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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  exchange rate converter ("Richard & Laura")
  Premier Malt and DCL Yeast ("Bob Hall")
  Specific gravity definition? (Skyking)
  Re: Check my math (Skyking)
  one final Ferm Chiller question ("Alan McKay")
  wort kits ("Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies")
  Re: Travels in France & Britain ("Philip Wilcox")
  More On Wort Kits ("Phil & Jill Yates")


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Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2001 23:45:44 -0600
From: "Richard & Laura" <dromedary at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: exchange rate converter

Eric asks about the price of beer in France....

Here's a handy link to an exchange rate converter:

http://www.uta.fi/~ktmatu/rate-converter.html

I don't know about France right now, but beer in Mexico is still cheap and
good.

Ricardo



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Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 08:48:08 -0400
From: "Bob Hall" <rallenhall at hotmail.com>
Subject: Premier Malt and DCL Yeast

I think that I've mentioned before that I got my brewing start 30 years ago 
with cans of hopped Blue Ribbon Malt, bags of sugar, and packs of Red Star 
bread yeast from a local grocery. Perhaps because of this, I've been 
conditioned to check for the presence of malt in syrup sections of 
groceries. I had not seen malt in years until this past week, when on a 
camping trip in Appalachian Ohio we popped into a small grocery and there 
next to Mrs. Butterworth was a stack of Premier Malt - Hopped, in 2.2 lb. 
cans. According to the label, a product of the UK, great for cooking and 
brewing ("Use this can to make six 8-packs" .... right!). Anyway, there was 
even a packet of yeast under the lid and an address to write for recipes. 
Just wondered if any of you had come across, or even used Premier malt 
before. It was new to me, and a twist on the days when the cans even said 
"Do not add sugar, Do not add yeast" ... as if everyone loved the flavor of 
hops in their cookies.

Also, I've been following the discussion of the DCL yeasts. What is the 
collective's opinion on Saflager S-189 and S-23? I recently acquired a 
lagering freezer, and am about to make a serious attempt at cold 
conditioning.

Once again many thanks,
Bob Hall, Napoleon, OH



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Date: 18 Aug 2001 15:52:16 +0200
From: Skyking <skyking at bredband.net>
Subject: Specific gravity definition?

homebrew-request@hbd.org (Request Address Only - No Articles) writes:

> The specific gravity isn't dependant on temperature, the measuring device
> (hydrometer) is.

This is not entirely true...

Later you write that liquid expands or contracts with temperature
change and therefore the hydrometer will not measure the specific
gravity at other temperatures. This is true, but since different
liquids may expand to various degrees with temperature change the
specific gravity may also change with temperature. 

Then of course the hydrometer it self will also expand with the
temperature change.

> ********************************************************************
> *My goal:
> *      Go through life and never drink the same beer twice.

I wouldn't want to drink the same beer twice - that would mean that I
have to throw it up in order to be able to drink it again (and then
I'd probably go for some other beer anyway:-)



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Date: 18 Aug 2001 16:36:33 +0200
From: Skyking <skyking at bredband.net>
Subject: Re: Check my math

homebrew-request@hbd.org (Request Address Only - No Articles) writes:

> The calculations mentioned for the 2 heaters in series will only work if 
> you're using a dc electrical system.  When using ac, you must use the 
> impedence of the heater rather than its dc resistance and take into account 
> the total inductance of the circuit.  The ac circuit version of ohm's law 
> is E = IZ = P / (I * cos(x)), where E is the rms voltage, I is rms current, 
> Z is impedence of the component being examined, P is power, and x is the 
> phase between voltage and current.

Not entirely correct. If we assume the power and voltage ratings that
are given are for use in AC systems your point will probably
fail. This is because the total impedance would be twice the partial
impedances _vectorwise_. So the phase difference would be the same for
single heater as for two and the cos(x) factor will cancel
out. Furthermore I wouldn't be surprised if the phase difference is
quite low.

> Without doing any calculations, I'd say that you would get more heat output 
> and it would draw substantially more current than you're expecting.  

I don't think that so much, but if we're going to be precise here
plugging them in series will reduce the total power output and even
more reduce the heat flow density. As a consequence of that the
temperature radial drop in the heater will decrease and the core
temperature will be lower if the surface temperature is going to be
the same. This in turn will result in a lower resistance which in turn
will result in somewhat higher power. 

Furthermore to complicate the whole thing is that the rating is
probably not a very exact figure (I wouldn't be surprised if they also
make the same heater for 230VAC and rate it 3kW). Also the nominal
voltage is most likely not the same as the voltage you're actually
get.  

So if accuracy is important I would agree that measuring the actual
power consumtion would be recommended or even use a power regulator or
expect quite a deviation from the calculated power.


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Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 10:42:36 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Alan McKay" <amckay at ottawa.com>
Subject: one final Ferm Chiller question


Greetings Beerlings!

Well, I just got back from Home Depot and they no longer carry the
4x8 sheets of blue styrofoam 2" thick insulation.  They have 2x8
sheets of 2" (pink, from Corning), and 4x8 sheets of 1" (also Corning).
The 2" is R10 and the 1" is R5, and both say they are extruded.

Do you think I'm better off sticking with the patter given on Ken's
site and doubling up the 1", or do you think I'm better off buying
3 sheets of the 2"?  The latter would obviously be less efficient in
terms of more wastage.

I guess I should check Rona Warehouse to see if they carry 2"x4x8,
just to see.

thanks,
 -Alan

- -- 
    "Brewers make wort.  Yeast makes beer."
               - Dave Miller
http://www.bodensatz.com/
What's a Bodensatz? http://www.bodensatz.com/bodensatz.html



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Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 11:09:15 -0600
From: "Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies" <orders at paddockwood.com>
Subject: wort kits

With some embarrassment, I feel compelled to blow my own horn here, but I'll
try to be humble...

It was noted by Alan McKay that Paddock Wood offers wort kits similar to
BrewHouse, but I'd like to clarify the difference between the big producers
and Paddock Wood's small scale custom fresh wort kits.

There are two large producers of wort kits in Canada: BrewHouse (Spagnols)
and Wort Works.  BrewHouse has the larger kits at 15L, while Wort Works is
only 9L. We are less impressed by the Wort Works line, although they are a
huge step up from the tins, they don't seem to have the depth of flavour as
the BrewHouse. YRMV of course.  The smaller kits like Tundra or others can
not really be classed as wort, they are concentrate.

Both Wort Works and BrewHouse come with dry yeast that is best discarded,
and BrewHouse provides a list of recommended Wyeast strains for the best
results.  BrewHouse also provides a list of styles that can be achieved by
adding different amounts of water to the base kit. Not all the styles are
accurate, but the kits can produce excellent beer when used with liquid
culture. Recently BrewHouse kits that have been dressed up with steeped
grain and hop additions and fermented with Wyeast have placed very well in
competition.

In order to meet health regulations kits that will sit at room temps like
BrewHouse or Wort Works must be acidified to avoid possible bacterial
growth.  This acid is neutralized by adding a chalk like base prior to
pitching the yeast. This results in a minor, but unmistakable flavour.
Paddock Wood's ReadyBrew kits are not condensed, nor brewed to higher
gravity but are simply 23L of pure fresh custom brewed sterile wort in a
handy bag in a box. They are refrigerated to avoid the acid addition.
Unfortunately, this means they are unavailable for shipping.

We decided to stock BrewHouse 15L kits to augment our own in-house ReadyBrew
23L kits because, as previously noted, in HBD with regards to an early
Coopers experiment, not everyone wants to stagger to the car with 25kg of
wort, and we see little point in duplicating basic recipes; we have enough
demand for our unique product, and some folks want same day service which
isn't always available in our ReadyBrew kits.

Another  difference between our ReadyBrew kits and anything previously
discussed here is batch volume.  Because our ReadyBrew are brewed in 50L
batches (so final output  from a day's session is only two 23L batches) we
can customize to individual specifications and do any style while the larger
brewers have to make concessions to the lowest common denominator to sell
enough product.  This restriction is why BrewHouse stopped production of its
excellent Wheat kit.  Too many customers were unprepared for the
characteristic wheat yeast flavour, and were unhappy with the kit. Although
it was a fine kit, they dropped it, and have added an IPA in its place. It's
a shame, because I really hate making wheat beers, and the BrewHouse Wheat
kits took the pressure off our ReadyBrew production.

We will make Barleywines, Dopplebocks, Scottish Lights, etc to style using
the best German, Scottish, or British malts, where even the best of the
large wort producers use Canadian generic malt.  The disadvantage of our
kits is customers may have to wait 2-3 days before we can brew their wort if
our brew schedule is busy.  We maintain a calendar on the website to help
customers see what we have in the fridge or when the next available brew day
is open, and when possible have a few of our most popular worts on hand.
They are stable and pasteurized, and keep for a long time, but we try to
keep them for less than 1 month to ensure the best flavour.

As far as we know Paddock Wood is the only small scale producer of fresh
commercial sterile wort. There is the occasional backyard brewer with a
large system that will make a  large batch of something and distribute same
day buckets of wort to friends, and sometimes a brewpub will let a few
gallons go to favored customers or clubs, but we know of no one else doing
small scale commercial production of sterile sealed wort brewed to style
with uncompromising quality and authentic ingredients.  We even do a real
Czech Pils with duplicated water profile, under modified Budvar malt and  a
unique Czech pils yeast.

I'm finished my one horn concerto; I hope there was something useful in
there for those considering wort kits. For those unable to visit our
beautiful city, BrewHouse may be the best commercial wort kit available and
I would have no hesitation recommending them with a good liquid yeast.


cheers,

Stephen Ross -- "Vitae sine cerevisiis sugant."

Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
orders at paddockwood.com  www.paddockwood.com




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Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 19:21:12 +0100
From: "Philip Wilcox" <philip.wilcox at btinternet.com>
Subject: Re: Travels in France & Britain

"Eric R. Theiner" <logic at skantech.com> wrote:

>I guess I'm not up on my geopolitics-- did Britain have their exchange
rates locked with the >rest of the EU?

In a word, no.

>Next, if we fly into Paris, is it easy to take the bulk of our vacation in
>Britain, and how easy will it be to get around with a 2 year old on the
>trains?  (I understand that driving in London is a nightmare for
>Yankees.)

Its pretty scary for us locals too!! If you avoid the weekday morning and
evening rush-hour you should be okay. It'll be an experience at least.

>Sharon is terrified of even the concept of the Chunnel, so how long's the
ferry ride?

Going from memory it's about an hour and a half from Dover to Calais. If you
go by Eurostar it's a lot quicker and the train will take you straight into
London. The Chunnel bit is only about 20 minutes. And no it doesn't leak!!

>And how easy it to fit in enough pub time with a toddler?
Most pubs are open 11am to 11pm, so that should give you plenty of time. It
may be an idea to buy a copy of CAMRA's Good Beer Guide in advance to find
some kiddie friendly pubs first.
Enjoy your trip.

 BeerBloke (aka Phil Wilcox)

   'Old Wibblers Brewery'
 Romford, Essex, England.
 ICQ 48953086
 http://www.wibblers.co.uk
 BeerBloke at wibblers.co.uk




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Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 22:02:06 +1000
From: "Phil & Jill Yates" <yates at acenet.com.au>
Subject: More On Wort Kits

I fermented two of these fellows side by side, one with a Budvar yeast and
one with Ayinger. Actually I also fermented a third with a hop tea added.

Now the folks in Burradoo (who gather here to sample the beer) all commented
that they preferred my dinki di full mashes done here on sight. Well they
had to say that, what else can you say when the Baron is pointing a shot gun
at you?

But the hop tea version is definitely ranking as most popular. Just gives it
a little more of that three dimensional taste.

More details to follow.
I think this idea is a winner.

But of course, I would never give away my full mash brewing.
Not ever!

Cheers
Phil



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