---

	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:
  Benzene and Acrylonitrile (Tom Clark)
  Ferric water, Sentence construction, diatribe from Bob Sutton (Dave Burley)
  Fe&Mn/Blue?/Benzene/Reducing beer (AJ)
  growing yeast starters (you want details?) (cmoore)
  Mills ("Les Stoddard")
  Adjuncts-Rutabagas (Bob Sheck)
  ortho-phosphoric acid ("Thomas D. Hamann")
  Hop Pocket or Hop Devil Clone (David Boyd)
  Malted Barley in Bread makeing (David Boyd)
  steam blows away HERMS ("Robert Zukosky")
  Re BT ("Rick Wood")
  "The Carbonator" (Randy Ricchi)
  growing yeast and the George report ("gdepiro")


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


Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1999 09:24:56 -0500
From: Tom Clark <rtclark at eurekanet.com>
Subject: Benzene and Acrylonitrile

I worked for several years in the safety department of a large chemical
plant and one of my tasks was to perform safety inspections of the
various parts of the plant.
We too used acrylonitrile or vinyl cyanide but not to wash parts.   We
also used sodium hydroxide, sulfuric acid, butadiene, chlorine and
styrene, as well as hundreds of other chemicals.

One of the scariest responses I heard from some people was "I've been
doing it that way for years and never had a problem."  This is
comparable to someone saying "I've always smoked while pumping gas into
my car and never had a problem."
Does that mean it is safe to do so?   I personally saw two guys loose
their car and everything in it as a result of this practice.
Or, "I've smoked ever since I was 12 years old and it never hurt me
(cough, cough)."
Just because the effects have not yet been noticed does not mean there
have not been, and will not be, any bad effects from careless practices.

There is a safe way to do just about anything if you will only take the
time and effort to do so.  Don't confuse simple luck for safe practices.

Tom Clark


Return to table of contents


Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1999 10:32:48 -0500
From: Dave Burley <Dave_Burley at compuserve.com>
Subject: Ferric water, Sentence construction, diatribe from Bob Sutton

Brewsters:

John T recommends correcting the iron content
in water by treating it with Potassium
Permanganate And letting the "slight pink
coloration" be an indicator of when the iron
has been all complexed. I can't recommend
this procedure as the permanganate is not
harmless and males, in particular, are
variously color blind to red and will often
find "slight pink" difficult to detect. I would
think that oxidisable compounds in the
water would react with the permanganate
and release manganese, potentially
exascerbating the problem. For sure, this
would happen in the wort as the excess
permanganate from the "slight pink" came
in contact with the wort.  John didn't say if
he actually used this procedure and what
his results are.
 

There are procedures for titration of iron.
These could be used to determine the level.
Other metals like manganese can also be
a problem which would not be cured by his
procedure. It's easier to ask your water
supplier or have a test run to determine
the typical metals content in your water.

If you want to use chemicals for iron a
perhaps better method ( I've never done it)
 is to raise the pH with lye ( sodium hydroxide )
CAREFULLY! to precipitate the various
transition metal hydroxides, allow to settle
overnight, decant and bring the pH back
to the desired level with muriatic ( HCl)
CAREFULLY! or lactic acid. I have never
done this, but this seems a better general
procedure with less potential harm. You
will have salt or sodium lactate in your
water at the end, but likely not much if
you do this carefully and don't have a
lot of carbonates.  I believe there is a
commercial procedure that uses lime to
raise the pH, but you may get more
calcium in your water, which may not be
desirable. 


To remove iron and other transtion
metals like iron and manganese, I
suggest you  try a Brita or other ion
exchange column method as an easier
and better, more general  method. A
much superior method is to use a reverse
osmosis RO water conditioner to remove
any iron as well as other minerals like
manganese, calcium and the like.
- --------------------------------------------------
I doubt Domenick Venezia's suggestion
("Rip the plastic liners out of 5 or 6 used
bottle caps and use them as boiling
stones") to use the plastic liners from bottle
caps as boiling chips would do much good.

But the caps after you remove the liners
might. {8^)
- -------------------------------------------------
I can only suggest that Bob Sutton
read my dissertation carefully to find out that
I do not recommend reckless behavior,
but am upset that the *legal* definitions of
"carcinogenic" and "radioactive" bear no
relationship to reality and can lead us as a
nation down a  path that is based on politics
and not reason, with potentially terrible
consequences. Benzene is not a toxin,
as was suggested by the original author.

I also suggest that Bob and others try Clinitest
and "open" fermentations before commenting
carelessly and displaying his/their ignorance.

I doubt that Bob used acrylonitrile to wash his
carburetor, either, but if he did that may explain
why he should have said carbon tetrachloride,
but didn't.  


Keep on Brewin'


Dave Burley 

Return to table of contents


Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1999 17:43:32 +0000
From: AJ <ajdel at mindspring.com>
Subject: Fe&Mn/Blue?/Benzene/Reducing beer

Iron problems seem to be popular lately and Mike has them (plus
manganese). These elements share (as Mike notes) a poor reputation in
brewing though both are required by yeast in trace amounts. Both occur
in relatively less oxidized (II) and relatively more oxidized (III for
iron - it's more complex with manganese) forms. The the more oxidized
form insoluble gels (hydroxides in the case of iron, oxides in the case
of manganese) at higer pH's and removal is thus effected by oxidizing
permitting the gel to form and catching the gel on some type of filter
medium. In some cases iron may be present in only the oxidized state in
which case the water is usually an ugly grayish, yellowish or yellowish
brown color. In these cases all that is needed is filtration. Pouring
the water through a sand bed may be all that is required. Ugly brown
gloop will collect on top of the sand and can be washed away so that the
sand can be reused.

Where "clearwater" (i.e. Fe(II)) iron and/or manganese are present
oxidation is required. The easiest way to acheive this is by simple
aeration followed by processing through a filter. Water treatment
companies sell aeration based filters which operate on this principle.
They do not require any chemicals except where water pH is too low for
good gel formation. Low pH from well water is, of course, quite common.
In these cases pH must be raised either by "neutralizing" the water
prior to oxidation and filtration or by adding chemicals to the filter
tank to do the same thing.

Other commercial iron removal units acheive the oxidation by the use of
an oxidizing agent such as potassium permanganate as indicated in the
post from JohnT. In these units the filter medium is often "greensand",
a mineral found only in Delaware (at least that's the only place it's
mined in the US) in this country. The greensand is periodically
backwashed and then dosed with permanganate in fashion very similar to
the way in which conventional home water softeners are backwashed and
dosed with brine. I'm not a water treatment professional but assume that
the permanganate/greensand setup would be required where manganese is
heavy and that the aeration type should suffice where iron is the major
concern.

Water softeners will exchange sodium (or potassium) for iron and
manganese but we have repeated here often enough that these softeners
are disastrous for brewing that we need not mention it again.

As a first attempt, try pouring the water back and forth many, many
times. This raises the pH by allowing dissolved CO2 to escape and also
supplies the oxygen necessary to effect the oxidation of both Fe(II) and
Mn(II). Now filter through a sand bed or other filter. If the water no
longer tastes tinny you are probably OK. Inexpensive test kit for Iron
(total and clearwater) can be had from Hach and other suppliers if you
want to test the efficacy of your treatment.

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

On the neutralizing with ammonia thread: ammonia may be a strong base
but equivalent for equivalent ammonia and  bicarb do the same job as
long as you are happy with neutralization to pH 5 or 6. With chalk, you
get more bang for your buck because two hydrogens are absorbed by each
molecule (but it still fizzes) and you can go to higher pH as well. The
point here is that a  half liter, for example, of hardware store acid
contains about 4 equivalents of H+ and would require about 320 grams of
bicarbonate or about 140 grams of NH4OHto neutralize. As I'm guessing
that household ammonia is about 5% (ACS grade is about 30%) almost 3
liters of the household stuff would be required. Don't know how much a
gallon of household ammonia costs (leave that sort of thing to Mrs.) but
it can't be much so maybe it's even cheaper than the bicarb.

Now I certainly don't get a blue color when I neutralize hydrochloric
acid with ammonia but then I don't get one when I neutralize nitric with
ammonia either unless there is some trace copper present. If there is
when the ammonia becomes excess it forms the classic blue complex with
the copper. This works equally well with hydrochloric though there are
better indicators for detecting neutralization.

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

No editorializing on benzene - just a comment. I've always quietly
suspected that Kekule was sniffing the stuff when he had his vision. But
in a hansom cab? Who knows?

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

Kevin Riutort asks about reducing aldehydes and acids back to alcohols
to fix bad beer. Indeed much thought has been given to keeping beer "in
the reduced state" in order to prevent going down  oxidative pathways.
The usual approach is to avoid exposure to oxygen whenever the mash/wort
is hot thus making sure that it is rich in "reductones" (reduced
melanoidins). In the days of DeClerk it was apparently fairly
commonplace to measure the rH (i.e. 2*F*ORP/R*T) of wort and beer using
indicators and the "Indicator Time Test" which is, I believe, still used
in Europe seeks to determine the reducing power of wort "in the cold"
and thus predict packaged beer stability. Though there is much
discussion of HSA, at least in the homebrewing community, I have seen
very little written on this subject (but I have access to only JASBC).

One occasionally sees references to the use of Ascorbic Acid as a
reducing agent to be added to beer but the oxidized form of this
compound evidently isn't too neat a thing to have in your beer either so
that where it is used metabite is evidently also added and now you have
the vintners sulfite allergy problems to worry about. A most interesting
subject!
- --
A. J. deLange
Numquam in dubio, saepe in errore.



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Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1999 12:19:29 -0900
From: cmoore at gi.alaska.edu
Subject: growing yeast starters (you want details?)

Japan Man (AKA Aaron) asked about details of stepping up yeast.

My offerings are an agglomeration of methods I have read and techniques 
learned in bio lab in school.
I will attempt to include some specifics that I found difficult to
derive and 
consider useful and enough detail to drive most of you nuts.

It all starts with a good sized pressure cooker and a collection of 
culture tubes.

The importance of a culture tube is that it has a screw cap which is 
able to maintain a sterile rim far more easily than a stoppered test 
tube.  If you must use test tubes you might be advised to close them 
with an aluminum foil cover rather than a stopper.  The rim is a 
great place for dusty debris to collect and it is very difficult to swab 
and flame this area reliably.  A tight seal on a culture tube is not 
so important as the fact that the cap covers the thread area and 
thus protects the rim from contamination.  When forced to transfer 
from test tubes I use a disposable pipette and avoid touching the 
rim of the tube.

When low on sterile culturing supplies I run my pressure cooker at 
15 psi for 20 minutes with a load of culturing items inside.

Yeast culture tubes: (slants)  Dissolve in standard wort food grade 
agar (2% by weight).  Put enough in the tube that when placed on 
its side (slanted), the surface of the gel will extend nearly to the lip 
of the tube thus providing a large surface for yeast growth.

1st starter tubes:  small test tubes with about 4 ml for wort in them.

2nd step tubes:  medium sized tubes with about 50 ml wort in them.

starter jars: I use quart canning jars.  I prefer to fill a number of
jars 
half full thus allowing me to use them as growth jars of feeder jars for 
building up yeast volumes.

sterile water: the remainder of the space in the pressure cooker is 
filled with bottles of water that may be used as utility water in any 
number of future steps including washing yeast harvested from 
primary fermentation.  Having a ready and abundant supply of sterile 
water is very useful.

I try to re-culture my slants every six months but have ignored them 
for as long as a year.  I do not advise this as it was a struggle to
revive 
some strains after such neglect.

Set out before you in an organized array: source yeast culture tube, 
1st starter tube, inoculation wire, and a torch.  Loosen the caps on 
the source and destination tubes.  Hold the source tube at a steep 
angle to vertical away from your breath.  In the other hand hold 
the wire into your flame over a large portion of its length being 
sure that the tip gets very hot.  While holding the wire well away 
from any object use the same hand to remove the lid or stopper 
of the yeast culture tube.  Insert the wire into the tube and touch 
it against some clear medium so as to cool the wire, and then proceed 
to capture your inoculate.  You may at this time choose to select a 
single colony or select a long scraping from a healthy looking 
region of the culture.  Remove the wire from the supply tube, 
replace the cap, set down the supply tube and take up the destination 
tube.  Using the same handling technique as before, remove the cap 
and insert the wire into the 1st starter tube.  Stir the wire to
dislodge 
a majority of the inoculate. Replace the cap on the 1st starter.  
To aerate growth tubes I like to remove the cap, hold the tube at 
arms length, and swing the tube horizontally a few times to 
exchange fresh air into the tube.  Replace the cap and hold the 
top of the tube firmly in one hand.  Run the fingers of your other 
hand over the base of the tube causing the contents to be turbulently 
disturbed.  The tube may also be simply shaken, but it should be 
remembered that the upper lip of the tube is a likely source of 
contamination and should be avoided.  After fermentation gets 
going, shaking the tube generates enough gas that there is a net 
exhaustion of gas from the tube along with a bit of spillage.  This 
tends to push any rim contaminates away from the culture.

A few times per day repeat the aeration step.  After three days you 
may not yet see any activity but you are reads to step up to the next 
level.  If you have a disposable pipette, simply follow the same 
methods used in the original inoculation only this time take and 
distribute your sample by pipette rather than wire.  Continue to 
aerate the 2nd step tube in the same way as the first.  Another three 
days of growth may be needed prior to going to the quart level. 
At the quart lever you may  pour starter back and forth between
jars.  Be sure to flame the rim of each jar over the area you intend 
to pour from and watch that drips that make it outside of the sterile 
area are not allowed to fall into the starter during transfer.

The optimum time of pitching into your brew and the volume of 
starter is fertile ground for debate, but optimum rarity aligns with 
the time the wort is ready.  I have found the quickest starts result 
from pitching the entire contents of a rapidly frothing starter.  
On the other hand I have also gotten good results from letting 
the starter ferment out, settle and then just pitching the yeast 
which removes a small quantity of starter beer that was generated 
under good yeast growth conditions, but less than ideal brewing


Return to table of contents


Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1999 17:26:27 -0500
From: "Les Stoddard" <wailstail at email.msn.com>
Subject: Mills

Jambo, Bwanas!
    I have been using a Phil-mill for about 5 years now...in my last few
batches I have noticed a lot of flour in my mash (the adjusting screw on my
mill fell out long ago so I know it isn't an adjustment) and until very
recently I was very happy about the crush. Now in addition to the flour, I
am seeing a reduction of extraction efficiency.  Is my mill headed to the
happy crushing ground?  If so, I have noticed that no one seems to say bad
things about the Schmidling.  Is that a good replacement?  Private e-mails
ok
Happy Holidays to the collective!

Les Stoddard
Long Island, NY
Is Brian Rezac still around at 5-star chemicals??





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Date: Sat, 27 Nov 1999 18:51:58 -0500
From: Bob Sheck <bsheck at skantech.net>
Subject: Adjuncts-Rutabagas

While enjoying a great T-day meal at a friend's
(and enjoying my pumpkin ale) the subject came up of
brewing a rutabagas ale- using rutabagas as an adjunct.

The rutabagas we were enjoying had a nice nutty flavor, and
I wonder if anyone has experience with this under-priveleged
vegetable?


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
- -------------
"Madness takes its toll -- Please have exact change!"


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Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 00:01:45 +1000
From: "Thomas D. Hamann" <tdhamann at senet.com.au>
Subject: ortho-phosphoric acid

My local brew shop, Grumpys, insists I use their latest and greatest
sanitiser instead of bleach.
On the label it says - "TERMINATOR" 'One Shot'  Acid Detergent/Sanitiser,
contains ortho-phosphoric acid.    Use 1 teaspoon per 2 litres.

Is this gear better than bleach?
Minimum contact time?
Can I let it sit in a fermenter indefinitely?
Is 2 litres in the bottom of a fermenter capable of killing them beasties?
Is it no-rinse?
Is it environmentally friendly?
Is it equally effective on glass, plastic and s/steel?
By what name(s) does it go by in North America?

many thanks in advance, Thomas.



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Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1999 12:42:32 -0500
From: David Boyd <dave_boyd at sterling.com>
Subject: Hop Pocket or Hop Devil Clone

Greetings and solicitations:
	After a year plus hiatus I am trying to find the time to
brew again.  During this dry period I  became hooked on two
commercial brews that are highly hopped.  Tuppers Hop Pocket
Ale and another called Hop Devil.  I would love to brew a
clone of these.  Does anyone out there have an extract+grain
recipe for something this hoppy?  I have been following the
thread about first wort hopping and plan to try that on my
next attempt.  Any recommendations for hop amounts or types?
Since I will be steeping my specialty grains I suppose I can
just add my hops at the same time. 
- -- 
David W. Boyd, Director                        Voice: (703) 506-0800, ext 7048
Network and Information Operations Dept.       Cell: (703) 577-5824
Sterling Software, Applied Systems Division    Fax: (703) 506-0154
1650 Tysons Blvd, Mclean, Va 22102-3915        E-Fax: (360) 838-1106


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Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1999 12:47:50 -0500
From: David Boyd <dave_boyd at sterling.com>
Subject: Malted Barley in Bread makeing

Keith writes:
> New topic:
> Has anyone tried malted barley flour in bread making?
I have never actually used barley flour.  However as an extract
with specialty grains brewer I often use the spent specialty
grains for some bread.  I also often use the wort from my specific
gravity readings in place of water.  This creates a somewhat sweat
and nutty bread that the kids even like.  The following is the
basic recipe I use in my bread machine:

9 ounce water and/or wort 
(use the wort from you hydrometer reading)
1.5 Tbls Canola oil
1.5 Tbls honey or malt extract
1 Tbls unsulfured molasses or malt extract
3 cups flour (whole wheat is best but regular works very well)
3/4 cups spent grain
2 tablespoons gluten flour (not required really)
3 tablespoons powdered whey or dry milk
1.5 teaspoons salt
2.5 teaspoons bread yeast.

I often substitute malt extract (someone gave me a bunch of those 
little cans for a cheapo HB kit that are only good for this or yeast 
starters) for one or both the honey or molasses.   Lately I have 
also been adding a couple of table spoons
of soy flour as it seems to help the texture of the bread.

I would like to see other recipes for this grain.  I generally make 
two loaves of bread after each batch of beer but that still leaves 
lots of grain that doesn't keep that well.

- -- 
David W. Boyd, Director              Voice: (703) 506-0800, ext 7048
Network and Information Operations Dept.       Cell: (703) 577-5824
Sterling Software, Applied Systems Division    Fax: (703) 506-0154
1650 Tysons Blvd, Mclean, Va 22102-3915        E-Fax: (360) 838-1106


Return to table of contents


Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1999 14:43:01 -0500
From: "Robert Zukosky" <mrzar at ic.net>
Subject: steam blows away HERMS

Using a RIMS for about two years, I find my system to be problematic. I have
a typical electrical heater element and March pump doing about 5+ gpm with
1/2" hard plumbing. Mash tun is a picnic cooler (56qt). Pump is controlled
to approx. 2 1/2 gpm as grist bed will not take too much more. I am using an
Omega 9000A PID with a solid state relay. I have ruined too many brews by
barbecuing the wort. The selection of electrical heater (low density
5000w/220 or 1250w/110) appears to be marginal for no scorch brewing. This
element is fine for maintaining temp but to do a ramp from 105F to 135-145F
full out can create problems. Of course there other variables in the system
or process (composition of grist, grind, flow rate, cavitation of pump,
etc)but, it is my opinion that reduced flow rate through the heating chamber
(1/2" ID expands to 1 1/2" ID)gpm drops and the wort is not moving fast
enough to cool heater. Process requirements  ->  ramp up the temperature in
the shortest possible time without scorching.

Solution ----- STEAM.

 Had I known how easy implementation of steam to my system was I would have
designed it in originally. Inexpensive - 25 to 30 bucks. Too simple, too
easy, fellow brewers. I now get a temp speed of 2.5F/min without and
4.0+F/min with the heater for 7.0 gal H2O. Also, I program the PID for 70%
of power since I do not need it for temp increase only for maintaining. I
inject the steam using 1/4" tubing directly into the electrical heater
chamber. No special injector just an open 1/4" tube held in place with a
compression fitting. 1 1/4 qt H2O converted to steam took 7 gal H2O from
105F to 150F in 13 min with 1250 watt heater held to 70%. This addition of
H20 to the mash is negligible.

Kohl's department store has a 5 quart pressure on sale for 19.95 and with $5
worth of fittings and tubing you are in business.

 E-mail replies welcome -----------  bobz

About 45 min from  A2


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Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 06:45:03 +1000
From: "Rick Wood" <thewoods at netpci.com>
Subject: Re BT

Hello All,
All this talk regarding BT, I just had to respond.

I received my mailing from BT regarding the three options and it took
virtually no thought regarding which option to accept.  I accepted the
forgive the debt option.  I did this not as an act of charity, but as an act
of forgiveness and thanks for a job well done.  The letter explaining the
situation seemed sincere to me.  I have no doubt that the people at BT did
the absolute best they could have done, under the circumstances.  If they
were not doing the best that they could, how else could they have produced
such a respected magazine?

I am sad to see them gone.  I hope BT is reincarnated in some way.  I must
say that if AHA does not do this, they are missing an opportunity!

Regards,
Rick Wood
Brewing on Guam


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Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1999 17:21:38 -0500
From: Randy Ricchi <rricchi at ccisd.k12.mi.us>
Subject: "The Carbonator"

I've been waiting for the maker of "the Carbonator" to come out with
a pin-lock version, but it probably won't happen. Then I realized that the
gas line doesn't have to be hooked up long, just long enough to force 30#
or so into the soda bottle. I could hold the gas line quick disconnect in
place with my hand, then disconnect. Does anyone know if the ball-lock
fittings are the same diameter as pin-lock? Would my idea work?  TIA.



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Date: Sun, 28 Nov 1999 23:47:15 -0500
From: "gdepiro" <gdepiro at mindspring.com>
Subject: growing yeast and the George report

Howdy hots, all,

Yes, it's me again.  I have a new (used) computer and a few moments to use
it, so I figured I'd say "hi" to all of you folks out in the cyber-brewing
world.  Those of you who have only been reading the digest a short time
should be told that I was once a very frequent poster here, before becoming
a professional brewer.

Anyhow, the George report first.  Brewing commercially is still fun, believe
it or not.  I am thoroughly enjoying learning about the restaurant business
while making beer.  This Tuesday I plan on brewing our 50th batch (we've
been open 6 months), which seems somewhat momentous, but I'm not sure why.
I've actually reached the double digits when counting the number of brews
that have gone smoothly, which is good (except that I just jinxed myself;
damn!).

Amongst the best moments of terror in the brew house were spraying my face
with boiling water while cleaning a cornie keg (you can do this at home, so
be very careful!) and having the electronically-actuated runoff valve fail
during a runoff so I could not stop the flow of wort from the mash/lauter
tun to the kettle.  The valve could not be removed and fixed with the kettle
full because it was lower than the level of the wort in the kettle.  As the
liquid level in the kettle rose menacingly close to the manway, I decided
that I could pump the wort into the hot liquor tank (which I first emptied).
Once the wort level was below that of the misbehaving valve I took it off
and fixed it.  Scrubbing the hot liquor tank was a lot of fun (I must admit
my assistant volunteered to do this; my bout of Terret's syndrome during the
affair made him feel that I was pretty stressed out).

A number of HBD readers have come to the brewpub over the past few months,
which has been lots of fun.  I always enjoy meeting homebrewers, and
especially HBD types.  If you ever find yourself in Albany, NY, be sure to
stop in.  I'm there almost all of the time.

On to brewing:  Aaron writes, regarding yeast propagation:  "I
am interested in starter wort recipes, sterility procedures, wort amounts,
and length of time between step ups and so on. Thank you very for time and
efforts."

The yeast propagation I practice at the brewpub is exactly the same as I did
at home, except that the final step up at work is into a 30 gallon (11 hL)
starter rather than a half gallon (2L).  Aaron reports getting short lag
times with his current procedure, so there really is no need for him to
change (unless he is looking for more convenience or some such).

To answer his questions directly:

Starter wort recipes:  I simply save some wort whenever I am brewing a
light-colored, moderately hopped wort.  The reason for light color and
moderate hopping is so that the starter does not alter the flavor or
appearance of your batch too much.  All malt worts are most nutritious for
your yeast.  Some people have reported good results using store-bought
Malta, but they contain much corn sugar and should probably have yeast
nutrient added to them to ensure enough amino acids for maximum yeast growth
(which is what you want).

Wort amounts:  I advocate 10X increases in wort volume at each step.  In
practice, I have found that this yields a pitching rate about 7 times lower
than that considered ideal by megalager brewers, but the lag times are
always short (6-12 hours) and the results good.  If you want to make a lager
(or more neutral tasting ale) I would try to increase the pitching rate.

It is important to remember to oxygenate the culture at each step up.  If
you are really into the hobby, you can go as far as providing constant
aeration with a stir bar or aquarium stone or some such, but it is not
necessary (it will increase your pitching rate, though, so I recommend it in
certain situations).

As far as sanitation is concerned, I have always had good results with my
normal homebrew methods.  This means boiling or pressure cooking anything
that can tolerate it, and using iodophor on everything else.  I never use
glove boxes for my yeast cultures and have not had a contaminated slant yet
(I check them occasionally).  In fact, a fellow homebrew (Pete Garofalo)
took some of my Weizen yeast from the brewpub (given to me by Austrian HBD
reader Hubert Hangoffer) and found it to be quite pure.

For more detailed info about things like WHY oxygen is so important, etc.,
either search the HBD archives or see my Jan. 1999 Brewing Techniques
articles about yeast propagation.  I believe that good yeast management is
the key to making great beer, so it is something that is definitely worth
learning about.

Have fun!

George de Piro (Nyack, NY)
C.H.Evans Brewing Company at the Albany Pump Station
(518) 447-9000

Malted Barley Appreciation Society Homebrew Club
http://hbd.org/mbas


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