---

	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:
  Re: Lifting converted-keg kettles (ROATTW)" <ROATTW at UCMAIL.UC.EDU>
  Re: Listermann (ROATTW)" <ROATTW at UCMAIL.UC.EDU>
  cleaning grain-based charcoal from stainless ("Marc Sedam")
  Enzyme Kinetics (Matt Brooks)
  Re: Flux Removal ("John Palmer")
  Praag and  Vienna ("Braam Greyling")
  Re: Lifting converted-keg kettles ("Drew Avis")
  Fermenter lid (Dave Burley)
  centrifuging yeast starters (Adam Holmes)
  Autolysis (Jason.Gorman)
  Procedure Question (Loren Crow)
  Lifting 10 gallons (Nathan Kanous)
  spud caca (Cory Chadwell Page Navigation)
  Re: Clear Weizen (mark)
  Re: Lifting converted-keg kettles (Rod Prather)
  Beer & Sweat August 14th 1999 ("Robert Pinkerton")
  Vanilla! (Bill_Rehm)
  No boil capping (kathy/jim)
  1999 Buzz Off ("Houseman, David L")
  converting a keg to a boiling pot (JPullum127)
  Re: cleaning sanke kegs? (Jeff Renner)
  Hello again, decoction results, lager steps and IBU's ("Paul  Smith")
  Phosphate precipitation, beijo (Dave Burley)
  Seed Barley and malting (Dave Burley)
  Re:  1st Allgrain ("Poirier, Bob")
  "Pivo" is Slavic for "Beer" ("Alan McKay")
  Malting 101 (Dan Listermann)
  MCAB Prizes ("Rob Moline")


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

2000 MCAB Qualifiers: Spirit of Free Beer! Competition 5/22/99
(http://burp.org/SoFB99); Oregon Homebrew Festival 5/22/99
(http://www.mtsw.com/hotv/fest.html); Buzz-Off! Competition 6/26/99
(http://www.voicenet.com/~rpmattie/buzzoff)

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Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 11:12:15 -0400 
From: "Roat, Todd (ROATTW)" <ROATTW at UCMAIL.UC.EDU>
Subject: Re: Lifting converted-keg kettles

Although I did so myself 2 weeks ago with my first all-grain batch in 
my new
converted keg, lifting the kettle is very dangerous - on many levels
(injured back, 3rd degree burns). Just dont do it. I solved my 
problem by
constructing a wooden stand out of 2x4s that was 36"Hx36"Wx24"D. 
This stand
is large enough that I can put my burner, kettle and propane tank on it 
and
have it three feet off the ground. I just use a small step ladder to 
climb
up next to it and stir, etc. This height gives me enough 
gravity/height to
just open the ballcock valve on the kettle to send it to a CF wort 
chiller
then into the primary.

Bottom line is that you need to brew higher, the stand just has to be
strong. Some folks are lucky enough to have an outdoor deck with 
some
height, but in my garage I had no other option but to build a 3 ft 
stand for
the setup.

Hope that helps.

Todd

Todd W. Roat
Clinical Trials Coordinator
EMCREG Coordinator
Department of Emergency Medicine
231 Bethesda Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45267-0769
(P)513-558-5216
(F)513-558-5791
 <mailto:emcreg at uc.edu> emcreg at uc.edu
todd.roat at uc.edu <mailto:todd.roat at uc.edu> 




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Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 11:16:15 -0400 
From: "Roat, Todd (ROATTW)" <ROATTW at UCMAIL.UC.EDU>
Subject: Re: Listermann

www.listermann.com <http://www.listermann.com> 

513.731.1130

Todd W. Roat
Clinical Trials Coordinator
EMCREG Coordinator
Department of Emergency Medicine
231 Bethesda Avenue
Cincinnati, Ohio 45267-0769
(P)513-558-5216
(F)513-558-5791
 <mailto:emcreg at uc.edu> emcreg at uc.edu
todd.roat at uc.edu <mailto:todd.roat at uc.edu> 




Return to table of contents


Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 11:17:24 -0400
From: "Marc Sedam" <marc_sedam at unc.edu>
Subject: cleaning grain-based charcoal from stainless

I'm naming products in this post, so please insert blanket disclaimer
here...

A few months back I had a brewing calamity.  I was mashing a 10 gallon batch
in my mash/lauter keg (fitted with an Easymasher) and started a temperature
rise.  I use direct fire because...well, because I like it.  Anyhoo, I got a
phone call during the "direct fire" portion of the day and forgot to turn
off the burner.  Sure enough, the grain at the bottom of the keg had
converted to its base elements (note sarcasm, not scientific statement) and
my mash had a smoky flavor that even a boiler room attendant would find
unpleasant.  I spent hours scrubbing, rinsing, treating, etc.  I used PBW,
3% hot caustic, soap and water, elbow grease, a copper scrubby, and finally
Brillo.  Eventually all traces of the black solids disappeared from the
bottom of the keg.  Topped it all off with a dilute phosphoric acid rinse to
passivate the surface.

I decided to buy a stainless mash screen to install in the bottom of the keg
to prevent this scorching again.  When I took the keg out of hiding two
weeks later to install the mash screen, I noticed that the bottom of the keg
(the area I'd been concentrating on) had been discolored.  It wasn't rust,
per se, but it wasn't the color of good stainless either.  Later on I read
that you should never use steel wool pads to clean stainless because bits of
steel can get embedded in the surface and rust.  (Why do these bits of
knowledge always come immediately AFTER you screw up??)  I don't know if
this is what happened, but I also don't know what chemical entity is
currently at the bottom of my keg either.

Does anyone have a theory?  Better yet, is there any way to treat the
surface and return it to near-pristine condition?  I can get the necessary
treatment chemicals, I just need to know what they are.

Marc Sedam
Brouwerij Zuytdam



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Date: Thu, 06 May 1999 11:23:04 -0400
From: Matt Brooks <mabrooks at erols.com>
Subject: Enzyme Kinetics

An excellent post recently by S. Alexander on enzyme kinetics and mash
thickness.....

A couple of questions though...

>Water is required for enzymatic hydrolysis to occur.  Water is just as
>necessary for alpha-amylase to act as is starch, and in fact the
>relationship between the concentrations of starch and enzyme vs
measured
>(not specific) activity follow the same kinetic rules as do the
relationship
>between the presence of free water molecules and activity.  It's
referred to
>as the Michaelis-Menton equations.  If water concentrations are too
low,
>the rate of hydrolysis drops off.  The measured activity drops. Most
enzymes
>are more stable when water is absent, but they are of course inactive
>without water.

>For a given temperature, often, as Dave suggests, increasing thickness
>gives more final product (for example a thick 60C mash will allow more
of the
>protease activity, a thick 70C mash will allow for more beta-amylase
formed
>maltose than a thin one), but the M-M relationship would indicate that
>this won't continue at progressively thicker mashes.

My understanding of the Michaelis-Menten (M-M) equation is that it
represents a continuum for defining enzyme catalyzed reactions.  If an
experiment was started with a large amount of substrate (i.e. starch),
with no new substrate added with time, the reaction would initially be a
zero-order, as there would be excess food and the reaction rate would be
limited by the amount and ability of the enzymes.  As food became used
up, the reaction would begin to become substrate-limited, and a
fractional-order reaction would emerge.  When the food level becomes
quite low, the rate of finding the substrate would become controlling
and first-order kinetics would result.

Could the kinetics of this enzyme-substrate complex be improved by the
addition of a mixer (or mash recirculation), as this would impart energy
to the system and provide a means for the enzymes and substrate to come
into contact more frequently (i.e. more collisions), especially as the
system proceeds toward the first-order kinetics (i.e. when the substrate
is severely depleted)?

Would the addition of a mixer (or recirculation) also aid in getting
water molecules in contact with the enzyme-substrate complex thus
allowing for unimpeded hydrolysis (assuming water was acting as a
limiting factor) of the starch complexes in thicker mashes?

It seems that in a static mash bed the reaction of the enzyme with the
substrate would not occur as quickly (efficiently?) as in a mixed or
recirculated mash?

Any thoughts on this?


Matt B.
Northern VA.



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Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 08:26:21 -0700
From: "John Palmer" <jjpalmer at gte.net>
Subject: Re: Flux Removal

Tim asks how to remove excess flux from his new RIMSystem.

Well, I assume you are using the paste type of flux. Removing that type is
indeed a pain. The liquid type rinses away easily. I would recommend using
an industrial solvent like acetone if you have it available, but since most
people don't, I think the next best thing is a hot solution of PBW (from
Five Star).  Hot caustic would be the knee-jerk solution to break up the
petroleum based paste, but hot caustic would be murder on your copper
tubing. Therefore, a hot solution of PBW should work to break up and
dissolve the excess flux without harming your copper. Probably should test
it on a spare piece first.
Good Luck,
John


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Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 17:23:54 +200
From: "Braam Greyling" <braam.greyling at azona.com>
Subject: Praag and  Vienna

Hi all,

Within a week or two I am travelling abroad to Prague in Czech 
republic and Vienna in Austria.

Can anyone recommend any good beer places in and around these cities?

For sure Ill go to the Pilsner Urquell brewery in Plzen.

Maybe Dr.Pivo can help, if he is not too angry with me  :-)
JOKE.

Any places inbetween will be good also.

What breweries or beer-houses are a MUST-SEE  ?
If there is any homebrewers around there, let me know and I'll visit.


Regards




Braam Greyling      
Snr. Design Engineer
Azona(Pty)Ltd     
tel +27 12 6641910  fax +27 12 6641393


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Date: Thu, 06 May 1999 08:56:30 PDT
From: "Drew Avis" <andrew_avis at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Lifting converted-keg kettles

Don Lake asked about lifting 11 gals of near boiling wort.  I tried this a 
few times with my brewing buddy, equipped with 2 pairs of oven mitts.  My 
advice: don't do it.  Oven mitts are good insulators, but they're not real 
grippy.  And the handles on an SS keg are pretty slippery to begin with.  I 
switched to an immersion chiller, chilled before lifting, and things have 
been a lot safer around the brewhouse.

Drew "Narrowly missing 3rd degree burns" Avis
- --
Drew Avis, Calgary, Alberta
Download HopCalc, the free IBU calculator:
http://fast.to/strangebrew


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


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Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 12:07:41 -0400
From: Dave Burley <Dave_Burley at compuserve.com>
Subject: Fermenter lid

Brewsters:

Jon Sandlin plans on using his boiler as a fermenter and asks for ideas 
on
how to seal the lid on and provide gas relief. He anticipates drilling 
two
holes.

Why not just cover the top with a plastic ( polyethylene not one with
plasticizers) sheet which is held down by daisy chained rubber bands.  
This
provides a good seal and the gas can leak out, even though the plastic is

puffed up. No holes required.  I have successfully used this method for
decades on a plastic 6+ gallon garbage can with no contamination. Cover 
the
beer with an opaque covering to prevent light from spoiling the beer. 


Keep on Brewin'


Dave Burley 


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Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 10:47:35 -0600 (MDT)
From: Adam Holmes <aaholmes at lamar.ColoState.EDU>
Subject: centrifuging yeast starters

Does anyone out there have any experience in centrifuging your yeast
starters?  I would like to spin down the yeast and decant the spent wort.
I work in a lab and can use a clinical centrifuge or an ultracentrifuge
(both with "swinging-bucket type" rotors).  The rotors will hold six 50ml
polyethylene tubes.  So, it will take some time to spin down 2.5 liters
of starter (spin,decant,refill,repeat).

I wondered what speeds/times people had tried.  How did it affect your
finished beer?
  
I am doing this just to try something new.  It seems like a lot of effort
to do this for every batch but will be fun to try.

Thanks

Adam Holmes
Colorado State Univ.
Cell and Molecular Biology



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Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 13:20:00 -0400
From: Jason.Gorman at steelcase.com
Subject: Autolysis

All this talk about autolysis has sure made me thirsty.  I now want to
autolize a beer.  What yeasts are known to create an autolysis problems fast?
Seriously, I want to do it.


Jason Gorman-I sit at a desk next to Eric, by a window, but not near Todd or
Kyle.
Riverdog Brewery
Grand Rapids  MI


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Date: Thu, 6 May 1999 13:38:33 -0500
From: lorencrow at earthling.net (Loren Crow)
Subject: Procedure Question

Yesterday I brewed for the first time a 10-gallon batch of English mild
ale.  Normally I do 5-gallon batches, but had two carboys available so I
decided I'd give it a try.  I pitched the yeast straight into the cooled
wort in the boiling pot before siphoning and then aerated well.  Then I
whirlpooled for about 6 minutes and let the wort stand for about an hour,
and siphoned into the two carboys.

Well, here's the strange thing.  The airlock on the carboy I filled second
was bubbling happily last night, but the second one still hadn't started by
this morning.  Does anyone have any ideas about why this might be?

Thanks!
Loren Crow


==================================================================
# Loren D. Crow, Ph.D.     ++ Office Phone:  (903) 927-3219      #
# Department of Religion   ++          Fax:  (903) 938-8100      #
# Wiley College            ++                                    #
# 711 Wiley Avenue         ++ Email: lorencrow at earthling.net     #
# Marshall, TX  75670      ++ http://www.texramp.net/~lorencrow  #
==================================================================


"If hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue, virtue has never
received so much tribute as during this World War."
                                                  -Ernst Troeltsch in 1916




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Date: Thu, 06 May 1999 14:46:00 -0500
From: Nathan Kanous <nlkanous at pharmacy.wisc.edu>
Subject: Lifting 10 gallons

Don asks about lifting 10 gallons of boiled wort.  I brew in the garage and
I use an eye screw in a rafter to attach a "winch" (it's one of those
ratchet / come-along / winch things) to.  One of those ratchet
winches....kind of like a block and tackle thing but a ratchet....I don't
remember what it's called, but I can show you exactly where they are at the
local home improvement mega store.  Anyhow, I mount the eye screw in a
rafter, attach the ratchet / winch thing to it and I used a gas pipe with
hooks to hook into the handles of the keg with an eye bolt in the middle of
the gas pipe to attach to the hook on the ratchet / winch cable.  Then,
when I'm done boiling, I can just ratchet that sucker into the air and run
through the CF chiller.  I hope this helps and somebody please tell me what
the name of that ratchet / winch / come-along thing is.
nathan in madison, wi

PS you can buy that thing right next to the electric winches you attach to
your car at the local home improvement mega store


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Date: Thu, 06 May 99 16:58:34 -0500
From: Cory Chadwell Page Navigation <chadwell at ssd.fsi.com>
Subject: spud caca

Hello all,

In preparation for a Nut Brown I'm planning on brewing I decided to clean out 
my grain and hop supplies by brewing an experimentation beer, so that I 
wouldn't feel guilty ordering fresh ingredients for my Nut Brown.  I decided 
to brew a potato beer loosely following the guidelines in the potato beer 
article at www.brewery.org

I prepared the spuds by cleaning and slicing them fairly thin ( a few mm per 
slice.  Next, I brought my brew water to boil in the garage, about 30 min 
before it was ready I brought to boil about 8# spuds and 1# 2row inside on the 
kitchen stove.

When the boil water was ready outside I used it and the boiled spuds to dough 
in my grain to 155 def F.  I let the mash rest for 90 min and then raised temp 
for mashout and sparged for well over and hour.

After 1 week in the primary, 2 days in the secondary kegging and force 
carbonating the beer is ready.  It has quite a bit of starch haze that I'm 
hoping will clear with time.  The flavor is very nice.

I was wondering is this the same procedure you would use for rice or polenta?  
Also my spuds basically turned to mashed potatoes in the mash causing a very 
slow sparge.  Is this expected when brewing with adjucts like rice and corn or 
is this specific to using the spuds.

I'd advise everyone to try this brew.  The potato soup smell that this created 
during the mash was just heaven, and with a few friends to help I don't think 
the starch haze will pose any long term storage problems, It just won't be 
around that long.  :)

THX, Cory

- -- 

- --------------------------------------------------------------------
Cory D. Chadwell          FlightSafety International
Design Engineer           2700 N. Hemlock Circle                     
Navigation / Visual       Broken Arrow, Oklahoma 74012       /|
chadwell at ssd.fsi.com                                        /c|   -
9186919796 at mobile.att.net (text paging 150 characters)     /  |  /|
- ------------------------------------------------------  <-----s---
                                                      FSI  \  |  \|
                                                       SSD  \c|   -
                                                             \|




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Date: Fri, 07 May 1999 12:13:01 +0200
From: mark <shrike.cars at accesinternet.com>
Subject: Re: Clear Weizen

Peter,

Not only is pouring the yeast into the glass from the bottle give it
a good taste, it also is considered obligatory in Bavaria (if you don't
your considered unknowledgable, at least with my Bavarian
friends). This is considered to be part of the whole "experience" of
drinking a weisse bier.

Usually the definition of a "Weizen" is the type of wheat beer that is
from around Berlin, it is filtered clear and heavily carbonated. Wiesse
Bier (helles und dunkles) is what you get in the south of Germany
(in and around Bavaria). Now, I know that this will cause a stir on
the HBD (and I will have 20 people tell me that I am wrong) but hey...
It's what I have seen in Germany while living there. (currently living in
France, land of not-a-decently-hopped-beer-in-sight, with the
possible exception of the Ninkasi Ale House in Lyon. Their
English Ale is nicely hopped when compared to Feldschlosschen,
but not when compared to the versions one gets in most US Brewpubs.
However, when one goes to England and tries anything remotely like a
decent English Bitters or IPA... then you realize how wrong SOME
of the Americans are when it comes to that type/style of beer).

If you don't mind my asking, where abouts in Germany did you live?

Prost!
Mark
mark at awfulquiet.com

PS: Homebrewing is illegal in France... HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't stand that..... <gnashing of the teeth>


>Fred L. Johnson wrote about his clear homebrewed Weizenbier in HBD
>3022-12 http://www.hbd.org/hbd/archive/3022.html#3022-12 .

>It is a common misconception that Hefe Weizenbier *must* be cloudy to be
>true to style. I lived in Germany for about 2 years and consumed many
>different commercial Weizenbiers, some brewed in the very town where I
>lived, others brewed elsewhere in Germany. All bottled versions were
>clear if poured carefully from the bottle into the glass; in other
>words, there is no evident protein haze or yeast haze. However, it is
>common practice to pour a bottle of Weizenbier into the glass with great
>flourish so that the yeast at the bottom is suspended, giving the beer a
>very evident yeast haze.

>Cheers!
>Peter A. Ensminger
>Syracuse, NY
>P.S. Fred - I really love Weizenbier ... can I stop by for one next time
>I'm in Apex, North Carolina?



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Date: Fri, 07 May 1999 06:25:12 -0500
From: Rod Prather <rodpr at iquest.net>
Subject: Re: Lifting converted-keg kettles

In an issue of safety I felt this important.  Tried to mail but got bounced.

How to safely lift 11 gallons of boiling water to transfer it from one
bucket ot another?    Use a pump.   http://www.movingbrews.com/

Sorry, I don't really think there is a safe way other than this.  Anything
else requires suspension from some type of chain or lifting mechanism and
eventually something will fail or someone will make a mistake.  Death by
scalding is an painful price for making beer.  A lobster should be so lucky.

- --
So you wanna make beer, Visit me at http://fast.to/beer


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Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 08:23:51 -0400
From: "Robert Pinkerton" <robertp at cinti.net>
Subject: Beer & Sweat August 14th 1999

BEER & SWEAT is the largest ALL KEG homebrew COMPETITION that we know of.
Beer & Sweat is hosted each year by the Bloatarian Brewing League of
Cincinnati, OH and will be held this year at the Howard Johnson in
Springdale, OH.  Call 513-825-3129 for reservations and mention Beer &
Sweat.  The event is held outside (the judging is inside with air
conditioning) under a huge tent and all participants get to sample the beers
on hand.  We also have live entertainment and an extremely good time.  Since
the event is held under a huge tent it is a great time RAIN or SHINE.

Event Details:
Where: Howard Johnson Springdale, OH 513-825-3129 for reservations
When: Saturday August 14th 1999 Noon-????
Entry Deadline: August 7th 1999
Entry Fees: $8.00 First $4.00 each additional
Est. # of Entries: 100
Organizer: Robert Pinkerton robertp at cinti.net
Web Page: Includes online entry, judge and volunteer forms.
www.hbd.org/bloat
Sanctioned: BJCP style guides used and registered with the BJCP

Since Beer & Sweat is keg only, entry forms and fees must be received by the
deadline but kegs should be delivered to the competition site the day of the
competition.  Kegs must arrive between Noon and 2p.m. to be included in the
judging.

Hope to see you there.

Robert Pinkerton
Competition Organizer



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Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 07:33:06 -0600
From: Bill_Rehm at DeluxeData.com
Subject: Vanilla!

My wife and I are interested in making a Maple Vanilla Porter, we have a
great Maple Porter recipe but are not sure about the vanilla.  Assuming
a 5 gal. batch how much vanilla bean (I don't want to use extract) should
be used and when should it be added.


TIA

Bill Rehm
The Weil Street Brewery
Oostburg, Wisconsin




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Date: Fri, 07 May 1999 08:24:17 -0400
From: kathy/jim <kbooth at scnc.waverly.k12.mi.us>
Subject: No boil capping

Based on the concept that "it gotta be clean before it is sanitized", I
rinse the dust off my bottle caps in potable water and then put them in
160F water for a few minutes before removal, shaking off excess water
and capping. 

Boiling the caps is a no-no since the plastic capliners distorted and
caused me to toss a batch. 

It sounds like a variety of practices are practically acceptable, but it
is so simple to do, why not?



FWIW, my bottles are rinsed after use and drained and stored.  At
bottling, I start with a bleach water soak (gotta wet them in
something), push in a bottle brush and spin the bottle (just in case of
a neck ring), then jet spray rinse (I don't trust the dishwasher to
spray thru the neck to the height of the bottle) and put into the
dishwasher to drain and for a sanitizing cycle (no soap).

When stored in a dark, cool basement, my beers stay drinkable for a
couple of years (wheat beers excepted).  I like to brew a wide variety
of beer (30+ some beer styles plus meads and ciders to date) to always
have a bunch of choices.  Also, putting together an assorted 6 pak to
travel with is possible only with bottles. 

cheers, jim booth, lansing, mi




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Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 09:28:50 -0400 
From: "Houseman, David L" <David.Houseman at unisys.com>
Subject: 1999 Buzz Off

1999 BUZZ OFF Competition	

The 6th annual BUZZ OFF is scheduled for June 26th and June 27th, 1999 
at
Iron Hill Brewery in West Chester, PA.   The BUZZ OFF will again serve 
as
the mid-Atlantic region Qualifying Event for the Masters Championship 
of
Amateur Brewing (MCAB).  Winners in 18 subcategories will qualify to 
enter
in the MCAB national championship round in early 2000.   See the MCAB
website for more details.   The BUZZ OFF is also the home of the
Pennsylvania Club Challenge and the final leg of the Delaware Valley
Homebrew of the Year competition.   The Iron Hill Brewery is in 
Downtown
West Chester, a nice little town to walk around in with several 
excellent
restaurants.  Of course we expect to have activities that will include 
the
other breweries in the area such as Victory.  

Entries (three bottles) are due at Beer Unlimited, Rts 30&401, Malvern, 
PA
19355 by June 19th.  The fee is $5 per entry.  One entry per 
sub-category.
Beer must be brewed by the entrant(s) in their homes; no beers brewed 
on
commercial premises.   Questions about entries should be addressed to 
Mike
Cleveland at Beer Unlimited (610) 889-0905.  

We're looking for judges and stewards.  Judging is to start at 9am on 
both
Saturday and Sunday; participants should be present  hour early.   
If you
are interested in judging or stewarding, please contact Bob Thomas
(rwthomas at chesco.com) at (610) 647-6567.   

Additional questions can be directed to the Competition Organizer of 
the
Buzz Off, Chuck Hanning (hanning at voicenet.com) at (610) 889-0396.  


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Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 09:54:20 EDT
From: JPullum127 at aol.com
Subject: converting a keg to a boiling pot

my brother recently bought(legally!) me a keg from a brewery that is 
structurally sound but has a damaged valve and will not hold pressure.  i 
would like to cut off the top and use it for a boiler. i have a friend who 
teaches welding at a community college and has access to a plasma cutter. 
does anyone have a faq or specific info on the best way to do this and type 
of drain valve, strainer device, ect i should use?    thanks i tried using 
the hbd archives but it doesn't seem to like keg conversion or any other 
phrase i came up with


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Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 09:55:55 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu>
Subject: Re: cleaning sanke kegs?

"Sandlin, Jonathan Mark - BUS" <SANJM304 at bus.orst.edu> of Corvallis, OR asks:

>I am curious about how commercial breweries clean their sanke kegs after
>use.  Is there a similar way that I can clean mine at home?  Obviously there
>is no way to "scrub" the insides.  Thank you for your help!

I've been kegging in Sankeys nearly 20 years.  You can scrub the insides
with a bent carboy brush, but I don't get that much gunk in mine except
when I ferment in them.  Commercial breweries clean with hot caustic right
through the valve with a fitting that is much the same as a tap.  I think
that someone sells a homebrewers version, but removing the valve is simple,
and it lets you see inside.

First, *release all pressure* by pressing down on the ball valve or you'll
get your teeth full of a heavy valve and draw tube assembly when you
release it.  Hold a rag over it or you will get a face full of stale beer.
Then, using a small screwdriver, pry out the flat retaining ring.  Next,
using the jaws of a pair of pliers as a tool, turn the valve to the left
maybe 30 degrees, and lift it out.  It takes less time to do it than to
describe it.  Soak the inside with bleach water for a few hours and boil
the valve/drawtube to sanitize it.  Rinse, fill with beer, reverse the
above steps,  The hard part is re-installing the flat retaining ring.  You
have to press down to compress th O-ring (which is under the valve).  To do
this, I put a plumbing part called a reducing coupler (I think 3/4" to
1/2")) on top of the valve, hook a board under the lip of the keg top,
across the coupler as a fulcrum, and sit on the other end.  Then I force
the ring into its slot by twisting a wide screwdriver blade in the gap
against the coupler until it's home.  It takes me about 30 seconds.  I keg
about half of my beers in these, the rest in 5 gallon Cornelius (soda)
canisters, which have the advantage of being easier to fill and seal, using
cheaper taps, and taking up less room in the fridge.  Of course, they hold
less.

Good luck.

Jeff



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




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Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 10:14:47 -0500
From: "Paul Smith" <smith at admin.uwex.edu>
Subject: Hello again, decoction results, lager steps and IBU's

Hi All - it's been some time.  I wanted to thank the many who 
graciously contributed their thoughts back on the "decoction" thread 
of this winter.   I wanted to report on the results of my 
experiments.

To recap:

I wanted to try two things:  (a) compare decoction v. single 
infusion v. use of high-melanoidin malts for achieving the
characteristic "German" maltiness, e.g., Ayinger and others, of 
dunkels and bocks.  Fix, Narziss and others didn't see too much of a 
benefit with decoction, while others are devoted to the method; (b) I 
wanted to try out the "twin saccharification" stop as described by 
Darryl Richman and others, where a stop in both the beta and alpha 
range are employed, utilizing decoction.

My mash schedule was as follows:

Mash in at 1.25 qt/lbs at 140; rest for 30;
decoct 1/3 to 158; rest for 20; bring to boil and boil for 30;
return to mash to bring mash to 158; rest to conversion (about 20);
decoct 1/3 runoff to boil, boil for 20 minutes; return to mash for 
mashout.
Mashout for 15.

My concern was that by the time I finished the initial decoct, the 
main mash would be sitting at 140 for well over an hour - leading to 
an insipid, overly attenuative beer.  This was the consensus of the 
opinion.

My results were:

OG: 14
FG: 4

The beer had a nice mouthfeel, and the flavor was reminiscent of the 
commercial examples , although not exactly where I want it yet.  My 
homespun theory tells me that one of two things is happening:  
beta-amylase begins chewing on "ends," but will eventually need 
alpha-amylase to liberate chains before it can continue to any 
appreciable extent.  Thus, with a 30 minute beta rest, some 
fermentability is achieved, and the balance of conversion is 
achieved with dextrin liberation.  

One flavor complaint:  With this particular dunkel, and with any beer 
I have made since then with a significant amount of munich (e.g, 
>30%), there is a bit of a "nut" bite that is not as smooth-malty as 
I would hope for.  Using a single infusion and a specialty malt 
(e.g., melanoidin or aromatic) to get some melanoidin in the mash 
seems to mitigate against the nuttiness whenever I have used a lot of 
munich.  Anyone else with this impression?  BTW, I use DWC for all 
pilsner, munich, and cara-malts.

*******

Troy wonders about lager starters.  I use the same method for all my 
(10) gallon batches:  1C-1QT-1G step, at room temp; allow the yeast 
to completely flocculate, rack off the (now, beer) then add 1 pint at 
the beginning of the brew day.  By pitching time, it is going nuts.  
Using this method has resulted in consistently satisfactory FG's.   
Previously, in my ignorance, I used to rack off the starter when the 
yeast was still at high-krausen, effectively tossing the best yeast 
and pitching on top of the wimpy critters.  My FG's were always 
pretty high - 4.5-5.  Thanks to George DePiro, somewhere in one of 
his contributions to BT.  

For lagers, if you pitch at room and maintain a fermentation 
temp immediately, this would result in cold shock.  I have chosen to 
pitch at room, and keep the lager reefer at 60 until the first signs 
of fermentation are underway; then I bring it down to 54 in one fell 
swoop.  This seems ok.  The heat of fermentation slows the rate 
of drop to a manageable level, I think, so fermentation proceeds 
normally;  I have not noticed any off-effects (unless this is 
what I am tasting when I say there is a bit of nuttiness, above).  I 
know many will say it is impossible to avoid ester production using 
this method, but it seems to work for me.

***************************


Finally, Jeff Woods wonders about "Sister Star of the Sun" IPA.  I 
can tell Jeff that I brewed this about a year ago, and it was 
absolutely tremendous.  My calculations showed the IBU's to be  
about 113!  But, in all fairness, this was my first all grain 
batch, and not knowing my system efficiency my OG exceeded the 
target (OG 18.5) by far.  My FG was also really high - 6 balling, so 
there was a great deal of  sweetness to balance the admittedly 
whopping IBU.  Try it and see!  One suggestion:  if my memory serves 
me correctly, the brewer called for a 90 minute boil.  Stick to that. 
 My experience with high alpha varieties with a strong ( or strong 
and unpleasant) nose is that a 90 minute boil completely vaporizes 
unpleasant effects.  Chinook and Nugget are two that have stood out 
as resinous, and in my view demand a long boil (Galena is my 
usual bittering of choice for all British and American 
styles).





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Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 11:35:53 -0400
From: Dave Burley <Dave_Burley at compuserve.com>
Subject: Phosphate precipitation, beijo

Brewsters:

Why is anyone talking about hydroxyapatite?

Matt Brooks accuses me of discussing this.
I never mentioned the word.  It has little
relevance in brewing as far as I know.

The main reaction in brewing is due to the fact 

that calcium phosphate is incredibly insoluble.

Much more so than either calcium sulfate or
calcium carbonate. It is so insoluble at
brewing pHs that the calcium salts
added can be treated as an acid source due
to the release of protons from the partially
protonated phosphates when calcium phosphate 

precipitates.

The acid generated by this reaction is buffered
by the bicarbonate reaction which is many orders
of magnitude different from the solubility constant
of calcium phosphate. Calcium phosphate
precipitation is the dominant driving force in wort pH.
- ---------------------------------
Thanks for the information on the word for "beer" in 

Russian and Polish.  I love linguistic things.

In China ( where I've spent more time than in
Eastern Europe - where "bier" is well understood),
the word for beer is "beezho" in most of China I
visited and "beezhwer" in the Beijing area dialect.
Bayzhing is the new name for what used to be called
Peiping, and Peking, depending on the politically
correct linguistic era and who was in control
politically at the time. The northern Mandarin has a 

lot of ZH sounds in it and perhaps the rise of Chinese
domination in the north ( Mao and his gangs) versus
earlier British domination in the south ( where the
Chinese symbol for  Beijung would likely be
pronounced without the zh sound in the Shanghai
or Hong Kong dialects ) prompted this change in
the accepted pronunciation in Western translations.


Keep on Brewin'

Dave Burley

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Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 12:00:24 -0400
From: Dave Burley <Dave_Burley at compuserve.com>
Subject: Seed Barley and malting

Brewsters:

Dick Dunn is contemplating using seed barley for
his maltings.  Unless Dick can confirm that these
seeds have been untreated with fungicides and
the like I would not do it. Seed barley is most often
treated to prevent fungal destruciton of the newly
sprouted seedling ( damping off) and the like.

Better use feed grade for practice and to wait until
your barley is grown and harvested if you aren't sure.

Most home malting fails because

1) the seeds are drowned by soaking without
allowing a time to breathe, Give them an hour
break to get oxygenated when you change
the water every few (12) hours. Steep to a constant
weight ( see below).

2) the seedlings are not allowed to breathe oxygen and 

die of carbon dioxide poisoning. Turn the bed every
4 hours or so and keep it shallow ( 6 inches).

3) most of all, the malted grains are not dried properly
before they are kilned.  


So, advice is to stir the grain often, but gently, keep it
cool ( 50s) and oxygenated during the steeping
and germination  and dry it to a constant moisture
content for about 3 or more days at below 80F
before kilning to constant moisture at 120F or so.

A trick I use to evaluate moisture content
is to make a small bag of cheesecloth with some grain
in it.  Weighing this bag daily to constant weight will 

provide you an idea of when the malt is dry enough 

to kiln. You can also do this to check when moisture
uptake is constant during the steep.
I also use this same trick with hops.


Keep on Brewin'

Dave Burley

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Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 11:53:31 -0500 
From: "Poirier, Bob" <Bob_Poirier at adc.com>
Subject: Re:  1st Allgrain

Greetings!

I posted this question a few months ago, but never got any responses.

Scott, I notice that you've got a site gauge installed on your kettle:  
Should there be any concern that the wort that fills the site gauge is 
never boiled along with the main volume of the wort??

TIA!

Brew On & Prosit!!

Bob P.
East Haven, CT
bob_poirier at adc.com
Home of the B.I.G. (Beer Is Good!) Homebrew Club

Life on Earth is expensive, but it
comes with a free trip 'round the sun!!


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Date: Fri, 07 May 1999 12:59:12 -0400
From: "Alan McKay" <amckay at nortelnetworks.com>
Subject: "Pivo" is Slavic for "Beer"

Yes, Pivo is Russian.  Yes, it's Polish.  Yes, it's Ukrainian.
Yes, it's Czech.  Yes, it's Slovak.  I don't know for sure, but
I'm also willing to bet it's Serbo-Croatian, Bjelorussian, and 
a few others to boot.

Many of the Slavic languages have quite a considerable number
of common words between them.  

cheers,
 -Alan who-used-to-major-in-slavic-studies McKay

- --
Alan McKay
OS Support			amckay at nortelnetworks.com
Small Site Integration		613-765-6843 (ESN 395)
Nortel Networks
http://zftzb00d/alanmckay/


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Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 13:08:15 -0400
From: Dan Listermann <72723.1707 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Malting 101

Dick Dunn (rcd at raven.talisman.com)asks about home malting, a subject near

and dear to my heart.  I try to malt once a year, although I have yet to 
do
it this year, but there is still time.   


The seeds need to pass through a dormant peroid after harvest.  I would
wait at least six weeks.  Do a germination test to see if at least 95%
sprout.  Lay out 100 corns between paper towels and keep damp.  After 
four
or five days count the ones that did not sprout.

I malt about 25 lbs of seed per batch using a ten gallon Gott cooler, a
Phil's Phalse bottom, my shop's air compresser, a 2'x4' screen box and 
two
box fans.   First I clean the seed by rinsing with water.  Connect the
Phalse bottom in the cooler just like you would for mashing.  Pour the 
seed
in and attach the output of the bottom to a water faucet.  Let the water
percolate up through the seed and run over the top of the cooler  
stirring
occasionally until the water runs clear and the floating stuff is gone.  
I
drain it and connect the Phalse bottom to the shop air adjusted to a very

low flow and refill the cooler.  The seed seeps for two days.  I change 
the
water once.  


I am told that instead of using compressed air, you can just seep for 16
hours, drain and expose to air for 8 hours and repeat.

After seeping I pour the seed onto the screen box in a pile and insert a
thermometer into it.  In 24 to 48 hours the thermometer will start to 
rise.
 Then spread the pile to about 3" deep. You don't want the temperature of

the seeds to be much higher ( say 5 degrees) than the room temperature.  
If
it gets too high, thin the pile.   The seeds will "chit," that is start 
to
sprout rootlets.  They will need to be turned at least once a day or the
rootlets will entangle and you will have to deal with a brick of malt. 

After 4 or 5 days the acrospire ( shoot) will be about 3/4 along the 
length
of the corn and the rootlets will be about 1.5'" long.  ( use a razor to
slit the corn to check the acrospire) 


I haven't worked out a proper kilning method yet so I make "wind malt,"
that is air dried malt.  I put the screen box on two box fans and block 
in
the sides with cardboard.  The fans are set to draw air down through the
grain.  After three or four days the corns dry so that they are crisp to
chew on.  I have also experimented with placing a milkhouse heater under
the screen box and partially inclosing the top of the box.  I could get 
130
F that way.

I remove the rootlets, called clums, by tumbling in a clothes dryer.  I 
use
a leg from a pair of jeans as a bag to hold about ten pounds at a time. 
Tie
it shut more than once. After 45 minutes the rootlets will seperate with
the screen box.  A bit of advice.  Wait until "She Who Must be Obeyed" is

absent to perform this operation.

I have made crystal malt using a microwave oven.  Put the undried ( green

malt ) in a mason jar with a saucer on top and microwave for 30 minutes 
at
the lowest setting.  It makes really cool huge crystals!

The last batch yielded 27 points per pound per gallon.  Not bad for
heimgemacht!

Dan Listermann    dan at listermann.com         72723.1706 at compuserve.com

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Date: Fri, 7 May 1999 12:17:47 -0500
From: "Rob Moline" <brewer at isunet.net>
Subject: MCAB Prizes

			MCAB Prizes

>From: cburns at jps.net (Charley Burns)
>Subject: MCAB Prizes
>
>Any winners receive any yeast or malt yet? I got hops, but nothing else.

	Charley,
	I can't comment on the other prizes, but as for the Lallemand yeast prizes,
you should be receiving them shortly.
	The simple fact of the matter is Lallemand offered a brick of 500 gms per
winner, for a total of 54 prizes. These would have been shipped within a
week of the conclusion of the event, but for the requests of many of the
winners that they be allowed to choose from varieties of yeast in 5gm
sachets, further that they be allowed to receive 4 varieties, 25 sachets
each, for a total of 100 sachets.
	This presented a slight dilemna for the shipping department  at  Lallemand,
for not all the winners wanted a selction.....indeed the winners requsts
varied from 500 gm bricks to a 50/50 blend of 2, to a 33/33/33 blend of 3,
and on...........and further compounding this was the fact that not all the
winners had yet to state their preferences, nor their shipping addresses.
	This was attempted to be handled in a bulk post sent by Louis Bonham to all
the winners, stating that we  at  Lallemand hoped that the winners would
respond with the relevant info by April 15th, so that a conclusion could be
achieved.
	Yet as late as the 26th of April, a request was received, this apparently
due to the fact that the winner is using an e-mail address  at  a former
room-mates address.
	So, please be patient, I am sure that if you have made your desires known
by now, you will be soon receiving your Lallemand prize. If you have any
further questions, please contact me directly, and I will handle your needs
in the most efficient and expeditious manner that I can.
	Lallemand is proud of it's association with the MCAB in it's inaugural
year, and we look forward to many years of continuing this relationship. I
know that the organizers learned many lessons from this first effort that
will aid them in future competitions, and I can assure you that we  at 
Lallemand have too.  The delivery of prizes is one such lesson.

Cheers!
Jethro Gump

Rob Moline
brewer at isunet.net
Lallemand Web Site
jethro at isunet.net

"The More I Know About Beer, The More I Realize I Need To Know More About
Beer!"



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---