Homebrew Digest Thursday, 17 October 1996 Number 2235

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   FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
        Mike Donald, Digest Janitor-in-training
        Thanks to Rob Gardner for making the digest happen!

Contents:
  socket for ball lock keg ((Jim Merrill - SMCC hardware))
  Yeast Storage in Water ("Genito, Michael A.")
  Red Dog - Quasi microbrew ((torbjorn bull-njaa))
  RE:  CP bottling ((Scott Abene))
  Kenwood Chef Grain Mill (Bill Jackson)
  Stout Yeast advice (John Penn)
  Thames Valley Update ((Scott Abene))
  Plastic primaries/ "Baloney" ((Dennis J. Templeton))
  RE: Plaster? (AJN)
  RE: Oxygen in the wort (AJN)
  biodegradable packaging. ("Thomas K. Simacek")
  Yeast Labs Canadian Ale (A07) ("Barry Blakeley")
  re: calcium and ph ((Bill Giffin))
  IPA ("Bryan L. Gros")
  Chillin Thanks & What happened? (TheTHP at aol.com)
  Bigger breweries and RIMS ("Braam Greyling")
  Kombucha tea to beer? (Pierre Jelenc)
  more govt. regulation?/cactus fruit beer (Dane Mosher)
  KJ's Killer Chiller (KennyEddy at aol.com)
  Re: Dateline and Gov't Brewing (John.E.Carsten at oklaosf.state.ok.us)
  Source of O2 ("Bridges, Scott")
  Fat Tire Amber Ale Clone - Recipe Help requested... ("Werner, Scott")
  Wort oxygenation (John Wilkinson)
  questions (Anton Schoenbacher)
  Stout Recipe Again? (John Penn)
  Way To Go Jethro!!! (mikehu at lmc.com)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jmerrill at brauhaus.East.Sun.COM (Jim Merrill - SMCC hardware) Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 08:57:12 -0400 Subject: socket for ball lock keg Does anyone know what size deep socket is required to remove the connectors on a ball lock keg? TIA, - -Jim Return to table of contents
From: "Genito, Michael A." <mgenito at ci.rye.ny.us> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 09:20:22 -0400 Subject: Yeast Storage in Water Just a datapoint on yeast storage... For over a year now, I've recovered yeast from slurry and saved it in preboiled, (not distilled water) for periods up to eight months without any problems. In fact, the stored yeast seems to start quicker and settle out more quickly than its original Wyeast packet. The method is simple: a day before bottling, I take three one quart mason jars, fill them half full (half empty?) with filtered cold water. These three jars are then placed in a brew pot, along with three canning lids (the lids are not on the jars, just in the pot) with about two inches of water in the pot. Place the cover on the pot, heat to boil, and let simmer for 15 - 30 minutes. Open the pot, and with a pair of tongs, place the lids on the jars. Tighten the lids on the jars, and leave the jars in the pot until room temp. When you take the jars out, the lids should have sealed themselves (just like any other canning), and what you have is cooled, sterilized water in a sealed jar. When bottling time arrives, siphon your beer out to a bottling bucket. Open one jar and pour the water into the slurry. Swish this around, and pour the watered down slurry back into the empty jar. Put the lid back on and shake. Let it sit about 10-15 minutes, and you will see a whitish, maybe slightly tinted liquid of yeast and water separating from hops and other trub. Open jar #2, and pour the yeast water into jar #2. Put the lid on and shake. Wait 10-15 min. Pour the yeast water from jar 2 into jar 3. Put the lid on and shake. Put this jar in the fridge. When this jar settles out completely (could be 1 - 5 days), you should have 1/4 inch to 3/4 inch of whitish yeast settled on the bottom, and what would appear to be beer as a liquid over this. Keep the jar in the fridge and take it out before you begin to brew. The goal is to allow the yeast in the jar to reach room temp before pitching. If you prefer starters, all the better, just allow for the extra time. Needless to say, its best to try to keep contaminants to a minimum any time you open or handle the jars, slurry, or fermenter. I do this by washing all outside surfaces with the typical bleach/water sanitizing solution, including counter tops where a lid might happen to fall. I also am cognizant of the fact that yeast can mutate, and what I do is very unscientific in assuring that the same strain I started with is what I end up with after a few uses of recovering the same yeast slurry. However, the beer seems to start quicker, ferment with better activity, settles out quicker, and most importantly, tastes great. BTW, I also know this is nothing new - it is called yeast washing. The point here is that even the most basic homebrewer can store yeast in preboiled undistilled water and still achieve success. Return to table of contents
From: tbn at merkur.sds.no (torbjorn bull-njaa) Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 14:20:11 +0200 Subject: Red Dog - Quasi microbrew Living on another continent, I have browsed rather hastily through the submissions regarding Red Dog and wether or not it is good or brewed or owned by whom. However, as I happened to see an article on Miller in the latest issue of Business Week, maybe this is of interest to somebody? The article is named Suddenly, No High Life at Miller and signed Richard Melcher/Cary Spivak. The message is that Miller in Milwaukee are reducing staff for the second time this year, and key brands are down sharply exept for Lite which has a slight growth. A 1% profit drop has been forecasted. The biggest disappointments are the heavily hyped introduction of the Red Dog brand in late 1994 and the would-be flagship Miller in February this year. After some brief excitement Red Dog, which was positioned as a quasi-microbrew, is dropping like a stone. The cure for Miller seems to be a huge new campaign for Millers Lite. Now you know what to expect! Torbjorn Bull-Njaa Oslo, Norway Return to table of contents
From: sabene at fcg.net (Scott Abene) Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 08:30:32 -0600 Subject: RE: CP bottling >From: Bret_Wortman at stratus.com >Date: Wed, 16 Oct 96 19:38:39 -0400 >Subject: RE: CP bottling > >Chris writes: > >>Good Day All- >>Kegged at 29 psi with room temp. around 68F for a CO2 saturation of >>approx. 2.6. Going to pick up my counter-pressure filler set up >>tomorrow. Can I fill bottles at this pressure? (Grolsch 16 oz. type) I >>don't have the means to chill my keg, and would like to fill some bottles > >2. At much of anything about 32F, you're going to get foaming. Lots and >lots of foaming. I don't know about shattered bottles, but you'll be >dealing with more pressure than you would if the beer were chilled and >better able to hold its CO2 in suspension. As far as I know you should NEVER, I repeat NEVER get the pressure in a glass bottle above 30psi. Unless of course you want tiny (or even big) razor sharp pieces of glass piercing parts of your body. - -Scott "been there, done that" Abene ############################################### # Scott Abene # # skotrat at wwa.com # # SKOTRAT'S HOMEBREW "BEER SLUT" WEBPAGE # # http://miso.wwa.com/~skotrat # # SKOTRAT'S HOMEBREW RECIPE ARCHIVE # # http://miso.wwa.com/~skotrat/recipes # # SKOTRATS BREW RAT CHAT HOMEBREW CHAT # # http://miso.wwa.com/~skotrat/Brew-Rat-Chat # ############################################### Return to table of contents
From: Bill Jackson <bjackson at ozemail.com.au> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 22:57:00 +0930 Subject: Kenwood Chef Grain Mill Has anyone had any joy using the grain mill attachment on a Kenwood Chef?? I think some one mentioned it some time ago. Return to table of contents
From: John Penn <john_penn at jhuapl.edu> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 09:28:18 +0000 Subject: Stout Yeast advice In HBD 2233 I asked for advice on a Bitter Chocolate Stout recipe and I left off the yeast. I was going to use Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale yeast which I have never used. Any comments on this one. I also hope to use it for a strong scotch ale. I used Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale yeast and made a nice scottish style ale something similar to McEwans export or Sam Adams Scotch Ale. But I'd like to get something with more butterscotch taste than I got with 1728 something more like McEwans Scotch Ale. I remember reading to rack to a secondary early to increase the dicetyl for a Scotch Ale. Any similar advice on using 1084 for the Stout and for a later Scotch Ale. TIA. John Penn Return to table of contents
From: sabene at fcg.net (Scott Abene) Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 08:48:06 -0600 Subject: Thames Valley Update Hey all, A few weeks ago if anyone remembers I posted asking if anyone has used and or had problems with the new Thames Valley Wyeast. Like I said, I had a great starter going but had a problem with the yeast getting started in an actual batch of beer. So anywho, here is my initial take on this yeast... I am now three batches in on my original pack of Thames Valley (A Stout, A brown Ale & A Red Ale). Once I got the yeast going it fermented very very well. It doesn't seem to ferment too dry and adds a very pleasing aroma and taste to the beer. I tapped the Stout 2 nights ago and was relieved that the yeast made a good beer. I think the yeast would be great for a porter and will be trying that soon. Thanks for all the responses I got from my initial post about this yeast. It seems that almost everyone else has had problems with this yeast and anyone that plans to use it should expect some problems. Like I said though, once I got this yeast going I have had no other problems with it. I am going to try to get this one pack up to about 13 (love those prime numbers) batches just to see if it starts to mutate and whatever and I will keep you all posted. Later - -Scott "What the hell is he Babbling about Now?" Abene ############################################### # Scott Abene # # skotrat at wwa.com # # SKOTRAT'S HOMEBREW "BEER SLUT" WEBPAGE # # http://miso.wwa.com/~skotrat # # SKOTRAT'S HOMEBREW RECIPE ARCHIVE # # http://miso.wwa.com/~skotrat/recipes # # SKOTRATS BREW RAT CHAT HOMEBREW CHAT # # http://miso.wwa.com/~skotrat/Brew-Rat-Chat # ############################################### Return to table of contents
From: djt2 at po.cwru.edu (Dennis J. Templeton) Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 09:53:15 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Plastic primaries/ "Baloney" Al writes: >Baloney! err... actually that is the description of what he writes. In response to a suggestion to use a plastic primary, he writes: >Dave writes: >>If you are using Papazian's crazy carboy/overflow method as a primary fermenter >>with attached hose, dump it. The overflow hose or poorly cleaned carboy is your >>problem. Ferment in a bucket or plastic container (which can be cleaned easily) >>and rack to the carboy after a week. >Baloney! Plastic scratches and is therefore more difficult to sanitize than >glass. Sure the carboys can get dirty and can harbour wild yeast and >bacteria, but a one week soak in bleach water (1 tablespoon per gallon) and >a 1 minute scrub with a carboy brush takes off all the crud. You are the >first person I've ever heard say that plastic is easier to deal with than >glass. Glass is fragile and costs more, but it is far easier to sanitize >reliably than a plastic fermenter. Don't tell me you lager in plastic too? >Eight weeks in a plastic fermenter is sure to allow enough oxygen in to >oxidise the alcohols to aldehydes. Yuck! Ever taste air-pumped megabrew >beer the morning after? Al, once again your diatribe is harmful to both common sense and the HBD. Dave didn't say to lager in a plastic carboy, only to primary. Have you never heard of using open fermentation for a primary? If you think this is a brewing error, you are in disagreement with more than 80% of the world's master brewers. If "Plastic is hard to sanitize" why do you spend a week with bleach in your carboy? That ought to be enough to sanitize plastic too. I'm sure some are happy to hear your daily perspective on things, but if you must, leave it at that... offering an alternative. No need to be offensive, and really, there is no need to ascribe to your attackee something that he never said in the first place. The credibility of your brewing advice plunges IMO when your credibility as a debater falls to such gutter tactics. Dennis P.S., there is no need to flood my mailbox the way you did last time I suggested being more civil on the HBD, you are on my killfile. Return to table of contents
From: AJN <neitzkea at frc.com> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 07:39:42 -0400 (EDT) Subject: RE: Plaster? > From: sharrington at CCGATE.HAC.COM > > I recently built a house, and there is a bunch of plaster left over. > Has anyone ever made beer from plaster? Can it be mashed? Does it > have enough enzymes or do I need to mash it with Klages? 8^) > Watch yourself, drinking this stuff, might get you plastered :) Return to table of contents
From: AJN <neitzkea at frc.com> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 07:36:57 -0400 (EDT) Subject: RE: Oxygen in the wort > From: "Adam RIch, PhD" <ar at crocus.rochester.medicine.edu> > The trub/ poor attenuation 'thread' in the magazine is also quite > fascinateing. I will be intersted to see if it is ever resolved. What was the "trub" artical about? I would like to know more about this since my yeast has me doing an experiment, on how long can I keep my beer in the primary! (almost 4 weeks now 8^O ) _________________________________________________________________________ Arnold J. Neitzke Internet Mail: neitzkea at frc.com Product Development Engineer Voice: (810)377-7128 FANUC Robotics North America, Inc. FAX: (810)377-7363 Return to table of contents
From: "Thomas K. Simacek" <c22tks at icdc.delcoelect.com> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 09:08:04 -0400 (CDT) Subject: biodegradable packaging. I have received some computer equipment packed in tons of biodegradable 'peanuts'. They are supposedly made from corn or something similar and nicely dissolve in water. In the spirit of the recent wave of weird beer ingrediences - can one made a beer out of it? I guess it could be mashed with barley malt. However I am not sure if it does not have any added chemicals and fungicides. Maybe is it even dangerous poison? On the other hand - what a great recycling idea! Environmentalists should think about legislating to make it compulsory in every beer! Tom Simacek Return to table of contents
From: "Barry Blakeley" <BlakeleB at den.disa.mil> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 96 08:15:45 mst Subject: Yeast Labs Canadian Ale (A07) Hello, all! Thanks to all of you who straightened me out about lager yeast fermenting at ale temps. Once again I find myself in a sort of yeast dilema. After 24 hours of vigorous fermentation using the Canadian Ale strain at ~72^F (22^C), the whole room has that wicked sulfur smell that I associated with the above-mentioned lager fermentation. Is this a problem and, if so, what can I do about it? %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% "Those aliens from the 8th dimension? I'm seeing them now!" Barry Blakeley Denver, Colorado USA blakeleb at den.disa.mil If I had 3 stars, my opinion would be that of the Defense Information Systems Agency. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Return to table of contents
From: bill-giffin at juno.com (Bill Giffin) Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 10:21:28 cst Subject: re: calcium and ph Top of the morning to ye all, Dave B replies - Please notice I said "simple". acid rests are not that simple for some, as they can take some hours, depending on the water. Lactic acid is OK, but it does not contribute to alpha amylase enzyme stability. The pH of my water is about 6.8. An acid rest of 25-30 min will drop the pH of the mash to 5.3. It seems simple enough to me, get the mash to 95F+/- and the pH will drop. Another 1/2 hour to have a beer. If an acid rest works, why not lactic acid? Is the alpha amylase enzyme stability a function of pH or calcium? >>Dave B What do you call "good" efficiency ( I routinely get in the 90s) and what was your mash temperature << Mid 90's with mash temps from 149 to 154F. So even with the low enzyme levels in the British malt it appears that pH is more important to yeild then is calcium. Have to remember my water has only about 5ppm of calcium. Another question, how much calcium does malt have? Bill Richmond, Maine Return to table of contents
From: "Bryan L. Gros" <grosbl at ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 09:37:53 -0500 (CDT) Subject: IPA Delano Dugarm <adugarm at worldbank.org> writes: > Dave Brockington suggests in his BT article that caramel >malts are out of place in an American IPA. I disagree, because I >think that the caramel sweetness is a good counterpoint to the >strong, sticky bitterness that a high hopping rate gives. I agree with this comment. I like a bit of malt for that Wall of Hops to stand on. The question is then does this maltiness make it out of style? ******* One comment on this labeling the origin of a beer thread. If A-B or whatever convinces the public that knowing where your brew is produced is important, then that makes brewpubs and homebrewers come out on top. When you're looking at the brewery while sipping your favorite IPA, you don't have to worry about where it was made. And how far it was shipped. What do you think Jethro? - Bryan grosbl at ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu Nashville, TN Return to table of contents
From: TheTHP at aol.com Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 10:46:18 -0400 Subject: Chillin Thanks & What happened? Dart Frog Dortmunder, Dart Frog Dortmunder, Dart Frog Dortmunder! Many thanks to Dave and everyone else for your advice, I love this forum! I have a copper racking cane that i fashioned and will be using tonight for my pumpkin ale, A extract/partial mash. Ill rack from the brewpot to the chiller. Dave, my email thanks bounced back so included and expanded it here, Thanks again. Phil Wilcox. AAAAHHHHHGGGG!! What Happened? I feel alot like charlie brown. I had a few problems brewing last night, The recipie is the Pumpkin Ale posted in Cats Meow. The only changes I made was to include the extra .6 lbs of LME (premium brand) and use 1/8 tsp ground corriander instead of seeds. All other directions were followed expressly. I balanced my mash water to 150, added my grains (First time I used my Corouna, That went badly too. I got alot of flour from the Pale malt. The crystal turned out fine.) I scooped out the hot pumpkin and added that--duh it raise the temp to 200 in a flash. Half tray of ice cubes fixed that. Mashed at 150 for 60 min then Poured (ouch, I know) into lautertun. Sparged with another 1.5 gal of 170 deg water. (5min) Returned to stove and added LME. Brought up to Boil, Hopped, spiced, hopped right on schedule. Proceeded to chill as advised and to my suprise I could'nt get a decent siphon going at all. Only a trickle. Tried the chorboy, the inverted racking cane stoper, Whirlpooling...Nada. Painfully slow. 15 min/gal! Eventually gave up and carefully, gently, Cleanly went to my bucket/lauter tun with spigot setup. Is this just better gravity? Would a racking cane of greater than 3/8 copper tubing be better? I cant wait to buy/fashion a real mash/lautertun. This really stinks. Beer came out at 72 deg, added extra water sparged trough saved grain bed in a cheese cloth& Collender into a funnel to fermenter. Temp went up to 74. I didnt have time to make a starter from my smack pack, I cleaned it & siccors with tsp, and rinsed with cheap vodka, pitched, stoppered shook and carried to basement. Next major problem SG. 1.030! How? Why? I had brewmeister for my mac till my external harddrive crashed. and now cant find a version that isnt Bin Hexed. But from what I can figure SG. shoud be in the 050's? 6.6 lbs DME and 2 lbs of grains, a pumpkin...is a lot more than 030. Help? Any chastizing, critism, flaming, and help is much appreciated. How bad did i screw up my beer? Phil Wilcox Posion Frog Home Brewery Return to table of contents
From: "Braam Greyling" <acg at knersus.nanoteq.co.za> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 17:30:21 +200 Subject: Bigger breweries and RIMS Hi there, I have general question about bigger breweries and RIMS or other mashing styles. Is it just the homebrewers that uses RIMS ? Does bigger breweries use it as well ? If they are not using it what do they use ? Decoction only ?What is the biggest brewery that you know that use RIMS or infusion mashing ? Could somebody please discuss this ? Thanks a lot in advance Braam Greyling I.C. Design Engineer Nanoteq (Pty) Ltd tel. +27 (12) 665-1338 fax +27 (12) 665-1343 - ---- 24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case ---- - ---- coincidence ????? ---- Return to table of contents
From: Pierre Jelenc <pcj1 at columbia.edu> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 96 11:27:36 EDT Subject: Kombucha tea to beer? ken at axis.jeack.com.au (Ken Coppleman) asks > I haven't brewed beer for 7 or 8 years (at least), but a friend gave me a > Kombucha mushroom a little while ago, so I got out my carboy & eventually > built the continuous fermentation up to more than 20 litres. At first my > family like it, but eventually got sick of it, leaving me with more than 20 > litres of the stuff! > > So, my question is can I turn this "tea" into alcoholic beer or wine? (the > original brew is probably about 1% or so alcohol, max). In my quest for a controlable souring microbial activity, I have been investigating kombucha for the past couple of months. I first trained it (without difficulty) to grow on hopped wort. I was afraid that the antimicrobial activity of hops would interfere with it, but that was not the case. I then tried to get kombucha and ale yeasts (random mixture of everything I had in the fridge) to learn to coexist. Unfortunately so far the kombucha wins. I have lots of malt vinegar. Pierre Return to table of contents
From: Dane Mosher <dmosher at xroadstx.com> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 11:06:39 -0500 Subject: more govt. regulation?/cactus fruit beer Ed Steinkamp suggested that more government regulation may be in order to ensure that beer styles are accurately labelled. Although I understand how frustrating it is to buy a micro-priced 6 pack and get bad beer, I don't see how increasing government involvement will help things. Just stop buying it, and eventually it will go away. As it is, here in Texas Sam Adams cannot legally sell their Cream Stout because its alcohol content is too high for the state-defined limits of a "stout". This is a ridiculous law that is keeping good beer (IMO) out of Texas, but unfortunately it's a typical side effect of government regulation. If we were to change the law to instead require that in order to be labelled a "stout", the grain bill must contain at least 10% roasted unmalted barley, that is no improvement. Creativity will be stifled even more, and brewers will be scared away from the business by ATF officers looking at their recipes with guns drawn. Don't worry: Samuel Adams is not going to have any more luck convincing us that their Summer Ale is a Belgian Wit than Bass will have convincing us that their beer is an IPA. And spending seven bucks every now and then to find out the hard way is worth it when you consider the creativity in beer that we have in America. Whew. Now for a homebrew question. I have recently picked about 20 pounds of ripe prickly pears (cactus fruits) and am ready to brew my second annual prickly pear beer. Has anyone else out there tried a beer with these? If so, I'd be curious to compare notes. Private e-mail is fine. Thanks, Dane Mosher (dmosher at xroadstx.com) Big Spring, Texas Return to table of contents
From: KennyEddy at aol.com Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 12:16:39 -0400 Subject: KJ's Killer Chiller I've posted a ZIP file containing four GIF illustrations that clearly describe KJ's novel immersion chiller. The direct FTP URL is: ftp://members.aol.com/kennyeddy/immersion/chillergif.zip Download it, unzip it, and use a GIF viewer to view the four illustrations. Basically it's four flat spirals which receive water simultaneously; thus a larger volume of colder water passes through the chiller in a given time interval, chilling faster. The four flat spirals are at different heights, so each coil is responsible for a smaller portion of the wort. Water usage would not necessarily be reduced, but it shouldn't be much greater, since you're using more gallons per minute but for fewer minutes. As for bobbing it up and down, would there be adequate convection in this layout to reduce the need for mechanical agitation? Charlie S? AJ? ***** Ken Schwartz El Paso, TX KennyEddy at aol.com http://members.aol.com/kennyeddy Return to table of contents
From: John.E.Carsten at oklaosf.state.ok.us Date: 17 Oct 96 11:21:21 -0500 Subject: Re: Dateline and Gov't Brewing Ed Steinkamp says: "Perhaps some Government regulation is in order. If a brewery, big or small, says their beer is a wheat beer it should have a certain percentage of wheat in it. If somebody wants to sell an IPA, it should not be a budmillercoors with brown food coloring in it. Think about it, when you buy an apple pie, the law says that there has to be some apples in it. Of course the law would have to be written so that it would not stifle creativity. Additionally, it could include a provision that ensures a pint of beer in a bar is actually a pint of beer, kill two birds with one stone. I'm not a fan of big government, but I also don't like lousy beer. I really don't like buying something that looks like a mirco-beer with a fancy label which promises a craft beer, but actually turn out to be budmillercoors crap. " As a government employee (at both the state and federal levels) my reply would have to be a resounding NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! If you want to encourage the brewing of good beer DO NOT let the government, at any level have any more control over it. It will soon cease to be a craft. If you don't want to buy a budmilloors in a fancy label, DONT BUY IT. If you get fooled (heck, that's a marketer's job), remember what you drank and spread the word. A good word of mouth campaign will do much more to improve the quality of commercially brewed beer than any government regulation. Remember, just a few years ago, microbreweries were few and far between and their distribution was regional at best. With the strong word of mouth campaign waged by homebrewers and those who generally will not tolerate a budmilloor, the trade is growing in popularity, diversity and quality. A few years ago, the megabreweries had such a tight hold on the beer market, that they could produce anything they wanted, slap a label, or some aluminum, around it and off to the grocery store it went. Now, with the ever increasing popularity of homebrewing, the growth of many of Americas micro breweries, the increasing number of brew-pubs (end even the Internet, where people like us can gather), the megas are suddenly on the run. Why else would you see a report like the one that aired last Sunday? Why else would the "big guys" even be considering trying to brew out of "independent microbreweries"? Could it be that we are winning the war for good beer? Sorry if anybody thinks I wasted their time (or space). I have two purposes for being here ... to brew better beer and to keep Uncle Sam away from my keg. Ed's comment seemed to touch on both. Thanks for listening. John Carsten Return to table of contents
From: "Bridges, Scott" <bridgess at mmsmtp.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 96 10:54:00 PDT Subject: Source of O2 Since we're in the middle of this oxygenation discussion, I have a question. While browsing the local hardware store for neat stuff I can use in brewing, I noticed disposable canisters of oxygen (for use in welding, similar to the canisters of propane for soldering/cooking). The canisters contain 1.4 ounces, I believe. I didn't catch the cost per. Has anyone considered this as source of (hopefully) cheap and easily available O2? How many batches could this reasonably expect to cover? The top appears threaded, like the propane canisters, so some sort of attachment could be connected to a piece of tubing. Scott Return to table of contents
From: "Werner, Scott" <rugr at dlep1.itg.ti.com> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 96 12:20:38 -0500 Subject: Fat Tire Amber Ale Clone - Recipe Help requested... - -- [ From: Werner, Scott * EMC.Ver #2.5.02 ] -- To the collective homebrewers in the Colorado area, I am in need of some help with recipe formulation suggestions. The beer in question is Fat tire Amber Ale produced by the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado. Unfortunately it is not distributed in the Texas region at this time, fortunately however I managed to find a clone recipe for it off of a website (http://www2.csn.net/~vsabbe/rmh_beer_page.html). Now the main question... any suggestions, comments, anybody out there tried successfully to reproduce Fat Tire? Ingredients: 3.3 lbs light liquid malt 3 lbs Extra-light Laaglanders dry malt 1 lb dry Wheat malt 1 lb. 30L Crystal malt 1 oz. Cascade hops (6 HBUs) (60 minute boil) 1/2 oz. Tettnang hops (15 minute boil) 1/2 oz. Tettnang hops (5 minute boil) #1056 American Ale Wyeast Thanks in Advance, Scott - -- ================================ Scott Werner rugr at dlep1.itg.ti.com Return to table of contents
From: John Wilkinson <jwilkins at imtn.tpd.dsccc.com> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 12:39:00 -0500 Subject: Wort oxygenation I have read the postings recently about oxygenation of wort and have read the BT article. What I wonder is how well simply pouring the wort back and forth between buckets aerates the wort? I think I read in HBD some time back that this was a pretty effective method but I don't know how it compares to other methods. I have been doing it with no problems but have no way of knowing what my DO levels are. Has anyone tried this and measured the resulting DO levels? I realize it is more dangerous from an infection standpoint but would seem to be no more so than shaking, at least not with the same levels of aeration. Also, if pouring cooled wort onto the sediment of a previous batch, should the wort be aerated as vigorously or at all? With the high volume of yeast it would seem further multiplication would be unnecessary or even undesirable but would aeration be necessary for the health of the yeast? Thanks, John Wilkinson - Grapevine, Texas - jwilkins at imtn.dsccc.com Return to table of contents
From: Anton Schoenbacher <aschoenb at eecs.wsu.edu> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 96 10:52:07 PDT Subject: questions I did my first all grain batch last night, everything went better than I had planned on. Here is what I did : 1/8 # munich 1/8 # black 1/2 # crystal 6 # pale 2-row mashed w/approx 2 gal at approx 155 for approx 1 hr. add hops boil 1 hr blah blah blah... O.G. 1.062 about 2.5 gal of final wort. I have some questions : How does unconverted starch effect hydrometer reading, does it read as sugar or not ? When you do an iodine test and there is still unconverted starch is it really obvious or subtle when it turns black ? thankyou beery much - -- *****Anton Schoenbacher*****aschoenb at eecs.wsu.edu***** Return to table of contents
From: John Penn <john_penn at jhuapl.edu> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 13:59:02 +0000 Subject: Stout Recipe Again? Whoops the Irish Chocolate Stout recipe in HBD2232 that I was asking about which was based partly on Mocha Java Stout in the Cats Meow originally had 3 scoops of coffee to make 12 oz. of drip coffee added to the wort just after the boil. Maybe I inadvertantly left it off the stout recipe because my question is will it have any affect on the flavor with 1# crystal, 1# chocolate, 1/4# black, 1/2# roasted barley, and 1/4# cocoa? Should I use more coffee in this stout or should I just skip it because I have so much flavor already? TIA. John Penn Return to table of contents
From: mikehu at lmc.com Date: Thu, 17 Oct 96 12:06:34 PDT Subject: Way To Go Jethro!!! This is taken from the Real Beer Page E-mail newsletter: A REAL BEER STORY Two years ago this brewer rode out to the GABF 400 miles on his motorcycle. He's paid out of his own pocket to enter his beers into competitions, because the owners of the brewpub don't value or understand the brewing aspect of the business. When Rob Moline of Manhattan, Kansas' Little Apple Brewing Company called back to the restaurant to inform them that he won a Gold Medal for best barleywine in the U.S., he was told, "That's Groovey." Well, we love this guy, his beer and his triumph against-all-odds attitude, so we've created a little page for you to get to know him a little better. Help us congratulate Rob Moline by surfing to: http://realbeer.com/travels/lilapple I've been blessed with the opportunity to try his "Big 12" and I must say, it's the best Barleywine in the land. Way to go Rob - We love you man!! (I know, I know, I can't have your Barleywine) Mike H. Portland, Or Return to table of contents