HOMEBREW Digest #4327 Wed 20 August 2003


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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Re: Dr. Cone 2003 (Eric)
  Exploding CO2 tanks (Thomas Rohner)
  Re: Room enough for 10 gallons? ("Kevin Kutskill")
  St. Pat's (Randy Ricchi)
  DO Levels ("A.J. deLange")
  aluminum vs steel CO2 tanks (Rama Roberts)
  Great Canadian Beer Festival ("David Gates")
  sanitizers and septic, iodofore concentrations (beerbuddy)
  Muntons Wheat Malt ("David Craft")
  Packing Dried Hops ("David King")

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The HBD Logo Store is now open! * * http://www.hbd.org/store.html * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * IN PROGRESS! * * * * * * * * * Dr. Clayton Cone Fortnight of Yeast * * 8/11/03 - 8/22/03 Yeast Questions Answered * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!! To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE send an e-mail message with the word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" to request@hbd.org FROM THE E-MAIL ACCOUNT YOU WISH TO HAVE SUBSCRIBED OR UNSUBSCRIBED!!!** IF YOU HAVE SPAM-PROOFED your e-mail address, you cannot subscribe to the digest as we cannot reach you. We will not correct your address for the automation - that's your job. HAVING TROUBLE posting, subscribing or unsusubscribing? See the HBD FAQ at http://hbd.org. The HBD is a copyrighted document. The compilation is copyright HBD.ORG. Individual postings are copyright by their authors. ASK before reproducing and you'll rarely have trouble. Digest content cannot be reproduced by any means for sale or profit. More information is available by sending the word "info" to req at hbd.org or read the HBD FAQ at http://hbd.org. JANITOR on duty: Pat Babcock (janitor@hbd.org)
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 00:13:47 -0400 From: Eric <edahlber at rochester.rr.com> Subject: Re: Dr. Cone 2003 Dr. Cone asked: I am curious why are you interested in a procedure for rapidly increasing the cell density of Brett? Lambic beer? That is exactly why. I can't get enough lambic beer. Which leads to another question or two, if there is space/time to answer. An 11 month old lambic with the waxy pellicle at the top behaves very differently at only slightly (in my mind) different temperatures. Between 70 - 74F there appears to be little, if any activity in the carboy. But if the temp in my closet (where it's stored) gets above 75, a steady stream of extremely tiny bubbles (assumed to be CO2) are seen. I originally thought that it was simply CO2 coming out of solution, but the thickness of the waxy layer at the top seems to shrink and grow (slightly) with the temp too. It seems odd that there would be such an on/off temperature range for the yeast and bacteria to be active at - any ideas? I never allow the temp in my house above 80F, so I don't know if the activity continues to accelerate past that point. Also, I know the phenomenon we call beer skunking is a result of light and hop oils reacting, but I am wondering if my nightly ritual of shining a flashlight into the carboy may be having any negative effect on my yeast? Photosensitive yeast? I have many questions, but there are others who deserve some bandwidth, so I'll stop here. Thank you again, Eric Dahlberg Rochester, NY Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 09:33:33 +0200 From: Thomas Rohner <t.rohner at bluewin.ch> Subject: Exploding CO2 tanks Hi Ronald, hi all well i don't think that CO2 (O2, H, N...) tanks on high pressure will become terrorist targets. They are indeed dangerous when they are improperly handled. I can not talk out of my own experience, because it is very likely, that you only get ONE chance to do it the wrong way. We have laws/regulations for these kind of pressurized containers, that date back to the steam engine times. Those "high" pressure parts almost always killed a couple and most of the times started a fire. We had a Oxygen plant in the next village. I heard stories, that once a tank went off.(Oxygen is around 200 bar or 2900 PSI, as i remember) It went up 3 floors of armoured concrete. As far as i know, the fillers are required to overpressurize the containers to test them when filling. But still, keep them securely upright(use a chain), don't use a hammer on the valve and don't store them in a acid puddle.(use common sense) Most accidents happen with the right mixture of butane/propane and air, not the pressure inside the containers. But there sure is a potential for devastation in CO2 tanks. The most delicate part of it is the valve. Most of the tanks i saw(own) lately, have a securitty fixture around it. The tanks can withstand a certain amount of "mishandling", as you observed. Thomas Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 06:08:43 -0400 From: "Kevin Kutskill" <beer-geek at comcast.net> Subject: Re: Room enough for 10 gallons? Nate Hall <hallzoo at comcast.net> asks: >Is it possible to ferment 10 gallons in a 12.2 gal TMS conical without >blowoff? I want to brew a 10 gal ale using WL California Ale yeast (in a 1 >gallon starter). I haven't yet sealed the lid and made arrangements for a >blowoff setup. What would you think is the maximum volume you can ferment >without worrying about blowoff? Thanks for the help! Like Jeff Renner mentioned, there is a product called Foam Control, sold by Hop Tech (no affiliation, yada, yada, yada). You use 1 tsp. for every 5 gallons, and works like a dream. With this stuff, there is no foam during fermentation, but doesn't affect the head in the resulting beer. I use this for my 10 gallon batches in my 12.2 gallon conical, and have never worried about blowoff again. Kevin beer-geek at comcast.net Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 08:10:29 -0400 From: Randy Ricchi <rricchi at houghton.k12.mi.us> Subject: St. Pat's Hmmm,,,,so business was so good with homebrewing ingredients that they had to drop them. I never woulda thought that would happen. Guess I don't understand business. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 12:20:27 +0000 From: "A.J. deLange" <ajdel at cox.net> Subject: DO Levels I never really fully accepted the thesis that DO levels attainable at a particular partial pressure were a strong function of the strength of the solution. It's my recollection that DO meters respond to the mole fraction of oxygen in the solution and when the amount of sugar goes up the mole fraction of oxygen must go down. Thus I suspect that the observations may be accurate but that it is the meter response which is changing, not the amount of dissolved O2 (or that the measured change may be less than the actual change). My thesis is somewhat supported by the fact that meters must be corrected for the presence of salt when used in salt water solutions (as they often are in environmental work). An interesting area for some thought/experimentation. Cheers, A.J,. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 09:38:38 -0700 (PDT) From: Rama Roberts <rama at sun.com> Subject: aluminum vs steel CO2 tanks in response to: > Aluminum is particularly susceptible because, relative to steel, > it is quite brittle. -Kevin Calvin asked: >Really? I have been under the impression that aluminum is >significantly WEAKER than steel. But more brittle? These are >different properties. Can one of the metallurgists chime in? I didn't see any metallurgists pipe up, so I'll give my 2 cents. Aluminum is indeed more brittle. See if you can grab yourself a bendable piece of steel and aluminum, and work it back and forth. The aluminum (most varieties) will fatigue and break much quicker than the steel. I believe its because steel has microscopic specs of carbon embedded throughout that allow the metal to give rather than snap, and also due to the crystalline structure steel has which is more forgiving to flex than aluminum's. >I have been under the impression that aluminum is significantly WEAKER >than steel. As you mentioned, metal has lots of different properties- so it depends which you're referring to when you mention "strength". Some metals are better under compression/tension, others fatigue. Under some conditions, aluminum is *stronger* than steel pound for pound. (BTW- aluminum is also much more brittle at cold temperatures. If the tanks discharge quickly enough to drop significantly in temperature, I would have some concern with aluminum). That being said, if I were going to get a CO2 cyclinder myself (having never handled an empty or full tank of any size), I would be inclined to go with the steel given the option, but wouldn't go out of my way to avoid aluminum. - --rama SF bay area Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 09:57:14 -0700 From: "David Gates" <gates at pacificcoast.net> Subject: Great Canadian Beer Festival Just wanted to let everyone know the Great Canadian Beer Festival, put on by BC CAMRA, is taking place in Victoria, British Columbia on Sept. 5 & 6. It has been expanded this year and is now, also, out doors. Check it out at www.gcbf.com Thanks David Gates Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 17:58:51 +0000 From: beerbuddy at comcast.net Subject: sanitizers and septic, iodofore concentrations funny I should have to think about this - always been a city boy until I moved into my new little house in the country a couple months ago (North Bend, WA, about 30 miles east of Seattle). Does anyone have information on using sanitizers and it's effect on the septic system? I'm hoping that the relatively small amounts I use for five gallon batches once a month or so shouldn't be too detrimental. On the same note, I've been using bleach, but wanted to switch to iodofore, the bottle doesn't have concentration recommendations though. How much should be used in about five gallons of water for sanitizing? As always, this is a fantastic resource, thanks! Timothy North Bend, WA Somewhere north and west of the center of the homebrew universe (but very much in the same mindset) Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 17:26:54 -0400 From: "David Craft" <chsyhkr at bellsouth.net> Subject: Muntons Wheat Malt Greetings, I am using some Wheat DME in a beer shortly. I have purchased "Muntons Wheat DME" from the local store under the Crosby and Baker label. I cannot tell if this is all wheat or the 60/40 blend I have seen elsewhere. I checked the Crosby and Muntons site and a few others and cannot tell....... Any ideas are appreciated. David B. Craft Battleground Brewers Guild Crow Hill Brewery and Meadery Greensboro, NC Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2003 19:01:50 -0400 From: "David King" <dking3 at stny.rr.com> Subject: Packing Dried Hops My Fuggles and Cascades are coming on like gang busters. I've put up over 12 oz (dried) and the main crop's not even here yet. I've been drying them on racks, raised up into the rafters in my garage, where it's nice and hot and dry. About 2 days does it. How do you dry yours? I'm also wondering how the rest of you preserve them. I pack 1.5 oz into a quart canning jar, purge with CO2 (effective? Can't see CO2), screw on a top, and pop them into the freezer. That makes them rather full, crushing the lupulin glands to some degree, but they still take up a lot of room. This seems to work well, as I get nice dry hop aroma months after freezing them. What other methods are there out there? Dave King (BIER, Brewers In the Endicott Region) Return to table of contents
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