---

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


Contents:
  RE: Hunter Airstat (John Wilkinson)
  advertising and rye. ("Gregory, Guy J.")
  Priming w/wort or dextrose: Crabtree (Ken Willing)
  Brewing Calculation Question (Todd Bruce)
  Infection from dry hopping (C.D. Pritchard)
  Gelatin Finings & Autolysis (Kirk R Fleming)
  Request for through-put info (Geoff Scott)
  mini-keg rupture (Eugene Sonn)
  Re: Pints (Jeff Renner)
  Jack and his products (Denis Barsalo)
  Varied (RMoline930)
  messy white stuff... (Christopher Weirup)
  summer (topic overkill?) ("Jeremy E. Mirsky")
  Brewer's Workshop Software ("Michel J. Brown")
  Silymarin and Milk Thistle? (Unknown)" <jcarter at intersurf.com>
  kennyeddy's fermentation chiller (FxBonz)
  Kegging (TPuskar)
  Cream Ale (Dave Sapsis)
  storing hops ("Sharon A. Ritter")
  Sparkling Wine (John Artherton)
  Re: wort chillers (Mike Uchima)
  Heart of the Hops ("Stanley A. White/620664/PPI/EKC")
  Talk on RIMS ("Keith Royster")


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


Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 17:08:11 -0500
From: John Wilkinson <jwilkins at imtn.tpd.dsccc.com>
Subject: RE: Hunter Airstat

In hbd#2039, Scott Kaczorowski asked about controlling a refrigerator
with a Hunter Airstat.
Although I have no experience with that particular device, I have some
general information on the subject.
Scott asked about freezer temp.  My experience has been that the freezer
temp will depend on the temp at which the refrigerator is set and the temp
of the surroundings of the refrigerator.  If the refrigerator is kept at
ale fermenting temps and it is not in a hot environment, the compressor
will not run enough to keep the freezer very cold.  There is only one
refrigeration unit in any refrigerator I have seen with the bulk or all
of the cooling done in the freezer with cold air ducted to the refrigerator
section to cool it.
One disadvantage of the Hunter type controller that the refrigerator plugs
into is that when the unit is shut off there is no air circulation in
the refrigerator.  Normally there is a fan circulating air in the refrigerator
to keep the temp even.  This may depend on make and/or model, though.
I used the type controller that replaces the normal thermostat in the box.
This is a bit more trouble as it has to be wired in (no big feat) but the
advantage of leaving any circulation fan in operation and being cheaper
to boot.  Mine cost ~ $22 at Grainger, although that may have been wholesale.

I hope all this helps.

John Wilkinson

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Date: Fri, 17 May 96 15:34:00 PDT
From: "Gregory, Guy J." <GGRE461 at eroerm1.ecy.wa.gov>
Subject: advertising and rye.


Al Korzonas posts, in HBD 2039:

>I suggest that the HBD software be modified so that non-subscribers
>cannot post.  This will not only reduce the number of ads such as this
>one, but also eliminate all the "please subscribe me" posts.  If a
>subscriber gets out of hand and starts posting ads repeatedly, they
>can be silenced by unsubscribing them.

Well, sir, as much as I find myself agreeing with you on other topics,  I 
must disagree here.  I submit that doofus posts and intrusive goofy 
advertising is part of the price of freedom in this venue. How do you know 
you want to subscribe if you can't download and lurk for a while?  If an 
exclusive club is what  HBD wants, this place will quickly lose both quality 
and me.  Judging from your previous posts, I think after reflection, you 
would concur.
I can't stop furniture stores from advertising during hockey games, either.

Ronald S. Thomson <cky163 at crocker.com>
asks about rye:

>I have found the recent thread on rye interesting as I have been 
considering
>using rye in a wit beer.  I'm looking at having the rye at 5% - 7% of the
>grain bill with the rest being split between pilsener and wheat,

Sounds good....I've never mixed wheat and rye. I don't know at 7% if you'll 
even taste it, so I'd use flakes.

> should I use malted wheat with the rye instead to avoid
>a stuck sparge?

Stuck or slow sparges with wheat, rye, and oats, are all due to the fine 
grain size of the material clogging up the pore spaces between barley 
grains. I've got some data on this which I'll post as soon as I fix my modem 
at home and get it written up.   You can see the finest of these grain sizes 
as the cloudyness of most wheat and rye beers, and in oatmeal ales (its not 
just for breakfast anymore).  My old zapap got stuck because the valve could 
remove wort faster than the grain could pass it during sparging. Take your 
time, it should be OK.

> will rye contribute to the haziness of my wit at this amount (I've had 
problems maintaining a >haze in my recipes)?

Oh, yeah.  But another poster indicates his rye beers clear.  Perhaps he or 
she is more patient than I.

>is the sourness rye sometimes contribute appropriate to the wit style?

I don't know.  In my experience, rye is'nt sour...it's dry, or astringent. 
 I think rye and wheat would make an interesting flavor. Maybe I'll give it 
a try.

Thanks all you ryeguys out there for the great emails.

Guy
GuyG4 at aol.com   Lightning Ck. HomeBrewing

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Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 15:28:48 +1000 (EST)
From: Ken Willing <kwilling at laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au>
Subject: Priming w/wort or dextrose: Crabtree

I recently asked if other people have found, as Dave Miller has (and I have)
that bottle priming with malt-extract/wort produces noticeably higher
esteriness (in brews fermented with ale yeasts) than if priming is done with
dextrose.  (Miller attributes this effect to the normal production of esters
- -- by a renewed "normal" three-phase fermentation, inside the bottle --
but which cannot then be flushed out because the bottle is sealed.) 

Al Korzonas replied that he doubted that this extra accumulation of esters
in fact occurs, and that I must be tasting something else.  Fair enough.

But Al also cast doubt on my basic reason for priming with malt extract,
which is in order to use up some of the oxygen in the bottle, in order to
retard staling.  (Miller says, quite baldly [CHHB, p.169]: "Because of the
Crabtree effect, glucose priming has no effect on the level of oxygen in
home brewed beers."  [Whereas wort/malt-extract priming *does* consume
oxygen.])

But Al says:
> ... There is nothing inherently different between the yeast's
> oxygen uptake with various primings.  They consume the oxygen because they
> desire it and the type of sugar used for priming doesn't affect that.

I wonder if anyone out there would care to venture an adjudication of this. 
If my wort priming (which I claim results in too much esteriness) is not
doing me any more good, oxygen-wise, than dextrose priming, I'd obviously
like to stop priming with wort.    

Thanks    
Ken Willing   kwilling at laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au


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Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 10:09:11 -0700
From: Todd Bruce <tbrucer at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Brewing Calculation Question

As an all-grain novice, I need additional understanding on some common 
calculations when formulating beer recipes.


PPG:

I read in the All-Grain Zymurgy special issue that PPG is defined as:

(SG - 1) * 1000 * gallons
- ------------------------------
         # of grain

Is gallons measured directly after the sparge and before the boil or is it 
measured after the boil? 

SG:

When a recipe publishes the Starting Gravity, is that for the 6.5 gallons of 
runnings or the 5 gallons of wort?

Extract Efficiency:

How do I calculate this?  And again, when is it measured, pre-boil or 
post-boil?   

Thanks in advance for any sage advice!

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Date: Sat, 18 May 96 11:00 EDT
From: cdp at chattanooga.net (C.D. Pritchard)
Subject: Infection from dry hopping

In HBD #2037, Bob Bessette reported an infected batch which he attributed to
dry hopping.  Several have posted that they've not had any detectable
infections.  I tried dry hopping twice- the last batch was infected.  Out of
30+ brews, that's been my only infected batch (I'm kinda AR about
sanitation) so, I attributed it to dry hopping and will never dry hop again.
Consider where the hops may have been before you received them.  Look at the
photo of the guy laying in a mountian of hops in one of Charlie P's book.
Some vegatable growers are using "treated" sewage sludge on their crops.
Who's to say your hop grower doesn't and the picker hasn't spilled your hops
in the dirt or the wind hasn't blown some of the sludge dust onto your hops?  

If, as has been written in justification of dry hopping, the acidity and hop
level of the brew inhibits infecting organisms, why do most of us bother
with sanitizing kegs, bottles and racking equipment?  

OK, rant mode off...  If a taste and sniff of the brew tells me it needs
more hop flavor and/or aroma, I add a hopped tea.  I use boiled, pH 5.5
(treated with lactic acid) water to make the tea with and always boil the
hops for at least a minute to minimize the probability of an infection.
Sure, the 1 minute boil reduces the amount of aroma but one can just use a
bit more hops.  In addition to the increased sanitation, I like the control
teas afford- you can add a measured amount of the tea to a measured sample
of the brew and taste/smell the mixture to help determine how much tea is
needed.  Also, you can add flavor- something dry hopping can't do.
C.D. Pritchard    cdp at chattanooga.net


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Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 09:17:54 +0100
From: Kirk R Fleming <flemingk at usa.net>
Subject: Gelatin Finings & Autolysis

>From time to time I use gelatin in the conditioning tank before it goes
to the cooler.  This tank is a Corny keg into which I racked the beer from
the secondary.  After enjoying the contents of the keg and pouring out the
remains prior to cleanup, I've noticed the sediment is often a thin, very
compact sheet of yeast and semi-solid gelatin.

Even with dip tubes that haven't been cut off (I don't cut them off anymore
since I haven't found it does any good anyway), the beer comes out crystal
clear even to the last pint.  THere appears to be no pick-up of yeast even
when drawing from very close to the surface of this gelatin-yeast layer.

Q1: Is it possible that the action of the gelatin in precipitating the yeast
also encapsulates the yeast flocs or in some other way acts on them to
eliminate or reduce autolysis?

Q2: How might the question be answered empirically?

Q3: Does anyone give a flip?

KRF Colorado Springs

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Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 13:14:04 -0400
From: gscott at io.org (Geoff Scott)
Subject: Request for through-put info

   It's not hard to tell that some people are getting tired of the mill
thread but at least it's related to brewing.  I'm collecting through-put
information on various mills.  I'm asking the interested to send me via
e-mail, the amount of base malt that is processed through your mill in a
given number of revolutions.  The fact that I'm interested in through-put
doesn't mean I think it's one of the most important factors in comparing
mills.  It's more a place to start since it's fairly easy to measure.  The
amount of response I get will determine whether or not I'll commission
further studies of milling parameters that are harder to measure.  Please
let me know about any variables you consider important.  I'll be collecting
the info on my web page.

regards,

Geoff Scott
gscott at io.org
Brewing page    http://www.io.org/~gscott



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Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 13:21:20 -0400 (EDT)
From: Eugene Sonn <eugene at dreamscape.com>
Subject: mini-keg rupture

Hey there HBD,
	Since so many people have been asking about 5l mini-kegs, I 
thought I would tell a brief story from today.  I have been using 
mini-kegs for 1.5 years or so.  I  bought my tap and first keg from 
Williams brewing, but bought extra kegs and  bungs from a local homebrew 
shop.  The extras are white with gold trim.  They have the word "beer" in 
several languages on them. 
	Well, this morning I hear a strange hissing sound from the beer 
storage closet (I don't have a basement).  Turns out the keg had ruptured 
a bit and was spitting out beer.  This was a batch of holiday ale made in 
february.  Bottles of the same batch are fine.  As I see it, this shows 
that you have to be careful when priming in these kegs.  I usually drink 
the beer more quickly than I have been in the past few months.  When it's 
consumed within 2 months of brewing, I have had no problems with ruptured 
or exploding mini-kegs even though I prime the whole batch at 3/4 cup 
corn sugar per 5 gallons.  
	Overall, I'm very pleased with this keg.  Even though the beer 
pushed the keg beyond its limits, it only leaked.  No grenades, no 
shrapnel, no big problems.  I guess this means the "honeymoon" is over 
and I'll have to start priming the kegs at lower levels.  Anyone have any 
good suggestions about how to prime different rates in the same batch?  

Eugene Sonn
eugene at nova.dreamscape.com

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Date: Sat, 18 May 96 13:38:46 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Pints

In HBD 2040, HuskerRed at aol.com writes:

>   Steve Gravel write 
>   > I was told that a law was passed stating that pubs in London had
to 
>   > scrap their standard 20 oz. pint glasses and replace them with 22
oz. glasses. 
>    
>   I thought a pint was 16 oz. or are the *bloody Brit*
>   different?

An English (Imperial) pint is 19.6 US oz.; so you see, a pint's not a
pound the world around.  The new extra 2 oz. or so is for the head.  The
old ones (of which I have a dozen or so) had to be filled brim full.
This isn't a problem in the south, where they don't like or expect foam,
but in the north it is.

Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan c/o nerenner at umich.edu


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Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 13:47:33 -0500
From: denisb at cam.org (Denis Barsalo)
Subject: Jack and his products

        I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting a little sick of
having to page down so often through Jack's postings. Every time *anyone*
has an *anything* to say about Mills, EZMashers, Skewed Rollers, Fixed
Rollers, etc. on comes Jack with a "rant" to defend his *product*. Look, I
don't mind reading "a little bit" about someone's product line, and Jack's
insight on other brewing ideas is more than welcome.But this
mill-skewed-fixed-roller-thing has been going on long enough! TAKE IT TO
E-MAIL JACK! (So sorry about that!) Let's get back to discussing brewing
and the like....please!!!

Denis

P.S. When is the HBD actually moving?



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Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 15:06:48 -0400
From: RMoline930 at aol.com
Subject: Varied

<HuskerRed at aol.com>  Asks about lager temps for his deep
 freeze, British Pints.
   You have run into the problem that plagues breweries, like
 ours, that do not have Uni-Tanks capable of individual temp 
control. You can't set the coolroom temps (or deep freeze
temps) to allow one batch to complete primary and another to
be secondaried. This is the reason such breweries rarely stray 
far from ale production. PITA, for sure. Noonan warns about temps 
exceeding 60 F, and states "Ideally, the maximum temperature 
should not rise above 47 -52 F." What's the solution? Get another 
deep freeze or a fridge to do primaries and use the D-F for secondaries.
    1 pint British = 1.2009 pint US
    1 oz British Fluid = .96076 US Fluid
    1 pint British = 20 oz British Fluid

<rlabor at lsumc.edu> on Fridges
    The best trick is to take a case of your best brew and introduce 
yourself to the blokes who install appliances for major department 
stores. These fellows always bring back used equipment, when doing 
an installation, except on a new construction, and when Mrs. 
Gottrocks changes her kitchen decor from beige to white, you can 
be the beneficiary! A mate of mine, Dewey Adams of Savannah, 
Georgia does this for several major department stores and usually 
sells them for $ 20 or so to second hand appliance guys, who clean 
them up and resell for much higher. If things work out, be sure to bring 
another case of brew, personally labeled. YMMV.

<rmccorkle at nmsu.edu> asks about sparge levels and Crystal malt 
in mash.
    Just prepare a larger volume of sparge h2o than you think you'll need 
and sparge at a rate that keeps the level about an inch above the bed. 
Then simply sparge (slowly; a slow sparge is a spiritual thing, good for 
the soul and great for the beer!) until you hit your target volume in the 
kettle. Be sure to do a recirculation until the runnings are clear before 
collecting in the kettle.
   Bingo! Just put your crystal in the mash.

<dmercer at path.org> worries about wheat beer foam.
    I think you have just discovered the power of the mighty 'Head Grains.' 
Many brewers add a small proportion of wheat or flaked barley to their 
grain bill just to enhance head retention. Cooled bottles may also help 
reduce the practical problems though.

Rob Moline
Little Apple Brewing Company
Manhattan, Kansas

P.S. Switching over to new e-dress <brewer at tfsksu.net>. Am retaining 
AOL til I get comfy with the less expensive site. Please direct flames to 
the new one and help me figure it out!

"I am a humourless bastard.' - 1
"I am a humourless bastard." - 2
"I am a humourless bastard." - 3
There I feel better now!

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Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 16:13:59 -0500
From: cerevis at mcs.net (Christopher Weirup)
Subject: messy white stuff...

Hello all,

I suppose I shouldn't worry, but I just want to check to make sure.  I have
a pale ale in the secondary right now and I noticed white particles on the
top.  They look like spores or lilly pads, if that helps describe them.
At first there were just tiny bubbles, and there are still bubbles around
them.  I have no idea what this could be, I am being to worry that the
homebrew is contaminated.

The beer used 6.6 lbs. of light liquid extract, 1 lb. DME, about 15 HBU
ofhops, and was dry-hopped with a hop tea for five gallons.  It was in the
primary for seven days with no apparent problems.  When I transferred it,
it tasted fine, with a gravity of 1.020.  I used the Wyeast London strain.
I've kept it about the low 60s most of the time.

I've never had this problem after about 15-20 batches.  I don't know if
this has been discussed here before.  If anyone could give a clue as to
what to do or not do, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks,

Chris Weirup
cerevis at mcs.net



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Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 16:30:28 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Jeremy E. Mirsky" <mirsjer at charlie.acc.iit.edu>
Subject: summer (topic overkill?)

Hi -

At the risk of beating a dead Clydesdale, I have a question about summer 
brewing.  The temperature just rose drastically here in Chicago... For 
better or for worse, I'm preparing a batch. What confuses me is when I 
hear about folks who switch from lager to ale in the warmer months.  If 
the lager fermentations are refrigerated, then what difference does the 
outside temperature make?  I've been told many times that I cannot brew 
lager without an extra fridge.  Is this true?  
I think I'll try the wet towel technique for keeping this brew cooler... 
How does one do something similar with a plastic primary fermenter?

Thanks!


Need a cold one in this heat!


Jeremy Mirsky
mirsjer at charlie.acc.iit.edu



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Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 15:50:15 +0000
From: "Michel J. Brown" <mjbrown at teleport.com>
Subject: Brewer's Workshop Software

DL:I recently downloaded the freebie version of Brewer's Workshop for
DL:Windows off the net and am thinking of putting down the $35 to get the
DL:registered version.  I'd appreciate any comments on this package (any bugs,
DL:general annoyances, etc.) that anyone might offer.  How does it compare to
DL:other packages?

Couldn't say anything about Brewer's Workshop as I haven't ever heard 
of it! But I *can* say something about SudsW4.0 which is a very handy 
piece of software for W3.1x/95. It is recipe based, and uses the 
DBase III file format. It's fairly complete, yet costs only $20 for 
the shareware fee. I'll mime or UUencode it to you if you are 
interested. Btw, where did you find Brewer's Workshop? Archie comes 
up with nothing, as does the WWW browser search engines :-(

DL: Are there other packages out there that people particularly
DL:like or dislike?  Any comments appreciated.  Private e-mail welcome.

I like SudsW 4.0 very much, but am willing to try another program for 
comparion's sake ;^) TTYL, God Bless, ILBCNU and WASSAILS!






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Date: Sat, 18 May 1996 22:21:38 -0500 (CDT)
From: "(Unknown)" <jcarter at intersurf.com>
Subject: Silymarin and Milk Thistle?


After reading a little bit about Silymarin, I purchased some extract at a
local health food store (almost US$ 25.00 for 100!), and tried it out last
night.  After drinking a good bit of homebrew (extract, I'm still very new
to this:)  the only ill effects I had this morning were a bit of
dehydration.  

I'm curious if anyone has any more info on Silymarin, and I'd like to know
if many of you have tried it.  

Email responses are fine, as well as to the newsletter.

Jim Carter

- ----------[start signature]----------
Jim Carter
Computer Consultant, Jimco Instrument Service
Assistant SysAdmin, cyclops.cslab.selu.edu
Career Student, Southeastern La Univ (Sr CMPS)
email: jcarter at selu.edu



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Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 00:57:18 -0400
From: FxBonz at aol.com
Subject: kennyeddy's fermentation chiller

Does anybody have a source for the two inch insulation board that Ken call
for in his fermentation chiller plans.  I have exhausted all the *normal*
places like building suppliers but to no avail.  Ken just *happened* upon his
so it is out there but nobody in the building trade around has ever heard of
it and I can't figure out where to look from here.  Please respond to
sjackson at x-net.net as I hate this account but the x-net can't seem to find hp
and so I must post from here.

I would like to echo the remarks that Rob Moline made re: JS.  It takes all
types and Jack is a truely unique individual and I would hate to see him go.

Also I picked up a Johnson Controls temp controller at a yard sale this
weekend.  New in the box except that the wiring diagram is missing.  Says
A319 on the front  and inside it reads  A319ABC-24-01   I was hoping someone
might have the wiring diagram or be able to help.  

Steve - now in Clemson, SC and brewing legally.
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- ---------------------------
Brewing beer is far more exciting when it is both a hobby and a felony!
                                                          The Alabama Outlaw

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Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 09:01:53 -0400
From: TPuskar at aol.com
Subject: Kegging

I'm looking into kegging my beer and havea couple of questions.  I'll be
looking ofr kegging faqs at Stanford and other sites but wonder if anyone
could comment on these questions from a real experience perspective.  Here
they are:

1.  How long will keg beer last?  My batches (in bottles) hang around for 3-4
months.  Will beer in a keg last that long?  Longer?

2.  Related to the above question, once filled and tapped, do I need to keep
the CO2 tank attached or can it be removed to another keg?

3.  Do kegs require refrigeration after tapping?  Can I store them at room
temp and put them into the fridge when I want to serve from them and then
take them back out to room temp until next time?  Fridge space may be tight.

4.  I see a lot of different prices for systems ranging from about $150 to
near $200.  I imagine the guages are the part that varies most.  Any
brands/manufacturers which are better or worse than others?

Thanks for any replies.

Tom Puskar

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Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 11:00:20 -0700
From: dave at montara.cdf.ca.gov (Dave Sapsis)
Subject: Cream Ale

With Tom Castle's request in HBD 2033 for information on Cream Ale, 
I felt compelled to resubmit the following post I put together last 
summer.  Somehow it never made it through.  As yesterday was 101 
degrees F (that's about 38 C for the rest of you) here in Sacramento, 
the timing seemed right.  Also, those of you in Northern California 
are urged to locate its commercial clone from Coast Range Brewing Co.  
Their brewer, Peter Licht, and I have worked together on this and
other recipes, and its out now under the moniker California Blonde 
(the public was confused by the cream part thinking it had dairy 
products in it or somesuch):

*********
Some time ago Jeff Renner presented a recipe for Classic American 
Pilsner, along with a discussion of how and why this was an important 
beer style that needed to be recognized.  Somewhat along those lines, 
however with a somewhat murkier history, is that of the almost forgotten 
cream ale.  This is a style of beer that I particularly enjoy, and 
although there are current commercial cream ales available (eg, Little 
Kings, Genesee Cream) I am fearful that they do not fully represent the
full potential for what this style can become.  And although the AHA does
recognize cream ale in its hybrid lager/ale category, I dont think that the
parameters neccesarily allow what I have been developing (duh).  Now possibly
what follows is not a cream ale, but rather a new category, possibly called 
blonde ale for lack of a better term, but I strongly believe that this style 
has a place in brewing.

What it is: blond; low to medium bitterness, very slight malt sweetness, 
moderate hop flavor and aroma; body low; high effervescence; low esters, no 
diacetyl. IBU's about 20, starting gravity about 1045, SRM 4-7.  You can see 
that this only diverges from the general guidelines by the higher hop flavor 
aroma profile, but I think this is significant. For me, although these beers 
are often marketed as Pale Ales, they are both too light in color and lacking 
in bitterness to be Pale Ales.   Those familiar with Triple Rock's Pinnacle 
Pale Ale know what I mean.

Here's my recipe:
(for 10 gallons)

16 lbs Great Western 2-row
1/2 lb H. Baird Carastan (~30 lov)

Single protein rest at 50C (122F) for 20 minutes, water treated with 15 grams
gypsum (I have quite soft water).  Sacharification at 65C (149F) for 1 hour. 
Mash out and lauter to collect 12 gals wort og ~1040. Obviously, your 
extraction efficiency may be different than mine, adjust accordingly.

Boil 90 minutes, end volume 10.5 gallons, og 1046 
Hops: 70 minutes: 90 g Mt Hood (4.8 alpha)
5 minutes: 40 g Liberty
knockout:   40 g Liberty       

For my levels of *perceived* utilization, this gets me around 25 IBU.

Ferment with a neutral yeast that is low in diacetyl production (1056 works 
well, but I like Mendocino (New Albion), it just takes a bit longer to age 
and meld.  Try to keep ferment temp under 70F. This is very important, for 
in my view, one of the principle elements that is requisite in this style 
is very low ester formation.  I have found that mid 60's ferments are best.  
Obviously, large healthy pitches are a must to achieve quick, clean, and well 
attenuated ferments. Typically, my primary is over in 72 hours, at which time 
I rack to cornelius kegs, then after two days at68F, I slowly cool to 2C 
(36F) and lager for a minimum of two but prefferably 4 weeks.  This ageing 
step appears quite important in generating the clean crisp flavor that makes 
this beer such a good hot weather drink.

Now, previously, I'd never been much of a lawnmower beer kinda guy, but
having moved to Sacramento from the foggy realm of Oakland, and a new
residence with approximately 5000 (yes --  five thousand!) 
sq. ft. of lawn, I may be changing my tune.  In any event, I think that you 
will find that this recipe results in a clean refreshing beer that is quite 
flavorful, and  not altogether represented in our current litany of beer 
styles.  Let me know what you think.

cheers,

dave sapsis          Dave_Sapsis at fire.ca.gov 
Wildland Fire and Fuels Specialist
CDF Strategic Planning


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Date: 19 May 96 14:23:25 EDT
From: "Sharon A. Ritter" <102446.3717 at CompuServe.COM>
Subject: storing hops

Al writes:

>I have a heat sealer and a tank of CO2 with which I purge the air out 
>before re-sealing the oxygen-barrier packages. I've used four-year-old 
>hops stored this way without any problems or off flavours.

I've been trying to find a source for oxygen barrier ZIP LOCK bags for 
months. The only possibility is from Contact East (1-800-682-2000 thanks
Mike Kidulich). They sell bags for electronics but their objective is 
static electricity. There is no way to tell from reading their catalog 
whether the bags are food grade or oxygen barrier grade.

I realize the inherent shortcomings of zip lock bags: they probably leak
O2 through the zipper. My other option is to buy a vacuum heat sealer.  
I checked the local warehouse retailer and found one for $175 (Foodsaver
brand). 

This question has been posted before but I saw few replies:  Does anyone
know of a source for zip lock O2 barrier bags OR know of a decent 
vacuum-heat sealer that costs less than the above mentioned model?

        Dan Ritter in Grangeville, Idaho
        102446.3717 at compuserve.com 

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Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 11:58:54 -0700
From: John Artherton <metlhead at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Sparkling Wine

My question has to deal with a wine that is about fermented out.  I need
to know how much priming sugar to use per gallon to achieve a slight
bubbly (not quite as much as champagne).  Recipe below:
39.69Lb  (4.76 Gal.)    Water
 7.25Lb  (0.66 Gal.)    Boysenberry/Blackberry 65 brix juice concentrate
 8.00Lb                 Dextrose
 0.50Lb                 Fructose
 6 tsp                  Malic Acid
 3 tsp                  Citric Acid
 5 grams LALVIN EC-1118 Champagne yeast (Saccharomyces bayanus)
This produced an OG of 1.093.  I plan to dilute down a little bit at 
bottling time (another 1.25 Gal.).
Reply to metlhead at ix.netcom.com or the Digest.  TIA.

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Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 14:36:47 -0500
From: uchima at fncrd8.fnal.gov (Mike Uchima)
Subject: Re: wort chillers

Mark Dimke <dimke at montana.campus.mci.net> wrote:
> My brewing partners and I have been using a 1/4  copper wort immersion
> chiller for about 10 or so batches now.  It works OK but we want to
> build a bigger ID one.  The reason being after you coil the tube the
> resistance to flow is so grate that keeping the in tube on is a pain.
> Several cable ties later we can keep it on but, we have to keep the flow
> turned way down.

I've been using a 1/4" chiller, with acceptable results. You can get a better
seal on your hoses if you use small diameter automotive hose clamps instead of
cable ties. I can crank the pressure way up on mine, and the hoses stay put --
no leaks.

- -- Mike Uchima
- -- uchima at fncrd8.fnal.gov

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Date: 17 May 96 13:38:40 EDT
From: "Stanley A. White/620664/PPI/EKC"
Subject: Heart of the Hops

Okay, the wife asked a stumper.  Saw the Miller beer ad and asked" if the 
"heart of the hop"
is so good, why aren't you using it" in my homebrews.

So, what's "the heart of the hop"????  (and do they have other internal organs 
of
distinction??)

Stan White
swhite at kodak.com


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Date: Sun, 19 May 1996 20:21:10 -0500
From: "Keith Royster" <keith.royster at ponyexpress.com>
Subject: Talk on RIMS

Well, I just got off the phone with the president of our local 
brewclub, and he has asked me to give a presentation at our next 
meeting about RIMS.  I tried to weasle my way out of it (I hate 
public speaking and I'm in no way a RIMS expert) but the guy was 
persistant.  Apparently the fact that I'm the only one in the club 
that owns a RIMS automatically makes me an expert, regardless of the 
fact that I've only brewed 3 batches in it, and all were single 
infusion mashes and thus under-utilized the full potential of the 
system.

Anyway, I'm looking for some advise and tips from some of you more
experienced RIMSters out there on topics and ideas for this
presentation.  Basically, I know that the pros are that (1) you can
do multi-step infusion mashes, (2) you get a more even heat
distribution in the grain bed, and (3) you get a clearer runoff
sooner during sparging.  The primary con seem to be the expense of
building the contraption.  I would also like to discuss some of the
more arguable claims such as higher extraction efficiency (pro) and
astringency from the recirculation (con).  I'll also probably touch
on the different types of RIMS (fully automated, electric heated,
and gas heated).  I'll be digging around the net this week trying to
find more information.  If any of you out there have any comments on
the above topics, or if you can think of anything I've missed, I'd
sure appreciate anything you can offer.

Thanks!

PS - The homepage of the Carolina BrewMasters homebrew club has
changed.  If you have links in your page pointing in this direction,
please update the URL to:

http://dezines.com/ at your.service/cbm/


Keith Royster - Keith.Royster at ponyexpress.com
 at your.service - http://dezines.com/ at your.service
Mooresville, North Carolina

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