HOMEBREW Digest #3533 Thu 18 January 2001

[Prev HBD] [Index] [Next HBD] [Back]


	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: janitor@hbd.org


***************************************************************
       THIS YEAR'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY: 

          Northern  Brewer, Ltd. Home Brew Supplies
        http://www.northernbrewer.com  1-800-681-2739

    Support those who support you! Visit our sponsor's site!
********** Also visit http://hbd.org/hbdsponsors.html *********


Contents:
  Yates / Pivo Pilsner (Tony Barnsley)
  RE: Kegs ("Steven Parfitt")
  Re: Gott coolers (Steve)
  peristaltic pump ("patrick finerty jr.")
  did i do wrong (Edward Doernberg)
  the miny frige of many kegs (Edward Doernberg)
  Re: Banks Ale (Jeff Renner)
  Re: Brown Ale (Jeff Renner)
  Bottles ("Pannicke, Glen A.")
  BJCP ("Jason Henning")
  Re: loaf mashing (Jeff Renner)
  Re: Kegs (Jeff Renner)
  High final gravities (David Harsh)
  Picnic tap "gasket" ("Strom C. Thacker")
  Warmth amongst beer kegs... (Some Guy)
  Cold Steeping, Anyone (inky)
  Sam Adams Boston Lager (Frank Tutzauer)
  History on "Canadian Breweries Limited" (Jim Cave)
  Malt extract fermentables ("Jones, Steven T")
  Re: Gott coolers ("patrick finerty jr.")
  Long hop boil (short and long versions) ("Brian Lundeen")
  St Patrick's Day Cascadia Cup (JDPils)
  GM corn mostly (Clark)
  GM Brews? (Tom Smit)
  Highgate Mild (Tom Smit)

* * Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! * * Bluebonnet Brew-Off Entry Deadline is 2/9/01! * http://welcome.to/bluebonnet for more information * Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!! To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE send an e-mail message with the word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" to request@hbd.org FROM THE E-MAIL ACCOUNT YOU WISH TO HAVE SUBSCRIBED OR UNSUBSCRIBED!!!** IF YOU HAVE SPAM-PROOFED your e-mail address, you cannot subscribe to the digest as we canoot reach you. We will not correct your address for the automation - that's your job. The HBD is a copyrighted document. The compilation is copyright HBD.ORG. Individual postings are copyright by their authors. ASK before reproducing and you'll rarely have trouble. Digest content cannot be reproduced by any means for sale or profit. More information is available by sending the word "info" to req at hbd.org. JANITOR on duty: Pat Babcock and Karl Lutzen (janitor@hbd.org)
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 13:01:59 -0000 From: Tony Barnsley <tony.barnsley at blackpool.gov.uk> Subject: Yates / Pivo Pilsner > primary fermentation of the Yates/Pivo Czech pilsner is all > but complete and ready for its lagering stage. I thought the > three hour boil may have raised some eyebrows in here but so > far not a comment. Ok I'll comment, I wasn't surprised when you said three hours as I've been doing that with pilsners for the last couple of years. It comes from something I read a while back that said that the brewers at Plzen 'simmer' their wort for 3 hours rather than boil hard the way we normally do. This also follows the old practice of the Burton brewers (simmering wort rather than hard boil) as it extracts a 'more agreeable' bitterness. Unfortunately I've not done a spurment Simmer vs. Hard boil of the same batch of wort, but I do like the result of simmered pilsners. - -- Wassail! The Scurrilous Aleman (ICQ 46254361) Schwarzbad Lager Brauerei, Blackpool, Lancs, UK UK HOMEBREW - A Forum on Home Brewing in the UK Managed by home brewers for home brewers To Subscribe send blank email to uk-homebrew-subscribe at smartgroups.com Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 08:21:38 -0500 From: "Steven Parfitt" <the_gimp98 at hotmail.com> Subject: RE: Kegs Doug responded to Nathan with several good ideas about cooling kegs. I wonder if a cooling jacket could be used indry climates? I have a wine cooler make out of clay which I fill with water to soak it, then simply put the bottle of wine in it. Evaporation cools the whole shebang. Cover a keg with a cloth covering and keep it damp. As the water evaporates it should cool the keg several degrees. This will only work in conditions of low humidity, say below 40%RH. Blow a fanover it to increase evaporation, spray it with water occasionally to keepit damp. Never tried it, but it might be worth a shot. Steven Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 06:17:51 -0800 (PST) From: Steve <gravelse at yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Gott coolers Jake, I can't help you with Rubbermaid locations in asia, but I can help with finding what you want on their web site. That's where I bought my cooler. When you log in to the web site do a search for 1610-01-11. This will retrieve one link that will send you to the 10 gallon cooler you are looking for. It's not a Gott cooler, I believe they bought out Gott and they're all Rubbermaid now. I had the same problem with the Rubbermaid web site before when I ordered my cooler and when helping a friend order his. They need a new web site design. If you need any ideas on setting it up as a mash tun let me know. I've got a setup that works pretty good. Private email is fine. Salute! SteveG "Homebrew, it's not just a hobby, it's an adventure!" Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 09:22:38 -0500 From: "patrick finerty jr." <zinc at finerty.net> Subject: peristaltic pump folks, some people have been talking about pumps lately. imagine my surprise yesterday afternoon when i was walking down the hall to break one of our SGIs only to find a motor on the ground waiting to be discarded. however, it wasn't just a motor! it was a peristaltic pump. the head is too small to move the volumes involved in brewing but a new head is $75 (CDN) and tubing only $55. soon i will not be lifting carboys! i don't know what i'd do if i didn't work in a lab... slainte, -patrick in Toronto - -- "There is only one aim in life and that is to live it." Karl Shapiro,(1959) from an essay on Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer finger pfinerty at nyx10.nyx.net for PGP key http://finerty.net/pjf Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 06:25:17 +0800 From: Edward Doernberg <shevedd at q-net.net.au> Subject: did i do wrong yesterday i brewed an IPA 22L 5.5kg pale malt 0.5kg crystal malt 0.5kg wheat malt at the last minute i decided to include first wort hops so the hop bill became 28g cascade FWH 56g cascade at 40min unfortunately i ran out of gas and by my best gas it got under boiled by 10 min or over boiled by 30 min or in between do ether of these points make my beer less promising (i know if its 30 min over boild it will be more bitter but i think ill live with that. Edward Doernberg Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 06:25:10 +0800 From: Edward Doernberg <shevedd at q-net.net.au> Subject: the miny frige of many kegs i have commended the use of the car fridge for keeping bottles of beer cold. its construction is similar to a small chest freezer and the lid is easily removed. if at some time in the (distant) future (reed when i have money) i was to set up say 4 kegs beside it and into it place 4 coils of copper tubing (similar to the stuff used to make immersion chillers) each about 5M long and attached to a keg and a tap that comes out of the new wooden (insulated) lid of the fridge. the fridge would then be filled with water and something added to stop things growing before being sealed. the beer from the kegs would pas threw the fridge on its way to the tap and be cooled by the liquid in the fridge. the fridge wouldn't be able to cope with to grate a flow of beer but you would get a couple of dozen pints before it got to warm. because the kegs ar stored worm it would only work for ales but if it would work it could make setting up some kegs much simpler. if you so desired you could even move the kegs to another room and have a nice small bar without needing to chill the pipes as they would in a commercial pub. but would it work Edward Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 09:16:05 -0500 From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu> Subject: Re: Banks Ale Tom Smit <lunica at ozemail.com.au>, who finally capitalized his last name, asks > Anyone have a recipe for Banks Mild Ale, from the Black Country? It seems that Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries, the brewers of Bank's, is (are?) less forthcoming than some about providing details to CAMRA's Roger Protz for the Real Ale Almanac. For Bank's Ale, "formerly known as Bank's Mild," it says only, "OG 1036, ABV 3.5%. Ingredients: A blend or Maris Otter pale malt and Pipkin, with some Halcyon. Caramel for color. 40 units of color. Worcester Fuggles and East Kent Goldings whole hops. 25 units of bitterness." As with reproducing any ale, the choice of yeast is crucial, and I have no idea if anyone has cultured and made available their yeast. Not much to go on. Too bad. It's considered a classic. 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: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 09:21:18 -0500 From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu> Subject: Re: Brown Ale "Cade Morgan" <Cade.Morgan at eskom.co.za> asks, apparently from South Africa, judging from his address: >I brewed a brown ale containing sugar. Will more sugar make it stronger? Yes, but not necessarily better. It may throw it out of balance. Sugar is 100% fermentable, and will produce about 50 grams of alcohol per 100 grams of sugar. You can compute just how much stronger your beer will be from this. If you want to compute alcohol by volume rather than by weight, remember that 1 gram of alcohol is ~1.25 ml. 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: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 09:27:00 -0500 From: "Pannicke, Glen A." <glen_pannicke at merck.com> Subject: Bottles Steven Jones wrote of Bottles: >>Unfortunatley about 25% of the returnable bottles I've come across are >>usually pretty ratty -AND- to get them I have to buy mediocre beer ;-) >Glen, you don't have to buy that at #$%^* beer just to get the bottles! I go >to my local budmilloors distributor and ask the guys in the warehouse if I >can buy some cases of empty bar bottles. I usually bring a 6pak of assorted >homebrews along for good measure. I get the heavy waxed cardboard cases with >empties for $1.20 each. Not a bad deal. I've since moved to kegs, with the occasional growler, reserving my prized deposit bottles for the annual barleywine. Unfortunately there are those who you wish to grace with your most prized beer but regardless of the number of pleas, they still toss the bottle. The "return the bottle and I'll refill it for you" works sometimes, but not always. But the biggest added bonus of doing this is the waxed carboard cases. I've got 4 of them and they are virtually indestructible! Now this raises another topic. Cases. Recently while traveling, I made a stop in Detroit for a connecting flight. On display in the pub there was a refurbished antique Ford truck with a full load of antique wooden Budweizer cases. All wood cases with cutout handles, shiny metal clasps and hinges, painted logo and varnished. I was thinking of making a few for myself (sans Bud logo) as I have not seen any for sale anywhere. Is this an item of interest only to me or do we have a real demand out here? Carpe cerevisiae! Glen A. Pannicke glen at pannicke.net http://www.pannicke.net 75CE 0DED 59E1 55AB 830F 214D 17D7 192D 8384 00DD "Designs which work well on paper rarely do so in actual practice." Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 10:07:04 -0500 From: "Jason Henning" <jason at thehennings.com> Subject: BJCP Hello- I'm looking for a txt or html version of the BJCP style guild lines. The BJCP only has it in pdf form, not very handy since I can't cut-n-paste. I know the 1998 (really the 1997 version as I read it on the BJCP page) version is out there but I'm looking for the 1999 version. I guess it wouldn't have to be in text form, I would settle for spread sheet, data base, or even html. I could extract it from those files and get it in the form I need. Thanks in advance. Cheers, Jason Henning On February 9th, I will be [0,0] Rennerian Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 10:13:51 -0500 From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu> Subject: Re: loaf mashing Congrats to Steve Thomas <drstrangebrew at mail.com> for investigating loaf mashing, something I've thought about often and never done. The next step, presumably, Steve, is to crumble the loaf into some water and allow spontaneous fermentation, the to drink it through a straw, which filters out the chunky bits. It's reputed that the pyramids were build with beer like this. Have you done this (brewed, not built pyramids), or any other brewing with these loaves? Please report back! 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: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 10:16:17 -0500 From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu> Subject: Re: Kegs Doug Hurst <DougH at theshowdept.com> offers some methods of coping with kegged, unchilled beer. Another method is to keep some heavy mugs in the freezer, then draw the warmish ale into the mug, which will chill the ale to a nice drinking temperature. Of course, if you want another beer, you have to have another cold mug ready. 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: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 10:31:38 -0500 From: David Harsh <dharsh at fuse.net> Subject: High final gravities Darrell (leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu) writes: > I recently brewed a Trappist...with a heap of slurry...WLP500... > I tried to keep the carboy at the correct temperatures... > under 65F, but above 63...and think that I did so... Having just returned from the Spirit of Belgium III (great job, BURP!), I think the problem is what you refer to as a "correct" temperature. Garrett Oliver said that Brooklyn's Abbey is fermented at 82 F. Victory's brewer (don't have his name handy) said the Golden Monkey Tripel is at 85 F. Chris White of WhiteLabs said the final gravity of Chimay Grand Reserve is 1.5 plato (~1.006) and fermented at 75 F. Most of these are open fermentations in fermenters with low aspect ratios (width to height near 1:1) You may have problems from saving the slurry and not feeding it; I would have recommended giving it some food 24-48 hours before repitching (maybe even more to keep it active). I'm also assuming that you oxygenate (not aerate!) sufficiently. That's my $0.02 after listening to people who do it for a living. Dave Harsh Bloatarian Brewing League Cincinnati, OH Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 10:27:38 -0500 From: "Strom C. Thacker" <sthacker at bu.edu> Subject: Picnic tap "gasket" Dan in Minnetonka told a story a few issues back (with a follow up from Doc Pivo) about a grown gasket in his plastic picnic tap. Following Dan's tip about taking it apart, my brewing partner and I inspected mine this weekend and found a similar looking substance inside. It didn't look like mold, though. I'm pretty sure it was yeast pulled up from the bottom of the keg that accumulated in the tap. I transfer to a clean keg after secondary fermentation and then force carbonate my brews, but I inevitably get a little yeast in the bottom of the serving keg. I may also be getting yeast stuck in there when transferring from the secondary keg to serving keg. If Dan's tap spooge was yeast like mine, it might explain why it didn't seem to throw off his beer. Strom Newton, MA Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 11:04:28 -0500 (EST) From: Some Guy <pbabcock at hbd.org> Subject: Warmth amongst beer kegs... Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager... In keeping kegs warm for dispense in a non-refrigerated draft system, dispense pressure becomes of concern. Without proper attention to line lengths, you'll find yourself wearing more beer than you're drinking, regardless of how chilled your mug is! Keep in mind that beer requiring 13 psi CO2 under refrigeration will require on the order of 25 psi CO2 at cellar temperature (varies with the difference between your choice of refrigerated and cellar temperatures, but you get the point). The difference at the faucet can be quite dramatic! To "balance" a system like this would likely require enough hose that your keg will empty at the first draw, leaving you with beer only in the lines (an exaggeration)! The only reasonable solution, is of course, to use a jockey box of some sort or chill your beer... :-) - -- - See ya! Pat Babcock in SE Michigan pbabcock at hbd.org Home Brew Digest Janitor janitor@hbd.org HBD Web Site http://hbd.org The Home Brew Page http://hbd.org/pbabcock "The monster's back, isn't it?" - Kim Babcock after I emerged from my yeast lab Saturday Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 11:32:58 -0500 From: inky at blot.com Subject: Cold Steeping, Anyone So, Who can tell me about cold steeping of melanoidin grains? -inky Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 11:55:21 -0500 (EST) From: Frank Tutzauer <comfrank at acsu.buffalo.edu> Subject: Sam Adams Boston Lager Our Aussie mate asks about Sam Adams Boston Lager--the hop heads love it. I don't know what you lot get down there, but few of us in the US would consider Sam Adams exceedingly hoppy. Hell, I don't even think it's all that good. I'd choose it over Bud, but behind most any microbrew. Sam Adams is competing against run-of-the-mill imports to the US like Becks and skunked Heineken, so it's not as good as the really quality imports and domestic micros. Hop Devil by Victory--now that's a hoppy brew. Anyway, the Sam Adams web site (www.samadams.com, I think) says that Boston Lager is decoction mashed using 2-row and crystal, it uses five hop additions and is dry hopped. The hops are Tettnang Tettnanager and Hallertau Mittelfreuh. - --frank Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 09:43:28 -0800 From: Jim Cave <cave at psc.org> Subject: History on "Canadian Breweries Limited" A friend bought for me an oak "but" of a cask (I guess it's called a but, you know, the end piece). Stamped on it is "Canadian Breweries Limited" Does anyone know anything about this company and when they stopped using oak for their casks? Jim Cave Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 13:03:37 -0500 From: "Jones, Steven T" <stjones at eastman.com> Subject: Malt extract fermentables Greetings, all. There was a post on a user group recently that said that lighter malts contain more unfermentables than darker malts, with 'Ultra Light' containing the most unfermentables. Also said was that dry extracts contain more unfermentables than liquid extracts. Can anyone confirm or deny this? I always thought just the opposite of this - that the darker extracts contained less fermentable sugars because of the higher roasting temps of the darker malts. TIA Steve Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 13:55:54 -0500 From: "patrick finerty jr." <zinc at finerty.net> Subject: Re: Gott coolers hi Jake, you've probably heard this from a million people by now but... Gott was bought by Rubbermaid so you need a Rubbermaid distributor. i have seen the cooler on the Rubbermaid site (10 gal cylindrical water/beverage cooler). the product you want is: 1610-01-11, Insulated water cooler. follow: Insulated products -> Water Coolers on their site. http://www.rubbermaid.com/UnbelievableProducts/UnbelievableProducts /ProductDetail.asp?productId=71 slainte, -patrick in Toronto On January 16, 2001, Jacob Jacobsen wrote: > I am trying to locate a Gott distributor in Asia. I looked at > Rubbermaid's web site but only found smaller coolers marketed under > the Rubbermaid name. Does anyone know the URL for the Gott portion > of Rubbermaid (or whatever). I searched Rubbermaid's site for Gott > and didn't find much (some old references). > > I'm building a mash/lauter tun (of course). If I can't find a Gott, can > anyone recommend another suitable round cooler? - -- "There is only one aim in life and that is to live it." Karl Shapiro,(1959) from an essay on Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer finger pfinerty at nyx10.nyx.net for PGP key http://finerty.net/pjf Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 16:12:08 -0600 From: "Brian Lundeen" <blundeen at rrc.mb.ca> Subject: Long hop boil (short and long versions) Here's the short version for the freetime-challenged: My bittering hops ended up being boiled for a couple of hours. I seem to recall negative consequences for doing things like that. Can someone refresh my memory on them? Now the long version: This was not intentional, just another brew day from hell. In my 15 or so months of all-grain brewing, I do not recall having a brew day that went exactly as I would hope for. On various occasions I have: - overboiled and missed my target gravity and bittering (I think I'm finally getting the hang of accounting for volume increases at higher temperatures and the tilt in my garage floor which throws off my chart) - plugged a number into the wrong place in ProMash, causing a madcap parade of errors including adding more fermentables to make up for a perceived gravity shortage, only to have to add water later to make up for an actual gravity excess (need I mention the bittering was also screwed up, but it still managed a silver medal at the All About Ales competition so I guess I can't complain too much). I will note that since my complaint to Mr Donovan on that issue, you can now only change the hydrometer calibration temperature in the system settings, and not on the hydrometer adjustment screen, so I think maybe I had a valid gripe there. - threw myself into a state of panic the first time I used RO water trying to get the mash pH down on my Pilsner involving at various times flying up and down my cellar stairs, trying to administer small quantities of lactic acid with a shaking hand (AAAAK too much), frantically cooling my samples to get a pH reading before it was Too Late (tm) not realizing my temperature compensating pH meter didn't really need it, trying to gently apply heat and mucking the mash about getting severe arm cramps and further increases to my blood pressure to keep the temperature up while doing all this because God Knows the last thing you want is a thin dry Pilsner, and then finding out my original pH was probably OK anyway Well, I could go on but... The latest episode was presaged by a warning. I should have realized I was on course for another BDFH when I climbed into the shower after starting my mash session only to realize I had forgotten to throw in the damn mash hops. There are few things I hate more than exiting a nice hot shower on a cold morning, and having to do it twice was a real irritant. I should have heeded the warning sign and said to myself, that propane tank is feeling awfully empty, best go fill it before you start. But no, I figure this is probably the last time I'll be using it since I plan to wire up my nice new electric brewkeg, so let's just see how it goes. If it runs out, it runs out, I'll nip up to the propane supplier a couple of blocks away then, no big deal. I was not aware that long before a propane tank coughs its last dying breath and extinguishes my cooker's flame entirely, it will limp along on the fumes, so to speak, giving the appearance of running my cooker without actually contributing anything useful. I did notice that my boil seemed to be becoming less and less vigourous, and that opening the regulator was not being met with the normal accompanying increase in jet engine roar. However, it was not until near the one hour mark that I checked on my progress and discovered I was still a good 5-6 liters away from my target volume. To quoth Monty Python, bruddy herr. So off goes the flame, toss the tank in the Jeep and head off down to the neighbourhood Husky station. "A fill of propane", says I, even as the hairs on my neck were starting to bristle at a sense of impending doom. "Neither of us are certified," replies the high school yop assigned speaking duties for the evening. A brief outpouring of profanity, but not to worry. I'm told they have another station about a mile away. Off I go, full of hope, until I pull into what amounts to little more than a strip mall version of a gas station. There is no propane to be seen anywhere. However, the clerk does direct me to a competitor a little further up the same road, which mercifully has both propane and someone qualified to dispense it. At which time I get my latest slap in the face: a $19.50 bill. Seems a propane "shortage" has caused the price to double since my last trip to the pump. So by the time I get back home, get it back to a boil, and boil off to my target, I estimate those poor hop pellets had a good two hours in boiling or very hot wort. Will my beer suffer for this folly? That indeed remains the question. Following this BDFH, my wife has the gall to ask me, why do I do this if it's so much trouble? The vexing part of it was, I had neither a good answer, nor the energy to think one up. Saying "because it's fun" would have been an unconvincing lie. A better quote would have been, "Man's reach must occasionally exceed his grasp", but as I said, I was too pooped to be philosophical. Cheers, Brian Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 17:15:38 EST From: JDPils at aol.com Subject: St Patrick's Day Cascadia Cup Greetings Brewer's, I am pleased to announce the 5th annual St Patrick's Day Cascadia Cup being held March 10 - 11 at the Hale's Ales Brewery in Seattle Washington. This is one of the largest and best competions held in the Pacific Northwest for the last four years. (I am affilliated and may be biased). Entries are due between February 17th and March 4th. Send Entries to CBG 2001 Competition c/o Mountain Homebrew & Wine Supply, 8520 122nd Ave NE, Suite B-6, Kirkland WA 98033. For more information visit our website www.cascadebrewersguild.org Cheers, Jim Dunlap Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 20:30:19 -0500 From: Clark <clark at capital.net> Subject: GM corn mostly Hi group, John Baxter Biggins writes regarding GM corn: The GM strain >can "pollute" the non-GM strain, creating an unwanted hybrid. Since >many GM foods are to be produced "sterile", so that you must always >buy the seeds directly from the source every growing season, this can >be disasterous to the non-GM farm if the hybrid does not >self-replicate. I would offer a couple of points here. Hybrids do not self replicate. As a scientist John should know that hybrids are bred from two or more dissimilar parents to create offspring with specific characteristics (taller, shorter, earlier, later etc) and the seed is true for only one generation. Successive crops will produce inferior plants of little value to the farmer. Secondly, every farmer I know buys his seeds each and every growing season from his supplier. Corn, oats, wheat, barley, rye, soybeans, alfalfa, clover you name it. There are very few open pollinated varieties on the market these days, and the average farmer simply doesn't have the time to harvest a seed crop and prepare it for the following year. The terminator gene is no big deal to dairy or crop farmers because he is going to buy fresh seed next spring anyway. The StarLink corn has proved to be a disaster for many farmers in that they can't sell their corn or have had their non GM corn made unsaleable from pollen drifting from a StarLink planted field. This was a good idea that went very bad. Third world nations need some protection from these seeds as many of their farmers cannot afford to buy seed each year and must save some of their crop to plant next season. Falling off my soapbox now. Beer related. I have had a porter kegged for about two months now. It had a very harsh nasty flavor when I first tried it but it has mellowed a bit as of today. The recipe only called for 2oz. of Black Patent along with 9lbs of 2-row, 1/2 lb of oatmeal and 1/2 lb chocolate, but there are 2 oz of Nugget hops, 2 oz Hallertau and 1/2 oz of Cascade in this thing. It isn't exactly what I call an easy drinking beer yet. If I leave it in my Bilco ( temp. in the low thirties) will it tend to mellow out or should I dump it and try again? I guess time will tell. Is there going to be a Big Brew event this year? I was deleting some old files and noted the Milk Stout that was selected in 1998 along with all the controversy it created. Just curious. Dave Clark Eagle Bridge, NY Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 13:06:52 +0930 From: Tom Smit <lunica at ozemail.com.au> Subject: GM Brews? J Baxter daydreamed >. . . that problems associted [sic] w/ genetically modified (GM) foods present a socio-economic impact > rather than a medical one. Rats die eating GM potatoes, choocks died (OK, tended to die) GM eating corn. GM yield usually 7% less. GM not for this brewer Staying alive. Tom Smit Tiny Horses Brewery & organic, non-hybrid, vege garden of tastier, more productive & more robust crops Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 2001 13:14:18 +0930 From: Tom Smit <lunica at ozemail.com.au> Subject: Highgate Mild Hi all, I'm thinking my first all grain batch might be Highgate Mild. GW has 200g (I think) roasted barley. R Protz in Beer Encyclopedia says Highgate has complex blend choc, crystal & roast barley. (may be a bit off, left my notes at home) I'm therefore thinking I will reduce roast barley to 50g at use 100g each of choc & crystal, or even 100 light crystal & 100g darker crystal. Any experts care to comment mildly? (the next line is just for Jeff) tom Smit Return to table of contents
[Prev HBD] [Index] [Next HBD] [Back]
HTML-ized on 01/18/01, by HBD2HTML v1.2 by KFL
webmaster at hbd.org, KFL, 10/9/96
Convert This Page to Pilot DOC Format
/n