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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Judges & Entries Needed, 13th Annual BUZZ Off June 3rd ("Christopher Clair")
  CO2 volumes in fermentor ("Dave Draper")
  re: Gluten-Free Beer ("steve.alexander")
  RE: Leave the campden to the vintners ("Andrew Jepeal")
  UV Light for sanitizing ("Andrew Jepeal")
  RE: PID Controllers (Steven Parfitt)
  RE: Campden/sodium metabisulfite as time saving/2 day brewing aid? ("Eric Wescott")
  UV light for sterilization, 2 day brewing (Michael Hetzel)
  Safale K-97 ("Dave Draper")


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Date: Wed, 05 Apr 2006 23:08:14 -0400
From: "Christopher Clair" <buzzclub at verizon.net>
Subject: Judges & Entries Needed, 13th Annual BUZZ Off June 3rd

Brewers Unlimited Zany Zymurgists (BUZZ) is proud to announce that the 13th
annual BUZZ Off home brew competition will be held on Saturday, June 3rd 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. We are also having a special bottle label
category this year.  For complete details and forms, please visit the BUZZ
web site at http://hbd.org/buzz.

Entries will be accepted between May 13th and May 26th.  For drop off and
mail in locations please refer to the BUZZ web site.  Please, do not mail
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

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




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Date: Wed, 05 Apr 2006 21:12:00 -0600
From: "Dave Draper" <david at draper.name>
Subject: CO2 volumes in fermentor

Dear Friends,

In #4988 Fred Johnson asks how much CO2 is 
dissolved in beer at the end of fermentation prior to 
priming.  Years ago when Mark Hibberd and I compiled 
our "priming by weight" article we tabulated that 
information.  The assumption here is that the beer is 
packaged soon enough after the end of fermentation 
that it remains essentially saturated with CO2; we 
provide the saturation values as a function of 
temperature in that writeup, which should directly 
answer Fred's question.  

You can go directly to the section of my beer page on 
this subject at:

http://www.unm.edu/~draper/priming.html

I also have a pdf of the more verbose writeup of this 
procedure that appeared in Brewing Techniques during 
the mid-90s, which I'd be happy to provide by email.

Cheers, Dave in ABQ
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-
David S. Draper, Institute of Meteoritics, Univ New 
Mexico
David at Draper dot Name
Beer page: http://www.unm.edu/~draper/beer.html
 ...when you think about it, everything makes sense.
    ---Ginger Wotring






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Date: Thu, 06 Apr 2006 04:23:57 -0400
From: "steve.alexander" <steve-alexander at adelphia.net>
Subject: re: Gluten-Free Beer

>I know gluten-free beer comes up every once in a
>while.

Good call Glyn, but anyone with family or friends
afflicted with celiac disease should be aware that
it is NOT literally a gluten allergy.

Many of the common brewing grains, wheat, rye, barley
and some of the variants like spelt and triticale
contain a specific protein which appears primarily  
in the gluten fraction.  This protein triggers celiac,
not gluten generally.  "Gluten" is a name for a
class of many thousands of proteins defined on a
functional basis (the protein fraction insoluble in
water, but soluble in some other solvent).

Corn (maize) and some other grains do contain gluten (yes
they do, but at low levels), but do not contain the
offending specific protein.   Recent studies imply that
oats do not contain the problematic protein, but that's
not definite.

It has been suggested that the problem protein resembles
one that appears in a infection bacteria, and so
triggers an immune response.   After all an allergy
is just a name for an inappropriate immune response to
an allergen, usually a protein.  If that's all there was 
to it then celiac disease would simply be an allergy to
certain grain products.  It's not so simple.

During the allergic response the immune system actually
damages the villa of the intestines, and causes permanent
and progressive damage.  Celiac is actually an auto-immune
disease in which the an immune system response to an
external allergen triggers an immune response to native
cells.  Other common auto-immune diseases include, juvenile
diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and quite a
list of endocrine disorders.   There are both genetic and
environmental factors involved in the development of these
auto-immune diseases, however expression of one autoimmune
disease increases the odds of others - there are several
identified syndromes of these.  There are now relatively
inexpensive genetic tests for markers which *predispose* one
to celiac, but even identical twins may express differently
wrt celiac.   Some recent studies suggest that asymptomatic
celiac may affect nearly one percent in Western populations.

To recap with a touch of flame-bait, the immune system of
a celiac is a bit like the Bush defense department.  When
faced with a real external challenge they misidentify the
source and create a vigorous but misdirected response which
ultimately damages the very system they intend to protect.
Apparently the problem of creating a strong, specific and
properly directed defense is difficult on both levels.

Of course the biggest practical problem for Celiacs in
Western culture is that high gluten wheats are needed to
create an adequate structure for risen breads.  Lower
gluten grains can be used with additives to form a heavy
"cake-like" structured bread, but I don't believe a credible
boule or a strudel can be made without wheat.

Again, it may be possible to make a beer with only corn,
rice, millet, sorghum, possibly oats and so on, but I
don't think we'd recognize the result as an adequate
replacement for conventional barley based beer.

Perhaps some good news is on the horizon. Some "wild"
related grains have been identified which lack the
offensive protein so perhaps these can be used to develop
and non-GMO celiac-safe wheat & barley.  GMO seems a
surer course.

 -S




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Date: Thu, 06 Apr 2006 08:33:01 -0400
From: "Andrew Jepeal" <jep_62 at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: Leave the campden to the vintners

Winemakers have to worry about it, but a 12% alcohol, low pH solution with 
little or no nutrients  is pretty safe from most spoilage organisms. Add 
sulfite to the mix and not much will grow in there.

Andy




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Date: Thu, 06 Apr 2006 08:37:37 -0400
From: "Andrew Jepeal" <jep_62 at hotmail.com>
Subject: UV Light for sanitizing

Correct me if I'm wrong, buy isn't UV light effecting the isohumulones in 
hops the reason for skunky beer? I'm not sure using UV is such a good idea.

Andy




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Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2006 06:07:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: Steven Parfitt <thegimp98 at yahoo.com>
Subject: RE: PID Controllers

Date: Wed, 05 Apr 2006 12:08:17 +0000
From: "A.J deLange" <ajdel at cox.net>
Subject: Controllers

>WRT the thread on PID controllers: "Triac output"
>could mean two things. 
 ...snip...

No, it means it has a TRIAC Output. It can ONLY drive
AC loads. It can not drive a DC load as it relies on a
zero cross in current to shut off. If you apply DC to
it it will never turn off.

The three basic outputs of commercial PID controllers
are :

TRIAC. Usually limited to 1 Ampere or so. It can
directly drive a slave TRIAC to handle larger loads,
but requires an series resistor, gate to caathode
bypass cap, and a snubber in addition to the Slave
Triac.

24Vdc. This is the typical output for industrial
controls in the US. Europe some times uses 48V instead
of 24VDC, but 24VDC is the most common. It can drive
an OptoTriac (Solid State Relay), 24V relay, or a host
of other devices. Current output is normally fairly
low.

4-20mA (or 0-20mA in some cases) also known as 20mA
current loop. This is a holdover from the older serial
communciations days. The predecessor was the 60mA
current loop which fell into disfavor in the 60s. it
requires a special load and power supply
configuration.





Steven, -75 XLCH- Ironhead Nano-Brewery  http://thegimp.8k.com
Johnson City, TN [422.7, 169.2] Rennerian 

"There is no such thing as gravity, the earth sucks." Wings Whiplash - 1968



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Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2006 10:10:59 -0400
From: "Eric Wescott" <eric.wescott at gmail.com>
Subject: RE: Campden/sodium metabisulfite as time saving/2 day brewing aid?

Sulfites are used commonly in wine, cider and mead making.  Some
people swear by them, some say they hate them.  Like most brewing
things, you get a mixed bag of opinions.

They do work to inhibit/kill yeast and bacteria up front
(pre-ferment).  I believe yeast tend to be more tolerant than
bacteria.  Many folks use a lower level of sulfites after pressing
juice of apples or grapes, which kills off the bacteria, but lets some
portion of the natural yeast survive and ferment.  Others use a higher
dose, then let it gas out over 2-3 days, then pitch their yeast.  A
boil will drive out most/all of the sulfites as gas, and probably
prevent any off flavors down the line or inhibited fermentation.

Sulfites are also used as a preservative.  Adding some level after all
brewing is done will kill off your yeast, and inhibit bacteria/yeast
from starting anew.  This is standard practice for many wine and mead
home-brewers, who plan to age their brews for over a year.  It is also
a present flavor in just about EVERY bottle of wine out there that you
buy.  (Note: buy a cheap bottle of wine and shelve it for 6 months. 
Much of that harsh "cheap wine" sulfite taste will fade, and your $5
bottle will suddenly taste like a $15 bottle, assuming the base wine
is not junk.)

Flavor.  Yes, sulfites have their own flavor.  After about a year of
homebrewing, I started to be able to pick it up.  It's harsh to me,
like a rough wine, but not purely that.  I can taste it in BMCs, many
young wines, and some foods too.  I don't like it for flavor, but that
sulfite flavor does fade, after perhaps 6 months in bottle.

Quantities: sorry, I don't have my notes.  Look around, and do a
little research on a good wine/mead forum.  They should be able to
help you out with how much to use depending on what you want to do.



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Date: Thu, 6 Apr 2006 12:02:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: Michael Hetzel <hetzelnc at yahoo.com>
Subject: UV light for sterilization, 2 day brewing

Wil Reed mentions using shortwave UV as an option for sterilizing wort.
This is might be fine for non-hopped wort (which is what this was
recommended for), but I wouldn't do it unless I was sure that the light
wouldn't change some compounds much like UV light does to hops. 

Here's a good article on the lightstruck phenomenon, 
www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_23_168/ai_n15980540,
and while it mostly focuses on hops near the end it mentions this:
"The team reported in the March 9 Journal of Agricultural and Food
Chemistry that the free radicals can still react with other sulfur
compounds, creating flavors reminiscent of rotten eggs."

Shortwave UV has a wavelength of 254 nm, and hop resins can skunk at
400-500nm (shorter wavelengths are worse). My fear is that if something
in the non-hopped wort absorbs energy at this length it could produce
free radicals that could alter other compounds.

In regards to 2 day brewing..
I guess it depends on where you roll the dice - leave the wort
overnight and potentially allowing some bacteria to gain a foothold,
sterilize it with UV and risk changing flavor compounds, or try the
campden tablet/sulfite approach. I'm somewhat lazy myself and after one
particularly late brewing session tried the leave-it-overnight method..
worked for me.

Cheers,
Mike Hetzel
Worcester, MA



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Date: Thu, 06 Apr 2006 18:36:44 -0600
From: "Dave Draper" <david at draper.name>
Subject: Safale K-97

Dear Friends,

I have a yen to try out the Safale K-97 dried yeast, 
which is reputed to be derived from the Zum Uerige 
strain.  I'm having the devil's own time trying to find 
someplace online to order it from.  Anyone know where 
this stuff can be had in something less than a 500 gram 
brick (a la Crosby & Baker)?

Thanks, Dave in ABQ
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=-=-
David S. Draper, Institute of Meteoritics, Univ New 
Mexico
David at Draper dot Name
Beer page: http://www.unm.edu/~draper/beer.html
Life is short, grain is cheap. ---Rich Lenihan






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