---

	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:
  yeast starter temps, oatmeal stout extract recipe? ("Conan Barnes")
  Chocolate Thunder (smurman)
  Motorizing mills (Doug Moyer)
  Nottingham Yeast ("Charles Beaver")
  distance from 0,0 rennerian (Kevin TenBrink)
  Chitosan: Composition and is it a good fining agent for beers? ("Harry Ewasiuk")
  Barley wine bottles (ThomasM923)
  Modern day Tom Sawyer (ThomasM923)
  Brewpubs in Winnipeg? ("Frank Klaassen")
  17th Annual Oregon Homebrew Festival, May 22, 1999 ("Mark Kowalski")
  Internet Speak (Alan McKay)
  Decline of Homebrewing  (Homebrewing plants the grains of it's own demise..) (WayneM38)
  Mills (Jack Schmidling)
  backdoor dealings (sedam)
  Not to awaken the AHA thread again, but.... (Dan Cole)
  100 Gallon limit broken! (pbabcock)
  Implosive carboys (Ross Reid)
  Win an SS Brew Kettle at NYC Spring Reg Comp (Kenneth B Johnsen <NADB>)
  Mimimash pH Questions (kchris1)
  The Energy of Implosion - Carboys and Pressure. ("S. Wesley")
  Fred Garvin Seminars ("Eric J Fouch")
  Water Adjustments (Thomas S Barnett)
  aluminum screen in homemade EZ masher (Adam Holmes)
  Backdoor Dealings... (pbabcock)
  Iodine test turned red?? ("Michael Maag")
  Acronyms (Joe KISH)
  Heart of Dixie Brew-Off Results ("John W. Rhymes")


Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy!

Madison Homebrewers and Tasters Guild's 13th annual Big and Huge - 28
March 1999:  Rules and forms at www.globaldialog.com/madbrewers
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----------------------------------------------------------------------


Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 12:32:46 -0500
From: "Conan Barnes" <barneco at earthlink.net>
Subject: yeast starter temps, oatmeal stout extract recipe?

hey folx,

I'm pretty new to homebrewing(on my 3rd batch).  still sticking to extract
kits til i build up some kinda proficiency.  my first batch, a pilsner ale,
turned out pretty good.  for the second batch, i added a wort chiller and a
few technique improvements gleaned from books, HBD etc.. and my IPA turned
out excellent.  for my third batch i decided i try to make the leap to
liquid yeast.  i'm planning on a Honey Brown Ale, and thought i'd try wyeast
1028.  my question, is this yeast known to be slow?  or have i done
something wrong?  i bought the pack on sunday and started it.  2 days went
by with no activity.  so i put it on the hot water heater(not very hot, just
not cold like the rest of the house), and the pack swelled up in 24 hours.
so i brewed a starter and pitched it.  after about a day i could see
activity and the airlock was moving(slow, but moving).  i expected to see a
good Krausen soon, so i'd be ready to pitch it saturday(tomorrow), but
instead, the activity slackened, then stopped all together.  i've noticed
that the yeast has pretty much all flocced and looks pretty much like trub
after a primary.  my guess is that my temp was a bit too low.  anyone else
ever have this problem, and has anyone come up with some nifty gadget to
maintain a 70-80F temp in a champagne bottle?
    On a quick second note, anyone have an extract recipe for an oatmeal
stout, if such a thing is possible?

thanks in advance,
Conan Barnes




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Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 00:03:13 -0800 (PST)
From: smurman at shell5.ba.best.com
Subject: Chocolate Thunder


Darrell Leavitt of Plattsburgh, NY posted his variant of Tollhouse
Porter, although curiously it has no cocoa additions.  I've been
meaning to post my version for a few years now.  I still have many
bottles, so I've no idea when I'll get to make it again.  It is strong
stuff.

Chocolate Thunder

Wyeast 1098 (or any British ale yeast)

90% British Pale Ale 
4%  Crystal 90L 
4%  Crystal  40L 
2%  Chocolate 

Sparge to 1/2 gal. less than usual.

2 lb. Honey pasteurized with 2 qts. H2O. (do not add directly to boil)

O.G. from the malt alone should be around 1.070, and after adding the
2 lb. of honey, you should be around 1.080.  Finishing gravity is
around 1.012-1.015.  Somewhere around 9% ABV.

Keep the mash temp. high to balance the bitterness of the chocolate.
No bittering hops.

Mash at 153F for 60 min.

6-8 oz. baking cocoa

add the baking cocoa 60 min. before knock-out
10 IBU of E.K. Goldings added at 15 min. from knock-out.

Age for one year.

 -SM-


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Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 08:14:35 -0500
From: Doug Moyer <shyzaboy at geocities.com>
Subject: Motorizing mills

Brewers,
    I know I should search the archives, but time is pretty limited
lately.... I have a JSP adjustable maltmill that I would like to
motorize, and I have some questions.

(1) What speed/power characteristics do I want on the mill's shaft?
(I.e., if direct coupled, the motor characteristics. But, if I use any
gear or pulley reduction, what do I actually want to provide at the
mill's shaft.)
(2) Is it a problem to have the motor directly coupled to the mill's
shaft? What about rocks in the grain?
(3) If (2) is a problem, what is the solution? Belt driven?

I know that a lot of people have used drills. BUT, are there _potential_
problems with this? Anyway, I may be able to get some "scrap" motors
since I work for a manufacturer of brushless dc motors and controls.
Also, if I know the characteristics I need, I could even wind one by
hand to give me what I want. So, what do I want?

Brew on!
Doug Moyer
Salem, VA
Star City Brewers Guild: http://hbd.org/starcity



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Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 07:47:02 -0600
From: "Charles Beaver" <cbeav at netnitco.net>
Subject: Nottingham Yeast

I just reviewed the 1998 postings on Nottingham yeast usage. About 75%
claimed an explosive start to fermentation but the other 25% referenced very
long lag times. I have recently used this yeast twice and found both times
that the lag time was huge. Has anyone found the cause of the increased lag?




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Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 06:17:03 -0800 (PST)
From: Kevin TenBrink <zzymurgist at yahoo.com>
Subject: distance from 0,0 rennerian

AJ wrote:
>>Jeff Renner (from whom I am currently more distant than ordinarily)<<

that is true of most of us as Jeff is in England this week.





_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free  at yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com



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Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 07:35:38 +0000
From: "Harry Ewasiuk" <shogun at ccinet.ab.ca>
Subject: Chitosan: Composition and is it a good fining agent for beers?

Greetings to all,

As a recent subscriber to HBD, I have found the information and discussion
quite useful to my brewing efforts. A thank you also to the Janitors for
maintaining HBD.

The issue:  I began brewing a few months ago from extract and all grain
kits, producing some very nice, drinkable brews. A friend noticing a slight
haze in my beers, suggested using chitosan to fine them before bottling.
Unfortunately, he was unable to tell me what chitosan is made from and
whether it would be a good fining agent. I have searched the HBD archives
and came up with nothing. If anyone has any information on chitosan, please
share your knowledge.

Thank you in advance for your replies

Harry Ewasiuk
Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
email:shogun at ccinet.ab.ca

'So then I says to Borg, "You know, as long as we're under siege, one of us
oughta moon these Saxon dogs."' - G. Larson



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Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 09:51:25 EST
From: ThomasM923 at aol.com
Subject: Barley wine bottles

Once again...

"Subject: 6oz bottles

Does anyone know of a source for 6oz bottles. It's about time to bottle my
barleywine.
Thanks for the help."

It's the perennial barley wine bottle question. I know that there are small
beer bottles manufactured in the US, I bet someone could make a decent amount
of money selling them to desperate home brewers (I'll take a few cases). I
understand that a manufacturer would probably require a large purchase of
bottles, but couldn't the larger mail order home-brew suppliers (or the
wholesalers that supply them) deal with that?

Thomas Murray
Maplewood, NJ



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Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 09:57:18 EST
From: ThomasM923 at aol.com
Subject: Modern day Tom Sawyer

David Mercer wrote:

"Most of my manifold was made while on a work
assignment in rural Vietnam. In the evenings I'd draw a crowd of villagers
curious at why I was making little cuts in copper tubing. I'd tell them it
was to make beer, and pretty soon they'd be arguing over wanting to do it
themselves. So I'd hand over the hack saw and tubes, open a beer and sit
back and watch."

Mark Twain was really on to something, wasn't he?

Thomas Murray
Maplewood, NJ


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Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 13:21:16 -0500
From: "Frank Klaassen" <klaassen at chass.utoronto.ca>
Subject: Brewpubs in Winnipeg?

I'm off to Winnipeg for a job interview later this month. Any
recommendations on good local brew?
_______________________
Frank Klaassen
klaassen at chass.utoronto.ca




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Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 13:40:10 -0600
From: "Mark Kowalski" <mkowalski at proaxis.com>
Subject: 17th Annual Oregon Homebrew Festival, May 22, 1999

Heart of the Valley Homebrewers present the 17th Annual Oregon Homebrew
Festival at the:

Benton County Fairgrounds
110 SW 53rd Street
Corvallis, Oregon
Saturday, May 22, 1999 9:30 AM

Special Guest Speakers Fred Eckhardt and Al Haunold - the inventor of
Willamette Hops!

Judging for the 28 Recognized AHA Beer, Mead and Cider Styles

NEW: Additional judging and judge training session Friday, May 21 1999 7-10
PM

All entries (including online entries) must be received and registered by
the deadline of 5:00 pm, Monday, May 17, 1999. No exceptions!

Entrants are strongly encouraged to send or bring their entries to:

Oregon Homebrew Festival
c/o Corvallis Brewing Supply
115 Jackson St.
Corvallis, OR 97330

Other drop off sites can be found at http://www.mtsw.com/hotv/fest.html

Introduction

The Heart of the Valley Homebrewers invite you to participate in the
seventeenth annual homebrew festival, the longest running event of its kind
in Oregon. The focus of the event will be a judging of homebrewed beer
sanctioned by the American Homebrewers Association (AHA) and the Beer Judge
Certification Program (BJCP). In addition, the club will host a festival to
promote awareness and knowledge of various beer styles, provide
opportunities to share information about the homebrewing craft, and
encourage interaction between homebrewers in a social atmosphere. This
year's activities will include several displays, a raffle, and the
opportunity to meet and talk with some of the best and most experienced
homebrewers anywhere!

Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing (MCAB)

The 17th annual Oregon Homebrew Festival is a Qualifying Event for MCAB II.
First place winners in 18 Qualifying Styles will be invited to submit
entries into the MCAB II finals competition to be held in St. Louis in 2000.
For more information please see the MCAB web site at
http://www.hbd.org/mcab.

Winners will be announced at approximately 5:00 PM the day of the
competition. Ribbons will be awarded for first, second, and third place in
each category. The winner of Best of Show will receive a gift certificate or
other prize appropriate to the occasion. Judges reserve the right to not
award all ribbons in any category if entries are judged to not be of
sufficiently high quality.

For any additional information, on-one entry, drop off points, forms, etc.
or to volunteer some time for this competition see

http://www.mtsw.com/hotv/fest.html

or contact the competition organizers:


Lys Buck			Joel Rea			Herky Gottfried
Competition Organizer	Director of Judges	Registrar
1208 NE Lafayette		115 Jackson St.		3920 NW Jameson Dr.
Albany OR 97321		Corvallis OR 97330	Corvallis OR 97330
(541) 928-3531		(541) 758-1674		(541) 757-8009
yoone at ucs.orst.edu	cbsbrew at peak.org		herkyg at cv.hp.com



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Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 17:37:30 -0500
From: Alan McKay <amckay at ottawa.com>
Subject: Internet Speak

 - IMO - in my opinion
 - IMHO - in my humble opinion
 - IMNSHO - in my not so humble opinion
 - AFAIK - as far as I know
 - AFAIC - as far as I care
 - IIRC - if i recall correctly
 - ROTFL - rolling on the floor laughin
 - YMMV - your mileage may vary 

and many more

- --
   "Brewers make wort, yeast makes beer"
    - Dave Miller's Homebrewing Guide
http://www.magma.ca/~bodnsatz/brew/tips/


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Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 18:39:42 EST
From: WayneM38 at aol.com
Subject: Decline of Homebrewing  (Homebrewing plants the grains of it's own demise..)

Dan Listermann      dan at listermann.com   or 72723.1707 at compuserve.com >>
writes:

<< There is another factor that I believe feeds this situation.  The
demogrphics of homebrewing are easily contained inside the demographics 
of new computer users.  Computers are sucking up the money for homebrewing
and, even more importantly, the time for homebrewing.   I am starting to
believe a turn around in homebrewing will not happen until the newness of
computers has past.  Considering the rapid advances computers keep making,
this point could be some time off.  The industry may have to satisfy 
itselfwith people who really enjoy the process of making great beer not just
drinking it.  I am not so sure that this is a bad thing.  We have to find
these people.  I kinda like them.>>

Dan:

I have been working closely with another hobby group as part of my job for the
last 12 weeks. I have chatted with them and the vendors of their equipment.
They are passionate about their hobby, just like homebrewers. Every addition
to their hobby (model railroad) is an another improvement and investment. Ever
see a $1000 'G' scale locomotive or a $3000 LGB engine and rolling stock
setup? I thought that a PicoBrewery was expensive....

With our hobby, as one gets better and after one moves to all grain, the
investment in materials and expense actually drops!!  If you follow
rec.crafts.brewing, brewers are mashing in picnic coolers and fermenting in
plastic pails.  Some boast that they have had the same pail for over 5 years!
Hard to make a living selling plastic pails to homebrewers. A lot of equipment
is purchased or built without the homebrew shop as a source.  That is the
nature of this hobby.

A few years ago, I started with extract batches which cost about $20-$25 each.
I was visiting at least two shops every month for supplies. I now do 10 gal
all grain batches. A 50# bag of domestic malt is about $22.  That drops the
base malt cost to about $4 a batch. I now brew better beer in bigger batches,
less often.  That is not good for shop owners. It should be the other way
around.  Start out with less expensive ingredients and move up to more
expensive ingredients (grains to extract ?). Instead of two trips a month to
the shop, now it is only one or less.  This fall, I hope to start yeast
cultures of my three house brews. No more $4 yeast packs. This puts the
homebrew shop owner at odds with the natural progression of this hobby.  At
least at the high end of the hobby.

In order to improve my technique, I like to brew as often as possible. In
order to brew more, I try to split 10 gal. batches with a fellow homebrewer.
This is the best use of my time and equipment and a way to explore the
different styles I want to brew.
There was an interesting post to RCB a week ago.  The homebrew shop was
charging a surcharge of 10% for grinding grain at the shop. At first glance,
it seemed a bit excessive, but from a shop owners perspective, a good business
decision. 

I am fortunate to have 5 homebrew shops within 30 min. driving distance. I try
to frequent the top 3 as much as possible. I will do my best to keep these
local guys in business and move forward in the hobby at the same time.

Then there is that 100 gal limit........

Just my opinion.

Wayne
Big Fun Brewing
Milwaukee


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Date: Sat, 13 Mar 1999 21:00:12 -0800
From: Jack Schmidling <arf at mc.net>
Subject: Mills

Dan Listermann <72723.1707 at compuserve.com>

"I won't debate that you can make good beer at a constant "magical" gap 
setting.  

Perhaps you do not wish to "debate" but I, on the other hand, do not 
wish to have you impugn our product no matter how subtle your approach.
No sooner do we get kudos for presenting an honest, tempered 
discussion than you have to spoil it with hype, inuendo and 
misinformation.

"One of the prime reasons that brewers get poor extractions is poor 
crushes.  This is especially common amoung beginning all-grain brewers 
because of a fear of getting a stuck mash.  Inconsistant crushes cannot 
be looked upon as an advantage.

"Magical" gap settings will produce inconsistant crushes.

This is clearly a code-worded trashing of the "Pre-adjusted MM and
you are now going to have to prove this nonsense.  But of course
you must begin by defining "inconsistant" crush and then you have
to prove that the extraction is inferior to what can be achieved
with your mill and then you can collect the prize that I have offered
for years to anyone who can prove that beer made with an adjustable
mill is in any way better than that made with a pre-adjusted MM.

"I crush by visual inspection never worrying about what the gap is.

Me too.  I have not adjusted my mill in 4 years nor have 7000 happy
users of pre-adjusted MM's.

js


- -- 

Visit our WEB pages:     http://user.mc.net/arf

ASTROPHOTO OF THE WEEK..... New Every Monday




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Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 00:30:34 -0500
From: sedam at bellsouth.net
Subject: backdoor dealings

Dan:

I work at a homebrew shop that was the victim of a "backdoor buy" and
can assure you that it does effect the bottom
line of the shops.  Don't you think a homebrew shop would want to sell
someone 2,000 lbs of grain?  That's only 40 bags
of grain--easily within the realm of an industrious group of brewers.
For the $3/ bag you might save, you'll kill the local
shops.  It's not anything close to whining...it's real life business.
How do you think a restaurant would do if you could bring
your own ingredients and just have them cook it?  Same thing.  I hope
you'll be a little more sensitive to the issue and, if
you don't beleive what I'm saying, ask the owner of your local shop how
he/she feels about the topic.  That might
educate you better than I ever could.

Cheers!
Marc Sedam
Chapel Hill, NC



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Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 06:15:00 -0500
From: Dan Cole <dcole at roanoke.infi.net>
Subject: Not to awaken the AHA thread again, but....

OK, 

1) so BrewingTechniques has decided to take the lead in promoting
homebrewing as a hobby by making high quality commercials available to
homebrew shops, (go to
http://www.brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue7.1/editorial.html
for details)

and 2) by their own admission the AHA supports the legalization of
homebrewing in Idaho "in a minor way with a sample letter e-mail campaign
to AHA members in Idaho."

So 1) another organization has taken up the cause of the promotion of
homebrewing, and 2) individuals are getting homebrewing legalized in other
states. 

Can someone remind me what the AHA is for?


Dan Cole
Roanoke, VA
(not affiliated with the aformentioned entities)



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Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 10:32:18 -0500 (EST)
From: pbabcock <pbabcock at mail.oeonline.com>
Subject: 100 Gallon limit broken!

Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager...

WayneM38 at aol.com sez....

>Then there is that 100 gal limit........

Tha one's easy: just get married! It doubles it!

See ya!

Pat Babcock in SE Michigan         pbabcock at oeonline.com
Home Brew Digest Janitor           janitor@hbd.org
HBD Web Site                       http://hbd.org   
The Home Brew Page                 http://oeonline.com/~pbabcock/brew.html
   "Just a cyber-shadow of his former brewing self..."




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Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 16:53:49 GMT
From: mrreid at golden.net (Ross Reid)
Subject: Implosive carboys

My thanks to both Dave, who responded here in the Digest and, to another
via email. 
My career as a vacuum transferrer has come to an end. This old mug of
mine might not be handsome but, it's the only one I've got.
However, I do have one related question. In my original post I mentioned
a vacuum setup, sold by one national winemaking/homebrewing wholesaler,
mainly for BOP operators to speed up the finishing of wine by vacuum
de-gassing. In operation, the glass carboy (or many carboys) of wine
is/are connected to the vacuum pump which is left running for 24 or more
hours. Is the inherent danger of implosion in an almost full carboy
less than in an almost empty one, or is this set up also dangerous?
I do have a small pump that I can use which will be fine for same level
transfers but, I don't know what kind of a flow rate it'll produce with
a 10 foot head bringing wine/beer up from the basement. I guess I'll
find out later this afternoon, but I'll test it with water first.
Again, thanks for the advice. 
Cheers,
Ross.

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Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 11:56:18 -0500
From: kbjohns at peakaccess.net (Kenneth B Johnsen <NADB>)
Subject: Win an SS Brew Kettle at NYC Spring Reg Comp

Best of Show prize for the 8th NY City Spring Regional Homebrew Competition
is a 15 gal PBS Stainless Brew Kettle with bottom drain and thermometer. 

In all, over $2,000.00 in prizes will be given away.

Entries are due by Thursday 3/18/99. Complete entry information and online
registration can be found at the Homebrewers of Staten Island Homepage URL
http://pbsbeer.com/hosi/hosimain.html

Judges and stewards are also needed. Judges receive; 2 free entries, coffee
bagels (morning), lunch and a token of our appreciation and will be eligle
for door prizes. They are also invited to join us for a HOPs party after
the competition.



Ken Johnsen


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Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 09:27:05 -0800
From: kchris1 at lausd.k12.ca.us
Subject: Mimimash pH Questions

				
HBDers,

I have an old question for you.  It has been a few 
years since I have done an extract batch and I 
would appreciate it if you could help me clarify a 
few pH questions that are nagging me. 

This is going to be a 12 gallon batch of stout

12 lb Scotts LME

minimash with the following Breiss Malts
2 lb 2-row
1 lb carapils
1 lb flaked barley
1 lb roasted barley
 .5 lb chocolate 


If I mash all the malts together at one time, I am 
concerned that the pH will drop too low and give 
me a poor conversion.  Is this a valid concern?  
Dont know much about my water chemistry, but 
my all grain mashes fall into the  5.3 5.5 range. The 
last 2 batches were CAPs and it went right to 5.4 
with no dark malts.

Should I mash the 2-row with the carapils and 
flaked barley while adding the roasted barley and 
chocolate at the end of the mash?

The other alternative is to 
do a separate mash for the chocolate and roasted 
barley.

What do you think.
 

Thanks

Keith
Brewing a beer that not even sighted folks can see 
through ;-)


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Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 12:47:45 -0500
From: "S. Wesley" <WESLEY at MAINE.MAINE.EDU>
Subject: The Energy of Implosion - Carboys and Pressure.

The Energy of Implosion - Carboys and Pressure.
From: Simon A. Wesley

 In HBD #2975-18 Ross Reid asks about using a vacuum pump
generating -15" Hgg. to lift beer from a carboy in his basement to the
next floor.  He also asks about using lower level vacuum or C02
pressure to do same level transfers.

 My advice to you Ross is to get yourself a small regular pump to
accomplish this job.  For a modest amount of money you can
virtually eliminate all risk from this process.  If you wish to
continue using your vacuum pump here are a few things you
should keep in mind.

 At first glance 15" of vacuum applied to an empty carboy may not seem
like that big of a deal.  In reality, if the carboy does fail this is
probably just as dangerous as doing vacuum evaporation in a carboy at
 -28.5" Hgg.  The energy released by an empty 20 litre carboy (roughly
five gallons) failing under these circumstances is 311 J.  To put this
in perspective this is the energy that would be released if you
dropped a full carboy from a height of about 1.5m (chest height) to
the floor.  Compare this to the energy released upon failure of a 20
litre carboy holding 16 litres of beer at 28.5", which is 324J.  Of
course it is probably less likely that the 15" carboy will fail, but
if it does, the results might be similar if not worse.   Dave Burley
and Louis Bonham have clearly stated that they feel that evaporating
beer from a Pyrex carboy would be extremely dangerous and have
strongly advised against doing this.

 In HBD #2976-14 Dave Burley responded to Ross's post by
suggesting the use of a wooden box as an implosion shield for
Ross's receiving carboy.  This is in fact the approach that is taken
in many vacuum applications involving large glass containers which
require heating, although the implosion shields are not usually made
out of wood.  If Ross chooses to continue using his pump he would do
well to follow Dave's advice in this matter.  As an alternative, an
implosion shield could be made out of a small metal trash can or a
heavy duty plastic trash can or bucket.  Even if you do use an 
implosion shield proper eye protection should still be worn at all 
times. I prefer to use a full face shield.

 In order for an implosion shield to be effective it needs to be used.
I would recommend that Ross make a habit of NEVER PUTTING HIS CARBOY
UNDER VACUUM WITHOUT THE SHIELD IN PLACE.  I would also suggest that a
small peephole should be made in the shield so you can see what is
going on inside.  This will reduce the temptation to lift up the
shield to peek.  Consider the following unpleasant scenario.  You
kneel down next to the carboy, and lift the heavy wooden shield.  Your
body and your face are right next to the carboy.  You accidentally
bang the carboy with the shield and it fails.  You could be badly 
injured or even possibly killed. 

 With regards to lower vacuum transfers (-5" Hgg) and low pressure
 (2.5psig) CO2 pressure transfers it is still probably a good idea to use a
shield.  I find that my carboys will fit inside the plastic buckets
sold as fermenters in homebrewing stores.  A 2.5" hole cut in the
bottom of one of these would turn it into a cheap effective shield.
Don't forget the peep hole and of course the eye protection.

 In closing I would like to make one other comment about transferring
using CO2 pressure.  Ross with his bad back has a good reason for
looking for an alternative to siphoning to do transfers.  I understand
that some people use CO2 to
transfer because they think it reduces the risk of oxidization.  If
you choose to do this you would be wise to keep the pressure as low as
possible and consider using a shield.  Carboys are almost certainly
much stronger under vacuum than under positive pressure.  The -15" Hgg
Ross was using creates a pressure difference of 7.5 psi between the
inside and outside.  I would say that using this much pressure to
transfer is a lot  more dangerous than using 15" of vacuum.


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Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 12:45:36 -0800
From: "Eric J Fouch" <fouches at iserv.net>
Subject: Fred Garvin Seminars

HBD-
Rob Jones lets us know about upcoming events in Toronto:

>This year again will act as a fist round for the American Homebrewers
Association
>National Homebrew Competition. If you place 1st, 2nd or 3rd at the GCHC you
will
>be permitted to advance to the NHC second round. The entry deadline this
year is
>May 1.

The Bent Dick YocotBrewery and Male Escort Service would like to announce
that Fred Garvin will be conducting "training seminars" to help brewers get
into shape for this event.
His seminars are free, and include proper stretching techniques, and an
optional object removal mini seminar.

Classes will be held in the West wing of the YoctoBrewery, immediately
following Fred's Truss Adjustment Workshop.

Thank you

Eric Fouch
Bent Dick YoctoBrewery
Kentwood MI





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Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 15:11:21 -0600 (CST)
From: Thomas S Barnett <barnets at mail.auburn.edu>
Subject: Water Adjustments

Hello all,
	I recently received a water analysis from the city and had a few
questions regarding additives.  In summary, concentrations are as follows:
Calcium 11.8 mg/l
Sodium   2.1 mg/l
Magnesium 2.0 mg/l
Alkal. (as CaCO3) 24.0 
Hardness 37
Sulfate 16.13
Chloride 6.7
Ph 7.8
(I think these are the important ones).  I have been making all-grain beer
for a few years and have never treated my water.  My beers have in general
been very good i generally get 28 pts/lb/gallon.  Most of the time i brew
german lagers and wheat beers,but i do brew other styles as well.  Is
water treatment really something i want to get myself involved in?  In
other words, will it significantly improve my beers, or simply make things
more complicated? Thanks. Tom Barnett. 



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Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 16:09:15 -0700 (MST)
From: Adam Holmes <aaholmes at lamar.ColoState.EDU>
Subject: aluminum screen in homemade EZ masher

I just constructed an EZ masher-type setup on my SS boil kettle from
parts at the local Ace hardware.  I used aluminum window screen as my
filter.  Have not used it yet but looks good and was cheap.  Anyone ever
have problems using window screen with a setup like this?  It seems people
usually look for a source of stainless steel screen or buy a SS
Surescreen.  I don't have problems using aluminum in my brewing so that's
not an issue.  
	After adding this spigot to the side of my kettle I thought that
it would make a great bottling bucket.  Just boil some water in the kettle
for 20 minutes with lid on to heat sanitize.  

Long live the HBD,

Adam Holmes
Fort Collins, CO



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Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 11:20:22 -0500 (EST)
From: pbabcock <pbabcock at mail.oeonline.com>
Subject: Backdoor Dealings...


Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager...

Marc Sedam sedam at bellsouth.net writes:

> Dan:

Not Dan; Pat.

> I work at a homebrew shop that was the victim of a "backdoor buy" and
> can assure you that it does effect the bottom
> line of the shops.  Don't you think a homebrew shop would want to sell

Yes! I know you'd rather sell the grain than have it come from somewhere
else, and of course it affects the bottom line.

> someone 2,000 lbs of grain?  That's only 40 bags
> of grain--easily within the realm of an industrious group of brewers.
> For the $3/ bag you might save, you'll kill the local
> shops.  It's not anything close to whining...it's real life business.

First, there are precious few groups buying tons of grain through means
other than home brew shops.  Second the profit on 40 bags of grain is
what?  If you suggest they are saving $3 a bag, let's say that's half your
profit. So you would have made $240 on that one buy -- assuming *ALL*
those people would have purchased through your store had they not been
able to buy elsewhere. If there's a brewpub in your vicinity, I doubt that
you are/were the sole HB shop. And, if $240 it is the "make or break"
level for your shop for the month, you're probably in trouble already.  
If, due to volumes, your margin is much lower than that, you're being
disingenuous when you suggest that that's all that's being saved by the
brewers, or you're selling at a loss anyway.

If the problem *IS* so widespread that this form of competition (that's
what it is, by the way: competition) is adversely affecting the bottom
line, those in "real life business" take measures to counter. When a "real
life business" finds itself non-competitively priced, a "real life business"
would normally narrow it's margins to recoup the traffic, and accept that
they just aren't going to make that much on that particular product, or
they stop carrying it altogether. Like evolution, you adjust to the
environment -- or you die.

But, again, I sincerely doubt (and I'm repeating myself) that such
dealings could be at the volume necessary to be the cause of the decline
of home brew shops in general -- don't you agree?

> How do you think a restaurant would do if you could bring
> your own ingredients and just have them cook it?  Same thing.  I hope

No. It's not. The correct analogy would be choosing between shopping at
your local supermarket, or going to a warehouse club for your groceries.  
This is also "real life business," by the way, and home brew shops that
are being burdened by low-cost competitors really could learn by looking
at that model of competition. You'll NEVER stop someone from trying to get
the lowest price on a purchase -- well, rarely, anyway -- particularly in
mainstream US.  The IDEA is to make your product or venue somehow more
attractive to the consumer. Sitting back on your haunches and complaining
about the competition certainly doesn't accomplish anything.

> you'll be a little more sensitive to the issue and, if
> you don't beleive what I'm saying, ask the owner of your local shop how
> he/she feels about the topic.  That might
> educate you better than I ever could.

OF COURSE they're passionate about it. They'd be idiots NOT to be.  
However, if they just sit back and cry about competition -- no matter the
source, they're whining.  If they react to it in such a way that they
remain COMPETITIVE, they're treating their shops like "real life
businesses."

> 
> Cheers!
> Marc Sedam
> Chapel Hill, NC

It's not my intention to offend Marc or any other shop owner/employee, but
if EMOTION is the basis for your business decisions, you're destined to
continue the rather frightening trend in the retail home brew community.

See ya!

Pat Babcock in SE Michigan         pbabcock at oeonline.com
Home Brew Digest Janitor           janitor@hbd.org
HBD Web Site                       http://hbd.org   
The Home Brew Page                 http://oeonline.com/~pbabcock/brew.html
   "Just a cyber-shadow of his former brewing self..."





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Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 18:41:49 -0500
From: "Michael Maag" <maagm at rica.net>
Subject: Iodine test turned red??

I did the iodine test for starch.  The iodine turned bright red and
eventually brown.  I recall reading that the red color change indicates
something regarding the state of the mash, but I don't remember the
particulars and can't find the reference.  Anyone know what the red color
change indicates?
Thanks,
Mike, in The Valley, VA.



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Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 16:46:58 -0800
From: Joe KISH <jjkish at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Acronyms

IMO, those ACRONYMS are a  real PITA,
So,a big TIA to Eric,Alan,Keith.
 I'll just HAHB.
      Joe


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Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 22:10:18 +0000
From: "John W. Rhymes" <jwrhymes at mindspring.com>
Subject: Heart of Dixie Brew-Off Results

Results are in for the 1999 Heart of Dixie Brew-Off.

Best of Show went to Bill Freeman and Paul Jann for their Kartoffel
Kolsch.  Second Place in BOS went to Doug McCullough for his Boughs of
Barley Barleywine.  Third Place in BOS, and Best Extract Beer, went to
Kim Thomson for his Flanders Red, which scored 47.

The winner of the Best Potato Beer award -- for the second straight
year -- was Brian Dueweke of the Weekend Brewers in Virginia, for his
Scotch Potato beer.

For a list of all category winners, see our competition web site at
http://www.bham.net/brew/brew-off-1999.html.

We had another excellent turnout of judges, and were able to have all
entries evaluated by three judges, with an average flight size of
eight entries.  Thanks to all of our judges and stewards for making
our event a success!

John W. Rhymes -- Birmingham, Alabama
jwrhymes at mindspring.com


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