HOMEBREW Digest #1879 Thu 09 November 1995
Digest #1878
Digest #1880
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Janitor
Contents:
test strips for hardness ("Robert Marshall")
Re: spelling (Jeff Benjamin)
Anaerobic Racking ("Michael A. Owings")
test strips for hardness ("Robert Marshall")
Re: Chapeau Mirabelle Lambic (Ron Hoskinson )
Headstart Brewing Cultures (Bunning W Maj ACC/DOTE)
Boil out Cloramine?/Boil time for canning/Propane brewing (Brian Pickerill)
Boil time before first hop addition (tfields)
BBC judging (uswlsrap)
white spots in beer (John Herman)
trub settling for 24 hours (John Herman)
Recycled buckets/false bottoms. (JAWeld)
Beer Cooler (John Herman)
Wanted: All Grain Recipe for Big Rock Traditional Ale (Carl Schlechte (306-931-3425))
Re: Kegging and Bottling (Nigel Townsend)
Re: Freezing starters? (Bird)
Binford ToxiTherm 4000 ("Merchant, Thomas E")
Petes Brewing on NASQAD (Ken Schroeder)
Corny keg problem (WILLHALE)
RE: Bleach (Mark B. Alston)
Address correction/Guinness clone recipies (Ron Olko )
Stainless in Seattle (shane docherty)
Homebrew Digest #1878 (November 08, 1995) -Reply (Alan Deaton)
Re: temperature calculations (Fredrik Stahl)
Yeast (Eric W. Miller)
Home Brew Technique... (Aesoph, Michael)
New Beer Formula Calculator 2.0 (metric) (Carlo Fusco)
Manassas brewpubs (gravels)
Jim (tm) Koch (tm) Sam (tm) Adams (tm) is not a microbrew (The Green Hornet)
Thanks!! (SCHWAB_BRYAN)
Re: Sand baths (Sean Cox)
Re: Glass color (Pierre Jelenc)
Sam Adams IPO ("Allen J. Baler")
Sophomore Blues? (Chad Beckman)
Re: Yeast ("Tracy Aquilla")
Blue Green Carboys ("Goodale, Daniel CPT 2AD DISCOM")
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 1995 09:42:01 +0000
From: "Robert Marshall" <robertjm at hooked.net>
Subject: test strips for hardness
In the Williams' Brewing Catalog they have a test strip advertised
for testing water hardness. I have never seen this before and was
wondering if anyone out there has ever used this themselves??
If so, what's your opinion of it? Also, what does it act upon to get
this rating? PH obviously reacts to alkaline/acid, but how does this
strip act upon hardness of water?
Also are they reusable? At $1.10 they are a heck of a lot more
expensive than ph strips.
Later,
Later,
Robert Marshall
robertjm at hooked.net
homepage: http://www.hooked.net/users/robertjm
- ----------------------------------------------
"In Belgium, the magistrate has the dignity
of a prince, but by Bacchus, it is true
that the brewer is king."
Emile Verhaeren (1855-1916)
Flemish writer
- ------------------------------------------------
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 95 10:02:36 MST
From: Jeff Benjamin <benji at hpfcbug.fc.hp.com>
Subject: Re: spelling
>From my OED:
fridge v. [pronounced frig, with a hard "g"] also FRIG
1. intr. To move restlessly (about or up and down); to fidget
fridge sb. [pronounced frij] also frig. Colloq. abbrev. of
REFRIGERATOR
The second entry, refering to a refrigeration device, cites "frig" first
from 1926, and "fridge" from 1935.
You're both right. So there.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled brewing discussion.
- --
Jeff Benjamin benji at fc.hp.com
Hewlett Packard Co. Fort Collins, Colorado
"Think! It ain't illegal yet." -- George Clinton
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Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 09:47:15 -0600 (CST)
From: "Michael A. Owings" <mikey at waste.com>
Subject: Anaerobic Racking
Hello all. I just tried out an idea I had for racking from a primary
to a secondary, and wanted to get the opinion of the collective.
I had a fermenting Helles in my primary, and wanted to rack it to the
secondary to drop clear. The idea was to:
a) disturb the primary as little as possible so a minimum of
sediment would be racked into the secondary.
b) Aerate as little as possible during transfer.
c) accomplish everything as quickly and neatly as possible.
A siphon would have been a bit impractical since I decided I didn't
want to move the primary, a full 5 gal. carboy, from my refrigerator;
additionally, working space was pretty tight -- there would be no way
to elevate the primary above the secondary for a decent siphon. So I
opted to rack the beer under CO2 pressure to the secondary, another 5
gal. carboy. This turned out to be exceedingly quick and easy.
All I did was to put one of those rubber carboy caps -- you know, the
orange kind with a second opening for blowing in to start a siphon --
on the primary with the racking cane stuck through the main opening as
usual, so that when the cap was placed on the carboy the end of the
cane came down to a little above the yeast cake. After filling the
secondary carboy with CO2 to purge any air present, I attached the gas
out line from my tank to the second hole (the one used to blow into for
starting a siphon) on the carboy cap. It fit rather poorly, so I used
a little duck tape to secure it. I then attached a hose to the racking
cane and ran it into the secondary.
Finally, I applied a very small amount of pressure from the tank to
the primary carboy, forcing the beer into the secondary. The whole
process took about 10 minutes, and worked quite well. The beer
went into the secondary extremely clear, and should be sparkling by
kegging time. Furthermore, I believe the entire process was pretty
much anaerobic. It was certainly easier than siphoning (yes, I am
moderately siphon-impaired), especially given the tight space I had to
work in (elevating the primary above the secondary would have been
impossible), and the low gas pressures used made the process pretty
safe.
I think I will rack into my keg this same way when the beer is
finished.
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Owings Chief of Operations
Uncle Leroi's Hazardous Materials Storage and FemtoBrewery New Orleans, LA
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 1995 11:13:54 +0000
From: "Robert Marshall" <robertjm at hooked.net>
Subject: test strips for hardness
In the Williams' Brewing Catalog they have a test strip advertised
for testing water hardness. I have never seen this before and was
wondering if anyone out there has ever used this themselves??
If so, what's your opinion of it? Also, what does it act upon to get
this rating? PH obviously reacts to alkaline/acid, but how does this
strip act upon hardness of water?
Also are they reusable? At $1.10 they are a heck of a lot more
expensive than ph strips.
Later,
Later,
Robert Marshall
robertjm at hooked.net
homepage: http://www.hooked.net/users/robertjm
- ----------------------------------------------
"In Belgium, the magistrate has the dignity
of a prince, but by Bacchus, it is true
that the brewer is king."
Emile Verhaeren (1855-1916)
Flemish writer
- ------------------------------------------------
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 10:16:08 -0800
From: hondo3 at ix.netcom.com (Ron Hoskinson )
Subject: Re: Chapeau Mirabelle Lambic
Last night I had a truley unique beer, Chapeau Mirabelle Lambic, a true
Belgian lambic flavored with plum juice. It had a very sweet taste like
the fruit juice had just been added and none of the sugars had
fermented out. Every fruit beer I have had including Kriek and
Framboise have had fruit flavor but none of the sweetness. My question
is how do they do this? The only thing I can think of is to filter out
the yeast, add the juice, keg it and force-carbonate it using a CP
filler to bottle with. Am I on the right track? Some may want to know
why I want to brew a beer like this. First of all it was a really
unique taste, second the Spousal Unit loved it and would probably give
the authorization for purchase of the filter and CP filler I would
need. I'll brew anything for more equipment.
TIA,
Ron Hoskinson, Franktown, CO
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 06 Nov 95 08:01:00 EST
From: Bunning W Maj ACC/DOTE <bunningw at ns.langley.af.mil>
Subject: Headstart Brewing Cultures
Earlier this summer I heard of a yeast company from Tennessee called
Headstart Brewing Cultures. About the time I found out about them the
company moved to Georgia. Does anyone have any information on an address or
telephone number? I'd like to obtain a catalog from them.
Bill Bunning
Member of the mile-high brewers guild
Return to table of contents
Date-Warning: Date header was inserted by BSUVC.bsu.edu
From: 00bkpickeril at bsuvc.bsu.edu (Brian Pickerill)
Subject: Boil out Cloramine?/Boil time for canning/Propane brewing
Hi homebrewers,
Does anyone know if cloramine can be boiled out, or if it has to be removed
with a carbon filter?
Also, I recently pressure canned some starter wort. Remembering the
cautions about boutilism that I had read quite some time ago in HBD, I made
sure that I boiled long enough. Of course, the Ball guide to canning did
not have a recommended time for wort listed in the table of boil times. It
would seem to me that the wort would be fairly acetic, so it might not even
need pressure canning, and there really isn't anywhere for the beasties to
hide, so it also seems a fairly short pressure time would be sufficient.
To be on the safe side though, I boiled for an hour. It really is nice and
convienient to get starters going like this. I have a canning lid with a
hole and grommet in which I can quickly pop an airlock. The only thing
that is better and quicker is re-pitching.
Well, I have been homebrewing two years now. I am surprised at how few
batches I have made, (17) but also at how much I have learned from them
and from reading HBD. To celebrate, I got a Brinkman 160,000 btu burner,
and will be doing all grain RSN--I also just got a 50lb bag of DeWolf
Cosigns PA malt! I've brewed twice already with the Brinkman. It's not as
fast a boil as I thought it would be, but I must admit that I'm torn
between brewing in the comfort of my garage (door up part way, window &
back door open, rock and roll playing) or brewing on my open back porch on
a nice night for my neighbors to watch! ;-)
- --Brian Pickerill, Muncie, IN
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Date: Tue, 07 Nov 95 15:48:34 EST
From: tfields at relay.com
Subject: Boil time before first hop addition
Hello all.
Mmmmmmm. Hahhhhhps :-)
I'd appreciate some advice about boil time and bittering hops. As I
understand it, allowing at least 15 mins of boil before the first hop
addition lets the hot break partially coagulate so it doesn't have as much
chance to coat the hops and thus inhibit hop utilization. (I may be a tad
off on that explanation :-) - feel free to chime in).
I've been boiling partial mash recipes for 75 minutes, with first hop
addition at 15 mins into the boil. This gives the bittering hops a full 1
hr boil (which I like for utilization) AND it gives me some boil time
before they are added. Based on the assumption it is a GOOD thing, I want
to extend this boil-before-first-hop-addition logic to my all-grain and
full extract batches.
All-grain: Based on accumulated reading, I'd like to use a 90 min boil and
am not sure whether to (1) add the first hop addition at 15 mins into the
boil and thus boil them for 75 mins, or (2) add the first hop addition at
30 mins into the boil and thus boil them for 60 mins.
Extract: I'd tend to hold this to a 60 min boil to avoid over-darkening
(altho I AM now doing a full-wort boil). Adding first hop addition at 15
mins into the boil means my bittering hops get only a 45 min boil, and I'm
concerned about hop utilization with a boil of less than 1 hr. Adding them
up front would negate any pre-addition-boiling benefit.
BTW - if you think I'm nit picking this one to death, feel free to say so!
"reeb!" Tim Fields ... Fairfax, VA
timf at relay.com (non-brewing time)
74247.551 at compuserve.com (weekends)
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 07 Nov 1995 15:53:36 EST
From: uswlsrap at ibmmail.com
Subject: BBC judging
I found something a little odd when I took a look at the Sam Adams
homebrew contest packet. No, it wasn't all the pseudo-legalese about
what rights the entrant gives up. It was in the section about judging.
It appears that only finalists will get their scoresheets back. Has
anyone called to ask about that item? Am I correctly interpreting that
all the others will never find out about their entries?
I can't say that I'd be terribly enthusiastic about giving up three good
homebrews, going to the trouble of packing them, rushing home from work
early enough to get to UPS before they close at 6pm, paying to send them
off, and then never get back the score sheets (or, I suppose, have any
evidence that the beer was even judged).
No, they aren't charging an entry fee, and, yes, there's that bag of
hops and the wearable advertising. But if all I wanted was that bag of
hops, I could buy them for less at a homebrew shop than the UPS charge
to ship halfway across the country, YMMV. Presumably, most people send
their beers for judgings because they, uhhh, would like them judged. If
a beer is judged in the forest and you don't get the comments/scores,
did the tree really fall? :-)
Conceptually, the SA competition is a decent enough idea; I hope that
they will take care of this little deficiency if they choose to repeat
the event next year. Or, better, maybe _this_ year they'll send the
sheets to brewers anyway, even though they didn't initially promise to do it.
(I know, I know, no one is forcing anyone to enter, but I wonder how
many entrants missed that language, and then will wonder why they never
got their scoresheets. Maybe BBC/SA was looking to save postage and
envelopes, but perhaps they didn't consider how this could be a small
"PR" disaster in the homebrewing community.
Now go have a beer,
Bob Paolino uswlsrap at ibmmail.com
Madison
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Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 15:08:26 -0600 (CST)
From: John Herman <jmherman at gonix.gonix.com>
Subject: white spots in beer
I also have white spots in my beer. I sampled a little bit of it and it
tasted fine. I even bravely tasted the white spot. It tasted like hops
to me. Could hops do this? I used hop pellets and plugs. I just wanted
to pass this along. Happy Homebrewing!
*************************************************************************
* John M. Herman | Internet: jmherman at gonix.com *
*************************************************************************
* Amateur Freelance Programmer With Absolutely No Experience *
* homebrewing cuz its fun to make your own brew!!!! *
*************************************************************************
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 15:15:43 -0600 (CST)
From: John Herman <jmherman at gonix.gonix.com>
Subject: trub settling for 24 hours
I tried something new this last batch to remove trub.
After boiling the wort and putting it in the bucket, I chilled the wort
down to 70 degrees. I covered the wort and let it set for 24 hours. I
then transferred the wort to another bucket and then added the yeast. I
had about an inch of trub at the bottom of the pail left behind. I
wanted to know what everyone thought of this? I noticed some don't like
to let the wort sit that long before adding the yeast and unfortunately
the beer isn't ready for drinking to find out for myself what I think.
Happy Homebrewing!
*************************************************************************
* John M. Herman | Internet: jmherman at gonix.com *
*************************************************************************
* Amateur Freelance Programmer With Absolutely No Experience *
* homebrewing cuz its fun to make your own brew!!!! *
*************************************************************************
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 16:26:15 -0500
From: JAWeld at aol.com
Subject: Recycled buckets/false bottoms.
Greetings,
This is my first attempt at posting to the HBD, so please keep the flames to
a moderate level. I'm a novice brewer who has questions to ask and ideas to
contribute. Some of the questions I'll get answers to by lurking, others I
just gotta ask.
In hbd #1877, Br. Thompson asked about using plastic buckets that held
laundry detergent as a lauter-tun. I too am curious about buckets that come
from other than the homebrew shops. I use some found at the hardware/paint
store (new, not used) to collect wort, etc. Is there a difference in "food
grade" HDPE other than the FDA approval?? What about vinyl tubing. Is the
stuff sold at the hb shop any better than that sold at HardwareHeaven??
There has been numerous postings about propane/nat. gas recently. My $.02 is
this. Anybody remember the explosion in Brenham Tx a few years ago???
Don't get me wrong. I love cooking with gas. My SO won't have it in the
house, but loves to see me fire up the cooker outside ('cause that means
something good is cooking). I would be *very* hesistant to fire one up in
the basement though. Too many things can go real wrong, real fast without
proper ventillation.
Thanks
Amos Welder '83
JAWeld at aol.com
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Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 15:25:24 -0600 (CST)
From: John Herman <jmherman at gonix.gonix.com>
Subject: Beer Cooler
Well, I brewed my first lager beer. Right now it is in the primary
fermenter at a temperature of 54 degrees. I did not have a refrigerator
to put a bucket in for the secondary (I want the temperature to be at
around 35 degrees), so I made a Ice Box.
******************* inside dimensions: 13 in wide
* *************** * 15 in deep
* * * * 35 in tall
* *** *** * shelf is 7 inches from the top
* * * * I used 1 1/2 in of styrofoam for insulation
* * * *
* * * * What I have is a pan that fits on the shelf that I
* * * * fill with water and freeze. I put a new pan of
* * * * fresh ice in the pan (actually I have two pans I
* * * * swap out) every three days. I seem to be maintaining
* *************** * a temp of approx 35 degrees (it changes when I open the
******************* door and as the ice melts). I have the box in my
garage which is at a temperature of 54 degrees right
now. The whole thing cost me a little over $35 dollars to make. I probably
could have bought an old fridge for about that maybe a little more, but it
was fun to make. I am curious as to what you think. Let me know. Happy
Homebrewing!
*************************************************************************
* John M. Herman | Internet: jmherman at gonix.com *
*************************************************************************
* Amateur Freelance Programmer With Absolutely No Experience *
* homebrewing cuz its fun to make your own brew!!!! *
*************************************************************************
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Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 15:30:44 -0600
From: schlechte at SEDSystems.ca (Carl Schlechte (306-931-3425))
Subject: Wanted: All Grain Recipe for Big Rock Traditional Ale
I'm looking for an all grain recipe for Big Rock brewery's Traditional
Ale. I've searched the archives for a recipe I recall someone claiming
they had nearly perfected, but to no avail. Responding through private
e-mail would probably be appreciated by HBD readers. ;-)
Thanks,
Carl Schlechte
Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 1995 09:04:37 +1000
From: nigelt at delm.tas.gov.au (Nigel Townsend)
Subject: Re: Kegging and Bottling
Dan Fitzgerald asks about the right amount of priming for splitting a batch
of bottles and for kegging. Past discussions on this forum suggest that
the rate of priming for bottles differs from that for kegging. This
indicates that they need to be primed separately. I certainly am using far
less priming in my kegs, but then I also use CO2 to pressurise my (plastic)
keg. I have bottled (without additional priming) under pressure straight
from the keg when I want to take a (plastic "coke") bottle(s) to a party.
I have found that enough pressure is retained for several months in
leftover bottles.
This suggests that perhaps Dan might be able to pressurise his keg, fill
the required bottles under pressure, then use the keg, all without any
priming at all. This assumes that Dan has some system for pressurising.
Anyone tried this to see if it works, or whether priming is still needed?
Nigel Townsend
Hobart, Tasmania
Australia
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 95 15:27:17 MST
From: roberts at Rt66.com (Bird)
Subject: Re: Freezing starters?
>>>>> "William" == William G Rucker <ruckewg at naesco.com> writes:
William> I have a curious question for those who make up
William> starters for their yeast. Has anyone frozen fresh starter
William> wort with any success? I have made starters for the past
William> year or so and enjoy the better start times on
William> fermentaton but the small amount of starter wort can take
William> a substantial amount of time to prepare. This is
William> especially true of building from cultures.
Why, yes, now that you ask ;}.
My last 5 batches have been successfully started from pre-prepared 100 ml
allotments of propagated, frozen Wyeast 1968 (ESB) and Wyeast 1728
(Scottish) starters. I got the idea from Papazian's
"Joy...Homebrewing" where he devoted a single sentence to the concept
of freezing starters. Here's my procedure:
1. I smak a pack and pitch it when ready it into a liter of 1.020
unhopped wort, being extremely careful with sanitization: swab all
glass lips with Everclear and flame contact surfaces before all
transfers.
2. When the starter is at high krausen, I take 100 ml glycerol (USP)
and heat it in the microwave til it's good & hot to kill off any
nasties (about 60 seconds for 100 ml). I let it cool to ~70F and add
it to the starter (swab, flame, don't breathe). I got the glycerol
from a local pharmacy, but I'm told you can get it lots of places.
3. I swirl the starter to thoroughly mix the glycerol & yeast, and
then pour out ten 100 ml allotments (swab, flame, don't breathe) which
I immediately stopper with sterilized (clorox) rubber stoppers. I
found some 100 ml pyrex sample bottles at an odds & ends-type store
that are ideal: they take a #2 rubber stopper perfectly. I push the
stopper in _tight_ because the starter is still active and will be
until frozen.
4. I cover the stopper & bottle top with foil to minimize air contact.
5. Freeze immediately in a _cold_ freezer (glycerol is an anti-freeze,
y'know).
When I want to brew, I thaw one of the allotments three days before
and pitch it into a liter of 1.020 unhopped wort (swab, flame, don't
breathe). 2, 2 1/2 days later it's at high krausen & ready to pitch.
The re-constituted starter wort has always smelled & tasted good, and
the beer has never had an off flavor, leading me to believe that the
glycerol does a pretty good job of keeping a sufficient number of
yeasties from having their cell walls burst during freezing.
Works for me...
- --Doug
- --
You know how dumb the average American is?
Just remember that 50% is even dumber than that.
Doug Roberts
roberts at rt66.com
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Date: Tue, 07 Nov 95 16:56:00 CST
From: "Merchant, Thomas E" <temercha at hsv23.pcmail.ingr.com>
Subject: Binford ToxiTherm 4000
Kirk Fleming mentioned the Binford ToxiTherm 4000 mercury bath boiler in HBD
1877. I'm having a problem with mine and am wondering if anyone else is...
It just doesn't seem to be working as well as when it was new. It now
takes about 5 minutes to bring 5 gallons or wort to a boil. When it was new
it could do the same in just over 2 minutes. I'm thinking "more power".
Has anyone been successful at modifying it for better performance? If so,
what did you do? Thanks.
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 95 17:03:29 PST
From: kens at lan.nsc.com (Ken Schroeder)
Subject: Petes Brewing on NASQAD
Pete's Brewing offered stock on Tues 11-7 on NASQAD. Opened at 24.25, closed
at 25.25, high at 27.25 with 3,854,900 shares. Good luck to Pete and
his brewing enterprise.
Ken Schroeder
Sequoia Brewing ( A definite money sink of a brewery)
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Date: Tue, 07 Nov 1995 20:11:55 -0500 (EST)
From: WILLHALE at delphi.com
Subject: Corny keg problem
Greetings all,
As a brand new kegger, I have found a problem with pouring, that is all I
pour is
foam.
One book (Burch) suggested using 3/16 inch hose with 14 PSI. Charlie P.
suggested using 5 PSI. I switched from 1/4 inch to 3/16 and from 4 feet of
hose to 5 feet, and
varied the pressures all over the place, and still all I get if foam.
Any and all suggestions are appreciated.
If it makes any difference, the beer is a bock, it was force carbinated
and is at about 50 degrees.
Also, for what it's worth, my reconditioned kegs leaked all over, but the
William's Keg Lube seems to have sealed them OK.
Thanks
Will Hale
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Date: Tue, 07 Nov 95 18:29:34 MST
From: mark at beernut.com (Mark B. Alston)
Subject: RE: Bleach
In respones to Tim Fields query in HBD # 1876 re: "bleaching mother
nature"
I'm not a chemist and I don't have a source for this but....
If my Environmental Conservation courses and my memory serve me
correctly chlorine reacts with organic compounds in nature to form
organochlorines like Dioxin - you know Dioxin? That nasty cancer
causing stuff that has been the scourge of EPA Superfund sites for
years now. As far as I know this is generally accepted as the truth
by everyone except G. Gordon Liddy and some of his listeners.
Whomever it was who suggested that bleach can't be bad because people
have been using it for years is silly. How do you think the
environment got to the point where it is now? Years and years of
dumping things down the drain, that's how!
- --- Jay LaBonte
email through beernut at xmission.com
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Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 19:38:09 -0800
From: captron1 at ix.netcom.com (Ron Olko )
Subject: Address correction/Guinness clone recipies
Greetings HBD'ers,
Last week I posted a request for Guinness clone recipies but I
inadvertantly put the incorrect e-mail address to reach me at.OOOps!!
My apologies to those who sent recipies but if you could be so kind to
re-send them to the below listed address I would greatly appreciate it.
captron1 at ix.netcom.com
Sorry for the use of bandwidth.... TIA
Salud!!!
Ron Olko
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Date: Tue, 7 Nov 1995 20:07:54 -0900
From: docherty at Arco.COM (shane docherty)
Subject: Stainless in Seattle
Does anyone know if "Stainless in Seattle" is still a going concern? One
of our local homebrew store owners (who is electronically impaired) asked
me to check for him as he wants to buy more of the brewkettle screens he
purchased from them last year and the phone number etc. is apparently no
longer any good. So if you know where/if he can contact them to buy more,
or even if they're out of business or not, private e-mail would be
appreciated.
Thanks .....
Shane Docherty - (docherty at arco.com)
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Date: Wed, 08 Nov 1995 02:44:53 -0600
From: Alan Deaton <amdeaton at gw.hyatt.com>
Subject: Homebrew Digest #1878 (November 08, 1995) -Reply
I will be out of the office from Monday, 11/6 thru Tuesday 11/7. If
your problem is an urgent one, please contact Mark Herman.
/Alan
Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 1995 13:14:06 +0100
From: fredriks at abel.math.umu.se (Fredrik Stahl)
Subject: Re: temperature calculations
In HBD #1878 Brian Dulisse asks:
>is there a formula for calculating the volume/temperature of infusions?
The following is based on an article called "Heat Capacity Calculations for
Mashing" by Kurt Froning in Zymurgy Spring 1994.
Let
CPG = heat capacity of grain in Btu/lb/degF
CPW = heat capacity of water = 1 Btu/lb/degF
WG = weight of grain in pounds
WWI = initial weight of water in pounds
WWA = weight of added water in pounds
TD = desired temperature in degF
TI = initial temperature in degF
TA = temperature of added water in degF
HL = heat loss in % (decimal)
Now (heat needed) = (1-HL)*(heat from added water) which expands to
(CPG * WG + CPW * WW) * (TD - TI) = (1 - HL) * CPW * WWA * (TA - TD) (**)
Froning gives the heat capacity of grain, CPG, as a function of moisture
content (a simplification of course, different grains probably have
different CPG:s) as follows:
% moisture CPG in Btu/lb/degF
0 0.38
2 0.39
4 0.40
6 0.41
This is probably not very accurate but it doesn't matter since you have to
figure out the heat loss of your system by experimentation anyway. I use a
CPG of 0.4.
Now all you have to do is do some test runs to compute your heat loss, HL,
and then solve for the quantity desired.
Note 1: you need to convert volumes of water to weights and vice versa. One
quart of water weighs 2.08 pounds at room temperature.
Note 2: changing temperature or weight units doesn't change the equation
since it is linear in all arguments. This is nice if you work with metric
units.
Note 3: you could start with fixing your desired mash thickness. Compute
the amount of added water based on this and use the equation to calculate
the temperature of the added water.
Note 4: check at what temperature your water is boiling. This might be
lower than 212 degF if you live in a high area.
Hope this helps.
/Fredrik Stahl, FredrikS at mathdept.umu.se
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Date: Wed, 8 Nov 1995 08:00:44 -0500
From: ac051 at osfn.rhilinet.gov (Eric W. Miller)
Subject: Yeast
In HBD #1878, Tracy Aquilla <aquilla at salus.med.uvm.edu> posts about yeast
(specifically about Wyeast, but I think her comments apply generally to all
yeast manufacturers).
>if you question the quality of
>your yeast package, you should probably try to return it to the supplier
>from whom you purchased it. They should replace it and take up the issue of
>quality control with the manufacturer, thereby making you a happy customer.
>If you found a rat carcass in your Cheerios, would you return the offending
>box of parts to the grocery store for a replacement, or call General Mills?
Well, Tracy, if I found a rat in a Cheerios box, I'd probably contact both
General Mills and the press. That's the sort of thing I'd hate to have swept
under the rug by my local grocer.
The case of yeast is a bit more subtle. There's nothing rat-sized in a pouch
of yeast. Any problem that might exist will be detectable only by doing a
lot more microbiological work than most homebrewers do. It would be
difficult for any single brewer to state unequivocally that a problem is due
to the yeast producer and not to their own bad sanitation or recipe. Only
by amassing a lot of trouble reports can we spot a trend that a yeast has
problems. I think the posts in the "September Wyeast 1056" thread have done
just what they should do: point out a potential problem. I don't, however,
believe that there is a problem with the yeast; if there were, I think we
would have seen many more posts, some of which would contain more substantial
"proof" that there is a problem.
As to replacing the yeast package when a problem is detected, it has been
pointed out before here on HBD that the replacement of a $3.50 package of
yeast doesn't go a long way toward making up for a spoiled batch of beer.
The malt, hops, and time cost much more.
>Without getting into a raging debate over this issue
I hope this isn't "raging" :-)
Eric Miller
Brewing with Wyeast, Aeonbrau, and RTP yeast in Newport, RI
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Date: 08 Nov 95 08:25:46 EST
From: aesoph%ncemt.ctc.com at ctcga.ctc.com (Aesoph, Michael)
Subject: Home Brew Technique...
Dear Collective:
Some of you hardcore homebrewers may find this issue insulting.. Well,
here goes. I am a relatively new homebrewer with about 60 gallons under
my belt.... Throughout my short career, I have NEVER taken a
temperature, specific gravity reading or virtually any other measurement
imaginable. Every batch turns out just as well as any homebrew I've ever
had. For the most part, I use kits or malt extract, although I may
proceed to a partial mash in the not-too-distant future. My question is
then, "Why bother with all those measurements, if they aren't absolutely
necessary?" Any comments????
=========================================================
== It's a good thing we don't get all of the government we pay for! ==
=========================================================
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Date: Wed, 8 Nov 1995 08:25:27 -0400
From: cfusco at edu.uwo.ca (Carlo Fusco)
Subject: New Beer Formula Calculator 2.0 (metric)
Ladies and gentlemen,
After some time I have finally revamped my beer formula calculator. If you
would like a copy, you can get it via ftp.stanford.edu. I hope you enjoy.
Cheers
Carlo
- --------------------------------------------------------------
Carlo Fusco email: cfusco at edu.uwo.ca
University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario, Canada
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Date: Wed, 08 Nov 95 08:16:20 EST
From: gravels at TRISMTP.npt.nuwc.navy.mil
Subject: Manassas brewpubs
Greetings All,
I'm traveling down to Manassas Virginia next week and I was
wondering if anyone could recommend any local brewpubs that I could
visit while I'm there. TIA.
Steve
Steve Gravel Newport, Rhode Island
gravels at TRISMTP.npt.nuwc.navy.mil
"Homebrew, it's not just a hobby it's an adventure!"
\\\\^//// Steve
\0 0/
- -----------------------ooOo--(_)--oOoo----------------------------
U
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Date: Wed, 08 Nov 1995 09:12:16 -0500
From: ambroser at apollo.dml.georgetown.edu (The Green Hornet)
Subject: Jim (tm) Koch (tm) Sam (tm) Adams (tm) is not a microbrew
In 1876, Ken Schroeder wrote:
To me SA is a big brewer, maybe the biggest of the craft brew companies.
In 1878, Michael R. Swan wrote:
"Maybe the biggest" is a bit of an understatement when applied to Sam Adams.
I just got my Prospectus, the Company states......In 1994, the Company sold
714,000 barrels of beer......
I don't consider Sam(tm) Adams(tm) a microbrewery. In fact, I don't even
consider them a "craft brewery". It isn't brewed in one place (one of the mai
main things I think a craftbrewery should be - ONE brewery), it is contract
brewed in several cities. Second, I have a "Facts about Anheuser-Busch Co's"
pamphlet I got in 1993 when at St. Louis. It states (Source: Modern Brewery
Age, March 1993) the top 10 breweries are A/B, Miller, Coors, Strohs,
G.Heileman, Pabsts, Genesee, Falstaff, Latrobe Brewing, Pittsburgh Brewing.
The latter two, makers of Rolling Rock and Iron City, repectively are listed
as selling 881,000 and 875,000 barrels of beer in 1993.
My point is that due to it's size, Sam (tm) Adams (tm) are too big to be
considered "craft". To paraphrase Jim (tm) Koch (tm), "They probably spill more
beer than Olde Towne Tavern and Brewery (Gaithersburg, MD) makes!"
Bob Ambrose
Georgetown University
Washington DC
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Date: Wed, 08 Nov 95 07:56:29 CDT
From: SCHWAB_BRYAN at CCMAIL.ncsc.navy.mil
Subject: Thanks!!
Greetings to the Collective!
Like to Thank those of you;
Jeff
Dion
Spencer
Kevin
Eugene
who found the time to assist me in my problems with my regulator and
my A/B keg. All of your sufggestions either steered me the proper
direction, or worked!!
The situation with the regulator turned out to be very simple. The
outer housing was never completely sealed down properly. The "hissing"
or leakage originated from there and once it was properly tightend
down no more "hiss"!
As with the keg and how to re-secure the retaining ring; I took Dion's
and Jeff's suggestions as they were the simplist to apply ( in my
opinion, only after having ran out band-aids trying to pry the ring on
in other fashions:) ) and simple is as simple does!!
I am now the proud owner of two filled kegs: one with a Porter, the
other with a Brown Ale. The Ale went into the fridge, and the Porter
is awaiting refridgeration space! Thanks Again to those out there who
are not affraid to pass on their knowledge to those of us out less
fortunate! :)
Bryan
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Date: Wed, 8 Nov 95 9:56:30 EST
From: scox at factset.com (Sean Cox)
Subject: Re: Sand baths
Pierre Said:
>Indeed. Chemists solved that question long, long ago with the use of a
>sand bath. It works like a charm both as a buffer and as a diffuser, and
>is non-toxic as well as non-inflammable.
>
>Pierre
Um, actually Pierre, OSHA *DOES* regulate sand (the silica of which
it is composed is considered hazardous to breathe) as a hazardous material.
You should be able to get a HazMat sheet describing the evils and appropriate
handling of this dangerous substance.
Unlike the Dihydrogen Monoxide thread, this is not a joke. A recent
article in a local paper discussed the hyper-regulation of OSHA/EPA and cited
an OSHA requirement to label bricks and sand as hazardous because they contain
silica which is believed to cause lung cancer if inhaled over long periods of
time (a la the asbestos effect).
So be careful, you wouldn't want your brewery to become a Superfund
site!
-Sean
=== Sean Cox, Systems Engineer ==================== FactSet Data Systems ===
=== scox at factset.com ==================== Greenwich, CT ===
Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Nov 95 10:00:13 EST
From: Pierre Jelenc <pcj1 at columbia.edu>
Subject: Re: Glass color
In HOMEBREW Digest #1878 dmccull at alabama.com (Douglas A. McCullough) says:
> A fellow at Alabama Scientific Supply recently expressed concern about lead
> in the glass carboys some local brewers use. The carboys, manufactured in
> Mexico and offered for sale for about $12 at locally at Waccamaw, have a
> pronounced blue-green tint.
As far as I know, a green tint in glass indicates the presence of _iron_
impurities. Lead is used to make crystal -- as in "crystal clear" -- an
absolutely colorless, sparkling soft glass. (That said, inorganic
chemistry was not my favorite, so I may be overlooking something.)
Pierre
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Date-Warning: Date header was inserted by MAIL-CLUSTER.PCY.MCI.NET
From: "Allen J. Baler" <AllenJBaler at internetMCI.COM>
Subject: Sam Adams IPO
In HBD #1848, Mike Swan wrote:
>"Maybe the biggest" is a bit of an understatement when applied to
>Samuel Adams. I just got my Prospectus for The Boston Beer Company initial
>public stock offering. In the Prospectus, the Company states, "Boston Beer
>is the largest craft brewer by volume in the United States. . . In 1994, the
>Company sold 714,000 barrels of beer, which it believes to be more than the
>next six largest craft brewers combined."
I also just received the prospectus for the Sam Adams IPO. Koch, always the
excellent marketer, states that he hope the stock offering will take Sam
Adams from "invisble," with 1/400 of the US beer market, to "insignificant,"
with 1/300 of the market.
On a similar vein, I noticed that Pete's had their IPO yesterday... the
stock was trading at 26 yesterday afternoon. And Red Tail went public
earlier this summer. So when did micro-brewing become such big business?
-Allen
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Date: Wed, 8 Nov 1995 10:19:05 -0600
From: cbeck at siu.edu (Chad Beckman)
Subject: Sophomore Blues?
This is second batch of beer and my first question to the public.
I made a batch of christmas ale on October 21. Everything has been going
well until I noticed that once active fermentation subsided there appeared
to be a "film" on the top of my beer. The film does not have mold or any
other substance on it but it is "thick" enough to have caught some CO2
bubbles in it. Is this normal for an ale? I do not recall my first batch
having it. Any comments can be sent directly to me at cbeck at siu.edu
Thanks,
Chad Beckman
Jacob, IL
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Date: Wed, 8 Nov 95 11:28:03 CST
From: "Tracy Aquilla" <aquilla at salus.med.uvm.edu>
Subject: Re: Yeast
Eric (who assumes incorrectly that I'm female) says:
>>In HBD #1878, Tracy Aquilla <aquilla at salus.med.uvm.edu> posts about yeast
>>(specifically about Wyeast, but I think her comments apply generally to all
>> ^^^
>>if you question the quality of
>>your yeast package, you should probably try to return it to the supplier
>>from whom you purchased it. They should replace it and take up the issue of
>>quality control with the manufacturer, thereby making you a happy customer.
>>If you found a rat carcass in your Cheerios, would you return the offending
>>box of parts to the grocery store for a replacement, or call General Mills?
>
>Well, Tracy, if I found a rat in a Cheerios box, I'd probably contact both
>General Mills and the press. That's the sort of thing I'd hate to have swept
>under the rug by my local grocer.
OK, clearly the rat carcass wasn't the best example, but I think you get my
point. Anyone even remotely involved in agriculture or food production knows
that these things happen occasionally when processing on a commercial scale.
I'll return the defective item and I'm not going to make a big deal out of
it, as long as I end up getting what I paid for. Naturally, some people LOVE
to make a big deal out of things like this (which reminds me of Dave Barry's
article about someone who found a fist-sized lump of cornflakes in the box
and wound up in the news. This is hardly news-worthy, IMO).
>Any problem that might exist will be detectable only by doing a
>lot more microbiological work than most homebrewers do.
I disagree. I think most significant problems are easily detectable without
any micro work at all, although experience helps. Tasting the broth from the
starter is the best way to do QC on your yeast. It may smell funky
sometimes, but it should always taste like beer. If it doesn't, you probably
won't like the results if you pitch it into your wort. (I suppose if you
don't make a starter, you could pitch a contaminated culture without knowing
it, but one could also taste a portion of the liquid from the package before
pitching it.)
>It would be
>difficult for any single brewer to state unequivocally that a problem is due
>to the yeast producer and not to their own bad sanitation or recipe. Only
Absolutely true, especially depending on at which point the "problem" is
detected. That's part of the reason one should take it up with the supplier
before posting public complaints.
>As to replacing the yeast package when a problem is detected, it has been
>pointed out before here on HBD that the replacement of a $3.50 package of
>yeast doesn't go a long way toward making up for a spoiled batch of beer.
>The malt, hops, and time cost much more.
Of course, but one can't legitimately hold the manufacturer responsible for
ruining your wort or wasting your time.
Tracy in Vermont
aquilla at salus.med.uvm.edu
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Date: Wed, 08 Nov 95 10:15:00 PST
From: "Goodale, Daniel CPT 2AD DISCOM" <GoodaleD at hood-03.army.mil>
Subject: Blue Green Carboys
>The carboys, manufactured in
>Mexico and offered for sale for about $12 at locally at Waccamaw, have a
>pronounced blue-green tint. He suggests that the tint indictes a lead
>content so high that beer, leaching it out, would contain unacceptable lead
>levels.
If I recall my optical crystalography course correctly, glass looks very
transparent in thin cross section but tends to filter out the shorter
wavelengths of light in thicker cross sections. You can see this effect
by looking at a thick chunk of glass (e.g. a window pane edge on or the
thick
glass of a 5g carboy). It will have a greenish/blueish tint. Lead (lead
oxide
really) in glass turns it into "lead" crystal, that "crystal" clear
sparkling material
candlesticks holders are made out of so often.
I wouldn't worry too much about lead in the glass of the carboy as your tap
water probably has higher concentrations. If you are prone to worry, go
plastic.
I personally am not going to throw out my slightly green carboy; we have
just
been through too much together. So relax, don't worry, ect.
Daniel W. Goodale
goodaled at hood-03.army.mil
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #1879, 11/09/95