HOMEBREW Digest #585 Tue 26 February 1991

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


Contents:
  What!!!??? Support MADD???!!! You *MUST* be on drugs! (Mark Stevens) <stevens at stsci.edu>
  brew clubs in DC? (Ben Bloom)
  DC area HB clubs? (Ben Bloom)
  Stuck fermentation (Andy Leith)
  Cooling wort before pitching (Bill) Mayne <mayne at sun10.scri.fsu.edu>
  FIX'D DRUM TAP (TSAMSEL)
  Homebrewing Dry Beer (Randy Tidd)
  mashing out (Ken Johnson)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 25 Feb 91 09:35:37 EST From: (Mark Stevens) <stevens at stsci.edu> Subject: What!!!??? Support MADD???!!! You *MUST* be on drugs! In Homebrew Digest #584 STAFINIAK at hermes.psycha.penn.edu posted an announcement of an upcoming homebrew competition at the Dock Street Brewery to pick a new beer recipe for them to brew. He said that the registration fee of $5 would go to MADD. I question the wisdom of beer drinkers giving money to a group that seems to be increasingly losing its focus on the problem of drunk driving and stepping up efforts to make it more difficult to buy beer and other alcoholic beverages. Their track record seems very poor in this regard. If memory serves me correctly, I believe they were instrumental in forcing states to raise drinking ages, that they supported tax increases to the brewing industry, and that local chapters have been seeking limits on liquor licenses and generally making it more difficult for people to buy or sell beer, wine, or other alcoholic beverages. I'm sorry, but there is absolutely no way that I will give one red cent to neo-prohibitionists. If MADD focuses ONLY on public education efforst and legislative efforst to increase penalties for convicted drunk drivers, then fine, I will support them, but as long as they seek restrictions on the free trade of alcoholic beverages, then I feel that NO homebrewer, brewery, brewpub, retailer, or consumer of beer wine and liquor, should give MADD any money. Why stroke the mangy cur that bit you? - ---Mark Stevens, a free-thinkin', beer-drinkin' kinda guy Send praise, "right-on"s, and kudos to: stevens at stsci.edu Send complaints, flames and &c. to: /dev/null Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 91 08:50:20 EST From: shadow!spike at uu.psi.com (Ben Bloom) Subject: brew clubs in DC? Can somebody clue me in on the whereabouts and whoabouts of a homebrew coop or club in the DC/Northern VA area. Thanks, replies to spike at ait.com Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 91 08:52:45 EST From: shadow!spike at uu.psi.com (Ben Bloom) Subject: DC area HB clubs? Can anyone refer me to homebrew clubs in the Northern VA/ DC area? Thanks, replies to spike at ait.com Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 91 09:31:15 CST From: andy at wups.wustl.edu (Andy Leith) Subject: Stuck fermentation While Al Taylor (HBD #584) is correct in saying that large amounts of O2 are needed at the start of fermentation so that the yeast can multiply, once fermentation is underway O2 is no longer necessary. A lack of O2 will result in a slow fermentation (not enough yeast) it should not result in a completely stuck fermentation. The problem is most often the result of the yeast settling out too soon and no longer being able to do its job. The best thing to do is either to pitch some more yeast into suspension, or to rack the wort into a new container (carefully so as to avoid aeration). This will stir the yeast back into suspension and fermentation should start up again. All this assumes of course that the problem is not that the yeast has been stunned by a high alcohol content. Andy Leith andy at wups.wustl.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 91 10:43:42 -0500 From: William (Bill) Mayne <mayne at sun10.scri.fsu.edu> Subject: Cooling wort before pitching Since after I mix the hot wort from the boil with cold water in the fermenter the temperature is normally down to a point which yeast can tolerate I have always followed the practice of pitching the yeast immediately. A book on homebrewing recommended this since it takes several hours for the wort to cool down to ideal fermenting temperatures. The rationale was that it is better to start fermentation immediately since the layer of CO2 produced in the fermenter provides some protection against bacterial infection. Although my results have been good, IMO, I am starting to question the wisdom of this practice. I recently switched to William's dry ale yeast, which starts very quickly. Yesterday I brewed a batch and noticed that within a couple of hours, while the temperature was still above ideal, the fermentation was going so fast the airlock was literally blowing a constant stream of CO2. If there was any interval between bubbles it was a tiny fraction of a second, too short to notice. I wonder if such fast fermentation is a result of the wort still being warm, and if it might not be better to let the wort cool first so the fermentation can proceed at more modest rate and at a suitable temperature. Besides what I have said here, what are the pros and cons? Should I at least chill the water to be mixed with the hot wort to get the initial temperature down more? On the other hand, my present procedure works. So maybe I shouldn't fix it. Bill Mayne Florida State University mayne at nu.cs.fsu.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 1991 10:50:36 EST From: TSAMSEL at ISDRES.ER.USGS.GOV Subject: FIX'D DRUM TAP I may be redundant but our MAIL facility was somewhat disabled last week. DrumTap Fixed: A smidgen of vaseline in the threads of the valve does the trick. (And Boy Howdy, does my Bitter/Brown schmekt gu"t)!! Ted Samsel (TSAMSEL at USGSRESV.BIT) Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 91 12:52:59 EST From: rtidd at ccels3.mitre.org (Randy Tidd) Subject: Homebrewing Dry Beer I'm trying to get my brother turned onto homebrewing, so I asked him what his favourite kinds of beers were, hoping I could brew up a batch of each to impress him. He said Pale Ale (no problem) and Dry beers (yuck!). I don't particularly like dry beers, so I was thinking of brewing a half-batch of a wimpy dry beer he might like. Does anyone have any tips on making dry beer? Can I do it with only extracts and some specialty grains? Someone told me that the fermentation is somehow extended to ferment out all the sugars from the beer, leaving it with no aftertaste. This doesn't sound quite right to me. I've been sipping on some Righteous Real Ale (by the recipe from Papaizan's book), and I think it's my best beer so far! It came out very dark (almost black) and bitter. After 2 1/2 weeks of aging in the bottle, it's delicious! Happy brewing! Randy Tidd rtidd at mwunix.mitre.org Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 91 09:57:14 PST From: kjohnson at argon.berkeley.edu (Ken Johnson) Subject: mashing out Could someone please tell me the reason for a mash out. Is it to deactivate the enzymes? To raise the mash to sparging temp.? What? confused kj Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #585, 02/26/91 ************************************* -------
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