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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: janitor@hbd.org


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Contents:
  kegerator repair ("Dean Brundage")
  Aspartame and methanol (ensmingr)
  Skittlebrau! (Bev Blackwood II)
  Cold Pitching of Yeast (Lee Ellman)
  Sulfites in Beer ("A.J. deLange")
  Plate Exchanger ("Eric R. Theiner")
  re: Attention: Brewers In Ontario (Tim Howe) ("Rick & Ruth Duyck")
  Re: Nutrasweet & Ben Hanson (Michael Tollefson)
  Welcome to a new Janitor (Pat Babcock)
  Iowa City Homebrew Classic Competition (Pete Diltz)


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Date: Thu, 16 Oct 2003 21:06:35 -0700
From: "Dean Brundage" <dean at deanandadie.net>
Subject: kegerator repair

I need some tips on kegerator repair.  I acquired a old diamond-in-the-rough
Hotpoint refrigerator pre-drilled for two taps and a gas in.  It just needs
a lot of cleaning, a new coat of red paint and a pair of white racing stripes.
However the wiring is a mess, and the compressor may not work. Otherwise, the
coolant line looks fine.  I would like a wiring diagram or repair manual.
Looks like the fridge was made in the 50's (uneducated guess).

Thanks,
- --Dean
Unscrambler of eggs.
Brewing in Redwood City, CA


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Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 00:53:14 -0400
From: ensmingr <ensmingr at twcny.rr.com>
Subject: Aspartame and methanol 

The small intestine metabolizes aspartame into aspartic acid, 
phenylalanine, and methanol. There are many references for this, 
including: Stegink & Filer, 1984, *Aspartame: Physiology and 
Biochemistry* Marcel Dekker, Inc.

However, the amount of methanol produced from the aspartame in a can of 
diet soda is extremely low and not much different from the amount of 
methanol you would get from an equivalent amount of fruit juice 
(Kretchmer, Norman, Hollenbeck, 1991, *Sugars and Sweeteners* CRC Press).

Just to keep this discussion related to beer ... Anyone know how much 
methanol is present in a "typical" 12 oz can of beer? -S?

Cheerio!
Peter A. Ensminger
Syracuse, NY
http://hbd.org/ensmingr





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Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 00:23:53 -0500
From: Bev Blackwood II <bdb2 at bdb2.com>
Subject: Skittlebrau!

> Anyone trying these?  (I.E. Skittlebrau....)

Actually.... Had some just about a week ago at Saint Arnold brewery.  
They brewed (not added to) a beer with Skittles and it is actually VERY 
interesting... Has a distinct purple-amber color and smells of fruit 
like nobody's business...  It's over a year old and still is very 
drinkable!  If I remember correctly, they brewed it with the 2002 Dixie 
Cup Monster Mash category in mind and never got around to entering it.  
Most candy beers seem to go through a really nasty diacetyl phase...  I 
know my Wild Cherry Lifesaver Belgian Strong Golden did, but also 
proved to be VERY good once the diacetyl died down...  Still waiting on 
an orange "candy corn" Classic American Pilsner....

 -BDB2

Bev D. Blackwood II
http://www.bdb2.com



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Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 08:54:00 -0400
From: Lee Ellman <lee.ellman at cityofyonkers.com>
Subject: Cold Pitching of Yeast

Not being an expert brewer, but being a pretty good kitchen all-arounder 
I have started to treat my dry brewing yeast the way that I would bread 
yeast.  And it seems to work well for me giving me a great start up of
fermentation.

I let my wort boil for about 30 minutes and then take out a cup worth to
a sterilized two-cup Pyrex measuring cup.  I cover that with a piece of
aluminum foil that was also sanitized and let it cool to pitching
temperature and then pitch the yeast atop the cooled wort.  It 
gets covered again with the aluminum foil.

By time the wort is cooled and is ready for pitching the yeast has "proofed"
and I can see activity in the measuring cup.  I suppose that I made a
mini-starter but I am pretty sure that I have not created any more yeast
cells by doing that.  I do know, however, that I have active yeast which
takes the worry out of the next twelve hours or so. 

Let me know if  there is any downside to this process.




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Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 13:20:18 +0000
From: "A.J. deLange" <ajdel at cox.net>
Subject: Sulfites in Beer

WRT to the discussion of adding sulfites to beer: no need - they are 
already there, especially in the lagers. Why does the room where your 
fermenter is located smell like a paper plant during the fermentation? 
Why does jungbuket have that burnt match aroma? That's right, it's 
sulfites (and sulfides). It's a pet theory of mine that the good old 
boys back in Bavaria in the 19th century selected for strains that 
produced a lot of sulfites because the associated reduced state helped 
the beer come through the lagering period better. As we all know (or 
should know) a good continental lager should have a sulfury note. To put 
it in perspective my notes show that I measured one pils I brewed at 17 
mg/L as SO2. HBS&Y mention that in Britain beer may contain up to 70 
mg/L (i.e. it can be added by the brewer). They also indicate that 1 - 
16 mg/L as SO2 is the typical range. Ales measure much lower than lagers.

Cheers, A.J.



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Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 10:07:27 -0400
From: "Eric R. Theiner" <rickdude02 at earthlink.net>
Subject: Plate Exchanger

Considering how many points exist that are potentials for leaks, I'd never 
bother to try it.  Why do you want a plate exchanger, Dean?  A counterflow 
exchanger is much easier to put together in a home workshop and you can 
even play around with the design a bit (e.g. give it some crimps to 
introduce turbulence, put a pre-chiller on the cooling water inlet side, etc.)

Rick Theiner
LOGIC, Inc.




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Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 12:08:04 -0400
From: "Rick & Ruth Duyck" <rnrduyck at sympatico.ca>
Subject: re: Attention: Brewers In Ontario (Tim Howe)

"Gilbertson & Page in Fergus, Ontario now retails malt to the home brewer. "
I don't know where Tim got this info from but it wasn't from me. Rick




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Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 10:57:11 -0700 (PDT)
From: Michael Tollefson <mbtoll at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Nutrasweet & Ben Hanson

First of all Nutrasweet has been used for over 20
years and has pr oven its safety over and over again. 
The FDA is satisfied.  Its just a methyl ester of a
dipeptide.  Nothing special here - these amino acids
naturally occur in you body.

Now for a question of Ben's math.  A 12oz. can of soda
has ~65-70 mg of aspartame.  You are correct to state
that ~10% of aspartame is made of the methyl ester
which is hydrolyzed to methanol (molecular weight of
294 vs 32).  This gives you ~7 mg of methanol upon
hydrolysis.  This is nowhere near the amount you state
in your message.  7 mg of methanol is 5.5 MICROliters.
 This is now where near toxic levels.  BTW fruits (and
other foods) contain methyl esters where hydrolyze to
methanol in the body.  This is done at very low levels
that cause no harm.  Its not like you drinking wood
alcohol.

Mike
Club BABBLE http://hbd.org/babble




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Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 16:08:54 -0400 (EDT)
From: Pat Babcock <pbabcock at hbd.org>
Subject: Welcome to a new Janitor

Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager...

I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome Spencer Thomas as a
new Digest Janitor! Spencer has agreed to assist in the
low-level moderation we perform on the HBD. 

Thanks, Spencer! I appreciate your help!

- -- 
 -
God bless America!

Pat Babcock in SE Michigan         pbabcock at hbd.org
Home Brew Digest Janitor           janitor at hbd.org
HBD Web Site                       http://hbd.org
The Home Brew Page                 http://hbd.org/pbabcock
[18, 92.1] Rennerian
"I don't want a pickle. I just wanna ride on my motorsickle"
                                   - Arlo Guthrie




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Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 20:53:58 -0500
From: Pete Diltz <pdiltz at plutonium.net>
Subject: Iowa City Homebrew Classic Competition

THIRSTY

(The Honorable Iowa River Society of Talented Yeastmasters )
is pleased to announce the 2003 Iowa City Homebrew Classic
Competition. The judging will occur on Saturday, November 
8th. at Millstream Brewing, in Amana, IA:

http://www.millstreambrewing.com/

All BJCP styles including mead and cider will be accepted.
Rules, entry forms, and general info are on our website at:

http://home.plutonium.net/~pdiltz/thirsty/comp.html



If you are interested in judging or being a steward, please
fill out our on-line Judge Registration form at:

http://home.plutonium.net/~pdiltz/thirsty/judgeform.html

or contact me at:   pdiltz at plutonium.net


Enter soon and often!

Pete Diltz








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