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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  SAM ADAMS UTOPIA MMII ("George Krafcisin")
  Bar Harbor (douganb)
  ohio EtOH legislation (David Harsh)
  Re: scorched malt (Jeff Renner)
  Why we brew (leavitdg)
  Carboy covers (IndSys, SalemVA)" <Douglas.Moyer at indsys.ge.com>
  Re: freezing yeast (Spencer W Thomas)
  Yeastcicles & Birre di Italia ("Charles R. Stewart")
  Re: HT yeast ("JZ")
  Bread Yeast ("Colby Fry")
  BT back isssues.... anybody get any? (RiedelD)
  RE: Carboy Light shield ("Galen Brelie")
  Thermocouple Wire (Al Klein)
  Hot Pepper Beer (Al Klein)
  Current Events - Alcohol Legislation (Al Klein)
  Bubbles in my tubing (Al Klein)
  CAP at MCAB (Jeff Renner)
  quick disconects (carlos benitez)


* Maltose Falcons 2002 Mayfaire Competition 
* Entries accepted 4/1/02 - 4/11/02
* http://www.maltosefalcons.com for details
*
* MCAB-IV - April 12-13, 2002 - Cleveland Ohio
* See http://www.hbd.org/mcab for more info
*
* HOPS BOPS XIX   Entry Deadline 4/17/2002
* Details: http://www.netaxs.com/~shady/hops/   
*
* Show your HBD pride! Wear an HBD Badge! 
* http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/shopping
*
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy!
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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 08:00:30 -0500
From: "George Krafcisin" <gkrafcisin at mindspring.com>
Subject: SAM ADAMS UTOPIA MMII

GlacierAccording to the newspaper last week, Sam Adams just released 3,000
bottles of Utopia MMII, a "beer" with 24% alcohol.  Jim Koch, Adam's
founder, brewed it because he "just wanted to see what would happen if I
took beer to an alcohol level it had never been to before."  The paper says
the Chicago shipment was sold out before it got to the distributor at a cost
of $100 per 24 oz. bottle, and bids on eBay have reached $330.

Two questions:

1). Is this a thing that an average homebrewer could do? Or would one
require the resources of a small megabrewer? Koch says it took a lot of
babysitting, plus seven years of aging to get there.  He's working on a 50
proof "beer" for his next project.

2).  I have an uneasy feeling that this kind of thing would bring
homebrewing into the arena of pretentious wine connoisseurs.  No one has
reported actually tasting the Utopia brew;  apparently they just want to
invest in it. Does anyone feel a snob alert coming on?  (Give credit to
Koch:  he said, "To buy something this good and not drink it, to me that's
alcohol abuse . . . If you want an investment, buy pork bellies.")

George "That's a sassy little vintage" Krafcisin
Glencoe, IL



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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 10:00:06 -0400 (EDT)
From: douganb at plattsburgh.edu
Subject: Bar Harbor

Spending a long weekend in Bar Harbor, Maine this weekend.  Suggestions for 
places to be sure and visit?

Brian


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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 09:35:28 -0400
From: David Harsh <dharsh at fuse.net>
Subject: ohio EtOH legislation

Greetings-
     As noted, the Ohio House has passed a law increasing the alcohol in
what is legally defined as "beer".  If you are interested in the details
and wish to look at it, the full text can be read seen at:
http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=124_HB_371

     You can download it from this page as a PDF, but its around 1200 k,
so there's lots beside the definition of beer.  (other controlled
substances and permitting issues are also mentioned)  I have not had a
chance to read the fine print - if anyone else gets the time before I do
I'd be interested.

Dave Harsh
Bloatarian Brewing League            Cincinnati, OH



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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 09:36:27 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <JeffRenner at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: scorched malt

Bob Schaffer-Neitz <rschaff at ptd.net>Bob Schaffer-Neitz writes from 
Northumberland, PA:

>I've been finding a fair amount of scorched residue on the bottom of 
>my pot.  Does anyone have any tips on how to remove this stuff 
>without depassivating my pot?  Also, any tips on preventing it, 
>other than the obvious 
>turn-the-flame-way-down-till-the-extract-is-stirred-in?

Actually, the method is to turn the flame OFF until the extract is 
completely dissolved.  when I first started brewing nearly 30 years 
ago, I had the same problem, along with a scorched flavor in all my 
beers.  Finally I realized what was happening.  When the brew water 
came to a boil I poured the liquid extract in and it settled down 
right on the bottom and burned.

So turn the burner off and wait for the boiling to stop (residual 
heat from the ss pot bottom).  Add the extract and stir until it's 
all dissolved, then bring to a boil again.  I'll bet that the quality 
of your beer improves too.

>Still working up the courage and equip for the jump to AG. ...
>
>I like beer. ... I live in a zymurgical and regulatory wasteland ... 
>I've always had an interest in things scientific ... I have a 
>much-neglected creative side ... My proudest brewing day to date was 
>last Saturday when I
>opened the first bottle of the IPA whose recipe I concocted out of my own
>little head (or a$$ if you choose to be uncharitable) and found it to be
>very, very, very good.

You realize that with this attitude you are doomed to brew all grain 
very soon.  Resistance is futile.

Jeff

- -- 
***Please note my new address***

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


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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 10:17:05 -0400 (EDT)
From: leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu
Subject: Why we brew

Larry starts us thinking about why we brew.  

For me, still comparatively young to the hobby (5 years)....it is
the "big moments" that keep me going.  

Beyond the obvious, tasting
the newly made brew for the first time, 
there are several other
"peak experiences" for me in brewing:

1  The WONDERFUL smell in the brewhaus when I mash in!

2  The excitement/ anticipation of first runnings!

3  The moment when the yeast takes off!  Great!

4  Taking a gravity reading, then tasting the young beer as it goes
   into secondary...YUM!(sometimes)

5  Seeing the smile on a friend when s/he tries a new brew...even
   a "yuk" is a blast!

  For me, if there were not these "peak moments" interspersed among
all the cleaning, and cleanup...there would be insufficient motivation
to brew.  I think that these sort of moments are intrinsic and warrant
the attention of Social Psychologists!

 ..Darrell







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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 10:06:08 -0400
From: "Moyer, Douglas (IndSys, SalemVA)" <Douglas.Moyer at indsys.ge.com>
Subject: Carboy covers

Brewers,
	Many solutions to keeping the light out of a fermenting carboy.
(Well, the fermenting contents of the carboy...) Some more complicated than
others, as is everything in this hobby. I use a regular t-shirt. I put the
airlock through one of the sleeves. I then put the neck opening over the
airlock so that the airlock comes out of the other sleeve. Pretty simple,
and no gaps where the neck opening or sleeves are...


Brew on!
Doug Moyer
Salem, VA

[394.9, 147.9] Apparent Rennerian

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







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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 10:28:51 -0400
From: Spencer W Thomas <spencer at engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: freezing yeast 

>>>>> "Peter" == Peter Fantasia <fantasiapeter at hotmail.com> writes:

    Peter> The key is to use CANE sugar. 

I assume that you mean "sucrose" and "not CORN sugar (dextrose)" here.
There is absolutely no difference beetween sucrose from sugar cane and
sucrose from sugar beets.  "White sugar" is refined to within an inch
of its life, the yeast will not notice the difference.

I'll leave it to others to debate whether a sucrose solution is better
than a dextrose solution for yeast storage, because I have no way to
back up either position scientifically. :-)

=Spencer


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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 11:00:50 -0400
From: "Charles R. Stewart" <Charles at TheStewarts.com>
Subject: Yeastcicles & Birre di Italia

On Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2002, Pete Fantasia informed us about freezing yeast:

<< The key is to use CANE sugar. Take 3/8 Cup cane sugar and 1 cup water and
boil covered 15 minutes to sanitize. Add equal parts of this solution and
yeast slurry (preferably from an extra clean primary ferment) to a sanitized
container (zip lock works for me). Freeze preferably in a freezer at 0
degrees F that is NOT frost free. The warming and cooling cycles that make
them frost free are not healthy for the yeast. I'm sure you could store the
yeast under less than ideal conditions for less time.Voila, one yeast-cicle.

To reactivate the yeast make a one qt. starter and when cooled to room
temp(I put the pot in a sink of cold water, takes about 10 min) add an oz.
or two of your yeast-cicle ( two heaping Tablespoons) Allow to dissolve and
then pour into your starter container and shake to aerate. You should have a
starter ready to go within 24 hours. Yeast can be stored like this for at
least one year. After that step up starter from a small 8 oz. till active
and then go to 1 qt.>>

Pete -  This is GREAT!  I don't usually use the same yeast twice within the
span of a couple of months, so I plan on using this method from now on.  I
think, however, I'll use a sterilized ice cube tray in a labeled and dated
zip-lock bag, then just pop them out into the same bag to store.  That way,
I can just step-up one cube.  If the yeast is older, I can use a couple.

And Rosalba e Massimo illuminated us on Beer and Homebrewing in Italy and
gave us a few links, like  www.unionbirrai.com (italian only)- site of the
Unionbirrai association, www.hobbybirra.it (italian only) - reference site
of italian beer newsgroup, and italian homebrewing, and
http://it.hobby.birra (italian only, but most of us understand english if
you want to post questions) italian newsgroup on beer (both homebrewing and
beer appreciation, and  www.maxbeer.org (my site, also english
version)italian micros addresses and reviews, homebrewing (not advanced...
more useful for italian beginners).

Max -  I really enjoyed these sites, with the help of
http://babelfish.altavista.com to translate (Non parlo italiano).  And don't
belittle your site!  You've done quite a nice job.  I really enjoyed the
beer & R.E.M. page!

Chip Stewart
Gaithersburg, MD, USA
Charles at TheStewarts.com
http://Charles.TheStewarts.com

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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 09:10:28 -0700
From: "JZ" <jamilz at citlink.net>
Subject: Re: HT yeast

It seems to me that you'd need to plate out the yeast after each attempt. If
you just keep repitching the yeast from batch to batch, you're going to end
up with a yeast that will ferment warm, but with no control over flavor
characteristics.

So, my thoughts go something like this:

1) Inoculate ten 35 ml vials of wort.
2) Ferment out at 100F.
3) Taste and choose the least fusel, most desirable tasting.
4) Plate that out on ten plates.
5) Inoculate ten 35 ml vials from the ten plates.
6) Repeat.

Eventually it seems you might get some interesting results and won't have
much trouble with bacteria. Might be fun.

Jamil Zainasheff

>Good concept.  It would be a boon to all those breweries in
>the hotter areas of the world. Like an inverse steam yeast
>(clean with high temps).
>
>The only problem I see about trying to do some "forced
>genetics" is that fermenting in warm wort will also allow
>any stray bacteria to grow faster as well.  One of the
>reasons we want to chill to pitching temps quickly is to
>give the yeast a competitive advantage (temp) and start
>fermenting to create an environment less hospitable to
>"bugs."  It might take a great deal more separation (and
>attention to sanitation in the real batches, should you
>succeed) to know whether you get a clean ferment.





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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 15:46:57 -0400
From: "Colby Fry" <colbyfry at pa.net>
Subject: Bread Yeast

There is a local Amish bakery store near my house and they sell bread yeast by
the pound (red star) at a inexpensive price ~.50 an ounce. Since beer need
nutrients and dead yeast can supply them, I was curious if the bread yeast
(pitched during boil) will help feed the yeast? How much yeast? What time
should it be added? Has anyone tried this and can report their findings?
Thanks in advance.
Colby Fry
colbyfry at pa.net
"Dictators ride to and fro upon tigers which they dare not dismount. And the
tigers are getting hungry."
 -Sir Winston Churchill, November 11, 1937




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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 19:11:08 -0400
From: RiedelD at pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Subject: BT back isssues.... anybody get any?

I asked the company handling the BT back issues about
honouring my owed issues... no response.  Did anyone actually
order, pay for and subsequently receive any back-issues?

I'm thinking of ordering 5.3 and 5.4 to get parts I and II of the
Brewing in Styles: Lambic series.  As a bonus, 5.3 contains the
PU article.

cheers,
Dave Riedel
Victoria, Can.


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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 19:23:14 -0500
From: "Galen Brelie" <gmbaaa at ncis.com>
Subject: RE: Carboy Light shield

I use an appropriately sized black plastic garbage bag as a light shield
around my carboys.  On the bottom of the bag cut an elliptical hole the size
of the carboy neck and slip the bag over the carboy like putting on a T-shirt.
This is very easy, inexpensive, and works very well at keeping light out.   As
with most things in homebrewing there are numberous ways to accomplish the
same thing.  This is just how I accomplish this.

Galen Brelie
Mora, MN (75 miles north of Minneapolis/St. Paul)




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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 21:12:20 -0400
From: Al Klein <rukbat at optonline.net>
Subject: Thermocouple Wire

john.mcgowan asked:

>Does anyone out there have a spare four feet of 20 gauge T-Type thermocouple
>wire they could part with? (I know that I'll screw it up at least once) Or can
>anyone offer an alternative solution

Thermocouple wire (the wire used to connect the thermocouple to
whatever it's connected to, not the wire that makes up the
thermocouple itself) is just insulated low-voltage wire.  Try Radio
Shack.  The wire they use for connecting intercoms should be perfect -
thin and flexible and very cheap.
- ---
[Apparent Rennerian 567.7, 95.9] 
Al - rukbat at optonline dot net


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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 21:12:23 -0400
From: Al Klein <rukbat at optonline.net>
Subject: Hot Pepper Beer

Colby Fry asked:

>I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for a hot pepper beer. This
>could be in the form of recipe's, best types of peppers, grains that
>compliment the heat from the peppers etc. Is this a worthwhile project or am I
>just getting carried away?

It's a worthwhile project but, as far as which peppers to use, let
your taste be your guide.  They all have different flavors.  If all
you want is hot, throw some tabasco sauce into your beer.
- ---
[Apparent Rennerian 567.7, 95.9] 
Al - rukbat at optonline dot net


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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 21:12:23 -0400
From: Al Klein <rukbat at optonline.net>
Subject: Current Events - Alcohol Legislation

Mark Tumarkin posted:

>Are we having a spontaneous burst of governmental good sense in regard to
>alcohol laws?
[snip]

>OHIO MAY RAISE ALCOHOL LIMIT ON BEER
>A bill that would change the way beer is defined and sold in Ohio has
>passed the House of Representatives and moves on to the Senate.
>Independence Republican Jim Trakas introduced the measure that would
>boost the maximum alcohol in what is called beer from 6% to 12%.

Better, not good.  What's needed is a law defining beer as a
non-distilled alcoholic beverage made predominantly from cereal
grains.  I won't be holding my breath.

But 12% doesn't exclude much, does it?
- ---
[Apparent Rennerian 567.7, 95.9] 
Al - rukbat at optonline dot net


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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 21:12:23 -0400
From: Al Klein <rukbat at optonline.net>
Subject: Bubbles in my tubing

Neil Kushnir asked:

>When throttling back my ball valve to keep my sparge nice and slow, I would 
>see lots of bubbles inside the clear tubing. In fact the wort seemed to 
>"gurgle" through the Kynar elbow as it left the ball valve, unless I kept 
>the valve open full

Sounds as if you have a pinhole air leak somewhere between the false
bottom and the barb.  Check your connections.  I'd suspect the
valve-to-elbow connection or the elbow-to-barb connection.

Then, again, I could be completely wrong.
- ---
[Apparent Rennerian 567.7, 95.9] 
Al - rukbat at optonline dot net


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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 23:01:27 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <JeffRenner at comcast.net>
Subject: CAP at MCAB

For those of you who are interested, I will be bringing a 3 gallon 
Corney of my latest CAP to MCAB this weekend in Cleveland.  This is 
the one that we brewed six weeks ago as a demo with 13 brewers from 
three states.

It's only lagered 3-1/2 weeks  (but it had an extended time (2-1/2 
weeks) in the primary), so it has a slight haze, but it seems ready 
other than that.  It's the most attenuated of any I've brewed 
(1.050-->1.010), making it crisper than others.  It really smells and 
tastes like the beer that your Uncle Charlie gave you sips of when 
your mother wasn't looking.

Jeff
- -- 
***Please note my new address***

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


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Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 20:05:56 -0700 (PDT)
From: carlos benitez <greenmonsterbrewing at yahoo.com>
Subject: quick disconects

Hi All,
  Scott asks about quick disconnects-
 I brewed one batch without them, and then went out
and spent the extra money for brass garden hose
disconnects and would not brew again without them.
  Harbor freight tools (www.harborfreight.com) NAYYY 
has them much cheaperthan I paid...

=====
BIBIDI !
        Brew It Bottle It Drink It 
       Carlos Benitez - Green Monster Brewing
        Bainbridge, PA,  U.S.A.



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