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


Contents:
  Honey Mead -- recipes/info wanted ("Anthony M. Giannone")
  dry yeasts again (Doug Roberts  at  Los Alamos National Laboratory)
  Coors Party Ball (Mike Meyer)
  Re: dry yeasts again (Crawford.WBST129)
  Christmas Ales and Barleywines (Mike Meyer)
  Fermentation questions (THE BLUE JEEPER)
  detent (iwtio!korz)


Send submissions to homebrew%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com
Send requests to homebrew-request%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com


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Date: Thu, 21 Sep 89 09:47:18 EDT
From: "Anthony M. Giannone" <giannone at ccm.bbn.com>
Subject: Honey Mead -- recipes/info wanted


Some friends and I are going to be making a honey mead this fall. We would
be very interested in any recipes/tips/comments you folks might have 
regarding honey mead.

thanks in advance,
tony g (giannone at bbn.com)




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Date: Thu, 21 Sep 89 08:44:38 MDT
From: roberts%studguppy at LANL.GOV (Doug Roberts  at  Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Subject: dry yeasts again

>To quote: 
>		"It appears most home brewers have been abusing their
>		dry yeast. Dry yeast should only be rehydrated in warm
>		water between 90 and 100 degrees F. Use 1/2 cup of
>		water for every 14 grams of dry yeast. Rehydrating 
>		dried yeast in wort can shock and injure the yeast,
>		because wort is relatively acid,and dry yeast prefers
>		a neutral rehydration medium. It is vital to the
>		future flavor of the beer that dry yeast be rehydrated
>		in warm water only.


90 to 100 degrees sounds awfuly high to me. I would be real hesitant
to plunk my yeast into water that warm. 70 to 80 degrees, maybe, but
temperatures above that are in contradiction to everything I've ever
read about beer yeast.

--Doug

================================================================
Douglas Roberts                |
Los Alamos National Laboratory |When choosing between two evils,  
Box 1663, MS F-602             |I always like to try the one 
Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545   |I've never tried before.
(505)667-4569                  |
dzzr at lanl.gov                  |
================================================================

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Date: Thu, 21 Sep 89 10:30:18 PDT
From: meyer at tcville.hac.com (Mike Meyer)
Subject: Coors Party Ball

Has anybody on the list tried reusing a Coors Party Ball, either as a
fermenter or as a 'keg'?

I expect these things are distributed nationally, but just in case, the
Coors Party Ball is a 5.16 gallon amber plastic sphere which you tap.  It
can withstand pressures of 35 psi, according to the labels, and is disposable,
rather than requiring a deposit.

I figure it would make a great means of dispensing 5 gallons of homebrew for
a party, provided one can find a way to replace the cap and gasket that 
initially seal it.

So far, I haven't hit upon a means of doing that, but my roommate has tried
using one as a primary (closed) fermenter.  You need an 11 1/2 stopper to
fill the hole.  (We used a #11 , but it was too small, really)

Advantages as a fermenter:  Much lighter than a glass carboy, easier to brush 
and sanitize, due to the big opening.  More compact due to the spherical
shape, and contains very little airspace at top.  We seemed to blow off less
actual beer using it.

Disadvantages:  Plastic, so you have to be careful of scratches and stuff.  It
won't last forever, as the plastic does have a bit of give, and will probably
rupture with a lot of handling.  Main disadvantage is that someone has to 
drink 5 gallons of Coors for you to get one :-).

As I said, my primary interest in such a beast is to replace the stock steel
cap. This cap is about 2" in diameter, and pretty heavy duty, with two 1/4" or
3/8" holes where one punctures the inner rubber gasket with the tapper, a
special Coors-designed gizmo which you can pick up at any place which sells 
these things for 10 bucks or so (if I remember correctly).  Sealing a new
cap on would probably require some sort of special tool, as the cap is
sealed very thoroughly, and is heavy gage steel.

 I don't trust
the whole set-up as a long-term storage vessel, but think that it would be
quite adequate for priming a batch, sealing it up, and dispensing it all at
once for a party shortly afterwards. 

Anyone done this or thought much about it?

Mike Meyer			meyer at tcville.HAC.COM

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Date: 21 Sep 89 05:46:05 PDT (Thursday)
From: Crawford.WBST129 at Xerox.COM
Subject: Re: dry yeasts again


"	For fans of dry yeasts: in the latest William's Brewing
"catalog/Newsletter, There is an article by William Moore titled "Dry
"Yeast Revisited.

I have recently decided to try liquid yeast and would be interested in seeing
this catalog.  How could I get a copy?

Also, could anyone tell me what effect fermenting at too cold a temp. would
have.  The yeast is a liquid german lager and the fermenting temp. is 40 
degrees.  (This was before I bought my hunter energy monitor).  The beer
fermented to completion but there is a strange background flavor I can't put
my finger on.  Infection has crossed my mind but I have tried two beers like
this with the same results while my ales fermented at 70 degrees have had no
problem.

Greg Crawford

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Date: Thu, 21 Sep 89 16:23:45 PDT
From: meyer at tcville.hac.com (Mike Meyer)
Subject: Christmas Ales and Barleywines

Indeed it is getting time to start the Christmas Ales.  I don't have
a specific recipe to share just yet, but had the opportunity to taste
a Christmas Ale last year which used Pineapple Juice as an adjunct.
It was pretty good, the pineapple juice leaves a pleasant, but not
blatant flavor -- hard to identify, especially in concert with the
usual spices and stuff.  It was a real "mystery ingredient" for those
of us tasting it, until the brewer owned up.

I've been off the air for a few months, and noticed in one of the Tables
of Contents posted recently that there was some discussion on "Cherries
in the Snow".  Could someone please summarize what happened in that
thread of discussion?   I'm somewhat interested in any fruit beer recipe, 
and it sounds like someone had problems with this one.  I've wanted to
try it for quite some time, but haven't put in much brewing time lately.

Regarding Barleywines:  How long do they have to ferment before bottling?
I would like to get one started, and I know they take quite some time to age
properly, but I was wondering if the time is spent in fermentation or just
mellowing in the bottle.  (Plus, can anyone recommend an extract-based
recipe -- some specialty grain is okay, but I sure don't want to mess with
215 pounds of 2-row malt per 5-gallon batch...


Mike Meyer		meyer at tcville.HAC.COM 


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Date: Thu, 21 Sep 89 15:34 PDT
From: THE BLUE JEEPER <ROBERTN%FM1 at sc.intel.com>
Subject: Fermentation questions



I just started on this forum, so I don't know if this has been previously
covered.

I have only made a couple of batches of beer so far. Yesterday I got
supplies to make two different types. While I was gettin the supplies,
the owner asked me if I was using single or two stage fermenters.  I'm
afraid I dont know the difference between single and two stage fermenting.
Is there an advantage to the two stage method? Is this something I should
look into? What is the time difference? What is the difference in the beer?

My last brew was a Pale from a kit my supplier makes. It has a nice body,
and little aftertaste. It is quite good, in fact, much better than what
is typically found in a store. The beer I'm going to make this weekend
is an Amber that comes from an older book. The guy I got my equipment from
said it is very good, and was what he made the most of.

Well, thanx in advance for any info on the fermenting subject, and have
a nice day!

Robert Nielsen
ROBERTN%FM1 at SC.INTEL.COM


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Date: Thu, 21 Sep 89 19:12:37 mdt
From: att!iwtio!korz at hplabs.HP.COM
Subject: detent

>  The only thing the Honeywell unit has that I wish the Hunter had is an
>adjustable "span". I know I've probably used the wrong term. What I mean
>is a way of saying "turn on X degrees above and turn off Y degrees below 
>the set point". 

What you're thinking of is called "detent."
Al.



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End of HOMEBREW Digest #261, 09/22/89
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