---

	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: janitor@hbd.org
		Many thanks to the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers of 
		Livonia, Michigan for sponsoring the Homebrew Digest.
				URL: http://www.oeonline.com


Contents:
  CO update (Hmbrwrpete)
  honey stoudt (Earl & Karen Bright)
  Re: The speed of change at the AHA ("Brian Wurst")
  refinishing kegs ("Ratkiewich, Peter")
  GABF: members-only tasting (John Simonetta)
  Re: Medieval Malting (Jeff Renner)
  Re: Muddy Beer? (Jeff Renner)
  Online Wahl-Henius - access problems (Spencer W Thomas)
  Adjustable mills / murky beer ("George De Piro")
  yeast culturing (David Whitman)
  Re: Oud Bruin (Jim Wallace)
  defending bass/stainless washing/fruit fly results (Boeing)" <BayerMA at navair.navy.mil>
  Oxygen grade/purity (Ross Reid)
  Nominal Pipe Thread ("Timmons, Frank")
  Re Re Fries ("Peter J. Calinski")
  'TWAS THE MORN AFTER CHRISTMAS ("Grow, Roger H")
  Malt mills, and CO ("silent bob")
  finding mackeson "to go" in Columbus, OH ("Mark W. Wilson")
  0.2-micron filters (Gail Elber)
  Thomas Hardy yeast (Rick Gontarek)
  RIMS equip for sale ("Keith Royster")


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


Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 00:18:29 EST
From: Hmbrwrpete at aol.com
Subject: CO update

Due to the great responses I got regarding my CO problem I feel I owe an
update even though the "Highgate on Bailey Basement Brewery"  (or Gottfried
Bierhaus, depending on the bier being made) is not done yet.

The following suggestions were repeated more than once, taken into account and
worked into the plan:

1) More fresh air. I've drilled a 4" hole  in my house and dropped a 6" pipe
within 1' of the burner. This will give more fresh air than you can shake a
stick at!

2) Get better suction. As luck would have it, depending on your frame of mind,
the fan on my range hood crapped out just as I was getting ready to start
drilling the hole for above mentioned fresh air line. Home Depot's best range
hood will give you roughly 250 cfm for well over $100.00. I found an inline
blower for $50.00 that will definitely give me 275 cfm. According to a
ventilation guy the fan on my range hood would have been sufficient as long as
I had the better fresh air supply. As I see it, what I got is gravy...I hope.
Also, replaced flexible 4" dryer line with 6" galvanized line. It's still
going out a 4" hole, but I'm hoping that little bit won't cause a significant
drop in cfm's

3) Turn the gas down. I plan on it.

4) Raise the kettle. I've got cinder blocks that should do the trick. 

5) Try a slimmer kettle. "Here comes Santa Claus...", I've been looking for an
excuse to get a converted keg boiler...

Ok. I've spent a  more than a few bucks, and I've killed a whole weekend and
I'm still not done yet! Can you imagine how rich I might be if I threw this
much energy into my career?! The end product is going to be a safe brewery
that will enable me to brew with enough frequency at night to really learn
something AND spend more time with my kids and working on my house...at least
thats what I tell my wife ;)

Seriously, thanks to all of you who responded and for your very helpful
suggestions. I hope to have final results the weekend after xmas.

You guys are the goods :), Happy Holidays,

Pete Gottfried
Buffalo, NY


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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 06:20:57 -0500
From: denali at epix.net (Earl & Karen Bright)
Subject: honey stoudt

I am attempting my first batch of stoudt and would like to make a honey
stoudt.  How much honey, when do I add it and what kind of honey do I use??
Thank you very much for your help.

Earl
denali at epix.net




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Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1998 15:47:16 -0600
From: "Brian Wurst" <brian at mail.netwave.net>
Subject: Re: The speed of change at the AHA

Brian Rezac replies in HBD#2905 to my post in #2903:
>What I said was that change takes time, not that someone or group was
>impeding change at the AHA.  Even some revolutions take time and, at
>times, you may not even realize that a revolution has taken place, or
>to what extent, until you can look at it in hindsight.

>But the big flaw that I see in your rationale above is in your first
>sentence, "In an organization with TWO employees (a Director and
<snip>
>and I are not the AHA.  The AHA is an association of homebrewers.  All
>the individual members/homebrewers make up the AHA.

There is no flaw in my rationale.  Members have been telling the AHA
Administration what they've wanted for years and have been ignored.  I submit
that the AHA has received plenty of quality feedback over the years to respond
to and the response has been absent.  As an example, there exists no inertia to
prevent the AHA from releasing their yearly audit, but the AHA sees fit to be
obstructionist by requiring someone to personally visit the AHA offices to get
their copy (and I believe Jim Liddl reported even then the AHA Administration
were dilatory in providing this information once he got there).  Where is the
member/customer focus in that sort of action?

Rather than providing weak excuses for why you cannot change fast
enough, I suggest your effort be directed to effecting change without delay.  I
am on the board of directors of a company with a $20 Million budget, over 300
employees and nearly 35,000 customers/shareholders.  Change is happening
throughout our organization at a speed that that makes the rate of
change at the AHA look geologic.  Go ahead, tell me again how long it takes to
effect change.  I can only believe you have no idea at all.

>how the AHA did things in the past.   But if you look at Paul's and my
>previous posts, you'll see that we both talked of moving the AHA to a
>more member-driven organization.  The next member of the AHA's Board
>of Advisors will be elected by the AHA members.  The details of Big
>Brew '99 will be decided by the Big Brew '98 site directors.  This is
>the revolution.  And this revolution has the blessing of the AHA Board
>of Advisors, the AOB and Charlie.

What I see is too much talk and very little action.  Members have wanted change
for years yet you see fit to tell them to wait even longer for that change.  The
loss of membership is directly related to the actions (or more precisely,
inaction) of the AHA Administration.  The status quo still exists (elect the
next _member_ of the BoA?  What a concession!), change is being resisted, and
still more members are becoming disenfrancised.  Yep, that'll get new members
signing up in droves and current members re-upping their memberships.

I can see the slogan now...
"The New AHA - Wait for the Change!"

Good luck in 1999,
Brian Wurst   brian at mail.netwave.net     Lombard, Illinois
"Nature has formed you, desire has trained you, fortune has preserved you for
this insanity." -Cicero






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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 08:10:00 -0500
From: "Ratkiewich, Peter" <PRATKIEWICH at ci.westport.ct.us>
Subject: refinishing kegs

In HBD #2906 randy writes:

"I would also like to improve the surface finish of the keg.  The inside
has some stain/discoloration from something, and the outside is beat up,
dirty and not shiny/reflective.  I have read in a jewelry making book
(Jewelry Concepts and Technology, by Oppi Untracht) that a Hydrochloric
acid pickle can be used to remove oxidation.  I have tried various
polishes with little success."

I just got finished cleaning up a keg that was in a condition similar to
what you describe.  Inside stains and discoloration from god knows what,
and the outside beat up like its been thrown around for a good many
years.

I used a product by 3-M that you can buy these days at just about any
hardware store.  It's a rubberized abrasive wheel that I attach to my
electric drill.  Much better than a wire wheel, it cleans any and all
tarnish out of both inside and outside surfaces, and easily gets into
those little scratches on the out side.  If you run the wheel in the
same direction as the grain of the keg, that is with the circular shape
rather than perpendicular to it, the finish comes out to look like a
fine brushed stainless steel.  I suppose I could polish it from that
point but it didn't seem worth it. Total cost of the abrasive wheel is
about $5.  There's also an added benefit.  I used this keg as a mash pot
two weekends ago when me and my partner made up a 60 gallon batch, (two
setups, two consecutive batches, and another story altogether!).  When I
was all done there was a nasty little burn mark where the stove had
carmelized some of the wort.  After working the mini-brewery for almost
20 hours I didn't have the energy to scrub for an hour to get this stuff
out of the mash tun, so I just left it there.  This past weekend I took
out the abrasive wheel again and in less than a minute the burnt wort
was whisked away, leaving a nice shiny brushed bottom again.

This wheel works so well, I'm doing two more kegs with it so my three
tier system will be complete.

Pete Ratkiewich


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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 08:45:41 -0500
From: John_Simonetta at ittsheraton.com (John Simonetta)
Subject: GABF: members-only tasting

     Robert J. Waddell writes:
     
     "Try serving the judges for a day, attending the "World Beer Forum", 
     and serving four shifts on the festival floor"
     
     Robert, I wish I had the opportunity to "drive 45 minutes" to 
     volunteer as you do.  I believe Steve Jackson's point, if I may 
     reiterate, was that the GABF AHA members only tasting is useless if 
     you can't afford to get there (or fly there, as most of us would have 
     to do).
     
     Your diatribe did have a complaining tone.
     
     John Simonetta
     Randolph, MA


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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 08:48:21 -0500
From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Medieval Malting

Badger Roullett <branderr at microsoft.com> tells us that straw was the
preferred English malt drying fuel until kiln design advanced to the point
that the smoke didn't come in contact with the smoke, because unsmoky malt
was preferred.  It's often been suggested here that smoky malt was
inevitable in "olden days," especially given the evidence of Scottish
whisky malt and Bamberger malt.  I appreciate this confirmation of at least
English historic dislike of smoky malt, which I had remembered reading some
years ago but which others had doubted.  I'll continue to leave it out of
my historic brews with a clear conscience, as well as a clear palletxxx
palettexxx palate, since I seem to have a low tolerance for it.

Nice job and thanks.

Jeff

 -=-=-=-=-
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan c/o nerenner at umich.edu
"One never knows, do one?"  Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943. 




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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 09:09:46 -0500
From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Muddy Beer?

Badger <badger at nwlink.com>'s beer looks like chocolate milk.

Here's your clue:

>stuck on the back porch to chill

Sounds like a bad case of chill haze to me, probably made worse from the
protein in the wheat malt, which I hope you mashed and didn't just steep at
any old temperature, in which case you could have a starch haze too, which
is more problematic.

How soon is the wedding?  Time and gravity will take care of it, but you
could use polyclar if you're in a hurry.  Make up a slurry of 2-3 Tbs in a
cup of beer (watch out, it will really foam) and add it to your beer,
stirring gently.  If the beer is too carbonated, it will foam even without
stirring.  Don't make the mistake of adding the dry polyclar to carbonated
or even CO2 supersaturated beer in a carboy or keg as I did way back when
directions for its use were lacking.  I ended up with about 15 gallons of
instant foam pushing out of the carboy neck!

Jeff

 -=-=-=-=-
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan c/o nerenner at umich.edu
"One never knows, do one?"  Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943. 




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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 09:54:28 -0500
From: Spencer W Thomas <spencer at engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Online Wahl-Henius - access problems

It appears that some people who browse the net from behind a firewall
are unable to get to my web server (hubris.engin.umich.edu:8080).  I
apologize for this, and will consider moving the server to the
standard http port (80).  This is not something I can do right away,
though.

=Spencer Thomas in Ann Arbor, MI        (spencer at umich.edu)


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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 10:18 -0800
From: "George De Piro" <George_De_Piro at berlex.com>
Subject: Adjustable mills / murky beer

     Hi all,
     
     Randy writes:
     
     " I think that's why some people like
     adjustable mills; they think they're going to find some perfect 
     setting that's never been discovered before. The fixed Maltmill 
     setting, in my opinion, is already there.  If you need to improve 
     your extraction efficiency, work on your sparging technique, or 
     your water chemistry."
     
     Back to me:
     
     There are some very good reasons to desire an adjustable malt 
     mill.  Here are some of them:
     
     1.  Different malts are different sizes and require different gap 
     sizes to efficiently mill them.  Wheat malt is not properly 
     crushed in a mill that is optimized for two-row barley.  Some raw 
     grains are even smaller.
     
     2.  In my experience one of the most common causes of poor 
     extraction efficiency is poorly crushed malt.  While water 
     chemistry and sparging technique play a role in extraction 
     efficiency, they are secondary to a proper crush.
     
     3.  Of concern to commercial breweries (and maybe a couple of 
     fanatical homebrewers) is that rollers wear out with time.  
     Adjustability allows the gap to remain optimized throughout the 
     mill's life.
     
     Achieving a proper crush is crucial to the quality of your beer.  
     Overly-crushed malt can cause slow or stuck lauter runoff or 
     yield wort of poor clarity.  Poor clarity of the lauter runoff
     can adversely affect hot break settling time, leading to beer 
     that has greater haze potential and poor flavor (from the 
     excessive trub that makes it to the fermenter).
     
     Under-crushed malt will yield low extract, disappointing the 
     brewer.  Unconverted (heathen) starch trapped within the grain 
     could possibly be leached out during the lauter (especially if 
     the sparge water is too hot), causing permanent haze in the beer.
     
     While it is true that you should not need to adjust your mill 
     frequently, it is important to be able to adjust it for the times 
     you mill something other than domestic 2-row barley.  Keep in 
     mind that European 2-row is slightly larger than American 2-row 
     for the simple reason that they sort their barley using metric 
     screens while those of us in the Metrically-challenged USA use 
     screens calibrated in inches ("Vollgerste" grade barley in 
     Germany is retained on a 2.5 mm screen while "plump" barley in 
     the USA is retained on a 3/32" screen (2.38 mm)).
     -------------------------------
     Lord Badger (whose full title is too long for me to retype) 
     laments his murky beer, which was meant to be a wedding present.  
     He ponders the cause of the beer's opacity.
     
     While he does not disclose much in the way of procedural details, 
     he does mention the presence of both wheat malt and crystal malt 
     in an extract-based beer.
     
     Was the wheat malt mashed, or just steeped in the extract kettle 
     with the crystal malt?  If the wheat malt was not mashed then 
     unconverted starch is likely to be the cause of the permanent 
     haze.
     
     I have also noticed that at least some crystal malts have a fair 
     amount of unconverted starch in them and will cause a permanent 
     starch haze in extract beers.
     
     You can verify if starch is the cause of your beer's haze by 
     placing a drop or two of tincture of iodine (available at any 
     pharmacy) in a sample of the beer (don't drink the iodine).  If 
     the iodine turns black or deep blue, there is starch in the beer. 
      If there is no color change, there is no starch and the haze 
     must have some other cause.
     
     If starch is not the culprit, then you can think about things 
     like poorly flocculating yeast and chill haze (although Badger's 
     description of the haze makes it seem a bit extreme for chill 
     haze).  If yeast is the culprit, fining with gelatin or isinglass 
     may help.  If chill haze is the problem fining with isinglass or 
     polyclar can help, as would a few weeks of undisturbed cold 
     storage (at the end of which you draw of a pint to get some of 
     the settled haze out of the keg).
     
     Have fun!
     
     George de Piro (Nyack, NY)


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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 10:21:02 -0500
From: David Whitman <dwhitman at rohmhaas.com>
Subject: yeast culturing

In HBD #2905, Scott Church asks some questions about yeast manipulation:

>Should one try to scrape out the cell (from the slant)? I use "Knox" gelatin
>for my solidifying agent and have found that those "little buggers" are in
>there pretty good! It's seems that I must dig up a little solid to get my
>cells. (is a little gelatin going to hurt anything?)
>
> ........I have read that one should pass the inoculation loop through a
>flame before using, but I wasn't sure about the temp before actually
>grabbing the cells.
>(98 degrees F and above would kill them, right?)
>
>Also, should one try to get as many cells as possible or just 1 nice little
>area?
>

When I harvest from agar slants, the yeast colonies are on the surface of
the agar and can be easily picked up with a loop without digging divits
into the underlying media.  That said, I don't think a little gelatin is
going to hurt anything.  If you're interested in trying agar, the stuff
available at oriental grocery stores works fine, and is about the same
price as gelatin.  2% agar in wort gives a nice firm slant.

It IS prudent to flame your loop before using.  I heat mine until it glows,
then touch the agar (away from the yeast) until it stops hissing.  

One loopful is plenty of yeast to grow out in about 2-4 ml of wort, which
you can then step up to higher volumes.  I try to pick out an isolated
colony that looks "typical", with the idea that I'm getting a
representative sample while minimizing the chance of picking up any
contaminating wild yeast, etc.

****

I'm writing a draft of an article about experiments in storing yeast under
salt solutions.  At least 5 people in the past have sent me email
suggesting that salt solutions would be an improvement over straight DI
water, but unfortunately, I've lost ALL the original notes.  If you were
one of those people and would like to be cited in the article, please drop
me a note at:

dwhitman at fast.net

I'll report t=3 week viability data for ale and lager yeasts stored under
DI water, 2% NaCl and 2% KHP buffer sometime this week.


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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 11:26:00 -0500
From: Jim Wallace <jwallace at crocker.com>
Subject: Re: Oud Bruin

>Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 13:47:40 -0800
>From: Ted McIrvine <McIrvine at ix.netcom.com>
>Subject: Oud Bruin
>
>This is a hard one... Rodenbach uses at least two different yeasts,
>including a lager yeast for bottling and getting the sourness right is
>tricky because it isn't as sour as Cantillon and our other favorite
>horse blanket ales.
 ..........
DeDolle is available in the states and I have found it easy to culture this
from the bottle and get the great souring character.. it is reported to be
rodenbachs yeast as well as liefman's

>I use equal portions of Belgian Wheat, Belgian Munich, and Belgian Pils
>Malt.  (3 lbs of each for a 6 gallon batch --- shooting for about 0.052
>OG).  Unlike those who bake hops, I deliberately aged a pound of Saaz
>and a pound of Goldings for about 2 years in open bags.  I'd use about 3
>ozs of these very stale hops --- lacking this use a modest quantity of
>low-alpha hops so that you don't knock out the lambic.
 ...................
Do you need the aging of hops? I have seen them using some pretty green
looking hops for rodenbach

>on its own.  If you are making Rodenbach Grand Cru, adding 5-6 lbs.
>cherries in the secondary or 2 oz. cherry extract with a 1/2 tsp of
>almond extract at bottling.
 .............
this would make it an Alexander not GC

>Alas, I don't have the oaken barrel, so I use oak chips.  
how do you use these and to what effewct in the finished beer? american or
french chips.
what about the needed permeabilty of the oak barrel for the redox 
___________________________________________
    JIM WALLACE ... jwallace at crocker.com
      http://www.crocker.com/~jwallace  
___________________________________________


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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 12:35:55 -0500
From: "Bayer, Mark A (Boeing)" <BayerMA at navair.navy.mil>
Subject: defending bass/stainless washing/fruit fly results

collective homebrew conscience_

mike bardallis wrote and commented on bass (ipa) being wimpy overall and its
status as a representative beer being due to its wide availability in
america.

i have several british friends from the midlands (derbyshire), and we have
had discussions about bass ale with regard to the difference in the product
marketed in america versus the product(s) available in the u.k.  their
opinion is that a *well-kept* cask of bass ale in the midlands is a
wonderful pint.  they have a far lower opinion of the bottled product here.
i am nearly certain that the cask ale has not only major differences in
conditioning treatment, but is also a different recipe (they say it's lower
gravity and a bit hoppier).  i am sure that the bottled product,
unpasteurized and fresh, would be noticeably better than the stale, abused
stuff we end up with.  and i don't consider the maltiness of bass ale to be
"wimpy".

the same can be stated about guinness stout.  their bottled "extra" is a
world away from the typical stuff you get in the pubs over there.  which
should be considered as the representative of the style?

on to an equipment question - i have a new stainless kettle this year.
should i be giving it some special treatment other than scrubbing it out and
rinsing it at the end of the day?

the fruit fly bitter -  it is conceivable that the fruit fly in the starter
damaged the beer somewhat.  it placed only third at the st louis brews happy
holiday homebrew competition.  i haven't gotten the judges comments back
yet.

brew hard,

mark bayer
great mill, md


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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 17:37:15 GMT
From: mrreid at golden.net (Ross Reid)
Subject: Oxygen grade/purity

Lots of speculation in the HBD lately over the specs on
beverage/industrial/medical/welding/commercial grades of various
gases.
Here's some info on the subject, posted a year or two ago, to the
rec.crafts.brewing newsgroup by Darrell Garton of Montrose, CO.
I am posting it here without his express permission (I no longer
have his email address to ask him) but, I'm sure he won't object.

Quote:
CO2 is CO2.  The only differences in the gas industry that
I know of are Medical Grade CO2 and Ultra High Purity CO2 for the
semiconductor industry.  These two grades of gas are simply
tested for purity, but typically come from the same source that
the beverage/welding/industrial grade comes from.  
NOTE: This is usually the case with Argon, Nitrogen, and Oxygen
as well.  Industrial grade oxygen and Medical grade oxygen
cylinders both get filled from the same bulk liquid tank. The
grading is simply done as a test on the gas in the cylinder to
ensure its purity.
Unquote.
Darrell's credentials are impressive, if anyone would have the
definitive answer, he would. Here they are (edited from the first
person):
He is/was GM at Galiso Inc.  They make the Hydrostatic Test
Equipment that your cylinders get tested on every 5 years.  
He sat on CGA committees and helped write the pamphlets for over
5 years. He did/does training seminars for the DOT, FAA and TC
regarding cylinders.  But, most importantly, he says: I brew,
therefore I am!!!
Hope this eases a few minds.
Cheers,
Ross.






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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 12:51:00 -0700
From: "Timmons, Frank" <Frank.Timmons at alliedsignal.com>
Subject: Nominal Pipe Thread

In HBD 2906, Randy Miner asks about threading a Sanke keg and the
difference in the various pipe sizes.

All American pipe up to 14 inch size is approximately based on ID
(inside diameter) of schedule 40 pipe for that size . If it is threaded,
most of the time it will have a tapered thread, called Nominal (or
National, I have heard both) Pipe thread. So your 1/2 inch pipe will
have an OD (outside diameter) of 0.840 inches, and the valves, elbows,
etc. will have an ID to correspond to that.

The NPT threads are fairly coarse, I don't see how you would get them to
"bite" correctly in the fairly thin metal of a keg, but if somebody says
they did, I guess it can be done. The tap will be sold as the pipe size
it corresponds to. Grainger does carry stuff like that, as do most
plumbing supply houses.

 I modified my kegs by drilling a 7/8 hole, inserting a 2 inch 304 SS
pipe nipple and filler welding the nipple to the keg. This gives me a
threaded connection on both the inside and outside of the keg.  I have
also welded on 1/2 inch threaded half couplings for thermometers. You
need to have a back purge on the weld to prevent oxidation of the back
of the weld. Other people I know have brazed couplings on, but you need
to make sure that the brazing metal is cadmium free.

I wouldn't worry about the fact that your keg is not shiny. Stainless
steel forms a tightly adhering passive layer of chromium oxide that is
fairly dull. This is a desired thing, because the passive layer is very
corrosion resistant. If you do manage to get it shiny, it won't stay
that way, and it will be leaching chrome, iron and nickel oxides into
your beer. That is a bad thing.


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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 12:35:54 -0500
From: "Peter J. Calinski" <PCalinski at iname.com>
Subject: Re Re Fries

Andrew T. Lynch, wrote:

Apologies for the non-beer post....

  Ahh...Belgian Frittes.  I had the good luck to be sent to Belgium
for six months, some years ago.  Along with the amazing beer, they
make the _best_ french fries I have ever had, by far.  I wondered why
they were so good.

  So, one day I walked around behind the one of the ubiquitous
trailers in which they fry everything under the sun, and decoded the
Flemish on the barrel I found: "100% Beef Lard".

 -Drew

I reply,

Well, if I remember right, Burger King pulled off an amazing reverse coup
on McDonalds and their fries.  Back in the 70s, MickeyDee's always had
better fries than BKs'.  BK spent Millions trying to catch up with
MickeyDee.  When they couldn't, they instead started advertising that they
didn't use animal fat.  Soon, MickeyDee had to follow suit.  Their fries
haven't been as good since.
 - -- 



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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 12:01:32 -0700
From: "Grow, Roger H" <GrowRH at LOUISVILLE.STORTEK.COM>
Subject: 'TWAS THE MORN AFTER CHRISTMAS

Yes, this is a rerun from last year, but it's still good for a chuckle and
some new listers might have missed it:


'TWAS THE MORN AFTER CHRISTMAS
	by Roger Grow


              'Twas the morn after Christmas and all through the house
                  My homebrew was missing, consumed by some louse
                The kegs in the reefer had been sucked dry with malice
                   And small sooty footprints, they riddled my palace

                  I checked in the corner, Grand Cru had been taken
                     But the Coors Extra Gold had all been forsaken
                     Who was responsible for this gluttonous action
              Could it have been Charlie? or perhaps Michael Jackson?

                   I walked back to the fireplace my mood in a slump
                    When I noticed my stocking had a generous lump
               Out the top hops were bulging, Hallertauer Mittelfrueh
                      Cascades and Fuggles, East Kent in there too

                   I had a sneaky suspicion who the culprit might be
                   When my eye caught a glitter from under the tree
                    A pot, all of stainless and cane, made for racking
                 Confirmed my suspicion as to who'd done the sacking

                         I decided directly it was that jolly old elf
                    And that bowl full of jelly didn't appear by itself
                       Those cheeks o-so-rosy were a giveaway too
                      A glowing reminder of his taste for homebrew

                  I decided being Christmas, I'd forgive the fat fellow
             When I saw in the front yard, something twisting and yellow
                       I looked somewhat closer and what did I see
            But "thanks for the homebrew" in the snow, penned with pee

               So from this Christmas forward, my plans they are clear
                   I'll exploit Santa's weakness for hand crafted beer
                 Just send him my wish list and to clinch my vast order
               There'll be no milk and cookies, just pretzels and porter!



                              MERRY CHRISTMAS 


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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 12:15:25 PST
From: "silent bob" <holdenmcneil at hotmail.com>
Subject: Malt mills, and CO

Holiday Greetings Fellow Brewers,

I apologize for not throwing in my two cents when it was probably needed 
by the guy who asked about malt mills.  I have a Brewtech malt mill from 
Brewers Resource (no affiliation, you know the story).  I am absolutely 
thrilled with it.  I have compared the grist with a schmidling mill a 
corona mill and a roskopp champion commercial mill.  The grist quality 
falls between the schmidling and the roskopp.  Husks remain pretty well 
in tact with good seperation of fines.  I like the adjustability (not 
just so I can tinker BTW ;~)  But, I have found that for raw wheat and 
six row, it offers a little better control.  I have crushed at least 400 
lb of grain, running the mill with a drill, and the brass bushings are 
as good as new.  All this for a hundred bucks, and I am a happy boy!!

As for this thread on Carbon Monoxide:  I do not know off the top of my 
head what safe exposure limits are, but some important points need to be 
made.  The level needs to be multiplied by the time of exposure to 
really get an Idea of the risk.  A low level for a long period of time 
is just as dangerous as a high level for a short period of time. 
Hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the blood, binds irreversibly with 
CO.  This means that that O2 carrying capacity is permanantly lost until 
that hemoglobin is replaced.  The life span of a red blood cell is about 
120 days.  This means that the CO from one expsosure is not completely 
eliminated for 120 days, and the effect is cumulative.  I don't want 
anyone to panic, but please do be careful with the indoor use of 
propane.  Adjust air mixture properly, employ agressive ventilation, and 
consider converting to natural gas.  It is cleaner, and there are no 
tanks to exchange.

Happy and safe brewing, and happy holidaze

Adam C. Cesnales

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com


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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 14:08:36 -0800
From: "Mark W. Wilson" <mwilson at ichips.intel.com>
Subject: finding mackeson "to go" in Columbus, OH


I'm going home to columbus, ohio this year.  I'd like to bring back one of
my favorite beers, Mackeson Sweet Stout, since it's unavailable in Oregon
(far as I can tell).  Can anybody suggest a store in columbus, preferably
near the airport, or downtown that carries it?  I used to go to the combo
beer/homebrew store on the north side, just off of I-70 but it was closed
down last time I was home.

just to make this a HOMEbrew post, anybody got a recipie for mackeson that
actually tastes like mackeson?  I've tried lactic acid, etc., without coming
close.

 -Mark




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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 16:03:53 -0800
From: Gail Elber <gail at brewtech.com>
Subject: 0.2-micron filters

Several posters have recently mentioned 0.2-micron filters for air, gas,
etc. Where does one get these?

Gail Elber
Associate Editor
BrewingTechniques
P.O. Box 3222
Eugene, OR 97403
541/687-2993
fax 541/687-8534




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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 19:13:37 -0500
From: Rick Gontarek <RGontare at bellatlantic.net>
Subject: Thomas Hardy yeast

Hoppy holidays everyone,

Last Friday evening I had the incredible pleasure of tasting a 1986
bottle of Thomas Hardy Ale. I managed to save the sediment, hoping to be
able to rouse the 12-year old yeasties to brew a beer worthy of those
fine microorganisms. My question is: does anyone know what yeast Thomas
Hardy is bottle-conditioned with? I plan to streak some of the sediment
out on a plate to make certain I'm getting yeasties and not other
beasties, but I wanted to know if anyone had used this yeast
successfully. Also, I've checked the archives, but if anyone can help me
to formulate a recipe similar to Thomas Hardy, I'd appreciate it.

TIA,

Rick Gontarek
Owner/Brewmaster
The Major Groove Picobrewery
Trappe, PA



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Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 22:13:36 +0500
From: "Keith Royster" <keith at caro.net>
Subject: RIMS equip for sale

Howdy fellow brewers!  The holiday season is approaching quickly and 
I know most of you have probably asked for some nice brewing 
equipment.  If you asked for some nice RIMS related stocking 
stuffers, then Santa need look no further.  I am in the process of 
upgrading my RIMS setup and therefore have a PID temp controller and 
type-T thermocouple I would like to sell together.  The PID is only 
slightly used (3 times) and in excellent working condition, and the t-
couple is brand new (still in the bag).  If you are interested, visit 
http://www.hbd.org/kroyster/4sale.html to obtain more detailed 
information.  

Also, for those of you that have links to my RIMS page, please note 
that the site has moved from the old www.ays.net address (which is 
shutting down) to http://www.hbd.org/kroyster. Please update those 
links!




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