Homebrew Digest Friday, 30 August 1996 Number 2168
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FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Shawn Steele, Digest Janitor
Thanks to Rob Gardner for making the digest happen!
Contents:
resistance (Electrical Safety 101) ((Dick Dunn))
Summer Lightning ("Dr. Gillian Grafton")
[none] (dyacavone at sprintmail.com)
Sorghum Beer Challenge (Michel Vandenplas)
??? (Schwab_Bryan at CCMAIL.ncsc.navy.mil)
Re: Strange yeast question (Bill Rust)
CD-ROM ((BRIAN WURST))
Request for Recipes: Bigfoot Barleywine and Harpoon IPA (Steven W. Schultz )
Cc: WRICHARD at ALOHA.intel.com ((Ken ))
Copy of: Pumpkin,Newbie, ("David R. Burley")
Copyrights (John Penn)
HSA ("David R. Burley")
glow-in-the-dark beer (lheavner at tcmail.frco.com)
Milk of Sulfatia / Those Dreary Engineers (KennyEddy at aol.com)
Cleanup Question from a Newbie (Jeff Ray)
UV Radiation Sanitizing ("Toler, Duffy L.")
BI rtm (Scott Dornseif)
BI rtm (Scott Dornseif)
YMhbr (Scott Dornseif)
Re: Copyrights online, etc. etc. etc. (Cory Wright)
Re: Heated Wyeast storage, dry hopping (Cory Wright)
plumbing supply ("Ray Robert")
RE: 15.5 barrels (mikehu at lmc.com)
chillin' ((John W. Carpenter))
Cheap Stainless (galley at hou.sperry-sun.com)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: rcd at raven.talisman.com (Dick Dunn)
Date: 30 Aug 96 00:23:28 MDT (Fri)
Subject: resistance (Electrical Safety 101)
RANDY ERICKSON <RANDYE at mid.org> wrote, about heating elements...
[reference: heating element 5500W at 240V]
> The element has an AC resistance due to its design and material
> properties, independant of voltage (Assuming pure resistance, which is
> close enough in this example).
Assuming that by "pure resistance" you mean non-reactive, OK, but that's
too simplistic. Heating elements are not "pure resistance" independent of
voltage.
You can see this dramatically with a "heating element" that gets very hot--
e.g., a light bulb. A 60-watt 120-volt bulb has a cold resistance of about
18 ohms, but if you crank that through the ol' P = v^2 / r, you come up
with 800 watts! In fact, a 60-watt bulb *does* draw more than 10x its
rated power when you first turn it on...but that makes it heat up, and the
heat increases the resistance, and the increased resistance decreases the
power.
Now, a brewing heating element doesn't get anywhere near the temp of the
filament of a light bulb, but there's still a non-negligible change in the
resistance as it heats up, and there is an implication here.
[excerpting a bunch]
>...In this example Resistance equals Voltage divided by current
> or 10.5 Ohms. Power also equals Current squared times resistance, in
> this case 5500 Watts.
>
> If you connected this element to 120 V, the resistance would not change,
> it would still be 10.5 Ohms...
This is wrong, because at 120 V the element will not get up to the opera-
ting temperature implied by the power consumption at 240 V. Randy's cal-
culation of 1/4 as much power at 120 V as at 240 V is correct for the ideal
resistor, but for a heating element it will be somewhat higher than 1/4.
Since 1/4 of 5500W is 1375W, this moves the numbers into the realm where
you want to start to think carefully. A 15-amp 120V circuit is, in
principle, good for 1800W, and it would be prudent not to get right on top
of that. You'll probably be over 1500W. (Howzabout somebody take one of
those 5500W elements and measure the cold resistance?? That will give us
the other endpoint.) So if you are on a 15A circuit, you want to be sure
that your wiring is healthy and you're not trying to run much else on the
same circuit.
In almost all normal cases, there's no dire danger...it's no worse than
when you start the coffeepot and the toaster on the same circuit at the
same time, and it pops a breaker. There are safety nets; you just want to
stay out of 'em.
> Basically most home panels are rated for 100 A or more and the first line
> of protection is the fuse on the transformer primary which is sized to
> allow 150 percent overload or so...
Few homes are on their own transformers. The first line of protection is
the per-circuit breaker (15 or 20 A) which is protecting the wiring to the
outlet. Second line of protection is the 100A-or-more mains breaker; if
that pops you have screwed up big-time or you had a bad single-circuit
breaker. Don't even think about how big a screwup it takes to hit the
transformer.
- ---
Dick Dunn rcd at talisman.com Boulder County, Colorado USA
...Too bad about Boulder.
Return to table of contents
From: "Dr. Gillian Grafton" <GRAFTONG at novell2.bham.ac.uk>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 10:08:51 +0000
Subject: Summer Lightning
Someone wrote (apologies, I can't remember your name, I was too free
with the delete button):
> The second question: Has anyone out there tasted Dunce's Summer
> Lightning? My wife and I had some in Salisbury and we really liked
> it. As I recall, it had a really interesting honey-ish flavor that
> was complemented by a citrusy hop aftertaste. I'm thinking of using
> a pretty standard Pale Ale malt bill but substituting 1 LB honey
> malt for some of the British two-row and maybe chucking in a little
> biscuit for good measure. Any suggestions?
First of all, Summer Lightning is by the Hop Back Brewery and not
Bunce's (although they are very close to each other, it's an easy
mistake to make). Second, it's my favourite beer of all time, and
readers of the UK Homebrew digest will know of my long term quest to
clone this beer. Last night I racked 5 gallons of my latest version
which has to be the closest I have ever got. The recipe I used is
posted on the UK Homebrew web site:
http://www.breworld.com/homebrew/
Use version two, and make the following changes. Use 25 g Goldings
for the full boil, 15 g Goldings for the last 5 (NOT 15) minutes, and
10 g Goldings to dry hop. I used the yeast from bottle conditioned
Summer Lightning (which Hop Back are now exporting to the USA) in
preference to the Wyeast German. Note that the recipe is for UK
gallons and not US gallons.
Enjoy.
Gillian
//=\ Dr. Gillian Grafton
\=// Centre for Clinical Research in Immunology and Signalling
//=\ University of Birmingham
\=// Birmingham B15 2TT, UK
//=\ Email: GraftonG at novell2.bham.ac.uk
\=// WWW: http://sun1.bham.ac.uk/graftong/
Return to table of contents
From: dyacavone at sprintmail.com
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 03:01:49 -0700
Subject: [none]
Return to table of contents
From: Michel Vandenplas <mvdp at maties.sun.ac.za>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 96 14:34 +0200
Subject: Sorghum Beer Challenge
As a result of the recent discussion on sorghum beer in the Digest and
private email (sorry I lost one, please resend) I've decided on a novel way
of resolving the issue through a challenge. It's also time for me to give
back something to the HBD after all I've taken over the years. The challenge
works in the following manner:
1. Bill Ridgely and Terry Tegner post their sorghum
beer recipes and discussions thereof to the HBD.
2. I send sorghum malt to the first 3 takers of the
challenge. Sorry, limited quantities only,
international mail is expensive. (Send name and
postal address via private email.)
3. These folk brew a batch of sorghum beer. Drink it over
a period of days (punishment or pleasure depending on
your point of view). Finally, they post a description,
etc. of the beer to the HBD for discussion.
The only possible problem that I can foresee could be with custom clearance
of the malt by the 3 challenge takers. Any opinions? More importantly, any
takers? Russel you may get your wish after all.
Bill? Terry? We're waiting :-)
Michel Vandenplas (email: mvdp at maties.sun.ac.za)
Amateur Brewing Association, Cape Town, South Africa
Return to table of contents
From: Schwab_Bryan at CCMAIL.ncsc.navy.mil
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 96 07:42:38 CDT
Subject: ???
Greeetings fellow Brewers, At the risk of appearing or sounding Anal
Retentive I submitt the following question which I know has been
responded to several times but I can't remember.
What are the chances of having an infected batch of Ale if one sees
clumps of what appears to be white moldy blotches on top of the ale in
its secondary??
The other night I racked over a 5 gal batch and struggled through
several stuck siphons, got so frustrated I ended up quitting and
settlin' for 4 gallons and now I have these clumps of white mold on
the top of the Ale.
Any suggestions to what it may be? I did during each re-siphon
process "dunk" the hose and racking cane into boiling water
momentarily follwed by a cold water rinse B4 re-introducing into the
primary.
I'd hate to dump this batch of Red Ale( Red as in Blood)which started
out at 1.062 and has dropped down to 1.010.
Thanks
Bryan
Schwab_Bryan at ccmail.ncsc.navy.mil
Return to table of contents
From: Bill Rust <wrust at csc.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 96 08:49 EDT
Subject: Re: Strange yeast question
Greetings Brewmeisters,
John Posing writes:
>moving them, I noticed that yeast had clung to one side of each bottle
>and that it was always oriented in the same direction, NE. Can someone
>explain why?
I believe that if it were Spruce beer and the yeast clings to the north side
of the bottle that you have a moss infection.
Skol.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
| Without question, the greatest invention
Bill Rust | in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I
Master Brewer | grant you that the wheel was also a fine
Jack Pine Savage Brewery | invention, but the wheel does not go
http://www.i1.net/~wrust | nearly as well with pizza. - DAVE BARRY
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Return to table of contents
From: brian.wurst at aquila.com (BRIAN WURST)
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 96 07:52:00 -0600
Subject: CD-ROM
Greetings from the (current) Focus of Evil in the Homebrew World:
It has been with much amazement (and amusement) that I have read the
posts about copyrights and the HBD. People so worried that their own
words, like "I pitched a Wyeast smak-pak straight into my barley wine
and its been three days and no krausen....is my beer ruined?" could
actually make people money.
At the request of my wife (an attorney) I must now stand up and state
that I am not "the guy" who put the HBD on CD-ROM. I "confessed" to it
just to view the righteous indignation of those who believe such a disk
exists.
What a view!
Al e-mail's me a private threat to sue.
Others post their 2 cents to the HBD....Shawn posts he has included a
copyright notice in the HBD. Does that mean Al can drop *his* copyright
notice? Bets are he won't. Jethro Gump weighs in with his opinions,
ending with"...bring on the lawyers!" Remember, calling your attorney
racks up billable time and he/she isn't going to forget when they find
out I was pulling your leg. Kirk Fleming almost kinda defends the CD
maker. Russell Mast doesn't bite, but chastises everyone for not taking
it off-line. Randy Erickson was the only person to actually seek more
information before forming an opinion...He's probably laughing at all
these responses like I am.
Everyone, Pay Attention!
Have you ever seen an advertisement for such a product?
Have you ever seen the product?
Do you have firsthand knowledge of anyone buying such a disk?
If you answered no to the three questions above, then chances are THE
DAMN THING DOES NOT EXIST! Quitcherbitchin!
Just what is the probability that a person who has a CD-ROM drive
would not have access to an HBD archive? Of that tiny minority, how
many are going to buy this disk rather than get on the internet? Small
enough to approach zero? That's what I think. Nobody's making any money
off the HBD, except those who have improved their brewing skills to the
point of going pro...and that ain't copyright infringement!
Al has good brewing advice in general so I can't call him a lunatic, but
his crusade against an imaginary injustice wears thin. A copyright
notice on his advice just intimidates novices and gives his advice "airs
of legitimacy". And if y'all are so concerned about copyrights, then
why are you quoting from DeClerck, Richman, Foster, Zymurgy, Brewing
Techniques, etc. Did you get express permission from the authors of
those texts to quote from them? Hypocrisy, I tell ya.
It's all been loads of fun but it should stop now. If ya wanna continue
whining about this, lets go offline....
Brian Wurst (brian.wurst at aquila.com)
"Nature has formed you, desire has trained you, fortune has preserved
you for this insanity." -Cicero
Return to table of contents
From: Steven W. Schultz <swschult at cbdcom.apgea.army.mil>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 96 9:09:49 EDT
Subject: Request for Recipes: Bigfoot Barleywine and Harpoon IPA
In the past year or so, my local liquor store has not had Bigfoot
Barlewine in stock :-( Yesterday I asked the owner about that, and he said
it was no longer being distributed "out east," although he wasn't sure
why. Since Maryland is nearly as far "east" as you can get in this country,
I am now assuming the worst, which is that the non-availability of Bigfoot
will continue... sigh.
>> Anyone who has one, please provide me a recipe for a Bigfoot clone. <<
^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^
I sampled Harpoon IPA this week for the first time, and it was fine--
well-hopped, great flavor, and (to me) balanced. I'm not sure if it is
true to style or not, but I like it. If anyone has a recipe for a clone
of this stuff, please send it.
Thanks in advance.
Steve Schultz
Abingdon, Maryland
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From: kbjohns at escape.com (Ken )
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 09:23:31 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Cc: WRICHARD at ALOHA.intel.com
Bill Richard wrote
>I have always brewed with an enameled brewpot and recently bought a
>stainless steel brewpot. The problem is this: now when I make a batch of beer
>it seems to have a metallic flavor to it. Is this because of the stainless?
>The pot didn't cost alot ($25), is it "cheap" stainless? What should I do to
>prevent this problem in the future?
A low cost brew pot has a very thin bottom. Since stainless has a fairly
poor heat transfer, a thin pot will often scorch. I suspect this is
contributing to the taste in you beer. You are better off staying with
enamel than cheap stainless. Good stainless pots cost over a hundred for 10
gal.
Ken
Precision Brewing Systems URL http://www.wp.com/HOSI/pbscat.html
East Coast Brewing supply URL
http://virtumall.com/EastCoastBrewing/ECBMain.html
Return to table of contents
From: "David R. Burley" <103164.3202 at CompuServe.COM>
Date: 30 Aug 96 09:21:31 EDT
Subject: Copy of: Pumpkin,Newbie,
SHAWN,
DID YOU READ THIS PART 2 MESSAGE. IT SHOULD HAVE GONE AT THE SAME TIME AS THE
OTHER MANGLED MESSAGE IT WAS SENT VIA E-MAIL WITH PART 1 ATTACHED AS A WP FILE.
THERE SHOULD BE THIS PART 2 WHICH ENDS WITH MY NAME AND A PART 1 ALSO ENDING
WITH MY NAME, WHICH I WILL ALSO SEND SEPARATELY TO YOU TO SEE IF IT ARRIVES
WITHOUT MANGLING.
DAVE BURLEY
- ---------- Forwarded Message ----------
From: David R. Burley, 103164,3202
TO: Shawn Steele Submissions, INTERNET:homebrew at aob.org
DATE: 8/29/96 4:30 PM
RE: Copy of: Pumpkin,Newbie,
Brewsters:
Part 2
AlK asks about the source of the taste of various salts. On the subject of
bitterness arising from the metal ion and/or the sulphate. In the absence of
absolute knowledge or a professional quote, I would vote for both, since I have
read it a number of times. I do know metal ions can impart bitterness, since I
am too familiar with iron and manganese in water ( although at near neutral it
could be the hydroxides - see below). Sodium chloride has a hot taste and is
reputed to impart a smoothing effect on beers. Does this mean that sodium is
not bitter? I guess so.
I speculate below:
In Chemistry 101 we learn that basic things are bitter and acidic things are
sour. This was a way chemists evaluated new compounds -(sometimes to their
detriment if their research subject was lead, mercury or arsenic compounds.
ergo
"sugar of lead" - i think it is lead acetate). So what is important in
determining sour or bitter when a salt dissolves in water, is"what is the
proton
ion to hydroxide ion ratio in the salt solution"? At 1:1 this is neutral and pH
= 7 so should be neither bitter nor sour. At greater than one, pH <7 acidic and
sour. At less than one, pH >7, and bitter
If one dissolves calcium sulfate in water it is probably ( I don't know)
neutral to very slightly acidic since calcium is a weak base and will take up
hydroxide ions for it's formation of Ca(OH)+ (pKdiss = 2.6) and sulfate comes
from a strong acid but will take up protons for its formation of ( HSO4)- ion
(pKdiss = 2.1). In all cases of divalent ions, Ca, Mg,CO3, SO4, there are two
equilibria to complicate things, In the case of Mg, Ca, SO4 the first stage
i.e.
M(OH)2 to M(OH)+ is 100% ionized. Not so in the case of carbonate, H2CO3 can
exist in solution of CO2 as you know. Based on this, sodium sulfate should be
alkaline, since the sulfate ion pulls protons out of solution to form some
bisulfate ions (HSO4, pK = 2.1) and the pH should increase. Sodium chloride
should be neutral since sodium is a strong base and hydrochloric acid is a
strong acid, which may explain its hot, ionic taste, i.e. neither sour or
bitter. Calcium carbonate (pK = 7 and 11 for carbonic acid) is made up of a
weak base and a weaker acid, so it is bitter. Sodium carbonate is made up of a
strong base and a weak acid and it is really bitter. I predict that calcium
chloride will be neutral to sour since the Calcium ion will take up some
hydroxide ions, whereas the chloride comes from a strong acid..
Although the first ionization for both Ca and Mg is 100% one could speculate
that magnesium sulfate should be less bitter than calcium sulfate and a lot
less
than sodium sulfate, since even though magnesium's first ionization is 100% pK
=0 its second is 2.6, Ca's second pK = 1.2, pK and the sodium would not take up
any hydroxides leaving the sulfate to take up protons and shift the ratio in
favor of the hydroxide ions. For carbonate the pKs are 7 and 11. Its salts
would be more bitter than the comparable sulfate salt.
In its reaction with phosphate, magnesium has a pK = 24 and calcium has a pK =
33, so it will theoretically take more magnesium to drop the pH than it will
calcium, but both will be pretty effective, since they are both really
insoluble. All pK info from Rubber Chem. Handbook 73rd ed.
So the answer is, as far as salts go whatever makes the pH go up above pH = 7
will make a solution bitter ( whether it is sulfate or carbonate taking
up protons for example). Therefore, with this simple model it is the sulfate
that is responsible for the bitterness of the pure salt of calcium and
magnesium
sulfate solutions. In the case of metal hydroxides or oxides, these are bases
and can supply the hydroxide which will be bitter and the acids which can
supply
protons and be sour, which is where we started. As we discussed above a wort is
not a simple thing, and will have many competing simultaneous reaction. In the
case of calcium sulfate in beer an excess of sulfate will be there relative to
the calcium because of the phosphate precipitation. These same reasonings
should argue that phosphate solution derived from phosphate salts should also
be
bitter, since they should be alkaline and they are, witness TSP (tri-sodium
polyphosphate) as a model.
So, it is the calcium and magnesium ions which exhibit control of the sulfate
and phosphate concentrations and therefore the bitterness. Which is the
bitterest on a molar basis, sulfate or phosphate? Based on the pK, I guess the
phosphate would be, since it has two equilibria to suck up protons vs one for
sulfate, assuming the first eqm is totally dissociated in both cases. So in
beer is it the calcium, magnesium or the sulfate and the phosphate which
controls the mineral bitterness? I submit that it is both anions and cations,
based on this reasoning.
Where this argument doesn't hold up is that beer has a pH that is acidic and
therefore we shouldn't taste any mineral bitternesss. Is it that our taste buds
somehow neutralize the acid taste out and evaluate the salts? or that taste bud
reactions are sorta like little pH meters? If this is the case can the metal
ions with a relatively insoluble hydroxide like Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn act as a source
of hydroxide ions and taste bitter,whereas sodium would not? I could guess so
and therefore both the cations and anions would be responsible the bitteness.
I said it was speculation didn't I?
Keep on brewin'
Dave Burley
Return to table of contents
From: John Penn <john_penn at jhuapl.edu>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 09:39:56 +0000
Subject: Copyrights
My $0.02: I respect Al and everyone's elses right to copyright their ideas
especially in the
case where they want to publish a book and don't want someone else to publish
their ideas
first. The initial email on Al's copyright was kind of amusing but some of the
following
threads were a little harsh. If someone is publishing a CD of HBD, as long as
they are selling
it at cost or if the AOB makes a little extra than cost for maintaining the
HBD, I think that
is fair. As long as no one is really making money off the HBD I think it would
be hard to sue,
that said, anyone making money off the HBD is abusing this service. Also, I
hate to see
flaming. Everyone contributes their opinions freely and while others may not
agree always,
let's respect everyone's diversity of opinion. Hope I don't get too many flames
for this but
thats my opinion.
John Penn
Return to table of contents
From: "David R. Burley" <103164.3202 at CompuServe.COM>
Date: 30 Aug 96 10:43:05 EDT
Subject: HSA
Brwsters:
Sorry I don't have the reference, since I don't keep HBD's and don't have a
search engine to relocate the posting.
Anyone know where I can get one? Just Kidding.
Anyway. An HBDer commented on the fact that George Fix sorta invented the
concept of hot side aereation. Not so. He may have brought it to light in the
annals of HBD - thanx Doc., but it has been known for a long time that
aereation
of a hot wort will produce produce an inferior product.
Thus: M&BS ed.1 (1971) p407:
"AEREATION
For satisfactory active and regular fermentation it is necessary that the wort
should contain sufficient dissolved oxygen. Various authors quote this as being
between 33 and 88% air saturation. Accordingly air, or occasionally oxygen, is
injected into the wort. Most brewers only aereate the cold wort to give 75-90%
saturation (8-14 ppm of oxygen) but some brewers aereate the hot wort and
others
aereate before and after refrigeration. Aereation of hot wort leads to
oxidation
of wort constituents and an increase in colour........"
Although a lot of time is spent here on the subject of aereation, hot and cold,
I think cooling the wort before pouring it through the air is important, for
those of you still removing hops with a strainer through the air, as I used to
do. I can personally testify that the "hop extract tang" as identified in the
original British HB books (1960s) was nothing more than HSA. When I started
moving the hort wort via tubing into the (plastic) fermenter versus pouring it
in hot, the quality of my beer improved remarkably.
One thing we must always remember is that brewing in many cases does not scale
up or down easily. In our case the surface to volume ratio of our operations
compared to breweries are vastly different. Aereation, in particular, is a
major difference, since we are given the opportunity to aereate both hot and
cold, simply because we use such small volumes.
Keep on brewin'
Dave Burley
Return to table of contents
From: lheavner at tcmail.frco.com
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 09:51:32 -0500
Subject: glow-in-the-dark beer
Tom asked about using a microwave oven for sanitation. I don't know
how effective it would be on dry goods, but I use it to make starters.
I make up some wort from extract and water in appropriate
concentration and add to quart canning jars with wide mouths. You can
use pint or half gallon jars as well, I suppose. I put a canning lid
on the jar, but not the ring and nuke the starter solution until it
has boiled for about 10 minutes. I suppose you could add hops, but I
don't. After boiling, I take the starter solution out of the MW oven
and put the ring on and tighten and allow to cool to room temp. It
should be sealed and sterile? on the inside. When the time is right,
smack the yeast pak and let it rise. (Actually, I usually smack the
yeast and verify that it is gonna expand before I make the starter.)
When it is fully expanded, shake the sealed, room temperature jar of
starter to aerate, remove the ring, carefully break the seal and add
the yeast. replace the lid and ring and tighten. Then loosen the
ring by about a quarter turn which should be sufficient to allow CO2
to escape. Depending on your preference, you can step up this starter
to a larger volume or add directly to your fermenter. I've only been
doing the liquid yeast thing for a couple years, but never had a
problem.
Lou
<lheavner at frmail.frco.com>
Return to table of contents
From: KennyEddy at aol.com
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 11:03:15 -0400
Subject: Milk of Sulfatia / Those Dreary Engineers
William P Giffin responds to my contention that ~30 ppm or more Mg in yer
beer is unpleasant, wondering (along with AlK) why then aren't Burton ales
yucky with 60 ppm or more:
> My reading of the subject indicates that what Ken say is true, I just
> don't understand why Burton beer doesn't have this unpleasant
> characteristic.
Well, again I'm just guessing, but I suppose it's true for the much the same
reason that 650 ppm of sulfate works too. Put even 100 ppm sulfate in your
(also pale) Pilsner and I'll bet you'll be making faces when you drink it (a'
la Keystone's BitterBeer Face?) Perhpas some favorable hop interaction? I
thought I read somewhere that there was even a theory that there was
something chemically special about Goldings hops in particular that caused
this unlikely synergism in Pale Ales. Sounds goofy but so does saying that
650 ppm of sulfate will make your beer tastier. Go figure.
*****
David Burley asks:
>Who says chemists and engineers are a dreary bunch?
Yeah, who says?
*****
Ken Schwartz
KennyEddy at aol.com
http://members.aol.com/kennyeddy
Return to table of contents
From: Jeff Ray <djray at wwa.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 09:29:59 -0500
Subject: Cleanup Question from a Newbie
During the blow-off in the early stages of fermentation, a fair amount of
gunge was deposited on the inside of my plastic tubing. It's about quarter
inch clear tube. Any ideas how to clean this stuff out?
Jeff Ray
_______________________________________________________________________
| Jeff Ray | djray at wwa.com | http://sashimi.wwa.com/~djray/ |
|______________________________________________________________________|
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From: "Toler, Duffy L." <TOLERD at cdnet.cod.edu>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 96 10:19:00 PDT
Subject: UV Radiation Sanitizing
After looking through the latest catalog from American Science & Surplus (no
affiliation, blah blah), I was intrigued by a product listed as "Germicidal
Cabinet". A steel cabinet, 24" X 18" X 9" with 4 wire shelves and a double
door with locks. An automatic timer zaps the inside with mild radiation for
15 minutes. The price is $175. They claim it kills 99+% of the bacteria
present.
Do any of our biological gurus have any opinion on how effective this would
be for sterilizing bottles, smaller pieces of equipment, etc.?
If anyone is interested the catalog number is 79245 and they can be reached
at (847) 982-0870 or faxed at (800) 934-0722. You may want to get a catalog
too, just for the entertainment value alone. A huge selection of electrical
equipment, lab glassware, educational toys and general junk. They have a
retail store not far from my house and it's a homebrewer's dream. You can
walk around for hours trying to figure out how to incorporate their stuff
into your next brewing gizmo!
Brewin' on the brain,
Duffy Toler
tolerd at cdnet.cod.edu
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From: Scott Dornseif <SDORNSE at wpo.it.luc.edu>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 10:55:23 -0500
Subject: BI rtm
Good Morning:
I have just paid the $27.00 registration fee to protect the phrase: "Copyright
1996 Al
Korzonas ". Please cease and desist in it's use.
Sincerely
Scott Dornseif
Chicago, Illinois
Copyright 1996 owned exclusively by Big Irene rtm
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From: Scott Dornseif <SDORNSE at wpo.it.luc.edu>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 10:56:59 -0500
Subject: BI rtm
From: Scott Dornseif
To: LUCHICAGO.SMTP("homebrew at aob.org")
Date: 8/30/96 10:46am
Hello:
I have just paid the $27.00 registration fee to protect the phrase: "Copyright
1996 Al
Korzonas ". Please cease and desist in it's use.
Sincerely
Scott Dornseif
Chicago, Illinois
Copyright 1996 owned exclusively by Big Irene rtm
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From: Scott Dornseif <SDORNSE at wpo.it.luc.edu>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 11:00:42 -0500
Subject: YMhbr
oops
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From: Cory Wright <cwright at midcom.anza.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 12:22:58 -0500
Subject: Re: Copyrights online, etc. etc. etc.
Aaarrrgh!!!!! Not again! I thought we'd get through the year without this...
(yeah, right)
DIE, THREAD, DIE, DIE, DIE!!!!!
Thank you, I feel much better.
Cheers,
Cory
cwright at midcom.anza.com
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From: Cory Wright <cwright at midcom.anza.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 1996 12:32:05 -0500
Subject: Re: Heated Wyeast storage, dry hopping
From: Don Trotter <dtrotter at imtn.tpd.dsccc.com>
>
I have seen an article in an old special issue of Zymurgy that
claims that 100% of the yeast in a Wyeast foil packet will be dead
within 3 days, whan kept at room temperature.
>
I carried six small jars of propogated Weihenstephans around for about six
months in a cooler in the trunk of my car (through the middle of the
summer). It had been kept in my refrigerator for about three months prior.
No, I don't make any claim to actual intelligence, at least regarding these
actions. I was in the middle of job search, job find, move to job location,
etc. I take the approach with my brewing of "what the heck, try it", so I
did, and it seems that the silly stuff was still viable. Believe it, or
not...
>
From: WattsBrew at aol.com
Subject: Dry hopping
The question I have is "do the hops need any special attention or should I
just
chuck them in the secondary?, also is there any risk of contamination from
homegrown hops?."
>
Just chuck them in the secondary. Good luck.
Cheers,
Cory
cwright at midcom.anza.com
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From: "Ray Robert" <Ray_Robert at bah.com>
Date: 30 Aug 1996 13:32:06 U
Subject: plumbing supply
Hi all,
A few weeks back someone posted an URL for american plumbing supply (i think)
for water filters and I have not been able to access it. I've searched the
web to no avail. Anyone got it?
Robert Ray
ray_robert at bah.com
"To hell with artificial intelligence, I'd settle for the real thing."
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From: mikehu at lmc.com
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 96 11:28:10 PDT
Subject: RE: 15.5 barrels
Kevin O'Connor asks:
>Question: Has anyone on this collective used 15.5 gal half barrels
>for kegging homebrew?
>If you have any information
>regarding using these kegs, I'd greatly appreciate it.
They work great. I use them for both primary fermenters and serving tanks.
All you have to do is remove the down-tube, and get yourself a tap. To remove
the down-tube, release *ALL* the pressure (VERY Important), then remove the
retaining ring located around the inside top of the bung hole with a sharp,
pointed tool. Once you have removed this retainer, you can lift up and turn
the down-tube, and then pull it out of the keg. Clean and sterilize, sorry,
SANITIZE, then fill with beer. Replace the down-tube and retainer, and you
are in busisness. Attatch your tap, charge with CO2 and shake to carbonate.
When I use one for my primary fermenter, I use a cork stopper with a 1" hole
drilled through the center to accept a blow-off tube. I made the mistake
(ONCE) of using an airlock and a rubber stopper. I was quite surprised and
amazed when it exploded, covering my ceiling and all four walls with 7 gals
of beer and hops. (for a detailed recounting of this experience, see HBD #1983)
When racking to the secondary, I use a tap, CO2 and a modified down-tube. I
cut off 1.5" from the bottom of the tube so that I don't pickup all the sludge
(technical brewing term) from the bottom. Here's some more data points:
A size 11 rubber stopper will fit the bung perfectly.
You can cut the retaining ring into two pieces, which will make removing and
replacing it easier. I've been looking for a snap ring that will fit, but have
not found one yet. (if anyone knows what size to use, please let me know!)
Mike H. in Portland, OR
mikehu at synopsys.com
copyright 1996, SANKEY, inc.
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From: jwc at med.unc.edu (John W. Carpenter)
Date: Fri, 30 Aug 96 15:11:16 EDT
Subject: chillin'
> John in my experience and using the most efficient counterflow wort chiller
> on the market, The MAXICHILLER I need 30 gals of 60F water to cool 5 gals
> from boiling to 70F.
>
> I don't understand how 5 gals of 33F water could cool 5 gals of 212F water
> to less than 106. could you explain
>
I cool with tap water until the wort gets to that temp.(75F-80F or so)
and then use the 5gal of cold water. I guess I forgot to mention that. I
also use a very slow flow rate to get the best heat transfer I can. My
chiller is 50 ft. also. I also stir the wort usnig my chiller several
times durring the process. I brew outside and let the water run down the
driveway and often do other stuff while waiting. I don't think I use near 30
gal. I've never measured it, but would guess I only use around 15 gal total.
John Carpenter
email - jwc at med.unc.edu
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From: galley at hou.sperry-sun.com
Date:
Subject: Cheap Stainless
Bill Richard said:
"The problem is this: now when I make a batch of beer it seems to
have a metallic flavor to it. Is this because of the stainless?
The pot didn't cost alot ($25), is it "cheap" stainless? What
should I do to prevent this problem in the future? "
My brew partner bought a "stainless" pot for our use. I thought "cool
- didn't even ask me to kick in $$$". After three ruined (or at least
damaged - opinions differ here) batches later, and much chasing of
alternative causes I asked him how much he paid for his "stainless"
pot. You guessed it: $25 at Walmart.
So, to answer your questions: Yes, it is because of your pot. Yes it
is "cheap" stainless, probably a 400 series stainless (at best); you
need 304 or 316 stainless (304 is most common and less expensive). To
prevent the problem.... well that's pretty obvious. I wouldn't
recommend cooking anything acidic in your pot, unless you like
metallic spaghetti sauce.
I've got our brand new 60 qt. (18-8 304 SS) Vollrath in the truck as I
write this. We are brewing with it tomorrow, and it is the first step
towards a primo 10 gallon brewery. For what it's worth, my wife was
kind enough to spend half a day searching for deals on stainless stock
pots (in Houston, Texas - lots of sources of used and new restaurant
supplies). The criteria were: 60 qt., Vollrath preferred, must be in
stock because we were brewing Sunday. Many sources for the Vollrath
were found, and no other brands were found. The price range was
remarkable. Low price was $186.40 special order and wait two weeks;
high price was $360!! The cheapest one that was in stock was $198.95,
but they accepted our offer of $189.00. BTW: Even in a city of
4,000,000 people she was unable to locate any used SS stock pots from
any of the liquidators/used vendors ("they last forever" and "we
hardly ever see those" were the usual responses).
Is it worth it, compared to a modified sanke? We thought long and
hard about this. Sabco would have provided a reconditioned keg with
top cut out for about $90-100 after shipping that would do the same
thing. We obviously decided that it was worth it. YMMV, and we
haven't used it yet. We may still finish out the brewery with
modified kegs rather than Vollraths. Recommendations and suggestions
are welcome.
Tom Galley
Long time lurker
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