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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  home malting and some guesses about millet ("Steve Alexander")
  Fermentation ("Snyder,Gary,TSG")
  Moving Brews / RIMS Chamber and Heating Element ("Lou King")
  Re:Radler ("Thomas D. Hamann")
  Weizen  yeast ("Peter Fantasia")
  Starkbierfest ("Chuck Dougherty")
  Re: Final Gravity Problems with Extract Based Wheat Beer and 3068 (Daniel Chisholm)
  hop lineages (Alan Meeker)
  re:finishing welds (David Passaretti)
  Servomyces experiment results (long) ("Kraus,Drew")
  Dry lager yeast (Alan Meeker)
  St. Sebastian Dark recipe? (Kevin_Bailey)
  Brewing Software Recommendations? ("Bryan Keary")
  Dunkel Hefe Weizen ("Frank J. Russo")
  Re: Finishing welds (Gene Collins)
  Keg relief valves - color / psi ratings (Paul Kensler)
  CO2 through door ("Doug Hurst")
  Mash PH/ Water Analysis ("Greg Collins")


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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 04:58:25 -0500
From: "Steve Alexander" <steve-alexander at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: home malting and some guesses about millet

A traditional malting process for barley is described at ...
http://hbd.org/brewery/library/Malt.html

I've malted barley and oats and it's necessary to pay close attention to
bacterial and yeast which inhabit all grains.   Some sources suggest the use
of limed water for the first soak to reduce the bacteria.    I've always
used chlorinated tap water for the soaks and rinses too - perhaps that
helps.   Malting in a cool location with low humidity and  some air flow
should help prevent fungal attacks.  You may need to add a very tiny amount
of soap during the initial soak to reduce surface tension to get the millet
wetted.

I've performed barley soaks in 5gal plastic buckets and couching and rests
on screened frames supported off the floor.    If you have an old zapap you
can drain the soaked barley and weight it easily to determine when to stop
the soakings (abt 45% increase in weight).   You'll need a finer screens for
millet and I have no clue about the %water needed.

My hunch is that the way wetted millet clings together when wet that
bacterial infection may be a problem, and 'turning' to expose to air may be
very difficult.  Even after the water accumulation is sufficient for
malting, a quick dip (several minutes) in fresh running water can help
remove some of the bacterial load.  Access to air is necessary for barley
and wheat malting but some wetland grains like rice are capable of fully
developing beta-amylase without air..   I don't know about millet.  Unless
you can find out I'd plan on some aerated floor/screen  malting period
despite difficulties.

Turn the malt regularly - lets air access all the grain, evens out the temps
(it gets warm in the middle of the growing mass), helps drainage of excess
water and breaks up the rootlet tangle.   Barley rootlets *will* intertwine
leaving you with a big thick barley carpet if you ignore turning at the
wrong time.  No clue about how far millet should go - but to be practical,
you shouldn't let the endosperm reduce very much in size - 10-15% is OK.

Acrospire length is a 'good enough' measure of development for barley, *but*
it's very easy to let the malt over develop which detracts very seriously
from the final malt mass.   Barley develops most of it's enzymes fairly
early and the more extended malting period helps degrade the protein and
beta glucans.  If you'd be happy with a less modified type malt then you are
better off not trying to hit the very fine line between 'full' and 'over'
modification. I think you'll need to try a few small scale kitchen malting
experiments on millet.  Try different soak schedules till you get good
development without the grain going mushy.  Also use a magnifier and a razor
blade (and iodine stain if needed)  to examine endosperm depletion.    This
should give you some idea about soaks, %water needed and the malting
germination period.   Millet *may* malt much faster than barley.

Drying - zippered cotton pillow cases partially filled with finished wet
malt in a laundry dryer is a decent method  - fairly effective.  *DO* use a
safety pin to prevent the zipper from opening.   You can also create
something like 'wind malt' by drying the malt on a screen , a small room
with a dehumidifier and fan, turning frequently.    In the dryer the
culms(rootlets) come off on their own.  In the oven or on a screen culm
removal requires some hand rubbing or place them in a sack and beat.   The
culms have a rather unpleasant odor and should be removed from the malt.
Warm air drying would probably be ideal.

To store the malt for any significant period of time you need to drop the
moisture level quite low  <5% - 'hand dry' isn't good enough.  You can
evaluate the moisture level by weighing a small sample before and after
baking out in the oven.  It's difficult to get malt this dry using 'wind
malt' methods.  Until you do get the malt very dry it may retain certain
grassy flavors that aren't very attractive and also be subject to fungal
attacks.

I have a new oven with a 100F proofing temp setting and a 140F
dehydrating/convection setting and the temp seems quite stable. I'll
probably try this for malt drying, *BUT* be aware that most ovens will have
huge temperature variation and can't be used for malting without thermally
buffering the malt in a pot - which won't permit convenient drying.

You'll find some other good articles on crystal and Munich malt at the site
above.  I find that a crock-pot set on high does a good job of temp control
for modifying crystal prior to kilning.

- --

I'd suggest you try making a brew or two with 15-20% unmalted millet to see
if you like that part of the flavor,  The malt will probably be better in a
beer, but if you don't like the predominant contributions unmalted, malting
won't solve that problem.    You *may* find information on malting millet or
other tiny grains by looking up a book with a title -  "Industrialization of
indigenous fermented foods".  Some very interesting topics in this book.

 -S




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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 07:03:10 -0500
From: "Snyder,Gary,TSG" <Gary.Snyder at nyscot.ang.af.mil>
Subject: Fermentation



	I am new to home brewing and have a question about fermentation.  I
am in the process of making an ale with all fuggles hops.  My fermentation
process started within 3 hours and within 6 hours I had a pretty rapid
fermentation.  This only lasted about 30 hours then all activity stopped.
Is this alright?


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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 07:08:46 -0500
From: "Lou King" <lking at pobox.com>
Subject: Moving Brews / RIMS Chamber and Heating Element

I don't know what is going on with Moving Brews.  The web site says that
they're taking a holiday/winter break.  They seem to have good products,
and I also want to work with a local company.

They sell what looks like a nice RIMS chamber and heating element.  Can
anyone recommend another vendor for similar products?  

Does anyone know what is going on?  I would wait if I knew they were
coming back online.

Lou King
Ijamsville, MD



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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 22:32:29 +1030
From: "Thomas D. Hamann" <tdhamann at senet.com.au>
Subject: Re:Radler

Radler is made with '7 Up' lemonade.

Thomas.

At 00:13 26/02/02 -0500, you wrote:
>Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 08:33:11 +1300
>From: Brian Myers <BrianM at AdvantageGroup.co.nz>
>Subject: radler and lemonade
>
>I really don't know anything about radlers, but it
>might interest you to know that the word "lemonade"
>is interpreted differently in various places.
>
>I didn't realise it until moving to New Zealand, but
>here, "lemonade" means 7-Up or Sprite. In the USA,
>lemonade means (usually) a non-carbonated drink made
>with lemon and sugar.
>
>Is a radler made with 7-Up, or with US-style lemonade?
>or is it something else?
>
>regards,
>Brian
>Auckland NZ
>
>





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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 07:56:25 -0500
From: "Peter Fantasia" <fantasiapeter at hotmail.com>
Subject: Weizen  yeast

Luke is having some problems with final gravity using 3068 Weihenstephan
weizen yeast.

Your terminal gravity of 1.018 sounds like an extract problem. If the
extract is high in dextrins no amount of yeast can lower the gravity beyond
a given point.

You might try using a dry wheat malt extract if you can find it. Munton
makes one that is 55% barley and 45% wheat. The dry extracts will also give
you a lighter color which will be more to style. I've also had good luck
with Breiss dry wheat malt extract.

I've used 3068 with both the above dry malts as well as all grain and the
final gravity was 1.008 - 1.010. You might also try leaving it a little
longer in secondary and even "rouse" the yeast to ensure all fermentables
have been consumed.

On another note a yeast that I've had very good results with and that often
get's ignored or badmouthed is Wyeast 3056. It is a mixed strain. You can
see in previous posts Schneider Weiss uses a mixed strain.

Good luck and keep us posted,
Pete "the madwheatman" Fantasia


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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 08:15:34 -0600
From: "Chuck Dougherty" <jdougherty at wlj.com>
Subject: Starkbierfest

My upcoming trip to Europe will include stops in Munich, Vienna, Prague,
and Budapest.  Since I will just happen to be in Munich during
Starkbierfest, I would like to sample a few of this season's
doppelbocks.   (By "a few" I of course mean as many as time allows.)  My
Google search turned up tons of hits on Starkbierfest, almost all of
which are in German (big surprise).  Could somebody point me to an
English-language source for the various breweries' Starkbierfest
schedules?  Also, I think I can figure out Vienna and Prague, but where
should I go for local brews and beer culture in Budapest?  Thanks in
advance.

Chuck Dougherty
Little Rock, AR
[694.8, 224.6] Rennerian (apparent)



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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 10:42:38 -0400
From: Daniel Chisholm <dmc at nbnet.nb.ca>
Subject: Re: Final Gravity Problems with Extract Based Wheat Beer and 3068

Luke Enriquez wrote:

> ...Wyeast 3068... Coopers liquid malt extract
> (in cans). Batch size was 21 liters, malt extract was 3.4kgs, with
> SG of 1.047. I noticed extract was darker than normal.
> .... Racked into secondary 
> after 7 days, gravity was 1.018. This sounds too high, especially 
> from a SG of only 1.047.
> 
> ... the malt might be up to 4 months old (hence
> the darkening). However, he assured me the flavour might
> change but the fermentability would not. He also mentioned that
> a FG of 1.020 was not unusal for wheat beers.

My two and only experiences with making wheat beers from extract have
been bad ones.  In both cases I suspect that the chief problem was
excessively old extract.

My first wheat beer was 23L from 3.0 kg Briess extract, OG 1.038 or so,
and Cooper's dry ale yeast.  This beer was quite dark, and had an FG of
about 1.020.  Also, the taste was all wrong, the closest I can describe
it is "molasses-ey".  Is this what people mean when they refer to "the
old-extract 'tang' taste"?

(The yeast wasn't pooped out, FWIW - I added some boiled corn sugar and
water to the 1.020-and-not-dropping beer, which would have made the OG
1.048.  This happily fermented out, leaving my FG at 1.020....argh!)

Last August I brewed what I meant to be a pale ale from extract.  I used
two 1.5 kg cans of Cooper's light malt extract plus about half a can
(already opened) of Cooper's wheat malt extract - or so I thought.  One
of the cans that I *thought* was light LME was in fact a wheat extract -
so in fact I used 1.5 cans of wheat plus 1 can of light LME.  Yeast was
Cooper's, OG was 1.054.  This batch turned out very similarly
(poorly!).  It's FG was 1.020, it was very very dark (perhaps the colour
of a Midlands mild, or a Newcastle Brown?), and that yucky "molasses-ey
tang" was right there.  FWIW the wheat malt extract cans had their end
slightly bulged (yeah, now I know better!).

I kegged it anyhow and set it aside, figuring it might get better
someday.  In fact I tasted it this morning, because I'm in the process
of triaging (read: sewering) my kegs of bad or second-rate beer, as I'm
brewing good beer these days and am running out of available kegs. 
Still tastes the same.  Looks brilliantly clear, colour is the same, FG
is still 1.020.  Now I need to quickly find an application for 18 litres
or so of this beer, or down the drain it goes too (perhaps some sort of
American-type barbeque sauce?)

The only other wheat beer I made was from a Brewhouse wort kit (15
litres of concentrated wort, dilute to 23 litres), and Wyeast 3068.  It
worked brilliantly, the beer that it made was very much a correct
Hefeweizen.  In fact I bought six bottles of fresh (? - expiry date July
2002) Paulaner Hefe-weissbier last week (suddenly turned up in New
Brunswick provincial liquor stores), and I'm now even more pleased with
how "my" Brewhouse beer (kit) came out last summer (interestingly, that
beer kept very well - last month we had some bottles of it, which would
have been 8-9 months old, and they were still very good - I thought
wheat beers were supposed to age badly).

> So, can anyone guess as to what I am doing wrong? Should wheat
> malt extract be this unfermentable? Does 3068 not work so well
> with extracts? Could my very soft Melbourne water not have 
> the right chemicals for this yeast? Is 23 deg cel so high, that the
> yeast quits prematurely? Should I become suspicious of the 
> malt extract and find another source or use dry malt extract.

I expect that there is not a problem with the 3068, your water or your
fermentation temp - I had exactly the same problems as you did (too
dark, high FG, and wrong taste).

As for the 3068 fermentation, recent posts here suggest that it takes a
long time to finish.  Mine was quick, but a friend using the same yeast
(I pitched my batch with his dregs) in an all-grain batch experienced a
vigourous primary ferment, but a very long (2-3 weeks) and active
secondary (continuous visible bubble production in beer) ferment.

> Sorry for so many questions, but I love my wheat beer, I dont
> have the time to do a full mash, but I wanted a nice summer
> drinking beer that was around 1.010. 

I'm really interested in how your second batch turns out.  I'm curious
whether we encountered an intrinsic problem with wheat extracts (you
just can't make a good tasting light coloured wheat beer from extract),
or if we simply discovered that you must positively use very fresh
extract.  Please report your results, whichever way they go!

(Hmmm, just before sending this I thought I'd go and get the date codes
from the cans of Cooper's extract that I used.  I brewed in August
2001.  The light malt extract says "08:29 BEST BEFORE 21 06 01", which I
assume is 21-June-2001 - so it was a bit past the expiry date, though I
have no idea how old this means it was.  The can was not bulged at its
and, and neither is its unopened sister can that is sitting here in
front of me.  The wheat extract is marked a bit differently, is says
"07:08 USE BY 10 02 20", which I can't reasonably decode.  The can ends
were bulged at the time that I made the beer)

Separately, let me thank the several HBD members who helped me with an
earlier question I had about why homebrew doesn't taste good when fresh,
and improves after several months aging, whereas microbrewery beer is
good for drinking in ten days (the consensus seemed to be "underpitching
by homewbrewers).  I've finally, *finally* gotten a large and healthy
enough yeast population going, and my last batch of "Maris Otter Blonde
Ale" (1.048) pitched onto the dregs of a Best Bitter (1.042) actually
had a real live yeast cake pancake on top of the beer, just like a real
brewery!  Next stop, 1.062 IPA......  I think I've settled on brewing a
Sister Star of The Sun, can anyone recommend a preferred IPA?  One huge
Wall-o-Hops flavour, aroma and bitterness, please!


- -- 
 - Daniel
Fredericton, NB  Canada


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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 09:37:09 -0500
From: Alan Meeker <ameeker at mail.jhmi.edu>
Subject: hop lineages

Thanks for pointing out the hop genetic analysis Mark. Has this work been
published anywhere? I'd like to see the whole thing. Some of the results
seem a bit puzzling to me. For instance, in the dendrogram, Cascade seems
very far removed from Fuggles yet, if I recall correctly, it originated in a
cross between Fuggles and a Russian variety.

 -Alan Meeker





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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 09:12:03 -0800 (PST)
From: David Passaretti <dpassaretti at yahoo.com>
Subject: re:finishing welds

I use a similar sanke/corny fermenter and also have
some rough welds on the inside. While you could go
through alot of trouble to smooth them out my rec
would be to leave them alone and not worry about it.
For starters, for most 10-12 gallon batches the
fermenting wort, even with a large krausen will never
come into contact with the weld so the risk is
minimal.
Second, the best way to sanitize these fermenters is
with heat. There are two methods, both of which I have
tried and used for several years without any infection
problems. Either put one quart of water in the bottom
and with the top loosley hanging in the fermenter,
boil (on a propane burner) for 15-20min. A little more
effettive I think, Is to close the top of the
fermenter and place a pressure guage on the gas out
side. Then heat to 15-20psi and hold for 20 min.  This
will kill all bugs without worry about rough welds or
15 galllons of sanitizer.



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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 09:24:12 -0800
From: "Kraus,Drew" <drew.kraus at gartner.com>
Subject: Servomyces experiment results (long)

Well, it's about time I got back to the collective regarding the results of
my little Servomyces experiment.  As a reminder, I'd read some glowing
reviews regarding Servomyces (a yeast nutrient currently being marketed only
to commercial brewers by White Labs - NAYYY - check out
http://www.yeastbank.com/features/servo.htm), and after managing to get my
mitts on some, I wanted to see just what effect it has on the fermentation
process and final product.  First of all, I'd like to thank those who
responded to my question regarding how to control for yeast-pitching
differences (controlling for variation between yeast batches and size of
pitch).  Opinions varied, and in the end I followed the advice of a number
of you, including Dr. Chris White at White Labs, and used separate pitchable
vials of the same strain (California Ale - WLP001) bearing the same batch
number.

Beyond that, my plan was to mash-up a 10-gallon batch of IPA (may have been
better choices for the 'spurriment, but I wanted an IPA on tap, soooo...)
then split it in half; boiling, hopping, cooling and pitching each sub-batch
consistently, with the only planned variation being the addition of a dose
of Servomyces added to the last 10 minutes of the boil of the second batch.
Now, I should note that the 10-gram packet of Servomyces that I was using is
enough to supply a 10-barrel batch of beer.  As I figure it, I should be
able to do about 30 10-gallon batches with that.  Herein lies the first
variable.  Not knowing anyone who would have a scale accurate enough to
measure out one-third of a gram (if you know what I mean... and I think you
do), I followed the advice of Bob Sheck and eye-balled it, following his
description of "no more than can be gathered on the blade of a jeweler's
screwdriver."  The good news is that White Labs hopes to have a homebrewer's
version of Servomyces on the market soon.

I brewed, cooled and pitched both batches.  As I'm still getting used to my
new brewing system, I ended up with closer to 8 gallons of 1.062 wort,
rather than the 10 gallons I'd been shooting for.  Oh well.  I chose not to
aerate, as I felt that it would be difficult to be consistent between
batches.  Among the things that I noticed with fermentation (in glass
carboys) were:
1) the Servomyces batch began showing signs of fermentation in about 8
hours, whereas the "control" batch took about 20 hours.
b) the krausen on the Servomyces batch was consistently about twice as high
as on the control (if there was half an inch on the Servo batch, there was a
quarter-inch on the control... at high krausen, there was about 3 inches
atop the Servo batch and (you guessed it) about 1.5 inches on the control)
iii) just watching the activity in the wort, the Servo batch seemed to have
a more active "churn" going, but I have no idea how to measure or even
describe the difference... perhaps there's a standard "snow globe"
measurement out there someone can point me to

 ... here's where thing got a little, umm, "interesting" with the process.
See, I hadn't counted on San Jose's cold snap happening right around then.
Cheap such-and-such that I am, even in the name of brewing pseudo-science
I'm not going to heat my apartment at night or while I'm away at work or out
of town.  That meant that the room temps in the ol' fermentation closet
would drop to around 55 degrees F for much of the day.  Hearty as WLP001 can
be, this was a bit much to ask.  The Servo batch slowed to a crawl (although
still able to lift the cap on the airlock) at a gravity reading of 1.018.
The control batch pooped-out all together (no airlock liftage) at a reading
of 1.024.  Tried rousting them, no luck.  Set up the old "desk lamp
incubator" in the fermentation closet... still no luck.  Finally, I gave in,
and still trying to keep things as consistent-ish, I split one more vial of
WLP001 (screw it, I eyeballed it this time!) between the two.  Turns out the
weather started warming a little in San Jose around that time too, and with
the desk lamp incubator doing its finest, the brew closet temps were closer
to 62 degrees F.  Fermentation activity perked up... and there was much
rejoicing.

I gave them another 2 weeks to finish off, and both did so.  The Servo batch
finished at 1.010.  The control batch finished at 1.013.  I kegged both
batches, carbonated at 12 PSI for a few days and started serving (at long
last!).  I imagine that the differences in the end product are directly
attributable to the FG difference. As an apprentice judge some observations
worthy of note were:
A) both batches settled well, although I wouldn't give either the "clean &
bright" visual description I've judged on some beers
**) there was a more pronounced hop aroma to the Servo batch, both
highlighted the caramel malt sweetness present in the recipe
III) the Servo batch had more pronounced hop bitterness and flavor, while
the control batch had a more "rounded" and smoother balance
iv) there was a bigger, softer mouthfeel to the control batch
5) "January 32nd - The Servomyces batch announced its presence with
authority.  The caramel sweetness set out in a frenzied dance across the
palate, chased feverently by a never-tiring and ultimately triumphant hops
bitterness spurred on by a well-carbonated, but not "fizzy" mouthfeel.  The
flavor of the Cascade hops didn't bother to wait for even the first sip to
commence, choosing instead to march right in with the aroma and set up shop
in the imbiber's quaffing experience, eventually sharing, though never
conceding territory to the malt sweetness at mid-glass, whilst a mild
alcohol charge kept the pot ever-stirring.  

Jan 33rd - The Control batch matched the aggressive hops "yin" with a warm,
friendly malt "yang".  Rivulets of hops flavor "cascaded" across the tongue,
playfully teasing the caramel malt undertones at mid-sip.  By sip's end,
said malt undertones had had just about enough of that and filed a complaint
with the IOC alleging tainted scoring by the west coast judge.  The IOC,
being in Utah, washed it's hands of the controversy stating that it had no
authority to mediate given that the contentious liquid's alcohol levels
exceeded local statutes anyhoo.  By mid-pint, however, the alcohol undertow
began to exude it's cheerful warmth, and working hand-in-hand with a sturdy
mouthfeel, peace and harmony reigned throughout the palate." (Please note
that the above judge failed to sign his score sheet, scrawling only the
initials "BK")

For what it's worth, those were my observations.  Feel free to ask questions
either directly to me or on the open forum.


Brew on!

Drew Kraus
San Jose, CA (Rennerian-challenged)



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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 12:28:55 -0500
From: Alan Meeker <ameeker at mail.jhmi.edu>
Subject: Dry lager yeast

Limited choice is still the most likely barrier to the widespread use of
dried lager yeast strains. Historically, the main problem with dried lager
yeasts has been that there just aren't that many. For reasons that are not
fully understood, lager strains don't hold up as well during the drying
process. A lot of work has gone into getting around this problem but, one
need only to look over the lists of available dry yeast strains to see that
this problem remains largely unsolved. If you have found that one of the few
available dry lager strains is working out for you then by all means use it!

 -Alan Meeker
Lazy Eight Attobrewery
Baltimore, MD



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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 12:09:53 -0600
From: Kevin_Bailey at bc.com
Subject: St. Sebastian Dark recipe?

A buddy of mine told me about St. Sebastian Dark.  He said it
was the best beer he'd ever had.  He said it came in a ceramic,
swing-top bottle. I had never heard of it but I would like to try
some for myself, so what better way than to brew some up.
Does anyone out there have an extract clone recipe?  Also,
I would like some idea what to expect in taste.

Thanks....
Kevin Bailey
DeRidder, LA


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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 12:12:53 -0700
From: "Bryan Keary" <bkeary at usa.net>
Subject: Brewing Software Recommendations?

Does anyone have any recommendations for brewing software?  I've looked at
ProMash (www.promash.com) which includes a lot of features, but it doesn't
seem to have any recipe search ability.  I'd like to be able to list all
recipes I have by style, type, etc.  Has anyone used this or other software,
and if so, what is your opinion?

Thanks,
Bryan Keary



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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 14:46:45 -0500
From: "Frank J. Russo" <fjrusso at coastalnet.com>
Subject: Dunkel Hefe Weizen

I recently made a Dunkel Hefe Weizen.  My color ended up around a SRM 12
more on the reddish side when I was looking for a 15-18 range.  But that is
not why I am posting.  I brought it to the last club meeting and it went
over well.  Everyone seemed to like it.  I used Wyeast 3333.  Fermented on
the low end of the Ale temperature range.  Full of bubble gum flavor. Now
that is what I want to change.  What recommendations do you have for a yeast
that will give me less bubble gum and more of the maltiness.  The clubs
conclusion was it is in the style of a Belgian Wheat.  I wanted Dunkel Hefe
Weizen.

Grain Bill   Lbs
2 row		4.50
wheat malt	5.25
Munich	0.25
crystal 60	0.38
Carvienne	0.25
Crystal 120	0.50
sugar dark	0.50

Frank Russo
ATF Home Brew Club
New Bern NC



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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 17:58:45 -0600
From: Gene Collins <GCollins at cranecarrier.com>
Subject: Re: Finishing welds

Marc Sedam asks what can be done to smooth out a stainless steel weld:

The best way to smooth out the weld is to use a high speed motor, such as
your Dremel, and a carbide bit to grind out all of the slag. Grind. Grind.
Grind.

If it had been welded correctly, namely with an argon gas purge applied to
the back side of the weld, it would have been a smooth, food grade weld job.
The rough surface is a byproduct of oxidation during the welding process.

Gene Collins
Broken Arrow, OK



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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 19:46:29 -0500
From: Paul Kensler <pkensler at comcast.net>
Subject: Keg relief valves - color / psi ratings

You know those screw-in relief valves on the top of Cornie kegs, the kind
with the ring pull?  Someone once told me that the color of the plastic
tells you what pressure the ring is rated for - does anyone know if there is
any truth to that?  And if so, what the colors / ratings are?  I've got
yellow, white, gray and black...  some of them are cross threaded (therefore
useless) and some of them won't hold more than 20-30 psi (say goodbye to
fast force-carbonation) so I'd like to get some replacements, but was
wondering if there really is any difference, or if they are just pretty
colors...


Thanks,
Paul Kensler
Gaithersburg, MD




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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 20:57:06 -0600
From: "Doug Hurst" <DougH at theshowdept.com>
Subject: CO2 through door

I am hoping that some of the gageteers in the collective might be able
to help me in my quest to dabble in their realm.  I have an upright
freezer with an external temperature controller.  I've been using it for
fermenting and for storing full cornies.  It occured to me (not long
before I purchased it) that I could also put a couple taps through the
door and keep a constant supply of homebrew at my finger tips. 
 
I have since installed one tap and am waiting for the second to arrive.
Installing the tap through the door was easy given the ready made stock
of shanks and taps available at every HB store.  After installing it, I
excitedly crammed two Cornies of fermenting bock (a split batch using
Wyeast 2206 and 2278,  I like the 2278) and one Cornie of carbonated
water into the box.  My CO2 tank just barely fit in the corner.  I
quickly became aware that keeping the CO2 tank inside the box takes up
too much space, is hard to adjust and a real pain if I want to turn the
gas off and disconnect it after a "session".  The reason for
disconnecting is that I found my tank empties faster than it should when
it's always on.  I suppose the gas is escaping through a slightly loose
connection or through the gas line itself.
 
So,  I would now like to keep the CO2 tank outside the freezer and run a
line through the door.  Ideally I would be able to disconnect the line
from both sides of the door as opposed to having a long piece of hose
protruding from the door.  The solution I concocted in my head was to
run a piece of threaded pipe through the door and attach a gas-in keg
plug to each end.  This would enable me to easily attach/detach both the
quick disconnect from my CO2 tank on the outside, and the door-to-keg
hose on the inside.  The problem I've run into is that I can't seem to
find a threaded pipe the same size as the keg plug.  I went to the
hardware store and ended up with a half measure consisting of a 1/4-inch
x 3-inch threaded pipe and two 1/4-inch Barb to FIP adapters.  Using
these would keep me from easily disconnecting the hose from the door due
to the fact that the hose would be clamped onto the barb in the door.
 
I'm hoping that someone knows the thread size and/or where I could
locate a threaded pipe of the same size as my ball-lock Cornie-keg
gas-in plug.  Alternatively, maybe someone could point out a beter way
to run CO2 into the freezer from the outside.
 
Thanks,
 
Doug Hurst
Chicago, IL
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2002 22:45:58 -0500
From: "Greg Collins" <gmc at setel.com>
Subject: Mash PH/ Water Analysis

Greetings:

I am looking for the cause of an extreme bitterness that develops in my
higher gravity beers (1.055). This strange uninvited phenomenon seems to
invite itself as the grain bill darkens.

The PH of my mash is always on the low side around 4.9 using Pale 2 row base
malts with no more than 5 or 6% dark grains (Crystal 60).  Even at that rate
I still have problems hitting that 5.1~ 5.3 target that is so important, or
is it? Will a few 1/10's make that big of a difference?

Here is a fresh analysis of the mineral content of my water to go along with
the above. It's amazing what those guys will do at the water company if you
tell them why you need it... :]  Do I need to do anything far as my water
is concerned?

PH = 7.0
Hardness = 79
Calcium = 24.6 ppm
Bicarbs = 41 ppm
Sodium = 10.62 ppm
Chloride = 23.1 ppm
Sulfate = 21.7 ppm
Magnesium = ? (too little to fuss with he said)

TIA

Cheers!!
gmc
Appalachian Mountains
Eastern, KY






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