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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator


Contents:
  MicroMash? (Bill Crick)
  RE: Homebrew Digest #403 (April 20, 1990) ("Chris Spatgen at Intel Corp. X4-2378, CH3-23")
  re: 2nd Annual Dallas-Denver Beer Run Trip Report (David Lim)
  blowoffs and light extracts (Tom Nolan)
  chill haze and yeast question (cckweiss)
  Fuller's and diactyl (tozz)
  Metallic Beer Problem (gt4393c)
  brewpots (Nick zentena)
  brewpots and Bock yeast (Nick zentena)
  **WARNING** Don't use Muntona (Munton & Fisson) Ale Yeast (Doug Roberts)
  Large Carboys (Martin A. Lodahl)


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Date: 	Thu, 19 Apr 1990 16:58:25 -0400
From: bnr-vpa!bnr-rsc!crick at uunet.UU.NET (Bill Crick)
Subject: MicroMash?

Has anyone ever tried to mash grain in a microwave with a temperature 
probe to control the temperature? It sounds like an easy way to do small 
mashes (<6lb grain?). Just dough it in, toss it in the microwave, and
program the power,time, and temperatures? What power levels for heating,
maintaining temp? One concern might be uneven heating, but if you stirred
it periodically, that would be good, because the hot spots could emulate
the effects of a decoction mash, and hence break up the starch globbies?
One possible advantage is being able to work with a thick mash troughout,
because you wouldn't be adding water as in an infusion mash? Can a mash be
too thick?or would maintaining minimum water (as doughed in) be good?

I plan to try this, and I'll report the results.

Brewuis Ergo Sum. Bill Crick



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Date: Fri, 20 Apr 90 00:26 PDT
From: "Chris Spatgen at Intel Corp. X4-2378, CH3-23" <CSPATGEN%CH3 at sc.intel.com>
Subject: RE: Homebrew Digest #403 (April 20, 1990)

Please take me off your mailing list.

Thank You,

Chris Spatgen

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Date: Fri, 20 Apr 90 09:39:13 MDT
From: David Lim <limd at boulder.Colorado.EDU>
Subject: re: 2nd Annual Dallas-Denver Beer Run Trip Report


>hplabs!hplms2!gatech!ico.isc.com!raven!rcd (Dick Dunn), writes:

=>jmellby at ngstl1.csc.ti.com (John Mellby) writes, among much else...
=>..The two stores complemented each other well and we cleaned them both out of 
=> several brands...

>And folks wonder why Coloradans don't like Texans!!!  ...
>Fortunately they didn't find the stores
>with the best selection, and **WE'RE NOT TELLING WHERE THEY ARE**.


Yes!!!!!    Maybe as a precaution we should put cattle gratings in front of the doors and make the door openings narrower so those longhorns can't get in!!

So, my Coloradan compatriots, we must be united in fighting those who would
deprive us!  Keep the beer stashes "at home", and, on a side note, don't tell them where the real skiing's at either (keep letting 'em go to Breckenridge..)


Yours brewly,

Dave.  (P.S. this is a FRIDAY, and all who look upon my comments with
	furrowed brows should have a beer or few.)


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Date: Fri, 20 Apr 90 12:03:55 EDT
From: nolan at lheavx.DNET.NASA.GOV (Tom Nolan)
Subject: blowoffs and light extracts

I have two comments to add to recent discussions:

1. Not having either a 7-gal carboy or a large diameter blowoff tube,
I ferment 4 - 4.5 gallons in a 5-gal carboy. I just fill it to the
shoulders of the bottle. I use a bubbler from the start. I don't brew
from particularly high-gravity wort (1.040 - 1.050) because I don't like
particularly high alcohol. Anyway, the fermentation grows 2-4 inches 
high but never reaches the bubbler. I don't use a secondary, just bottle
after 1 or 2 weeks. This method works great for me, but I'm interested
in trying a blowoff to see if I can purify the taste some.

2. I agree with the "light extract only" philosophy. I highly recommend
the "Alexander's Sun Country" pale malt extract. It comes in 4-lb
cans and it's very light and clean. I then proceed to darken it, even to
stout depth, through the addition of various specialty grains and
partial mashes. Does anyone have any experience with the extracts that have
appeared recently in vacuum-sealed plastic bags? It seems like a
good idea from the cost-of-packaging standpoint.

- -- Tom


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Date: Fri, 20 Apr 90 09:36:13 -0700
From: cckweiss at castor.ucdavis.edu
Subject: chill haze and yeast question


FlorianB referred to a particular yeast as "throwing a bodacious chill
haze."  I've had chill haze problems too, but always figured it was 
caused by inadequate hot break (excess protein in the wort) or a
hop with lots of tannin.  Can choice of yeast affect chill haze, and if 
so, which yeasts are best at minimizing haze??  I've been attacking
the problem with Irish Moss, with fair to mixed results.  Anyone out
there tried this Polyclar stuff?  I'm sort of hesitant to mix plastic into
my brew, even if it does stay behind with the sludge, but I do like a
nice clear lager.

Ken Weiss
krweiss at ucdavis.edu

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Date: Fri, 20 Apr 90 13:39:52 PDT
From: tozz at hpindda.hp.com
Subject: Fuller's and diactyl
Full-Name: Bob Tausworthe


I have fallen in love with Fuller's ESB and London Pride. I have decided
to try to brew a Fuller's ESB but am having one problem with the recipe:
Fuller's is notorious for its buttery flavor which is produced, i think,
by lingering diactyls from the fermentation. 

How does one get diactyls in their brew? In the past I have always taken
steps to eliminate as much diactyl as possible, so actually trying to 
get diactyls during fermentation has me stumped.

Does anybody know of a yeast culture (dry or liquid) which produces diactyls
in the final, fermented, product? Should I try to stick the fermentation
at a certain point to "fix" diactyl production? Does anybody know how 
Fuller's brew their beers?

Any help would be most helpful

                          bob tausworthe
                          tozz at hpda.hp.com
                          408-447-2873

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Date: Fri, 20 Apr 90 19:27:37 EDT
From: gt4393c at prism.gatech.edu
Subject: Metallic Beer Problem

Hey There,

	Just got through tasting my first batch of homebrew this week.
While the overall flavor / smell / color wasn't bad, the beer had a 
distinctly metallic taste.  A friend likened this to "cheap beer that has
been sitting in the keg for too long".  I'm wondering if anyone has a
suggestion as to the cause(s) for this.

Some details : I used a 3 1/2 lb can of Edme Superbrew Light hopped malt
extract, and 1 lb of corn sugar.  I use a 5 gallon carboy for fermentation,
and everything else, save for the stainless brewpot, is food-grade plastic.
All equipment / bottles were sanitized pretty well throughout the process
(save for a slightly-less thorough job during bottling - my siphon kept 
stopping).  I also used the local tap water, but this has, if anything, more
of a very light calcium taste to it.

Any clues?  Could the water actually be causing this problem?  Is there a
chance that I bought an old batch of extract, and that the tin can "flavored"
my beer?  Could a bacterial infection cause a "tinny" taste? Could traces of
chlorine bleach left over from sanitization cause this?

Thanks,

 -Ivan (gt4393c at hydra.gatech.edu)


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Date: Fri Apr 20 13:31:56 1990
From: contact!zen at uunet.UU.NET (Nick zentena)



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Date: Fri Apr 20 13:32:38 1990
From: contact!zen at uunet.UU.NET (Nick zentena)
Subject: brewpots



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Date: Fri Apr 20 13:42:05 1990
From: contact!zen at uunet.UU.NET (Nick zentena)
Subject: brewpots and Bock yeast

	Hi,
		I saw a good price on a large canning pot locally. The problem is 
the pot is made from aluminum. Can I still use it has a brew pot?
 
	Also could someone reccomend a liquid yeast for a high gravity Bock
(around 1.080-1.090). 
	
	Thanks
		Nick
?
	mnetor!becker!contact!zen at neat.cs.toronto.edu

			or

	zen%contact.uucp at udel.edu


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Date: Sat, 21 Apr 90 22:34:22 MDT
From: roberts%studguppy at LANL.GOV (Doug Roberts)
Subject: **WARNING** Don't use Muntona (Munton & Fisson) Ale Yeast

This is a follow-on to my message of a few days ago in which I
described how my last two dry-hopped batches had turned out extremely
cloudy. I was able to narrow the cause down to two possible reasons:

1. The act of dry hopping in the secondary (not very likely)
2. Contaminated yeast

Yesterday, I called Byron Burch (Author of "Brewing Quality Beers",
and proprietor of Great Fermentations, where I had purchased the
Muntona yeast) and indicated my suspicions that the yeast had been
contaminated. He told me that there had been problems with wild yeast
contamination recently in Muntona ale yeast, and that GF was no longer
recommending its use. 

He was interesting to speak with, and apologetic about my two lost
batches. We ended up discussing brewing for about half an hour until I
had to go.

So: if you have any Muntona yeast, pitch it! 

But not into your wort.

- --Doug
================================================================
Douglas Roberts                |
Los Alamos National Laboratory |I can resist anything
Box 1663, MS F-609             |  except temptation.
Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545   |  ...
(505)667-4569                  |Oscar Wilde
dzzr at lanl.gov                  |
================================================================

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Date: Fri, 20 Apr 90 16:12:16 PST
From: Martin A. Lodahl <hplabs!pbmoss!mal>
Subject: Large Carboys

The recent discussion of blowoff fermentation reminded me of
a question I've been meaning to ask those of you who use large
carboys:  Where did you get it?  I'm talking about a 25-liter acid
carboy, or a similar container of around 7 gallons, glass or
plastic.  What kind of a place (other than a homebrewer's shop)
would have such a thing, new or used?



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End of HOMEBREW Digest #404, 04/23/90
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