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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Hop Floaties ("Braam Greyling")
  High finishing CAP into the keg ("Lyga, Daniel M.")
  ABT false bottom and Sankey/corny (Marc Sedam)
  polyclar and bentonite (Randy Ricchi)
  Gott thermometer / Calibrate! / Mail order (David Harsh)
  Super Bowl Brews ("Robert Johnson")
  Question For RIMS Operators (John_Fraser/User/NWExternal)
  You have to check this out! ("Larry Bristol")
  Re: Hop Floaties (R.A.)" <rbarrett at ford.com>
  Yeast Pitching Temp. (Mike.Szwaya)
  Re: rice solids substitute (Jeff Renner)
  Re: FWH & boilover (Jeff Renner)
  Brass Fitting Question (Andrew Nix)
  BeerTrips ("Hedglin, Nils A")
  liquid level gauges (Ed Jones)
  Oregon Fruit Puree ("Berggren, Stefan")
  Indoor brewing (Beaverplt)
  cylindro-conicals/calcium-chloride (RiedelD)
  Long Stem Thermometers ("Angie and Reif Hammond")
  CAP Brewing Demonstration (Jeff Renner)
  New Temperture Controler Chip. ("Pete Calinski")
  Re: Suitable beer clarifiers... (Jeff Renner)
  Alt fermentation ("Doug Moyer")
  Re: Hop Floaties (Dave Larsen)
  Re: Abts False Bottoms (Dion Hollenbeck)
  Re: HERMS/fermenters (Dion Hollenbeck)
  When to start All-Grain ("Dunn, Drew A.")
  HERMS/fermenters (Al Klein)
  Yeast questions...... (Al Klein)
  Dispensing option question (Andy Woods)


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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 09:18:55 +0200
From: "Braam Greyling" <braam.greyling at azoteq.com>
Subject: Hop Floaties

Dave Larsen asked about hop floaties.  

I prefer to make a hop tea with boiling water and fresh aroma hops. 
When the beer is kegged, the hop tea is added directly to the keg 
(while it is boiling hot). 
Then the keg is closed and purged. This gives a beautiful hop 
aroma to the beer and also add some bitterness. 
You can also ensure that no hops end up in the keg by pouring the 
hop tea very careful into the keg. 
  
Regards

Braam


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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 06:28:46 -0500 
From: "Lyga, Daniel M." <lygadm at pweh.com>
Subject: High finishing CAP into the keg

Hello.

	I made a CAP per Jeff Renner's recipe, taken from the HBD archives,
at the end of December that still has a fairly high gravity - 1.018.  Due to
lack of space(I needed the carboy), I had to transfer this into a corny keg
yesterday.  I am very new to kegging, in fact, this is my first use.  During
the transfer, the beer was very foamy, maybe due to the warming racking
environment??

	Anyway, is there anything I can do to help this beer reach a more
suitable gravity even now that it is in the keg?  I did not fully carbonate
the beer, but do have about 15psi in the headspace, and it is sitting in a
45deg fridge.


Here are the particulars:

 at  1/2 gal. Wyeast 2007(10/24/2001) starter grown over 3 weeks
cereal mash with 2# corn grits, rested at 153 30', then boiled for about an
hour
main mash rested at 146 for about 40'
cereal & main mash at 158 for 30'
mash-out - 60' boil
SG (low) 1.046
ferment  at  48 for 20 days
into secondary (1.025) at 45 for about 20 days


Thank you for any help.
Dan Lyga
Harwinton, CT


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Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2002 08:52:30 -0500
From: Marc Sedam <marc_sedam at unc.edu>
Subject: ABT false bottom and Sankey/corny

Don't sweat the small volume below the ABT false bottom.  I
use a SS screen from the now defunct Stainless in Seattle
which was intended as a hop screen.  It doesn't even cover
half of the bottom of my Sanke keg, but I have no problems
setting up the mash or recirculating the wort while the
burner is even on.  No wuckas.

Oh, and the Sanke with the corny top welded on officially
entered my "I have to have that gadget" world this morning.
Now I just need to find a welder who will work for beer.
The addition of the 25psi pressure gauge is pure magic,
turning the Sankey into a pressure cooker and effectively
sterilizing the interior (assuming its clean).  Not to
mention the ability to reach your hand inside the keg to
clean it.  Again, pure magic.


- --

Marc Sedam
Chapel Hill, NC



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Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2002 09:19:18 -0500
From: Randy Ricchi <rricchi at ccisd.k12.mi.us>
Subject: polyclar and bentonite

Ralph Davis asked about using bentonite to clarify his beer. The
following is a reply I sent to him. I thought it may be useful to share
it with the rest of the HBD community.

On two different occasions in the past I posted to the HBD a detailed
explanation of my use of a polyclar/bentonite mix to clear beers. If you
do a search of the HBD archives for "Randy Ricchi" you'll turn it up.

I no longer clarify my beers this way because I now have a large chest
freezer/cooler, and prefer to let the beers clear naturally. This is not
a slam against force clarifying, it's just a recognition of the fact
that you increase your odds of an infection the more you fool around
with your beer.

Also, keep in mind that the amounts of polyclar and bentonite I used
were my starting point in my experiments with clarifying. They did a
wonderful job of clearing the beer against chill haze, and didn't seem
to strip flavor or body from the beer. I always meant to experiment
using less and less of each ingredient to find the minimum amount that
would work, but never followed through with it.

One last thing; you mentioned a huge amount of precipitate after using
bentonite. I had the same result, and believe that the majority of that
bulk IS bentonite, and NOT tons of stuff stripped from your beer.



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Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2002 09:21:03 -0500
From: David Harsh <dharsh at fuse.net>
Subject: Gott thermometer / Calibrate! / Mail order

A thermometer for your Gott-
Another option on the Gott thermometer is what I purchased as a "compost
thermometer" which ranges from 40 F up to around 212 F.  It's a dial
thermometer with a 24" probe that can stick through a hole in top of
your Gott cooler.  It was around $15 and is accurate to less than a degree.
- --------
Calibrate!
Just remember to calibrate your thermometers against some known
reference!  My [expensive] electronic kitchen thermometer is off by 12
degrees at mash temperatures.  Either that or water boils at 200 F!  The
most accurate thermometer I own is the floating one I bought when I
started brewing - its also the cheapest.

The cited accuracy, or lack thereof, was confirmed against an NBS
traceable thermometer, which is the best option you have for calibration.
- -------
If you must mail order-
I think Listermann Manufacturing does mail order also.  If you are
asking, I'm assuming you can't buy locally and you should if possible. 
Of course, if my only local option was Homer, I'd mail order too. 
(Cincinnatians know what I mean.)

Dave Harsh					Cincinnati, OH
Bloatarian Brewing League



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Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2002 09:27:54 -0500
From: "Robert Johnson" <RJohnson at mbta.com>
Subject: Super Bowl Brews

Why an IPA of course....
Imperial Patriots Ale!!
>From a long suffering Patriots and Red Sox
fan, still pinching himself this morning!!
Bob Johnson
Tewksbury MA
Apparent Rennerian
641.5, 83.7--??




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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 11:04:30 -0500
From: John_Fraser/User/NWExternal at Nationwide.com
Subject: Question For RIMS Operators

I have been in the process of bulding/testing my RIMS setup, see
http://members.tripod.com/rims-brewing/

While testing my VisualBasic application to control the RIMS & HLT water
heaters, I saved the results off into a file and was doing some analysis on
the results.  I noted that for one test I ran, I had a 30 minute rest at
122 degrees, a 10 minute rest at 144 degrees and a final 152 degree rest.

Problem is, that my RIMS unit increases the temperature of WATER by 1.7
degrees per minute, when attempting to get to the second rest of 144
degrees, the ten minute period was over and the time period for the final
rest had kicked in.

I figured this was going to be a problem, I know how to program around it,
the main concern for me is, how is the time it takes to get from one rest
temperature to the next rest temperature going to affect any given recipe?

For example, lets say, for discussion purposes only, an ale recipe was:
     mash in  at  145 degrees
     rest 30 minutes at 140 degrees
     rest 30 minutes at 158 degrees

   Yet, it takes (for my RIMS) about ten minutes (rough guess) to get from
   144 degrees to 152 degrees.  Where should I account for that ten minutes
   in my recipe i.e. do I take 10 minutes off the first rest and have the
   first rest for 20 minutes at 144?  Or do I have an intermediate "ramping
   rest" added to my recipe and retain both 30 minute rests as well as the
   additional ten minute rest?  If so, what impact on the balance of sugars
   will this have?

   Or do most RIMS operators only run single step infusion mashes?

Has anyone opinions on this?  I'd be interesting in hearing what some of
the long term RIMS operators have to say.

John M. Fraser




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Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2002 10:21:08 -0600
From: "Larry Bristol" <Larry at DoubleLuck.com>
Subject: You have to check this out!

A watch with a pub locator built into it!

http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020125S0033

Larry Bristol
Bellville, TX
http://www.doubleluck.com




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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 11:20:49 -0500 
From: "Barrett, Bob (R.A.)" <rbarrett at ford.com>
Subject: Re: Hop Floaties

Dave Larsen writes:
>I just started dry hopping within the last couple of batches
>I've done.....I get an excess amount of hop
>chunks that never settle out.  Even worse, they sink within
>the top three inches of the surface of the fermenting wort,
>bobbing around.  This makes it so that I get an amount of
>these annoying globules that get siphoned off from rack to
>rack and eventually into my kegged beer.....I thought
>about rubber-banding a hop bag onto the end of the siphon
>hose.......

That is *exactly* what I do.  I take an old synthetic reusable 
hop bad and cut out one of the bottom corners about 2 " up
from the tip on each side.  I then use a rubber band to hold 
this on to the end of my racking cane keeping the black cap 
on the cane. To sanitize I attach it to the racking cane and 
then rack my sanitizer (star-san) from my sanitizer bucket to 
the keg I will be using for the dry hopped beer.  I then place 
the cane with the screen still attached in the carboy and rack 
the dry hopped beer to the keg.  

I prefer using whole hops for dry hopping and
find that the screen completely filters them all.  I have used
pellets on a few occasions and find that the screen can get 
clogged and all of the particles do not get filtered.  I reuse this
homemade screen each time I rack from the secondary with
dry hops to the keg.  Afterwards I just rinse the screen and 
rubber band very well in hot water and let dry.  No problems 
so far after about 30 uses.  I'm sure there are other ways to
filter out the hops, but this one works for me.  Good luck.

Bob Barrett
We Make the Beer We Drink!!!
Ann Arbor, MI
(2.8, 103.6) Rennarian


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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 08:56:28 -0800 
From: Mike.Szwaya at clark.wa.gov
Subject: Yeast Pitching Temp.


Had a nice session last Saturday where I brewed a 15 gal IPA and 5 gal Am.
Brown Ale.  Juggling 2 batches, especially single temp. infusion ones, isn't
that different than doing a decoction.

Everything went fine until the end when I was knocking out.  I was
multi-tasking (or multi-dorking as my wife puts it) by watching the Brown
Ale aeration, monitoring the IPA CFC process, and bottling the 2.5 gal
'yeast starter' batch of Bitter all at the same time.

Something happened where the cold water flow to the CFC got reduced to a
point where the wort was only being chilled to about 100-110F.  Without
checking this, I pitched a healthy amount of yeast (about 16-24 oz slurry)
into the warm IPA.  About 5 to 10 minutes later the wort level in the
fermenter reached the dial thermometer and shot up to 105 or so.  I checked
the exit water rate and it was barely a trickle.  I cranked the water rate
up and over the next 20 minutes it took to drain the kettle, the fermenter
temperature dropped to 75-80F.

I added some yeast energizer and aerated for a couple hours hoping to give
whatever yeast was left alive a fighting chance of surviving and
reproducing.

This was Saturday.  Yesterday (Sun.) there was pretty significant activity
which was reassuring.

However, I have a couple questions on pitching in general.

First, how hot can you reasonably pitch yeast, or better yet, how much of a
temperature swing can you put yeast through between yeast and wort
temperature.
Second, what can I expect out of this yeast that I have most likely
temperature shocked?  It's fermenting ok but what about potential off
flavors and overall performance of the yeast?

Thanks.

Mike Szwaya
Portland, OR

I'm anti-whirlygig and I vote!


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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 09:08:34 -0500
From: Jeff Renner <JeffRenner at mediaone.net>
Subject: Re: rice solids substitute

"Brad Boes" <gerald.boes at verizon.net> writes from Princeton, Il

>    I want to brew a beer that calls for a third pound of rice solids, but
>there are none available.  Is there a good substitute?  I'm doing the
>extract version of the Dixie Blackened Voodoo Lager from the Clonebrews
>book.  I thought I might just grind up a third pound of rice and throw it in
>with the grains at the start. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated-

The easy answer to this would be to use rice syrup, which is fairly 
easily available from HB shops and suppliers.  But you'd have to use 
more since it contains liquid.  I'd guess 7 oz. (weight) would do it.

But using whole rice seems to me to be a better idea since that is 
what Dixie actually uses.  Again, You'd have to use more than 1/3 
pound since you won't get 100% conversion - there is protein (and 
some other minor constituents) that won't convert to fermentables, 
and you won't get 100% of efficiency anyway.

Don't just grind it and chuck it into the mash - it has to be cooked 
first to gelatinize the starch so the enzymes can convert it.  You 
can just cook it like you would rice for the table, but that can make 
a sticky lump of rice that's hard to incorporate into the rest of the 
mash.  Better to do a cereal mash, which I've described in detail 
before (see archives).  Basically, take your coarsely ground rice 
(try 1/2 pound) and add 1/3 its weight in crushed malt and brewing 
water, mash at 153 or so for 20-30 minutes, then bring to a boil and 
cook for 20-25 minutes (be sure to stir and add more liquid if 
necessary).  Then add to your main mash.  This will raise its 
temperature, so be sure to take this into account when designing your 
mash schedule.

Cereal mashes are fun - try it for a Classic American Pilsner sometime, too.

Jeff
- -- 
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner at mediaone.net
"One never knows, do one?"  Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943


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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 09:00:27 -0500
From: Jeff Renner <JeffRenner at mediaone.net>
Subject: Re: FWH & boilover

"Steve Alexander" <steve-alexander at worldnet.att.net> wrote:
>Dennis Lewis adds ...
<snip>
>  >I have read in this digest that FWH with harsh bittering hops can lead
>>to less than desirable aroma in the finished beer, so be careful what
>>you're throwing in.
>
>It's regularly suggested that one add the aroma hops for FWH - exactly
>because we are using FWH to extract and preserve aroma factors into
>the beer.  I can't imagine that FWH would produce anything awful.
>Maybe a pils with aroma of Northern Brewer rather than Saaz, is less
>than ideal, but it's not "less than desirable".

Dennis may have been remembering something I wrote here.  I used 
Cluster as FWHs in a Classic American Pilsner (CAP) several years ago 
and got a distinct black currant or berry flavor (not particularly an 
aroma).  This is the flavor of Cluster that is normally boiled away 
when it is used for bittering, but I found the beer nearly spoiled by 
it.  It was sure "less than desirable" for me!  People actually 
thought I'd used berries in the beer.

I think I'd stick to the finer aroma-type hops for FWH - noble hops, 
Goldings, Cascade, etc.

Jeff
- -- 
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner at mediaone.net
"One never knows, do one?"  Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943


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Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2002 12:14:54 -0500
From: Andrew Nix <anix at vt.edu>
Subject: Brass Fitting Question

Ok, I hope the questions for my new system aren't getting annoying.  Here's 
the latest:

On both my boiling kettle and mash/lauter tun (both converted kegs) I am 
using brass Swagelok bulkhead fittings.  I bought brass since it is cheaper 
than stainless steel.  Does a brass fitting in the boiling kettle pose on 
problems (i.e health)?  I know that in some states (notably California) 
brass ball valves are suggested to not be used in hot water systems as they 
can cause reproductive problems?  I think it has to do with the Zinc 
content of the water being high?

Is there any problem that anyone knows of with using brass fittings in a 
boiling kettle where temps reach up to 208F (at least at the elevation I am 
at).  I wonder why everyone wants to use stainless fittings and ball valves 
when they are so expensive and thought maybe the reason was that brass was 
not to be used in really high temperatures.

Drewmeister
Andrew Nix
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Virginia Tech
anix at vt.edu
http://www.vt.edu:10021/A/anix



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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 10:00:00 -0800 
From: "Hedglin, Nils A" <nils.a.hedglin at intel.com>
Subject: BeerTrips

Hi,
  My wife & I are thinking about taking the following beer tour of England:
http://www.beertrips.com/trips/london_york2002.html.  Has anyone gone on one
of these, or know anything about the tour or company?
Thanks,
Nils Hedglin
Sacramento, CA


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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 13:31:04 -0500 (EST)
From: Ed Jones <ejones at ironacres.com>
Subject: liquid level gauges

With Moving Brews out of comission right now, can anyone recommend a
good place to buy a quality liquid level guage similar to the one offered
by moving brews? Thanks!

- --
Ed Jones - Columbus, Ohio U.S.A - [163.8, 159.4] [B, D] Rennerian

"When I was sufficiently recovered to be permitted to take nourishment,
I felt the most extraordinary desire for a glass of Guinness...I am
confident that it contributed more than anything else to my recovery."
  - written by a wounded officer after Battle of Waterloo, 1815



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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 14:01:28 -0600 
From: "Berggren, Stefan" <stefan_berggren at trekbike.com>
Subject: Oregon Fruit Puree

Has anyone out there used Oregon's fruit puree to make an ale, wheat or any
other malt beverage?

I have used frozen raspberries before, but felt that the aseptic puree would
be a great choice in the secondary.  If anyone has used these cans, and can
provide some tips on the amount and process, I would be grateful.
Cheers..... 

P.s.    I just got the new 2002 Bigfoot from Sierra....whoa mama she is a
hoppy number !!!

cheers, 
Stefan  
Madison, WI (where the snow used to fall....)

It is better to think of church in the ale-house than to think of the
ale-house in church. -- Martin Luther (1483-1546) 







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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 12:46:38 -0800 (PST)
From: Beaverplt <beaverplt at yahoo.com>
Subject: Indoor brewing

Al Klein asks

>Am I missing something?  Or is the main difference
between a
>"restaurant" stove heat output and a regular kitchen
stove heat output
>the burner?  IOW, why not just replace one burner
(and control) on the
>regular kitchen stove?   (Assuming that there's
nothing overhead that
>would cause a fire hazard.)

Someone answered the question by saying the size of
the gas supply must be larger. That is true, but most
homes have the supply required. It's the stove that's
the problem. Regular kitchen stoves internally
restrict the supply to the burner which normally can't
be easily changed. 
I should point out that many commercial stoves do not
have the proper insulation required to install them
the way a normal kitchen stove would be installed, ie
smack up against wooden kitchen cabinets. Because they
normally are not installed next to cabinets,
manufacturers didn't insulate the sides and back as
much as would be required in a residential
application.
Our installation of the stove we bought required some
space between it and the wall and the cabinets next to
it. Although it was safely installed with
consideration given to the extra heat thrown off, I'm
sure it did not meet local codes. 
There are high output residentail cooktops and ovens
available, but read the "high output" as "high cost".
If you can afford that and talk your wife into it,
more power to ya. I'm suggesting that a commercial
stove installed properly in a basement might be an
alternative to brewing in the garage especially to us
colder climate brewers.


=====
Jerry "Beaver" Pelt

That's my story and I'm sticking to it



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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 17:34:35 -0500 
From: RiedelD at pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Subject: cylindro-conicals/calcium-chloride

I few thoughts occurred to me regarding the CC fermenters that have lately
been discussed a bit...

1.  Unless you want to run your beer into a bucket first, it looks like
you'd
need a pump to runout from your kettle to the fermenter.  That or a *very*
tall, tiered rack system.
2.  Those of you that have them (and don't have the glycol cooling option),
how are you maintaining the temperature you want?  I use various places
in my house to ferment (depending on beer style and the time of year).  I
don't think you're going to get one of those CCs in a fridge for summertime
ale ferments, nor do I think you'll want to try to carry it into a spare
bedroom where it can be held at 68F during winter ferments.

Just some ideas....

- ----------------------------
My calcium chloride, originally crystalline, has seemingly absorbed water
and gone 1/4 aqueous and 3/4 solid (in 1 chunk).  Can I add water to make
it completely in solution?  Or has something irreversible happened (AKA
'you should chuck it and buy new stuff')?


Dave Riedel
Victoria, Can.


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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 18:23:35 -0500
From: "Angie and Reif Hammond" <arhammond at mediaone.net>
Subject: Long Stem Thermometers

My favorite long stem (8 inch) thermometer is from Cole Palmer, it is E
on the catalog page shown at:

http://www.coleparmer.com/catalog/0102_pdf/U-1851.pdf

I use it to check mash temperatures, food on the gas grill without
burning my fingers, and all sorts of other stuff.  In the printed
catalog it lists for $23.50.  I am going to order another one in case
the one I have gets broken sometime.

Reif Hammond
Durham, NH




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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 19:22:54 -0500
From: Jeff Renner <JeffRenner at mediaone.net>
Subject: CAP Brewing Demonstration

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23

at the

CENTER OF THE HOMEBREWING UNIVERSE (0,0 Rennerian)!

Brew history - a Classic American Pilsner from a hundred year old recipe!

Learn at the feet of a master!

Watch a live cereal mash!

Watch the wort boil and hot break form!

Trudge through the snow to dump the spent grains in the back forty!

Scrub the brewing kettles!


Well, actually, here's the deal.  Drew (who goes by "Emily E Neufeld" 
<eneufeld at juno.com>) wanted to drive up from northern Indiana to 
participate in a CAP brew sometime, and I'm overdue to brew one.  So 
we've decided on above date, and invite all those others who are 
interested.  Let me know if you are one of those, and I'll pass along 
directions on how to get here.

We'll start around 10 AM or so and wrap up around 4 PM, depending on 
how many pot scrubbers we have.  Part-time drop-ins are welcome. 
Note - I have no CAP to share - I've been out for months.  I will 
have a brown-malt stout, and who knows what else may show up, 
although I generally abstain until the yeast has been pitched.  I 
find that makes for more successful brew.

But I'd love to have a crowd here.  We ought to manage to put 
together a decent potluck lunch.

Let me know if you are interested.  It's a big garage.  Let's have a crowd.

Cheers

Jeff
- -- 
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner at mediaone.net
"One never knows, do one?"  Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943


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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 19:59:33 -0500
From: "Pete Calinski" <pjcalinski at adelphia.net>
Subject: New Temperture Controler Chip.

The topic of temperature control comes up frequently in this forum.  I just
got a notice that Atmel has a new triac driver chip, a T2117.  The notice is
at:

http://mailinglist.chipcenter.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eFwa0Co4RK0Bbs0BWIs0Ay

You may have to register with chip center to view the information however I
am sure Atmel is touting it on their website.

I believe the chip is similar to the Motorola chip that was going out of
production a few years ago.  I don't know if that ever happened.

This chip requires no power supply, it can be powered directly from the 110v
or 220v volt line with just a dropping resistor.  It drives a triac and is a
zero crossing switch.  The price is only $0.35.  Opps that is 10K
quantities.

They show a circuit controlling a 1000 Watt load that uses only 10 passive
components in addition to the triac and the chip itself.

Have fun.

Pete Calinski
East Amherst NY
Near Buffalo NY


***********************************************************
*My goal:
*      Go through life and never drink the same beer twice.
*     (As long as it doesn't mean I have to skip a beer.)
***********************************************************





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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 20:50:07 -0500
From: Jeff Renner <JeffRenner at mediaone.net>
Subject: Re: Suitable beer clarifiers...

"Ralph Davis" <rdavis77 at erols.com> asks for recommendations for 
Suitable beer clarifiers.

I am constantly amazed by the efficacy of gelatin.  I had 8 gallons 
of bitter that I brewed with Crisp Maris Otter, which often throws a 
haze.  Two weeks in the secondaries and it was still hazy, so I 
racked it to two new carboys with a packet of gelatin.  The next 
morning it was crystal clear with some yeast slinging to the sides of 
the carboys.  A couple of twists of the carboys dropped that and I 
kegged it.  Beautiful!  I recommend it.  Gelatin, that is.  I 
recommend the bitter too, but I'm keeping it here.

Jeff
- -- 
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner at mediaone.net
"One never knows, do one?"  Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943


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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 21:02:21 -0500
From: "Doug Moyer" <shyzaboy at yahoo.com>
Subject: Alt fermentation

Brewers,
    I have been fermenting an alt for the past week at 60 deg. F. I used
White Labs Dusseldorfer Alt yeast (WLP036). What should I do next? Is it
worth the effort to put it into a secondary? Lower the temp for aging? What
temp? Slow ramp or fast ramp?
    Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Brew on!

Doug Moyer
Salem, VA

Star City Brewers Guild: http://hbd.org/starcity

"There is a very fine line between 'hobby' and 'mental illness.'"
     ~ Dave Barry




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Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2002 20:31:33 -0700
From: Dave Larsen <HunahpuMonkey at home.com>
Subject: Re: Hop Floaties

Braam,

What I would be afraid of in making a tea is that I would increase the
bitterness too much.   I already add hops to my boil at various times,
so the bitterness is already there that I'm looking for.   Maybe if
phased out my late hop additions to my boil and replaced that with a
tea that I steeped it for the same amount of time, it would be okay.

In the end, though, the solution I settled on was a racking cane
screen, from the local brew shop.  I never knew such a thing existed
until someone suggested to me via email, responding to the original
post.  The funny thing is that I mentioned the problem at the same brew
shop weeks earlier and they did not suggest the screen, even though
they carried it.  They suggested cold conditioning instead (which I
guess will cause more of the hops to settle out).  People seem to have
a lot of different solutions to this problem.

Dave Larsen

Braam Greyling wrote:

> Dave Larsen asked about hop floaties.
>
> I prefer to make a hop tea with boiling water and fresh aroma hops.
> When the beer is kegged, the hop tea is added directly to the keg
> (while it is boiling hot).
> Then the keg is closed and purged. This gives a beautiful hop
> aroma to the beer and also add some bitterness.
> You can also ensure that no hops end up in the keg by pouring the
> hop tea very careful into the keg.
>
> Regards
>
> Braam



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Date: 04 Feb 2002 19:43:27 -0800
From: Dion Hollenbeck <hollen at woodsprite.com>
Subject: Re: Abts False Bottoms

>> Andrew Nix writes:

AN> If anyone has any experience with Abts False Bottoms, please send
AN> me a message. I'm low on cash, like most people probably, and can
AN> get the Abts false bottom for 1/2 to 1/3 of the cost of a Sabco
AN> one.  The only question is whether the smaller volume under the
AN> false bottom with the Abts is a problem.

I just purchased one of the ABT false bottoms and one of the SABCO
false bottoms.  The reason one of each is that I plan on using the ABT
in my kettle, and the SABCO in my mashtun.  In my experience (and I
have considerable with both RIMS and stuck mashes with RIMS), you want
as much open area as possible in a false bottom for a RIMS.  And as
just a guess, I think the ABT has maybe about 60% open area of the
SABCO.

The downside is that if you go the cheap way, and find out that it
won't work well, then you will have wasted the cost of the ABT and
will still have to shell out bucks for the SABCO.

And the smaller volume under the ABT is not a problem, that is
probably a good thing, however, it also has a much smaller open area. 

regards,
dion
- -- 
Dion Hollenbeck  Email:  hollen at woodsprite.com
Home Page:       http://www.woodsprite.com
Brewing Page:    http://hbd.org/hollen


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Date: 04 Feb 2002 19:46:40 -0800
From: Dion Hollenbeck <hollen at woodsprite.com>
Subject: Re: HERMS/fermenters

>> David Passaretti writes:

DaveP> I am attempting to automate a HERMS (thank you Nate, Bill, CD,
DaveP> and others for your input) system and have at my disposal a
DaveP> Gefran 3300 PID controller. It has what is called an analog
DaveP> output (0-10V). I know nothing about these controllers. Does
DaveP> anyone know if there is anyway to use this controller to turn a
DaveP> mag drive pump on/off or control a solenoid?

Nope, don't have a clue.  However, you should just call the
manufacturer.  You would be surprised, that if you have their product
in your hand, they will be willing to help you more than you would
believe.  They are interested in having satisfied customers.  And if
you cannot find their contact information any other way, try the
Thomas Register of American Manufacturer's (www.thomasregister.com).

dion
- -- 
Dion Hollenbeck  Email:  hollen at woodsprite.com
Home Page:       http://www.woodsprite.com
Brewing Page:    http://hbd.org/hollen


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Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 22:57:34 -0500 
From: "Dunn, Drew A." <Drew.Dunn at jhuapl.edu>
Subject: When to start All-Grain

I have only brewed a few batches ( a half-dozen or so ) which have been
extract with specialty grains, but I have an itch to try all grain.  I
understand the need for extra equipment and add complexity.  I look at these
as more fun, not more headache.  My brewing buddy (also strictly extract)
argues that there is still so much to explore with extract such as different
yeast strains, hop variety, hop rates, etc.  to keep one busy before
stepping up to all grain.  Does anyone have an advice?  Is it too early to
switch to all-grain?  Would I be better off experiment with various aspect
in the extract realm then switch to all-grain after I have a better feel for
them?

Drew A. Dunn
Columbia, MD


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Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2002 23:15:04 -0500
From: Al Klein <rukbat at optonline.net>
Subject: HERMS/fermenters

David Passaretti asks:

>I am attempting to automate a HERMS (thank you Nate,
>Bill, CD, and others for your input) system and have at my
>disposal a Gefran 3300 PID controller. It has what is
>called an analog output (0-10V). I know
>nothing about these controllers. Does anyone know if
>there is anyway to use this controller to turn a mag
>drive pump on/off or control a solenoid?

You could, if you can find a pump or solenoid that will operate on 10
volts at minimal current, but you'd be better off using the controller
output to drive a solid state relay (SSR) that could handle the load
of a normal pump or solenoid.  They're cheap and drive with as little
as 3 volts, so a 10 volt output will work fine, as long as the SSR can
handle 12 volts or so on its input - most of them are rated 3-12 volts
in, just what you need.
- ---
[Apparent Rennerian 567.7, 95.9] 
Al - rukbat at optonline dot net


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Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2002 23:30:13 -0500
From: Al Klein <rukbat at optonline.net>
Subject: Yeast questions......

Steve C Cobble asks:

>Also, when
>reactivating dry yeast, would it make a difference to do so with some of
>the cooled wort, or just with water, as the 'beer kit' instructs?

According to some of the yeast biologists involved in making the stuff
we brew with, dry yeast cells can't regulate what goes through their
cell walls for a short time after they get wet, so the best thing to
hydrate it with is exactly what "hydrate" means - water.  Boil it to
kill the wild yeasts and nasties, cool it to 90-100F and hydrate the
yeast.
- ---
[Apparent Rennerian 567.7, 95.9] 
Al - rukbat at optonline dot net


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Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2002 23:29:29 -0500
From: Andy Woods <woods_a at ACADMN.MERCER.EDU>
Subject: Dispensing option question

To all,

   Im looking into different ways to dispense beer besides a keg system, party 
pig's and bottles for a friend. Ive been looking at the german mini kegs and 
More Beer's (www.morebeer.com) tap-a-draft system.  I have read some problems 
with the german mini's and carbonation.  Has anyone had any consistant 
positive results with this system?

   Also, are there any other dispensing systems available besides kegs, party
pigs, bottles, or german mini's that work well for a good price?

Andy
woods_a at acadmn.mercer.edu



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