HOMEBREW Digest #3581 Thu 15 March 2001

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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Super V All-Copper CF Chiller (Part 2) (William & Kazuko Macher)
  Duco cement or Epoxy (Phil Harkness)
  Ring Around the Neck--Excellent Beer ("Penn, John")
  Re: Bigbrew ? (Jeff Renner)
  Wyeast Cider#3766 experiences ("Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies")
  Moorhouse yeast? (Paul Shick)
  Star-San duration (Denis Bekaert)
  Re: pellet hops & manifold ("Houseman, David L")
  CIP of CC's ("Jim Busch")
  Re:  White Labs Belgian Saison Yeast ("Tomusiak, Mark")
  The Talented Mr Renner (Brad Miller)
  mild report ("Eli Daniel")
  checking in (Beaverplt)
  Re: checking in (The Man From Plaid)
  A few more questions ("Hedglin, Nils A")
  Re: White Labs Saison Yeast (RBoland)
  Frig Toasted? ("Steven Parfitt")
  Next Question about Home Brewing. (angela patterson)
   (fridgeguy)
  Berliner Weisse Syrup Source ("Mark Tumarkin")
  Pitch Yeast Volume ("Steven Parfitt")
  Secondary Fermentation (Dave Burley)
  Brew Day From Hell (" Jim Bermingham")
  GFCI and Fridge (Tom Clark)
  dark colored extract brews, albany to VT trip, ("Czerpak, Pete")
  Cleaning a CCV (Ant Hayes)
  Victory IPA (promash) question (leavitdg)
  Super V All-Copper CF Chiller (Ken & Bennett Johnson)
  Oktoberfest "Ales" (Delano DuGarm)
  Shopping for a Refractometer ("Donald D. Lake")
  Ayinger yeast (Marc Sedam)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 11:01:25 -0500 From: William & Kazuko Macher <macher at telerama.lm.com> Subject: Super V All-Copper CF Chiller (Part 2) Hi again, [should learn not to be so long winded...] I have the tendency to over do everything. When at Home Depot I noticed that they had 20-foot lengths of half-inch tubing, so I made mine new chiller double length, giving me an effective length of about 38 feet. That is nineteen feet each way. It is possible to solder the outer 3/4-inch tubing toghether, because the couplings go on the outside of the tubing. The inner tubing must be one continuous piece, as a coupling will just about completely fill the void between the two tubes, and block cooling-water flow. I installed a valve at the outlet end and reduced the output to 1/4-inch ID, as this was the size of the silicon tubing that I used at the outlet of the previous chiller. With this 1/4-inch outlet size, I can still get 4 liter per minute flow [about 1 GPM]. I know I could get more by increasing the outlet tubing size, but I will wait to see how fast I can pump out of the boil kettle with the existing manifold in the bottom. The neat thing about this chiller is that it is hidden in the floor joists above my basement brewery. The old chiller was kind of in the way above the brewing tubs [formerly know as laundry tubs]. This one is totally out of the way and actually invisible both visually and from the practical standpoint. Well, at least unless you are looking for it. A chiller like this would be totally impractical to market because it would be expensive/impossible to ship economically [I think]. But if you build it yourself it is cheap and effective. My guess is that a total 20-foot length would be adequate. With my 38-foot effective length I can probably cool at a 2 to 3 GPM rate, but the limitation will be the ability to get the hot wort out of the kettle without sucking the hops tight against the manifold and plugging things up. So I will initially go with a flow rate of 1 GPM and see how that works. 1 GPM is certainly better than 1/4 GPM. I needed copper within copper as I use steam to sanitize my chiller and I was afraid to have anything else on the outside. Previously, I ran hot water through my chiller, but since I have a steam-injected RevRIMS, I figured that I should build a chiller that could take the temperature of steam without worry. This one does quite nicely. Half-inch copper tubing will hold a bit of wort as the kettle goes dry, but my normal practice of pushing remaining wort out of my chiller with boiling water, that I have on hand for cleaning purposes, should make this a non issue. [It did on Sunday] With the setup as it sits right now I am able to pressure sanitize this CF chiller and hold the temperature at around 230F by closing the ball valve at the exit end. I had planned on using this valve to limit flow through the chiller, but this does not appear to be needed with the outlet reduced to 1/4 inch. Let me say the dial thermometer on the exit end is calibrated down at the 70 degree F. point, so that is why I do not know the exact temperature at this point when the valve is closed and the chiller is under steam pressure. That temperature should be around 240 F if measured accurately. And for those concerned about pressure sanitizing with steam: My max steam pressure is 15 psi, set by the rocker on the pressure cooker. Our local water pressure is much higher than that, about 70 or 80 psi. I have never had a pipe burst here in the house due to water pressure. In fact, I do not think I have ever head of copper tube pipe burst due to over-pressure. Freezing yes, but that generates extremely high pressures. Also, a friend of mine uses the same copper tubing to pipe air from his compressor and it is 100 psi plus. Along this line, does anyone know the rated bursting strength of the copper tubing sold in the US with the red paint on it? This is the thinnest wall stuff. I will grant you that I may have a piece of defective tubing just waiting to burst at 15 psi and so I guess I better hook up my compressor and test at 100 psi, just to be safe. OH! Almost forgot. Why use a V to describe this thing? Well, because there is enough flex in the ridged copper tubing to allow it to be spread apart at the inlet/outlet end, for gravity draining purposes. When this is done the thing looks like a long, skinny V laying on its side...on second thought, it looks like an A laying on its side...Or could that be a U laying on its side...or...or... Hope someone finds this of interest. Bill Macher Pittsburgh, PA USA PS... Since starting to write this a few days ago, I brewed a beer Sunday and 1 GPM out of the boil kettle was no problem at all. It was sooooo nice filling two carboys with chilled wort in five minutes or slightly less per carboy. I was [I am sure no one is surprised] able to get the wort down to 62F without opening the cooling water valve all the way. I actually did not want this cold of a temperature but seeing it was part of the learning process. I would say I am pretty happy with this thing... Whooooo Hooooooo! Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 09:09:19 -0800 (PST) From: Phil Harkness <pharkness at beerguys.every1.net> Subject: Duco cement or Epoxy Bob Shotola asks whether to use duco cement or epoxy to glue the two halves of a carboy back togther. Have you considered welding the two halves together, using a pipette or glass rod as a welding rod? I'm sure this would work the best. IMHO, anyway. I don't think Bob's post captures the essence of homebrewing so much as it captures the essence of some of the ridiculous posts to the HBD. Honestly folks, do you give a rat's behind about the inane ramblings from Australia we're periodically subjected to? And for goodness' sakes people, it seems like some of you probably post to the Personal Hygiene Digest before you go to the bathroom for a number two. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 12:41:12 -0500 From: "Penn, John" <John.Penn at jhuapl.edu> Subject: Ring Around the Neck--Excellent Beer I once made a chocolate mint stout (~8%abv) which lasted a couple of years and was still quite tasty. No signs of overcarbonation but there was a distinct white ring around the neck of the bottle. I asked about the ring on the HBD some years ago and many responses said that it was infected. Some said it was probably the cocoa used in the ingredients which appears to be the correct answer. I"d just like to point out that a ring around the neck isn't enough information. Ingredients can be responsible for the ring. It's also very hard to determine what the ring looks like without some kind of photo. Two other signs of infection that many have pointed out are the continual deterioration of the beer with time and most likely an overcarbonation with time. If you do have a ring, look for other signs before deciding that you have an infection. Check your recipe for the use of any new ingredients you've never used before (like cocoa). I did have a nice infected batch once and there was a ring around the neck as well as a kind of milky look over time at the top of the bottle. This also exhibited other typical signs of an infection. Sorry to go on so much about the ring around the neck but I just wanted to point out that it's very hard to diagnose an infection with the only data point being "some" kind of ring around the bottle. If it does appear to be infected, drink it quickly as it gets worse with time. Or make a lot of beer bread with it. John Penn Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 12:42:46 -0500 From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu> Subject: Re: Bigbrew ? From: "Rick Duyck" <rnrduyck at sympatico.ca> of Windsor, Ontario Canada has a great idea: >Does anyone have any info on Bigbrew 2001? I like to brew a batch of the >same recipe beforehand so everyone at the party can taste what they are >brewing. I am flattered to say that the AHA has designated 2001 as the "Year of the Classic American Pilsner" and my CAP recipe, "Your Father's Mustache" is one the featured recipes. From http://www.beertown.org/AHA/BIGBREW/index.htm "This year there are three recipes to choose from, a Classic American Pilsner provided by Jeff Renner (for more information on this style see the Sept/Oct 2000 issue of Zymurgy or email Jeff Renner), a Cream Ale provided by Scott Abene (AKA Skotrat), and an American Brown Ale provided by Paul Gatza. All recipes for 5 gallons." 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: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 11:59:48 -0600 From: "Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies" <orders at paddockwood.com> Subject: Wyeast Cider#3766 experiences Hi! A question for the great brewing collective: has anybody used Wyeast Cider #3766? Any thoughts, experiences, comments, positive or negative? Thanks in advance, cheers, Stephen Ross -- "Vitae sine cerevisiae sugant." Saskatoon, SK Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 13:20:19 -0500 From: Paul Shick <shick at jcu.edu> Subject: Moorhouse yeast? Hello all, Does anyone on the digest have any ideas about what yeast Moorhouse uses in their Black Cat Mild? Has anyone run into the bottled version of this (or their Pendle Witches Brew) in the US? If so, do they look bottle conditioned or filtered/force carb'd? It would be great fun to try to duplicate the "Champion Beer of Britain," but to have any chance of getting close to the mark, we'd need a yeast with a reasonably close profile. Any hard information (or wild speculation) would be much appreciated. Paul Shick Cleveland Hts, OH Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 10:18:02 -0800 (PST) From: Denis Bekaert <Denis-B at rocketmail.com> Subject: Star-San duration I have used Star-San for my sterilization step for the last 18 months and have never had a contaminated brew. It is bit more expensive than other products so I'd like to reuse the clean solution over again later in the week. Does anyone know how long Star-San will be functional after dilution? It is an acid so it should remain functional, but I'd like to be sure. I keep it in a covered primary pail at about 68 degrees F. Thanks! Denis Bekaert Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 13:04:08 -0600 From: "Houseman, David L" <David.Houseman at unisys.com> Subject: Re: pellet hops & manifold Dana writes "My current brew-kettle drain manifold is simply a circle of 3/8" copper tubing with slots cut in it. Unfortunately, pellet hops plug it up unless I use at least 1oz of leaf hops also. Does anyone out there have a simple manifold design that can handle 100% pellet hops? Do I have to go to a false bottom?" I too used a copper manifold in my kettle. However I made mine from 1/2" soft copper because the 3/8" copper did tend to get clogged. I sawed slots in the bottom 1/2 of the manifold, about every 1/4" along the length. I whirl pooled at the end of the boil and waited about 15min before knockout. Most of the hops settled into the center and the manifold was towards the outside of the bottom of my 1/2bbl Sanke keg kettle. Those hops that settled on the manifold were on the top and the drawn was mainly from the bottom. This actually worked very well. My issue with it was that the design of the Sanke keg and the placement of the manifold and the height of the slots in the manifold meant that I lost siphon while there was more wort in the kettle than I wanted to leave. So I went to NO manifold, simply an outlet port on the side of the keg facing with the direction of my whirlpool. This too work with minimal hop fines making it into may CFC. But leaf hops clogged up my ball valve. So I have gone to a false bottom, which I didn't expect to work well with pellet hops, and it's outperformed my best expectations. Hardly any hop fines and it sucks the kettle dry. I futzed with different schemes for a long time and settled on the tried and true false bottom. But my original copper manifold did work great; just left more wort in my kettle than I wanted to give up. Dave Houseman Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 14:26:06 +0000 From: "Jim Busch" <jim at victorybeer.com> Subject: CIP of CC's Steve asked how one CIP's a CC tank.... I can explain how I do it, which is to emulate how micro's CIP a unitank.... I should probably explain my setup first. I had a custom CC tank built to my specs from a brewery tank manufacturer and sized it to hold between 1 and 1.3 BBLs plus head space. I think the whole tank capacity is around 48 gallons but Ive never had more than 39 gals of beer in it at a time. This size is large enough to include a manway that pressure seals when the tank is spund. The top of the tank is welded to the sides so that the only openings are the manway and the ports that are welded on for fittings. Picture a small version of the typical micro uni. The top has two fittings, a 1/2" triclover that I run through a T, one side of the T is a pressure gage and the other is connected to a tube for blowoff (or CO2 input for racking). The other top fitting is a standard 1.5" triclover and on the inside of this is a standard CIP spray ball. The bottom cone has a standard 1.5" triclover with butterfly. A racking arm with pivot seal and elbow inside is welded/triclovered 2/3rds up the cone and a Zwickel port is attached to 1/2" triclover just above the cone on the sidewall of the tank. A thermowell completes the fittings, which connects to a standard digital controller to cycle the glycol system. The glycol loop enters the tank through the manway and returns through the manway as well. Here is an overview of operation of this tank. On brewday you connect the 1.5" hose with SS triclover ferrule to the top spray ball and the pump, other end to the bottom cone. Add about 5 gals of water and iodophor, open Zwickel valve, open racking port valve, open bottom cone valve and turn on pump. The spray ball forcefully ejects solution to the top of the uni and down the sides, which also drips out the open ports. While this is running you can open and close the Zwickel and racking ports to be sure the insides get sanitized. Run about 10-15 mins and empty. Air dry, add yeast, add wort, run O2, connect blow off and wait for ferment. Days 1-3 blow down trub. When near terminal, spund tank. Monitor to ensure you dont go above 15 psi. Start crash cooling according to your beers aging profile. Remove yeast. Rack clear, carbonated beer to kegs via racking port and under CO2 pressure. Open tank, vent CO2. Rinse. Connect up CIP hoses, run hot caustics and/or PBW for 15-30 mins. Open up connections, especially racking port/arm and Zwickel and brush clean for organic debris removal. CIP with Iodophor and seal tank. I will plug PBW here, caustics are nice enough but dangerous and the tank really sparkles when I use PBW instead of NaOH. And the best part of PBW is I soak my lauter tun screens in it until the next brewday and they come out spotless. There is nothing "cost effective" about this setup, so Steve's original comment questioning the cost to benefit ratio is well taken. But as others have noted, you spend on the toys you wish to have and consider important to your lifestyle. I drive a 12 year old Bronco that is worth much less than my unitank and I find this to be prefectly in balance. And I still ferment in my lauter tun (makes a great open fermenter) for yeasts that just have to be top cropped. Prost! Jim Busch Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 11:59:53 -0800 From: "Tomusiak, Mark" <tomusiak at amgen.com> Subject: Re: White Labs Belgian Saison Yeast > Mark Post asks about the activity of White Labs Saison Yeast. I have > brewed with this yeast a few times, and have found that it behaves very > much like other Saison yeasts such as Dupont and Brewer's Resource saison > strain - tremendous initial activity followed by a long, slow (but > thorough) fermentation. > > Initial fermentation is very vigorous, frequently requiring use of a > blow-off tube due to the tremendous amounts of foam and yeast produced. > One would think after this display that the beer would be finished, but a > check of the gravity at this point will reveal disappointing attenuation. > You have to be patient - the beer will continue to ferment, albeit slowly, > and I have had no problems getting down to gravities as low as 1.007 - > 1.008 (148 F mash temp) given enough time. Cheers, > > Mark Tomusiak > Boulder, Colorado > Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 12:09:10 -0800 From: Brad Miller <millerb at targen.com> Subject: The Talented Mr Renner Has Jeff Renner been living a lie or just moonlighting? http://www.king5.com/localnews/hometeambiosdetail.html?StoryID=234 Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 15:55:27 -0500 From: "Eli Daniel" <elidaniel at mediaone.net> Subject: mild report Hi, all. I finally got around to trying out Jeff Renner's mild recipe last weekend; everything has gone (more or less) well, and I can't wait to try the finished product. We scaled Jeff's recipe down to 5.5 gallons, and replaced Briess Ashburne malt (which I couldn't get) with 2 parts DWC Belgian pale and 1 part Vienna. Jeff actually suggested using a higher proportion of Vienna, but I had already bought the grain... As per Jeff's recipe, I intended a two step infusion mash (rests at 149F and 160F), but wound up hitting 154 instead of 160, where I rested for a few minutes while I heated up some more water. Perhaps becuase of the step mash (I usually do single infusion), the efficiency was higher than expected, and we wound up with an OG of 1.040, a little high for a mild. During the boil we (well, mostly my girlfriend, actually) took the opportunity to make up a batch of Ray Kruse's spent grain dog biscuits, which appear to be a success. We pitched a starter of ~750 ml of Wyeast 1335 (British II), and foam was climbing out of the blow-off tube when I checked it 12 hours later. I dropped the fermenting beer shortly after the kraeusen seemed to be starting to recede, and replaced the blow-off tube with an airlock (a mistake, as it turned out). Apparently, the addition of oxygen gave the yeast a kick in the pants, and I discovered foam coming out of the airlock an hour or so later. I cleaned up the mess, trying to keep things sanitary. Hopefully nothing too nasty got in there in the meantime. All in all, a mildly successful brewing adventure :). I'll let the collective know how it turns out. Eli Daniel Somerville, MA Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 13:09:18 -0800 (PST) From: Beaverplt <beaverplt at yahoo.com> Subject: checking in Well Pat, you asked for it. I'm an infrequent poster and daily reader so I guess that makes me a lurker. Pat asked to hear from some of the rest of us so here goes. Most of the posts I read seem to be from what I call quasi-professional brewers. That is not to say you brew professionally, but with enough frequency that you probably could turn pro or at least be a high draft choice (pun intended). Some things I've wondered 1. If you brew as often as every week or every other in 10 gallon batches where does all that beer go? I hope you're sharing. 2. Are there others who read this who are, like me, infrequent brewers (6 times a yr or less)? Probably the reason I don't post more is I don't feel qualified to answer anybody's questions. My own questions seem to be answered before I ask them. 3. There's a lot of discussion about harvesting yeast. Is it really worth the effort when a smack pack or dry yeast costs so little? I'm not knocking it, I've just wondered and never asked. My thoughts at this point are that unless you brew often it's better to buy than harvest. 4. Someone should sell a rennerian coordinates calculator. Everyone should know how close they are to the center of the brewing universe. 5. How do I Cip my Zwickel? 6. Has anyone thought of starting a list of brew pubs to visit when traveling? There's always questions about it? 7. Will Graham ever bless us with his presence again? That's it for now. By the way. Made big points with SWMBO on my last beer. She wanted a cherry beer that had a good balance of beer and cherry taste. I used an extract recipe off Cats meow that sounded good and it turned out great. ===== Jerry "Beaver" Pelt That's my story and I'm sticking to it Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 16:44:38 -0500 (EST) From: The Man From Plaid <pbabcock at hbd.org> Subject: Re: checking in Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager... On Tue, 13 Mar 2001, Jerry "Beaver" Pelt wrote in response to my "Have you seenmy old friends Abraham, Martin and John"-type note: > 6. Has anyone thought of starting a list of brew pubs > to visit when traveling? There's always questions > about it? There used to be a "pub and micro review" FAQ maintained years ago. I would not surprise me that this is no longer. If some brave individual would like to take on the job of collecting and compiling regional brewpub and micro reviews, I'm game: Space on the HBD server will be granted to the worthy individual(s) who wish to take it on. I invision a mySQL-based regionally searchable list. A workable solution may be to have a "committee" gather the reviews and put them into a format for some other talented individual to incorporate into a database for serving on the HBD website. Any takers? - -- - 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: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 14:38:18 -0800 From: "Hedglin, Nils A" <nils.a.hedglin at intel.com> Subject: A few more questions All, Thanks again for all the answers. I'm still getting them from my initial post. I'm excited to find such a supportive community that I can bug in the future. I racked my Honey Porter to secondary fermentation & it tasted pretty good in spite of the bad smells. Also, it's gravity was just a few points lower than the recipie's FG so I'm guessing my OG was pretty close to the recipe's OG & I just the cold water in with the wort so I was taking the gravity of the concentrated wort. Here are a few more questions I came up with: 1) One of the guys I started brewing with suggested putting vodka in the airlock, instead of water, since it was sterile & the alcohol wouldn't affect the fermentation if it got sucked in. But I mentioned this to another brewer friend & he was worried that the high proof alcohol might actually have an adverse affect. Any comments on this practice? 2) I've seen some recipes where the exact same hops are added at 60 min, 30 min & 5 min left in the boil. I know the 60 min is for bittering & the 5 min is for aroma & flavor, but it just seemed strange to be adding the same hop so many times. What affect will the 30 min hops have that the 60 & 5 min ones won't? 3) Another suggestion was to move the fermenter a day or so before you rack it, so any disturbed sediment can settle down again. I'd do my racking in my kitchen which is about 6 degrees warmer than my basement. Would this increase in temp, at the end of the primary or secondary fermentation, cause any problems? Thanks, Nils Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 01:19:30 EST From: RBoland at aol.com Subject: Re: White Labs Saison Yeast A significant slowdown in saison fermentation rate may be due to the decrease in wort temperature as the initial vigorous fermentation subsides. The owner/brewer of the Blaugies brewery in S.W. Belgium gets his saison yeast from Dupont as do many of the small breweries in the area. We were surprised to hear that he ferments his wort at about 82 F and comments that the yeast gets sluggish at cooler temperatures. Cooling is used if the wort temp gets above 90 F for too long. I don't know whether the White Labs Yeast is the Dupont strain, but if so, keep the temperature up to keep the yeast going. BTY, we had the same experience as Mark and Tomme with a saison brewed with yeast harvested from a fresh Blaugies bottle and fermented in a room at about 70 F. I'll try it again in the height of summer when the basement is always in the mid 80's. This could be a great, and forgiving, summer beer! Bob Boland St. Louis, MO Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 07:44:41 -0500 From: "Steven Parfitt" <the_gimp98 at hotmail.com> Subject: Frig Toasted? Bob, First, Get that extension cord and test to see if the problem is the Frig, or the GFI. If the Frig comes back to life with the extension cord, there is the possiblilty that the surge when the compressor starts is kicking the the GFI due to changes in component tolerences with age. How old is the GFI? Greater than five years? If the Frig doesn't start on the extension cord (it may trip a breaker if it has a stalled rotor), then the frig is most likely to blame. Could be a bad start cap or bad motor start winding. I don't think a bad thermostat will cause such a problem. You will have to get a local repair person to look at it. Good luck. Steven - Ironhead Nano-Brewery, to be. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 08:59:52 -0400 From: daniel.angela at ns.sympatico.ca (angela patterson) Subject: Next Question about Home Brewing. Hey Gang. I have not yet made the leap to all grain brewing and was wondering if any of you know of a really good quality malt extract kit or recipe to reproduce a good quality ale. Also I need a good suggestion for a yeast that will work well in swinging temperatures (I heat with wood and oil and it cools down in here to about 17 C from 22C at night. Daniel Nova Scotia Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 07:58:43 -0500 From: fridgeguy at voyager.net Subject: Greetings folks, In HBD #3580, Bob Sutton asked for help with troubleshooting his fridge that trips a GFCI after experiencing a power failure. I've had to replace GFCI's periodically both in commercial environments and at home. I believe they are somewhat sensitive to the many voltage spikes, etc that are common on the power line. In fact, I had one actually explode due to a close lightning strike last fall. A power failure may have been preceded by a period of low voltage or there may have been a period of high and/or low voltage before power was fully restored. Any of these variations can damage whatever is connected at the time. If the GFCI doesn't trip when a substantial load is applied (try a blow dryer, it is probably ok. To check the fridge, unplug it and use a multimeter set on the highest resistance range to measure the resistance between either of the flat blades and the ground pin on the power plug. Ideally the meter should indicate infinity. If the resistance is below 2-3 megohms, there is likely to be a problem that needs to be investigated. The compressor motor windings are a likely culprit (do the same resistance check on each of the compressor terminals with the wiring disconnected. Each terminal should show infinite resistance with respect to ground (use an unpainted part of the compressor can for ground). If the compressor checks ok, check each of the various other components for a path between the power path and ground. If the fridge passes all resistance checks and still trips a known good GFCI, replace any start or run capacitors on the compressor motor. GFCI's look for a current imbalance between the hot and neutral conductors. This usually indicates a path to ground. However, the compressor uses two motor windings and sometimes one or more capacitors to aid starting torque. The cap acts as a storage tank for electrical current and may cause a brief current imbalance on the line. Good luck with your troubleshooting effort. Please let me know what you find. Hope this helps! - ---------------------------------------- Forrest Duddles - Fridgeguy in Kalamazoo fridgeguy at voyager.net - -- Pop3Now Personal, Manage 5 Email Accounts From 1 Secure Window Sign Up Today! Visit http://www.pop3now.com/personal Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 08:13:55 -0500 From: "Mark Tumarkin" <mark_t at ix.netcom.com> Subject: Berliner Weisse Syrup Source Several people have written asking for the source for the Gobber syrups for use with Berliner Weisse. Both the Red (Himbeer or Raspberry) and Green (Waldmeister or Woodruff) are carried by GermanDeli.com P.O. Box 92773 Southlake TX 76092 877-437-6269 http://www.germandeli.com/GoebberSyrups.html One odd thing though; the blurb on the above URL page says: "Delicious Syrups. Mix with Soda water or regular water for a sweet drink. Pour over ice cream, pudding or mousse. Add to a dark beer to make your special recipe; one of them being the Classic Berliner Weisse. Must be refrigerated after opening." I'm not sure what they're talking about in addding to a dark beer - Berliner Weisse is one of the lightest of beers - in color, IBU's, gravity etc. I'm sure you could add the syrups to any beer if you enjoy it, but no way it would be a Berliner Weisse. anyway,hope you enjoy it, Mark Tumarkin Gainesville, FL Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 08:24:26 -0500 From: "Steven Parfitt" <the_gimp98 at hotmail.com> Subject: Pitch Yeast Volume I'm a homebrewer of many years who has recently begun upgrading to All Grain. In the past I simply pitched a full blister pack into the wort (5.5Gal batch). This was consistently followed by good fermentation within 24 hours. I'm a little confused by the recomended pitch rates I have been reading. As an experiment, I am currently making a starter from the remains of a batch of Kolsch I made last week. I rinsed the blister pack with a half cup of wort, and put it in a beer bottle with a fermentation lock. This was feed an additional 1/2 cup later. It now is in a wine bottle with a pint of starter solution consisting of 1pt water and 1/4 cup DME. I have about a quarter inch of yeast a the bottom of the bottle when it settles. This amounts to around 13CC of yeast. This is about 1/33 of a pint. When people talk of pitching a pint of starter in a 10 gallon batch, are they talking about a pint of yeast sediment? Or, a pint of starter with how much yeast in it? Do I need 16 times as much yeast as I currently have to make a good starter? (half pint for 5.5 gal batch). Thanks. Steven - Ironhead Nano-Brewery, to be. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 08:30:26 -0500 From: Dave Burley <Dave_Burley at compuserve.com> Subject: Secondary Fermentation Brewsters: Glen Esk says there is chemically no difference in primary and secondary fermentation. The use of these terms is confused in literature but there is a difference. Primary fermentation is that time period when you are afraid the beer will explode out of the fermenter and secondary is the quiet but active period after the primary. Chemically there can be a difference also as during this secondary fermentation a different set of sugars and even some dextrins will be getting fermented as the major source of carbohydrate, although they were getting fermented during the primary also. This explains one aspect of the slower fermentation besides the lower concentration of sugars and the flocculation of the yeast. Keep on Brewin' Dave Burley Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 07:41:29 -0600 From: " Jim Bermingham" <bermingham at antennaproducts.com> Subject: Brew Day From Hell I would like to report that the CACA I brewed that rainy day from hell turned out great. Now if I can get the cows to cooperate I will try to duplicate it. By the way David, are you sure you know which one of us in the picture is the horse? Jim Bermingham Millsap, TX. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 08:42:46 -0500 From: Tom Clark <rtclark at eurekanet.com> Subject: GFCI and Fridge Bob Sutton .... If I were in such a predicament, I'd make sure the metal frame of the fridge is solidly grounded to an good earth ground, then plug it into a circuit not on a GFCI. The leakage that is causing the GFCI to trip is probably not enough to trip a circuit breaker. It may even be caused by moisture which could dry out if it is able to run for a while. If it trips a circuit breaker, you may have major problems... Tom Clark - resuming lurk mode Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 08:47:40 -0500 From: "Czerpak, Pete" <Pete.Czerpak at siigroup.com> Subject: dark colored extract brews, albany to VT trip, Scott Snyder from CT is having some trouble getting a light colored brew from extract. Back in my extract days, I had this same problem until I did two things. First, switch to always using XL dry malt extract unless I was brewing a porter or a stout (and maybe even then) and then use the largest pot possible and do a full boil. This means for a standard 5 gallon batch where you probably evaporate 1 gallon over the boil length, use a 6 gallon pot and start off with as close to 6 gallons of wort as you can get with boilover comfort important. Also, be sure to take the water off your heat as you add your extract and stir it in. This will help as well but more so for people using liquid malt extract where it will settle to the bottom. Brand name of malt extract makes a difference too - I had good luck with the Muntons variety. carmelization doesn't just mean on the bottom of the pot, but it can happen as well if the sugars are too concentrated in your wort at boiling conditions. There was mention of travelling thru Albany on the way to the NE Kingdom in VT.... ( I have a previous post of breweries in the Albany area if you search the past HBD from 2000). On the way from PA I would stop in Brewery Ommegang in Cooperstown. Cool pretty short tour and great US made Belgians. In Albany, make sure to stop at the Pumpstation and visit with George DePiro. He has a GABF winning Kick Ass Brown Ale. A great IPA and nice dry stout were on tap last friday. Friday is also cask night so try the cask. They have good food and are kid friendly as well. Their normal dining room (near the firepalce) is non smoking. Working up I-87 heading north, there is the Malt River Brew Pub in Latham, Troy Pub and Brewrey (in Troy), and Davidson Brothers in Glens falls. I prefer Malt River or Davidson Bros. and both are pretty close to the highway. They tend to have a pretty large selection of their brews. And they each have pub food too. In Burlington, stop at magic hat brewery for a tasting (no food, only a brewery - they have a great IPA and their barley wine may be finally available). VT Pub and Brewery in downtown is good and they have a nice wee heavy and probably smoked porter. Food is pretty good too. In the northeast kingdom, find Trout River Brewery. You may be able to find Rock Art brews as well. If you can find any McNeils on tap or bottle, try it out - very good.... They are in Brattleboro but have no food, only great brews. Long Trail and Otter Creek are both okay as well. Pete czerpak Albany, NY Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 16:03:22 +0200 From: Ant Hayes <Ant.Hayes at FifthQuadrant.co.za> Subject: Cleaning a CCV There have been a couple of posts regarding cleaning a small CCV. Mine has only about a 60 litre volume, and no ports big enough to get my hand in. It is too small to warrant a CIP system. After emptying the fermenter, I clean it as follows: 1. Rinse thoroughly using a garden hose, until the water coming out the bottom valve runs clean. 2. Close valves and put in about 15 litres of 70C caustic solution (2% sodium hydroxide in water) and seal. 3. Pick up fermenter and do my Donkey Kong impersonation for a few minutes (good lat workout). I then stand the fermenter upside down for 15 minutes to dissolve the top trub ring, followed by another few minutes of vigorous shaking. 4. Empty caustic down the drain (sorry) 5. Rinse 3 times with about 15 litres of water. 6. Store sealed between fermentations holding 5 litres of 2% Peresan solution. Every five brews or so, I dismantle the 2 ball valves and soak the parts in caustic, before rinsing and reassembling. This is a lot more work than cleaning my plastic buckets with bleach and a scourer! Ant Hayes Gauteng; South Africa Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 10:48:32 -0500 (EST) From: leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu Subject: Victory IPA (promash) question Promash's Victory IPA calls for a rest at 124F for 5 minutes. Is this due to the 1/2 lb of "soft white wheat malt" that is called for in their recipe? ie, is this raw wheat? If not, then I'd say that there is no need to rest here...and in fact it may hut head retention, no? [the recipe, was 8lb 2 row, 1.5 lb Victory, 1 lb munich, .5 lb soft white wheat malt, .5 lb crystal, and .5 lb carapils...) ..Darrell (brewing my "Anniversary Ale" tomorrow)...and looking for ideas for this yearly Pale Ale... Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 07:48:28 -0800 From: Ken & Bennett Johnson <fearless1 at abac.com> Subject: Super V All-Copper CF Chiller Hey all, I propose a toast to Bill Macher. I commend you on your technical ability. I am going to make a few suggestions here Bill. I am not knocking what you did, believe me. I've built a few chillers so I am just trying to help. I have long wondered why the idea of all copper chillers is so appealing. In my mind, when the chill water flows inside copper on both sides, it must accept heat from both sides. Lets say ambient temperature in your brewery is 70 degrees. Lets say your chill water is 55 degrees. You are hoping to pitch into 57 degree wort. By the end of the chiller, it is not so much the wort the chill water is accepting heat from, but rather the ambient temperature of the brewery. I would submit that since the chill water should never reach 70 degrees, it is accepting ambient emperature heat during the entire run. I am not a big fan of using regular garden hose either. Garden hose has very little insulating properties. The thicker vinyl hose is expensive, but it also offers excellent insulation. I know if you tried it you would see the benefits of it. If you have enough room to store this baby, I am very jealous indeed! Also, this chiller only has 1/16 clearance between the two tubes. Volume is very important to these chillers. More volume of chill water will absorb more heat. You can't solve this dilemma by simply forcing more chill water through faster. Higher velocity will reduce the ability of the chill water to absorb heat. A lot of water, moving slowly past the inner (hot wort filled) tube, will perform the best. It will also use the least amount of chill water! You mentioned that this chiller would be easy to disassemble and clean. Maybe that information is in part 2. But I am wondering how this is possible if you assemble it with solder. I am always surprised that so many people get so hung up on being able to disassemble and actually SEE that the inside of their counterflow chiller is clean. I understand this thought. But, with all the fantastic cleaning agents out there, it's almost a moot point. If you understand and implement regular cleaning procedures on equipment, you will have no problems. And honestly, do any of us know the name and address of a brewer who has had an infection that definitely came from a counterflow chiller? Another urban myth? I really want to meet this dude. I love these technical equipment discussions! Again, congrats Bill Macher. We all toast your accomplishment! Hope I helped you. I am always willing to share what I have learned with my homebrewing brethren. All you have to do is write me. Ken Johnson mailto:fearless1 at abac.com http://www.fearless1.com Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 08:10:43 -0800 (PST) From: Delano DuGarm <ddugarm at yahoo.com> Subject: Oktoberfest "Ales" >I believe Hacker-Pschorr has the "ALE" designation on >its Oktoberfest >label. >I don't know if it's brewed as an ale or not... it is >quite tasty. This sort of labeling problem is caused by certain state liquor laws, which require beers above a certain strength to be labeled ale or stout, and forbid beers below that strength to be so labeled. Hence Celis had to call its Belgian pale ale "Pale Bock" (it wasn't strong enough to be called ale), while Coors Winterfest for several years had the word "stout" on its label, though it certainly wasn't any sort of stout. I think that Texas is (or was) one state with such label laws, though most states have odd regulations concerning alcohol. I've seen stronger German beers, especially doppelbocks, with American labels that use terms like "ale" or "malt liquor" because of these sorts of legal requirements, not because of any stylistic concerns. Delano DuGarm St. Croix Falls, WI Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 11:19:20 -0500 From: "Donald D. Lake" <dlake at gdi.net> Subject: Shopping for a Refractometer Now that the secret brewing slush fund has been topped off, I am shopping for a refractometer. Does anyone have any recommendations? I've seen them priced from $100 to $199 by brewing related vendors. What's the best value out there? Don Lake Orlando, FL Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 12:09:52 -0500 From: Marc Sedam <marc_sedam at unc.edu> Subject: Ayinger yeast Hey all, I've unsuccessfully tried to get the Ayinger yeast strain commercially. Is there anyone out there willing to swap a vial of this stuff for something? I have some decent hops and a couple of tasty homebrews for ya. But you can't have my Ultras... they're mine...all mine! Some Magnums and Chinook leaf hops, tho'. - -- Marc Sedam Chapel Hill, NC Return to table of contents
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