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


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Contents:
  In Ottawa next weekend, need grain ("Greg 'groggy' Lehey")
  Electrical Help? ("Eric R. Theiner")
  Aroma from wort, rising high... ("Cave, Jim")
  Beer in Alaska ("Williams")
  Judges & Entries Needed, 12th Annual BUZZ Off May 21st ("Christopher Clair")
  A couple days in Brussels ("Doug Moyer")
  National Home/Big brew Day ("Michel J. Brown")
  E.T. Barnette Homebrew Competition (stihlerunits)
  Perlick faucet failure? (Ed Dorn)
  Racking & bottling and eating crow ("Peed, John")


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Date: Sat, 7 May 2005 17:24:09 +0930
From: "Greg 'groggy' Lehey" <grog at lemis.com>
Subject: In Ottawa next weekend, need grain

I'm going to be speaking at the BSDCan conference in Ottawa later the
coming week (see http://www.bsdcan.org/ for more details).  One of the
things that probably isn't on the programme (somebody dropped out) is
an impromptu talk I'll be giving about my brewing control software
(http://www.lemis.com/grog/brewing/temperaturecontrol.html).

Now that's not really enough to talk about for 45 minutes, so I
thought I'd flesh it out with an explanation of why beer is an
essential component of civilized life, and how it's made.  I'd like to
show some raw ingredients (both malted and unmalted barley and wheat,
and of course hops).  If anybody can help there, I'd be very grateful,
and we can probably twist Dan's arm (he's the organizer, and copied on
this message) to let you in for the session.  Unfortunately I won't be
bringing any beer with me.

If you can help, please reply both to Dan Langille <dan at langille.org>
and to me, and leave a phone number I'm leaving in a little over 12
hours time, so I may not be able to reply until shortly before the
session.

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


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Date: Sat, 7 May 2005 9:17:16 -0500
From: "Eric R. Theiner" <rickdude at tds.net>
Subject: Electrical Help?

Hi Guys,

I'm hoping that the plethora of knowledge that has gotten me
to this point in building my electric brewing can help me 
with what I've apparently missed...

I have got my element for my brew kettle wired, got the 
extra 220v outlet wired, and have everything sealed... and I
go to test it this morning and slooooowly push the plug in, 
and got a flash and a pop!  I pulled it back quickly and the
breaker had not blown (hope nothing else blew instead!), and
one of the hot poles on the plug now has a char mark on it. 
I'm not sure what I've done wrong, so I'll describe my 
wiring and diagnostics so far.

The heater element only has two screws.  I screwed one hot 
pole to each and grounded to the brass exterior of the heat 
stick.  I wired the outlet in such a way as to be sure (and 
I have doublechecked) that the two hot poles are definately 
continous to the element and the ground wire is continuous 
to ground mentioned above (on the brass exterior of the heat
stick).

After the event mentioned above, I used my multimeter to 
make sure that there were no shorts to the ground, and I got
absolutely no deflection between the (unplugged) hot poles 
and the ground.  I was afraid that the silicone sealant 
might have crossed the poles (although I'm pretty sure it's 
non-conductive).  I have doublechecked the wiring, and all 
the current seems to be going where it is supposed to go...

If anyone has any ideas as to further diagnostics and fixes,
I'd be much obliged.  It's been 16 years since I've had 
Circuits, but this ought be pretty simple...?

Thanks!

Rick



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Date: Sat, 7 May 2005 16:55:10 -0700
From: "Cave, Jim" <Cave at psc.org>
Subject: Aroma from wort, rising high...

Aroma from wort, rising high.
A beer in hand.
Complete!



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Date: Sun, 8 May 2005 17:56:23 -0700
From: "Williams" <kimandjim at grantspass.com>
Subject: Beer in Alaska

The wife and I are taking a cruise to Alaska this June (10th wedding
anniversary), and I was wondering if anyone could direct us to any
"shouldn't miss" beer related establishments. We will be visiting Juneau,
Ketchikan, Skagway, and Victoria, BC. Any information would be greatly
appreciated.

Thanks,

Jim
Rancho Calamar Brewery
Grants Pass, Oregon




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Date: Mon, 09 May 2005 07:07:15 -0400
From: "Christopher Clair" <buzzclub at verizon.net>
Subject: Judges & Entries Needed, 12th Annual BUZZ Off May 21st

One more week for entries and we are still looking for judges!  Come out for
the fun and gain valuable judging experience from National, Master, and
Grand Master judges!  See details below.

Thanks and good luck!
Christopher Clair
buzzclub <at> verizon.net
http://hbd.org/buzz


Brewers Unlimited Zany Zymurgists (BUZZ) is proud to announce that the 2005
BUZZ Off home brew competition will be held on Saturday, May 21st at Iron
Hill Brewery & Restaurant in West Chester, PA.  For another year we will be
a qualifying event for the prestigious Masters Championship of Amateur
Brewing (MCAB) as well as the Delaware Valley Homebrewer of the Year.  All
BJCP recognized styles (2004 guidelines) including meads and ciders are
eligible for entry. For complete details and forms, please visit the BUZZ
web site at http://hbd.org/buzz.

Entries will be accepted between May 1st and May 15th.  For drop off and
mail in locations please refer to the BUZZ web site.  Please, do not send
entries to Iron Hill.

BJCP Judges and stewards will be needed. If you are interested please
contact me or another committee member (contact information can be found on
the web site). All judges must be BJCP certified (any ranking).

Good luck and cheers!

Christopher Clair
buzzclub <at> verizon.net
http://hbd.org/buzz




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Date: Mon, 9 May 2005 11:17:27 -0400
From: "Doug Moyer" <shyzaboy at yahoo.com>
Subject: A couple days in Brussels

I will have a couple days in Brussels on the 5th/6th of June. Any
suggestions on good places to stay (walking/easy train distance to good beer
spots).

I will also have a couple of days free in the middle of the month (17th &
18th). I would like to find a B&B in the heart of the lambic region. Any
suggestions?

The company is paying, so I gotta keep the costs reasonable - under 100
Euros/night???

Finally, I will be in Antwerp from the 11th to the 16th (conference). Any
suggestions on must visit beer places?

Brew on!
Doug

Troutville, VA



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Date: Mon, 9 May 2005 10:49:32 -0700
From: "Michel J. Brown" <zymurgyst at comcast.net>
Subject: National Home/Big brew Day

Last Saturday was Nat'l HB Day, so how did *you* spend that day brewing?
It's also Nat'l Big Brew Day as well, so did anyone brew a really big brew?
I brewed my famous (infamous?)  "Biggest Beer in the World" beer.  It's
homebrew by every definition, as it doesn't fit into any style or
archetypical frame of reference.  Based upon 16# of Gambrinus Pale Ale malt,
and 6# of Munton and Fison DME, along with 4# of Turbinado sugar, this hefty
big brew was accompanied by a quarter of a pound of Magnum (15%AA) Hops for
bittering (a la first wort hopping), followed by 1 oz each of Yakima
Goldings and Willamette at knockout.  Wort color is a tawny amber, and is
fermenting wildly with 32 oz of Wyeast 1968 London ESB, with an OG of 1.164,
and if it ferments out like it did the last two times I made this beer, TG
should be around 1.020~1.024.  Pitching sufficient yeast, oxygenating with
pure O2, and keeping the ferment at a healthy 70-72'F results in the above
beer.  Since I already drank the last bottle I had left last Christmas, I
don't have a comparison beer for color, aroma or flavor, but the 10 year old
Christmas beer was truly incredible. Aroma was a bit overwhelming at first
with higher alcohols, esters, and malty bready notes being quite
perceptible, but almost on the ragged edge of cloying, but not quite. The
color had deepened a bit, to an almost reddish coppery color that held the
glass like a fine Sherry or Creme Port wine, except for the dense
rocky off white head with thin Belgian lace, you'd think it was an aperitif
wine. Tasted of black currants, roasted hazelnuts, raisins, and toffee, with
a nice background bitterness that finished full and malty with a nice clean
aftertaste of fresh baked hot cross buns. This was what I wrote down on
Christmas, 2004, even though I don't remember much afterwards :-P  So,
again, what did you HBD'rs brew this past weekend?  Enquiring minds want to
know!

Michel

Somewhere in the unfashionable eastern end of Mutter's Spiral in the Milky
Way



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Date: Mon, 09 May 2005 12:50:19 -0800
From: <stihlerunits at mosquitonet.com>
Subject: E.T. Barnette Homebrew Competition

Announcing the 8th Annual E.T. Barnette Homebrew
Competition!

This is an AHA sanctioned competition.

The grand prize for Best of Show is $500!!!

Great prizes and custom medals will also be awarded
to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners of each of the
seven judged categories.

The seven categories that will be judged are: Bock
(5A-D) English Pale Ale (8A-C), American Ale]
(10A-C), Porter (12A-C), Stout (13A-F), IPA (14A-C)
and Fruit/Spice/Herb/Vegetable Beer (20 & 21A).

Entries will be accepted: June 27 - July 13, 2005

Entry fees: Submit three 12-16 oz brown or green
crown capped bottles and a check or money order for
$5.00 in U.S. funds per entry.

Judging: Judging will take place on Saturday, July 16th.

Location: Fox, Alaska (a small mining community ~11
miles north of Fairbanks)

More information as well as Entry and Bottle ID
forms may be found at the following URL: 
http://www.mosquitonet.com/~stihlerunits/ScottsDen/Beer/Events/Events.html

Should you have any questions or are interesting in
judging contact Scott Stihler at (907) 474-2138 or
stihlerunits at mosquitonet.com.

Please forward this message to anybody you know that
might be interested in entering this competition.

Cheers,

Scott Stihler
Fairbanks, Alaska
[2874, 324.9] Apparent Rennerian




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Date: Mon, 09 May 2005 14:32:48 -0700
From: Ed Dorn <edorn at mailblocks.com>
Subject: Perlick faucet failure?

After several years of kegging, I decided to try one of the 
forward-seal Perlick faucets.  I've used it for about 3 weeks, with 
pressure of about 9.5 lbs.  Up to last nite I've been thrilled with it. 
 It doesn't get stuck like regular faucets do.

As of 11:00 PM last nite, all was well.  Then when I went into the 
garage this morning, all the beer in the keg had been dumped to the 
garage floor.  A really nice rye ale - about 4+ gallons!  The mystery 
is that the faucet handle was still in the closed position.  If the 
handle was open, I'd assume that the cat jumped on top of the freezer 
and bumped the handle open.  But the handle was closed.  I then thought 
maybe it came from around the shank connection.  If that was the case, 
it would have sprayed all over the side of the freezer.  Not the case.  
The facts seem straightforward - the beer apparently came out of the 
faucet with the handle in the closed position.  My only logical 
conclusion is that the faucet seal failed.

I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas about other possible causes, and 
if anyone has heard of this sort of thing before.  I LOVED the faucet, 
but it's very hard to trust one again now.

Ed Dorn, Va Beach, VA



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Date: Mon, 9 May 2005 15:01:01 -0700
From: "Peed, John" <jpeed at elotouch.com>
Subject: Racking & bottling and eating crow


First, I agree with Brian about racking.  I tend to do it just to free
up fermenters, but my secondaries are now kegs and when the fermentation
is done they go into the fridge for chilling before filtering.  So it's
not really a secondary rack, it's just a free-up-a-carboy rack.  One
thing I am concerned about is not reaching full attenuation - racking
too soon appears to me to often make the beer quit fermenting a little
early.  I have inadvertently left beer on primary yeast for as long as
seven weeks with no detriment whatsoever.  I don't think Dennis Collins
has ever secondaried, and his beers certainly don't have yeast bite.  I
think yeast bite is an old wives' tale, as far as homebrewing and modern
yeasts are concerned.

OK, so I tried filling bottles directly from the tap with filtered beer
(low pressure, cold bottles, per recommendations) and it appears to
produce superior results when compared to counter-pressure bottling.
The jury is still out, as I got some comments from one competition that
make me wonder, but on the other hand, a tap-bottled Brit of mine took
first place in the east regional of the national homebrew competition
recently.  So to the person I took to task for saying that simpler is
better, I apologize, I stand corrected, and it certainly appears to be
better in this case.

John Peed
Oak Ridge, TN



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