---

	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: pbabcock at hbd.org


***************************************************************
       THIS YEAR'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY: 

                  Beer, Beer, and More Beer
      Visit http://morebeer.com to show your appreciation!

    Support those who support you! Visit our sponsor's site!
********** Also visit http://hbd.org/hbdsponsors.html *********


Contents:
  Bringing homebrew to Canada (Brian Millan)
  Re: Wyeast 1007 ("Greg 'groggy' Lehey")
  cleaning the kettle (leavitdg)
  Glucometer sugar test for beer ("Harlan Nilsen")
  Chloramines in brewing water (Don Trotter)
  Phoenix (Tom Keith)
  link of the week - cellaring (Bob Devine)
  Phoenix area brewpubs ("dave holt")


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*           The HBD Logo Store is now open!             *
*            http://www.hbd.org/store.html              *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*  Suppport this service: http://hbd.org/donate.shtml   *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*   Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy!   *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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.

LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL USED EQUIPMENT? Please do not post about it here. Go
instead to http://homebrewfleamarket.com and post a free ad there.

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@hbd.org or read the HBD FAQ at http://hbd.org.

JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
                  and Spencer Thomas



----------------------------------------------------------------------


Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 00:15:26 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
From: Brian Millan <ernurse at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Bringing homebrew to Canada

Hi Group --

Anyone have the skinny on whether it is okay to
bring homebrew into Canada?  I know that visitors
are limited to a case for personal consumption,
but I was wondering about any reactions people
might have experienced bringing in homemade
beer.

Thanks

Brian





Return to table of contents


Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 17:35:52 +1030
From: "Greg 'groggy' Lehey" <grog at lemis.com>
Subject: Re: Wyeast 1007

On Friday, 28 January 2005 at 11:14:21 -0500, leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu wrote:
> Is the German Ale yeast (Wyeast 1007) a blend of yeasts?

I don't know details, but it would surprise me.

> I ask in that a week ago I started a light ale using that yeast, and
> it fermented real well, then slowed a day or so ago, then started up
> a little bit more vigorously again.  My temperatures have been
> pretty steady, although at the high range (66 F).  Could there be
> another yeast that has taken off, or is this just my imagination?

I'm sure it's not your imagination, but there are other reasons.  I've
recently heard from Hubert Hanghofer of the German HBF list that a
marked pause can occur when the (any) yeast runs out of maltose and
adapts to fermenting maltotriose.  That applies to any, but I haven't
noticed it much.  Possibly German yeasts are most sensitive to this
transition.

> (brewing a German Summer ale today,..pils malt bill, but German Ale
> yeast)

I've been doing things like that too.  I used the 1007 and wasn't very
happy with the results, not only because of the terrible clearing.
You might like to try the same grain bill with 1338 European Ale or
one of the British ale yeasts; I've found the latter to be quite a
good choice.

Greg
- --
Finger grog at lemis.com for PGP public key.
See complete headers for address and phone numbers.


Return to table of contents


Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 08:00:25 -0500
From: leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu
Subject: cleaning the kettle

Hey, you know the stuff that can build up on your ss kettle...that only goes 
away with a good deal of scrubbing?  Well, I discovered another way a few 
months back, and am going to do it again today:  fill the kettle with fresh 
merlot grape juice!  That's right.  I don't like using sulphites, so I heat the 
juice up to 170 F, just like some make mead, leave it there for 20 minutes, 
then chill and pitch the yeast.

Well, last time I did this, something in the grape juice (acidity?) cleaned the 
kettle as well.  Anyone have any idea if this is the case, and I guess as 
importantly, if this will have deleterious effects upon the wine?

Happy Brewing!


 -Darrell



Return to table of contents


Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 10:06:30 -0600
From: "Harlan Nilsen" <hramnrah at frontiernet.net>
Subject: Glucometer sugar test for beer

Being a diabetic I am more than well aware of blood glucose testers.  I
really have my doubts about using them for beer as they are designed to read
a blood sample.  In fact, depending on which brand you have, they read blood
differently.  Some read whole blood and some read blood plasma.  There are
differences in these readings as the plasma units will typically read about
10-12% higher than the whole blood units.  I also believe there was a thread
on HBD a while back where someone had tried this and found it did not work.
Also, these little units are expensive and the test strips are expensive and
outdate fairly quickly and lose their accuracy.  My advice would be to stick
with the Clinitest.

Cheers,
Harlan




Return to table of contents


Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 11:24:41 -0600
From: Don Trotter <donniestyle at directlink.net>
Subject: Chloramines in brewing water

Hi all.  I've posted this message to AHA Tech Talk, but there were no
responses.  I'm going to add the text from all my posts, so it may get
lengthy.  Please bear with me.

 > I live and brew in Plano Texas. Our water is fairly neutral, but
 > it contains Chloramines. Our water doesn't taste very bad, but
 > since I'm a Country Boy, I drink only filtered water or beer. I've
 > been using a carbon water filter, and Potassium Metabisulfite or
 > Sodium Metabisulfite in my brewing water.
 >
 > Some of the readers are probably aware of where I get the idea to
 > use the metabite in my brewing water. Brewing Techniques
 > March/April 1999 featured an article "Removing Chloramines from
 > Brewing Water," by A. J. deLange.
 >
 > I'll paraphrase some key points of the article.
 >
 > 1. Chloramines are formed by a reaction between ammonia and
 >    chlorine.
 > 2. When the water arrives at your home, it is left with
 >    monochloromine and chlorine.
 > 3. Beers made with chlorominated water can have a chlorophenol
 >    flavor (medicinal or plastic).
 > 4. Chloramines are NOT removed by water filtration or boiling.
 >
 > Before starting water filtration for brewing, or adding metabite,
 > I never really noticed problems with my beer. In fact, I'd already
 > won a couple awards, including First Place for English Best Bitter
 > at the 1996 Sunshine Challenge. That was my first all grain beer.
 > All other beers that I made until then were extract or partial
 > mash.  Another interesting fact is that they were all darker
 > beers.
 >
 > My first attempt at a light colored all grain beer was a Helles
 > Bock.  It contained a boat load of Pilsener malt, topped with a
 > healthy dose of light caramel malts. This beer tasked like
 > plastic. It was not undrinkable, but was not entirely enjoyable.
 > Afterward, I remember reading somewhere that this problem is more
 > common in lighter colored beers. After this I bought a carbon
 > water filtration system for brewing. I thought I had all the
 > tools, until I read the Brewing Techniques article. I've used the
 > filter and metabite since. My beers have not had the same problem
 > again, and I've gotten more awards. I'd say the awards prove that
 > adding metabite to the brewing water will not hurt the finished
 > product. My choice of Potassium or Sodium is pretty arbitrary,
 > except when brewing a Continental or English beer. I use Potassium
 > and Sodium metabite respectively. This is suggested in the
 > article.
 >
 > Since, I have seen nor heard more on this water treatment. It has
 > been 8 years. Does this still make sense?

That was the original post.  There was a response that simply asked
for more information, so I also provided the following.

 > Ian Smiley asks, "Does anyone know the exact procedure for
 > employing metabisulphite to eliminate chloramines in tap water?"
 >
 > I wrote about this procedure in AHA TechTalk Vol. 04-1108. To my
 > dismay, I did not see any replies about this practice.  I had
 > hoped that someone with a chemistry background might help.  I
 > further hoped that other technical issues might have been
 > uncovered.
 >
 > My practice is based solely on the article in Brewing Techniques,
 > Volume 7, Issue Number 2, March/April 1999, Removing Chloramines
 > from Brewing Water, by A.J. deLange.
 >
 > From the article, "The required dose is simple to calculate: Take
 > twice the chloramine level, add the chlorine level, and divide by
 > 6.  This is the number of [campden] tablets required to treat 20
 > gallons.  Scale this value according to how many gallons to be
 > treated.  For example, if I were to brew with the local water,
 > which has 3 mg/L chloramine, I would need one tablet per 20
 > gallons."
 >
 > A.J. also wrote, "My experiments have shown that perhaps 20-30%
 > more potassium metabisulfite than calculated should be used to be
 > on the safe side."  And, "[since campden tablets may be sodium or
 > potassium.  If you are uncertain whether they are potassium or
 > sodium salt, have the supplier check with the wholesaler, or just
 > assume they are potassium.  If you guess wrong, you will be adding
 > 17% more bisulfite than you need -- not a significant amount."
 > And, "Your beer will easily tolerate two or three times the
 > required dose (vintners use one or two tablets per gallon), so if
 > our answer contains a fraction of a tablet, you can just round up
 > to the nearest whole tablet."
 >
 > Okay, I'm not the best at typing, so I'll leave it there for now.
 > You really want to locate a copy of that issue.  Since the company
 > went out of business, you'll need to find a friend with it.  They
 > still have a web site, and used to sell back issues.
 > http://www.brewingtechniques.com Given the quotes above, I decided
 > it wasn't rocket surgery, so I decided to use 1 Campden tablet per
 > 15 gallons of water.  I first filter the water, with a carbon
 > filter.
 >
 > I would like to know whether this practice had been found to have
 > bad side affects.

That is the second post.  My question remains the same.  Can this
process be bad for the beer in any way?

Thanks in advance.
Don Trotter



Return to table of contents


Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 16:49:19 -0600
From: Tom Keith <tom at advertising-marketing.com>
Subject: Phoenix

At 10:11 PM -0500 1/28/05, "Marc Sedam" <alechemist at bellsouth.net> wrote:
>A friend of mine is headed to Phoenix in a month or so.  Any recommendations
>for brewpubs?


Was just there, and can heartily recommend Four Peaks in Tempe 
(there's another one in Scottsdale, but the space isn't as 
interesting). The bartenders were fairly knowledgeable about the 
grains and hops in each of their brews, and the gf particularly liked 
their Kiltlifter.


- -- 
Tom Keith


Return to table of contents


Date: Sat, 29 Jan 2005 21:51:06 -0700
From: Bob Devine <bob.devine at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: link of the week - cellaring

Cellaring beer is a fascinating topic.  I used to
keep dozens of different batches, all of different
ages.  But after a few household moves, my hope died
for doing a longitudinal study. I just drank the
beer rather than move it yet again.

Most beers seem to improve with a bit of cellaring.
But the best candidates are the darker and heavier
beers -- stouts, barleywines, biere de garde, etc.

Michael Jackson on cellaring:
http://www.beerhunter.com/askmichael-200112.html

How to store beer:
http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/101/store.php

When beer goes stale, it is due to low light conditions:
http://www.mbaa.com/TechQuarterly/Abstracts/1995/tq95ab17.htm
Note that is different from light-struck damage, but,
if you do cellar be sure to keep it dark.

Bob Devine


Return to table of contents


Date: Sun, 30 Jan 2005 10:28:31 -0700
From: "dave holt" <brewdave at hotmail.com>
Subject: Phoenix area brewpubs

I would recommend the following:  Sonora, Four Peaks, Rio Salado

All have great beers.  Favorites at Sonora (central Phoenix) are the Porter 
and Pale. In Pubcrawler, I see a listing for Sonoran in Scottsdale.  Looks 
like they have opened another location and changed the name to Sonoran.  At 
Four Peaks in Tempe, this time of year it is great to sit out on Patio and 
drink their Scottish.  Food is decent. Four Peaks does have a restaurant and 
bar in Scottsdale that serves beer from their Tempe brewery.  I have heard 
good reports on the Scottsdale location.  Rio Salado (Tempe) is hard to find 
but their lagers are good.  Yep, lager brewpub.  They do have ales now.  The 
Cowboy or Unlikely Cowboy is in Scottsdale and I am hearing good reports.  I 
haven't been there yet.  I mention it because it is in Scottsdale.  Arizona 
has so many brewpubs and being married now 3 years has slowed my pubcrawling 
down a bit.

Another fun place in Scottsdale is Papago.  They have 4 beers contract 
brewed for them.  They have 30 taps that change daily with 1 usually cask 
conditoned.  They also have 400 beers in the coolers.  Good bet to find 
regional brews plus a large selection of Belgians.

The following link for Arizona Brewers Guild has links to the above brewery 
websites.  Not all of Arizona brewpubs are listed there, just Guild members.

http://www.azbrewguild.com/

Time to brew.


Dave Holt
Chandler, AZ




Return to table of contents

---