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


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Contents:
  Re: Re: Harshness (Jeff Renner)
  help (KEITH R BUSBY)
  chang'aa kills 49 Kenyans ("Peter A. Ensminger")
  Candi Sugar (Jeremy Hansen)
  Attention So. CA, So. NV, AZ, NM, TX, LA OK and AR homebrewers... ("bdb2")
  Jim Mccrillis -- contact me ASAP RE spruce tips (Dan Fink)


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Date: Fri, 24 Jun 2005 09:54:04 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <jsrenner at umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Re: Harshness

Some thoughts from the top of my head on harshness, some of which are  
repeats of others'.  They are opinions based on reading and  
experience but I don't have references (they're in a shelf at my  
elbow, but I'm lazy).  So while I think I'm correct, I may have  
misremembered some things.  And I'm not going to cover everything,  
especially if they've been mentioned earlier.

I said I was feeling lazy.

I've been through this frustrating problem.  And it comes up in  
judging often, when you need to suggest remedies.

Water chemistry - high levels of sulfates just don't get along with  
moderately to highly bittered lagers, IMO.  This can make a kind of  
rough bitterness.  I really don't know if it has to do with the hops  
that are used in lagers (i.e., noble), or if there is something about  
lager yeast or lagering.  But it seems to be true.

High sulfates can also be a problem with any ales that should have a  
soft bitterness rather than an aggressive one.

Water with high alkalinity resulting in a high wort pH can also  
produce this kind of roughness.  Of course, you are going to have  
other problems with this water if you are mashing.

My own problem was a lingering roughness, especially in the back of  
the throat.  Very different from the clean bitterness that lingers.   
It seems to have been oxidation - I suspect of tannins or phenols.   
When I really paid attention to eliminating sources of oxidation from  
the hot side to the finished product, the problem disappeared.

Jeff
- ---
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, jsrenner at umich.edu
"One never knows, do one?"  Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943
***Please note new address***



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Date: Sun, 26 Jun 2005 10:36:13 -0500
From: KEITH R BUSBY <kbusby at wisc.edu>
Subject: help

Brewed an ESB yesterday. Oxygenated 15 secs, and piched Wyeast 1028 (May
2005). I had smacked the pack at 9:30a but there was no visible swelling
ny pitching at 2p. Today at 10:30 there is no visible activity and the
water in the airlock is being sucked into the beer. Can anyone tell me
what is going on and what to do?

TIA.

Keith

Keith Busby
Douglas Kelly Professor of Medieval French
Department of French and Italian
The University of Wisconsin
618 Van Hise Hall
Madison, WI 53706
(608) 262-3941
(608) 265-3892 (fax)


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Date: Sun, 26 Jun 2005 15:14:54 -0400
From: "Peter A. Ensminger" <ensmingr at twcny.rr.com>
Subject: chang'aa kills 49 Kenyans

A June 26 CNN news item reported that 174 people were hospitalized and 
49 Kenyans died after consuming chang'aa, an illegal corn-based homebrew 
that is laced with methanol. Chang'aa is also known as "Rapid Results".

The liver converts methanol into formaldehyde and then formic acid, 
which can lead severe liver toxicity, blindness, and death. Methanol 
poisoning has many similaities to ethylene glycol (antifreeze) 
poisoning. Consumption of ethylene glycol leads to formation of glycolic 
acid and other compounds. The lethal dose of methanol and ethylene 
glycol is ~100 ml. In both cases, administration of IV ethanol may be 
used for treatment. Ethanol "saturates" alcohol dehydrogenase, the liver 
enzyme responsible for production of the toxic products.

Link:  
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/06/26/kenya.poisoning.ap/index.html

Sincerely,
Peter A. Ensminger
Syracuse, NY



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Date: Sun, 26 Jun 2005 19:55:30 -0500
From: Jeremy Hansen <cfjh at eiu.edu>
Subject: Candi Sugar

Friends,

This is an issue which will not seem to die. I've read very strong opinions
on both sides of the issue. Is candi sugar invert sugar or not? There are
many opinions which claim to be correct, but don't seem to have an informed
foundation. Who can shed some light on this?

Thanks.

Jeremy Hansen




- -----------
Jeremy C. Hansen
Assistant Professor of Horn and Theory
Eastern Illinois University
600 Lincoln Ave.
Charleston, Illinois 61944



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Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 08:14:12 -0400
From: "bdb2" <bdb2 at bdb2.com>
Subject: Attention So. CA, So. NV, AZ, NM, TX, LA OK and AR homebrewers...

I need some information! 

Do you know of any sporting venues (Baseball, football, basketball, soccer, 
etc.) in your area that feature craft beer?  If so, please contact me with 
the Stadium and whose beer it is. I've run into a few brick walls trying to 
write a short guide for beer loving sports fans in the Southwest for the 
Southwest Brewing News.  Since you're (presumably) local, who would know 
better than you?  Please contact me offline at:
bev at brewingnews.com as soon as possible! 

I am only interested in: Southern California (L.A. vicinity and points 
south) Southern Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and 
Louisiana. 

Many thanks in advance! 

 -BDB2 

Bev D. Blackwood II
Contributing Editor - South & East Texas
Southwest Brewing News
http://www.brewingnews.com
713-927-4832


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Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 09:42:17 -0700
From: Dan Fink <danbob at direcway.com>
Subject: Jim Mccrillis -- contact me ASAP RE spruce tips

My emails to you are bouncing back from earthlink, and I need to hear 
from you with your UPS address ASAP to get the spruce on the way to you 
tomorrow.

On a general note, our spruce tip harvest up here went quite well 
yesterday. As usual, we mixed it about 75% colorado blue spruce and 25% 
Englemann spruce. We picked about 2 pounds on our hike. We'll be using a 
pound of it here next week for making a 15 gallon batch of spruce mead, 
and are sending the extra to 2 lucky folks on ths board who reserved 
theirs back in February.

DAN F




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