---

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


Contents:
  Fermentation Technology Shortcourse (ardent!uunet!inland.com!pals)
  Real Women Drink Real Brew (Jolly C. Pancakes)
  Making Cider (Randy Tidd)
  Re: Homebrew Digest #592 (March 08, 1991) (CHRIS D'ARRIGO)
  other brewpub beverages (Geoffrey Sherwood)
  Re: Homebrew Digest #592 (March 08, 1991) (Keith Winter)
  Lagering in plastic (GS) <mb at Princeton.EDU>
  Beer bottles and carboys
  Ooops -- I put Wyeast in the freezer! (Chris Shenton)
  Flagstaff Brewpubs? (Don McDaniel)
  women and beer tastes (Bob Devine  08-Mar-1991 1042)
  Re: Premier Malt Extract (b11!mspe5!guy)
  this keeps bouncing back at me (vang)
  my 2 cents on the bruheat (        kevin vang)
  Pacific Northwest Travels ("Olzenak,Craig")
  Final report on The Wholesale Homebrew Club (S94TAYLO)
  All this about women and beer (dbreiden)
  PRIMARY FERMENTERS (TSAMSEL)
  keeping fermenters cool (Dan Strahs)
  Sassafras in stout ("Eric Roe")
  Extract efficiency ("Eric Roe")


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


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

Date: Thu,  7 Mar 91 09:44:50 CST
From: hplabs!ardent!uunet!inland.com!pals
Subject: Fermentation Technology Shortcourse

For all you rich homebrewers and/or would be micro-brewers out
there, M.I.T.'s Biotechnology Process Engineering Center is
offering a 1 week summer course on "Fermentation Technology" from
August 12 - August 16.  The tuition is a mere $1,600.  I wonder if
they go out sampling after class...

Randy

- --
RJPals                   |Internet:  pals at inland.com
I.S.I. Research          |UUCP:      ...!uunet!inland!pals


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Date: Fri, 8 Mar 91 09:58:12 -0500
From: jcp at islay.dco.dec.com (Jolly C. Pancakes)
Subject: Real Women Drink Real Brew


	Here's another anecdotal data point for you. I've been a woman ALL
MY LIFE (amazing, isn't it? :-) and I like strong stouts, porters and
barleywines and don't like pilsners and light lagers. Of course, I also
like single malt whisky.
	I have to admit, though, that the macho aura associated with strong
tasting drink leads to some comical incidents. More than once I have gone
out with a group of guys and ordered the darkest ale or strongest Scotch in
stock, and then the guys feel they have to prove their manhood by ordering
similarly and they don't like it and I snicker quietly to myself.
	
 -jcp

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Date: Fri, 8 Mar 91 10:14:12 EST
From: rtidd at ccels2.mitre.org (Randy Tidd)
Subject: Making Cider

Mark W. Castleman writes:
> 	We add 1/2 to 3/4 c of regular sugar to each gallon jug.  We have found
> that this gives the tase that we like.  More than thins will result in a more
> potent brew, without much added sweetness.  Less than this results in VERY dry
> final product.  The final alchoholic strength is 5-7%.  Plenty strong for us.

Did you boil or otherwise pasteurize the cider before adding the sugar or
pitching the yeast?

According to this, you used 3-3/4 to 5 cups of sugar for a 5-gallon batch?
That seems to me to be a lot of sugar, but then again i've never made cider.

I'm looking into making some lighter beverages for the upcoming summer
(mead, cider, fruit beers).  For you people making the small batches
(1 gallon) of mead, how long is it from brewing to drinking?

Also, does anyone have a good recipe for a light raspberry ale?

OB brewing story: I made a batch of oatmeal stout as per the recipe
posted to the digest a few weeks back. Everything went great, but the
initial fermentation bubbled over in my 7-gallon primary and filled
up my fermentation lock with wort!  Suprised me.  Guess i'll have to
figure out how to rig up a blowoff tube to my primary.

Randy Tidd
rtidd at mwunix.mitre.org

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Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1991 10:14 EST
From: CHRIS D'ARRIGO <DARRIG30%SNYBUFVA.BITNET at CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu>
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #592 (March 08, 1991)

New Beer Supplier:

        Try Bottom of the Barrel
            280 E. Dominick Street
            2nd floor
            Rome, NY 13440
            (315) 339-6744
             M-F 5-9 Sat 12-5
             Ask for Rich12-5

             Tell him Mike From Buffalo sent ya!

        Ask him for a price list!  Superior Quality
        Rick is real knowledgable!!!



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Date: Fri, 8 Mar 91 07:30:25 PST
From: sherwood at adobe.com (Geoffrey Sherwood)
Subject: other brewpub beverages

If anyone were doing a brewpub, I would STRONGLY recommend serving hard
cider if at all possible.  It retains the 'homebrew' mystique (assuming you
make it yourself, of course) and provides an alternative to those who do
not care for beer.  My wife is absolutely enamored of the stuff.  My parents
do not like beer *at all*.  I told them of my pub travels in Britain and they
listened politely.  Until I mentioned that Linda had gone ga-ga over the
ciders that *every* pub in Britian (well, we only visited 30 some) served.
Suddenly they were *very* interested.  It does help that my father is from
northern Michigan (with a heavy influence of Cornish miners) and grew up
with hard cider and pasties as common occurrances....  In any event, they
now plan on visiting a lot of pubs when without the cider they would scarcely
darken their doorways.

When we went to British Columbia we were also amazed at the variety of cider
sold there.  Actually, I think they are much better than those sold in Britain
(cleaner taste, more appley).  I wish we could get some here in the SF Bay
area.   Blackthorn is available (and fairly decent) but is $10/6-pack and
has lost something in the travelling.  Lyon's Brewery has cider from 'Napa
City Cider' on draft which is quite good (but 30 miles away).  As an aside,
does anyone know anything about this cider?  I would love to get it in
5 gallon lots!!

	geoff sherwood

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Date: Fri, 8 Mar 91 8:49:20 PST
From: winter%cirrusl at oliveb.ATC.olivetti.com (Keith Winter)
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #592 (March 08, 1991)

In HBD#592 Mark Castleman asks:
> 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).

I had one of those "Biblical proportion" boil-overs myself and it sure made a 
mess!!!  I found a solution that works for me.  This may sound simplisitic but 
I've found that keeping a glass of cold water handy near the boiling wort 
eliminates this problem.  Whenever I see that the wort is "building" up for a 
boil-over, I just dump a couple of ounces of cold water in and the head drops 
instantly.  Since the propensity to foam up seems to occur primarily near the 
beginning of the boil, I just baby-sit the pot until this phase passes.  

Hope this helps.

Keith Winter  at  Cirrus Logic, Inc. {...!oliveb!cirrusl!winter}

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Date: Fri, 8 Mar 91 13:42:49 -0500
From: Matthias Blumrich (GS) <mb at Princeton.EDU>
Subject: Lagering in plastic

I am about to embark on the brewing of my first lager and I would
really like to lager it at about 45 degrees.  Seeing as the weather
here in the northeast has been so unpredictable, I plan to put it in a
fridge for 3 weeks.  The problem is that my glass carboy only fits into
my large fridge, so I would have to take it over for 3 weeks.  My other
option is to lager in a plastic carboy which would fit into my smaller
fridge and be much more efficient.  Does anyone have an opinion or any
experience on letting the beer sit in plastic for this long?  Thanks.
 - Matt -

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Date:     Fri, 8 Mar 91 14:29:55 EST
From: William Boyle (CCL-L) <wboyle at PICA.ARMY.MIL>

Subject: Beer bottles and carboys

I am just getting started brewing, and I have about 3 dozen
bottles.  The bottles are from a generic soda, they do not
have screw off caps, they had the standard crown caps.  My
question is they are not as heavy as "bar" bottles, can I put
beer in them, and is there a chance they could explode.

Also I keep seeing things about a glass secondary (carboys),
I can get plastic ones from water coolers, is there any harm
in using a plastic one?


                                   Bill Boyle

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Date: Fri, 8 Mar 91 14:45:43 EST
From: Chris Shenton <chris at endgame.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Ooops -- I put Wyeast in the freezer!

Any thoughts on it's chances for survival? it was only in for eight hours,
but felt frozen solid when I moved it to the fridge.

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Date: Fri, 8 Mar 91 12:54:14 -0700
From: dinsdale at chtm.unm.edu (Don McDaniel)
Subject: Flagstaff Brewpubs?


These postings get old after a while (probably just from
my jealousy about not having brewpubs in New Mexico) but
I'm sending one now:

I'll be travelling to Northern Arizona at the end of the
month (Flagstaff, Sedona, Prescott).  Does anyone know of
any brewpubs in Flagstaff?  I seriously doubt that either
of the other towns I'm visiting could support one.

Thanks for any info.  E-mail would probably be best.

Don McDaniel
dinsdale at chtm.unm.edu


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Date: Fri, 8 Mar 91 12:06:23 PST
From: Bob Devine 08-Mar-1991 1042 <devine at cookie.enet.dec.com>
Subject: women and beer tastes


In the US, it is nearly accepted gospel that women only like lighter
beers.  But is not true worldwide.  I was a volunteer at last year's
Great American Beer Festival for the Bayern Brewing Co. from Montana.
The brewmaster (a native born German) said that where he grew up,
women usually drink the darker, heavier beers but the men prefer
lighter beers.

As a second anecdotal reference, last Christmas I drove to Wisconsin
to visit relatives.  Of the homebrews I brought along, the women seemed
to prefer the heavier beers, such as a heavy Irish Stout (tastes great),
while the men had to urged to try something other than their accustomed
lite beers (less filling ;-).

Bob Devine

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Date: Fri, 8 Mar 91 15:27:39 CST
From: ingr!b11!mspe5!guy at uunet.UU.NET
Subject: Re: Premier Malt Extract

Darren Evans-Young writes:

>Here in the land of no homebrew Alabama....
>
>I noticed something that made me laugh in the grocery store yesterday.
>About 12-15 cans of Premier Light Hopped Malt Extract (2.2#)!!!
>It even had a yeast packet included.  The side of the can said:
>"Makes xxx Six Packs of Beer!"  I forgot what xxx was.
>Has anyone used this stuff?  Should I go buy them all?  It was
>about $3.39 per 2.2# can.  I did notice a recipe in TCJOH that called
>for 5 lbs of this stuff (Wise Ass Bitter? ...something like that).
>
>Suggestions?

    First of all, hombrewing is alive and well in Alabama.  At least it is in
Huntsville.  Why, we even have a hombrew supply store.  As for the Premier, I
have not personaly used it but I have sampled a batch that an office mate
made using a can of Premier and a can of John Bull dark.  It was very black,
very tasty, and had a dark brown head.  Because of his results, my next
batch will probably be the "Wise Ass Red Bitter" just to give the Premier a
try.  I wouldn't use the yeast however.  Pick up a can or two and give it a
go.

- -- 
==============================================================================
 Guy D. McConnell                   |            | "All that is gold does not
 Intergraph Corp. Huntsville, AL.   |  Opinions  | glitter, not all those who
 Mass Storage Peripheral Evaluation |   herein   | wander are lost, the old
 Tape Products                      |  are mine  | that is strong does not
 uunet!ingr!b11!mspe5!guy           |   alone.   | wither, and deep roots are
 (205)730-6289   FAX (205)730-6011  |            | not touched by the frost."
==============================================================================


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Date:         Fri, 08 Mar 91 16:18:17 CST
From: vang <MN033302 at VM1.NoDak.EDU>
Subject:      this keeps bouncing back at me




======================================================================== 77
Date:         Wed, 20 Feb 91 14:06:43 CST
From:         kevin vang <MN033302 at NDSUVM1>
Subject:      my 2 cents on the bruheat
To:           homebrew%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com

I have been brewing with the Bruheat for five years now, and I wouldn't want
to mash without it. There are some things you need to know when you use it,
though.

1.  You need a *lot* more water in your mash.  The usual description for the
ideal consistency for the mash is that of a thick porridge.  With the bruheat,
you want something like a thick soup.  Don't use the amounts of water given in
the Papazian's tables in TCJOHB; it won't be nearly enough.  Two reasons:
first, if your mash is too thick, you get the scorching on the heating element
problem.  Second, if your mash is too thick, heat will be distributed very
unevenly.  (Now that I think about it, the first problem is just an extreme
case of the second, so there's only one problem.)  What I usually do is fill
the bucket about half full of water and then start adding my grain, stirring
constantly.  When it starts getting too thick (experience is the best guide
here) I add another quart or two of water.  You can get water at the right
temp straight out of the tap, so I don't worry about the temperature.  I know
the books all warn against too thin a mash, but so far I haven't noticed any
dire consequences.

2.  Even when the mash is thin enough to prevent burning, you will still have
to contend with uneven temperature distribution.  The cure is frequent and
vigourous stirring.  Get yourself a well-sanded hardwood stirring stick and put
it to good use.  You don't necessarily need to stir continuously, but you
should stir at least every few minutes. As long as you're hovering over the
bucket stirring, check your thermometer.  You will need to constantly monitor
the temperature and adjust the heat accordingly.  Money spent on a high quality
laboratory thermometer is money well invested.

3.  Occasionally you will get stuff burnt onto the heating element.  We have
extremely hard water here, so I get layers of gunk caked onto the element no
matter what I do.  This will lower your efficiency tremendously.  Things will
go much faster if your element is kept shiny clean.  I clean mine off by scrap-
ing it with a wire brush.  Make sure the brush has fairly soft bristles (brass
is best) so you don't damage it.  *Don't* clean your element by soaking it in
bleach or something nasty like that.  A friend did that once and ate the stain-
less off the surface and ruined it.

4.  Don't even consider buying a 110 V model.  I initially bought a 110V Elect-
rim mashing bin, and I quickly realized my mistake.  It works great for holding
a mash at a constant temp, but it takes forever to increase the temp between
steps.  Don't even ask how long it takes to boil.  If you can find a 220v
Electrim, though, I would buy that instead of the Bruheat.  The Electrim is
made from a rigid plastic with a reinforced rim, while the Bruheat is made from
a soft plastic.  A floppy container is not very comforting if for some reason
you need to lift it while it is full of boiling wort.

5.  What's better than a Bruheat?  Two Bruheats, of course!  After brewing for
a while, I realized that making a batch of all-grain beer takes approximately
all day long, most of which is spent standing around waiting or cleaning up the
unspeakable mess I can't quite seem to avoid making.  So, as long as your kill-
ing time, you can make two batches at once and have twice as much beer for
about the same amount of time and effort.  If you can't afford two, talk a
friend into getting one.  Then you can share, and you can make brewing a
social occasion.  (Try making it a social occasion anyway, and you can try to
pass off some of the work onto someone else.  After all, isn't it fair that
the consumers of a product bear the costs of producing it?)

6.  If you are an extract brewer, buy a bruheat.  Then you can do full wort
boils without screwing around searching for propane burners and huge stock pots
Also, if and when you take up mashing, you will already own the major new piece
of equipment you will need.

In sum, if you keep it clean, water down your mashes, and supervise the proceed
ings carefully, and generally don't ask the Bruheat to do more than it's able
to do, it will make you happy and keep you supplied with excellent brew.

                          Kevin Vang
                          Math Dept, Minot State University
                          mn033302  at  ndsuvm1

"All of the above is strictly my own personal opinion.  You want to make
something of it?"

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Date: Fri, 8 Mar 91 17:04:05 cst
From: "Olzenak,Craig" <OLZENAK%GRIN1.BITNET at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Pacific Northwest Travels

Greetings All!

I too am traveling to Washington State (maybe Oregon too) in the near future.
The Big Time Brewery sounds great - 3 golds at the GABF!  I like the names of
the winners too - Prime Time Pale, Coal Creek Porter, and Old Wooly Barley
Wine.  Is Big Time Brewing Co. a brewpub?  Or can one find their stuff on tap
at a variety of bars?  This is important as I'm not sure how much time I'll
be spending in Seattle.  For all you Northwesterners, is Cooper's the place
to hit to find a good variety of fresh, draught products?  Is there someplace
better to go if I'm limited on time?  I'm interested in trying Bert Grant's
ales, Big Time, Sierra Nevada (CA of course, but we don't get it here in the
Midwest), etc.

Another item that I haven't seen addressed - CONGRATS to Seattle's Brews
Brothers for taking the club competition's Hail to Ale (IPAs).  John
(Polstra), the recipe (of Jack Hagens) in the last club newsletter looked
like a winner; obviously, it was!  By the way, Brews News is a great looking
and informative club posting.  Keep up the good work!  Another personal note -
to Norm Hardy - Your winning pale ale of two years ago is a super recipe.
When will you be posting last year's 2nd place recipe?  Did you again use
Wyeast 1028?  It's a nice yeast.  Thanks!

All for now,

Craig Olzenak
Heartland Homebrew Club
Grinnell, Iowa

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Date:     Fri, 8 Mar 91 21:47 EST
From: <S94TAYLO%USUHSB.BITNET at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject:  Final report on The Wholesale Homebrew Club

As promised, here is a report on how my first experience with the membership
wharehouse supply company in Florida went.
First of all, it took quite some time to finally get all the supplies.  I got
the dry malt after about 2 weeks of mailing my check (pretty good, I thought).
However, some of the malt syrup was back ordered to England and they didn't
ship any of the rest of the order until all of it was ready to ship.  I finally
got the remainder of the order after about 4.5 weeks.  Calls for help were not
handled with much concern on their part, but I made the mistake of worrying.
I know I should listen to Charlie Papazian more often, but it was nearly a
$500 order.  Now that I have received the whole order and I can bury my face
in a big pile of hops, I'm not nearly so "unrelaxed".
Many of you out there in HBD-land have wondered about the high cost of postage.
Well, postage worked out to be about 25-30 cents/pound.  Total cost of:
55 lb. unhopped dry malt        $115.68         $2.00/lb.!!!
6-3.3lb cans M&F syrup          $ 42.00         $7.00/can!!!
50 lbs corn sugar               $ 33.70         $ .66/lb.!!!
leaf hops-1 lb.                 $  8.00
Caps-printed-70 gross (10,000)  $ 45.00         $ .60/200 caps
Specialty grains-5 lb.          $  6.50

These are DELIVERED prices, actual price.  I would like to know if these
AREN'T the best prices around, but they are more than 50% less than most of
the retail prices in this area.  Other supplies for sale are:
Hops pellets and leaf-20 varieties
Speciality malts-including plain malts in 55 lb barrels
Wine making ingredients and supplies
Kegging equipment
Yeast, dry and liquid (wyeast)
Cappers, carboys
Fruit pressers
Soft Drink and Liquor Extracts
Stainless Steel Stack Pots (5 gallon cap-$67.00  Is this a good price?
                            'cause I really want one.)

Anyhow, that's the lowdown.  I'm not necessarily endorsing them, but I think
the prices are pretty good.  Their phone service basically sucks, and delivery
is somewhat less than prompt.  But...
I would like to hear some feedback on the above mentioned prices, so drop me
a line!
Al Taylor
Uniformed Services University
School of Medicine
Bethesda, MD
s94taylor at usuhsb.bitnet

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Date: Sat, 09 Mar 91 00:19:23 -0500
From: dbreiden at mentor.cc.purdue.edu
Subject: All this about women and beer


I don't know how relavent this really is, but I think it is interesting
to reflect on the info that it was the WIFE who brewed the family beer
way back before a central location made it for each town--the extreme case
of a brew-pub.  Of course this distinction developed because the husband
was busy doing farming or whatever while the wife was at home cooking and
cleaning and etc. so she could tend the brew--I guess it was like baking
the bread every day (the wife became master of yeast,eh?).

I wonder if gender mattered to the drinking of beer way back then.  And
if not, when did the current state of affairs develop (we all seem to 
acknowledge that a greater percentage of men drink beer than women).

My notes on the subject:  I was shocked the first time I ever saw a female
drink beer--I was about 8 yrs old.  I never thought it happened!  My mom
drinks some occasionally, but never at home so I never saw women drinking
beer.  I've also noted that men who claim "I don't like beer" are often
classified as whimpy or effeminate.  I'm not saying it's right, but I do
know that it happens.  Personally, I don't like toi hear anyone say those
four words--I'm really into the social aspect of beer appreciation.

- --Danny

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Date:    Sun, 10 Mar 1991 7:42:13 EST
From: TSAMSEL at ISDRES.ER.USGS.GOV
Subject: PRIMARY FERMENTERS

BACK IN COLLEGE, WE ONCE USED A 40 GALLON KIDNEY DIALYSIS FLUID PLASTIC DRUM
AS A PRIMARY FERMENTER. IT WORKED OK, BUT BOTTLING WAS A WOWSER.
I HAVE ACCESS TO CHEAP 5 GAL AND 7 GAL PLASTIC CARBOYS. ARE THEY OK?
THEY'RE FROM A WATER COMPANY AND HAVN'T BEEN USED FOR ANYTHING BUT H20.
THEY OD HAVE A NOTICEABLE SEAM THAT GIVES AFTER THE BOTTLES HAVE BEEN BROUGHT
ON AND OFF THE TRUCK A # OF TIMES. DO YOU THINK A NEW ONE WITH GENTLE HANDLING
WOULD LAST?  TED (TSAMSEL  at  USGSRESV.BIT)

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Date: Sun, 10 Mar 91 18:53:53 EST
From: Dan Strahs <strahs at murex.bioc.aecom.yu.edu>
Subject: keeping fermenters cool

	I live on the top floor of a tall apartment building.  The temperature
   in my apartment seems to average about 70 degrees Farenheit without the
   heat being on.  I've done a survey of my apartment and there doesn't appear
   to be any place where the temperature averages 65 degrees or less (other
   then the inside of the refrigerator 8~).

	I would like to brew ales, but I need to find a way to lower the 
   temperature of the primary about 5 to 10 degrees farenheit.  Does anyone
   have any ideas/suggestions/information?

	Tonight is the night I bottle my first batch... I intend to relax, 
   bottle and have a homebrew... well, maybe the homebrew will have to wait
   a week 8~).

Dan Strahs   Biochemistry Department    Albert Einstein College of Medicine
       biochemical physicist or physical biochemist or chemical biophysicist or
        Internet: strahs at murex.bioc.aecom.yu.edu  W: 212-430-3180
                Disclaimer:  "...just a sunshine daydream"


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Date:    Sun, 10 Mar 91 19:58 EST
From: "Eric Roe" <KXR11 at PSUVM.PSU.EDU>
Subject: Sassafras in stout

Has anyone had experience using sassafras in beer.  I was
originally going to try making a raspberry stout, but the only
berries that I've come across in my area have sugar added --
they're also not very cheap, and adding 3 pounds or so would start
getting a little costly.

One of our local grocery stores has fresh sliced sassafras root,
but I'm unsure of how potent an additive it would be in a stout.
It comes in a 2oz bag and smells very nice (plus it's a dirt cheap
$0.49).  In _TCJoHB_, Papazian mentions the use of licorice root,
but unfortunately he doesn't give a measurement by weight.  He just
says use a 4 to 6 inch piece of root.  Any info appreciated.

                                      Thanks,

                                       Eric

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Date:    Sun, 10 Mar 91 20:01 EST
From: "Eric Roe" <KXR11 at PSUVM.PSU.EDU>
Subject: Extract efficiency

First let me say thanks to those of you who replied to my extract
efficiency question in HBD #586.  Since then, I've done a little
research on the subject.  Here is a summary of the responses plus
a few tidbits I've discovered.

     * There are at least two way to measure extract efficiency.
       In Greg Noonan's book _Brewing Lager Beer_ it is measured
       as a percentage using the following formula:

                         (degrees B+259)*degrees B     lbs extract
       Volume of wort * --------------------------- =       in
                                   3100                    wort

       lbs extract in wort
       ------------------- * 100 = extract efficiency percentage
       lbs grain mashed in


       Efficiency can also be measured as points per pound using
       the formula:

             Volume of wort * (SG-1) * 1000         Points
             ---------------------------------  =     per
                  lbs of grain mashed in             pound

       In Papazian's _TCJoHB_ he states that one pound of malt in
       one gallon of water will yield a SG between 1.025 - 1.030.
       The numbers correspond to 54%(1.025) - 65%(1.030) using
       Noonan's formula.  Obviously 54% yield is somewhat on the
       low side.  Yields higher than 1.030 are definitely possible.

     * Extract potentials are lower with malts such as munich,
       caramel, dextrin, and darker malts.

     * Some grain adjuncts have more extract potential than that of
       malted barley.  Corn is one example.

     * With decoction mashing you can get upwards of 80% extract
       efficiency with fully modified british malts.  The usual is
       around 70-75% e.e.

     * Often it is impossible to crack ALL the grain with a
       standard "corona" style grist mill.  The uncracked grains
       yield no extract, and thus will lower your efficiency
       slightly.  It might be interesting to figure out what
       percentage of the grains remain uncracked, this could then
       be deducted when calculating your efficiency (if it's
       a significant enough number to bother with).

     * Looking in some of the recipes in Zymurgy I see that some
       people get downright poor efficiency.  I suppose this could
       be an error in the printing (ie. the recipe says ingredients
       for 5 gal, but it's supposed to be for 10).

     * If your efficiency is above 60% you can be pretty pleased.
       Below 50% and you should seriously look over your procedure.

     * In one of my replies someone states they are getting around
       87-91% efficiency.  Using Noonan's formula this would be
       impossible.  The writer mentions Miller.  Is this yet
       another method of determining e.e.?


                                         Happy mashing,

                                              Eric

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End of HOMEBREW Digest #593, 03/11/91
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