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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  VB Clone ("Graham L Sanders")
  Spalt and Mt. Hood Leaf Hops ("Vinbrew Supply")
  re: Bazooka Screen Usage (Paul Kensler)
  Minikegs ("Dan Listermann")
  Tom Servo (Alan Meeker)
  Chico Homebrew Competition - Judges Needed ("John Maretti")
  Mt Hood and Spalt Whole Hops ("Steve Garrett")
  my beer BITES ! (Darrell.Leavitt)
  Converting Extract Recipes to All Grain ("Jeff Storm")
  re: Mash Panic ("Kent Fletcher")
  Pressure sanitization ("Steve Heffner")
  re:sankorney (David Passaretti)
  Canberra Brewers - new website (TOLLEY Matthew)
  MCAB-IV Conference Registration Now On-Line! ("Chuck Bernard")


*
* Drunk Monk Challenge Entry Deadline is 3/16/02!
* http://www.sgu.net/ukg/dmc/ for more information
*
* Maltose Falcons 2002 Mayfaire Competition 
* Entries accepted 4/1/02 - 4/11/02
* http://www.maltosefalcons.com for details
*
* Show your HBD pride! Wear an HBD Badge! 
* http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/shopping
*
* MCAB-IV - April 12-13, 2002 - Cleveland Ohio
* See http://www.hbd.org/mcab for more info
*
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy!
*

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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 09:34:02 +1000
From: "Graham L Sanders" <craftbrewer at bigpond.com>
Subject: VB Clone

G'Day All

Well its confirmed. Seems we have lot another tourist to one of our salties.
This bozo actually said he wanted to see them close up, so when he was
told where he could view them at a safe distance, he naturally went.
Found the viewing site was too far away, so drove right down to the bank,
and walked along the waterline to get a closer look. All they have found
of him is his car and drag marks on the bank.

Now the best part is this guy came from the same area as noted expurts
in brewing as Phil Yates and David Lamotte. But I wont be seeing
Phil anymore. Seems he has been grounded, flying those death coffins
arround Australia. He has been told by management in no uncertain terms
to stay at home and improve his brewing skills, although the actual words
were from the boss, after he gave a sample "Dont come to work til you
can make something drinkable". I dont expect him back in the air.

But it was asked by John
Subject: Clones required

Has anyone got a an all grain recipe for the following brews:
Victoria Bitter (Australian brew referred to by some as the green death
as it comes in a green can!)<<<<<<<<

Well yes I do actually. But you might find the going difficult. Now
VB is typically one of the mega-swills brewed in this country that have
gone over to hop oils/extracts. You can actually get the extract they
use over here, but thats only if you live in the highlands of Australia
and have no taste.

Another difficulty will be the malt. The malsters over here make a
dextrinous malt of a kind we call schooner malt. This malt if you use
in a all grain brew makes a very cloyey/sweet beer, but is ideal if you
 add a lot of sugar, which VB does.The malt is similar in general to
MO ale malt colour wise but more dextrinous.

So the actual receipe is
19 litres, aiming 4.8% v/v

2.0 kg Schooner Malt
0.1 kg Medium Crystal Malt
0.7 kg Cane Sugar

Drop infusion 67-68C

15 IBU Hop extract

Ferment lager yeast and lager only til diacetyl is removed
and serve. (they do it for only two weeks).

OK for Craftbrewers.
I would have
2.0 kg Pale Malt
0.1 kg Mild Crystal
0.7 kg Dextrose

Drop Infuse mash at the high end (say 69-70C) Mind you,
I haven't your local malts to get more dextronous, perhaps
a local can comment.

Pride of Ringwood is essential, get it!!!!!!! Its an Aus signature
to all our beers. Use it also in the flavour of the beer, 10 grams
at 10 minutes. It actually a good flavour hops, highly under-rated.

Ferment at 15C with 4 packets of a good dried lager yeast,
lager two weeks and serve.

Believe me, this is a close receipe for a clone between
XXXX and VB.

Shout
Graham Sanders

Oh to those who like to contact me, note the new e-mail address,
it changed. And for those interested, Tommy The Toe Eating Toadfish,
has still not been caught. The bounty for this toe tickler is now
$500.00. Seems people have tried, but he bites the hooks
clean thru. They make em tough in North Queensland.






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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 07:45:19 -0500
From: "Vinbrew Supply" <devans at greenapple.com>
Subject: Spalt and Mt. Hood Leaf Hops

Mike asks........
On a second note, I was
told that Mt Hood and Spalt hops are not available in leaf form by LD
Carlson or the other vendor that our local supply store carries...  Is =
this
true?

 I have both Spalt and Mt. Hood in Leaf Form.  The Spalt of course is
imported from
Germany....I will be more then happy to wholesale some of the said hops to
your LHBS...


Doug Evans
Vinbrew Supply
1-800-905-9059





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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 05:52:45 -0800 (PST)
From: Paul Kensler <paul_kensler at yahoo.com>
Subject: re: Bazooka Screen Usage

Mike,
Strange - I've used my Bazooka T screen several times
with hop pellets, and its never even slowed down in
the runoff.  In fact, it tends to let a few too many
hop bits through in my opinion but I'm happy to accept
that instead of clogging (which my many home-made
manifold variations did before when using pellets).  
My kettle is a converted Sankey (rounded bottom), and
so the Bazooka T doesn't quite reach all the way to
the bottom - I typically have one or two quarts of
hops / break / wort sludge at the bottom of the kettle
after runoff so perhaps this helps keep my Bazooka
above most of the hop pellet sludge.  I also use an
immersion chiller so the wort has time to settle
before runoff.  Have you tried boiling the pellets in
a muslin hop bag?  That might help to contain most of
the hop matter and keep it away from the Bazooka
screen.  Or depending on the geometry of your kettle,
maybe you can raise the Bazooka up an inch or so?

I don't know about L.D. Carlson, but as for whole
hops, have you tried Freshops or Hoptech
(www.freshops.com or www.hoptech.com)?  They both
stock a great selection of whole hops - in fact, thats
all Freshops carries.  

I strongly prefer whole hops too, but I've managed to
acquire or win some really neat hop varieties in
pellets that I wouldn't otherwise have in whole form
that I've been experimenting with...  Santiam,
Crystal, Sterling.  Sorry to hear your Bazooks is
clogging...


Hope this helps,
Paul Kensler
Gaithersburg, MD



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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 10:03:55 -0500
From: "Dan Listermann" <dan at listermann.com>
Subject: Minikegs

>From: "Ron L" <j4ckstr4w at hotmail.com>
>Subject: mini keg advice

>Does anyone use a mini-keg system?  I have seen a bunch of different types
>out there.  Is there one that is better than the rest?  Any help would be
>great.

We make the Philtap which is generally intended for the five liter German
minikegs.  Check it out at www.listermann.com .  Since it works horizontally
as well as vertically, it is showing itself to be quite versatile.  We are
developing ways of using it with Party Pigs, Tap-a-Draft 6 liter bottles, 3
liter soda pop bottles and one gallon juice jugs.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly at
dan at listermann.com .
Thanks

 Dan Listermann

Check out our E-tail site at http://www.listermann.com

Take a look at the anti-telemarketer forum.  It is my new hobby!




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Date: Thu, 07 Mar 2002 10:41:57 -0500
From: Alan Meeker <ameeker at mail.jhmi.edu>
Subject: Tom Servo

Concerning Servomyces, Rob Moline posted:
- ---------------
If you are fortunate enough to get some Servo, just take a 'smidgen',
(a scientific term for a speck") and add it to your boiling wort. (There
have been studies done that state 'no upward limit' on zinc.....)
And I have had good reports on Servo usage by homebrewers. in 5 gallon
batches.

Personally, I use it full strength for 7-14 BBL batches, and find it
cuts 20-25 % off my ferment times. Re-pitches using yeast propped with Servo
rock.
- -----------------

One word of caution here, Zn can be growth-inhibitory to yeast at levels
that would not be difficult to achieve via supplementation of one's brewing
water. At least, that's certainly true if one is using ZnCl2, I'm not sure
how much Zn is actually contributed by Servomyces, or how much one would
typically use, so don't know how much you'd have to add to actually reach
toxic levels using this as your Zn source (if I remember correctly, zinc can
become growth inhibitory starting at concentrations of about 2ppm).

The ranges for Zn already present in a "typical" (12 deg Plato) all grain
wort are in the neighborhood of 0.10 - 0.20ppm, but variables such as water
source/purification, trub removal, etc. can have major impacts on the final
amount of Zn actually found in any given wort. Yeast require about
0.20-0.50ppm Zn for robust growth during fermentation (in part, dependent
upon yeast strain), so it's likely that many brewer's worts lie just on the
edge of the desired range and, therefore, may benefit from modest Zn
supplementation. One easy way to assure adequate Zn levels is to supplement
the wort with ZnCl2. Again, the danger here is that you only need to make a
/tiny/ addition to reach optimum levels, so if you are sloppy, you could
overdo it and actually end up /inhibiting/ the yeast - just the opposite of
the desired effect!

A conservative approach, and the one I currently employ, is to shoot for an
increase of 0.20ppm Zn. This will produce a sufficient Zn concentration in
the final wort even in the unlikely event that you were starting out with
0ppm to begin with. On the other hand, the amount added is kept low enough
here, that even worts starting out on the high end of the "typical"
spectrum, say 0.20ppm, will not become too high and, therefore, inhibitory.

The amount of solid ZnCl2 required to supplement the standard 5 gal homebrew
batch size to 0.20 ppm is on the order of 8 mg. For solid ZnCl2 this is a
grain about the size of a pinhead(!), so you see why it would be very easy
to overdo it, especially for homebrewers who are used to adding things like
CaSO4 or MgSO4 in teaspoon quantities. On the other hand, the fact that you
need add so little to fully supplement a batch means the costs of doing so
are vanishingly small, which brings me to my last point, whether it is
worthwhile to use Servomyces as a source for Zn supplementation. Again, I
don't know what the cost of a typical Servo addition is for a 5 gallon
batch, but it certainly will be more expensive than using ZnCl2. In
addition, based on the comparisons I saw a couple of years ago, it didn't
look like there was convincing evidence for a significant benefit to be had
from using Servo as opposed to ZnCl2 and some form of yeast nutrient (which
Servo also supplies). If it were me, I'd weigh the costs of the two
approaches and use whatever was cheaper.

I know Brauwelt published a paper titled "Zinc problem solved?" which dealt
with this issue. If anyone has this I'd like to take a look at it.

 -Hope this helps

 -Alan Meeker



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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 08:39:06 -0800
From: "John Maretti" <jmaretti at saber.net>
Subject: Chico Homebrew Competition - Judges Needed

The Chico Hombrew Club will be having an officially sanctioned AHA
competition this May.  Judginw will be done at Sierra Nevada Brewery on May
18th (and 19th if necessary).

More information and entry forms are available at the Club website at:
http://www.saber.net/~jmaretti/chico_homebrew_club/

Schedule of events:
April 15 - May 4: Entries and forms will be accepted
May 18: Preliminary Judging at Sierra Nevada Brewery
May 19: Final Judging if required
May 22: Opening Day of Chico Silver Dollar Fair
May 22 - May 27: Award Winners placed on Exhibit, and web page



   HOMEBREW COMPETITION ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
1. Registration forms, entries and fees must be received no later than May
4, 2002. Registration fees are $5.00 per entry, Make checks payable to:
"CHICO HOMEBREWER'S CLUB"
2. Entry Delivery: Entries and entry fees are due between April 15, 2002 and
May 4, 2002.
Ship or deliver in person between April 15, 2002 and May 4, 2002 to:
            The Home Brew Shop
            1570 Nord Ave
            Chico, CA 95926
            530-342-3768
3. No late entries will be accepted.
4. For more information, contact Larry Rauen at 530-894-2624 or
wetlands at prodigy.net




                                    HOMEBREW JUDGING TIME and PLACE
On Saturday, May 18, 2002, judging will begin at 10:00 a.m. in close session
at Sierra Nevada Brewery.  Experienced and BJCP Certified judges as well as
Stewards are needed. If interested please contact our Judging Coordinator
Jim Livingston at (530) 877-8311or e-mail at whtspringsbrewer at aol.com or
Event Organizer Larry Rauen at (530) 894-2624 or e-mail at
wetlands at prodigy.net.









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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 09:38:51 -0700
From: "Steve Garrett" <sdginc at prodigy.net>
Subject: Mt Hood and Spalt Whole Hops

"Rogers, Mike" sez:
<On a second note, I was
told that Mt Hood and Spalt hops are not available in leaf form by LD
Carlson or the other vendor that our local supply store carries...  Is this
true?>

Don't know about that but I know you can get
Mt Hood and Spalt Select whole hops (2001 crop) from:
www.freshops.com
No affiliation, yada yada yada, just a satisfied customer.
Steve
Centennial CO





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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 13:10:18 -0500
From: Darrell.Leavitt at esc.edu
Subject: my beer BITES !

Well, not all of it, but this last batch that I bottled is BITTER!

  I am really not certain, but have some ideas as to the cause/s.

  This was the third use of a SF Lager yeast (WhiteLabs wlp810), and for
its second use...I added Safale s04 Dry ale yeast.....perhaps this was a
mistake...ie saving/ reusing dry yeast?

  Here is the recipe:

6 lb Canada Maltings 6 row
2 lb Wheat malt
 .5 lb Rye Malt
1 lb Flaked Triticale

(perhaps it was that much rye...with the triticale?)

2 step infusion:  146 or so for 60, 158 or so for 60

90 minute boil

Hops were: 1 0z Cascade at 60
                        1 oz Fuggles at 30
                         same at 15, with .5 oz Cascade...
Perhaps too much hops?  The style calls for 35-45 ibu, and this came out at
43.6

og was 1.054
fg was 1.014

It tastes REALLY bitter...can it be the reused Safale yeast, the hops, the
rye and trit?,....or all 3???

Any helpful thoughts would be appreciated...

 ..Darrell



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Date: Thu, 07 Mar 2002 10:12:01 -0800
From: "Jeff Storm" <stormyjeff at lycos.com>
Subject: Converting Extract Recipes to All Grain

I have tried to find some information in brewing books, but no 
luck yet.  Maybe I am just missing the info somewhere.

Anyway, I am trying to figure out how to convert extract recipes 
to all grain.  Is there any conversion method to change the lbs 
of extract to pounds of grain?

I have found some information in John Palmer's book, 
"How To Brew" regarding the calculation of grain needed to 
achieve a desired gravity. My math deficient brain is having 
trouble figuring any conversion from extract to lbs of grain 
though.  Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Private emails are welcome.

Thanks,

Jeff Storm
Louisville, CO





2,000,000,000 Web Pages--you only need 1. Save time with My Lycos.
http://my.lycos.com


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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 11:45:56 -0800
From: "Kent Fletcher" <kfletcher at socal.rr.com>
Subject: re: Mash Panic

Actually, Eric, it's the other way round.  The higher the altitude, the
LOWER the boiling point.  Water boils at 212 deg F at mean sea level, and is
down somewhere near 190 at 12,500 ASL, the altitude of Lake Titicaca.  I,m
sure homebrewers in Denver know their water boils around 203.  Here's a
handy reference for the more elevated among us:
http://www.fetco.com/boilingpoint.htm
Cheers!
Kent
> From: Eric Miller <ac051 at osfn.org>
> Dave Larsen writes:
> > I pulled the thermometer out and plunged it into some
> > boiling water.  It read 236F degrees.  The culprit was
> > unveiled.  Bad thermometer.  Bad!
> Hold on there, Dave!  You didn't mention where you're writing from.
> So, for example, if you live near Lake Titicaca in the Andes, your
> thermometer might just be correct! :-)




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Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002 13:49:37 -0600
From: "Steve Heffner" <potatopotato at earthlink.net>
Subject: Pressure sanitization

I've heard several comments about sanitation by pressure mentioned 
for Sankeys, and thought I'd make a point.  Pressure does not 
sanitize; temperature does.  When you use a pressure cooker, you 
pressurize to raise the *temperature* of the water and therefore the 
vessel above 212F.  If you are boiling a small amount of water in the 
bottom of a keg, the top of the keg is not getting near boiling temps,
and the pressure alone will not do the job.  You will need either a 
lot of water or some type of insulation on the upper end.

Keep on brewin'!

Steve Heffner
West End Brewery
La Grange, IL
[210.6,262.3] Rn, apparently



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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 13:44:24 -0800 (PST)
From: David Passaretti <dpassaretti at yahoo.com>
Subject: re:sankorney

Heat is indeed what sterilizes in a pressure cooker or
autoclave and 20psi is more than adequate to destroy
any organisms lurking in nooks and crannies. Not a 
problem.
As far as relieving pressure goes I would not. Simply
let the keg stand at room temp for 20-30 min and the
temp and pressure will drop by themselves. I heat mine
up as I begin my mash and by the boil it is at room
temp. Simply leave the guage on. Temperature and
pressure are directly rated so just look at the guage
to determine when it is cool enough. Atmospheric
pressure=room temp.



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Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002 12:58:03 +1100
From: TOLLEY Matthew <matthew.tolley at atsic.gov.au>
Subject: Canberra Brewers - new website

Hi all

Please note the new address for the Canberra Brewers website:

http://canberrabrewers.org

I submitted a form at
http://www.brewery.org/brewery/infobase/club/au_NSW.html to update the
club's details a while ago, but the link hasn't been updated yet.  Anybody
know who I can suck up to to get it changed?

Cheers!
 ...Matt...

Canberra Brewers
http://canberrabrewers.org
mailto:info at canberrabrewers.org







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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 21:29:22 -0500
From: "Chuck Bernard" <bernardch at mindspring.com>
Subject: MCAB-IV Conference Registration Now On-Line!

Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing IV
Renaissance Hotel [122.6, 115.9] Apparent Rennerian
&
Great Lakes Brewing Company [122.6, 116.5] Apparent Rennerian
Cleveland OH
April 12 - 13, 2002

For those planning to attend MCAB-IV, the on-line registration for the
technical confernence is now up and running!  www.hbd.org/mcab - Click on
the "Event Registration" link on the left.

We've settled on a technical conference fee of $50 which includes Saturday's
Technical Conference, Local Homebrew, and the Awards Dinner Saturday
Evening.  We've made the registration process easy, with a "send no money
now" type registration.  Payment can be made when checking in for MCAB
either Friday evening at the hotel judging room or Saturday morning at the
Brewery.

We feel we've assembled a great list of conference speakers, a complete list
can be found on the MCAB website, click on "Conference Details."

Also, if you're planning to judge, be sure to complete the On-line Judge
Registration Form, click on "Judge Registration."  Note:  If you're planning
to judge AND attend the Technical Conference, you will need to fill out both
registration forms.

Finally, if you're an MCAB Qualifying Brewer and planning to send entries to
the competition, the entry window extends from March 18, 2002 through April
1, 2002.  Click on the "Rules" link for complete entry details.

Hope to see you in Cleveland!

Chuck Bernard          bernardch at mindspring.com
Medina, OH [128.9, 128.5] Apparent Rennerian
Competition Organizer and Judge Director - MCAB-IV





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