has something silly to say about all of this.

Good brewing,
Jim Busch


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Date:          Fri, 3 Jun 1994 13:07:09 CDT
From: "Dennis Lewis" <DLEWIS%jscdo6 at jesnic.jsc.nasa.gov>
Subject:       Water for weiss

Gillian Grafton writes:

>I'm planning on brewing a wheat beer soon and have a question for the
collective wisdom regarding the correct water composition.  My home tap
water is very hard - it has more than a passing resemblance to Burton-on-
Trent water (well I only live a few miles away).  The question is, is this
OK for brewing wheat beer, or do I need to do any treatments?  As a last
resort I have access to distilled water and the necessary chemicals 
at work.>

When I was in Munich last year, I got a tour of Spaten and they were
making Franziskaner weissbier at the time. They used no other water
treatments than calcium chloride. It's my opinion that water high in
sulfates is not necessarily good for making weissbier because the
SO4's contribute a dry palate to the brews, when you are looking for
a sweeter, more malty one.

I'd do some simple calculations and mix your tap water with
distilled to get below 100 ppm sulfates and then add CaCl2 to get
the Ca levels up to at least 60 ppm or better to 100. Local water
can be both a blessing and a curse. You don't want to use straight
distilled water because there are trace elements in tap water that
are essential for yeast growth.

I hope this helps you out. I am "addicted" to that wonderful Bavarian 
elixir myself.

Dennis Lewis    <dlewis%jscdo6 at jesnic.jsc.nasa.gov>
Bay Area Mashtronauts--Homebrew, The Final Frontier

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Date: Fri, 03 Jun 94 11:18:00 PDT
From: "McGaughey, Nial" <nmcgaugh at hq.walldata.com>
Subject: Wyeast results for Weiheistephan Wheat.


Hi all, I'm STILL having problems with HBD feed (havent gotten it since May 
26th)
but I wanted to report on my experiences with the new Wyeast wheat yeast 
(3068)

6 lbs 2 row American Pale Malt
4 lbs Wheat Malt
 .5 oz Liberty Hops (boil)
Wyeast Wheat Yeast
O.G. 1.055
single step mash 2 hours  at  168 (I _like_ body) in picnic/ manifold cooler
 (mash was recirculated 2 times) sparged according to Charlie P....
1.5 hour boil, immersion chilled to 75 deg in 15 mins..
2 weeks in primary  at  66 deg. 2 weeks in secondary  at 70 deg.
2 weeks in cornelius  at ~ 50 degrees, served  at  55 degrees

Impressions/notes/slander follows:
Light  golden green/grey in color, definite apple aroma (wahh where are the 
bananas?) hardly any head retention. The main flavor is _butter_ then a 
little apple and a minute amount of banana.. Not sour/acid enough, though a 
lemon would help this out a bit. No clove at all. Very 'slippery' mouth 
feel. Not enough carbonation. In my book, close but only a pre-chewed 
stubbie
of a cigar.

What I would do next time: step mash, fine tailor the ferment temp for more 
esters, use better malt than the generic. (all of which are happening as we 
speak, bubbling in the basement)

pondering the true meaning of 'grey/green' beer, I remain

Nial McGaughey
Wall Data Product Development


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Date: Fri, 03 Jun 94 14:46
From: KWH at roadnet.ups.com (KWH)
Subject: Campden/Parallel Starters

Why aren't campden tablets use in brewing beer as much as in winemaking?  I 
have been brewing since 1985, and I've had more than my share of infections 
in beer (sour, musty, etc.).  However, I have never had a batch of wine or 
cider go bad.  I realize that it is more acidic and has a higher % alcohol, 
but I think a lot of this credit goes to the campden tablets.  I've heard 
people assume it will give off-tastes in beer, but I've never experienced 
it in any of my wines.  The wine books I have read say that any residual 
off smells/tastes from the tablets will disipate in a few days.  Is beer 
more prone to keep these?  I am about to start the process of "parallel 
yeast propogation" as described in the yeast faq with a pack of Wyeast 2565 
Kolsch yeast, and was thinking about adding one tablet to the one gallon 
initial starter wort since sanitation is so critical at this point.  Since 
hops also help defend against infection, I plan on adding about 1/4 - 1/2 
ounce in a bag along with the DME in the boil.  There go those tedious IBU 
calculations right out the window.....

Secondly, when transferring starter solutions, I've heard conflicting 
information on whether to agitate the sediment into solution or pour the 
liquid carefully off the sediment without disturbing it.  I know this 
sounds silly, but how is this handled?

Finally, I was considering Papazian's "Amazeing Pale Ale" (pg 308) for my 
first all-grain batch.  The recipe calls for corn starch.  Am I asking for 
trouble with stuck runoff on my first experience?  Has anyone made this 
recipe?  What commercial brews might it compare to?

Any helpful suggestions by private email would be very welcome.

Thanks,
Kirk Harralson


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Date: Fri, 3 Jun 94 14:27:07 EDT
From: mbunster at hibbs.vcu.edu (Mark Bunster)
Subject: hop bugs, bottles

Somebody said:

*         On buggy hop bines, I planted garlic cloves around my bines 
*      (an old Organic Gardening trick). It supposedly repels (not 
*      eliminates) the bugs. Another organic trick is to spray with 
*      soapy water; then rinse. Not sure how effective these are on 
*      various bug types. I've seen no critters so far, and the goddam 
*      rabbits which eat everything else I plant don't seem to be hop 
*      heads.

As someone has mentioned, hops are part of the same family of stuff as
smoking-type cannabis, and the most pesky and common bug for that is
the spider mite. Soapy water indeed is the easiest and most organic method
to combat them (although wiping them is more effective than spraying), but
if you go to any garden store and ask what they have that's friendly that
beats spider mites you'll avoid the most common nasty.


Somebody else said:

*   We recently were bottling our latest batch (10 gal of Obscure IPA) of
* homebrew, and discovered to our dismay that our capper would not cap
* Caledonian Brewing Co.'s bottles, since they have a recessed ring around
* the neck and the capper can't get a grip.  This got us to wondering
* about whose bottles are good for homebrew bottling (New Amsterdams
* worked just fine, and a lot of our IPA ended up in those) and whose
* bottles don't work as well.  I don't know if this is FAQ-bait, or
* just a topic of potential interest, but I'd be interested in other
* people's experiences and responses.  If you prefer to mail responses
* to me, I'll summarize them and post it.
* 
We have discovered Stoudt's won't work either, which disappoints because
they are great big green mamas. 
Call 919-555-1212 and ask for the Weeping Radish Brewery in Manteo, NC.
Ask them where they get their 1 liter grolsch-type brown bottles.
Ceramic tops, even!
The beer is pretty good, and it's almost worth the $6 to get the bottle...


- -- 
Mark Bunster                      |I'm not an actor, but I play one on TV.
Survey Research Lab--VCU          |
Richmond, VA 23284                |Adam Smith's invisible hand
mbunster at hibbs.vcu.edu            |has got you by the throat...  
(804) 828-8813/353-8271           |                 Trotsky Icepick

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Date: Fri, 3 Jun 94 13:57:29 PST
From: Steve Armbrust <Steve_Armbrust at ccm.co.intel.com>
Subject: Sanitized siphoning???


Text item: Text_1

In all the messages about siphon-hose sucking and its alternatives, no 
one mentioned the alternative I've used in the past.

I ferment in glass carboys and I have one of those bright orange plastic 
caps that fit over the opening of the carboy.  There are two openings in 
the cap.  A racking cane goes into the larger diameter hole.  And to 
start the flow, I blow into the other hole. This pushes the liquid up 
the cane and down the tubing.  Once it starts flowing, it's on its own.

My question is, is this any more sanitary than sucking on the tube?  I 
make no physical contact with anything the beer touches, but I do blow 
infected air from my mouth into the carboy.  Then again, I also exhale 
from my mouth into the same room that my beer is in, so I wonder if it 
makes a difference.

Steve Armbrust
Steve_Armbrust at ccm.hf.intel.com

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Date: Fri, 3 Jun 1994 14:49:50 -0700
From: Richard B. Webb <rbw1271 at appenine.ca.boeing.com>

Subject: Hop Utilization rates

Ok, I admit it. I stole this information directly from
Randy Mosher's new book. In it he had a graph of hop
utilization based on minutes of boil and gravity of
wort. I won't insult you by trying to duplicate the
curves by use of ASCII graphics, but I will reproduce
the data as read from the curves. This data is the
percent utilization as a function of the specific
gravity and the minutes of boil. From this data I was
able to construct a series of curvefits for entry in
a spreadsheet to help me better plan my recipes. I
do this by combining the curves of boil at water
gravity (1.000) modified by the differences created
by boiling at other gravities. Essentially I have
a curvefit modified by another curvefit. Inputs to
the spreadsheet are the time of boil and the gravity
of the boil. This method replaces the method as described
in the Hop issue of Zymurgy, which led me to believe
that hop utilization rates were straight curves, where
utilization maxed out at 30%. RM's curves top out at
about 26%, and then for hop pellets.

Your milage may vary.

Here goes:

Utilization by gravity and by minutes of boil
IBU
Gravity	5min	15min	30min	45min	60min	90min	120min	150min	180min
1.000	3.80	8.90	12.90	15.80	17.90	21.20	23.00	24.80	26.00
1.010	3.80	8.90	12.90	15.80	17.90	21.20	23.00	24.80	26.00
1.020	3.80	8.90	12.80	15.70	17.80	21.10	23.00	24.80	26.00
1.030	3.70	8.80	12.70	15.50	17.60	21.00	23.00	24.60	25.70
1.040	3.60	8.70	12.50	15.30	17.40	20.80	22.50	24.10	25.20
1.050	3.30	8.50	12.20	15.00	17.00	20.20	22.00	23.80	24.80
1.060	3.10	8.30	12.00	14.50	16.50	19.60	21.30	22.90	24.00
1.070	2.85	8.00	11.70	13.90	15.80	18.80	20.30	21.90	23.00
1.080	2.60	7.50	10.90	13.00	14.90	17.70	19.20	20.50	21.50
1.090	2.20	7.00	10.10	12.00	13.80	16.20	17.80	19.00	20.00
1.100	1.90	6.20	9.20	11.00	12.60	14.90	16.20	17.40	18.30
1.110	1.60	5.60	8.20	9.80	11.20	13.20	14.70	15.80	16.60
1.120	1.20	4.80	7.10	8.70	10.20	11.90	13.00	14.00	14.80

I hope that you find this of some use!
Good luck!

Rich Webb

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Date: Fri, 03 Jun 1994 15:43:00 -0800 (PST)
From: David Allison 225-5764 <ALLISON.DAVID at A1GW.GENE.COM>
Subject: Siphoning/Keg as 2nd ferm./Keg carbonation


Siphoning:
An easy way to siphon is to use a tube that is a couple of inches long that 
has an inside diameter equal to the outside diameter of the racking tube 
(or visa versa for that matter).  One can start a siphon using this tube 
stuck over (or inside) the racking tube as a mouth piece.  It can be easily 
removed once the liquid fills the racking tube before it reaches the mouth 
piece.  I use a tube clamp on the racking tube to hold the siphoned liquid 
in the racking tube when removing the mouth piece.  This clamp also allows 
me to not touch the racking tube.  Crimping the tube with sanitized gloves 
will also work (or soak hands in J.D.- heh, heh).  The mouth piece tube is 
sanitized the same way the racking tube is.  This method of siphoning is 
easy, fast, cheap and sanitary.

Keg as secondary fermentor & natural carbonation:
I have had much success in using a corny keg as a secondary fermentor and 
then sealing it up in order to carbonate the beer naturally [spundig? 
(sp?)].  My method has been to clean/sanitize a keg that I have cut about 
1.5 inches off the down tube.  I fill the keg with iodophor solution (~12 
ppm), assemble it (sanitized fittings), and the blow out the iodophor 
solution with CO2 (BTW, the iodophor solution can be saved for further 
use).  I remove the "gas in" tower from the keg and pour out the remaining 
iodophor solution (yes, I know that a little bit of air will get in).  Upon 
replacing the "gas in" tower, I now have a keg that is sanitized and filled 
(mostly) with CO2.

I then release the CO2 gas and remove the the "liquid out" tower and place 
a piece of sanitized 1/2 inch I.D. tubing (~ 1 in. long) over the threads.  
This tubing fits allows my racking tube (standard: 3/8 in. ID; 1/2 in. ID) 
to fit snugly inside.  Using a sanitized racking cane, racking tube, mouth 
piece; I start a siphon and crimp the racking tube (see above) -- place the 
racking tube inside the tube on the keg -- release the crimp -- and rack 
the beer from my primary fermentor (7 gal. glass carboy) into the keg.  
Once the beer starts to transfer, I open the release valve to allow the CO2 
gas to escape from the keg that is filling up with beer.  Are you still 
with me? %)

Once the beer is transferred, I replace the "liquid out" tower and remove 
the "gas in" tower.  I then place a piece of 1/2 inch I.D. tubing (a couple 
of inches long) over the keg threads that has a three-piece air lock stuck 
inside the tubing and clamped on.

After the beer is transferred, the fermentation picks up a little bit then 
settles down. I usually rack the beer after 4 - 5 days in the primary, but 
of course your mileage may vary.  After the fermentation in the secondary 
settles down, I replace the "gas in" tower to seal up the keg.  This allows 
the beer to carbonate naturally and saves from using CO2 by force 
carbonation ( I don't prime -- Brewers against priming - Unite!).  I try 
and seal off the keg about 0.004 to 0.006 SG units above my expected FG.  

Anyway...  Once the beer is finished fermenting, I transfer the naturally 
carbonated beer (spundig?) by pushing it with CO2 into a corny keg 
(conditioning) that is filled with CO2 (as described above -- this one has 
a normal down tube; therefore, the remaining iodophor solution does not 
have to be poured out) using a tube which connects the two "liquid out" 
sides while slowly releasing the pressure by opening the release valve on 
the conditioning keg.  The beer in the conditioning keg is then 
refrigerated.  If I undershoot or overshoot the CO2 pressure, I adjust by 
releasing CO2 pressure or added CO2 -- as the case may warrant.  This can 
be done in the sealed secondary keg or the conditioning keg.  BTW, I have a 
pressure gauge to measure the keg pressure -- but that's another story.

This method has worked quite well for me.  It allows me to retrieve the 
yeast from the secondary fermentor after transfer to the conditioning keg.  
It also seems to give me a beer with very good head retention and fine 
bubbles.  Sorry if this is confusing or too long a post.  If you have any 
questions regarding these methods -- you can e-mail me directly or post to 
the HBD.

 - David
(allison2 at gene.com)



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Date: Fri, 03 Jun 1994 22:05:19 EDT
From: KMYH09A at prodigy.com ( LARRY KELLY)
Subject: Converting Extract Recipes to All Grain

Can someone instruct me on how to convert an extract recipe to an All Grain
recipe?  Is there a formula to use? Is there a standard conversion
proceedure for figuring?

Larry
KMYH09A at prodigy.com


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Date: 04 Jun 94 00:33:06 EDT
From: Steve Moninger <74267.420 at CompuServe.COM>
Subject: "Malta"



I recently had a customer interested in replicating a beverage called MALTA.  
It is a carbonated, low alcohol malt beverage that tastes like a 
molasses-based soft drink -- sort of a malt-based rootbeer.  The ingredients 
are described as "malted barley, corn sugar, molasses, and hops."

Any clues on how one might make such a thing? It really is a pretty tasty 
alternative to soda pop on a hot day.

Steve Moninger, <74267.420 at CompuServe.COM>

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Date: Sat, 04 Jun 1994 10:31:32 EDT
From: KMYH09A at prodigy.com ( LARRY KELLY)
Subject: Fish Tank Foam Filter to Filter Beer

Has anyone tried using a foam type filter thats used in a fish tank to
filter the wort before adding it to the primary fermentor?

The foam is a sponge type filter used in many canister type fish tank
filters such as a fluval filter.

My thinking is that the sponge could be santized with B-Brite, then the
whole filter or a piece of it could be placed in a funnel and the wort
poured through it.  It should filter better than the funnel screen disc.

I find when I transfer the wort from my pot to my primary carboy, via a
funnel and screen, and the primary sits around for a few hours, a sediment
forms on the bottom of the carboy.  Sometimes there are chunk type stuff.
Anyone have an idea what it is?  It has NO affect on the finished product,
but there must be a way to filter more of the stuff from the wort out
before adding the yeast.

Any input is welcome!!

Larry
KMYH09A at prodigy.com


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Date: Sat, 4 Jun 94 10:45:34 EDT
From: Pierre Jelenc <pcj1 at columbia.edu>
Subject: Fruit in the secondary

In HBD #1441, Rick Gontarek gontarek at ncifcrf.gov asks

> If the fruit is added to the secondary, how is it pasteurized? 

I soak my cherries (I have no raspberry experience) in potassium 
permanganate solution for 15 minutes, then rinse with preboiled, cooled 
water. That way, I have absolutely no pectin problem.

The amount of permanganate is eyeballed, enough to get a dark purplish,
but still not opaque solution (That amounts to a few drops of a saturated
stock solution per gallon.  I keep my stock in a former Tabasco sauce 
bottle). 

Pierre

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Date:         Sat, 04 Jun 94 11:28:38 EDT
From: LSPANTEL at ECUVM.CIS.ECU.EDU
Subject:      Microbreweries

Hi Folks,

   Could someone tell me where I might find information on commercial
microbrewery, startup to bottled product?

    Thank you very much.

    Veronica

*************************************************************************
*Veronica Pantelidis, Ph.D.  LSPANTEL at ECUVM.CIS.ECU.EDU
*Co-Director, Virtual Reality and Education Laboratory
*School of Education, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858 USA
*Voice: (919)757-6621  Fax:  (919)757-4368
*************************************************************************

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Date: Sat, 4 Jun 1994 11:07:37 -0500
From: hart at actin.rutgers.edu (Ron Hart)
Subject: Brewing manual progress/Method for malting?

Thanks to all who have been supplying ideas and procedures for my brewing
lab manual.  I've received several ideas to explore bacterial
contamination, I read with interest the posts about wormwood and nettles as
alternate bittering herbs, and most recently, I received two private
e-mailings with fancy (HPLC) and simple (organic extraction) methods for
assaying hop acid utilization.

Now I return with yet another request.  I noted a posting recently on
malting barley and oats.  Can anyone tell me how to malt small batches of
barley?  I can easily control temperature with incubators.  Again, I'll
send a completed manual to anyone whose ideas are used.  TIA.

Ron Hart
Department of Biological Sciences, Rutgers University Newark
hart at actin.rutgers.edu



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Date: Sat, 04 Jun 1994 12:44:57 EDT
From: KMYH09A at prodigy.com ( LARRY KELLY)
Subject: How do I compute pts/lb/gal

At what point in my mashing should I compute my pts/lb/gallon?

Do I figure it after sparging is complete or after the boiling of the wort
is complete?

I just brewed my first all grain the other day. I got a 29ppt/lb/gl
when figuring after sparging, and a 21ppt after boil.  Does this sound correct?

my grain bill for a 3 gallon brew:

3.5lbs english pale malt 2row
1.5 german crystal malt 20l
1 lb wheat malt american


Sparged with 3 gallons water, and collected 3.5 gallons of liquid at 1.050
gravity.  After boil was completed (1hour) I was left with 2.5gallons wort
with a gravity of 1.063.  I added water to bring volume up to 3 gallons,
and of course the OG came down to 1.040.  I'm using Phil's Lauter Tun

Any input is welcome!
Larry
KMYH09A at prodigy.com


PS. I know there is sort of a set amount of sparge water to use with a set
amount of grain. What is the proper amounts of sparge water to use with a
set amount of grain?


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Date: Sat, 4 Jun 94 14:25:40 EDT
From: jwc at med.unc.edu (John W. Carpenter)
Subject: Beer Bright

How long does Beer Bright last after you disolve it in water. Can I just
pour it from container to container indefinitely? Does it lose it's
effectiveness over time? Thanks in advance.

John Carpenter

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Date: Sat, 4 Jun 94 12:34:06 MDT
From: "Mark B. Alston" <c-amb at math.utah.edu>
Subject: Various ramblings

 I read somewhere that if you are using a digital pH meter for mashing
 that you should calibrate it over the temp range you are going to use
 (i.e. 148-155 F or so)  My Checker pH meter claims its range is only
 to 120 F I believe.  Has anyone had experience using this meter for
 checking the mash?  And, if so, at what temp did you calibrate it?
 
 Now for some answers.
 
 Bill Knecht writes about siphoning using the Brew Cap: 
 
 Not a flame but just need to point out a distinction.  The Brew Cap is
 a cap made for doing fermentations in an inverted carboy.  It is a
 clear soft plastic cap and comes with a long blowoff tube and various
 hoses and valves.  Using the BrewCap in this way eliminates the need
 for siphoning.  There is a yeast collection hose out of the bottow
 which allows you to rack your beer without siphoning.  There is
 another carboy cap which is orange and *not* made for inverted
 fermenting and is *not* called the Brew Cap.  However, it is quite
 useful for starting a siphon as was mentioned.  Various unscrupulous
 dealer have been known to try and pass these off as the Brew Cap
 (Including one here in S.L.C. which tried to sell me one as the Brew
 Cap, luckily I had heard about carboy caps before so I was not
 suckered).
 
 Larry Kelly asks about extraction using the Phalse bottom:
 
 Here's a data point for you.  I use Phils Phalse bottom in a 5 gal
 Gott cooler.  Using this in conjuntion with the sparging arm I get
 around 35 points for pale malt.  (1 lb of pale malt in 1 gal of water
 gives me 1.035 for an O.G.)  I do a fairly slow sparge and try to drag
 it out for at least an hour and a half.  I think that my slow sparge
 is of the greatest help.  I read someone post here or in r.c.b. that
 5-6 min for a gallon was the fastest recommended sparge.  I would
 recommend  something more like 15 min per gal.
 
 Secondly, yes you can take an O.G. before boiling.  In fact I highly
 suggest this.  By doing this you can adjust your boiling time to get
 to the S.G. you want for your wort.  I.e. if your gravity before
 boiling would give you too low of an S.G. for your volume then you can
 increase your boil for a lower volume at the correct gravity.  Or if
 your gravity is too high you can dilute or decrease your boil time
 (not less that 60 min) to achive the correct S.G. 
 
 Dan Hall writes: 
    Soda kegs are very convenient, but I always hated drawing one or two
    pints and then be faced with cleaning the picnic tap.  I never felt
    comfortable leaving it on the keg with its beverage line full of beer,
    and I quickly grew tired of partially dismantling it to rinse it out.
 
 I now have two fridge mounted taps (Very nice) and leave the lines
 hooked up for an entire keg.  I used to do the same with my picnic
 taps as well.  I have never had an infection develop after kegging.
 This is from around 20 batches kegged.  Bear in mind that the same
 environment that makes fermented beer safe to dry hop keeps these
 other nastys down as well.  Moreover, you should really never have
 anything flow the wrong way down the line.  I belive that if you give
 the lines a through cleaning between each batch (I rinse mine with hot
 H2O and TSP then with bleach and finally with near-boiling water to
 rinse) You should never have a problem.  Remember that fermented beer
 is really not a very friendly place for nasties.  Just clean those
 lines very well between batches.
 
 Alan Causey mentions states without brewpubs: 
 
 Utah actually has many brewpubs.  Here in S.L.C we have 2 brewpubs and
 one micro (the second is opening soon).  There are also brewpubs in
 Park City, Ogden, and Moab. 
 
 
 My rablings for the day,
 Mark Alston
 (c-amb at math.utah.edu)


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Date: Sat, 04 Jun 1994 15:48:32 -0500 (EST)
From: "Upward, not Northward!" <CULP1405 at splava.cc.plattsburgh.edu>
Subject: Is Sierra.Stanford.Edu FTP working? or is it me?

Greetings All, earlier this week I got some files from the ftp site; but now
the durn'd thang hears me knockin' but I cain't come in...The folks at SSE seem
to think that I am the problem-has anyone else had trouble with this? Thanks,
Kirby.  Culp1405 at splava.cc.plattsburgh.edu



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Date:     Sat, 4 Jun 94 17:02:39 CDT
From: "Charles S. Jackson" <sjackson at ftmcclln-amedd.army.mil>
Subject:  sierra - crowded or dead?

  Sorry that this is quite off the topic but is related.  For the past week
I have attempted to ftp to sierra.stanford.edu but have continuously gotten
the msg that there are currently 5 users - try again later.  I mean I have
frequently have insomnia and even at 2AM the same message.  This seems to be
more than a simple traffic jam. Anyone else with this problem?  Is there
another site that mirrors sierra?

Thanks
Steve
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brewing beer is far more exciting when it is both a hobby AND a felony!
                                   The Alabama Outlaw

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Date: Sat, 4 Jun 1994 18:02:20 -0500 (EST)
From: ulick at slip20.rad.nd.edu (Ulick Stafford)
Subject: As black as black could be!

I just recevied my AHA National judging sheets and I will not be in the
next round.  Beers not to style.  However, I found one point irksome
enough when I got my results to do some laboratory analysis.  My doppelbock
was too dark and Dry Stout too pale.  The study agreed with the 
Doppelbock judeges vs. AHA guidlines, but not with the stout judges.
My Doppelbock was 45 SRM, clearly outside the 12-30 range listed, but the
stout, which I thought was definitely black enough and I'm Irish, received
comments like 'Good brown ale colour but not a stout.  Needs chocolate.'.
The second part I won't comment on, though I disagree, but the beer was
63 SRM.  According to AHA guidlines stouts are 40+, Brown ales are no more
than 32 for an English Mild.  I think the beer judge in question (who is 
well known in homebrewing circles) needs to adjust his comments to something
like the beer is not a style.

If this beer is not black enough for a stout and is too dark for a brown ale
I guess I should have entered it as a porter - (30+ guidline), but then, no 
doubt, it would have had too much roast barely character.  I think  the
AHA should overhaul its guidelines.  If a beer that should be 40+ is called too
light at 63, adjust the guidelines accordingly.  Looking at their guidelines
nearly all the dark colours are not dark enough.

Spec analysis was in a 2mm cuvette.  Absorbance at 430 nm was 1.0 for the 
stout and 0.71 for the doppelbock.  For those interested in EBC the absorbances
at 530 nm were 0.1695 and 0.3608 (EBC = 8.5 and 18, I think).

I think I'll start collecting small samples of beer for colour analysis, 
and will publish a report on commercial beers.  However if anyone has a 
list of recent laboratory measurements could they email me so that I can
calibrate my procedures.  It is hard to believe that Michelob Dark is 17
with some of the readings I have gotten.  It could be that normal procedure
is bad - I mean a dark beer in a 1cm cuvette will give a nonsense absorbance,
but brewing chemists know Beer's law is not to be trusted above A=1, don't 
they?
__________________________________________________________________________
 'Heineken!?! ... F#$% that s at &* ...  | Ulick Stafford, Dept of Chem. Eng.  
    Pabst Blue Ribbon!'               | Notre Dame IN 46556
                                      |    ulick at darwin.cc.nd.edu   


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Date: Sat, 4 Jun 1994 18:24:30 -0700
From: Don Put <dput at csulb.edu>
Subject: Startrek and Candi Sugar

A cousin of mine, who happens to live in Belgium, recently sent me a box
of dark candi sugar.  I've since put my order in for 10 more pounds and he
said, "no problem."  Now, he has a daughter who is interested in anything
to do with Startrek and I told him I would try and find some catalogs,
brochures, etc. that deal in Startrek merchandise.  Can anyone out there
point me in the right direction for my search?  I've got a list of startrek
files from the friendly archie server, but if anyone of you know of places
that I could contact, or any that you have dealt with, please let me know.

I realize this is only tangentially about beer (Hey, I plan on brewing some
wonderful Belgian ales using the sugar), so please save the HBD bandwidth
and email my any info you might have.

TIA,
son
^^^ - that should be "don"
dput at csulb.edu

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Date: Sat,  4 Jun 1994 23:00:20 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Danny A. Rossi" <dr25+ at andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Questions, Questions.


Hello folks,

I am pretty new to this homebrew thing, but I am hooked.  I put up a batch
of Cooper's Real Ale back in February and it came out pretty good.  I'm 
surprised it did because I had no idea of what the hell I was doing, but 
people sure seem to like it.  I have a Brown Ale that I bottled about four
weeks ago.  I tried it a week ago, but I think it could use some more time
before it peaks.  I have a couple of cans of Irish Stout extract that I am 
considering attempting an oatmeal stout with, but I need to do some reading
before I can attempt that.

OK, here are a couple of questions for you.  I am totally blind and this is
of course getting in the way a bit.  Does anybody out there know of an 
electronic or digital hydrometer.  If it is electronic or digital I can make
it talk.  I assume spec-grav is just the inverse of density so if I have to
I can siphon off a specific amount of wort and mass it out, but that seems
kind of cumbersome.

My second question deals with books.  Material is hard to come by so if anyone
knows of some really good information on electronic media please let me know.
I have dug around and so far found two books in braille.  One is called 
"The Big Book of Brewing" Argus books.  The second is "Treatise Lager Beer"
by Fred Eckhardt.  does anyone know anything about these books?  Are they
worth getting?  The first one will set me back nearly seventy bucks and the
second about fifteen.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Dan Rossi dr25 at andrew.cmu.edu

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Date: Sun, 5 Jun 94 00:36 WET DST
From: gscott at io.org (Geoff Scott)
Subject: Wreck a keg?

Nothing came out of my stout tap when I tried it this afternoon.  When I
opened the fridge I found to my horror that the thermostat had stuck and my
kegs where frozen.  They couldn't have been completely frozen because the beer
was flowing after a couple of hours at (warm) room temperature.  One thing I
noticed was that the first pint was much stronger.  I may have inadvertently
made an ice-stout.  Has anyone destroyed a keg this way?  My keg was only
about one quarter full but I imagine that expanding freezing beer in a full
keg might wreck it.
regards,
Geoff Scott
gscott at io.org

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Date: Sun, 05 Jun 94 10:36:12 EDT
From: Maltstir at aol.com
Subject: Washing Machine Masher ?

 Has anyone ever attempted to adapt an old electric washing 
machine for mashing ? At first glance it seems possible, and
offers several desired built-in  features such as: large capacity, 
 hot water plumbing, continuous agitation, spin cycle accelerated
discharge of wort. Sparging could be replaced with a short, second
wash of grain!
   Of course some of the modifications required would include:
disabling automated timing cycles, controlling mash temperature,
modifing washer spin basket to retain grain husks. How the heck
would you ge the spent grain out?
    I'm very interested in hearing comments or suggestions ( sober or
not) .

   J Lambert < maltstir at aol.com >


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Date:         Sun, 05 Jun 94 22:57:36 CDT
From: Phil Miller <C616063 at MIZZOU1.missouri.edu>
Subject:      Preserving brew


How long can one expect a batch of brew to keep after it is bottled? What could
one add to make it last longer that wont kill me or the beer? Posts or personal
email are fine.

                               Phil Miller
                               c616063 at mizzou1.missouri.edu

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End of HOMEBREW Digest #1442, 06/06/94