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


Contents:
  Homebrew Digest #591 (March 07, 1991) (Rick Palmer)
  Fischer d'Alsace (Robin Garr)
  HB SUPPLIER IN MIDWEST? (Marvin Marlatt)
  Fischer brew and Mead (Michael Zentner)
  Re: Homebrew Digest #590 (March 06, 1991) (Steve Thornton)
  Best way to pitch yeast (Conway A. Bolt, III 5-8810)
  Re: Travelling with and for beer (Chris Shenton)
  micro-breweries in St. Louis (dvr)
  More beer marketing (adams)
  Taking beer on planes - overseas (Zamick)
  RE: Garlic Beer from TCJOHB (James Dee)
  Boilovers (MC2331S)
  re: women and beer, etc (Paul L. Kelly)
  Insulating Carboys (Darren Evans-Young)


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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 91 06:47:25 -0500
From: rick at cs.cornell.edu (Rick Palmer)
Subject: Homebrew Digest #591 (March 07, 1991)

How do I get off this list?


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Date: 07 Mar 91 07:48:47 EST
From: Robin Garr <76702.764 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Fischer d'Alsace

Excerpts from 7-Mar-91 Homebrew Digest #591
 
>a general rule of thumb is that Fischer beers are about as bad as imports
>can be.
 
Not necessarily so, at least in regard to Fischer Bitter d'Alsace, a
reasonably pleasant ale. Don't confuse it with Fischer AMBER d'Alsace, which
is fairly putrid stuff.
 
More significant to home brewers, however, is that this beer comes in
sturdy, brown, Grolsch-type bottles that hold 22 ounces! They're perfect, in
my humble opinion, for bottling homebrew, as the oversize bottles roughly
halves the bottling effort and one provides just about the right amount of
beer for my wife and me to share over dinner. (I get 20 ounces, and she gets
two ounces. <whap!>)
 
 
 


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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 91 07:45:27 -0600
From: Marvin Marlatt <rmarlatt at osiris.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: HB SUPPLIER IN MIDWEST?


My primary source of homebrew supplies (Basement Brewmaster in Milwaukee)
is no longer doing mailorder.  They had some of the highest quality, low
price supplies I've seen.....I'm really disppointed they no longer do
mailorder.  Anyhow, it seems that I'm now in need of a new supplier.  Hope
you all can help me out.  Is there a particular supplier that you've used
and think highly of?  Someone who carries whole leaf hops, bulk extracts,
and Wyeast strains?  Please give me some suggestions.  E-mail would 
likely best.  I know there is a list in a long ago previous HBD, but I
don't believe it's annotated.

Hope to hear from someone soon.....warmer weather is on the way!

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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 91 09:28:15 -0500
From: zentner at ecn.purdue.edu (Michael Zentner)
Subject: Fischer brew and Mead


Regarding the "lovers beer", everyone seems to think of the bottle as
a phallic symbol.  My first impression was that of a deoderant bottle.
Guess it just depends on how you look at it.

Well, being the immensely curious sort, we had to give it a try.
I, for one (and apparently only one) enjoyed the brew.  It was just
a different taste.  I didn't go into it expecting to taste "real beer",
so I wasn't disappointed by the bastardization of "normal" beer flavour
by overzealous use of "exotic" ingredients.  I think it's refreshing when
someone tries to do something different (sometimes it works and sometimes
it doesn't).  While I wouldn't rush out to buy another 3-pack, I certainly
would not reccommend that anyone NOT try it.  Of course, I like to tinker
with strange things in my brews too.  Kein Rheinheitsgebot hier!

Speaking of out of the ordinary things, we brewed a (I guess) melomel
last weekend with strange results.  The basic recipe was:

16 lb wildflower honey
5 gallons water
acid blent to .45 tartaric
5 kiwis
3 star fruits
1 lb cranberries
MeV liquid mead yeast culture

Pasteurized the honey and fruit at about 180 F for 10-15 minutes, ran
through a chiller, pitched with VERY vigorous aeration.  Will let it sit
with the fruit in for 7 days, then rack off.  IG 1.125.

Now for the weirdness.  Has anyone used this strain yet?  I pitched at
about 6 PM.  No real activity the following day until about 4 PM.  The
strange thing was, it did not start out gradually at all.  Nothing happened
until about 4, and then, all of the sudden, there was a violent eruption 
of foam out of the airlock.  No warning at all.  I suspect some strangeness
with this yeast based on my starter as well.  It was a honey based starter
with acid adjustment and honey about 2-3lb/gal ratio.  As I swirled the
active starter in it's champagne bottle before pitching into the mead
wort, it released copious amounts of gas, foaming up very much like 
carbonated champagne does, with a quickly subsiding head.  It smelled
great, so I pitched it anyway.  The fermenting mead smells great as well.

Also, has anyone used star fruits before?  I think I would like to 
experiment with these in larger quantities, as I suspect that the total
fruit content of the mead above will contribute very little fruity flavour,
given that most recipes call for closer to 7 lb total fruit.  We tasted 
a little of the star fruit before tossing it in and it really was a 
refreshing blend of grape and apple flavour.  I suspect that in significant
quantity, this would be a great flavouring agent.

Mike      zentner at ecn.purdue.edu

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Date:         Thu, 07 Mar 91 09:48:31 EST
From: Steve Thornton <NETWRK at HARVARDA.HARVARD.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Homebrew Digest #590 (March 06, 1991)

Bill Thacker wants to know about good brewpubs in the Seattle area,
preferably near the UW. Unfortunately (for me) I moved away from there
about ten minutes before the whole town went crazy for microbrews. I've
been back since, and I heartily recommend Big Time Brewery, right on the
Ave. They recently won at least three gold medals for their English-style
brews. Earned them too, judging by my sampling last September.

Steve Thornton <NETWRK at HARVARDA.BITNET>

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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 91 09:54:38 EST
From: bolt at tom.WEC.COM (Conway A. Bolt, III 5-8810)
Subject: Best way to pitch yeast

	I have a question concerning pitching of yeast. Assuming that you
are starting with dry (packaged) yeast, is it generally better to activate 
the yeast first and later pour the liquid into the wort, or just pour the dry
yeast directly into the wort and let it activate there? Usualy I activate the
yeast first, but on a receint batch forgot to do so and just dumped the dry
yeast directly into the wort. Fermentation seemed to start much faster this
way Could this be due to thermal shock, eg. pouring yeast merrily multiplying 
away at room temperature into a wort which may only *aproximately* room temp?
	Activating the yeast first seems to make the most sense, but OTOH
dumping the dry yeast directly into the wort eliminates a step in the process,
but most importantly (I would think) the risk of infection since the yeast
comes in contact with fewer vessels and less air. Both methods seem to brew
beer of (IMO) high quality. Suggestions?

Conway Bolt

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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 91 11:42:29 EST
From: Chris Shenton <chris at endgame.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Re: Travelling with and for beer

[ I tried to email this to wbt at [hp-lsd.[cos.]]hp.com, but it bounced ]

>>>>> On Tue, 5 Mar 91, Bill Thacker <hplabs!hp-lsd.cos.hp.com!cbema!wbt> said:

Bill> And if someone would care to recommend Seattle brewpubs, especially
Bill> those near the University of Washington area, I'd be much obliged.

Yow -- I was in Seattle last year -- brewpub heaven. And I just returned
from a trip to San Francisco. At one brewpub I went to (only 2 in SF?), the
bar-guy asked if I had ever been to Seattle! I thought CA was the place to
go, but Noooooo. Enough ranting.

I *really* enjoyed the Big Time Brewing Company; best beer of all the
brewpubs I visited. Pike Place wasn't open then, so I don't know.  Big Time
is in the University area. I've heard they've done very well in a number of
left-coast competitions.

I also visited Merchant Du Vin (importer for things like Sam Smith,
Lindemans, and other great beer), downtown. Fun place, beautifully
appointed, lots of souveniers, and great T-shirts for sale.

This is just the viewpoint of a tourist, and I'm sure you'll get lots of
feedback from HBD readers in Seattle, but I thought I'd give you a
beerhunter's view.



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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 91 11:17:08 -0600
From: fedsrus!dvr at uunet.UU.NET
Subject: micro-breweries in St. Louis

I will be traveling to St. Louis several times over the next few
months and I'm wondering if anyone out there knows of some fine
local breweries to frequent.  I'm going up there for St. Pat's
Day, too: do any of you know the "Place to Be" in St. Louis to
celebrate the occasion? Thanks!  
Doug Roberts, Intergraph-Huntsville


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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 91 11:31:08 EST
From: adams at bostech.com
Subject: More beer marketing

A few comments regarding the marketing of beer. (I'm not a Digest subscriber,
but read copies of Roger Locniskar's digests)

 The Commonwealth has been mixing soda and beer for years, calling it amber
tops and bitter tops, although they haven't tried to call it diet. It's really
good on a summer day, or if you've got work to concentrate on.

 I don't believe there's anything wrong with brewpubs selling Bud. I've seen
people walk out of the Commonwealth because they don't serve Bud, dragging
their friends who have taste buds with them. You just shouldn't put neon
Spike McKensie's in the window... (In Massachusetts, you can't serve comm-
ercial beers at a brew pub.

 As far as women are concerned, it should be noted that when Miller bought the
rights to Lite Beer, it had been a failure because the previous owners had 
tried to market it to women. It took Ray Jay Johnson and all the ex jocks to
get people drinking the junk.

 About wine, the Cambridge BrewPub serves their own white wine "Made through a 
unique process using barley". It's rather nice, light and crisp (Not your
average barleywine). It's not a big draw for Yups, though. They only mention it
on the back of a folder on the tables, and Y people probably think it's uncool
because it's not all grapes. The Commonwealth used to serve wine and Black
Velvets (50% champagne on top of 50% stout; yum!) but the Puritans on Beacon
Hill stopped them; you can only serve your own alcohol at brewpubs.

- --Dave Adams
Reach out a touch some beer.

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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 91 13:36:28 EST
From: Zamick <zamick at acdc.rutgers.edu>
Subject: Taking beer on planes - overseas


	This a continuation of the question someone asked about taking beer
on planes.

	How about taking beers overseas.  I know there are often customs
charges/taxes, but how would one price the homebrew for these charges?  Is it
difficult to arrange to pay for the charges?  About how much do they run?

			Please e-mail responses directly to me,
			as time is rushed, and I am a tad worried.

					Jonathan Zamick
					zamick at remus.rutgers.edu

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Date:    Thu, 7 Mar 1991 13:40:46 EST
From: "44636::DEE" at e814b.phy.bnl.gov (James Dee)
Subject: RE: Garlic Beer from TCJOHB

> Several weeks ago someone asked about the garlic beer that Mr. Papazian
> mentioned in TCJOHB.
> 
> I talked to the people that brewed the infamous concoction and what they
> told me to do is boil up a can of light malt. After the boiling is done,
> throw about 3 to 4 HEADS of garlic (A head is the whole bundle of garlic),
> throughly smashed. Let the beer ferment out and carbonate normally. Don't
> add the garlic during the boil or you will boil off the aromatics that give
> garlic its unique smell and flavor.
> 
> In the last message I wrote about this I speculated that the best use for
> this brew would be cooking seafood. The original brewers agree with this
> although they still contend that it goes great with pizza...

Thanks for the tip.

	In the meantime, some friends and I went ahead and brewed a gallon or
so of garlic beer.  In one gallon, we boiled (yes, boiled) three cloves, finely
chopped.  We bottled it a couple of nights ago, and it smelled pretty garlicky.
I'm looking forward to trying it.  We've decided to wait until it's crystal
clear and then order a pizza (of COURSE it goes great with pizza) and break it
open.  I'll let you know how it comes out, if you're interested.  I can even
post the recipe.

	Thanks again.

						--JD

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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 91 13:25 CDT
From: MC2331S at ACAD.DRAKE.EDU
Subject: Boilovers

	Last week, while boiling up a batch of steam beer, we had a boilover
of what can only be described as Biblical proportions.  After several hours
trying to clean wort off my floor (and stove, and cabinets, and walls, and cat)
I decided Never Again!
	My question is: How does one prevent this tragedy from reoccurring?
(After all, we did lose about 1pt of wort!)  The batch we were making contained
two can of extract and 1/2lb of crystal malt (if that matters).

	On a seperate note, with regards to the brewpub conversations, I guess
I'll throw in my shillings worth (inflation, you know).  Iowa's only brewpub
(in Iowa City) serves 3 of their own brews + several commercial beers.  The
day that we were there the ale line was clogged, so all we had to choose from
was stout or Irish-style lager.  They also had things like Bass and Heinekin,
as well as the standard commercial domestic swill.  While I had no desire to
try super-dry extra-lite (or whatever) I realized that the masses consuming
this stuff meant my pint of lager was only $2.50, not $5.
	I know if I ran a brewpub (which has crossed my mind quite a bit lately)I would probably have some commercial lite beer on tap for the folks who wanted
it (along with a prayer for the healing of their tastebuds).  I could brew it
myself, but I wouldn't want to tie up the equipment with making it.
	Here endeth my sermon.
	{riotous cheers}

	Mark Castleman
	Big Dog Brewing Cooperative
	MC2331S at ACAD.DRAKE.EDU

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Date: Thu, 7 Mar 91 15:24:15 EST
From: pkel at psych.purdue.edu (Paul L. Kelly)
Subject: re: women and beer, etc


I love a good row, and it seems this has the potential for being one, so I'll
throw in my 1 cent worth (my opinion of my opinion). For the record, my wife 
loves stouts (Mackeson's, Old Australia, Sheaf, and mine in particular),
porters (Sam Smith's Taddy), doppelbock (Celebrator is superb), and many other
strongly flavored beers.  In fact, it has been my experience (yes, I recognize
the lack of significance of anecdotal data in marketing decisions) that any-
body who drinks my homebrew likes it better than the over the counter swill
made by the big brewers -- and my beers are NEVER diet, and always strongly
malty and generally heavily hopped.  At the very least, I have cultivated
friends who appreciate real beer flavor.  At most, there are lots of people
out there who can develop a taste for real beer, given the opportunity.  It's
possible that the cultural influences on gender differences in drink prefer-
ences are a factor that need to be taken into account;  however I would not
recommend naming a beer "for women only".  I agree with Stacey Jueal that this
would be a quick way of alienating a large part of the targeted population.
Bear in mind that there are lots of men who have absolutely NO palate and
will prefer corn lager until the palate is trained to know what really tastes
good :).  

I suggest using descriptive names for your beers.  After all, the Brits have
done this for years:  stout, strong ale, bitter, mild.  People will get the
idea without your saying specifically that something is for one kind of per-
son or another.  Can you imagine trying to sell a beer that's marketed as
"strictly for the blue collar worker?"  I doubt that would fly, even though
being a blue collar worker is nothing to be ashamed of -- singling out a 
group for "special" treatment can be construed as derogatory.

On another subject:  Fischer's <whatever that number is> is truly the worst
tasting swill I have ever encountered in the beer section of the grocery.
However, they did market it well enough to get me to try it ONCE.  But
you can bet that I, and probably most other people who have tried it, will
never make that same mistake again.  That's the sort of thing that really
makes me wish for bad things to happen to a manufacturer.  Bankruptcy, say.
If the choice is between this garbage and Bud, I'll be awful thirsty.

Paul


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Date:         Thu, 07 Mar 91 16:02:28 CST
From: Darren Evans-Young <DARREN at UA1VM.UA.EDU>
Subject:      Insulating Carboys


I've luckily stumbled across some 10 gallon carboys.  These
carboys also have a thick styrofoam jacket to put them in.  The bottom
half of the jacket covers the bottom half of the carboy and the
top half covers the rest so the carboy can be completely contained.
I plan on cutting a hole in the top of the styrofoam jacket for the
airlock to fit through.  My question concerns heat buildup from
fermentation. I've heard a vigorous fermentation increases the temperature
of the wort.  Would there be a heat problem if I completely jacket
my carboy?  I do have a spare freezer that I use to maintain a constant
external temperature of whatever I desire.  I dont want my wort temp.
to get too high.

Darren

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End of HOMEBREW Digest #592, 03/08/91
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