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FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Digest Janitor: janitor@hbd.org
***************************************************************
THIS YEAR'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
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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:
temp tee ("Marc Hawley")
Keg to Brewpot Conversion...Help for dummy? (Jeff Easter)
Compressed air fittings (Bjoern.Thegeby)
diacetyl rest for Hefe? (leavitdg)
RE: HBD on Avantgo ("Lutzen, Karl F.")
Grau(grey)-wacke ("S. SNYDER")
More: Stone Beer Stones (Karl Smith)
RE Plastic Carboys ("Donald D. Lake")
Strike water temps; Shameless plug (I/T)" <stjones at eastman.com>
O2 Regulator for BernzOMatic (Bob Hall)
Good Belgian Beer Site... (William Macher)
Re: Direct-Fired RIMS; Temperature Limit (Jeff Renner)
Hopping with CF vs immersion chiller ("Pannicke, Glen A.")
Drunk Monk Challenge - Second Notice ("Formanek, Joe")
RE: Kilncoffee Malt (Mark Alfaro)
Gelatin questions (Jeff Renner)
singing the praises of ez-flip top (grolsch) bottles... (Jeremy Lakey)
RE: Yeast culturing (LaBorde, Ronald)
RE: Bleach in copper, other corrosives (LaBorde, Ronald)
Re: Laaglander Light DME and Final SpGr (Jeff Renner)
Plastic Secondary Fermentor ("Tom Byrnes")
Conical Fermiters ("Jim Bermingham")
Easy Imersion Chiller ("Pete Calinski")
CC fermentors, kilncoffee malt, and sorgum malt ("Richard Sieben")
*
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy!
*
* Drunk Monk Challenge Entry Deadline is 3/17/01!
* http://www.sgu.net/ukg/dmc/ for more information
*
* Maltose Falcons Mayfaire Entry Deadline is 3/20/01!
* http://www.maltosefalcons.com/ for more information
*
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2001 21:43:02 -0600
From: "Marc Hawley" <Marc_Hawley at email.msn.com>
Subject: temp tee
Does any one know if "temp tees" are still being sold? This is an inline
thermometer made from a plastic tee and a dial thermometer. Can't find them
on the web.
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 01 Mar 2001 23:35:31 -0500
From: Jeff Easter <jeaster at ipass.net>
Subject: Keg to Brewpot Conversion...Help for dummy?
Dear fellow Homebrewers,
I beseech you, after a weeklong search for information....what is the
easiest way for
me to convert my ALUMINUM (I know, hopefully I won't forget how to make
beer) Keg to a shiny brewpot. I have a general clue, I.E. Cut the top
out (so that a lid will fit) then put hole near the bottom, attach a
flow controller (ball valve) on the outside, with a
copper tube inside, cut so that wort flows out but trub and hop pellets
do not......Now, the big question is, how. I spent over an hour staring
at my options at Home Despot, and since no one offered to help (quelle
suprise)....I am lost. I found something called a 1/2 inch ball valve
(brass), but how to connect this to a copper tube inside the
keg.....Oh, and did I mention I don't want to solder, would like to be
able to just tighten everything down to make it leak proof. So that is
my dillema. Any caveats about using aluminum, brass and copper in my
solution will bve considered, as long as a viable option is also
included.
Please Obi-HBD-Wan, you're my only hope.
Thanks everyone for your time, Jeff
Insert Pithy Quip Here:_______________________
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 09:06:10 +0100
From: Bjoern.Thegeby at cec.eu.int
Subject: Compressed air fittings
Has anybody tried to use power tool compressed air fitting to make their CO2
supply modular?
I have a serving fridge for keg beers (and SWMBO's seltser) but would like
to use CO2 outside
this in the form of a nozzle for flooding and maybe blow cleaning, a
separate gas in fitting for
driving cleaning solutions through kegs and a system to panic carbonate my
real ale when
I was too late to rack into the cask:-( .
I realise that the flow stopper would only be on the female (tank) side of
the connector
and that I cannot disconnect a pressurised keg, but do you see any other
problems? Also,
does anybody know of an inline regulator that could be used to differentiate
pressure between
kegs?
Bjorn Thegeby
Waterloo, Belgium
Rennerian, Schmennerian, Five Miles from Lembeek
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2001 08:02:05 -0500 (EST)
From: leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu
Subject: diacetyl rest for Hefe?
I have just finished reading through the SECRETS FROM THE MASTER BREWERS
by Higgins, et. al, and found them on p116 making reference to a
diacetyl rest for a hefe. I have heard of and practice this for lagers,
but for hefe? Is this a mistake...or have I missed something?
This is in the chapter that discusses Paul Sayler and his brewing tips...
from Commonwealth Brewing Company.
.Darrell
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 07:01:12 -0600
From: "Lutzen, Karl F." <kfl at umr.edu>
Subject: RE: HBD on Avantgo
The honorable Kelly Jones writes:
>A partial answer to why some of you can't access HBD through Avantgo:
>According to the Avantgo developer's site, there is a 32K _per page_
>limit for Avantgo pages.....
>
>The solution would be for whoever owns the HBD -> html code to create an
> html'ized version just for Avantgo which would consist of either an
>index on one page which points to all of the articles each on their own
>page, or just to split up the digest into two pages (each under the 32K
Is it just the HBD that has pages over 32K in size? I think that the average
page size of an informational digest or document from elsewhere on the net
is quite the opposite: Over the 32K size. I have a Palm and using direct
downloads and another document reader, I've routinely read 90K+ documents
without issue. I think the problem is that AvantGo (or should that be
AvantStop?), needs to address their size issue as this limit impacts far
FAR more than just the HBD. That to me is where the real issue is.
I am the author, maintainer (or idiot), that created the hbd2html filter
and really do not even want to think about re-writing it to generate another
form of the digest just for a few readers. Get a document reader (several
to choose from on the Palm software sites), then download the zipped
version via ftp from hbd.org (it will be decompressed automatically if you
leave off the .gz extension). Transfer to your Palm via the hotsync.
Yeah, it's may seem a bit cumbersome, but it works nicely.
As I said, the best solution is for AvantGo and any other of these software
folks to fix THEIR limitation as this problem is not solely caused by a
large HBD in html form. This is going to be a problem with probably the
majority of information pages on the internet.
Besides, there are only so many spare minutes in a day and this is not
one area I think is deserving of using those minute. Please don't bring
this up again on the digest. Reserve this space for beer discussions.
Send all further discussions on this topic to janitor@hbd.org. I'll be
glad (and Pat will probably read with amusement), to answer questions or
continue this via the janitor@hbd.org address.
Karl F. Lutzen
The quiet janitor who has very little patience with companies that design
software with teeny size limits and has to suffer from their lack of
forethought.
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 09:18:59 -0500
From: "S. SNYDER" <SSNYDER at LBGHQ.com>
Subject: Grau(grey)-wacke
Karl:
That's odd, you're description of the rock used. Gray-wacke, Schmay-wacke,
that's a granite, no way around it, it is not even close to a graywacke. A
graywacke is a sandstone, sedimentary, while granite is igneous (as
described in your post).
I could certainly see the wort "volcanoing" out of the top at 800f (even
more so at 1200C). That would be a fun demonstration at the next homebrew
competition.
Scott Snyder
Trumbull, CT 06611
ssnyder at lbghq.com
Rotten Rotti Brewing Company
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 09:42:18 -0500
From: Karl Smith <krs at phoenixdsl.com>
Subject: More: Stone Beer Stones
Scott,
Yah, my initial research back then was flawed. Remember, this was
well before the internet made some kinds of research a snap! I was
irc'in with some rock hounds I know and the stone the brewery uses is
a sandstone.
http://geollab.jmu.edu/Fichter/SedRx/Rocks/SSlithic1.html
We used a granite and it worked fine. In fact, interest among the
brew buddies around here (Philadelphia, PA) has rekindled so we are
going to do this soon.
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2001 09:49:33 -0500
From: "Donald D. Lake" <dlake at gdi.net>
Subject: RE Plastic Carboys
Scott Snyder wrote yesterday asking about the use of plastic carboys.
There has been considerable discussion over the years on using plastic
carboys. It seems that sanitation is the problem. There was an
interesting column in the Nov/Dec Zymurgy from a long-time brewer in
Calif who used medical/food grade plastic bags as a liner to ferment in
the plastic carboys. It seems so brilliant it makes you wonder why all
homebrewers aren't doing it.
I wrote about it on HBD #3469 on Nov 3rd. The writer of the column
heard about my post and corresponded privately with me. I have not yet
sought out disposable, plastic liners for myself but I am still
considering it. The
advantages to using this method would be greater safety, less heavy
lifting, no cleaning and easier yeast retrieval. If you would like
more details of our conversation, please drop me a line.
Don Lake
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 10:12:03 -0500
From: "Jones, Steve (I/T)" <stjones at eastman.com>
Subject: Strike water temps; Shameless plug
Greetings, all
Eric wondered about calculating strike water temperatures. Several responses
refer to John Palmer's excellent online book www.howtobrew.com.
Using equations published by others, I wrote a javascript calculator for
this purpose. I added a thermal mass compensation capability like in
Promash. I've also written several other calculators; IBU, Temp Conversion,
Blood Alcohol Content, beer alcohol & calorie content, Priming, Infusion, &
Decoction. They are on my club's website (URL in sig line) on the brewing
tools page (this is the shameless plug).
I don't claim any originality on these - mostly I was just practicing my
Javascript skills and wrote these for anyone to use. Some were adapted from
others I found on the web, some were originals, and some were adaptations of
spreadsheets. Feel free to use them however you want. I would appreciate
getting any feedback from folks who use these. It will be used to improve
upon them.
WARNING TO NETSCAPE USERS: I have not verified the operability of these
calculators using Netscape. Even though I'm not a Microsoft fan, I figure
that since IE has 85% of the market, why bother developing for multiple
browsers, especially since IE is free and works better with code written to
the W3C standards.
Steve Jones
Johnson City, TN
36:30:8 N, 82:31:57 W
(5:47:38.9 S, 1:17:37.5 E Rennerian)
http://users.chartertn.net/franklinbrew
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2001 10:50:43 +0000
From: Bob Hall <nap_aca_bh at nwoca.org>
Subject: O2 Regulator for BernzOMatic
Does anyone know of a regulator that fits the standard Bernz-O-Matic 1.1
cu. ft. oxygen cylinder? Everything I've seen is designed for the twin
tank O2/MAPP gas torching, and more expensive/cumbersome than I need to
transfer oxygen to the wort.
- --
Bob Hall, Technology Director
Napoleon Area Schools
Napoleon, OH 43545
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2001 10:56:09 -0500
From: William Macher <macher at telerama.lm.com>
Subject: Good Belgian Beer Site...
Hi Everyone,
Last night I stopped by a pretty good [ probably excellent is the right
word ] site related to Belgian Beer and home brewing. I guess I should not
have been drinking that cup of coffee, because I did not bookmark. That
will teach me to stray from my favorite beverage in the evening!
After an hour of searching for that site this morning I don't have any more
hair to pull out. So I am taking this last ditch measure of asking for
directions...you know, it's a guy thing.
Something about this site that may toggle someone's memory is that it has a
pronunciation guide for various Belgian beer names, where a native speaker
will pronounce the term as it is said in the US as well as it is said in
Belgium.
There was a lot of other interesting stuff there as well.
I found this place very interesting! I want to go back! I can't find my way!
HELP!
In the mean time I guess I will go back to the basement and continue
massaging my steam-injected RevRIMS...
Thanks in advance...
Bill Macher Pittsburgh, PA USA
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 11:10:11 -0500
From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Direct-Fired RIMS; Temperature Limit
Bob Boland <RBoland at aol.com> of Wicket City writes:
>I have been providing just enough heat to keep the recirculating liquor at
>about 170 F, believing that in doing so I avoid tannin extraction and enzyme
>denaturing. As a result, mash heat-up times are long. Are my concerns
>justified, or can I put the heat to it without worry?
Where is Wicket City? Another name for St. Louis, or have you moved?
I think the secret is not heat setting but recirculation rate. I
recirculate with a false bottom with the kettle valve wide open to
allow a fairly high burner setting (but not roaring), and I get
reasonable ramp speed. I guess between 1-2 degrees F/minute for a
7.75 gallon batch with 11-14 lbs grain. My recirculation liquor
doesn't seem to get more than a few degrees hotter when measured at
the output than the existing mash temperature.
At this recirculation rate, the grain bed would set, so I stir it
every few minutes. That means it's a cloudy recirc, but who cares?
It clears at the end when I recirc slowly.
Unlike the man from plaid, I never have scorched my foundation.
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, 02 Mar 2001 11:38:04 -0500
From: "Pannicke, Glen A." <glen_pannicke at merck.com>
Subject: Hopping with CF vs immersion chiller
Fred L. Johnson brought up some interesting questions regarding counter-flow
versus immersion chillers.
>...I've not heard anyone address the issue of how to equivalently
>add finishing hops to brews that are chilled by these two systems.
>The hot wort does it's
>thing to extract oils, volatiles, etc. from these hops; and, to the extent
>that these "reactions" take place only at "elevated" temperatures, the
>reactions are stopped within a relatively short time using an immersion
>chiller.
This is of interest to me not only in that the late hopping schedule is
being challenged, but that it also challanges the following:
What is the temperature range required for extraction?
What is optimum as far as contact time vs. temperature?
How is isomerization effected over these ranges?
What about when you don't want isomerization to occur?
How does the different levels of isomerization/non-isomerization achieved
affect the flavor & aroma?
I believe that most of these questions can only be answere right now in
generalizations, not in concrete formulae.
>Have any of the engineers out there done the math on these processes to
>provide formulas? If not, now is your time to shine! (I can imagine some
>simultaneous equations coming in here.)
I don't think we have all of the formulas and data necessary to do a final
calculation yet. Too many factors come into play and I don't think there
has been a lot of research (published, at least) on hop chemistry to provide
concrete answers. Humulone, cohumulone, myce*&%#$ at , frikin'-frakinak-arene,
blah-blah-blah... All of them in different concentrations in different hop
varieties, with different maximal values for different characteristics.
Hop chemistry is a complex subject. I applaud anyone who researches and
untangles this mess ;-)
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: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 11:26:32 -0600
From: "Formanek, Joe" <Jformanek at griffithlabs.com>
Subject: Drunk Monk Challenge - Second Notice
THE DRUNK MONK CHALLENGE - Second Notice
March 24, 2001
Sponsored by the Urban Knaves of Grain
The Urban Knaves of Grain is now accepting entries for the 3rd Annual Drunk
Monk Challenge
homebrew competition on March 24 at Two Brothers Brewing Company in
Warrenville, IL. The competition is AHA sanctioned and will accept all
styles of beer, cider, and mead according to the 1999 BJCP style guidelines.
It is a qualifying event for both MCAB IV as well as the 2001 Midwest
Homebrewer of the Year Award. Beer BOS winner will have the chance to brew
their award-winning beer at Glen Ellyn Brewing Company, of Glen Ellyn, IL!
We will again feature the special "Menace of the Monastery" category for
beer styles which recall the monastic brewing traditions of Belgium and
Germany: Belgian dubbel, tripel, pale, strong pale, and strong dark ales,
plus German doppelbock.
Information, Rules, and Entry Forms: Available at the competition website,
(http://www.sgu.net/ukg/dmc/), the mirror site (http://www.hbd.org/ukg), or
just click on the link in the HBD headers. You may also contact me if you
like. Online registration is also available at the website - the preferable
way to enter!
Requirements: 2 bottles. $6 fee for 1st entry, $4 each for 2 or more
entries for the main competition; just $2 each for Menace entries. Entry
deadline is March 17th.
Speaking of Volunteers: Please help! BJCP judges and apprentices, please
contact judge coordinator Steve McKenna (mckennst at earthlink.net,
630-305-0554) or competition chairman Joe Formanek
(jformanek at griffithlabs.com, 630-378-4694) to volunteer.
Fun stuff: Volunteers Party the night before. Potluck dinner at Two
Brothers' after the competition. Plus the ever-popular huge raffle.
Come join in on the fun!! You won't regret it.
Cheers!!!
Joe Formanek
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2001 10:24:59 -0800
From: Mark Alfaro <malfaro at qcpi.com>
Subject: RE: Kilncoffee Malt
In HBD # 3570, Kevin Peters writes:
"I was paging thru the book "North American Clone Brews" by Scott
Russell (no affiliation, yada, yada) and in the recipe for Black
Chocolate Stout, he calls for kilncoffee malt. It isn't black
malt, chocolate malt, or roasted barley since the same recipe also
calls for those 3. Any ideas what this is? Who makes it?"
Kevin,
I am planning on trying some Kilncoffee Malt this weekend as a modification
to my usual Oatmeal Stout recipe. I will be using 8oz in a 10 gallon batch.
The malt has a mild coffee smell to it and is 165L to 175L in color. I
don't know how this will differ from just adding coffee as I've not
tried coffee flavoring before. The malt is produced by Malteries Franco -
Belges. They call it Coloring 450 kilncoffee. One of our local shops,
http://www.homebrewmart.com/ carries this malt, but it is not listed in
their on-line catalog. If you give them a call, I bet they will sell you
some. For more info, try the Brewers Market Guide
http://brewingtechniques.com/bmg/malteries.html or MFB's North American
Distributor, Grain Millers Inc. at
http://www.grainmillers.com/kilncoffee.htm no affiliation and the usual
disclaimers apply.
Mark Alfaro
Brewing on the Border
in Chula Vista, CA
32.6004N
117.04808W
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 13:29:45 -0500
From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu>
Subject: Gelatin questions
Brewers
I've had several private email questions regarding bottle
conditioning beer that has been fined with gelatin. These brewers
were concerned that there wouldn't be enough yeast remaining to
condition the beer.
Even if you were very careful not to pick up any yeast with your
racking cane when racking from the secondary to the bottling bucket,
there would probably be enough yeast for a successful, albeit slow,
bottle conditioning. Still, I always make sure to pick up a little
extra by stirring up a little sedimented yeast with the tip of the
cane. Even so, there is very little yeast on the bottom of the
bottles this way. I like to say it's the thickness of a coat of
pain. This has the advantage of allowing rather carefree pouring.
Even if you don't decant the beer off the yeast when pouring, there
is so little it makes little difference in all but the palest beers
(like CAP).
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, 2 Mar 2001 12:57:31 -0600
From: Jeremy Lakey <Jeremy at imc2.com>
Subject: singing the praises of ez-flip top (grolsch) bottles...
These bottles make bottling so simple, and I had a bottle overprimed, it
simply hissed for a bit, and once the pressure got down to an acceptable
level, carbonated up nicely..
This is a no-go wrong solution imho, I purchased 12 1-liter bottles for
around $25, and have about 50 20oz grolsch bottles that i emptied myself..
very nice indeedy
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 12:45:30 -0600
From: rlabor at lsuhsc.edu (LaBorde, Ronald)
Subject: RE: Yeast culturing
>From: Peter Matra <petermatra at mobile.att.net>
>
>I got a bottle of Chimay Red and want to culture the yeast in it. I took
>the sediment on the bottom of the bottle and put it into a pint of water
>with sugar. How long do you think it will take to get the yeast to a high
>count?
I have had good luck several times with the Chimay. If you check the bottle
cork before you purchase, you will notice it's dated. I have unsuccessfully
attempted several times with a 6 month old dated bottle.
The last several attempts have all been successful, it seems like a date 3.5
months old or less will work nicely. I am using a magnetic stirrer and
flask with about 1/2 inch of Chimay settlement and liquid well shaken and
poured into the flask. I flame the bottle top before pouring, and add about
two ounces of new wort. With the stirrer, the next day I had activity. I
was able to grow about 3/16 inch layer on bottom of a 500 ml flask in about
4 days with 2 refeedings. Without the stirrer, it still worked, but it took
about a week before noticing any activity.
The beers came out great, and remind me of .. Chimay!!
Ron La Borde
Ronald La Borde - Metairie, Louisiana - rlabor at lsuhsc.edu
http://hbd.org/rlaborde
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 12:51:42 -0600
From: rlabor at lsuhsc.edu (LaBorde, Ronald)
Subject: RE: Bleach in copper, other corrosives
>From: "Michael G. Zentner" <zentner at laf.cioe.com>
>
>Extended contact with acids and your household natural gas
>feed are not good :-) (check your furnace - if someone
>piped in gas in copper that is not lined with another metal,
>you could be headed for a serious explosion 25 years down
>the road).
Huh, you got my attention here. Ooooweee, my gas water heater uses a copper
feed line, my clothes dryer uses a copper (or is it brass) corrugated feed
line, my stove uses the same. This is the first time ever to hear this
warning. Anyone have more information on this.
Ron La Borde
Ronald La Borde - Metairie, Louisiana - rlabor at lsuhsc.edu
http://hbd.org/rlaborde
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 14:44:26 -0500
From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Laaglander Light DME and Final SpGr
"Steven Parfitt" <the_gimp98 at hotmail.com> did a nice experiment
mashing some pale malt with Laaglander DME, and wrote
>I found referenced to Edme DMS, not DME. Edme DMS is
>listed as Diastatic Malt Syrup.
You're right - I misremembered.
Very nice experiment. Thanks for reporting. Much better than
surmising, as we all were doing. Please report back on the results
of IPA.
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, 02 Mar 2001 14:58:22 -0500
From: "Tom Byrnes" <kmstfb2 at exis.net>
Subject: Plastic Secondary Fermentor
Been there,done that.I thought it was a good idea since my office
throws out 5 gallon water bottles. Brewed a scotch ale and placed
it in aplastic secondary. Bottled it and waited to bottle condition. When I
opened my firstbottle, seriousoxidation. Then I realized
that air can get into plastic. All 52bottles were bad and all my efforts when
down the drain. Brewed same recipe using glass secondary and wound up with a
tasty ale. Based on my experience
I would never use a plastic secondary. Happy Brewing Tom
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 17:15:31 -0600
From: "Jim Bermingham" <bermingham at antennaproducts.com>
Subject: Conical Fermiters
I have a conical ferminter from BBMB that, unlike George Fix, I had to
purchase. This is one of the best things I have for my home brewery. Like
Steven Claussen said, If you can afford one, buy it. You will never go back
to the old way of doing business. All my children are grown and left home
years ago, so I could afford one. For Steve A's benefit, I do put on my lab
coat when harvesting the yeast. Hell, I even put it on when I go to my
brewery to look at and hug my ferminter.
Jim Bermingham
Millsap TX.
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 21:15:07 -0500
From: "Pete Calinski" <pjcalinski at adelphia.net>
Subject: Easy Imersion Chiller
Chip Stewart pointed to his easy immersion chiller, I also used that method
but stretched it more. You can see it at
http://members.nbci.com/firstrenman/Pete.htm
Not a pretty as Chip's but it works.
Pete Calinski
East Amherst NY
Near Buffalo NY
0^45'49.1" North, 5^7'9.5" East of Jeff Renner.
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 2 Mar 2001 22:45:55 -0600
From: "Richard Sieben" <sier1 at email.msn.com>
Subject: CC fermentors, kilncoffee malt, and sorgum malt
I have to agree with Steve Alexander on the cylidroconical fermenter debate,
save your money. First off why do you want one? to harvest yeast primarily.
Well the problem with the homebrew versions is that they lack proper cooling
and temperature control in the cone portion, just where you are getting the
yeast to sit. Being of narrower (is that a word?) width than the main part
of the fermentor, it is more subject to room temperatures than the rest of
the fermentor. The only version I have seen with a cooling jacket was 1)
very pricey and 2) still had no cooling and seperate control for the cone
portion. Just because it looks like what you see in breweries, doesn't make
it so! If you want to dedicate walk in cooler space to a cylidroconical,
that helps, but that is a very expensive way to chill a fermentor in my
opinion. You could easily afford several small chest freezers and
temperature controllers for the same price as one temperature controlled ccv
on a homebrew scale. Don't mistake room temperature for fermentation
temperature, you need a thermometer measuring the beer temperature to really
know, at least with a glass carboy, you can use a stick on liquid crystal
thermometer that is reasonably close and no chance of infection and they are
cheap.
About the valves on these homebrew ccv's, I don't like ball valves for
anything on the cold side. I used to think they were the cat's meow until I
learned that there is space between the valve housing and the ball that is a
great breeding ground for beer spoiling organisms. You can mitigate this
when you clean and sanitize by turning the valve on and off a lot of times
while passing your cleaning and sanitizing solutions through them, but the
technique is not perfect. On the other hand, I also recognize that most
homebrewers don't even know when they DO have an infection, so would they
really notice any difference? So what type of valve to use? there in lies
the problem, ball valves are cheap and sanitary globe valves are expensive.
To me the solution is to use a carboy and take a pass on the ball valve
issue entirely.
Kilncoffee malt is made by MFB and the closest to it on the North Country
Malty Supply reference sheet is Briess 'Extra Special'malt.
Finally, a question from me:
does anyone know where you can get sorgum or even better, sorgum malt here
in the US? I have been reading a bit about sorgum beers made in Africa and
I wanted to try an experimental batch of it, just to see what it tastes
like. I would even take a stab at malting my own, if I even knew where to
get the grains. anyone? anyone? Bueler?
Rich Sieben
Island Lake, IL
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