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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator


Contents:
  Re: Competition (John Polstra)
  BrewCap (John Polstra)
  Want Stainless Vessel (John Cotterill)
  Last Line on Bud (florianb)


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Date: Mon, 22 Oct 90 09:57:36 PDT
From: polstra!jdp at uunet.UU.NET (John Polstra)
Subject: Re: Competition

In HBD #522, Todd Enders - WD0BCI  <enders at plains.NoDak.edu> writes:

> I am wondering just what homebrew competitions are available between
> the local level and the national level.

The Calendar of Events in each issue of Zymurgy lists many local
competitions.  The Fall 1990 issue lists about ten of them.

> What about entering a competition outside of your region ... ?

Not only acceptable, but encouraged!  In staging a competition, the
worst fear is that nobody will enter.  The more entries, the better.
(Provided you have enough qualified judges to bear the load, of course.)
You don't want to have to award first prize to a trashy beer just
because it was the only entry in its class.

Also, many county fairs include a homebrew competition.

   John Polstra               polstra!jdp at uunet.uu.net
   Polstra & Co., Inc.           ...!uunet!polstra!jdp
   Seattle, Washington USA              (206) 932-6482
   "Self-knowledge is always bad news."  -- John Barth

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Date: Mon, 22 Oct 90 15:26:18 PDT
From: polstra!jdp at uunet.UU.NET (John Polstra)
Subject: BrewCap

Do any of you have any actual experience using the BrewCap closed
fermentation system?  The more I think about it, the more it appeals to
me.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, here's the
idea.  Fermentation is done in a 7-gallon carboy that is supported
upside-down.  A 2-hole stopper is used in the mouth of the carboy.
(The stopper is fastened in place somehow -- otherwise the weight of
the wort on top of it would push it out.) Through one hole of the
stopper is a long stiff tube that reaches up all the way to the highest
part of the inverted carboy (i.e., to what would normally be the bottom
of the carboy).  Through the other hole is a short tube that is
normally closed off.  (There is a sketch of this in an advertisement on
page 54 of the Fall 1990 Zymurgy.)

Since the carboy is inverted, the long tube extends up into the head
space above the surface of the wort.  CO2 escapes through the long
tube, which on the outside is connected to a standard fermentation
lock.

The spent yeast and trub which settles out falls to the mouth end of
the carboy.  From there, it can be drained by briefly opening the short
tube.  So instead of racking the wort off the spent yeast and trub,
you can simply drain the spent yeast and trub out from under the wort.

Here is what appeals to me about this approach (in theory, at least):

1.  No racking is required.  As soon as the trub has settled, near the
beginning of primary fermentation, you can remove it through the short
tube.  Later on, when you normally would rack the beer off the spent
yeast for secondary fermentation, you just drain out the yeast through
the short tube.

2.  When it is time to keg (or bottle) the beer, you don't have to
siphon it.  Just drain it out using the short tube.

3.  The entire fermentation process is enclosed from beginning to end.
That means less opportunity for contamination.

4.  You only have to wash and sanitize one fermentation vessel.

5.  It is easy to collect the yeast for repitching into another batch.

At least one microbrewery that I know about (Thomas Kemper) uses this
general approach, with good success.  Their fermentation tanks have
special conical bottoms with valves for removing the yeast and trub.

The problems I can imagine are:

1.  If the stopper comes out, you've got a real mess!

2.  Clogging of the drain tube could be a problem.  (Probably not
a problem if hop pellets are used.)

3.  You need some kind of stand to support the carboy upside-down.

4.  Dry hopping in secondary would be awkward or impossible.

I'd appreciate any comments from people who have actually tried this.

   John Polstra               polstra!jdp at uunet.uu.net
   Polstra & Co., Inc.           ...!uunet!polstra!jdp
   Seattle, Washington USA              (206) 932-6482
   "Self-knowledge is always bad news."  -- John Barth

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Date: Mon, 22 Oct 90 16:31:13 PDT
From: John Cotterill <johnc at hprpcd.rose.hp.com>
Subject: Want Stainless Vessel
Full-Name: John Cotterill


Does anyone know of good source of sealable stainless steel vessels?  I am
looking to buy something around 15 gallons as a fermentor.  Naturally,
a cheap source is preferable, but at this point, any information is
welcome.

Thanks, John.
- --
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~       John Cotterill  (916) 785-4138          ~
~       Systems Technology Division             ~
~       8010 Foothills Blvd.                    ~
~       Roseville, CA 95678                     ~
~       HPDesk: John (hprpcd) /HP5200/UX        ~
~       Unix to Unix: johnc at hprpcd.rose.hp      ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Date: 22 Oct 90 16:27:19 PDT (Mon)
From: florianb at tekred.cna.tek.com
Subject: Last Line on Bud

First, my regrets to those who sent me mail directly, recently.  Our computer
was down and I was unable to log on for some time.

Second, Algis says,

>I have to disagree with you Florian -- I hated the Bud.  In fact, both

I received several comments on my spiel about Budweiser.  I suppose if I
wouldn't write so parabolically, people would understand me easier.  The
gist of my comments was intended to be:

	1	Practically any beer can taste good under the right
		circumstances.

	2	Most microbreweries have a long way to go to catch up
		with breweries who deliver really good products, such
		as some German breweries.  Until then, some modesty
		should be shown.

	3	It is possible to brew high quality beer at home.  So
		what is the big deal about microbrews?

By the by, it's the same for hamburgers, ice cream, fried chicken, pickles,
bread, and so on.

Florian


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End of HOMEBREW Digest #523, 10/23/90
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