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


Contents:
  Glatt Mills (ANDY WALSH)
  Re: yeast head contact with air is good? (Tel +44 784 443167)
  Re: Cooling plate kept in 'fridge (djt2)
  Ann Arbor beer sources (Bill Slack)
  maple syrup (Jim Ancona)
  yeasty taste (SMG9871)
  Yeast Labs Irish Ale Yeast and an Infection ("Steve Veillette, WCSU Information Systems")
  Mailing beer ("William F. Cook")
  Re: High F.G., cider, and Scotland (wegeng.XKeys)
  antioxidants (Ed Hitchcock)
  Re: Zymurgy delivery (Edmund Hack)
  Re:The good 'ol USPS ("David Sapsis")
  .2 ucron filters and airstones (Jim Busch)
  A Suggestion for AHA Competitions (Ken Schroeder)
  Re: RIMS Temperature Control (Jeff Berton)
  bottles, wheat, Ol'Puke (uswlsrap)
  Subscription or Not? (npyle)
  Half batches ("DEV::SJK")
  ANNC: HOPS BOPS Homebrew Competition (Toast Conger)
  Converting a water heater (Chad Kirby)
  Sterile filtering pure O2 (Erik Speckman)
  open fermentation/mashout (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583)
  Yeast questions (Greg Niznik)
  Can I save my Belgian Ale? ("William F. Cook")
  No. Cal. BJCP Exam ("Rad Equipment")
  Recipe Reduction Help (SSDS - Denver) <top at denver.ssds.com>
  Caramelized Sugar (kr_roberson)
  Liquid vs dry yeast (John McCauley)
  RE: resolution of head retention problem (EKTSR)



******************************************************************
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----------------------------------------------------------------------


Date: Wed, 5 Oct 94 18:57:33 +1000
From: ANDY WALSH <awalsh at ozemail.com.au>
Subject: Glatt Mills

So the maltmill controversy rages once more...
I was fortunate enough to pass through LA a couple of weeks ago and had the 
chance to pick up a maltmill (they are not available in Australia). After 
comparing the Maltmill with the Glattmill I decided to buy the Glatt as the 
quality looked a little better to my eyes.
Well the first time I used it was on unmalted wheat on the closest roller 
spacing. So those infamous plastic gears stripped, didn't they!  Fortunately a 
friend is a fitter and turner so I should be able to replace them with metal 
gears, but it is a big pain in the .....
Why do the Glatt people go to all the trouble of making such a nice product and 
 go and put such crummy gears in them? Admitedly  it was a pretty tough trial 
to put it through, but nowhere does it state not to try and crack unmalted 
wheat. I imagine most homebrewers would try this at some stage. In any case, 
normal use is bound to cause significant wear fairly quickly, I believe.
So my advice to prospective mill purchasers is...
GO FOR THE MALTMILL!!!!
Sorry Jack, I promise I'll listen next time...






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Date: Wed, 5 Oct 1994 09:59:27 +0000
From: Brian Gowland <B.Gowland at rhbnc.ac.uk> (Tel +44 784 443167)
Subject: Re: yeast head contact with air is good?


In HBD 1544, Chris Lyons <Chris.Lyons at analog.com> wrote:
> 
> In yesterday's HBD Brian Gowland states:
> > ...  It can actually be detrimental to deprive the yeast
> > head of contact with air.  ...
> Could anyone please explain why their is a benefit to having
> the yeast head exposed to air?  Curious brewers want to know.
> 
     The source I have for this statement is "Home Brewing - The CAMRA
Guide" by Graham Wheeler. In various parts of the book, Graham states
that, once a good yeast head has formed, the fermenting vessel should
be uncovered - quoting "It is not necessary or desirable to fit the
lid to the fermentation bin during fermentation. It is important that
the fermentation be allowed to breathe". He does not explain in any
great detail what the negative effects could be other than in a later
part of the book he states that it is claimed that Yeast Bite can be
caused by sealing a fermentation vessel tightly. There is another part
in the book which I can't remember clearly, where I think he seems to
indicate that allowing the gaseous fermentation by-products to stay in
close contact with the yeast head is undesirable.
     I often brew on a Sunday and pitch my yeast Sunday evening - by
Monday morning, the yeast head is normally becoming established but not
usually ready to be uncovered (exposed patches of wort remaining). By
the evening after work, I can remove the lid and I have noticed that
the yeast head will grow almost visibly once it is uncovered to the
air.
     Whilst I have no experience of detrimental effects of leaving the
fermentation covered, I can say that I have not had any bad ferments
when uncovered - the yeast seems to like it and thrives wonderfully.
 
Cheers,
     Brian


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Date: Tue, 4 Oct 1994 12:11:50 -0400
From: djt2 at po.cwru.edu
Subject: Re: Cooling plate kept in 'fridge

>> I tucked the plate into the back of my fridge and ran a tube from
>> a keg in the basement through the back of the fridge into it. That way I
>> have cold beer on tap all the time, and it takes up only as much space as a
>> phone book in the fridge. The mass of the plate is enough to chill 2-3 mugs
>> at a time, though, so an ice bucket is needed for parties.

>I'd love to try this, it sounds great.
>Could you include what temp and pressure you keep your keg at in the basement?
>I'm asking how using the cooling plate affects your carbonation.

There are two considerations about using a remote keg and a cooling plate
kept at the dispensing point, it seems to me.

One is total carbonation, and the question above reflects the fact that
warm beer will absorb less C02 than cool beer. The target should be in the
total volume of C02 contained in the beer, depending on style the target
seems to be 1.5 to 2.5 volumes of CO2. There is a chart of
carbonation-versus-temperature in the archives on sierra, which I don't
have here, but at basement temperature (ca 65f) I needed about 25# of CO2
pressure. Note that this is *waay* too high for normal dispensing.

The other consideration is the pressure at the tap. I figured that with the
long length of tubing from the basement to the tap (about 25 feet of 1/4"
plastic tube, ?3 feet in the plate, and 4 feet more to the tap) that there
was considerable resistance in the line, and that during flow the net
pressure at the tap was much less than the 25# at the keg. I haven't
measured pressure at the tap directly, but certainly it seems less than 25#
during flow. Note that line resistance could be regulated by putting a
constricting clamp on the line near the tap, maybe just as it enters the
'fridge. In the end, the optimal keg pressure is determined by trial and
error, but this setup works for me.

There is one problem, though. When there is *no flow*, or very little, the
pressure at the tap builds to the full 25#. Thus, when the tap is pressed
slightly there is a quick spray of beer. Pressing the tap fully yields a
normal calm flow. Controlling this takes a bit of practice, and more than
one guest has gotten beer shoes by trying to halt the rising head by
reducing the flow from the tap. This causes a spray that actually makes
more foam, not less.

Another problem is that while I expected to take the plate out for parties,
I find that it is enough trouble to disconnect and reconnect that I'd like
to have a different cooling plate for that purpose.

Overall, I am satisfied, and it took remarkably little fiddling. My wife is
glad to have less 'fridge space devoted to my indulgence. She can put the
milk for the kids back in now.

Dennis



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Date: Wed, 5 Oct 94 07:22:30 EDT
From: hpfcla.fc.hp.com!wslack!wrs (Bill Slack)
Subject: Ann Arbor beer sources

My colleagues and I frequently find ourselves in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Could
some knowledgeable person please post or email suitable places to find
brewpub or microbrewery beer or at least a good beer bar in that fair city?
Actually, we go to Chelsea but I assume Ann Arbor has more opportunities.
We could bring Boston/NH/East Coast specialties to swap with locals if
desired.

Bill
__
wrs at gozer.mv.com (Bill Slack)
    

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Date:  5 Oct 94  8:22:16 EDT
From: Jim Ancona <Jim_Ancona.DBS at dbsnotes.dbsoftware.com>
Subject: maple syrup

In HBD 1544, Jim Emery <jimery at u.washington.edu> asks about using maple syrup 
in a brew. 

I made the Pale Maple Ale recipe in Cats Meow. That is an extract ale with 1/2 
gallon (I think) of maple syrup added. It had a different, sort of 'woody' 
taste, but it certainly didn't bowl you over with maple flavor and aroma. My 
guess is that if you want an identifiable maple flavor, you would have to use a 
lot and perhaps add it very late in (or after) the boil to avoid boiling off 
all the aromatics. 

Good luck. I'd be interested in hearing about your results and in seeing a 
recipe if you're successful.

Jim
- --
Jim Ancona
JANCO at dbsoftware.com
Opinions expressed are my own, and not those of D&B Software.


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Date: Wed, 05 Oct 1994 08:38:49 -0500 (EST)
From: SMG9871%SIENA.BITNET at VM.ITS.RPI.EDU
Subject: yeasty taste

I have been having a problem recently with my beer having a very strong
yeasty taste to it as if the yeast is coming off the bottom no matter
how carefull I am in trying to decant it(the beer) off. My regular
procedure in making my beer is to primary ferment in plastic for a
week and then transfer to my carboy for another week and then bottle.
I know the quality of the bere is good if it just wouldn't have that
yeast coming out into my glass. So I pose my question of what do you
do when you get a yeast infection?!

Mark Garwatoski

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Date: Wed, 5 Oct 1994 8:57:34 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Steve Veillette, WCSU Information Systems" <VEILLETTE at WCSUB.CTSTATEU.EDU>
Subject: Yeast Labs Irish Ale Yeast and an Infection

Dear Good People,

    My recent batch of robust porter has become infected (oh the humanity!).
    I am trying to trace down the source of infection and would like some
    information regarding the yeast Irish Ale yeast I used.  During primary
    fermentation (carried out in a 6 gal. carboy capped with an airlock) the
    krausen spewed out of the airlock and clogged it up.

    My question:  Is the Irish Ale yeast normally this enthusiastic about
    fermentation, or was this enthusiasm a result of the infection.  In other
    words, was the spewing a result or the cause of the infection?

    Many thanks in advance...

 -Steve
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Veillette                        Western Connecticut State University
Assistant Director                     181 White Street
Information Systems                    Danbury, CT  06810
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Date: 05 Oct 94 09:00:09 EDT
From: "William F. Cook" <71533.2750 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Mailing beer

In #1540 I asked for info regarding the legality of and procedures for mailing
homebrew. I received responses from Caig Verver and Dion Hollenbeck, both of
whom said pretty much the same thing. I will summarize by re-posting Craig's
response, which included some legal info:

>-----
>Section 1: Can I mail beer to my friends?
>
>Yes and No. Intra-provincial mailing of beer is currently prohibited
>in Canada. It's also technically illegal to mail or ship beer in the
>US without a distributor's license, though enforcement seems spotty.
>
>If (hypothetically of course) one were to want to ship beer across
>the US, that person should be prepared to spend the money to ensure
>quick, safe delivery of the beer: If you're taking the time to send
>beer to someone, it's well worth the extra few bucks to guarantee
>them a fresh, well-cared for delivery. Wrap each bottle in newspaper
>or bubble-wrap, fill the box with styrofoam peanuts or bubble-pack
>and tape the box securely.
>
>Although arguably shipping services such as UPS are most secure and
>reliable, the United States Postal Service (USPS) is the most cost-
>effective means of mailing beer (hypothetically). You can ship 12
>bottles priority (2-day) for ~$22 or surface (5-9 day) for ~$12. Be
>prepared to pay a minimum of $11 for a cross-country shipment no
>matter what carrier/agent you use.
>
>Finally, USPS doesn't typically require declaring the contents of
>the package. Whatever carrier/agent you decide to use, don't mention
>beer -- you're shipping yeast samples if anyone asks.
>-----
>
>Craig.

Thanx to both Craig and Dion

Bill Cook
HydroComp, Inc.
Team Dennis Conner


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Date: 	Wed, 5 Oct 1994 06:34:30 PDT
From: wegeng.XKeys at xerox.com
Subject: Re: High F.G., cider, and Scotland

In HBD #1544 Andy "Mac" Kligerman says:
>I plan to make a dry hard cider this  weekend with raw cider from the
mountains
>of Virginia.  I will pitch with a dry London Ale yeast from Canada.  Should I
>either boil or heat the cider  to 190 F (before pitching) to kill any bacteria
or
>wild yeast or will that risk setting the pectin?

I`ve been making hard cider for a couple years, and within the last couple
weeks have read two books on hard cider.  I don`t recall any references to
heating cider before pitching yeast.  Instead it`s recommended to treat the
cider with potassium metabisulfite, camden tablets, or a similar agent
(reference a good wine making book for details about these treatments).   The
dosage will depend on the acidity of your cider, which varies depending on the
varieties of apples that were used (the more acid in the cider, the less
treatment you need).  Alternatively, you can simply add your yeast without
treatment, or not do anything and let the wild yeasts that are already present
ferment (note that it may be very slow to start).

The two books that I`ve read are "Sweet and hard cider: making it, using it,
and enjoying it" by Annie Proulx and Lew Nichols (Garden Way, 1980) and "The
american cider book; the story of america`s natural beverage" by Vrest Orton
(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973).  Many home brewing and wine making stores
carry the Proulx book.  The Orton book is probably out of print, but the local
public library system has several copies so perhaps you can borrow a copy from
your public library.

Finally, cider makers may want to subscribe to the electronic mailing list
devoted to this topic.  Send a message to "Requests at X.Org" with the the
following text in the body of the message "subscribe cider
yourname at youraddress.domain".

/Don
dlw.xkeys at xerox.com

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Date: Wed, 5 Oct 1994 10:14:04 -0300 (ADT)
From: Ed Hitchcock <ehitchcock at sparc.uccb.ns.ca>
Subject: antioxidants


	The use of ascorbic acid as an antioxidant has been poopoohed by 
either Miller or Fix, I don't recall off hand which one.  Basically, 
vitamin C works great for keeping apples from turning brown, but beer is 
a little more complex.  I think it requires something like sulfite to 
help it as an antioxidant, and sulfites have no place in beer.  The moral 
is, be careful when racking.
	PS.  appologies to the Coyote for not including my address in my 
 .sig 

  ---------------
 | Ed Hitchcock  | Meet mt two dogs.  This is my dog Ma, 
 | Biology Dept. |    and this is my dog Earl.
 | UCCB, NS, Can | UCCB doesn't take my word for it, why should you?
  ---------------       


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Date: Wed, 5 Oct 1994 09:42:59 -0500
From: hack at l44c4-2.jsc.nasa.gov (Edmund Hack)
Subject: Re: Zymurgy delivery

In HBD 1544 10/5/94, David Allison <ALLISON.DAVID at A1GW.GENE.COM> sez:

>Second... 
>I have contacted the AHA _twice_ about the delay in receiving Zymurgy a 
>month later than the local brew shops.  They informed me that the 
>individual subscriptions go out in third class mail and the arrival of my 
>magazine is up to the US Mail (Oh No!!).  

Magazine/newsletter delivery is a major problem for smaller associations
whose publications also appear retail. There is usually a two tier system
for sending out magazines - subscriptions go Third Class and retail copies
go UPS. Third Class can take up to one month for delivery, although 2 weeks
seems about average for me. A number of factors can influence the time
needed for delivery. For example, most magazines are bundled by zip code and
the bigger the bundle, the faster the delivery. National magazines such as
Time and Newsweek speed up delivery by dropping copies into the system at
several bulk mail sites around the country, yet the newsstand copies arrive
before home copies.

>Don - I am sorry to upset you 
>also (I must have been having a bad mind day), but I am wondering why I 
>should pay essentially the same money for Zymurgy to be sent to me a month 
>later than I could get via the homebrew shop.

But you get all the other benefits of AHA membership, too!
>
>Are there others out there with these same issues/concerns/problems?

One option that AHA could offer is to send the magazine by First Class
mail for an additional fee. You'd get it as fast as the shops that way.
- ---
Edmund Hack                |"The great prince issues commands,
hack at l44c4-2.jsc.nasa.gov  | Founds states, vests families with fiefs.
Lockheed ESC, Houston, TX  | Inferior people should not be employed."
    


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Date: Wed, 5 Oct 94 08:02:15 CST  
From: "David Sapsis" <dbsapsis at nature.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: Re:The good 'ol USPS

In the fallout over the StoutBout lost/missing entry issue, some interesting
discussion over ways of shipping beer has ensued.  In HBD#1544, Martin
states that "if the USPS guesses what it is, its gone."  Well, I've been
shipping Christmas beers to friends in Oregon for years via USPS and they
have all made it through.  This includes one shipment that arrived at its
destination about 4 weeks late, surrounded in a plastic bag that had not
been there when I sent it out.  What apparently had happened was a bottle of
Russian Stout had broken, and the contents seeped out of the box.
The entire package was then routed to someplace in New Mexico, where they
apparently decided to simply put it in a plastic bag and reship it.  Maybe
they couldn't guess what it was or they were fooled by my ploy.  What I have
always done (knowing fully that it is illegal to transport alcoholic
beverages through the USPS) is write in bold letters: CANNED PICKLES --
FRAGILE!  all over the package. Musta been that dark malt vinegar smell that
had the postal service folks thinking: this person really deserves to get
these homemade pickles--we gotta resend it.  Anyway, just one datum.
Incidentally, does anyone know of any instances of a homebrewer being
convicted of said crime?  Just wondering, but I got my plane ticket to
Argentina ready.
cheers,
**********************************************************************
David Sapsis        dbsapsis at nature.berkeley.edu
Wildland Fire Research Laboratory
Dept. Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
U C Berkeley        voice: (510)642-8053       fax:(510) 643-5438
                     "From fire everything is created, and in
                      fire everything ends up."
                                            --Heracleitus (502 B.C.)
************************************************************************

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Date: Wed, 5 Oct 1994 11:30:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jim Busch <busch at daacdev1.stx.com>
Subject: .2 ucron filters and airstones

Scott wrote:

<> I called several welding shops and bought the cheapest new bottle of
> welding O2.  I use a .2 micron inline filter, the medical disk type.

<I need a filter like this for an aquarium pump, but I cannot find such
<a thing.  Would you happen to have a source or two at hand?

> I have used silica airstones
> with good results, as well as SS scintered stones.

<I've heard of the stainless steel 'airstones', but cannot find them
<either.  The folks in aquarium stores think it's pretty funny that I
<think such a thing exists.

I had my .2 micron filter given to me by a chemist type.  It is 
a simple 2.5" plastic disc with in and out lines.  I assume it is
of the disposable medical type, I would check with chemist/medical
supply places to see what can be found for a cheap price.  Maybe 
Bob Jones knows where to get these?

AS for the SS airstone, these are hard to find.  I got mine at
a surplus house and they are all gone.  Bobs idea to make one sounds
good, and certainly the silica aquarium airstones work fine, and are
cheap enough to throw away every 10 batches or so, if you want to. 

Good brewing,

Jim Busch

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Date: Wed, 5 Oct 94 08:56:13 PDT
From: kens at lan.nsc.com (Ken Schroeder)
Subject: A Suggestion for AHA Competitions


There seems to be a lot of speculation to what happened to David Allison's
entry to the "Stout Bout". It seems, IMHO, that furnishing the results of 
an entry to an AHA event, or any organized competition, should be a minimum 
responsiblity for the organizers. This is not an overwhelming task, if 
organized. What if each entry was to be accompanied by a self addressed, 
stamped envelope. When the results are tabulated, the score sheet is copied, 
stuffed into the supplied envelope and mailed at the same time the orginal 
copy is sent to the AHA. This is a slight increase in the labor required for 
an event, but the reason for entering, for most of us, is to get feedback on 
our brews. Personally I think that David need not apologize to anyone, in 
fact, IMHO, it is the Stout Bout who should appologise to David, and all 
other entrants, for not being able to supply the reults of the judging in 
that event.
 
How about it AHA: require a self addressed stamped envelope from the entants
and require that the judging sheets be copied and mailed back in that 
envelope by the competition organizers?
 
Ken Schroeder
Sequoia Brewing  



- ----- End Included Message -----


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Date: Wed, 5 Oct 1994 12:19:59 -0400 (EDT)
From: jeff344 at voodoo.lerc.nasa.gov (Jeff Berton)
Subject: Re: RIMS Temperature Control

Joe Stone writes:
>I've been soliciting input regarding RIMS-like systems.  And I've
>received some wonderful responses.  There seems to be two basic
>approaches to temperature control in the recirculating path:  one
>is a "proportional" control by which the power delivered to the
>heating element is varied between zero and some maximum value
>(typically on the order of 1000 watts); the other approach seems to
>rely simply on a relay (i.e. the heating element is either on or
>off).  Both approaches can be automated or manual.
>
>  The proportional control must offer advantages over the relay-ed
>approach.  Less chance of scorching?  Less chance of overshoot?
>Longer element life?  Are the advantages worth the added complexity?

I've been in touch with Joe off-line on this subject, but I thought a
description of my approach would be of general interest here.

I'm not very familiar with SCR and chip circuit design, and even copying the
thermostat circuit that Rodney Morris sketched in his Zymurgy RIMS article
intimidated me.  Indeed, some people here have mentioned they could not get
Rodney's circuit to work at all.  My approach to thermostatically controlling
my RIMS is to just hook up a high-load dimmer switch to my immersion heater.

My dimmer switch is rated to 1000 Watts, which matches the output of my heater.
These specialty dimmer switches can be found in hardware stores for about $20. 
I've found that a 1000-Watt heater is sufficient to increase the temperature of
the wort at about one degree Fahrenheit every minute, depending on how well
heat losses are minimized.  When increasing the wort temperature between rests,
I operate both my heater and pump at full capacity.  Pumping rates must be kept
high when the heater is at maximum power or wort scorching, and possibly even
heater burnout, may occur.  I brew pale ales in my RIMS with no discernable
scorching.  Once the desired rest temperature is reached, I turn the dimmer
switch down to a point where a relatively small amount of heat addition matches
the relatively small heat loss of the system.  I thought I would need a
thermostat to automate this part of the process for me, but I've found this to
be unnecessary.  The part-power dimmer switch setting required to maintain a
constant tun temperature is easy to find.  After setting the dimmer properly, I
can even walk away for fifteen minutes at a time without worrying about
deviating from my desired rest temperature. 

Another alternative, as Joe mentions, would be to use a solid state time delay
relay switch.  C&H Sales (mail-order, no affiliation) has one that can be
delayed from 1 to 180 seconds, rated at 10 amps, for $20.  One could bypass it
when full-power heating is desired, then enable it for thermostat duty during
the mash temperature rest(s).

The next step, if I decide I really need an automated thermostat, may be to
hook up my immersion heater to an A/D board on my PC!
- --
Jeff Berton, Aeropropulsion Analysis Office, NASA Lewis Research Center
jeff344 at voodoo.lerc.nasa.gov
 


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Date: Wed, 05 Oct 94 12:38:47 EDT
From: uswlsrap at ibmmail.COM
Subject: bottles, wheat, Ol'Puke                                          

- -------------------- Mail Item Text Follows ------------------

To: I1010141--IBMMAIL

From: Bob Paolino
      Research Analyst
Subject: bottles, wheat, Ol'Puke

1) RAISED LETTERING ON BOTTLES: It never occurred to me that there would
be any question about the lettering down near the bottom of the bottle
(various codes, "NO REFILL," 0.5l, 355 ml, et cetera). I would hope that
there's not a competition organiser (AHA included) that would disqualify
entries in those bottles.
  Most bottles seem to have _some_ kind of lettering/numbering down
there. What the rules refer to (at least I hope that's the case) are
distinctive things like a brandname or logo/trademark. There's good
reason for excluding those bottles, as has already been discussed.
Anyone who would disqualify an entry for the lettering at the bottom of
the bottle would truly be anal retentive.

2) I got a few replies on my 100% WHEAT MALT question. Here were some of
the suggestions. M&F DRY (don't know about the liquid) isn't 100% but
it's fairly light, and if you can get by with a 55-45 proportion, that
might work. ALEXANDER'S has a 60-40 that is said to be, like the regular
stuff, very pale. The person who replied wasn't sure if they had a 100%.
IRONMASTER UNHOPPED WHEAT appears to be 100% wheat, and comes in smaller
cans (1.8kg), but I wasn't told about colour. The IREK'S was said to be
very good, but I didn't hear about the colour. And, of course, it comes
in that huge can that might be too much for a five gallon batch if
you're going to use other malt also and want to keep your OG under 1.050
if that's what you need for the style :-)

3) Someone asked about Old Peculiar (or is that -er for the beer?)
clones. I haven't tried one, but I got my ZYMURGY special issue the
other day, and I recall seeing a recipe.

Bob Paolino
Disoriented in Badgerspace

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Date: Wed, 5 Oct 94 10:43:55 MDT
From: npyle at hp7013.ecae.StorTek.COM
Subject: Subscription or Not?

David "Stout Bout" Allison writes:

>I have contacted the AHA _twice_ about the delay in receiving Zymurgy a
>month later than the local brew shops.  They informed me that the
>individual subscriptions go out in third class mail and the arrival of my
>magazine is up to the US Mail (Oh No!!).  Don - I am sorry to upset you
>also (I must have been having a bad mind day), but I am wondering why I
>should pay essentially the same money for Zymurgy to be sent to me a month
>later than I could get via the homebrew shop.
>
>Are there others out there with these same issues/concerns/problems?

This happens with virtually every magazine subscription.  Its pretty
illogical to mistreat your subscribers (read: steady customers) this way, but
the magazine business does it all the time.  It seems you're paying for
convenience; you don't have to go looking for the zine.

Also, your subscription price makes you a "member" of AHA, with all the
rights and privileges that come with it.  As far as I can tell, the only
thing *that* gets you is a free pass into the special "members only"
afternoon tasting at the GABF (coming up in 2 weeks).  Of course, to get
this *free* pass, you have to buy a full-price pass to one of the evening
sessions.  And also of course, this is only of value if you live on the
Front Range of Colorado, or travel here every October.  A bad deal, you
say?  As Dave in Sydney sez:  Life's a bitch, but at least there's homebrew!

Cheers,
Norm npyle at hp7013.ecae.stortek.com

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Date: 5 Oct 94 11:35:00 CST
From: "DEV::SJK" <SJK%DEV.decnet at mdcgwy.mdc.com>
Subject: Half batches


Timothy Buck asks about "half" batches for variety's sake.

I also do half, or 3 gallon batches (and smaller) fairly often.  I must
qualify anything I'm going say by stating that most of these are meads and
that my experience with 3 gallon batches of beer is limited (5 or 6
batches?)

For beers, I have found that simply scaling the ingredients down to a 3 gal
batch size works fine.  Just multiply all the ingredients for 5 gallons by
3/5.  OGs should be the same.  The only thing I can think of that might
change with the smaller batch size would be IBUs due to the smaller amount
of wort affecting utilization in some way, but I've not noticed any wild
variations in expected bitterness.

The biggest problem is headspace in the primary.  Fermenting 3 gallons of
beer in a 6 gallon plastic bucket (like I do) or even in a 5 gallon carboy
leaves a lot of headspace.  This can cause problems after vigorous
fermentation slows down as even small changes in ambient temp can make the
CO2 in the headspace expand and contract, thus sucking air and anything
that may be floating in it into your primary.

I deal with this problem by wrapping my primary in a sleeping bag after the
first day or two of primary ferment to hopefully reduce temp swings.  I
also rack early, like a week after pitching, into a 3 gal glass carboy.

Another thing you might do is visit a few doughnut shops.  Most are happy
to get rid of the containers their jellies and such come in.  They'll often
just give them to you, or charge you something nominal, like a buck.  These
are typically 4 gallons in size and are food grade HDPE (?) just like the 6
gal ones at the homebrew store.  Pick one that doesn't smell too much of
raspberry syrup, drill a hole in the lid and on you go.  I have a buddy who
uses these for primaries for small batches and he's happy with it.

Yet another thing you might do if you don't mind a little blowoff is to cut
the batch even further to 2.5 gal and primary in a 3 gal carboy.  My
homebrew store has these for about $12, I think.


Scott Kaczorowski
sjk at rc3a.mdc.com



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Date: Wed, 5 Oct 1994 09:34:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: Toast Conger <ktoast at netaxs.com>
Subject: ANNC: HOPS BOPS Homebrew Competition


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 
   Call for entries in the 11th Annual HOPS-BOPS 1994
 
      The Homebrewers of Philadelphia and Suburbs 
      Best of Philadelphia and Suburbs Competition
 
HOPS is hosting its annual homebrew competition this 
November and is inviting entries from intrepid homebrewers
everywhere. The contest will evaluate, judge and award
prizes to the best of over 150 beer entries.
 
HOPS is a non-profit organization to promote and encourage
the fine art of homebrewing. It's members have won national
and regional contests and include a number of judges
sanctioned by the Beer Judge Certification Program.
 
If you would like to submit an entry, entry forms and more detailed 
information are finally available. <Note: Folks who have already 
contacted me, the entry forms were dropped in the mail October 4.>
              Entry Deadline:   11/3/94
         Competition Judging:   11/6/94
 
If you are interested and would like more information and/or an entry 
form, send your snailmail address to:
                      ktoast at netaxs.com
 
Or write directly to: HOPS
		      c/o Ted Briggs
		      15 Hilltop Road
		      Levittown, PA  19056

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
 

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Date: Wed, 5 Oct 1994 10:40:55 -0700 (PDT)
From: Chad Kirby <ckirby at u.washington.edu>
Subject: Converting a water heater

Charlie Papazian mentions in a couple of his books that a resourceful 
Home Brewer could convert a gas hot water heater into a propane burner 
for use in brewing.  It so happens that I have an unused gas hot water 
heater, and I was wondering if anyone would know how to go about 
converting it.  Many thanks...

	ck					ckirby at u.washington.edu
			    ***

Duct tape is like the force.  It has a light side, and a dark side,
and it holds the universe together...
				Carl Zwanzig


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Date: Wed, 5 Oct 1994 11:22:32 -0700
From: especkma at reed.edu (Erik Speckman)
Subject: Sterile filtering pure O2


>Jim> I called several welding shops and bought the cheapest new bottle of
>Jim> welding O2.  I use a .2 micron inline filter, the medical disk type.
>Jim> It works very well.  You may be able to get away without a filter,
>Jim> bit it is a simple and cheap way to be sure.

>Could you please say where you get these filters?  I have been using
>welding O2 with no  filtering and am scared I am not practicing "safe
>aeration".  This would be a much easier solution than making some sort
>of liquid based sanitizer in the O2 line.

I wouldn't worry too much about filtering pure O2 gas of any grade.  I
think that exposure to pure O2 for a more than a few minutes will probably
render any bacteria or yeast quite dead, too much of a good thing and all
that.  CO2 is another matter.

______________________________________________________________________
Erik A. Speckman       Seattle, Washington      Good Brain Doesn't Suck
especkma at reed.edu                                  especkma at halcyon.com



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Date: 5 Oct 94 18:24:00 GMT
From: korz at iepubj.att.com (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583)
Subject: open fermentation/mashout

Bob writes, questioning Brian's yeast contact with air assertion:
>How can this be detrimental? I always thought there was a CO2 blanket
>over the beer while it was fermenting, during either open or closed
>fermentation.

Indeed!  In fact, at Samuel Smith's Tadcaster Brewery, where they have
some pretty famous open fermenters (Yorkshire Stone Squares), there are
warnings on all the doors leading into the fermentation room (I saw at
least 18 fermenters there and I think there are many more in other rooms)
about asphyxiation and venting the room before entry.  With all this
Carbon Monoxide detector stuff in the news, perhaps we should be looking
into Carbon DIOXIDE detectors in our breweries?  No, seriously, none of
our fermenters will make enough CO2 to kill us, but a big leak in a CO2
system in a sealed basement over a period of a week can be dangerous, not
to mention knocking over a tank and snapping off the high-pressure gauge.
Please take great care with CO2 tanks.

****************
Andy writes:
>In all the excitement over
>tasting the sweetness of the mash after the starch rest,
>my partner and I forgot to do the mash-out step.
> 
>This was my first tinkering with all grain brewing,
>and I'm curious what the effect of NOT conducting
>the mashout could have on the brew.

There are two reasons for doing mashout, one contraversial.

The contraversial one is that it helps stop all enzyme activity
and thus makes your recipe more consistent to reproduce (i.e.
some remaining beta-amylase enzymes are still hard at work
breaking your unfermentable dextrins down into fermentable glucose
during the sparge).

The pretty much universally accepted reason is that it makes your
runnings "runnier" (less viscous), reduces the chances of a set mash
and possibly increases extract efficiency a point or two.

If you got a decent (mid-20's or better points/lb/gal) yield, didn't
get a set mash and your sparge didn't take 2 hours, then you probably
didn't lose a thing.

Al.

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Date:         Wed, 5 Oct 94  14:49:12 EDT
From: Greg Niznik <GENIZN01 at ULKYVM.LOUISVILLE.EDU>
Subject:      Yeast questions

Graduate Student
Phone: 852-5756

Dear Brewers,

I'm pretty new to homebrewing. I've just finished my second batch, a pale
ale. It turned out O.K., but the F.G. was higher than I anticipated. I
used one package of Edme ale yeast, rehydrated as per the package. It
looked like it stopped working within four days, and on day 11, the S.G.
was the same on day 4. SHould I have used more yeast? Would I have gotten
a better result with a liquid yeast? One person suggested that I start the
dry yeast a few days before pitching, like a liquid yeast.

Also, does anyone know of a good way to presanitize your bottles before
you need them - like a week or so before bottling. In our tissue culture
lab, they routinely wash bottles with soap and water, rinse well, cover
with tin foil and bake at 200 degrees for an hour or so. Is this OK for
beer bottles? Can I do this in my oven at home?

Any help is welcome

 Thanks in advance

 Greg Niznik
 GENIZN01 at ULKYVM.LOUISVILLE.EDU


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Date: 05 Oct 94 15:25:19 EDT
From: "William F. Cook" <71533.2750 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Can I save my Belgian Ale?


A couple of days ago I posted a message regarding the performance of Wyeast
#1214 Belgian Ale. A couple of messages from helpful digest readers and some
analysis on my part lead to cleaning out the refrigerator, in which I 
discovered an unused smak-pak of Wyeast #1214 Belgian Abbey. It appears I've 
dumped another yeast into my precious 1.078 wort. I think it might be Wyeast
#1007 German Ale.

Ignoring the fact that this act makes it appear as if I haven't got a single
living brain cell (or at least that I can't read), does anyone have any advice
on what to do? Do I go ahead and pitch a small belgian yeast starter? Do I
wait until I rack? Do I leave well enough alone and cry into this beer when
it's done?

Every time I walk past the bubbling airlock I get p*ssed. I can't help but
feel as though I wasted 18# of Belgian grain on this thing. Any help would
be *greatly* appreciated.

Bill Cook
HydroComp, Inc.
Team Dennis Conner


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Date: 5 Oct 1994 14:00:25 U
From: "Rad Equipment" <rad_equipment at rad-mac1.ucsf.edu>
Subject: No. Cal. BJCP Exam

Subject:  No. Cal. BJCP Exam                    Time:1:08 PM     Date:10/5/94
Finally a BJCP Exam has been scheduled for Northern California. After several
false starts we have managed to arrange a site and proctor well enough in
advance to give everyone in the northern state a chance to participate. This is
the only exam scheduled in the area for the next six months or more. Folks from
Arcata to Fresno are expected to attend.

Saturday, January 7, 1995
1 - 4 PM
St. Mary's Orthodox Church
95 Mountain View Ave.
Santa Rosa, CA 95407

Proctor: Byron Burch (707) 544-2520

Send a check MADE OUT TO BYRON BURCH, with "BCJP Exam" noted on the check to:

The Beverage People
840 Piner Road, #14
Santa Rosa, CA 95403

Fees are $55 for first time takers and $40 for retakers. This fee includes an
assement to help defer the cost of the exam site. If excess funds are collected
refunds will be made. Call Byron for more details and directions.

Please register for this exam by December 7, 1994.

Get those study groups organized and hit the beers, er books.

RW...

Russ Wigglesworth (INTERNET: Rad_Equipment at radmac1.ucsf.edu - CI$: 72300,61)
UCSF Dept. of Radiology, San Francisco, CA (415) 476-3668 / Home (707) 769-0425


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Date: Wed, 5 Oct 94 16:05:05 MDT
From: Rory Porth (SSDS - Denver) <top at denver.ssds.com>
Subject: Recipe Reduction Help



I need help in the reduction of a recipe that builds 8 gallons of
wort and such and brews to about 7 or so gallons....  I need to know
how much of this this recipe needs to be reduced for a 5 gallon batch.
My confusion comes since the recipe I ran across was published (with
permission) in the Midwest Beer notes "brews-paper" and sounds rather
good to me.  It states that it has ingredients for 6.5 gallons, but in
the writeup, calls for topping off to 8 gallons.......?

the article states that the recipe appears on page 302 of the Home
Brewer's Companion - reprinted with permission of the author.

		UNSPOKEN PASSION IMPERIAL STOUT

Ingredients for 6.5 gallons:
6 lbs plain light dried malt extract
8 lbs Mountmellick brand Irish Stout Kit
       malt extract syrup or other stout kit
14 lbs crystal/caramel malt
3 lbs black roasted malt
4 lbs roasted barley
2 lbs chocolate roasted malt
3 oz Eroica hops (boiling ~:30 HBU)
2 oz Cascades hops (aroma)
gypsum (if needed )
11 lbs red raspberries (crushed, unsweetened)
Ale Yeast
corn sugar or DME for bottling

The recipe says that this is for 6.5 gallons, but the writeup calls for
addition of water to 8 gallons.  Here's the portion of the writeup:

"... Add 4 gallons of cold water to your sanitized fermenter(s).  Add your hot
wort, raspberries and finishing hops to the fermenter and top up with 
cold water to make a total volume of 8 gallons.  "

it goes on to say that a blow-off method cannot really be used with this,
and you must have about 5 inches of head space for fermentation etc.

Questions:
1)  I need (no - I HAVE to reduce this to a 5 - gallon batch)
      What would be the reduction formula/algorythm/whatever?
2)  has anyone built this brew?  if so, how'd you like it?
3)  Is the 8 gallons of volume increased because of the "preponderance"
of raspberries.....

any and all info will be appreciated

thanks
Rory Porth
SSDS, Inc.


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Date: Wed, 05 Oct 1994 13:57 -0700 (PDT)
From: kr_roberson at gate.pnl.gov
Subject: Caramelized Sugar

On Sunday, I made some dark candy sugar for a abbey-style dubbel
I was brewing. Not sure if this is traditional, but here's what
I did. I put in 2 cups of sugar and a tablespoon of water, as per
Joy of Cooking instructions. Stir, Stir, never stop stirring. 
The water evaporated before the sugar melted. Oh well. Sugar
slowly melted. As people have said, it is hot. MUCH hotter than 
boiling water. Plus if it gets on you, it traps steam next to
your skin that really cooks you. Anyway, once it gets to the
color you want (dark in my case) either mix in water to make 
syrup or do what I did. I lined a pan with foil and chilled it 
in the freezer. When the sugar got to the right color, I
dumped it in the pan in a thin layer. Nice hard candy surgar.
Later, during the boil, I fed it into the kettle over a minute
or so. It mixed in fine without burning on the bottom or any other
problem. Careful when you eat it, it has sharp splinters. Let it
melt a little in your mouth. The wort had a nice red color. Some 
from the sugar, some from the Special B.

Regards from the Northwest,
Kyle



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Date: Wed, 05 Oct 1994 20:56:36
From: john.mccauley at his.com (John McCauley)
Subject: Liquid vs dry yeast

After my first batch I bought into the party line about the superiority of
liquid yeast (Wyeast) over dry and indeed I made some fine beers with it
(especially the 1968 special). Yet here I am a year or so later and I find
myself bored with making a starter on Wednesday so I can brew on Saturday. I
really miss the simplicity (and low cost) of dry yeast and for my next batch
am going back to Edme to see if I notice a difference. In the meantime could
some of you experienced dry yeast users pipe up on your fave brands? The
airwaves here on HBD are full of the praises of liquid, does dry really suck?

BTW a friend and I began brewing at about the same time in 1993. The
difference is I have access to HBD and he doesn't. Almost from the beginning
my beers were superior to his and I credit HBD lurking for most of my success.
Thanks to everyone who posts!

john

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Date: Wed, 05 Oct 94 21:30:21 EDT
From: EKTSR at aol.com
Subject: RE: resolution of head retention problem

In a past HBD I had written for help with poor head retention and / or
undercarbonation.  Thanks For posts by Al, David Elm, Spencer Thomas, et al,
making me A LOT more aware of the complexities of it.  My salvation:  not
using the dishwasher (rinse agent)  AND not using GLASSES that had been run
thru the dishwasher without a through rinse/scrub with hot water.  Spencer
and Steve Robinson pointed out in private e-mail that, quite correctly, it
does no good to have the rinse agent in the glass.....  (image of me slapping
the center of my forehead ...) My thanks to all

Stan White, Ektsr at aol.com
"the way to BE is to DO"  Lau Tsu


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End of HOMEBREW Digest #1545, 10/06/94