---

   FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
        Shawn Steele, Digest Janitor
        Thanks to Rob Gardner for making the digest happen!

Contents:
  Scottish ale (ritchie at wnstar.com (Clark D. Ritchie))
  Cold-conditioning ales leads to O2 staling? (Ken Willing)
  RO/"Jethro Gump Brewing Company" (Rob Moline)
  kosher beer (Lenny Garfinkel)
  Is my yeast ruined? (Matt_K at ceo.sts-systems.ca)
  Reverse Rims? (George Schamel)
  Acetaldehyde (Kit Anderson)
  RE:  What does RO mean? (George_De_Piro at berlex.com (George De Piro))
  Kosher! (Douglas Thomas)
  re: hi-temp food grade tubing (BJFABB at ccmail.monsanto.com)
  Re: kosher brewing ("Brian P. Colgan")
  Gott Coolers/Partial Mashes (Guy Mason)
  Re: Kosher Beer (Bill Press)
  New Brew Club (David Dow)
  Brewery (RIMS?) Pump (Lynn Ashley)
  Kosher Beer (Mark Garetz)
  Irish brown ale ("FINLEY, BARRY CURTIS")
  Selling Homebrew (rlabor at lsumc.edu (LaBorde, Ronald))
  What RIMS Stands For... ("Dr. Larry Allen")
  Yeast growth (John Wilkinson)
  Mazer Cup Entries Accepted At NHC (Ken Schramm)
  RE: Washing Yeast (Thompson HBD2059) (genitom at nyslgti.gen.ny.us (Michael A. Genito))
  Re: that last 10% ("Tracy Aquilla")
  "Selling" Homebrew for charity ("Gregory, Guy J.")
  re: transition to all grain (bkowalski at instmail.oyo.com (Bill Kowalski))
  For Sale Cheap! (charlie at globes.com (Charlie Teall))
  The Home Brew Rat (pbabcock at ford.com)
  When does your beer become beer? (Mary  Towle)
  Muddy brew (TPuskar at aol.com)
  The Infusion in RIMS (Kirk R Fleming)
  RIMS too complicated ("Keith Royster")
  Re: When does your beer become beer? ("Robert A. Uhl")
  Homebrew Donations (beernote at realbeer.com (Mike Urseth))

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

From: ritchie at wnstar.com (Clark D. Ritchie)
Date: Mon, 03 Jun 1996 22:43:16 -0700
Subject: Scottish ale

I'm looking for a great all-grain Scottish ale recipe.  Anyone out there
have a killer one?  Please don't direct me to the Cat's Meow, etc.
Thanks... CDR
<--><--><--><--><--><--><--><--><--><--><--><--><--><--><--><--><-->
                Clark D. Ritchie, ritchie at wnstar.com
            World Wide Web: http://www.wnstar.com/ritchie/

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From: Ken Willing <kwilling at laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au>
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 15:44:41 +1000 (EST)
Subject: Cold-conditioning ales leads to O2 staling?

Thank you to those who set me straight on priming with wort vs. priming with
glucose, as a way of absorbing potentially-staling oxygen out of the
headspace etc. in bottled beer.  The consensus is that glucose will work as
well for this purpose as wort, since maltose OR glucose will be happily
consumed by the yeast, despite the Crabtree effect. 

So I'm back to my original question:  Is headspace O2 a legitimate concern,
or is it unlikely as a source of O2 leading to staling? (I'm referring to
high-melanoidin ales whose staling problem I initially thought was
melanoidin mediated; but hot-side aeration has been radically eliminated, so
it seems doubtful that early melanoidin oxidation is the cause.)

For some time, I've been fining my ales with gelatin and then
cold-conditioning them in the secondary vessel at around 4C. for a couple of
weeks, before bottling.  I have a persistent problem of these beers going
cardboardy, muddy, with loss of distinctiveness of flavor, etc., as early as
6 weeks in the bottle.  Given this kind of cold-conditioning, full
carbonation after priming/bottling can take up to a month; so the beer is
sometimes good to drink for only about two weeks...  

My question is: After cold-conditioning that drops nearly all the yeast out
of suspension, is it conceivable that the remaining low yeast contingent in
the bottle is simply insufficient to absorb oxygen quickly enough to prevent
reactions with dissolved and headspace O2 to form staling compounds? 

Thanks for any help.

Ken Willing       kwilling at laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au
Sydney, Australia


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From: Rob Moline <brewer at kansas.net>
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 00:58:42 -0500
Subject: RO/"Jethro Gump Brewing Company"

>Cheers    jim booth, lansing, mi
>
>P.S.  On the water thread;  what does "RO"  as in RO water mean?

Reverse Osmosis...a practice very heavily relied upon in the Dialysis
industry...(Artificial Kidney Machines)..Standard practice---> incoming h2o
passed through a resin module, you might know it as a Water Softener..thence
to a series of RO machines...(boy, if you want to learn about sanitation,
apply here... These things are monitored stricter than *.*,  daily, each
individual dialysis unit (not RO) is cleansed internally with BLEACH (and
don't you know that it wears everything out, fast!, but that's what your
Preventive Maintenances are for!)..and then each 7 days the entire h2o
structure is treated to formalin (including RO), that sits in the lines for
24/24 , prior to rinse and quant and qual checks for residuals...biological
checks done more often than the Bud Frogs croak...if you listen to the
international news, you'll know that scores have died recently from bad
water through their dialyzer... fact is, if your life's blood if going past
a membrane, and the osmotic potential on the other side is infested, you're
toast...these folks fade faster than 911 can be dialled! (And you think
sanitation is good for beer!)

RO can produce 99.99 % h2o... with only barely measureable quantities of
anything else.

Also interesting... the best known approach to CHEAP de-ETOH'ing of beer is
through dialysis..it's a well known fact amongst dialysis nurses that their
least well managed patients, despite marginal or ZERO kidney function, will
come in to be dialyzed, from time to time, totally TOASTED!  And then, when
their shunts are hooked up, and dialysis initiated , they undergo the most
RAPID detox clinically capable. Talk about early hangover!!..(can you say
happy to very unhappy in four minutes!..and then it gets bad!!..)... The
alcohol LEAPS across the membrane.. not for the squeamish!
>
>From: "David R. Burley" <103164.3202 at CompuServe.COM>
>Subject: Brownian Motion 
>- 
>Rob Moline says he when he was home brewing, he didn't bother to stir in the
>sugar solution into his secondary, just added cool, boiled dextrose solution,
>waited 15/60 minutes and bottled. He characterized this approach as a Forrest
>Gump approach. Maybe Forrest Gump wouldn't have noticed variations in the
>bottles, I don't know. But lots of other people who use this method end up 
>with
>bottles broken and some flat. Brownian motion is not a dependable way to mix
>sugar and brew together, in the first place the mean free path of the 
>molecules
>in a condensed phase is extremely short ( like angstroms) and we're talking 
>tens
>of centimeters in five or ten gallons here. In the second place we're talking 

>major density differences in the sugar solution and the brew, so the syrup 
>will
>immediately fall to the bottom and stay there. I have in the past added sugar
>crystals to rapidly fermenting wine and been surprized when at the end of the
>fermentation the sugar crysytals were still in the bottom of the tun even 
>after
>some weeks, despite the agitation of the wine by the carbon dioxide bubbles.
>Thirdly, diffusion is a process which is logarithmic in nature and you will
>never have a uniform concentration if you waited for diffusion.  Physical
>agitation whether in the secondary, a bottling bucket, or my recommendation,
>each bottle, is a necessary part of uniformity of carbonation over the whole
>batch of beer.
>

All that I report is my personal experience....my lack of serious
credentials means that my report of "..diffusion/brownian motion," means
only that I don't know what I'm talking about scientifically, I just know
and report what worked for me... and use my own limited vocabulary to offer
a scenario that others might understand....But, remember, I'm just simple
folk...you know, a 'Jethro' from Kansas..(brownian seems to be something
most tourists can remember and grasp, the phrase works for me) BTW, Forrest
might not have noticed, but Jethro doesn't miss a trick!

Rob Moline
Little Apple Brewing Company
Manahttan, Kansas

"The more I know about beer, the more I realize I need to know more about 
beer!"

"Jethro Gump Brewing Company" - Our Slogan--> "Gee, It works for Me!" (don't
tell them scientists, THEY'LL PROVE IT WON'T!)



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From: Lenny Garfinkel <lenny at parker.inter.net.il>
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 11:11:38 +0400
Subject: kosher beer

I don't remember the original post (I've got it at home somewhere-maybe I'll
check it out later), but I can give you the following comments:

Kosher does not mean that some rabbi has given his blessing.  It simply
means that the preparation of the food has been in accordance with accepted
laws of Kashrut (maintaining a kosher state).  If I cook in my home, my
friends will eat my food because they know that I follow these laws.  

Now the problem of the original poster is that he/she is not familiar with
these laws.  No problem.  Beer is made from four major ingredients.  Malted
grain is simple grain which has been sprouted and kilned.  I doubt if the
large maltsters have kosher certification (maybe some surprises there,
though) and the breweries in Israel use malt to produce kosher beer. Malt
extract is boiled in some sort of vessel.  It's probably safe to assume that
the vessels are used exclusively for boiling wort and therefore ok.   

Hops is a plant.  All plants are kosher if not tampered with.  Whole leaf
hops are safest as someone commented, but pellets are simply compressed
whole leaf hops, so should be no problem there.  Yeast is used in many
applications for kosher food from breadmaking to winemaking and including
beer brewing.  I am not familiar with any adulterants in dry yeast cultures.
I'm not sure about Wyeast, but it looks to me like the liquid in the smack
packs is simply dark wort.  Water is kosher.

Regarding clearing agents.  Someone mentioned in a previous post to avoid
fish gill derived agents.  I agree.  I never use them anyway.  So the beer's
a bit cloudy, but I digress.  Irish moss, being plant in origin, is OK.

Bottom line, FWIW: I brew beer from grain and on occasion from extract.  I
use both leaf and pellet hops.  I use both dry and Wyeast.  I don't use
clearing agents.  BTW, I use gypsum and phosphoric acid to acidify my mash
and sparge, respectively.  These are ok.  A lot depends on how fanatical
your friend is about his kashrut.  Ask him.  I drink my beer.  So do my
friends.  

Your biggest problem is likely to be not your ingredients, but your vessels.
If any of your vessels, mash tun, cooker, fermentor, bottles, stirrers,
spoons, etc., have come in contact in the past with anything non-kosher,
then they will render the brew non-kosher.  Consult with your friend.

Final warning.  I am not a rabbi.  Nor am I familiar intimately with every
detail of malting, malt extract preparation, hops harvest and storage, hop
pellet preparation, commercial yeast production, Wyeast production.
However, what I outlined above seems reasonable to me and I have grown up
keeping Kashrut.

Glad to help.  

Lenny Garfinkel
Leonard Garfinkel, Ph.D.
Biotechnology General
Kiryat Weizmann
Rehovot
Israel
Tel: 972-8-9381256 (office)
     972-8-9451505 (home)
FAX: 972-8-9409041


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From: Matt_K at ceo.sts-systems.ca
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 09:02:32 est
Subject: Is my yeast ruined?

Greetings

I bought a pack of Yeast 1338 European Ale yeast about 5 weeks ago and 
smacked it.  Well, plans changed and I didn't get to brew, so the pack 
has been swelled like a football for about 5 weeks now.  IMYR?  Shold 
I just go get a new pack or is the old one still ok?

Many thank's for you advice

Matt
in Montreal



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From: George Schamel <george.schamel at den.mmc.com>
Date: Tue, 04 Jun 1996 07:19:44 -0600
Subject: Reverse Rims?

Here's a thought for all you all grain brewers:

Instead of recirculating and heating the wort while mashing in a Gott
cooler, why not pump your hot sparge water through 1/2 inch 
copper coils immersed in the mash?  It seems to me that with some gentle 
stirring (using the copper coils already in the mash) one could maintain
a reasonably even temperature distrubution and even raise the mash
temp by pumping near boiling water through the coils.

Any thoughts positive or negative would be appreciated.


George Schamel   High Altitude Homebrew - 10000ft and still brewin'

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From: Kit Anderson <kit at maine.com>
Date: Tue, 04 Jun 1996 09:43:45 -0500
Subject: Acetaldehyde

Last night's TV  evening news had a story on an ingredient that cigarette
manufacturers were adding to their product to make them more addictive. The
culprit was acetaldehyde. Yes, that same acetaldehyde found in beer. It is
the compound  that gives the green apple character found in those beers with
kraeusening and/or incomplete fermentation.
It was found that rats given acetaldehyde will crave increasingly larger
doses, especially if combined with nicotine. This may explain why former
cigarette smokers backslide while drinking Bud ( The King of Green Apple
Beers) and why Bud drinkers a such fanatics.
So, watch out all you homebrewing rats. The FDA may be after you next.

- - --------
To fellow MALTster Bill Giffin:
RIMS is not more complicated. It is easier. That's why we do it.
- - ---

Kit  Anderson
Bath, Maine 
<kit at maine.com>
The Maine Beer Page  http://www.maine.com/brew


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

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From: George_De_Piro at berlex.com (George De Piro)
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 09:58:02 -0700
Subject: RE:  What does RO mean?

     Kathy asks what RO means:
     
     RO means "reverse osmosis."  It is a method of water purification.  It 
     is the opposite of osmosis, the phenomenon in which concentration 
     gradients will spontaneously approach equilibrium.  As an example of 
     osmosis, you have a membrane that is permeable to water, but 
     impermeable to ions. On one side of the membrane is pure water, on the 
     other is water with a high concentration of sodium ions (Na+).  Pure 
     water will flow spontaneously through the membrane to the side with 
     the high concentration of Na+, so as to try to equilibrate the ion 
     concentration in the system.
     
     This effect has relevance to brewers: it can kill your yeast cells.  
     If your yeast have been raised in a high-sugar environment, and are 
     suddenly put into a lower-sugar environment, water may enter the cells 
     (by osmosis) faster than the cells can pump it out, causing them to 
     burst.
     
     RO purifies water by forcing water (using pressure) through the 
     membrane against the concentration gradient, leaving pure water on one 
     side and a high concentration of "junk" on the other.  In this way 
     organics, inorganic ions, microbes, and particles are removed from 
     water.
     
                          |   H2O  
           H2O   Na+      |         H20
                   H2O <<<|<<<<Water flow (osmosis)
              Na+  Na+    |
           Na+   Na+  Na+ |    
            Na+        >>>|>>>>Water flow (reverse osmosis)
                   Na+    |
               H20        |   H2O      H20
                          |
                       Membrane
     
     I hope the ASCII art came out right!  If not, I hope my explanation is 
     clear enough.
     
     George De Piro   (Nyack, NY)

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From: Douglas Thomas <thomasd at uchastings.edu>
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 08:03:39 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Kosher!

Reading through the Kosher beer text, I have one point to question.  
Although not a home beer-brewer, I do make wine at home, and have done 
quite a bit of traveling in the wine country, including kosher wineries.  
>From my understanding, yeast is never kosher, in any form.  Ever for 
bread.  Bread must be made from a starter batch that has risen naturally, 
and wine must be made through airborn yeast or through repitching from 
the lees of a batch made from the same-said.  Fining agents that may be 
used (as far as I understand it) are egg whites and skim milk.  But check 
me on those.  I know that milk is not allowed with meat, so if any 
residual milk were present when bottled, and you drank it with a meal of 
a steak, then that would be out of the question.  
As I say, I have not read up on this, but have figured it through some 
questions to Jewish friends and kosher wineries.  It is possible it is 
completely different for beer.  
post or private e-mail ok

Doug Thomas


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From: BJFABB at ccmail.monsanto.com
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 10:08:46 -0500
Subject: re: hi-temp food grade tubing

Kallen Jenne <tirado at sprynet.com> wrote in hbd 2059:

>I'm looking for some high-temp (212 F) food-grade tubing to run between
>mash tun and my pump.  Anyone know what to look under in the phone book?
>Hardware stores only seem to have 180 F vinyl, which tends to stink
>things up....  Any help appreciated.  What, exactly am I looking for?

I've had very good results using silicone tubing. Temp. range is -50 to +450
deg. F. At boiling wort temps, it does not soften like vinyl tubing sold at 
brew
shops and hardware stores. I do not have to use tubing clamps when I siphon 
from
the boiling kettle to the wort chiller, and there is no 'plastic' smell or
taste. The only problem is $$; about $4/ft for 3/8" id. But, it lasts a long
time. Try looking under "scientific supply" in the yellow pages. VWR, for one,
has the product (1-800-932-5000; no connections, etc.). Anyone else have a 
good
source for silicone tubing for a good price? Good luck!

- -Brad Fabbri

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From: "Brian P. Colgan" <bcolgan at sungard.com>
Date: Tue, 04 Jun 96 11:41:20 EST
Subject: Re: kosher brewing

f.harding at genie.com writes:
Subject: kosher brewing
.
.
> A couple of points:

> 8. Any beer will not be "kosher for passover" because of the barley and/or 
> wheat.  I'm sure your friend will know this.

Why not? Isn't matzoh made from wheat?  I thought it was the combination of 
grain and yeast that was not kosher. Would filtering a beer make it kosher (as 

well as less-flavorful)?

Brian Colgan            "Every one has to believe in something."
bcolgan at sungard.com     "I believe I'll have another homebrew."
h:(610) 527-8896 / w: (215) 627-3800         
Radnor, PA.



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From: Guy Mason <guy at matrixNet.com>
Date: Tue, 04 Jun 1996 12:11:29 -0400
Subject: Gott Coolers/Partial Mashes

Greetings Fellow Beerlings:

Does anyone have the model number of the 10 gal. round Gott cooler that
will handle hot as well as cold liquids???  The salesperson at my local
big orange hardware mega-store looked at me like I was nuts (does it
show?).

Also I started doing partial mashes on the road to all-grain brewing.
After mashing and sparging I had to leave the wert in the brewpot for
about 1.5~2 hours before finishing up the brew.  There was "stuff" in
the bottom of the pot when I stirred the wert and it became very cloudy.
Should I have siphoned off the clear wert and tossed the "stuff" before
continuing???  For what its worth the recipe was Bohemian Rhapsody Pils
from Homebrew Favorites.  The first attempt at this recipe came out
beyond great and well into spectacular (IMHO) and I'm hoping to recreate
it.

Thanks for any info.
- -- 
o   o
 \ /     M A T R I X
  o--o
 / \   O    Guy Mason               voice: 203-944-2020x190
o   \ /     guy at matrixNet.com       fax: 203-944-2022
  O--O--O
    / \     MATRIX, 2 Trap Falls Road, Shelton, CT 06484
   O   O

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From: Bill Press <press at lip.wustl.edu>
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 11:27:35 -0500
Subject: Re: Kosher Beer

> 1.  Would I need Rabbinical supervision of the entire brewing
> process or would an inspection of the ingredients be OK?

You do not need rabbinical supervision.  Uncooked ingredients (such as
hops, yeast, raw grain) are kosher.

> 2.  Could I use malt extract as it has been already processed (I
> guess the malting process for grains would be in the same category).
>
> 3.  Is there such a thing as Kosher malt extract or Kosher malted
> grain?  Where could I get it?

I don't know about malt extract.  You're probably alright, though, as
long as these companies don't produce anything other than malt
extract (see below).

Malting grains does not make them non-kosher (nothing but water is
being added, and no cooking is involved).

Cooked ingredients (kilned grains) are kosher if the vessels in which
they are cooked were not used for trafe (nonkosher) cooking (pork or
shellfish; or for cooking both meat- and dairy-containing dishes)).

Generally, kilned grains are kosher.  I have a friend who is a
chassidic rabbi, and he's told me that pretty much all commercially
available beers are considered kosher, as they don't produce anything
else with that same equipment (he loves Shmuel (Sam) Adams -- he
"kashers" it by drawing the traditional Lebovich beard and hat on
Sam's face [as a joke, of course]).  His wife drinks AB products.

> 4.  Is there a traditional Jewish style of beer?

No, the kicker in Judaism is wine (which does need rabbinical
supervision to make, as it is used in other religious ceremonies).
Maccabee Brown Ale is very popular in Israel, though.

> 5.  Is there a fee structure for Rabbinical supervision?

I don't know, but, as I said, it is not necessary.  If you'd like, you
should go to a synogogue and look up the local rabbi.  I'm sure he or
she would be happy to answer your questions.

> 6.  Would I need the Rabbi's signature on the label?

No.

> 7.  Is this a bridge too far for the ordinary home brewer?

Well, the biggest hurdle is making sure that YOUR equipment is kosher.
Have any of the vessels or implements (anything that will touch the
beer when it is cooking) been used in non-kosher cooking?  Or has all
of your stuff only been used for beer making?  Have you ever boiled
lobsters in your pot?  Used your spoon for both meat and dairy dishes?

You can kasher (make kosher) your own equipment if you feel it is
necessary.  A pot can be kashered by filling it with water, bringing
the water to a boil, and dropping a rock into it so that the water
overflows -- if you are using an enameled pot, be careful!.  You can
kasher your cooking implements by filling a kosher pot with water,
bringing it to a boil, and dropping in your spoons and the like so
that the water overflows.

	Hope this helps,
	Bill

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From: David Dow <dl4kd at acadia.net>
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 12:57:37 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: New Brew Club

Afternoon one and all,
I am interested in starting a home brew club here in Belfast, Maine am
interested in hearing from brewers in the area to find out what kind of
interest there is.  I am posting fliers in the local brewshops(Yeast coast,
Co-op, Purple foot) and on some of the bulletin boards on the net.  Anyone
interested please feel free to e-mail me.
Also I would like to hear fom any existing clubs in Maine and New
England(and beyond even) to help get ideas and for future get togethers or
whatever.
Any assistance would and will be appreciated.
Tanx,
"Dinky" Dave

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From: Lynn Ashley <73744.3234 at CompuServe.COM>
Date: 04 Jun 96 12:49:59 EDT
Subject: Brewery (RIMS?) Pump

To:  INTERNET:homebrew at aob.org
 
I've received a lot of response from my post in which I asked about the 
suitability of a particular cheap pump for RIMS.  The consensus of numbers 
suggest that it probable is suitable, but I'll leave the final resolution 
of that issue for Dion, et al.
 
So many people wrote to ask where to buy the pump because they just 
wanted something inexpensive to move water and wort around, that I'm 
posting the info:
 
     Surplus Center                800 488 3407   
     1015 West "O" Street
     PO Box 82209
     Lincoln, NE 68501
     
     Circulator Pump, item 2-1045, $13,
     1996 catalog, top left of page 103.
 
I have no affiliation with Surplus Center.  If I did I might try and do 
something about their poor service.  Telephones are usually busy.  If you do 
get through, then it's a long hold.  But the worse part is their very bad 
delivery.  In today's world of instant gratification, their delivery via 
standard UPS to the east coast is often OVER 2 weeks.  I doubt that this is 
due to UPS who normally delivers within ~5 work days even from the west coast.
________
 
NOTE: One of the reasons this pump may be cheap is that the 240VAC it
requires may make it unpopular.  Even if you don't have a 240VAC circuit 
available, it is simple to get the required supply voltage using a step-up 
transformer.  Surplus Center carries some inexpensive step-up transformers.
 
Another factor affecting it price may be that the pump is physically small.  
Its housing is only 1.5" Dia X 2.0" L.
 
Lynn.
________________________________________________________________________
    /     
   /  /\      Lynn Ashley  (lajiao ren)      Arlington, Virginia, USA  
  /__/__\     73744.3234 at compuserve.com      38.904N 77.120W 105mAMSL  
____/____\______________________________________________________________

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From: Mark Garetz <mgaretz at hoptech.com>
Date: Tue, 04 Jun 1996 09:49:40 -0700
Subject: Kosher Beer

Flint Harding writes:

>8. Any beer will not be "kosher for passover" because of the barley and/or
>wheat.  I'm sure your friend will know this.

There is nothing inherent in either wheat or barley that would keep them
from being "kosher for passover".  Matzoh (the traditional unleavened
Passover cracker) is made from primarily wheat and barley is a common
ingredient in many Jewish soup recipes, served sometimes at Passover (but
mostly you get matzohball soup).

What is not kosher for passover is any bread or cake that has been leavened
or in other words allowed to rise.  This is usually caused by yeast, but
leavening by baking powder is out too.

One might assume, therefore, that NO beer can be kosher for passover because
it contains yeast.  Can't say for sure, but my opinion would be that yeast
itself is not a problem because WINE is an integral part of the passover
seder (meal) and we know that is fermented by the actions of yeast the same
as beer.  Using this reasoning, I would assume that beer could be construed
to be kosher for passover.  When the dietary laws were written, they didn't
know yeast existed, and various rabbinical bodies over the years have
interpreted and reinterpreted the laws (dietary and otherwise) to fit the
times.  

The key to producing kosher beer is probably that NONE of the vessels or
utensils used in the process can have ever been used to make or have touched
something that was non-kosher - certain types of gelatin being the most
likely suspects in a brewery.  This is doubly true if you're conecerned
about kosher for passover.  Another tangent is that any utensil or equipment
that has been used to cook dairy products can not be used to prepare meat
dishes and vice versa.  Therefore it follows that if any of your utensils
have been used for dairy and/or meat (but not both) then it doesn't make the
beer non-kosher, but "dairy utensil made beer" could not be consumed with
meat and vice versa.  Utensils used for both are therfore non-kosher and
can't be used at all.

Beer, BTW, would be considered pareve (you may have seen that word on food
products) which means it is neither dairy or meat and can be served with 
either.

All of this pretty esoteric, I realize.  You'll need to talk to your friend
and find out how he/she keeps kosher.  Some are strict - three sets of
plates and utensils - one for dairy, one for meat one for passover.  Some
are not so strict - just don't eat meat with dairy and avoid "traif" foods
like pork and shellfish.  Once you know the level of kosher, you can decide
how to proceed accordingly.  A rabbi's certification is absolutely
unnecessary in any case. 


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From: "FINLEY, BARRY CURTIS" <BFINLEY at MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU>
Date: Tue, 04 Jun 1996 13:48:50 EDT
Subject: Irish brown ale

Hello all,

I would like to get some ideas for brewing an Irish brown ale.
I am attempting to brew all grain soon, but for this brew, I want to
brew mostly extract (I'm trying to teach some people the basics of home-
brewing). The only problem is that I don't even know where to start for
this type of brew. I have never brewed anything other than pale ale and
light bodied brews. According to "The New Complete Jow of Home Brewing",
there are to basic ways of making a brown ale.
1) 5-6 lbs. Light malt extract ; .5 lbs. crystal ; .25 lbs black patent
   and .25 lbs chocolate malt.
2) 5-6 lbs. amber malt extract ; .25 lbs black patent or .25 lbs choc.

I assume that I will use Irish ale yest since I'm brewing an Irish ale.
Any ideas for the boiling hops? I din't want to use much finishing hops
because I don't want the hop character to be too strong (I'm not much on
hop flavor overpowering the malt).
All help is greatly apprecialted.
Barry C. Finley

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From: rlabor at lsumc.edu (LaBorde, Ronald)
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 12:54:28 -0500
Subject: Selling Homebrew

>In HBD 2054, Greg King wrote:
>The owner of a small restaurant/pub wants to enter into an arrangement
>with me where he sells my homebrew, offering it as a house brand.

also:

>From: "David K. Schafer" <DSCHAFER at museum.nysed.gov>
>...how illegal would it be for me to bring my homebrews and sell them..

All stop. No. Do not sell homebrew.  Do not even put the two words sell and
homebrew in the same sentence.  Cease.  Do not continue this train of
thought or it will multiply like an epidemic.  See it's already started!!!!


 Ronald J. La Borde         "Never wrestle with a pig. You'll both
 Metairie, LA                get dirty, and the pig enjoys it."
 


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From: "Dr. Larry Allen" <docsbrew at inland.net>
Date: Tue, 04 Jun 1996 10:58:15 -0700
Subject: What RIMS Stands For...

"R.I.M.S." stands for...

_R_eally..._I_s _M_yBeerRuined, _S_tupid??

Happy to help!!

Doc.
The strength of the Constitution lies entirely 
in the determination of each citizen to defend it.
					Albert Einstein


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From: John Wilkinson <jwilkins at imtn.tpd.dsccc.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 13:07:42 -0500
Subject: Yeast growth

I have been recently reading the CAMRA Homebrewing book and a very nice
read it is, too.  The author stated that oxygen in the wort caused the
yeast to respire and multiply.  From my understanding, what has been said
before in hbd, the yeast will not respire in the presence of fermentable
sugars in the wort.  Is this not correct?  The gist of what the books author
said was fine in that he was pointing out that oxygen was necessary for
yeast growth and should not be present later.  I just wanted to make sure
I really understood the process.  A part I am still not sure of, though,
is what causes the yeast to go into a reproductive phase.  Is it the
presence of oxygen and fermentable sugars?  If this is the case, will they
enter their reproductive stage again if oxygen is introduced later while
there are still fermentable sugars present?  I think A.J. deLange said that
in hbd #2059.  It would seem to make sense.  Also, if the reproductive or
growth stage produces undesirable byproducts then most of us must get them
in our brews as we usually underpitch and aerate the wort.  If reusing
yeast from a previous batch where there is probably an adequate amount,
should we avoid aerating the wort to avoid yeast entering a growth phase and
producing these undesirable byproducts?  I suppose for brews done from
starters we have to aerate our wort and just accept the byproducts as an
adequate amount of yeast from a starter seems unlikely.  I usually begin
my starter with 8 oz. of 1.020 wort, add a pint of 1.040 a couple of days
later and then a quart of 1.040 a couple of days later.  I am never sure
if the yeast has settled out at each addition so do not know whether to
decant the liquid before the new addition of wort.  It would seem that it
should be decanted before pitching, though.  My three step starters never
seem to have what looks to me to be enough yeast for me to pitch without
aerating the wort.  I try to aerate the wort for the starter by pouring
back and forth several times and then shaking the hell out of the jar after
adding.  I am thinking of buying an oxygen bottle so I can be sure I have
enough O2 in solution.  I understand the yeast clear the O2 from the wort
in short order but how long should it take for them to complete what growth
they are going to have and settle out?  How long should I wait after each
step to be safe in decanting the liquid.  Or should I even worry until
time to pitch?

In another vein, the author of the CAMRA book also said to store hops in
a cold dark place but to not freeze them.  I keep my hops in purged Mason
jars in the freezer.  Am I screwing up?  Could his advice apply only to fresh
hops?  I use plugs and pellets.

In still another vein, my brewing water is very soft and low ph.  I don't
see that I would need added calcium for acidification since the water is
already acidic but do I need it for break formation and for the yeast?  If so,
won't the mash be acidified even more?  Will adding calcium carbonate add
the required (if any) calcium and raise the ph?  For my pilsners, I suppose
my water should be fine as is but I wonder about the calcium thing and the
break.  Since the water in Pilzen (sp?) is reputed to be quite soft, I guess
I should be o.k.  But what about the acidity?
Also, when brewing ales, I suppose I would need gypsum for the sulphate but
wouldn't that lower the ph unacceptably?  It seems most things I read about
water treatment is for hard, high ph water, just the opposite of mine.

Lots of questions, eh?  Sorry for the use of bandwidth but these things
have been puzzling me.

Thanks,

John Wilkinson

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From: Ken Schramm <SchramK at wcresa.k12.mi.us>
Date: Fri, 31 May 1996 10:12:22 -0400
Subject: Mazer Cup Entries Accepted At NHC

This is just a reminder to anyone who is or knows someone who is
attending the National Homebrewers Conference in New Orleans.  Dan
McConnell and Ken Schramm are attending and WILL BE ACCEPTING ENTRIES
THERE.  Save yourself shipping and guarantee that your meads will be
treated with the loving UPRIGHT care they so richly deserve.  Just
look us up at the hotel, and we'll make the appropriate arrangements.

Entry forms will be available at the conference, so just get them
meads there (and your entry fee of $6.00 per), and we'll take 'em
home like they were our kids sleeping in the back seat.


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From: genitom at nyslgti.gen.ny.us (Michael A. Genito)
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 15:56:55 -0400
Subject: RE: Washing Yeast (Thompson HBD2059)

In HBD2059 Greg Thompson asked about washing yeast. Greg, it sounds like
you're not washing it enough. Here's how I do it:

1. Prepare 3 one qt mason jars with lids by filling each half way with
water. Place the jars in a canning pot (like your brewpot), filling the
brewpot with about 2 inches of water. Lay the lids (do not screw them on) on
top of the jars, and bring the pot with jars and water to a boil. Simmer
with lid on pot for 15-20 mins. Let this cool, and when cool enough to
handle, screw the lids on the jars. Within minutes, they will seal. Let them
cool to room temp. You now have 3 sealed one-half full mason jars of
sanitized water.

2. After siphoning, open one of the jars and pour the water into your
bucket. Swish it around until all the settled yeast, hops, etc. are loose
and pour this back into your now-empty mason jar. Don't worry that you can't
get all the slurry into the jar. Put the lid on the jar and shake well. Let
sit 10-15 minutes - you will now note a separation of a somewhat light
greenish milky water and darker greenish trub at the bottom.

3. Open jar #2 and pour off the lighter liquid from jar #1 into jar #2.
Shake again. Wait again 10-15 minutes.

4. Open jar #3 and pour off the lighter liquid from jar #2 into jar #3.
Shake well. Place this jar in your fridge for 3-5 days.

5. After 3-5 days, your jar will have 85-90 percent what appears to be beer
(amber-brown liquid), a layer of white (yeast), and some minimal trub
(green). I usually, for the sake of space, pour off the beer and pour the
yeast/trub into a smaller jar with some cooled boiled water. I have put this
in the fridge for three months and reused it with great results.

Another recent post stated that you could simply retrieve the trub and store
it for re-use within a few weeks. This is probably true, but from what I've
read, the washing removes the heavier particles from the yeast, allowing the
yeast to survive longer.

Also don't worry that you appear to end up with only a few ounces of yeast.
Mine become active within 6 - 12 hours.

BTW, I've also found that Wyeast 1056, when washed and reused, appears to
have higher flocculation resulting in a clearer beer. 

Happy brewing!
Michael A. Genito, City Comptroller
City of Rye, 1051 Boston Post Road, Rye, NY 10580 USA
TEL:(914)967-7302/FAX:(914)967-4604


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From: "Tracy Aquilla" <aquilla at salus.med.uvm.edu>
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 96 16:03:49 CDT
Subject: Re: that last 10%

In Digest 2059:
Bill Giffin <billg at maine.com> wrote:
>Tracy says:
>>Please explain HOW. It seems to me that getting 10% of additional extract
>>does little more than save a few pennies. Exactly how does that improve the
>>beer?
>
>I honestly don't know how!  I just know that it does from personal
>observation.  Beer with higher extraction rates have scored better and won
>more frequently in competitions then beer brewed to the same recipe that had
>slightly lower extraction rates.

I think the most likely explanation for your observation is simple
coincidence. In fact, it's quite likely that the differences you've observed
in extraction efficiency are not significant at a commonly accepted level of
statistical confidence (eg. 95%), indicating a high probability of random
correlation between unrelated variables. If higher extraction rates
invariably produced higher quality beer, I'm certain this observation would
have been previously reported in the brewing literature, yet I've never come
across such a reference. Another possibility stems from 'beer judge bias'.
Bigger beers tend to win in competitions. Most experienced brewers know this
and use it to advantage when brewing beers for competitions. I don't doubt
the fact that the beers that you say did better in competitions tasted
better, but I do doubt that this can be attributed to increased extraction
efficiency with any confidence. There's more to making great beer than just
squeezing every last drop of sugar from the malt. The process used is
extremely important, particularly for certain specific beer styles.

>I have helped a number of brewers increase
>their extraction rate by improving the process that they use to brew all
>grain beer.  The quality of their beer improved along with the extraction
>rate.

Aha! It's highly probable that your observation can be attributed to
"improving the process" (i.e. extraction rate increased along with improved
beer quality). The fact that the two events are correlated does not indicate
causation. For example, if I use the same ingredients for two batches of
doppelbock, but mash one using a step infusion program and the other using a
triple decoction (i.e. same recipe, different processes), the
decoction-mashed beer tastes better (otherwise, why bother?). Sometimes the
extraction rate is slightly increased as well, as a result of the long,
intensive decoction mashing program. In this case, the increased extract is
a bonus; the improvement in flavor is due to the formation of melanoidins
during boiling of the decoctions, not an increase in extraction efficiency.
This is demonstrated by the fact that even in decoction-mashed beers which
didn't have a higher extraction efficiency, the distinctive malty aromas and
flavors are obviously present.

>I have searched for some substantiation in the brewing books that I have and
>have only found a few clues to why better extraction gives better beer.  It

Please cite the source of this information. I have yet to see any
publication which indicates that better extraction gives better beer, and a
few clues are better than no clues at all!

>One thing that I came across was that about 30% of the husk material makes
>it into the wort.  Another bit stated that if the husk fraction of the malt
>were removed from the grist the beer would be insipid.  The book didn't know
>why.

In which book did you find this information, please?  

>It would be nice if we were able to provide a nice clean scientific reason
>for everything that happens in the brewing process,  but their are many
>thing that have resisted expaination and probally will continue to do so.

True, to some extent, but I don't think that extraction is one of those
elusive mysteries of the brewers art. While I agree that there isn't a
viable scientific explanation for everything, the volume of scientific
literature pertaining to the brewing process is truly immense, and most of
the details of the physical process of extraction are understood quite well
(and have been for quite some time). I submit that there are good
explanations available for the vast majority of brewing processes which
affect malt flavor and that through diligent scientific inquiry and
subsequent discussion, we can obtain answers to the rest of our questions as
well. Welcome to the 21st century!
Tracy


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From: "Gregory, Guy J." <GGRE461 at eroerm1.ecy.wa.gov>
Date: Tue, 04 Jun 96 13:29:00 PDT
Subject: "Selling" Homebrew for charity

David Schafer   (dschafer at museum.nysed.gov) asks in HBD 2059

"My wife is performing in a concert this weekend, and in order to raise 
extra
money they are having a cash bar afterward.  ... each musician is suppose to 
bring a bottle to donate to the bar... Anyway, how illegal would it be for 
me to bring my homebrews and sell them? "

How illegal does it need to be?  I've provided homebrew for charity purposes 
for a couple of organizations fund-raisers, and here's how I do it.  With 
bottled beer, I go and get a skanky old cooler at some garage sale, and 
raffle off the cooler, noting clearly that the hombrew is free and comes 
with the cooler.  Money donated to the cause.  More successful is the keg 
system.  I sell the cups, and note that with a cup, free homebrew is 
available.  Without a cup, you're drinking Bud, baby.  Price?  Whatever the 
traffic will bear, usually 2-5 bucks for our relatively broke conservation 
crowd out here.
The first year was rough, not too many takers, but this last year a bottle 
of porter and truly ugly cooler took 100 bucks at auction, and my latest rye 
sold 75 bucks (3 buck cups) all money donated to fish and wildlife habitat 
conservation. 5 gallons gone in 2 hours.   I felt good twice, once because 
the money went for a good cause, and again because people I'd never met 
liked my beer.
We all won.

In your situation, sell the bottle.  Put it in a swing-top or some other 
distinctive bottle, and sell it, noting clearly the homebrew is free. That 
way nobody gets in trouble.

cheers
Guy
GuyG4 at aol.com
       

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From: bkowalski at instmail.oyo.com (Bill Kowalski)
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 15:17:25 +0000
Subject: re: transition to all grain

Chris Cooper asks for feedback on his partial mash process which he describes:
>
>First we put a large grain bag in the keg and clipped it to the
>rim so that the bag was suspended about 6"-8" above the keg bottom
>and added 7 pounds of grain (crystal and American 2-row) and enough
>water to just cover the grains.      Next, with the burner the
>temperature was brougth to 125^F an allowed to stabilize there for
>30 minutes.  The temperature was raised to 160^F for 30 minutes
>(the burner was cycled whenever the temperature dropped to 155^F).
>Finally the temperature was raised to 180^F for 10 minutes.  The grain
>bag was then unclipped from the keg rim, gathered, and raise above
>the wort level and allowed to drain for about 5 minutes.  At the same
>time the burner was turned on and addittional extract and water was
>added to make up the full desired volume plus 1 gallon extra to be
>lost  during the 60 minute full boil.

A saccharification rest at 155-160F is (at best) at the upper limit of the
saccharification temperature range, and will produce a very high ratio of
unfermentables to fermentables. Additionally, conversion at these
temperatures requires a much longer period than at cooler temps (say 150F),
so I don't think a 30 minute rest is going to do the job. Even if you did
get full conversion, you're leaving quite a bit of sugars in the grain by
just lifting the grain bag out of the mash pot and letting the mash liquid
drain. You need to have some kind of system where you run hot water (~170F)
through the grain bed in order to "rinse" the sugars from the grain. If you
intend to progress to all-grain brewing, my advice is to build a sparge tun
(I think that the cheapest and easisest is the "zapap" described in
Papazians  book).

Chris' post got me thinking about a question that has been on my mind for a
while now: When we make high gravity beers, we usually take the first
runnings from the mash for the high gravity beer, and then either use
subsequent runnings for a "small" beer or just discard the remaining sugars
with the grain. My question is why don't we just keep recirculating the
first runnings until all the soluble sugars are "rinsed" from the grain? The
first runnings are obviously not saturated with sugars (or else we wouldn't
be able to perform concentrated boils with malt extract) so we should still
be able to dissolve additional sugars into these runnings. I guess the
easiest way to answer this question would be just to try it and see what
happens, but if anyone has any ideas or insights, I'd love to hear them.

Bill Kowalski
Houston, TX


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From: charlie at globes.com (Charlie Teall)
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 14:27:50 -0700
Subject: For Sale Cheap!

Hi

I've got some great stuff that I have to sell in the SF Bay Area.  I need to
sell this by Friday 6/7 if possible:

1. One 5-foot refridgerator with a tap on the front door.  Works perfect, very
   clean, very quiet.  $75

2. Two 5-gallon soda kegs, all the fittings, no leaks.  $30 for both.

3. One dual-guage regulator, almost new, very clean.  $40

4. One CO2 tank, no leaks, almost full.  $45

These prices are really just a guess, so if I'm asking too much, feel free to
make me a more reasonable offer.  I'm not selling these to get rich (I'm just
moving, and I don't have the room anymore) but I should still get at least as
much as the local homebrew supply store would give me.

You can email me at either of these addresses:

   work charlie at globes.com
   home cteall at aol.com

or feel free to call me:

   home (415) 967-5360 (before 9pm, please!)
   work (408) 370-2800 x121

Thanks!

Charlie Teall


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From: pbabcock at ford.com
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 16:40:41 -0500
Subject: The Home Brew Rat

> From: Ulick Stafford <ulick at indigo.ie>
> Subject: The Porter House in Dublin

> The building is on a few levels 
> with toilets and fermenters visible through a window downstairs. 

Are the toilets in the same room with the fermenters?  Can you see the
brewers doing their business there?

> Overall, the beers were quite good and will improve when they get used to 
> the tastes of the customers. 

All asinine jokes aside, this sounds great.  One more reason to visit 
Ireland, as if I needed another.

> From: Mark Dimke <dimke at montana.campus.mci.net>
> Subject: Cheep Grain Source

As I understand it, you can contact a local feed store.  Chicken 
feed is, apparently, rather <ahem> inexpensive.

> From: Hot Rod <hotrod at iwanna.cum>
> Subject: Looking for Heather!
> 
> I would like to brew a heather ale, but cannot find it anywhere. If any one 
> knows where I may purchace heather

I thought she got married and didn't do stuff like that anymore.  I hear
that ginger is stil readily available.

I think that "thistle" is the same plant, or nearly so, as Heather.  Not
sure.

> From: PivoPrince at aol.com
> Subject: A Belgian beer laugh
> 
> I'm not quite sure how to describe this, but for a laugh about Belgian
> Abbey-style beers brewed in Kokomo, Indiana (!) call, toll-free
> 1-800-954-0064. It's an automated message and they're not selling anything,
> but boy is it strange..........

Dirty bastard.  I drove all the way to Kokomo in excitement.  It's just a
damned Bowling Alley at that location.  The best beer they have on tap is
Killian's Red.

Russell Mast
copyright 1996 Scott Abene

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From: Mary Towle <MTOWLE at mhz.com>
Date: Tue, 04 Jun 1996 16:03:36 -0700
Subject: When does your beer become beer?

My boyfriend and I began brewing beer early this year.  The cost and
unavailablility of good beer (except at some of the few excellent
microbreweries) in UTAH pushed us into doing it.  We have had great
success so far, but we have an ongoing dispute.

In determining the age of your beer, when is ground zero?  Or, when
does your beer become beer?  I won't say which one of us holds which
opinion, in case there is a tendency to gender bias.  Here are the differing
opinions we have:

- - - - One of us says it is beer as soon as you pitch the yeast.

- - - - The other of us says it is beer when it has finished
conditioning/carbonating...about a week or so after bottling.

What does the homebrewing public have to say about it?

MT


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From: TPuskar at aol.com
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 20:23:59 -0400
Subject: Muddy brew

I've been brewing almost 3 years and doing all grains about a year.  I had a
really strange brew experience the last batch and would welcome comments.

I made an all grain batch to use as my first kegged batch.  I wanted a simple
beer just in case something didn't work out and I ruined it in the kegging
process.  The grain bill was:  8 lb of two row, 0.75 lb of crystal 60 and 0.5
lb of Munich.  The mash, sparge and boil went great and I was beginning to
think I got this all grain thing down pat!  I used 2oz of Hallertau pellets
(60 min and 15 min).  I collected about 7 gallons from the sparge and boiled
it down to 5 gallons.  I used a CF chiller and cooled the batch within 10
minutes.  Primary fermentation was at about 68 F for a week in glass.
 Secondary was at about 55 F (thanks to Ken Schwartz's chiller box) in glass
for a week.

Now, here's the problem.  The batch looks like muddy water!  The OG was 1.052
and after a week it was 1.019.  It dropped to 1.012 after a week in the
secondary.  Once in the fermenter it always looked muddy and never really
cleared.  I used one pack of dry ale yeast since I didn't have time to make a
starter.

I figure my problem could be one of several things:

1.  When I chilled the batch, I adjusted the flow of both cooling water and
wort so the wort cooled to about 70F.  It ran into the chiller quite clear
but came out cloudy.  I think maybe I din't precipitate the cold break enough
and instead of dropping out in the fermenter it just stayed as a sort of
emulsion.

2.  The yeast is a really lousy flocculator and is just staying in
suspension.

3.  The yeast is contaminated and I have bacterial growth.  I kinda doubt
this since the batch has no strange odor or flavor.  Its not the best batch I
ever made, but it's not really that bad.

4.  The beer gods were angry with me on brewing day.

BTW, I kegged the batch and haven't had any trouble with that part so far.
 Problem is that dispensing it makes it look even worse.  That's why I think
"1" is the most probable problem.

Oh yeah, I did a single infusion with the strike water at about 170 and
setlling in to about 155 for an hour.  No protein rest.

I'd appreciat any comments either in HBD or private Email.

Thanks to anyone who responds.
Tom Puskar

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From: Kirk R Fleming <flemingk at usa.net>
Date: Tue, 04 Jun 1996 17:59:06 +0100
Subject: The Infusion in RIMS

In #2059 KennyEddy at aol.com said:

> Not being RIMS-ready just yet, I'm speculating here, but doesn't anyone
> "mash-in" at the first rest temp, even with RIMS, in which case you WOULD be
> infusing??  Or is it always started with tap/room temp water?

Either way, I think the point is that temperature *control* is not done with
hot liquor infusions.  I would assume most RIMS users try to do an initial
mash-in with water at an appropriate strike temperature (or lower) for the
first rest, but thereafter no water is added.

KRF Colorado Springs

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From: "Keith Royster" <keith.royster at ponyexpress.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 20:39:47 +0500
Subject: RIMS too complicated

Bill Giffin <billg at maine.com> says:

> RIMS is far too complicated for my taste.  Give me a couple of
> pots and a burner I without much bother and six or so hours will
> brew a very pleasant beer in just about any style.
                               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Perhaps. But I'll have had the enjoyment of building my RIMS, I'll be
done sooner and with much less effort, especially if you're brewing
a style that calls for a stepped infusion mash or a decoction mash.
And I'll also be able to reproduce it much more accurately. 

Michael T. Bell <mikeb at flash.net> then asks:

> I just got my mits on the Great Grains issue and happened across
> one of the articles on RIMS.  I'm designing mine now so this caught
> my attenton.  It mentions using an in-line, immersion-type element
> to heat the recirculating wort.  Does anybody have any practical
> experience with this? I would tend to believe that it may
> carmalize the wort unless element temps were kept pretty low.  The
> one I found was 1000 wats, adjustalbe from I believe 110-190F, with
> a wat density of 31. 

Some experience here, although I'm still sorta new at this RIMS
thing.  Here's my data point.  My (hot water) heating element is
electrical, about 8" long, and rated at 1500W/120V.  It's actually
sorta under-powered, as I think it takes me a bit longer than normal
to boost my mashing temps.  One to 1.5 degrees F per minute is
average, but mine takes a bit longer.  I wonder if a longer element
would solve this, as opposed more power.  Also, I've noticed only
very small delta-Ts across my heating element (2oF).  At any rate, I
think the answer to you question is, No, you shouldn't have to worry
about scortching your wort or denaturing your enzymes with the unit 
you describe." 

Keith Royster - Keith.Royster at ponyexpress.com
 at your.service - http://dezines.com/ at your.service
 Web Services - Starting at just $60 per YEAR!
  Voice & Fax - (704) 663-1098

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From: "Robert A. Uhl" <ruhl at odin.cair.du.edu>
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 19:17:16 -0600 (MDT)
Subject: Re: When does your beer become beer?

On Tue, 4 Jun 1996, Homebrew Digest REQUEST Address Only wrote:

> In determining the age of your beer, when is ground zero?  Or, when
> does your beer become beer?  I won't say which one of us holds which
> opinion, in case there is a tendency to gender bias.  Here are the differing
> opinions we have:

Heh.  After all is said and done, I'd like to see if there _is_ any
gender bias.

> - - - One of us says it is beer as soon as you pitch the yeast.

Wrongo.  At the moment of pitching, one has a 5 gallon drum of really
nasty sweet stuff.  This is known as wort...

> - - - The other of us says it is beer when it has finished
> conditioning/carbonating...about a week or so after bottling.

Right here.  Except that a week is a tad on the short side.  I remain

Yours,
Robert Uhl

Chief Programmer,
CR Systems


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From: beernote at realbeer.com (Mike Urseth)
Date: Tue, 4 Jun 1996 20:22:34 -0600
Subject: Homebrew Donations

>From: "David K. Schafer" <DSCHAFER at museum.nysed.gov>
>Date: Mon, 3 Jun 1996 11:08:33 EDT
>Subject: 1) Ale yeast, 2) selling homebrews???
>
>Second question, and on a totally different track.  My wife is
>performing in a concert this weekend, and in order to raise extra
>money they are having a cash bar afterward.  The catch is that
>each musician is suppose to bring a bottle to donate to the bar
>(does the conductor get the leftovers???).  Anyway, how illegal
>would it be for me to bring my homebrews and sell them.  I'm sure
>the alcohol, tobacco and firearms folk would not be thrilled, but
>this is a church-social-level event for a non-profit
>organization.  One shot deal, and I'm not making a business of
>it.  Will I be arrested for even suggesting such a thing?  Should
>I call the stuff Freemen Ranch Ale?  Should I just bottle the stuff
>in old Bud bottles?  Or should I just go out and buy a bottle of
>scotch for our contribution?

We all know that you would NEVER sell your homebrews. Illegal. Tut tut. But
what could it hurt for you to DONATE a few bottles to the charitable
organization. Someone who wanted to sample them could DONATE some money to
the charity.

Now let's be clear here, I'm no lawyer. (No applause, please.) But let's
hope that the powers that be have better things to do.

Mike Urseth
Editor & Publisher
Midwest Beer Notes
339 Sixth Avenue
Clayton, WI  54004
715-948-2990 ph.
715-948-2981 fax
e-mail:  beernote at realbeer.com



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