HOMEBREW Digest #4277 Sat 21 June 2003


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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Pat's Alcoholic Jeans (SpamZapper)
  Convoluted copper (FRASERJ)
  Re: Crown Capper, beer consumption (J & B Gallihue)
  smoking in bars (Alan McKay)
  smoking et al. ("Haborak, Kevin")
  alcoholism ("Dave Burley")
  Brewing Software in PHP/MySQL -- Try Cyberbrau (cboyer)
  Re: Smoking (Bill_Rehm)
  Smoking, enough already.... ("Beer Phantom")
  Sears Fridge ("Dave Burley")
  RE:beer fridge (mas4786)
  Home Brew Digest? (Ted Teuscher)
  New poll.. what ABV brews you make? ("Eyre")
  Re: Alc*ism (David Radwin)
  Re: Digest/Alcoholism (NO Spam)
  Re: smoking (NO Spam)
  smoking (Paul Mahoney)
  "I'm Dreaming of Brewing Software" (Part 1) (Alexandre Enkerli)
  "I'm Dreaming of Brewing Software" (Part 2) (Alexandre Enkerli)
  Porcelain Repair (mbauer)
  RE: Paulaner Hefeweizen (Michael Hartsock)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 00:58:30 -0600 From: SpamZapper <spamzapper at comcast.net> Subject: Pat's Alcoholic Jeans Pat, I am here to tell you that the cure for your alcoholic jeans is simple. Simply become a naturist! Now, see - that was no problem at all. BTW, make sure to wave proudly! In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria. - German Proverb Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 06:30:11 -0400 From: FRASERJ at Nationwide.com Subject: Convoluted copper www.morebeer.com now sells the stuff, its pretty expensive but!!! $109 for 25 feet. John M. Fraser Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 06:52:50 -0400 From: J & B Gallihue <jgallihue at comcast.net> Subject: Re: Crown Capper, beer consumption >From: "David Craft" <chsyhkr at bellsouth.net> >Subject: Crown Capper, beer consumption >Does anyone sell a handheld crown capper for the larger >crown caps? David, you can purchase a larger crown cap fixture for both hand and bench cappers. I use champagne bottles very often, with excellent results. Your local homebrew supplier should be able to order the part. The units differ for the different type of cappers so make sure you get the correct one. Your Hand"Craft" Beer will be well bottled! :-) Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 07:41:22 -0400 From: Alan McKay <amckay at neap.net> Subject: smoking in bars Here in Ottawa we have had a sweeping ban on smoking for a couple of years now, and it is going very well. From my experience 90% of the establishments which complained the loudest are nothing but dirty skank-holes that our community is better off anyway if they did go out of business. Even still, two years later very few of even these places went out of business. 60 seconds out my front door is just such a place - the Carelton Tavern. They kicked, and screamed, and continued to smoke in there for months and months. I was there once having a beer with a buddy of mine when a drunkard was beligerantly (sp?) blowing smoke into the face of a bylaw enforcement officer. But today they don't smoke in the Carleton, and they are doing just as well as ever as for business. And I for one am more inclined to drop in as a result. As Brian correctly put it - this is a worker safety issue. Why is it OK to protect factory workers from workplace hazards, but it is not OK to protect waitresses and bartenders? Here in Ottawa there is a well known case of a woman who waited tables for 40 years. She didn't smoke a day in her life. She retired about 3 years ago ready to settle down and enjoy her retirement when she was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. The doctor told her that her lungs looked like she'd been a smoker for decades. It has been 15 or so years now since smoking has been banned in office environments, and I do not think you will find even a single hard core chain smoker who will look back at those days and view them as anything but barbaric. We look back at those days now and ask ourselves "What the hell were we thinking, allowing people to smoke in the office?". In 15 years we'll all be looking back at the days when you coud smoke in a bar, and we'll be asking ourselves exactly the same thing. Oh, and BTW, I saw on the news the other night that Ottawa has the strongest economy of any city in the world right now, so the smoking ban certainly hasn't had the negative effects on the economy that the doom-and-gloom naysayers were predicting. - -- http://www.bodensatz.com/ The Beer Site "Life begins at 60 - 1.060, that is" - Denny Conn Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 05:05:02 -0700 From: "Haborak, Kevin" <KHaborak at golder.com> Subject: smoking et al. Teresa said: 'but as soon as I walk into a PRIVATE business, if the owner decides to allow his patrons to violently assault each other at will, I should accept that I may get my nose broken as a consequence of walking through the door' Ever heard of a mosh pit? IMHO, you have the right to go whever you want. But your freedom comes in when you choose to or not to frequent said private establishment. If you don't want to hear hate speech, don't go to a KKK rally. If you have a problem with nudity, don't go to a strip club. If you don't want to be around smokers, don't go to a bar/restaraunt that allows it. Each of these can violate either your sense of morals, sense of ethics, or sense of well being (health). But just because you find them offensive does not mean that other people should not be allowed to do them in a public public where it is revealed up front that said activities will be going on. And chalk me up for 0-3 pints a night. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 08:18:33 -0400 From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley at charter.net> Subject: alcoholism Brewsters: I agree with AJ, there appears to be a high rate of alcoholism in the Aboriginal community. I have seen many aboriginals in Oz lying around the "water hole" ( liquor store) in the early AM waiting for it to open. It is a pitiful sight. What percentage is due to genetics and what percentage is due to poor economic conditions and loss of indigenous culture is unknown, but it is a stain on the Australian society as much as the American Reservation Indian's high rate of alcoholism is a stain on ours. Of course, in our society, liberals prevent forcing these people to get help ( check out ACLU) , much the same as we prevent mentally ill who can't take care of themselves and live on the street. We'd prefer them to live a miserable life and freeze to death, so it seems. I guess I don't understand what has happened in this country over the past few decades about taking care of your brother. I believe in free choice and will more than most people,BUT the underlying assumption is that you are mentally able to make the decision. - ---------------- I had a neighbor once that drank at least an eight pack of 16 oz beers - and not the wimpy light stuff - every night. Trash day was a noisy affair as they emptied a complete trash can full of empty bottles. He's dead at the early age of 44. Alcoholics can just drink beer. And we have had more than one on this digest. If you need help, just ask. Just don't expect to be enabled by any knowledgable person. It is a personal decision. Keep on Brewin' Dave Burley Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 07:23:41 -0400 From: cboyer at ausoleil.org Subject: Brewing Software in PHP/MySQL -- Try Cyberbrau >I'm more of a server-whacker and JOAT than a software developer, but >currently my magic bullet for these sort of things is MySQL for databases >and PHP or Perl for web-interface, calculations, etc. >Plus, it's free, cross-platform, and we can all pitch in. There's an >example homebrewing database at www.phpgroupware.org (though it ain't yet >something I would call useful). I'm like you, more of a systems guy than a software developer, but you really can't get terribly far in the UNIX (and variants) world without picking up some decent scripting ability. From that, it's hardly a jump to Perl and PHP. MySL is as simple as it gets for a relational database as well. All very good stuff. Anyway, out on SourceForge there is a project called Cyberbrau. Seems mostly abandoned these days, but it is a MySQL/PHP implementation of a brewing database, and while it doesn't have all of the bells and whistles of ProMash, it does have more than adequate ability for the average partial mash brewer. the only real drawback I can think of is that it's ingredient tables could be fuller, but if one were to take the time to add a malt or a hop when they need to, after a while that would be no issue either. I have done a test implementation of it at http://www.ausoleil.org/beer/cyberbrau if you would like to take a look. It needs a little elbow grease (I never implemented the forum) but it's fairly nice software. And free, BTW. - ------------------------------------------------- This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/ Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 08:28:09 -0500 From: Bill_Rehm at eFunds.Com Subject: Re: Smoking This whole debate boils down to the fact that smoking is legal in this country and probably always will be. Why you ask? Because the government makes way to much on tobacco tax to let them go away. Many things in this world are hazardous and yet legal, the two best examples I have are smoking and vehicles. If I choose to smoke in a bar, I violate the rights of another to not inhale my smoke, however they are free to leave and patronize an establishment that is smoke free. Cars, trucks, and buses spew out alot of crap, should we outlaw cars on the street so I don't have to inhale someone else's exhaust. My ultimate stance is that until the government takes a real stance, this means both sides of the house give up tobacco money (both Republicans and Democrats profit from the tobacco industry). Let freedom prevail and the market settle this out, if you don't like smoke find a smoke free place to hang out. If a majority of the people don't want to be around smokers bars that allow smoking will close and we will be closer to smoke free. Just to clarify, I am an ex-smoker who on occasion will bum a smoke in a bar or at a party L. William Rehm Offline Development Phone: 414-341-5732 Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 08:45:48 -0500 From: "Beer Phantom" <beer_phantom at hotmail.com> Subject: Smoking, enough already.... Hey, on behalf of the folks in the digest who are sick and tired of reading this liberal/socialist/communist drivel on how it's the governments job to protect people from themselves, could you all take this anti-smoking crap offline please? That includes any flames you may feel compelled to write to me because of this post. I am simply awestruck at the speed at which you lemmings line up so that you can have your choices made for you. Why is it that people think it's the governements job to do everything? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that where there is public drinking, there's going to be smoking. Protect the work staff in a bar? Are you kidding? Get another job! That's what personal freedom is all about. It starts with taking responsibility for your lack of skills to do anything but tend bar or wait tables. If you don't like it, get some new skills for christ sake! Or just get yourself fired and collect unemployment benefits for the rest of your life, the government will do that for you too. But that's socialism for you. The government will take care of you. They will provide healthcare, protect you from yourself, give you unemployment, and retirement and if you play your cards right you could probably suckle at the goverment's bossom and never have to work again. Just stick your fellow countrymen with the bill, they won't mind. Government is the most intrusive and bloated entity on the planet. And people like Teresa and Brian are more than happy to keep feeding it. The more power you give it over your life, the more it will want. There are plenty of people lining up right behind the anti-smoking nazis and they have a whole list of things to protect you from because you're too stupid to take car of yourself. They have a whole bunch of things they would love to ban. Alcohol is on the list, so is junk food, so are guns, so are automobiles (no, I'm not kidding, anyone own an SUV out there?). And they've got the same logic the anti-smoking nazis do. Go ahead, put your personel freedoms in the hands of government. After all, they know better than you, right? BTW, I'm a non smoker and I would rather see a budding entrepeneur open a smoke free establishment and exploit an untapped market than give the government a reason to pass another stupid law. I'll crawl back in my hole now. This is a homebrewing forum right? By the way Teresa, I'm now withdrawing my marriage proposal. The Beer Phantom Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 09:52:28 -0400 From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley at charter.net> Subject: Sears Fridge Brewsters: Dave Larsen suggests a Sears Fridge is perfect for two kegs and no freezer. Looks perfect for what I have in mind. Dave, how did you modify it? Where can I drill safely? Keep on Brewin' Dave Burley Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 09:44:10 -0500 From: mas4786 <mas4786 at nebrwesleyan.edu> Subject: RE:beer fridge I have a "under-the-counter" fridge that I made into a kegerator and it works great. You have to find a fridge though that does not have the freezer unit and has the cooling plate in the back. There are serval models that sears carries and I got mine on sale at best buy brand new for $150. I looked long and hard for a used one but all they had was dorm fridges with the freezer part in the top. My freezer fits two cornies and the co2 tank nicely. You might try a deep freezer if you wnat more room and I am suer you can find a nice used one quit easily. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 08:17:32 -0700 (PDT) From: Ted Teuscher <t_teuscher at yahoo.com> Subject: Home Brew Digest? I thought I joined a users group about home brewing, not health. Geesh people, let it go. BTW, I never had the privelege of reading the comments of SO many intolerant people in my life. I hope the frequent posters to this group can be more civil to each other. Or perhaps the moderators of this group could actually start moderating some of the off topic posts and editing rude comments out. When you start attacking people by calling them names you are demonstrating your lack of knowledge on the subject and your immaturity by being reduced to calling poeple names. Try reading more on the subject so you can converse intelligently on a topic instead of just stating your own personal beliefs which nobody wants to hear unless you can back it scientifically. If this kind of correspondence continues then I think I will you imagine what new subscribers would think about this group if they just joined within the last week? "That's all I got to say about that," Forrest Gump. I think I'll have a beer now. Cheers, Ted Teuscher Lenexa, KS Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 13:01:56 -0400 From: "Eyre" <meyre at sbcglobal.net> Subject: New poll.. what ABV brews you make? "Besides, most homebrew is lower in alcohol than macro. A standard homebrew with 1.048 OG and 1.012 FG is 4.74 ABV, but only 3.7 ABW!!! Bud light is 5% ABW" I'll have to disagree here. First of all, bud light is only 4.3% alcohol by VOLUME, and I would venture a SWAG that the 'standard' homebrew is atleast 5% ABV. Of course, that could make for a whole new survey in and of itself. -!----- Based on the above, how about another poll? (Sorta like those reality TV shows.. damn BHD polls spread like wildfire!). Off the top of your head, what were the ABV %'s of your, say.. last three (3) homebrewed beers? I've got 5%, 6.4% and 7.2% covered here. Mike Please note my new email address: meyre at sbcglobal.net Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 10:13:02 -0700 From: David Radwin <dradwin at sbcglobal.net> Subject: Re: Alc*ism > From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <spencer at umich.edu> > But, you make some statements that are simply not true: > > 1. Alcoholics don't drink beer. This is an old "momily". Yes, some > alcoholics prefer harder forms of alcohol. But my experience is that > each alcoholic has their preferred form of imbibing (their "drug of > choice" as it is often called.) I know plenty of alcoholics who drank > nothing but beer by choice. Spencer is correct. One prominent example of someone who is debatably alcoholic and who prefers beer is George W. Bush. This transcript is excerpted from Terry Gross's interview with New York Times writer Nicholas Kristof on the radio program Fresh Air, August 2, 2000. ******************** GROSS: How much drinking did he do in those younger days, and did it ever get to the point where it was interfering with his work or interfering with his family life? Mr. KRISTOF: I don't think that he was--he wasn't, like, a regular drunk. It wasn't as if he was regularly going out and singing on the sidewalks. He, himself, says he doesn't really know whether he was alcoholic, and I think that's probably a fair assessment. He was clearly drinking too much. He was drinking, essentially, every day, but mostly a lot of beers as opposed to really hard stuff. And it was usually drinking with his buddies. People who were around him thought that it interfered maybe with his work but only at the margin, that he would mostly drink in the evening and he would get a buzz rather than really get drunk. I think it did interfere with his family life. You get a lot of different stories about that, and his family and friends are quite protective about it. But it does seem that he just came home a few too many times a little bit sloshed, embarrassing his wife in front of other people, not setting a good example for his daughters. And this became a growing source of tension between him and Laura. ******************** Before you protest that Bush wasn't (isn't) an alcoholic, remember that this description was before the revelation of Bush's DUI. - -- David Radwin news at removethispart.davidradwin.com Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 13:24:39 -0400 From: NO Spam <nospam at brewbyyou.net> Subject: Re: Digest/Alcoholism >Alcoholism is a nasty, ugly disease. This is where I differ. I don't think it is a disease. It is simply poor behavior. Again, its in the same class as wife beating, compulsive gambling, and any number of other behavioral problems that people keep wanting to try to blame someone else for and make excuses for. >1. Alcoholics don't drink beer. This is an old "momily". >Yes, some alcoholics prefer harder forms of alcohol. I don't doubt it. My brother's preferred is vodka. Gets you drunk quick, easy to hide. And he hides alot. When he lived with my parents, he used to play this game where he'd outsmart them by buying several bottles, hiding all but one in a good spot, and leaving one in an easy place for them to find. Once they found the one, they thought they found his bottle. But he'd have 4 or 5 more stashed all over the place. And again, the definition of an alcoholic is one who needs alcohol, and alot of it, all the time. Alcoholics are also impaired alot of the time due to their drinking, and eventually their brains and livers get damaged, so they're impaired all the time. I do believe that the typical alcoholic will not bother to brew and drink beer, simply to get drunk. Let's face it, we've all complained about the time and cost involved in brewing. Once someone starts having problems due to their drinking - and they do come, including financial, loss of job, loss of driver's licence, and other things - will they really have the time, money, and the inclination to brew beer (5% alcohol on average) when it is SO much easier and cheaper to just pick up a bottle or 2 of gin or vodka? I don't think so. >Do you look the same as your brother? Yes >Do you have the same eye color? Yes >Do you have the same hair? Yes >Are you the same height? About an inch difference. We both look like our mother. My brother is 9 years younger than me. One of the "tricks" he pulled when he was younger was to steal my driver's license and use it to get into bars and to buy booze at the liquor store, even though he was under age. He got away with it, and I'm still not sure for how long before I found out. Once, he even gave a cop my driver's license when he got pulled over. Guess who got the ticket and the points? >I have found (some) relief in the Al-Anon program. My brother has been in and out of jail for about the past 3 years. He's been sentenced to attend several of these programs by the courts, and has been in and out of them as well. He made a little game out of that for awhile, too, checking himself into and out of "rehab", as if that would make it look like he was trying. None of the clinics can hold anyone against their will, so he can check himself out anytime after checking in, usually about 2 days. I've also questioned numerous times why he won't take the ant-abuse drug, or why the courts can't force that on him. At least in my brother's case, this is not genetic. I and my 2 sisters are not alcoholics. My mother has 8 brothers and sisters, none of them and nobody in any of their families are alcoholics. My father has 5 brothers and sisters, none of them and nobody in any of their families is an alcoholic. My brother is the only one. It's clearly attitude, as he's told us again and again that he'll "drink as much as he wants, whenever he wants, and nobody's gonna make me stop." Those are his exact words. Unfortunately, nobody can help him until he decides he wants the help. He has no job, no money, no family, no driver's license for the next 15 years, nothing. It's sad, but in my opinion, he also deserves everything he got and more. He's been involved in at least 4 drunk driving accidents, ad they keep putting him back on the street. He's gotten out of a few things by having lawyers postpone trials until the people pressing charges couldn't show up, then having the cases tossed. Our wonderful court system in PA is also so log-jammed that it takes 6 months or more to get a hearing, and bail is not high, so he always gets out while the cases are pending to do more damage and cause more problems. He's also had the lawyers bargain for him and yes, argue the genetics and the "victim" argument. That's why I'm so opposed to it. Bill Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 14:02:06 -0400 From: NO Spam <nospam at brewbyyou.net> Subject: Re: smoking >I respectfully must say "bullshit" to that argument. I believe I >should have the right to step into either a public area OR private >establishment where members of the public assemble, and NOT be >physically harmed by the actions of others. Separate "right" from "privilege". You have the constitutional "right" to a fair trial by a jury of your peers. You don't, however, have any kind of "right" to inflict your views and attitudes legally on others, just because you don't agree. You cannot say that just because you don't favor smoking, it has to be banned, because you believe you have some imagined "right" that you don't. This argument always makes me laugh, because its the same people who always think everything is a "right" and that they even have a "right" to drive a car. Read your driver's manual. Driving is a PRIVILEGE granted to you by the state in which you live. There is no RIGHT to drive a car. Smoking is also a privilege and should be recognized as such in public and especially private places. Smokers have been pushed and pushed for a long time now. It started out as banned in the workplace and making people go outside to smoke. At the time, it seemed like a good idea and nobody fought it. Then it went to smoking and non-smoking sections in restaurants. Now here you are saying that nobody can smoke, ever, because you think your "rights" to go inside any private place anytime mean that there should not be smoke there, ever. That's absurd. People have smoked since ancient Egypt and before. And guess what - they're not going to stop. Like the other guy said, why can't a bar be designated smoking or non smoking, and then let it be up to the patron whether or not they want to go there, and up to the employee whether or not they want to work there? Nobody forces you to eat or work someplace. If its really such a hotbed issue, then smoking places will not draw any customers and will not be able to get any employees, so they'll go right out of business, right? Let the public decide. Bottom line - you cannot legislate morality. Bill Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 11:02:15 -0700 (PDT) From: Paul Mahoney <pmmaho at yahoo.com> Subject: smoking Brewers: Teresa was responding to Todd and his comments on the smoking thread (my disclosure:, I do not smoke, dip, chew, etc., never have, never will; do not own stock nor work for any tobacco industry). We can debate these issues forever, and not resolve them. What intigued me was Teresa's sig line: "You measure democracy by the freedom it gives its dissidents, not by the freedom it gives its assimilated conformists." -- Abbie Hoffman So, Teresa, what does Abbie's comment say about you and your willingness to deny that smoking freedom to others? Are not the smokers now the dissidents? In your politically correct view of smoking, are you not now the "assimilated conformists"? Sadly this argument is all to typical of life today in the USA (and the western world): we loudly proclaim how we support freedom, liberty and the First Amendment, but when it comes down to the truly different, unique, or politically incorrect, we are too intolerant, too ready to use our power to stifle, make illegal, and persecute. With respect to the "alchoholic" thread, one humorous (I hope) note: long ago when I first got out of law school, I was a green, naive prosecutor. We kept having cases where people were prosecuted for shoplifting Nyquil from the local drugstore. In my naivete' I asked one of the police officers, why are so many people stealing Nyquil? He replied that Nyquil was 40 proof (I think), and that it was a cheap, easy high for the alchoholic bums (ooops, politically incorrect term)in the area. I cannot imagine downing a bottle of Nyquil to get high, but these folks were doing so with regularity. So, Yes, alchoholics will drink anything. Paul Mahoney Roanoke, Va. ===== 'Caesar, [...] fearing the fickle disposition of the Gauls, who are easily prompted to take up resolutions, and much addicted to change, considered that nothing was to be entrusted to them;' - De bello gallico, book 4 script 5, Julius Caesar, 55 BC Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 15:35:13 -0300 From: Alexandre Enkerli <aenkerli at indiana.edu> Subject: "I'm Dreaming of Brewing Software" (Part 1) [This message is in two parts because of its length. Sorry about that.] Hello all, A "few" ideas I've been having on what a brewer might do with "the ideal brewing software solution." As an exercise in creative writing, here are excerpts from a would-be Quick Start Manual for first users of the software. Sorry if it's too futuristic/whacky/long. Feel free to comment. NO FLAMES, PLEASE. Alex ... Installation completed. Congratulations! ... Welcome to HomeBrewSoft (HBS), your "Ultimate Brewing Companion(tm)"! The following Quick Start Manual is meant for first-time HBS users and will help you configure HBS to your liking. If you've used HBS before, please add your configuration files. You may quit this manual at any point. By default, if the configuration profiles haven't been completed, HBS will open this quick start manual the next time launch you launch HBS. To bypass this default, uncheck the "open at next launch" checkbox [here]. HBS is a sophisticated homebrewing solution which will help you manage your inventory, your equipment, and your beer stocks as well as formulate recipes, estimate expected characteristics of the beer you brew (ABV, SRM, IBU...) using sophisticated database management technology. To work its magic, HBS needs to be configured to your specific homebrewing needs. The present Quick Start Manual will lead through a step-by-step process of initial configuration. Any configuration profile ("page") can be accessed at any time by using the "Configure..." (menu/button/page). Apart from inventory input and recipe formulation, the initial configuration process should take you approximately one hour. Any information you input will be saved automatically but HBS's "Command/Input History" feature enables you to go back to any step in the configuration process if you make a mistake or change your mind. Depending on the size of your inventory, inputting necessary information in HBS can take as little as a few seconds and as much as an hour or more. Either way, you always have the option of leaving your inventory as is (even if it's empty) and HBS will help you manage it as you go. Once you're through with initial configuration and inventory management, recipe and batch management will be a snap. A typical HBS user should be able to plan a brew batch within a few minutes (or even seconds!) and have all the necessary information available at any point in time, from the decision to brew a batch, to the last sip of delicious homebrewed beer. User Profile Enter your first name, last name, nickname and contact information in the relevant fields. Alternatively, you can drop your vCard directly to HBS's "User Profile" window. If you're new to brewing, put '0' in the "Brewing Experience" field and you can skip directly to the next section. If you have brewed before, use the "Brewing Experience" field to describe the number of years you have been brewing or the approximate number of batches you've brewed. Be sure to select "Years" or "Batches" in the accompanying drop-down menu and the type of brewing you mostly do (extract, partial mash, full-grain). HBS will use this information as a general guideline but you will be able to modify this information any time you like. If you belong to a homebrew club, work as a professional brewer, have a BJCP certification or have specific brewing credentials (including awards), go to the "Affiliations and Credentials" page. Your personal preferences for (measurement units, equation types, currency, interface themes...) can be set here for HBS to use as defaults. Location Profile This (page) may contain relevant information about your main brewing location. You can have as many locations as you want, HBS use the one you specify as its default to make necessary calculations. If the profile for the water you use is available, select it in the "Water Profile" section.[fn:For more information about water profiles, click here] HBS will use this profile as its default but can easily be changed at any time. You may fill in the information about your favorite Homebrew Supply Shop[fn:for more information on HBSS] Some shops have online catalogs (HBSSC) which HBS can use to prepare shopping lists and such. If it is available for your store, drop the HBSSC file to the appropriate section in this page. HBS will use the file to fill-in the required information (name, address, Webpage, phone...), get price quotes and track online purchases (if enabled explicitly). For a shop without an HBSSC, fill in the required information yourself and HBS will create a temporary HBSS profile for you. Brewery Profile This page should be used to describe your main brewing equipment. If you have more than one brewing setup, HBS will use this one as your default but you'll be able to switch as desired. If you brew at a Brew on Premises[fn:BoP info] facility, you might be able to use a brewery profile already available. [Newbie Alert]If you don't have any brewing equipment yet, go to the "Getting Started with Homebrewing" page which will help you in the process of getting everything you need to get started. Some HBSS even offer the possibility to order the equipment online for delivery or pickup. Otherwise, HBS can be used to write a shopping list of the equipment and materials to get you started. In the ("Vessels") section, input information about all the (pots, containers, carboys, conical fermenters...) you may use. HBS will give a unique ID number to every piece of equipment so as to track them and the way you use them. For instance, if you're unlucky enough to have part of your equipment infected by a bacteria, HBS will help you find which pieces of equipment need special care or needs to be retired. Brewery profiles may also be shared with fellow brewers. This can be useful, for instance, if you wish to lend equipment to someone or if you're getting ready to brew at someone else's place. "Big Brews" are events during which several brewers get together to brew at the same time, bringing their equipment along. HBS thus facilitates Big Brew management through the use of brewery profiles. HBS will also use data from your brewery profile as default values for several calculations. For instance, HBS may use your mashtun's volume as a default value for calculations on sparge water. The first time you use a specific brewery, values for [efficiency...] are estimated by HBS. As you brew more batches, HBS will use measurements to reach a better approximation of the effects of your equipment. [Continued in Part 2] Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 15:36:47 -0300 From: Alexandre Enkerli <aenkerli at indiana.edu> Subject: "I'm Dreaming of Brewing Software" (Part 2) [Continued from Part 1] Inventory This page can be used to manage your personal inventory and prepare shopping lists. If you enable online purchases from a specific HBSS, it may even be used to manage one-click purchases for delivery or pickup. Fermentables [Newbie Alert]If you're new to brewing ("Brewing Experience" set to '0'), HBS defaults to only showing you information relevant to "Kit" brewers. You're free to switch this to "Partial Mash" or "All-Grain" at any given time. You can list all the grain, adjuncts, extracts, and kits you have in the ("Fermentables") section. For widely available products, all the relevant information (unique ID, characteristics, price...) should be available already, thus saving you valuable time and effort. "Fruits, Honey, Syrups" are special cases in homebrewing because they can be used as both flavorings and as fermentables. In fact, you might want to use HBS to manage the making of non-beer beverages such as cider and mead. Yet, these may also be used as adjuncts and are available in the "Fermentables" section. Use the "Fruits, Honey, Syrups" section if you plan to use these as major components of the beverages you make. In the "Hops and Flavorings" section, add the hops you have and, possibly, other products you would like to use to add flavor characteristics to your beer (spices, flavor extracts...). The "Yeast" section helps you manage any yeast you may have, either as purchased packs or from previous batches. For yeast farmers, this includes information on slants and such. Recipes and Batches In HBS, recipe formulation and actual brewing are separate activities. HBS's recipe formulator helps you choose, modify, and create recipes that you will use in brewing. As such, recipes can be seen as "abstract" versions of batches and their characteristics are set as ranges instead of specific values. HBS comes with a large number of recipes from online and published sources. If you have recipes available in StrangeBrew XML format, HBS can import them to your recipe database. If you're ready to start formulating a recipe, click the "New Recipe" button[or use the shortcut] to either choose a base recipe or create one from scratch. Through its recipe formulation interface, HBS may help you decide what you want to brew. [Cf. message to list] Once you have a recipe set up, you can prepare for a brewing session ["Brew Day"]. HBS will help you see which vessels need to be cleaned, which supplies are missing, how much this batch might cost you, how long your brewing session should last, etc. You may transfer batch information to your PalmOS(tm) device for use while brewing. If you are able to use HBS (either on your desktop, or on your handheld) while brewing, it will help you by reminding you what to do at any given time (alarms) and will serve as a log of the brewing process (measurements, stuck mash, last-minute recipe modifications...). Every action in the brewing process will then have an associated timestamp. If you can't use HBS while brewing, HBS can print a set of log sheets for use while brewing. When you come back to HBS, you can use these sheets as a replacement for HBS's realtime batch log. HBS will use the timestamps you input for its calculations and log the input time. You may use HBS to log the progress of your batch (first bubbles, temperatures, SG, racking, location, cleared, appearance/tasting notes, bottling/kegging...). Based on this data, HBS will be able to better approximate several aspects of the brewing process. Once your beer is ready to drink, you may even use HBS to log tasting notes and comments using either the available tasting forms or a "narrative" format. Moreover, HBS can be used to track how much beer you have left from a given batch and eventually warn you about the best time to brew (if stocks are going to be depleted in the amount of time it takes you to get a batch ready). Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 15:41:22 -0500 From: mbauer at iupui.edu Subject: Porcelain Repair Does anyone know of a product that can be used to repair damaged porcelain inside a brew kettle? Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 13:50:17 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Hartsock <xd_haze at yahoo.com> Subject: RE: Paulaner Hefeweizen I meant to add to my previous post, that even though the message says that it is flash pasteurized, I successfully cultured a plate, and subsequently slants from the bottle. I failed to make 30 mL starter on my first attempt, but i have live yeast on the medium. Michael Columbia, MO ===== "May those who love us, love us. And those that don't love us, May God turn their hearts. And if he doesn't turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles So we'll know them by their limping." Return to table of contents
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