---

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


Contents:
  Homebrew Newsletter (NIX)
  take me off the list (Mike Karin)
  Re:  Homebrew Digest #563 Patriotic Duty [R(18)] (Karl Wolff)
  Re: Patriotic Duty Homebrew Digest #563 1/8/91 (Tom Buskey)
  Re: Real Ale (Davin Lim) (David Lim)
  Yard Glass usage/etiquette (tony g)
  preserving pH meters; "methanol" (Chip Hitchcock)
  Hop Rhizomes (James Hensley)
  homebrew ebb (S94CRAWL)
  Cheap ingredients anyone? (S94TAYLO)
  Re: It;s too cold! (Michael J. McCaughey)
  Rotokegs (Max Newman x6689)
  Rotokegs (Max Newman x6689)
  poisoning (chip upsal)
  re: Underaged beer at brewpubs ("Andy Wilcox")
  ID change (Frank Pedroni)


Send submissions to homebrew%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com
Send requests to homebrew-request%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com
[Please do not send me requests for back issues]
Archives are available from netlib at mthvax.cs.miami.edu


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:     Tue, 8 Jan 91 09:28 EST
From: <NIX%USUHS.BITNET at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject:  Homebrew Newsletter

Hello there,
 My name is Darrell Nix.  I heard through the evergrowing
computer grapevine that You put out a newsletter on home-
brewing.  I would like to subscribe to your output, as I
am a very enthusiastic homebrewer! My BITNET address, as
you can see, is Nix at usuhs.
Thank you very much, I hope to be hearing from you in
the near future!
Darrell Nix

Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 8 Jan 91 8:13:37 MST
From: Mike Karin <mikek at col.hp.com>
Subject: take me off the list

Please delete me from your mailing list.
Thanks
- --
Mike Karin
Hewlett-Packard Co.
Colorado Springs Division
mikek at col.hp.com

Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 8 Jan 91 10:43:26 CST
From: Karl Wolff <wolff at aqm.ssc.af.mil>
Subject: Re:  Homebrew Digest #563 Patriotic Duty [R(18)]

All right people, lets get serious.  I have just about had it
with the way some of you are putting down the situation in 
Saudi Arabia.  Do any of you have any idea what is really going
on over there?  

First of all, Military regulations forbid the brewing of alcoholic
beverages on any installation.  Especially one in a host country 
that prohibits alcohol consumption.  The military briefs all its
personnel about the host country before they are shipped over seas.
If these soldiers are brewing their own stuff, they are going 
against military regulations as well as the laws of the host country.

Unless you have a military background or are now in the military,
I suggest that you get your facts straight before you bring them to 
the attention of others.  

Yes, we are in America, and Elvis is really dead.  So just talk to 
someone who knows the facts and get your stuff straight before you
open your mouth.


Wolffman

So why don't you tell your dreams to me, and fantasy will set you 
free.      ------Steppanwolf

Return to table of contents


Date: 8 Jan 91 1226
From: 12100z at D1.dartmouth.edu (Tom Buskey)
Subject: Re: Patriotic Duty Homebrew Digest #563 1/8/91

Chuck Ferguson says:
 
>  On the other hand, Suadi stores sell all the paraphenalia needed to
>  make home-made wine.  They have large bottles of Welches grape juice
>  with special mouths that make in-bottle brewing easy.  They also sell
>  yeast.  Figure that out.
 
 In the US, you can go to a gun store, buy a high powered rifle with a scope
 & ammunition.  And you can buy it with little waiting period or background
 checking.  But you can't use it to kill someone. Figure that out.
 
 Just because you can do something, doesn't make it right.  Our soldiers are
 guests over there & they should abide by the Saudi laws.  I wouldn't allow
 a smoker to smoke in my house.  I think the Saudis are showing great
 tolerance for our soldiers in thier country...
 
 
  Tom Buskey  12100z at D1.dartmouth.edu


Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 8 Jan 91 10:27:20 MST
From: David Lim <limd at chekov.Colorado.EDU>
Subject: Re: Real Ale (Davin Lim)

Patrick Stirling writes:
>In contrast, all of the American 'real ales' I've had have been 
>served the traditional US way: cold and carbonated, using CO2 pressured taps. 

There seems to be an increasing trend for brewpubs to offer their beers in
the "Real Ale" cask-conditioned/hand-pumped/cellar-temp style.  They can
be found (e.g. Portland's Bridgeport beers, Denver's Wynkoop) and are
remarkably like their British cousin's in mouth feel and quaffability but
probably have a more "US" flavor profile due to the predominant use of 
ingredients from this country (Cascade hops, for example.)  When frequenting
these brewpubs - and frequent them we do - I'll order a cask-conditioned
brew more often than not.

 -Davin

Return to table of contents


Date:     Tue, 8 Jan 91 13:54:10 EST
From: tony g <giannone at BBN.COM>
Subject:  Yard Glass usage/etiquette


Any yard glass gurus out there? I got one for Christmas and was wondering
if there's any etiquette that goes along with it. That is, do you just fill
it, tip it, and take a beer bath :-) Or is there some set of rules that apply
to yard glass drinking (a friend mentioned turning the glass as you're
drinking)?

anxious to quaff,
tony (giannone at bbn.com)
The Sparging Flocculaters (Allover, Ma)


Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 8 Jan 91 12:10:51 EST
From: cjh at vallance.HQ.Ileaf.COM (Chip Hitchcock)
Subject: preserving pH meters; "methanol"

> From: foster at rumor.enet.dec.com
> Subject: Care and feeding of pen-style Ph measuring devices

Answering based on experience of 12-18 years ago:
 
> 1. What if I dont keep it wet, by how much will the devices life be
> shortened ?.
   The tip of the electrode is a semipermeable material; letting it get
completely dry can ruin it permanently, or at least mean you have to soak it
for some time before you can get reliable results.

> 2. What techniques do people suggest for keeping it wet between use, assuming
> I may not brew for a couple of months between uses ? (the protective cap
> is not a large enough reservoir and it dries out within days).
   In the lab, we usually stretched a material like very heavy, soft plastic
wrap over a small container of water and poked the electrode through a small
slit in this covering. This is easier when the electrode is clamped to a
stand. I'd say sacrifice an old mug---evaporation through tiny slits in
multiple layers of wrap should be minimal.

> 4. The supplier of my unit sent me a note recently saying that the
> manufacturers information for callibration was incomplete, and that I should
> use distilled water with a know buffer in it to render a Ph of 5.0. I dont
> understand how callibrating against a known value of 5.0 is any better than a
> known value of 7.0 (+- .1) - typical distilled water. Any ideas ?.
  I wouldn't assume that distilled water is reliably as close to neutral as
.1; the problem is that if \anything/ gets in, the pH will change radically.
The pH of 7 at room temperature means that one H2O in every 1.8e9 is split into
H+ and OH-.  It doesn't take much to shift that balance---are you sure that
sulfur oxides in your air are low enough that the distilled water wouldn't
pick up a couple of parts per billion?
   A buffer is a mixture (usually a weak acid and one of its soluble salts
that will absorb significant amounts of acid or base with little net change
in pH; a standard buffer is much more likely to be at the specified pH than
distilled water is. Not sure why they recommend a buffer at 5.0; possibly
something about the electrode, possibly because most buffers are somewhere
acid. If you were being picky (and covering a wider range than is necessary
for beer, which I think runs mostly pH 5-6) you'd get an alkaline buffer and
check somewhere around pH 9-10 as well.

> From: florianb at chip.cna.tek.com
> Subject: methanol bs
> 
> In yesterday's HBD comes a quote from the world's largest welfare system:
....
  Your chemistry is correct as far as it goes. However, the story didn't say
what they'd been "brewing" from. I've heard of desperate people trying to
make drinkable alcohol from things as strange as Sterno(TM) and its relatives
(cf your comment about sources of methanol during Prohibition). I also
wouldn't be surprised if the story said "methanol" because somebody thought
that would be simpler than trying to explain fusels, which I think are toxic
in larger quantities. (Sure they taste dreadful. If you're seriously bored when
you're not thinking about how your leaders are busily trying to get you killed,
are you going to care what it tastes like if it means you might not have to be
sober?)


Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 8 Jan 91 12:09:06 -0800
From: jpaul at lccsd.sd.locus.com (James Hensley)
Subject: Hop Rhizomes


I'm looking for a source of hop rhizomes.  Fresh Hops in OR is out for the 
year.  Any help will be appreciated.



Return to table of contents


Date:     Tue, 8 Jan 91 14:27 EST
From: <S94CRAWL%USUHSB.BITNET at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject:  homebrew ebb

please put name on distro list. or I will die.

Return to table of contents


Date:     Tue, 8 Jan 91 15:04 EST
From: <S94TAYLO%USUHSB.BITNET at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject:  Cheap ingredients anyone?

I live in Montgomery County, MD, just north of Washington, D.C. and have just
joined that new (to me at least) homebrew supply membership wharehouse out
of Florida.  The prices are incredible, but minimum orders are $100.  If you
live in the area and are interested in taking advantage of my membership, drop
me a message (s94taylo at usuhsb.bitnet).  I am most interested in splitting
barrels (55 lb.) of dry malt.  All prices are great, but in bulk.
Let me know soon, as I am getting that brewing bug again (after all, it HAS
been 3 whole days since I bottled my last batch)
Al Taylor,
Bethesda, MD

Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 8 Jan 91 17:52:59 PST
From: mrmike at uigelf.ece.uiuc.edu (Michael J. McCaughey)
Subject: Re: It;s too cold!

Many thanks to all those who had suggestions on handling my "frozen" ale. I
did an informal survey of room temps with a thermometer, and managed to find
a spot where temps were stable and warm enough for good fermentation. Spec.
grav. readings were around what I usually get for this recipie, so things
seem OK. I guess I was worring....

The variety of temps around various parts of my apartment have made me wonder
about long term temp stability of my usual brewspace. Anybody know a *cheap*
source of a temperature strip-chart recorder? It'd be nice to know what's
going on when I'm not around!
Thnks-n-Rgds,
mrmike          

Return to table of contents


Date: Mon, 7 Jan 91 09:38:36 PST
From: mailrus!umich!samsung!uunet!intermec.com!maxn at gatech.edu (Max Newman x6689)
Subject: Rotokegs

I got a Rotokeg for Christmas. Any Rotokeg owners
out there willing to share experience with this product?
Are replacement parts available?

Return to table of contents


Date: Mon, 7 Jan 91 09:38:36 PST
From: mailrus!umich!samsung!uunet!intermec.com!maxn at gatech.edu (Max Newman x6689)
Subject: Rotokegs

I got a Rotokeg for Christmas. Any Rotokeg owners
out there willing to share experience with this product?
Are replacement parts available?

Return to table of contents


Date: 09 Jan 91 07:42:08 EST
From: chip upsal <70731.3556 at compuserve.com>
Subject: poisoning

>I just checked with a chemist buddy down at Bend Research.  Methanol is
obtained
>from pyrolysis of wood at extremely high temperature.  The temperature of
>boiling water (alcohol) is insufficient to convert ethanol to methanol.
>Brewer's yeast does not manufacture methanol.  I'm not a chemist, but I am
>a physicist, and I'm inclined to take the chemist's word above that of the
>military.

This was my understanding.  I was told that the poisining might have
resulted from not letting the first third of the distilation blow off.
You are only to collect the middle third from a "run".

There is some methanol and other higher acholes produced from standered
fermentation.  Perhaps the way they distilled there beer consentrated
these.

Chip


Return to table of contents


Date: Wed, 09 Jan 91 12:16:24 EST
From: "Andy Wilcox" <andy at eng.ufl.edu>
Subject: re: Underaged beer at brewpubs


ico.isc.com!rcd at raven.eklektix.com (Dick Dunn) writes:

>I'll go a little further out on the limb and say that there is no such
>thing as a "young" or "raw" taste for beer (unless you choose to equate
>"young" and "fresh":-). 

Good point.   However, I can tell you this is *exactly* what I did for
the first couple years of my brewing.  When introducing newcomers to 
homebrew, I always make the analogy of fresh vs. store bought bread.
They almost always understand this, and enjoy the beer even more.  Only
after going back and tasting budmilob did I notice that a certain type 
of flavor was missing.  I now equate this flavor with "freshness".  
This enables me to relax even more than I used to (-:

 -Andy

Return to table of contents


Date: Wed, 9 Jan 91 15:00:56 PST
From: fdpedro at ptsfa.PacBell.COM (Frank Pedroni)
Subject: ID change

Rob,
 My id has changed from:
	fdp at ptsfa.PacBell.COM
 to:
	fdpedro at ptsfa.PacBell.COM


Return to table of contents



End of HOMEBREW Digest #564, 01/10/91
*************************************
-------

---