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

Contents:
  Re: Homebrew Digest #165 (May 31, 1989) (Crawford.WBST129)
  HB DIG #167: Cleanliness (florianb)
  ginger beer (BROWN)

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Date: 2 Jun 89 05:48:18 PDT (Friday)
From: Crawford.WBST129 at Xerox.COM
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #165 (May 31, 1989)

"From: florianb%tekred.cna.tek.com at RELAY.CS.NET

"I'd still like to obtain a satisfactory explanation of why some
"beers produce headaches while others do not.  So far, I have heard
"a lot of good ideas, but none convincing enough for my "Doubting
"Thomas" sort of skepticism.  I, meanwhile, cling to the bad
"water/poor process explanations.  I will give a suitable prize
"to the first person who can convince me otherwise.

I read somewhere (maybe Papazian?) that headaches caused by too much 
alcohol could be the result of a vitamin B complex deficiency.  It 
seems that the body uses vitamin B complex in the calorie burning 
process (or something like this, I'm not a biologist).  When overdoing 
it with beer your body uses up all the available vitamin B complex to
get rid of the alchohol.  Yeast is loaded with vitamin B complex
so while drinking homebrew (or german beers) you are replenishing
the vitamin B as you are using it up.  American brewers remove most
(if not all) of the yeast.  Try taking some vitamin B complex the next
time you over indulge with american beer and see if this is true. 

Greg Crawford

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Date: 02 Jun 89 08:30:12 PDT (Fri)
From: florianb%tekred.cna.tek.com at RELAY.CS.NET
Subject: HB DIG #167: Cleanliness

attmail (wish I knew the real name) asks:

> grabbed the sample.  So the question: where  is a good place
>    to take the sample?  From the top of the  brew?  The middle?
>    The bottom?  If not from the top, how do  you get the sample
>    without contaminating the batch?

I take the sample from the top 1/4 of the brew, using a gravy
baster.  You can avoid contamination by washing the baster and your
hands with detergent and water, and then rinsing with a solution of
1 tablespoon of bleach per one gallon of water.  Don't open the 
fermenter for any longer than you have to.

Goes on to inquire:

>   sanitized environment? I am reluctant to open the fermenter,
>    especially if  I   can   tell it's  time    to  bottle  when
>    fermentation stops.
>
>    * (This may be the issue underlying the  above points.) Am I
>    being obsessive  about  cleanliness? Just  how clean  do you
>    need to make everything? On my  first batch  I used a bit of
>    household bleach and rinsed everything many, many times. I'm
>    wondering how much of  this is  necessary. I've read in this
>    digest varying opinions on this: everything from:

The good books tell you to first wash everything which will come
into contact with the brew to remove dirt.  Then sanitize every-
thing with bleach solution as I described above.  

I have a friend who washes everything a zillion times and soaks
everything in bleach solution for 15 minutes.  I think this is
extreme.  All I ever do is this:  Wash the (stainless steel) sink
with Ajax or Comet.  Rinse it well to get rid of all cleanser.
Make up a solution of bleach water in the sink.  Use this to rinse 
everything at least once.  That's all.  I've never had a 
bacterial infection in my brews (now I'll get one for bragging).
I keep all my equipment in a large kitchen garbage bag tied up
with a twist tie.  I speculate this keeps dust from settling on
it while not in use.

Also, I never use cold water in brewing.  All water is boiled.

David Fudenberg asks:

>My question concerns cask conditioned ("real") ale. I've never had any,
>am am wondering which pubs in the US serve real ale, and what impressions
>people have of it.

I've had it in England several times, and in Portland, Oregon at   
McMinneman's Pub (Hillsborough).  I like the change occasionally
from carbonated to nearly flat.  I believe it's easier to get
the flavor of the brew when it's less carbonated.  It's kind of
nice to see the pump action, too.

Cheers! (Florian Bell, Boonesborough, Oregon)

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Date:     Fri, 2 Jun 89 16:29 EST
From: <BROWN%MSUKBS.BITNET at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject:  ginger beer

Gordon Hester's queries about Ginger Beer led me to look back in my beer log
to one of my early adventures with non-traditional beer.  I made a 'gingered
ale' (of the alcoholic variety) 3 years ago which I enjoyed immensely,
although I haven't gotten around to reproducing it yet.  The recipe follows:

3.3 lb. (1 can) Munton and Fison plain dark malt extract
1.5 lb. Munton & Fison plan dark dry malt extract
1 cup corn sugar (Why?, I don't know)
3/4 lb. crystal malt
1/2 lb. chocolate malt
hunk of ginger, grated  (I didn't have scale at the time, but don't be shy)
2 oz. Cascade hops (1 hr.)
1 0z. Fuggles (5 min steep)
ale yeast (Brand?)

Crushed grains were added to 2 gals. cold water.  Grains removed when mixture
begins to boil.  1 hour boil with malts and ginger.  Primary ferment in
plastic (3 days), secondary in glass carboy at about 70-75 degrees.  Bottled
with 7/8 cup of corn sugar (this was too much!!).

My long term taste-bud memory says this was brown, bitter and slightly sweet
with a great ginger flavor and tingle at the back of the throat as it went
down.  It was also overcarbonated, which detracted from the experience a
bit.  I wish I could tell you how much ginger I used, but I remember I wished
it was more.  Go for it!  I've found nothing better to drink with Chinese
food (although a brown.

My most memorable experience with ginger beer was at a Caribbean restaurant
in Chicago.  They offered a home-made ginger drink which I went for
immediately.  It was OUTSTANDING.  It appeared to be a mixture of ginger,
sugar, water and yeast (although it also seemed a little milky).  It was
slightly alcoholic, slightly fizzy and totally delicious.  They served it
ice cold, which was somewhat startling given the warm afterburn it left in the
back of my throat.  Would anyone have a recipe?

As an aside, I've enjoyed the discussion on A-B, Sam Adams and marketing
practices.  I'm firmly with those who decide to avoid companies whose
politics or practices they disagree with.  It seems to me to be the one
weapon consumers have.  I do agree, however, that the product should be
evaluated on its own merits.  In the case of Coors, for example, I don't buy it
because I don't feel like encouraging the political and military activities
which this family sponsors.  I also happen to think their beer is completely
lacking in character (my personal opinion) -- but if I liked it, I probably
wouldn't buy anyway.  It's my choice (and more power to me!).

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