---

	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:
  Gott Cooler Problems (kmstfb2)
  Re: Honey Issue ("J. Kish")
  Fridge add-on (John Roe)
  (no subject) (Prestoniam)
  Aussie Bitter and Battles In The Club ("Phil & Jill Yates")
  Re: Beechwood (Jim Adwell)
  krausening with gyle (J Daoust)
  "honey" issue ("Pannicke, Glen A.")
  History of bland beer and barrels (John Adsit)
  Gott Conversion (John Adsit)
  Re:  Freezing Malt Extract and Grains (Jeff Renner)
  Re: Rod Prather, Inspiration And Aussie Terminology (Jeff Renner)
  90 stones? (Jeff Renner)
  Beer humour ("Houseman, David L")
  Malt Storage/Beer Ageing ("Darrin Smith")
  Bill Pfeiffer ("Ken Schramm")
  Re: washing machine/mashtun ("Steven J. Owens")
  fridge expansion (fridgeguy)
  Zymurgy-Honey Issue (Epic8383)
  Beechwood (Bill Wible)
  Is it finished yet? ("Jay Hummer")
  Beermeister/Dorm fridge (Bill Wible)


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


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


Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 00:45:52 -500
From: kmstfb2 at exis.net
Subject: Gott Cooler Problems

Greg.

I solved my false bottom problems by buying an easy masher made specifically
for coolers for about $19.00 and I am a happy camper or should I say masher.
It is inserted right through the spigot hole so there no need for drilling or
tweaking the cooler.The phils that others have suggested will float up allowing
grain underneath and yes resulting in a stuck mash. This will occur even with
a mash pad. By the way with easy masher there have been no problems like stuck
run off or a sacrifice in mashing efficiency. 
Hope this helps happy brewing Tom


Return to table of contents


Date: Thu, 18 May 2000 22:28:35 -0700
From: "J. Kish" <jjkish at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: Honey Issue

Bill X thought the Honey Issue of Zymurgy
was not the best issue.  He's right!
 The issue is as bad as they have ALL been;
Zymurgy is fading to depths as low as "Brew
Your Own" or lower.  Don't believe anything
you read; recipies can't be trusted, so what
good is it? They should put the cooking column
back. Pretty soon, ALL articles will be written
by Amahl Turczyn.
   J.Kish


Return to table of contents


Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 03:42:04 -0400
From: John Roe <Sensei_John_Roe at compuserve.com>
Subject: Fridge add-on


Original message:
>I was
>thinking about removing the door of the small refrigerator I have and
>adding an insulated, top-loading box beside it via trunk clasps.  Has
>anyone done this?

I just did, 6 weeks and 5 batches ago.
I used 1.5" insulating foam that came backed on both sides with foil and
plastic.
I just bought 4'x8' sheet and cut it up with a kitchen knife and taped it
on with duct tape.
Took me about an hour, poked a digital temp probe through one side and a
blow-
off hose port through the other, and attached a "williams controller" to
set temp.

Works perfectly, cools to 32 degrees with 80 degree ambient temperature,
holds
two 7.5 gallon fermentors and a couple of six packs.  Bought a "big" frig
anyway
to appease wifey who was concerned about dwindling indoor fridge space,
plus want to be able to have beer in cold secondary/lager while other beer
is fermenting
at ale temperatures as well.

John Roe
Laguna Hills, Ca
www.martialartsacademy.org

"Moderation is the last refuge
of the unimaginative."






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Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 07:18:24 EDT
From: Prestoniam at aol.com
Subject: (no subject)

Do any of you brothers in the brewing fraternity have a good used 8-1/2  to 
10 gallon ss brewing pot I can reactivate? Private email, please


Return to table of contents


Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 21:31:15 +1000
From: "Phil & Jill Yates" <yates at acenet.com.au>
Subject: Aussie Bitter and Battles In The Club

Good to see a few other brewers would like to revive the Aussie beers of
old. When you think of some of those classic paintings on the windows of the
pubs of yesteryear, it really does take one back to an era sadly lost.

"Reschs Refreshes" went with a painting of a cricket game, or a young chap
walking off the tennis court on a brilliant Australian summer day. An MG
sports car would be parked in the background and a pretty girl was never far
away.

Regan and I both used corn in our reproduction efforts. And of course Pride
Of Ringwood hops. What else would you use in an Aussie style beer? Well I
snuck a bit of Saaz in for flavour. The resulting beers were really
something, and certainly had a feel of Classic Australian Pilsener. I'm
thinking this Ayinger yeast might be just what we are after for the style.

Someone asked me what happened to Snappy Tom. As I said, he was a cranky old
bastard. Of vociferous nature and as mean as cat s--t. It was not beyond Tom
to start a raging argument and storm out the door just when it was his
shout. No wonder no one wanted to drink with him. But he was a character. I
remember nights, hanging on to the bar with Tom like there was a 40 knot
gale blowing as he sang renditions of " Danny Boy". He had a good voice and
mine was lousy, which he always told me. Tom got thrown out of the club for
stuffing a meat pie down the coin intake of a poker machine. Why? "It was a
hungry bastard" he said.

Sorry for that little story, I know it's not exactly beer related, but it
still makes me laugh to think about it. Besides, we're off tomorrow for a
week in the Whitsunday Islands so I won't be able to annoy any of you till I
get back.

Cheers
Phil
PS Bret Morrow is asking for some serious trouble with his comments about
the ladies of the pool table. But I have asked Wes Smith to deal with him in
my absence.



Return to table of contents


Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 08:14:17 -0400
From: Jim Adwell <jimala at apical.com>
Subject: Re: Beechwood

Jeff Renner writes about beechwood aging.

If one were to peruse the online (or offline, if you have it) version of
the American Handy Book of Brewing by  Wahl & Henius at:

http://hubris.engin.umich.edu:8080/Wahl/

one would find, among other things, a complete discussion of beechwood
chips as used in a circa 1900 American brewery.  Jeff might be interested
to read about how a CAP was brewed then.  The webpages are scanned pictures
of the pages of the book, so one can download and save each pair of pages,
and thus have a copy of this book on one's computer ( I did).

There are chapters on ingredients, malting, brewery equipment, brewery
operations, chemistry, usage of brewery waste products ( including the
reuse of the CO2 given by fermentation!? ), and so on.  A valuable resource
for the turn of the century retro-brewer.

Cheers, Jim


Jim's Brewery Pages:
http://home.ptdprolog.net/~jimala/brewery/


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Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 06:25:06 -0700
From: J Daoust <thedaousts at ixpres.com>
Subject: krausening with gyle

Has anyone have an immense knowledge base with krausening? OK, I'll
settle for some experience. I followed papazians formula for krausening
with gyle, and was wondering if anyone else has tried it.
  his formula was   12*gallons of beer/last 2 digits of OG.  
 ie;  for 5 gals of brew with an og of 1.040;  60/40 = 1 1/2 qts of gyle
Thanks in advance, Jerry Daoust
Private email ok


Return to table of contents


Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 10:13:08 -0400
From: "Pannicke, Glen A." <glen_pannicke at merck.com>
Subject: "honey" issue

I'd have to agree that a magazine named "Zymurgy" should not be exclusive to
ONE type of fermented beverage - beer.  I have only recently joined the AHA
(for the Zymurgy mag) and my main interest is beer.  But I am glad to see an
article on mead because I am quite tired of discussions regarding the same
old beer talk.  English vs. American sytles... diacetyl... aeration... poor
quality of American commercial lagers...    I still yearn for BT!  :-(

At least the mead article mixes it up a bit and exposes me to other aspects
of the hobby.  Though I haven't had the opportunity to read the article yet
(as my only evidence of membership to date is the transaction record on my
credit card bill), I only just heard about it until I saw the postings on it
in this forum (that's pretty sad).  But what timing!  I just tried my hand
at my first batch of mead a little over a week ago.  Wish me luck.

Since I'm new to the mag, I wonder if there have been articles published on
other fermented beverages, say... sake.  If Zymurgy is to be a "beer only"
magazine, then sure, put the mead article in a wine magazine.  But then
write about sake - since technically it is beer (fermented  grain).  There's
all different types of sake and it could prove to be very interesting
reading.  BTW,  making my first batch was an experience.  Entirely different
process sharing common points.  It's maturing nicely now and I'm patient.

Well that's my 2 cents...  err... no...  33 dollars.  Where's my damn
magazine?!?


Carpe cerevisiae!

Glen Pannicke
http://www.pannicke.net
"He was a wise man who invented beer" - Plato


Return to table of contents


Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 08:31:16 -0600
From: John Adsit <jadsit at jeffco.k12.co.us>
Subject: History of bland beer and barrels

The last issue of HBD contained questions about why American and
Australian beers got to be so bad and about the use of various woods in
old beer barrels.  I would like to offer some thoughts on both.  Both
opinions are subject to the vagaries of my memory, and that vagary seems
to have increased since I became a homebrewer.

First of all, I watched  a History Channel piece on the history of beer
in America.  As I recall, it laid the blame for blandness on the rise of
television.  In the early days of TV, the Miller brewing company
realized that this new medium brought the opportunity to expand their
market.  They started a massive advertising campaign designed to bring
name recognition to places that had never had Miller before.  Busch
followed suit immediately, and soon the biggest brewers were in a
nation-wide advertising war. Their strategy to capture the national
market included more than advertising: they had to create a low cost
product that appealed to the broadest possible range of tastes.

There were two natural consequences.  1) Smaller, local breweries were
forced out of business.  They could not compete with the advertising and
the lower prices being offered by the national brands.  2) Everything
that created a distinctive flavor was minimized.  This was a result of
both the desire to make product with a broad appeal and the need to
limit the cost of production.

I don't know how this relates to Australian history.  It is my
understanding that they do not have the same national brand situation
that we do.  Perhaps the good Baron will have some thoughts on this.
- ----
As for barrel composition, I toured the old Heineken factory two years
ago, and part of their presentation was a film that included the history
of kegs.  (They claimed to be the world's trend setting innovators in
that area.)  They showed film clips of the making of oak barrels/kegs.
This film included holding the bung over a fire of wood that was full of
pitch, filling the new-made barrel with the smoke. This coated the
inside of the barrels with a thin layer of pitch.  They said the purpose
of this was to prevent the undesirable oak flavors from affecting the
beer.
- ---
These are my thoughts, at least.  Perhaps others know more about this
than I.

- --
John Adsit
Boulder, Colorado
jadsit at jeffco.k12.co.us




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Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 08:34:35 -0600
From: John Adsit <jadsit at jeffco.k12.co.us>
Subject: Gott Conversion

Greetings all,

Paul Gatza refers to something he learned back in his ownership days at
What's Brewin' about how to convert Gott coolers to mash/lauter tuns.

I was a What's Brewin' customer in those days. (And still am.) That's
what I was showed, and that's how I still do it now.  I works great.

- --
John Adsit
Boulder, Colorado
jadsit at jeffco.k12.co.us




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Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 10:51:05 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu>
Subject: Re:  Freezing Malt Extract and Grains

"Ross D. Potter" <burningbrite at earthlink.net> asks:
>Is there any reason why I should not store the extracts, grains, or both in
>the freezer?

Absolutely no reason not to as far as the extract goes.  AS a matter of
fact, I think you should do it.  I've done it in the past and it became my
SOP even for short term storage.  Way back then it was necessary as the
stuff wanted to ferment in the jugs due to poor handling, but even well
handled extract suffers from age, and freezing should just about halt this
deterioration.

As far as the grains go, I think it's a good idea, but I've never done it,
so I may not know what I'm talking about.  Be sure to seal the containers
well.  There's little enough moisture in malt that it probably won't
actually freeze, and probably won't get ice crystals in the containers like
packaged foods do that are kept too long.  Still, I'd avoid a self
defrosting freezer if possible.

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. 




Return to table of contents


Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 10:36:58 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Rod Prather, Inspiration And Aussie Terminology

"Phil & Jill Yates" <yates at acenet.com.au> writes:

>The best I can manage is to point out to Jeff Renner that his recent
>post on Ayinger yeast talked of fermentation at 50F which he kindly
>converted for us to Celsius as 15C. But it is in fact 10C.

Oops - I know that.  Musta been a brain fart.

>Fosters, XXXX, Reschs and many other names probably
>were once good beers. But similar to the main stream beers in America, these
>days they are bland shadows of their previous existence. Why did this
>happen? My theory is that the modern owners of these labels tried hard to
>make beer a drink for everyone (including women - and I don't say this in a
>derogative way) and so the flavour and bitterness had to be got rid of.
>The result - very bland beer.

Lots of writers have opined that it was breweries' postwar desire to appeal
to women who acquired a taste for beer, or at least independence, during
WWII that drove the flavor of US beers down.  However, my further reading
has suggested that at least as important as attracting new drinkers is that
less flavorful beer is less satisfying or satiating, and drinkers will
drink more.  It's hard to imagine slamming a sixer of IPA like many people
do with Miller Lite, "A True Pilsner Beer" (the slogan makes me gag - see
http://www.millerbrewing.com for their argument that this is true).  In
other words, if "Tastes Great" is untrue, the second part, "Less Filling"
is not.

A former old time Stroh's researcher told me that each time they dropped
their bitterness from the 20's IBUs to the teens during the late 1940s to
late 1950s, they picked up big market share.  I guess if you're in the
business to make money, increased sales means more money (usually).  The
most popular beer in the world based on sales, Budweiser, is only 8 IBU!
Honest.  That's what the head of the pilot plant told me at MCAB II.   I
told him that I thought that 13 IBU was the threshold but he said no, you
can taste bitterness all the way down below 8.  I bought my first Bud after
I got back from St. Louis and yes, I could sorta taste something that
reminded me of bitterness.  He told me that this "delicate" flavor makes
drinkers go back for another drink.  It would make me go back for another
drink entirely!

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. 




Return to table of contents


Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 10:56:59 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu>
Subject: 90 stones?

Bret Morrow <bret.morrow at prodigy.net> suggests

>that the pool table ladies are all over 90...stones and
>years!

That would explain why they are leaning precipitously, but considering that
90 stones is 1260 lbs, or 573 kilos (did I get these conversions right,
Regan?), I don't think it's possible.  Talk about weird units, though.

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. 




Return to table of contents


Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 11:51:37 -0400
From: "Houseman, David L" <David.Houseman at unisys.com>
Subject: Beer humour

>> >> > 
Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel ashamed. Then I
look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of
their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of
work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is
better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish
and worry about my liver." * by Jack Handy
>> >> >
I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning,
that's as good as they're going to feel all day. * Dean Martin
>> >> >
The problem with some people is that when they aren't drunk, they're sober.
* William Butler Yeats
>> >> >
An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his
fools. * Ernest Hemingway
>> >>
Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep
your mouth shut. * Ernest Hemingway
>> >> >
Time is never wasted when you're wasted all the time. * Catherine Zandonella
>> >> >
Abstainer: a weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a
pleasure. * Ambrose Bierce
>> >> >
Reality is an illusion that occurs due to lack of alcohol. * Anonymous
>> >> > >
Drinking provides a beautiful excuse to pursue the one activity that truly
gives me pleasure, hooking up with fat, hairy girls. * Ross Levy
>> >> >
A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her. *
W.C. Fields
>> >> >
What contemptible scoundrel has stolen the cork to my lunch? * W.C. Fields
>> >> >
When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading. * Henny Youngman
>> >> > 
Life is a waste of time, time is a waste of life, so get wasted all of the
time and have the time of your life. * Michelle Mastrolacasa
>> >> >
I'd rather have a bottle in front of me, than a frontal lobotomy. * Tom
Waits
>> >> > 
24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? * Stephen Wright
>> >> > >
When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall
asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. Sooooo,
let's all get drunk and go to heaven! * Brian O'Rourke
>> >> >
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
>> >> > >
Always remember that I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken
out of me. * Winston Churchill
>> >> > >
Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. * Benjamin
Franklin
>> >> > >
If you ever reach total enlightenment while drinking beer, I bet it makes
beer shoot out your nose. * Deep Thought, Jack Handy
>> >> > > 
Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer.
Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does
not go nearly as well with pizza. * Dave Barry
>> >> > >
The problem with the world is that everyone is a few drinks behind. *
Humphrey Bogart
>> >> > >
Why is American beer served cold? So you can distinguish it from urine.
*David Moulton
>> >> > > 



Return to table of contents


Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 10:31:16 PDT
From: "Darrin Smith" <drsmithhm at hotmail.com>
Subject: Malt Storage/Beer Ageing

Ross asked about malt storage since his homebrew store was going
out of business.  I've stored  crushed Weyermann Munich malt
for up to 6 months in a HDPE(high density polyethelene) bucket
and didn't notice any difference in extraction ability.  I got 29
pts/lb/gal and I didn't do anything special to store the grain -
room temp ranging from 62-72 F.  I haven't tasted the beer yet,
read on...

Brett asks about aging beer before consumption and I have to agree
with him with one caveat.  I brewed a pumpkin ale last October,
and put it in the keg.  I had other things on tap at that time and
didn't really get to tap it until december.  All that time, it sat
at room temperature in the keg and upon going to the fridge, it
got the usual chill haze, etc.  Only after one month in the fridge
did it clear and improve in flavor.  I believe, but cannot confirm,
that dropping the chill haze contributes to the flavor improvement.

I would further observe that lager's are cold conditioned for a
period of time to get a clean flavor, and here again, I believe
the cold is dropping components that contribute to a rougher
flavor.  I may be talking out my aft section here for all I know -
I don't do lager's nor have I studied the literature many of you
are likely to quote, but it's my observation that cold conditioning
either for lager or ale helps to improve flavor.  That's why the
beer I spoke of before has yet to be tasted - 3 to 4 weeks of cold
is now part of my standard process.  I don't filter because it's
more work/money/equipment/infection risk and may strip components
that cold conditioning doesn't.

Hope this helps. It's just my observation/opinion. yadda yadda yadda.

	-drsmith(no that's not Dr. Smith, btw :)
________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com



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Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 13:37:57 -0400
From: "Ken Schramm" <schramk at resa.net>
Subject: Bill Pfeiffer

I haven't passed this along here, but Bill passed away 
in his sleep early the morning of May 4.  His funeral 
was a spirited affair, with many people paying homage
 to a great  man, father, teacher and brewer.  I can still 
hear his voice often, and will treasure my memories 
of brewing and learning about beer and mead with Bill.  
His quiet contibutions to the AHA, the BJCP and the HWBTA 
have had an impact on all of us.

We will be raising a toast to Bill with his Commemorative 
Mead at the conference, and it will be a joyous and yet 
somber moment.    His mead is but a small part of the 
legacy he has left us, but it is one I will drink with all of the
joy of life that Bill brought to everything he did.

The Scots have a toast:
Here's to yas, 
Wha's like yes
damn few, they're all dead (pronounced deed)

paraphrased:

Here's to you,
And those like you,
Damn few,
they're all dead.

Now Roger Morse has died, too; a true pioneer of 
Modern American mead making.  I used to think the toast was 
funny, but now I know what it means.  Don't get me wrong; I 
wouldn't think to put myself in their league, but there are  
a few less guys to call with your really hard questions.

Ken Schramm
Troy, MI


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Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 11:16:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Steven J. Owens" <puff at netcom.com>
Subject: Re: washing machine/mashtun

Tombrau at aol.com writes:

> In my infinite ability to bring beer into any subject, I made a
> discovery working on my washing machine. It has potential to be a
> shitn'get, backwoods, mashtun.  I don't think I will ever build one
> but it is fun to think about.

     Oddly enough, when I bought my current house, about a year and a
half ago, we found an ancient, '50s-epoch double-barreled washing
machine.  I have been having idle thoughts about turning it into some
sort of brewing system :-).  Or at the very least, a bottled-beer ice
chest with some character :-).

Steven J. Owens
puff at netcom.com


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Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 14:27:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: fridgeguy at voyager.net
Subject: fridge expansion

Greetings folks,

 In HBD #3329, Bret Morrow asked if it's possible to expand his dorm
fridge capacity by adding an insulated box to it.

Absolutely! Many folks have done this successfully. I'd recommend
building the box with extruded polystyrene insulation board and
covering it with plywood for strength and protection. Make sure ALL
joints are air-tight and keep the box as small as practical for best
cooling.

 Consider the ambient conditions the fridge will encounter when
deciding how much insulation to use. High ambient temps will require
more insulation and better attention to tight-fitting joints and door
gasketing.

 If the box will be significantly taller than the dorm fridge, mount
the fridge as high on the expansion box as possible to aid natural
convection current. If this is not possible, a small fan placed in the
fridge will help even the temperature throughout the fridge and
expansion box.

 Good luck with your project. If you build such a box, please report
your results to either this list to directly to me.

Hope this helps!
- ------------------------------
Forrest Duddles - Fridgeguy in Kalamazoo
fridgeguy at voyager.net


- --
Is your email secure? http://www.pop3now.com
(c) 1998-2000 secureFront Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.



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Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 14:45:21 EDT
From: Epic8383 at aol.com
Subject: Zymurgy-Honey Issue

    Just My $.02 .....
  My overall impression was that it was just another watered down issue just 
like the rest since they went to six issues per year. The paper mailing label 
haphazardly stuck on doesn't look too professional, either.
  Ray's article was entertaining, and the Chimay clone recipe looks inviting. 
The article on Pierre Celis was unfortunatly dated as soon as I got it (not 
the AHA's fault). The mention of our late friend Bill Pfeiffer was basically 
a reprint of the HBD's post on it's home page, not any more than we already 
knew.
  Although I occasionally make mead, the bulk of the issue didn't provide me 
with much of anything I didn't already know. The 'Honey Varieties Chart' was 
interesting, but seriously, how many varieties does anyone have access to, 
and would you be willing to shell out the bucks to get a sufficient quantity 
to make mead?
  I realize that it's tough to stike a balance between new brewers and old 
veterans, but I'd like to see some more technical/in-depth articles, and 
posters are always welcome-how about a grain poster to compliment the hop one 
from a while back?
    Gus Rappold
    Inwood,NY
P.S. Christine Celis is cute, how 'bout a swimsuit issue with her on the 
cover? "The Women of Brewing"-that'd sell some copies!  


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Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 15:26:58 -0400
From: Bill Wible <bwible at pond.com>
Subject: Beechwood

I forget whose book this was in, but I remember reading...

"If you want to get the same benefits from Beechwood that AB gets,
just scotch tape a Beechwood chip to the outside of your fermenter."



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Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 12:28:11 -0700
From: "Jay Hummer" <jayhumm at zdnetonebox.com>
Subject: Is it finished yet?

I just racked my first batch of beer (brown ale) into my secondary fermenter
last night.  I've been keeping an eye on it, and now it's been almost
24 hours and the fermentation seems to have stopped.  No fog on the little
pipe inside the airlock, and no more bubbles.  The beer was in the primary
for 7 days, bubbling away merrily.  The bubbling slowed in the last couple
of days, but didn't stop.  Could it be finished?  I am very anxious to
bottle it -- I am dying to try it!  The recipe for the kit says a two-week
fermentation is a good rule of thumb.  Must I wait that long?

- -- 
Jay Hummer



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Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 15:35:57 -0400
From: Bill Wible <bwible at pond.com>
Subject: Beermeister/Dorm fridge

  I have been considering the possibility of making a beermeister for 
my dad from
a dorm fridge, a 2 faucet tap tower, and a pair of 3 gallon corny 
kegs.  A 3 gallon
corny will hold roughly the equivelant of one case of beer.  My dad 
doesn't drink
that much beer, so this would be great for him.

For you fridge guys out there:
1) How do I know it's okay to drill a hole through the top of the 
fridge to install the
tower?  How can you tell if there are refrigerant lines or anything 
there that you would
hit?
2) How would you install a drip tray on top?  IS there a specific 
type of top mounting
drip tray for this?
3) When I go to get a small dorm fridge, is there a specific type you 
would recommend?

And lastly, are there any other "gotcha's" to be wary of?

Thanks in advance for advice.

Bill


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