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


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Contents:
  re: Sight glass material (sosman)
  Re: taking into account the rice hulls ("Alan & Ondina Colton")
  RE:  taking into account the rice hulls? (Steven Parfitt)
  Re: Results -- Wyeast 3522 at High Temps ("Greg 'groggy' Lehey")
  Re: die phenols die! ("David Houseman")
  Re: Sight glass material (Fred Johnson)
  Rice Hulls ("A.J deLange")
  Re: Sight Glass tube (Kent Fletcher)
  Simm and wallpaper steamer sanitary issues ("knightcaptain Jack")
  Re: die phenols die! ("Doug Hurst")
  Patio brewery ("Dave Hopf")
  link of the week - barley cultivars (Bob Devine)
  die phenols die! (Signalbox Brewery)
  2005 BUZZ Off Results! ("Christopher Clair")
  RE: die phenols die! ("Al Quickel")


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Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 14:04:55 +1000
From: sosman <sourceforge at metrak.com>
Subject: re: Sight glass material

> Date: Tue, 17 May 2005 09:40:24 -0400
> From: "Doug Moyer" <shyzaboy at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Sight glass material
> 
> Can anyone recommend a source for purchasing a couple of sight glass tubes?
> I'd prefer something a bit tougher than glass, but transparent. I need a
> 5/8" OD to go with the valves that I have.

I have used polycarbonate tubing and PFE tubing with great success. 
Both of these can easily handle boiling temperatures.  Connecting them 
to the kettle is the only challenge.

Some pics and a bit of description of the sight glasses I am currently 
using are at http://brewiki.org/BrewPot


- -- 
http://melbournebrewers.org/
http://brewsta.sourceforge.net/
http://brewiki.org/



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Date: Fri, 20 May 2005 23:21:10 -0600
From: "Alan & Ondina Colton" <coltonhse at btl.net>
Subject: Re: taking into account the rice hulls

Darrell  - Throw in your rice hulls at mash out then they won't affect your
mash programme, after all they are only there to help your filter bed from
clogging during sparging and have nothing to do with mashing.

Alan Colton,
Swamp Water Brewery of Belize.

Web: www.coltonhouse.com



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Date: Fri, 20 May 2005 22:33:19 -0700 (PDT)
From: Steven Parfitt <thegimp98 at yahoo.com>
Subject: RE:  taking into account the rice hulls?

leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu querrys:

>Hey;
> For those of you who use rice hulls when brewing a 
>batch that is high in wheat, or other sticky
adjuncts, 
>how do you take into account the rice hulls in 

>term of quarts per pound of water?

 ..... SNIP.....


I don't .

I use about .5Lb in a 10LB mash. That is less than 5%.

It is not rocket science, it is beer. Wing it.


> Darrell


Steven


		
Discover Yahoo! 
Have fun online with music videos, cool games, IM and more. Check it out! 
http://discover.yahoo.com/online.html


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Date: Fri, 20 May 2005 16:46:50 +0800
From: "Greg 'groggy' Lehey" <grog at lemis.com>
Subject: Re: Results -- Wyeast 3522 at High Temps

On Monday, 16 May 2005 at  9:09:54 -0700, Matt wrote:
>
> A bottle tasted at 5 days was cidery and ethanol-y.

OK, I'll bite.  What's an ethanol-y taste?  What real beer doesn't
taste of ethanol?

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


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Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 07:48:02 -0400
From: "David Houseman" <david.houseman at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: die phenols die!

Jon,

Too bad the judges didn't tell you what phenols they sensed, because there
are numerous phenols in this family of chemicals.  These range from the
desirable-in-some-styles, such as clove-like aroma and flavors in Weizens
and some Belgian ales, to the not-desirable-in-any-style, such as
band-aid-like aroma and flavors.  Smokiness is from other phenol compounds
and is sometimes acceptable and often not, depending on the style.

So your band-aid-like, medicinal characteristic can be from one of two
sources.  One is an infection.  And you're looking into that one already.
The other, and IMHO a primary cause, is the use of chlorinated water in
making your beer.  So that's something else to consider, depending on where
you live and get your water.

David Houseman



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Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 08:42:41 -0400
From: Fred Johnson <FLJohnson at portbridge.com>
Subject: Re: Sight glass material

Doug asks for a source for sight glass material. I have purchased 
polycarbonate tubing to use as sight glass and racking canes from 
United States Plastic Corp. (Cat. Nos. 43101-43126 for huge selection 
of sizes), but if I had it to do over again, I would probably find 
another way to measure volumes in my kegs. In my experience, the 
polycarbonate has become a little deformed from the boil even though it 
is rated to 240 F, and there is the need to cut holes in the keg to 
accommodate the sight glass fittings. The dip stick method hasn't been 
acceptable (in my opinion) for measuring volumes because one must look 
down into the keg to see the mark on a dip stick. Perhaps the 
calibrated float method is the best, but I have no experience with 
this.

Fred L Johnson
Apex, North Carolina, USA



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Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 12:44:29 +0000
From: "A.J deLange" <ajdel at cox.net>
Subject: Rice Hulls

For Darrell: Rice hulls do their job in the lauter tun. That's where 
they go into the mash when I use them. There is no point in putting them 
in earlier as they add nothing to the beer but may, OTOH,  get damaged 
in the parts of the process prior to lautering (stirring, mixing, 
pumping). As they go in after all consideration of quarts per pound are 
past it is not necessary to consider them in calculating strike water.


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Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 08:06:21 -0700 (PDT)
From: Kent Fletcher <fletcherhomebrew at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Sight Glass tube

Doug Moyer asked
> Can anyone recommend a source for purchasing a
> couple of sight glass tubes?
> I'd prefer something a bit tougher than glass, but
> transparent. I need a
> 5/8" OD to go with the valves that I have.

I used polycarbonate tubing from McMaster-Carr
(www.mcmaster.com), it's FDA compliant and very
durable.  #8585K53 is 5/8" OD, 3/8" ID, available by
the foot  at  $1.88/ft.

Kent Fletcher
Brewing in So Cal


		


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Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 17:51:25 +0000
From: "knightcaptain Jack" <knightofheineken at hotmail.com>
Subject: Simm and wallpaper steamer sanitary issues

Hello everybody,

After years of reading articles from HBD, I have decided to take the plunge
and start posting something. I hope my question is worthy of this forum...

This post is in reference with the Steam Injected Mash Mixer (SIMM) setup
Gary Spykman has posted on the web at the following link:
www.gjwspykman.com/simm/simm.html . I bought myself a used Wallpaper
Steamer (as a matter of fact, I bought the same model as shown in Gary
Spykman website, Colonial Wallpaper Steamer) and now have sanitary issues
with it.

I opened it yesterday to see how clean it was in the inside; there seem to
be white deposit in the bottom of the stainless steel heating/pressure
chamber; there is rust as well as what looks like to be mold on the
(galvanized steel, I presume) outer parts of the steamer.

Now, should I have concerns that particles of white deposit, rust, mold or
any kind of bugs be transferred into the mash via the steam when working
with such a device? I also have concerns with the vinyl hose used to
transfer the steam to part a rubber taste to the mash. What are your
thoughs?

Also, how do I clean the stainless steel tub and the outer parts of the
rust, white cake (must be hard water deposits) and mold? I have precision
tools that could grind the rust from the outer parts, but the bigger hole I
can use to clean the inside of the tub is the one for the heating element.
Is there chemical products I could use to clean enough and make sure the
steam injected in the mash is sanitary?

Jacques
Gatineau, Canada




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Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 16:50:54 -0500
From: "Doug Hurst" <dougbeer2000 at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: die phenols die!


JonO laments that his score sheets declared his beer to be phenolic.  Jon, 
you state that you are considering rolling out the Iodophor to sanitize.  
This begs the question of what you're using now.  If it's perhaps bleach, 
then that could be the cause of your phenols.  Bleach residue on equipment 
will break down and cause a very medicinal phenolic aroma in your beer.  
Iodophor can be used as no rinse sanitizer and won't cause the phenolic 
character.


Doug Hurst
Chicago, IL
[197.5, 264.8] Apparent Rennerian




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Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 18:46:38 -0700
From: "Dave Hopf" <hopfbrau at quetzalloca.com>
Subject: Patio brewery

It's been awhile since I've had much interest in brewing. Following a
career change, we moved from our rural home to the Big City last year.
Actually, we don't really live in the Big City, we live in a little city
just on the edge.

Knowing that our plans involved living in an apartment for a few years,
I had sold my entire set of brewing equipment a nice couple. Lets just
say that they needed a large van to haul it all away and they were very
happy with their $300 purchase.

This has actually turned into a serendipitous event. After becoming
established in our new environment, I was able purchase new equipment
sized for apartment living. No more 1-sack 30 gallon batches anymore,
but that's fine with me. I knew exactly what I wanted and had great fun
ordering off the internet. More on that later.

Best of all, our apartment is on the ground floor with a concrete patio.
And in that patio is a utility closet with a large gas hot water heater.
Since the apartment has hot water heating, this heater uses a tempering
valve to lower the temperature of the hot 171 degree F (77.3 degree C)
water going to the kitchen and bathrooms. And yes, there is a hose
faucet for me to tap into this nice hot water, and another one on the
cold water side!

My first batch was made on a rainy Sunday afternoon. The water from the
hot water heater was directly added to the grain and was nearly perfect
for reaching my target temperature. I don't know what the neighbors
thought when the surrounding area began to smell of a brewery. I
honestly felt sorry for the neighbor above as great wafts of pungent
steam drifted up from my patio into theirs. But no one complained - I
really don't think that it is any worse than smelling someone else's
barbeque.

The beer, an IPA, turned out fine. I was a little rusty and did not
quite hit my target volume. It may have tasted even better with less
hops, but it was sooo nice to have a home made brew after over a year.
That "Natural Ice" beer that the missus buys me has only one good
quality. That is, if you have nothing but Natural Ice in a can for a
couple of weeks, you can splurge and buy a craft beer and it will taste
pretty good and it won't bother you too much that you paid almost $2 a
bottle for the privilege.

Now back to the HBD.

Doug Moyer is looking for sight glass material. Try borosilicate glass
tubing. Like Pyrex, it is tough stuff. Lab supply shops like cynmar.com
carry it in 3-12 mm diameters. I've bought a few things from Cynmar and
the prices are decent.

Darrell asks about water ratio corrections when using rice hulls. Hmmm.
If the mash was too thick, I would have added more hot water without
giving it a second thought and damn the consequences. Difference in
philosophy I guess.

David Houseman asks about his septic tank 'peticle'. Normally the
dumping of bad beer down the toilet is, if anything, beneficial for the
septic tank. However, it gives me pause that you are concerned that your
lambic is the cause of this hard crusty layer. Perhaps your lambic was
far worse than I realize. I think it would be safe to say that if you
did not observe peticle in your lambic before dumping it, you can look
elsewhere for the cause, like, how do you dispose of bacon grease?

 -= Dave 
Issaquah, WA



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Date: Sat, 21 May 2005 23:37:42 -0600
From: Bob Devine <bob.devine at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: link of the week - barley cultivars

If you are a long-time homebrewer, you probably heard
someone say that they are using "klages" barley.
I even heard of someone who named his dog with that name!

Unfortunately, while Klages was very common in the
1980s and 1990s, that variety is not really grown much
any more.  Most of the North American 2-row barley
is now the "harrington" variety.

New varieties are constantly arriving.  For example,
have you heard of "legacy", "sissi", or "conrad"?
If not, you might want to see current crop information
and some of the modern cultivars.

A good intro:
http://byo.com/mrwizard/872.html

http://www.cmbtc.com/PDFs/Var_list.pdf
http://www.ambainc.org/about/AMBA_Overview.pdf
http://ag.montana.edu/wtarc/Web2004/Agronomy/Bar/
Barley%20Variety%20Notes.pdf
http://www.ag.uidaho.edu/scseidaho/variety%20descriptions/
barley/2%20row%20malt%20barley.pdf

Bob Devine


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Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 09:21:24 +0100
From: Signalbox Brewery <signalbox.brewery at ntlworld.com>
Subject: die phenols die!

John Olsen says:

 >Okay so I got my first round AHA critique sheets back only to see
 >"phenolic" on both of them, ruining my shot at a decent score. Phenols
 >don't belong in a porter,

Errr, how would one make a beer whose original recipe
was for a 100% smoked brown malt grist without phenols?

Granted if they only appeared in the later bottles they
didn't come from the grist. Wild yeast would be one explanation.

Was it just this batch? It's surprising that this has been detected in
a porter when it would have been more apparent in other beer styles.

Did you brew anything before or since with the same yeast?
Have subsequent products of your brewery been free of phenols?

David Edge
Signalbox Brewery
Derby UK, home of Pale Ales since 1680



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Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 09:51:28 -0400
From: "Christopher Clair" <buzzclub at verizon.net>
Subject: 2005 BUZZ Off Results!

It is with pleasure that I can announce the results of the 12th Annual BUZZ
Off homebrew competition!  We had 254 entries from around the country
competing in 23 judging categories.  Congratulations to Brian Moore for his
Best of Show winning Irish Red Ale!  For complete results, please visit our
website http://hbd.org/buzz.  Winners, please note that there might be a
delay in us send out prizes.  Rest assured they will go out within the next
2 weeks.  Score sheets should go out this week.

Finally, just a quick thank you to Chris LaPierre and the entire staff at
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant for hosting us (both the BUZZ Off and our
monthly meetings) and sponsoring the Best of Show prize.  Their generosity
towards home brewers is unmatched and greatly appreciated.


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

"The mouth of a perfectly happy man is filled with beer."
 - Ancient Egyptian Wisdom, 2200 B.C.





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Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 14:20:49 -0400
From: "Al Quickel" <alquickel at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: die phenols die!

JonO

Do you ever use chlorine bleach in your process? I ask because I experienced 
the same comments several years ago, and through much trial, error, and 
discussion, a few fellow brewers suggested that saniziting with bleach 
(bleach kills everything, right?) was possibly the source of my phenols, I 
now use iodophor and boiling as my only sanitizing methods & haven't had 
phenol problems in a long time. Your band-aidy comment is the same one that 
I had for some beers that were technically clean (not infected) but still 
exhibited a phenolic character.

Al Q
Brewing at the center of my universe
[954.5, 172.6] A.R.




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