---

	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:
  More high-gravity questions (Nathan A Sanborn)
  Venturi Tube (EdgeAle)
  My apologies....recipe compare idea (Jim Kingsberg)
  Glass Chillers (?) (Matt Smiley)
  malt extract brewing ("Darryl Downie")
  Re: Visit to Belorussia - Any Beer There? (VQuante)
  Peppery flavor in beer (Crossno Clan)
  Iodophor ("J. Matthew Saunders")
  being more sanitary after the heat exchanger (Joe Rolfe)
  RE: Peppery flavor in beer (Pat Babcock)
  Keeping Iodophor.... (Pat Babcock)
  Demise of BT/Ethy Hexanoate/Liquorish (AJ)
  yeast and heat ("Gradh O'Dunadaig")
  re:scottish ales ("david wright")
  Garage fermentation, motors and misters (EdgeAle)
  Cleaning CF heat exchangers (RobertJ)
  RE:Cleaning CPWC's (Bob Sheck)
  re: Cleaning CF heat exchanges (John_E_Schnupp)
  Bitter taste ("Darryl Downie")
  Yeast in Orval/Hoegaarden (Miguel de Salas)
  Use of Pumpkin (colorart)
  Watch out for glass (Marty Brown)
  3 gallon kegs... ("John S Thompson")


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


Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 16:01:44 -0400
From: Nathan A Sanborn <knatre at juno.com>
Subject: More high-gravity questions

Hello all,

Well, I brewed my first barly wine in January, left it in the primary
until June (ya, it was in the closet and I just forgot about it). At that
time I had to move-- and not just around the corner, but off of an
island, but with everything else going on I didnt get around to racking
it off until after I was settled in the new place. And so I though about
dumping it, but changed my mind at the last minute and put it on some new
hops in a clean carboy, and promptly forgot about it again.

Sooo.... now it seems that I really ought to do something (like bottle
it!) with this barly wine. However, I am somewhat concerned that there is
not enough yeast left in it to carbonate. I am sampling some right now
(lots o hops, lots o sweet and lots o alcohol) and boy is it sparkling
clear. Fact is, it looks like I filtered it. So, does anyone have an
opinion (haha) on this? Should I rouse a little fresh yeast in with some
priming? Should I just bottle it and not worry about it? Should I give up
the idea of bottling it and just drink it out of hte carboy?

Thanks for any insight
Nathan Sanborn

"Let us not pretend to doubt in philosophy 
what we do not doubt in our hearts." --Charles Sanders Pierce

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Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 22:14:30 EDT
From: EdgeAle at cs.com
Subject: Venturi Tube

Greetings HBD collective,

I just though I would pass on a recent experience. Running my hot wort 
through my counter-flow wort chiller (25ft of 3/8" copper) is usually 
tediously slow. i beleive this is because of the relatively small difference 
in height, length of tubing and the smalll radius of some quick-connects I 
use. 

The other day I put a venturi tube ($1.25; #29937 Am Sci & Surplus, 
http://www.sciplus.com ) on the water outflow of the chiller. The suction 
from the venturi tube was connected by a tube to the small opening of a 
carboy cap. The wort from the wort chiller when through the large hole of a 
carboy cap.

I timed the wort flow with and without the suction. The suction more than 
doubled the flow rate. As a bonus the extra flow caused more turbulence in 
the wort exiting my Kluge (sp?) tube and presumably more aeration in the 
carboy.

This added speed will not only cut my brewing time but will reduce my waste 
water, a topic of recent interest on the HBD.

The extra hoses did cause a bit of a tangle but I assume that won't happen 
once I make it a permanent part of my brewery setup.

On a completely unrelated note, I know at least one person out there has 
noticed that my website and it's Javascript brewing water calculator page has 
moved. The new address is http://ourworld.cs.com/EdgeAle 

Dana Edgell


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Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 22:56:22 -0500
From: Jim Kingsberg <fugowee at theramp.net>
Subject: My apologies....recipe compare idea

Okay, I threw out the idea to run a compare of brewing practice(s) styles
by brewing a similar recipe.  I few people responded in the affirmative ( I
didnt get any respones calling me a damn fool for the proposal).  However,
I will apologize to the group for not following up and in retrospect I
doubt if I can follow up at this point.  
But, lets see if we can get the ball rolling so that maybe I can help
orchestrate the idea.
Here's the idea:
A bunch of homebrewers brew a set recipe and trade beers and compare taste
notes against method brewed.  If we have a huge response, an email list
will be divied up so that equal brewing cells will share brews in that
list.  IE., 24 homebrewers (per brewing cell) brew the same recipe and mail
out 24 two bottle mail packs to everyone on the list.  Yeah, some privacy
issues will come up, but we'll figure it out.
Im thinking of a simple American Ale recipe:
Like:
7 pounds 2 row (or corresponding extract)
couple ozs of Cascade (or whatever, you get the idea)
agree on a yeast (American Ale, Wyeast?)
Bottle it in 4 weeks send in two 
Keep good record of brewing practice, note og and fg, possibly strike
temps, maltster (tho it would be good if we could all use the same one), etc.

Lengthy replies send to me, otherwise ideas could be posted to the HBD.
(My personal preference is ales, easier, fewer equipment reqs., etc.)
Let me know...My own timeline to organize this is after Oct Im getting
married late Oct. and well, Im sorta busy (yeah, those are the exact
flowers I was thinkin of, honey...)  Besides, thats good brewing weather
for most of us and gives us good reason not to go holiday shopping....
lemme know.
Jim Kingsberg (Rev. Pivo)
Fugowee Brewery
Evanston, IL
"the more ya know, the less ya know" - Rev. Pivo  
 



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Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 02:46:31 -0500
From: msmiley at cardiology.utmb.edu (Matt Smiley)
Subject: Glass Chillers (?)




 When I took a chemistry class a (long) while back, we did one experiment
 using an all-glass distillation apparatus (I believe it was actually a
 fermentation experiment). Anyway, the thing used a really neat counterflow
 chiller which consisted of a straight, long thin glass tube with another
 longer tube coiled around it. The stuff we were extracting or fermenting or
 whatever flowed thru one tube (I think it was the straight one) and cold
 water from a recycled ice bath was pumped thru the other.

 Anyway, a setup like this seems like it would be easy to keep clean, easy
to
 inspect for cleanliness, and fairly effective, as long as you didn't
consume
 too much of the previous batch and drop it. In the science class, it was
 used to cool steam vapor and condense it into a distillation flask. But it
 could cool hot liquid too if the flow rate was slow.

 I'll bet these can be obtained through scientific glassware dealers - does
 anyone out there know of a good scientific supply website?

 Matt M. Smiley
 Port Bolivar, Texas, on the scenic Redneck Riviera
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 "Beer - the cause of (and the solution to) most of life's problems."
 -- H.J. Simpson
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~






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Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 20:25:25 +0930
From: "Darryl Downie" <dagzy at senet.com.au>
Subject: malt extract brewing

You can't be a Real Country unless you have A BEER and an airline- it helps
if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at
the very least you need a BEER.
Frank Zappa (1940-93)

Don't just stand there....Kill Something.
Kevin Costner - Waterworld.

Hi Guys...
Just a quick one, I'm boiling up a malt extract recipe that I got from a
book ( I haven't made the equipment or the intestinal fortitude yet to try a
mash), but while I cut my teeth on this I would like to know what the
substitution ratio is for malt extract against malted grain? I know it may
seem uncouth of me to mention it here but all my readings have drawn a blank
on this one (I don't know why).

Best of Brewing

Darryl

Adelaide Australia



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Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 07:03:32 EDT
From: VQuante at aol.com
Subject: Re: Visit to Belorussia - Any Beer There?

Hello, all!

I haven't yet been in Belarus, but here in Poland we have a non-regular 
printed magazine "Piwosz" (to translate as "beer geek"), and in the last 
issue (June 99) I found some comments on belarussian beer in an article 
written by Robert Sobolewski. He bought some bottles belarussian beer on the 
half-legal market in Bialystok.

With transcription from cyrillic to latin letters these have been (extract by 
weight in %, alcohol by volume in %):

Kasanova (11%, 3,0%), Tawerna (12%, 3,5%), Azard (12%, 3,0%), Kunz Kupiez 
(12%, ?), Kozyrnoje (13%, 4,0%), Champion (14%, 4,0%), Warhatnoje (12%, 
4,0%), Olympijskoje (11%, 4,3%), Klassyczeskoje (12%, 4,2%), Antarnoje 
(14,0%, ?), Chmelnoje (15%, 5,4%), Kalazok (11%, ?), Ghugulewskije (11%, 
3,6%).

(Note that most of these beers have a relatively high extract in comparison 
to the low alcohol content!)

All of these beers had a relatively dark color, nearly without head, and had 
a heavy and malty taste. The author closed his article with the question, 
that he doubts, that anyone else except him is buying these beers in Poland.

None of these beers seems to be worth to drink two of.

So, maybe, Belarus isn't the best destination for beer lovers?

Volker

Volker R. Quante
Brunnenbraeu Homebrewery

Brewing and working in Warsaw / Poland, but definitely a German Homebrewer



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Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 08:27:45 -0500
From: Crossno Clan <Crossno at tnns.net>
Subject: Peppery flavor in beer

In my brewing experience this was achieved with cardamom.  Careful a
little goes a long way.  It was over powering at first, but settled down
to a nice beer.  If anybody is interested in details drop me a note.  

Glyn Crossno
Estill Springs,  TN
- -- 
In the adult-centered family, the major share of attention goes from
adult to adult rather than adult to child. This weans children from the
need for constant attention, thus permitting the growth of
self-reliance.  - John Rosemond


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Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 07:16:42 -0600
From: "J. Matthew Saunders" <matthew-saunders at uswest.net>
Subject: Iodophor

Dear Collective,

After sanitising one of my kegs with iodophor, I transfered the solution
from one keg to another.  How long will the solution stay useable if sealed
in a corny keg?

Cheers!
Matthew in CO.


"We have to work in the theatre of our own time,
with the tools of our own time" --Robert Edmond Jones




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Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 10:33:36 -0400 (EDT)
From: Joe Rolfe <onbc at shore.net>
Subject: being more sanitary after the heat exchanger

Harlan mentioned this:
>beer, both at the homebrew level and at the professional level, and HE's
>are a common source. It is not a coincidence that brewers like George
>Fix consistently win competitions with styles that are very difficult to
>brew--it is an almost obsessive attention to detail. Brewers of that
>caliber ANTICIPATE potential problems and correct them before they
>become a problem, the same way that one changes the oil in one's car
>BEFORE a problem occurs.

This is one statement that stuck with me over the years, you cant clean 
too much in any brewery. Being proactive with clean/sanitize in brewing 
is a great thing.  Nothing wrong with the person doing the cleaning/sanitizing
in any brewery having a touch of OCD either.

After the heatexchanger is "clean/sanitized", the next would be thread based
connectors or quick connects. I would avoid threaded parts any where after the
pump (heat excahnger, fermenter, conditioning).

 IF it comes apart - take it apart and soak
in some cleaner/saniter then  reassemble.  Pumps would require a cleaning
schedule also even on the hot side.

Ball valves (no matter what kind they are) eventually will fail and habour
some bacteria. I would not want them anywhere close to the chiller. Ya I know
some breweries use them and get away with it (see Harlans quote above). 

Next would be crappy hose (if you use hose at all). At the commercial level
I dont know how many breweries buy nice hose (many $ per foot, pressure/temp
rated and food grade ) and do not opt for having sanitary ends put on them
for an additonal $50-$100 per end. Well worth the expense IMHO. Instead
they buy a triclamp long ferrel and stuff it in the end and band the ends.
Unfortunately I had that same problem and dumped one hell of a lot of
beer, 3days of double brews - small but costly. Replaced heatchanger and
spend quite a bit of money on good hose, never it happened again. It did cost
a few thousand bucks to do it, but the 6 brews going bad cost us a lot more.
Ya I know there are alot of breweries that do that too. Again see Harlan above.

For smaller brewers look for cracking in the hose. This is the start 
of alot of problems. Keep your cold side wort hose specifically for 
that purpose only. Use only heat rated hose for hot applications.

Be anal and you cant really go wrong.

Joe Rolfe
ex brewer and ex drinker (damn medications)
Doing a wort stability test would not hurt - every
time. If you get a problem youll notice it with in 24-48hrs. This is one of
the simple tests any one can do with a little prep.

Combine this with a long lag and your asking for trouble (IMHO)



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Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 10:43:08 -0400 (EDT)
From: Pat Babcock <pbabcock at mail.oeonline.com>
Subject: RE: Peppery flavor in beer

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

I've caused a peppery flavor by over-dosing a beer with fuggles (details
on this are sketchy - it was an early batch "Olde Industrial Accident No.
One" was its name...), and through he use or Orval dregs as my
innoculating yeast.

 -
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: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 11:06:09 -0400 (EDT)
From: Pat Babcock <pbabcock at mail.oeonline.com>
Subject: Keeping Iodophor....

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

Matthew asks...

> After sanitising one of my kegs with iodophor, I transfered the solution
> from one keg to another.  How long will the solution stay useable if
> sealed in a corny keg?

I used to do this as a matter of course, and never had a problem. I'd
change the iodophor out as a whole every six months or so (sometimes I'd
get lazy and just add some more iodophor, but I don't recommend this
course. You might end up with too high a conentration of iodine. 

THe old saw is that if it is still colored and smells of iodine, it is
still efective.

On another note, I recall Dan McConnell - I think - having viewed some
iodophor recycled in this manner under a microscope and finding a
surprising number of living things therein. (But I still do it, and
haven't had any problems resulting from it. Keep those fingers crossed...)

 -
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: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 16:12:51 +0000
From: AJ <ajdel at mindspring.com>
Subject: Demise of BT/Ethy Hexanoate/Liquorish

If the rumors concerning the demise of BT are true (and I have to admit
I've had an uneasy feeling about them for almost a year now) we have a
real problem. Certainly Zymurgy is unlikely to take up the slack (though
the last issue - the one on lagering- was a very pleasant surprise) so
how will we get brewing technical information out? There are quite a few
people doing some neat stuff out there and while HBD is a great place to
tell people about what's going on there isn't room here, nor the
graphics capability, necessary for investigators to report on what they
have done in any detail. What's forming in the back of my mind is that
we need to come up with some sort of samizdat replacement for BT,
perhaps in paper, perhaps in electronic form. A newsletter sort of thing
perhaps. Maybe no one cares, or at least not enough to generate the
advertizing to support a commercial publication, but I know there are
quit a few who do. At this point I'm interested in what other people
might be thinking along these lines.

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

With reference to my recent:

>Also note that ethyl hexanoate in beer in usually caused by
insufficient
>aeration.

Arnold Chickenshorts wrote

>Wrong AJ.

>Late hops is the primary etiology. Methyl hexanoate in hops is
>trans-esterified by yeast to the ethyl ester.

Actually I'm very probably right (see any of several breing texts) so
the question now becomes whether there is any validity to Arnold's
statement. As I hope I'm a little more open minded than he appears to be
let's look into this a little.

Some hops varieties contain levels of methyl hexanoate in their oils. In
Fuggle it's been measured at 0.05% of the oil and in Idaho Cluster 0.1%.
Hops oils typically measure 0.5 to 1.5% of the weight of the hops
(though higher values are seen). Using the top of the range for oil and
methyl hex. contnet in oil it could comprise 100*(0.001*0.015) = 0.0015%
of the weight of the hops. My most recent hoppy creation  used about
750g hops in about 70L of beer (low alpha  -  70 IBU.) This is 10.7 gram
of hops per liter and  0.0015% of this is  0.2 mg/L. This is just at the
flavor threshold for this compound (average - some individuals will be
more sensitive). Thus if an  oily hop with a high level of methyl hex
were used in an unusually heavily hopped beer and all the methyl hex got
converted to ethyl hex we'd be at flavor threshold. Given that problem
levels of ethyl hexanoate are, by definition,  higher than threshold
(M&BS reports 0.6 mg/L as typical, but not necessarily problemnatical,
for beers; Kunze reports 0.1 - 0.3) and that it is reported that
reducing  wort oxygen from 8 mg/L (air saturation) to 3 can double or
quadruple the ethyl hex produced by yeast (M&BS Vol. II p 667) I think
it unlikely that hops are the major source, but I've still got an open
mind.

Now if Arnold had written something like "AJ mentioned poor wort
aeration as a source of ethyl hexanoate in beer. In fact methyl
hexanonate from hops is also a source...." and then gone on to support
his assertion with some data and a reference or two I'd be thinking that
here is a guy who may be able to contribute something positive to this
forum and I still do. Arnold, please drop the chickenshit and share with
us what you obviously know as among mature adults. This is especially
important if the BT rumor proves true.

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

I received a private e-mail in which it was noted that the spelling
"liquorish" was used in the Good Beer Guide quote I posted a day or two
ago and wondering if it meant, therefore, tasting of liquor i.e.
alcoholic. The GBG is a British publication, or is it. My copy was
bought in England but at the BX of an American base. It was published by
Storey (Vermont). Nevertheless I assume the text was prepared by CAMRA
and hence consulted the OED as the ultimate authority. "Liquorish"
means  "Fond of or indicating fondness for liquor." I'm pretty sure that
in the GBG this was a simple misspelling for what should have been
"liquorice" which is the British spelling for "The rhyzome of the plant
Glycyrrhiza glabra." Anyway OP tastes like liquorice (but not ethyl
hexanoate) and is not overly alcoholic tasting at 5.7% ABV



- --
A. J. deLange
Numquam in dubio, saepe in errore.




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Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 10:52:19 PDT
From: "Gradh O'Dunadaig" <odunadaig at hotmail.com>
Subject: yeast and heat

hi kids,

i've got two pale ales sitting in their secondaries, one using white labs 
german ale and one using wyeast american ale. the temps here have been well 
over 100F and i have no way to cool down my brews. i am curious as to what 
kind of bizarrities i can expect from these brews. i racked one last night 
and the temp of the juice was 78F.

thanks

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


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Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 14:24:45 PDT
From: "david wright" <batch43 at hotmail.com>
Subject: re:scottish ales

To reiterate on what Rod has already posted,maltsters would use whatever was 
available locally for fuel.Peat would have been used on the islands and in 
the N.E. of Scotland,coal in the Lowlands,and almost certainly wood would 
have been used in the Highlands considering the size the Caledonian Forest 
would have been in those days.Brewers would have also used what ever herbs 
were growing locally to preseve and flavour their beer before the advent of 
hops,so they used Spruce,Heather,Bog Myrtle,Elderberry etc.
With the dawning of the Industrial Reveloution,everything moved to Central 
Scotland for one simple reason,an endless supply of coal.
All the the main breweries and maltings can still be found in this 
area(along with the skeletal remains of the mining and steel industries).
So if you want to recreate a historical Scottish brew,try a smoked beer 
flavoured with herbs.With an old style brew,try some dark malt,some roast 
and some flaked maize and go lightly with the hops.For a present day 80/- 
use pale malt,some roast but with more hops (but not as much as an English 
bitter)

A'ra best
Davy

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


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Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 19:06:44 EDT
From: EdgeAle at cs.com
Subject: Garage fermentation, motors and misters

Lou Heavner wrote

>Do you
>ferment outdoors in the garage?  Wow! my garage is
>currently running about 110 DegF with the door open, don't
>think any evaporative cooling is going to help me there! 

Yes, I ferment "outdoors" in the garage. Fortunately, my garage is only about 
80 F as I live in San Diego. When the locals are complaining about the "heat 
wave" the temperature is in the high 80's only and not humid. When the locals 
are complaining about the "cold snap" the temperature has gotten down to the 
high fifties at most. I don't ant to tell you haw seriously they react to a 
little rain. We have no weather here and yet I swear half the time the 
weather is the lead off story on the news. Last week: Hurricane approaching 
east coast and unseasonably hot temperatures locally (high 80's again).

Well, now that I've bashed the people who are used to reason I moved here let 
me think of something to say about beer.....Umm......Ahh....Oh yah, I could 
summarize the responses to my recent questions.

1) Ice Cream Motor turning the wrong way: Most asked if I could just turn the 
fan blade over. Nope, tried that. Works the same. I can't turn the motor over 
as I am currently using it still inside the casing it came it, taking 
advantage of it's gears etc.I did get one email from Tom Sanville telling me 
several ways to switch the direction of a motor but they all depend the type 
of motor. I am sending him an email with more details

2) Evaporative Cooling: concensus: use a better wicking material (synthetic 
or special bicycling shirt) or place ice around the neck of the carboy. The 
misters would probably cause too much dampness in the garage and result in 
things growing.


Thanks everyone for the input.
Dana


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Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 19:12:21 -0400
From: RobertJ <pbsys at pbsbeer.com>
Subject: Cleaning CF heat exchangers

After seeing several posts regarding cleaning of Counterflow heat
exchangers I thought I would weigh in with my $.02.

Our recomended procedure for cleaning the MAXIchiller is to flush with hot
water immediately after use, soak in a 5 gal bucket of B-Brite, One-Step
etc for 20 mins and rinse again with hot water allow to dry. Prior to use I
sanitize, by dropping the MAXI into a 5 gal bucket of Iodophor (does take
the shine away). At times I will drop it into a brew kettle of boiling wort
instead and rinse off the outside.

Some brewers, I'm told, place it in an oven for 20 mins at 350 degrees.

After following the above procedure for more than 3 years we cut one open
and found no evidence of build up on the inside coil.

I should also point out I have used only a countrerfl;ow chiller for the
past 9 years and never had an infection attributable to the chiller (Those
I did have were more likely attribuatable to poor kegging sanitation and
warm keg storage). For the first 5 of those years I used a coil in canister
CFC, that we no longer make, which could only be sanitized by soaking, and
more recently the MAXI.

My experience with beer stone has been with my boiling kettle. after
several months of use the inside is brown. To clean it out I allow the
kettle to soak overnite filled with B-brite. Next day I hose out and have a
nice shiny interior. I think an adequate soak will remove all stone from a
chiller as well. No need for brushing, scrubbing etc.

If you're still concerned about sanitation, use an immersion chiller
Bob
Precision Brewing Systems URL http://www.pbsbeer.com


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Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 21:22:00 -0400
From: Bob Sheck <bsheck at skantech.net>
Subject: RE:Cleaning CPWC's


Nancy George wrote about National Chemical Co.'s product
called BLC (Beer line cleaner). 2 ounce into 5 gallons?
I'd hate to drip any on my shoe! Sounds pretty nuclear.

Just what could this nasty stuff be?

Bob
Bob Sheck

bsheck, me-sheck, abednigo! Greenville, NC 
email:bsheck at skantech.net or see us at:
http://www.skantech.net/bsheck/
(252)830-1833


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Date: Sat, 28 Aug 1999 18:31:59 -0700
From: John_E_Schnupp at amat.com
Subject: re: Cleaning CF heat exchanges

Harlan said:

>5. Wort chillers are a common source of infection because cooled,
>un-pitched wort (a rich, nutrient media) is passing through them on the
>way to the fermenter. One can SEE whether the carboy is clean, not so
>with a HE.

To which I say, one of the reasons I use an immersion chiller.  Also,
just because it "looks" clean doesn't necessarily mean that there
are no uninvited guests waiting for their lunch

John Schnupp, N3CNL
Dirty Laundry Brewery
Colchester, VT
95 XLH 1200




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Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 15:20:12 +0930
From: "Darryl Downie" <dagzy at senet.com.au>
Subject: Bitter taste

Short query from a neophyte, I tasted the wort from the hydrometer jar after
I had boiled my last batch. I used 40g pride of ringwood boiling and 20g
hallertau finishing and the sample had a distinct bitter aftertaste. It was
not unpleasant but I have never had this with kits before. Does it sound
like it is over hopped or is this just normal for boiled worts? I could not
get the alpha acid content of the hops.

Best of Brewing

Darryl

Adelaide Australia



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Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 16:53:31 +1000
From: Miguel de Salas <mm_de at postoffice.utas.edu.au>
Subject: Yeast in Orval/Hoegaarden

I have a fresh bottle each of Orval and Hoegaarden Grand Cru. Is it known
whether the yeast in such bottles is the yeast or yeasts used in
fermentation, or are they special, bottle conditioning yeasts?
Failing that, has anyone had any experience using yeast cultured from Orval
/ Hoegaarden bottles?

Cheers
- ------------------------------------------------------------
Miguel de Salas

School of Plant Science,
University of Tasmania,
PO Box 252-55, Sandy Bay, Hobart
Tasmania, Australia, 7001.

Dept home-page:
http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/plant_science/

My Homepage:
http://www.southcom.com.au/~miguel/


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Date: 29 Aug 1999 13:55:05 -0000
From: colorart at spiritone.com
Subject: Use of Pumpkin

Hello!

I'm going to be making a pumpkin ale here soon and am looking for 
pointers on how much to use and any warnings of possible problems I may 
encounter.

I plan on pasteurizing the pumkin and adding it to secondary so that I 
can retain the aromatic quality of the pumpkin.  Not being able to get 
fresh pumpkin right now, I'm going to opt for canned pumpkin.  I thought 
I could paseurize it at aroun 160-170 for 20 minutes or so, then place 
the pumpkin into the secondary container before arcking and then rack 
right onto it.  My primary questions are:

How much pumpkin to use?
How long to leave it in contact with the beer?
And, is racking off of the pumpkin problematic?

Any help is appreciated....

 -Matt


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Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 15:31:30 -0700
From: Marty Brown <martybrown at access1.net>
Subject: Watch out for glass

This is taking a bit longer to type than usual. I'm working with one hand.

Two weeks ago today, I had finished transferring five gallons of ale from 
my glass secondary carboy to a keg. After putting a gallon or so of water 
into the carboy, I was carrying to the curb to swish out the yeast and 
junk. As I inverted the bottle, it slipped from my hands. My attempt to 
grab it and stop the fall was just a split second late. Instead of breaking 
the fall, I jammed my left hand little finger onto a stationary shard of 
glass and nearly severed the finger at the last joint. It happened so fast 
that I'm still not sure precisely how it happened.

After three hours in the E.R., I found out that I had severed a tendon plus 
the two branches of nerves that run down the length of the finger. The 
tendon was reattached a few days later during a two hour surgery; perhaps 
one of the nerve branches will restore in a year's time. I'll be wearing a 
cast that runs 3/4s way to my elbow for about 5 weeks. I may regain about 
80-90% of the use of my finger if I'm diligent about physical therapy. It 
could have been far worse, but it's bad enough.

Bottom line: glass is dangerous, especially heavy bottles made out of it. 
I've emptied carboys hundreds of times, but one instance of inattention has 
changed my life, even if only for a year or so.

*Please learn from my mistake*:
Think about those gas lines, your heated surfaces, how you store your 
bottles of brew and your thermometers, everything that can burn, cut, break 
or explode. Brewing is a great hobby, but think safety *every day*.  Don't 
learn the hard way like I did.



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Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 18:23:24 -0500
From: "John S Thompson" <jthomp6 at lsu.edu>
Subject: 3 gallon kegs...

Does anyone know of a good source for 3 gallon kegs? I'm trying to find
something that I can fit in my fridge. The lowest price I've seen to far
(used) is $35. Let me know...

John



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