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


Contents:
  yeast slurry (florianb)
  Milwaukee Brewpubs ?  (Or the Bavarian Wursthaus ?) (29-Mar-1991 1425)
  airport security & homebrew (Alan Duester)
  Re: Reusing slurry (hersh)
  Wyeast Lambic Cultures Announced (Mike Fertsch)
  LP Gas burner for homebrewing (Gary Mason - I/V/HI PCU - 603-884[DTN264]1503  30-Mar-1991 1428)
  pseudo-lambics and an ale recipe (Lynn Zentner)
  Re: Homebrew Digest #606 (March 29, 1991) (SHICOFF)


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Date: Fri, 29 Mar 91 08:19:59 PST
From: florianb at chip.cna.tek.com
Subject: yeast slurry

I'll pun in my comments about re-using yeast derived from the slurry.

I have tried this several times with mixed results. In these
experiments, I sloshed around the leftovers in the fermenter, poured
it into a swing-top bottle, and put it in the back of the refrigerator.
On two of the occasions, the yeast autolyzed to produce a material so
terrifying in its intense and sickening odor, I was unable to use it
for anything except revitalizing the veteran colonies of our septic
tank.  On one occasion, I noticed the autolysis, but used the material
to make a starter.  The odor persisted into the finished beer anyway.
With this, I cannot recommend using the slurry to propagate yeast.
After all, much of this material is simply dead yeast, trub, hop
leavings, protein-tannin complexes, and other gunk.

If one is interested in re-using yeast, it is perfectly acceptable to
simply do one of the following:  (1) take a sample of the finished 
beer and use it to make a starter.  This assumes that you are ready
to brew a new batch when the previous finished beer is not yet 
packaged.  However, this is very simple to achieve in practice, with
a little planning.  (2)  Use a bottle of finished beer to make a 
starter.  I have used both of these methods with good success.  The
starter made with the finished, bottled beer may take a while longer
to activate, but it should do so in two or three days at the 
proper temperature.

In any case, re-using the yeast should only be done for 2-3 generations.
After that, purchasing a new culture would be advised.

Florian
 

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Date: Fri, 29 Mar 91 11:34:15 PST
From: 29-Mar-1991 1425 <hannan at gnpike.enet.dec.com>
Subject: Milwaukee Brewpubs ?  (Or the Bavarian Wursthaus ?)

rds at teak.cray.com (Bob Swanson) wrote:

> I will be visiting Milwaukee in a couple of
> weeks.  Any information about brewpubs,
> microbreweries, and brewing supply stores
> I can visit while I am there, would
> be most welcomed.

I was in Milwaukee first week of January, for the 2nd time in a year.
I visited the Water Street Brewery in downtown Milwaukee, and the 
Bavarian Wursthaus (Hampton Ave exit, at Rt 41 intersection, across
from the Timmerman Airport).  

If I went again, I wouldn't bother with the WSB.  VERY expensive small glasses
of OK brew.   I liked the Octoberfest, but it wasn't amazing.  Instead, I'd
go directly to the Bavarian Wursthaus and order some more of that amazingly
fresh Spaten, or the Warsteiner Pils, or any of the other numerous fresh
German brews.

I was told I should check out Strecker's, another microbrewery, but noone 
seemed to know how to get there.   It's supposed to be great beer, and is
available in bottles there.

Ken

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Date: Fri, 29 Mar 91 21:27:48 EST
From: capnal at aqua.whoi.edu (Alan Duester)
Subject: airport security & homebrew

There have been several postings/questions about carrying homebrew on
aircraft recently. Now that the war-related terrorism threat is
supposedly over, I think security will slowly be drifting back to its
former levels.

My security experiences have been at Logan International Airport in
Boston, mostly through the Northwest Airlines (with International
departures to U.K., etc.) terminal, plus a few through United Airlines
domestic (minor security position serving only 2-3 gates at this
checkpoint). 5 or 6 trips total with homebrew.

I owed a friend a case of homebrew for doing up labels for me. He lived
in Chicago. I on Cape Cod. I never attempted to send beer via checked
baggage. (Have you ever seen how they treat that stuff, fer ghod's sake?
*My* beer deserves better than that!).

I carry either 6 or 12 bottles in 6-pack carriers in a heavy brown paper
bag through security (one level high, carried only by the bottom). Any
more than that is unwieldy, and in addition to my mini-duffel, is too
much for only-carry-on travel.

My worst experience is that the security personnel for NW wanted to try
a bottle! They backed down when I asked them to get some glasses. Once
at United, they ran it through the X-ray machine twice and asked what it
was. I had more problems with the chocolate-orange cheesecake I was
bringing in for the party! I've also carried 1.5 liter bottle of Grand
Marnier to Japan in carry-on with no problems. I normally carry the HUGE
Swiss Army knife, a maglite flashlite, and a Leatherman in my Nerd pack,
and these get searched (unless I take them out of the pouch and stick
them in my jacket pocket and run it through X-ray).

My bottles had labels, but they were obviously homemade, and not in
color. Plain or Diet Coke caps, depending on batch.

My suggestions? Ask them to get some glasses, and offer to have them
open a bottle. It's gotta be better than the swill you can buy on the
plane! Remember that security personnel have had their senses of humor
surgically removed. If there are any problems, ask for the supervisor
for the terminal. Be prepared to spend a few extra minutes at the
checkpoint.

I look pudgy, bearded, flaky Germanic with light hair (I guess). I would
think swarthy, dark-haired middle-eastern looking folks might have a few
more problems.

========================================================================
Al Duester, Ocean Engineer, MS S201   #  SPAN: 6308::capnal 
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution  #  INTERNET: capnal at aqua.whoi.edu
Woods Hole, MA  02543                 #  (508) 457-2000 x2474

rec.pyrotechnics: Where mere flame wars aren't allowed because they don't
propagate fast enough.......
========================================================================

P.S. Anyone know what/if the salt or sodium content of sake is?

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Date: Sat, 30 Mar 91 01:31:34 EST
From: hersh at expo.lcs.mit.edu
Subject: Re: Reusing slurry


Back in the summer I put a liter of slurry into a just emptied vodka bottle
(there was some beer mixed in with the slurry), and put it in the fridge. I
brewed another batch a few months later with yeast started as follows.

1) Sterilize a one gallon jug
2) make an all malt starter from extract (no hops so you don't have to worry
about it getting light struck). Boiul this to insure sterility. 
You should make a quart to 1/2 gallon of this.
3) add a pint of the slurry to the starter and puit an airlock on.

I used the Wyeast German Ale in this manner.

The first pint was restarted after 3 months and worked fine. I just used the
second pint 2 weeks ago, it too worked fine (though I'm told this was perhaps a
long time).

From what I understand the keys to my success were

a) using a vodka bottle meant it was sterile
b) having a not too thick slurry meant that when it settled there was a
protecting layer of flat beer over the slurry.
c) restarting a fairly large amount of slurry meant enough viable cells to take
off in the starter.
d) essentially the quart to 1/2 gallon of starter is actively fermenting when
added to the rest of the wort, infusing a high volume of active yeast.


This approach lets me get 3 uses from a single Wyeast, cutting the cost to a
level that's competitive with dry yeast and allows me to brew when I want to,
not when the yeast wants me to.

Jay H

- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: Don't have a cow man
It's a window system named X, not a system named X Window.

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Date: Sat, 30 Mar 91 09:36 EST
From: Mike Fertsch <FERTSCH at adc1.adc.ray.com>
Subject: Wyeast Lambic Cultures Announced

This article recently appeared in Brewprint, the official newsletter of  the
Boston Wort Processors.

          WYEAST TO PRODUCE A LAMBIC YEAST CULTURE FOR THE HOMEBREWER

     In a continuing effort to expand their product line, Wyeast Laboratories
     of Mt. Hood, OR have announced that they will soon start selling pouches
     of mixed cultures of Brettanomyces bruxellensis and Brettanomyces lambicus
     to the homebrewing trade.  These are the same yeasts as the wild ones that
     inoculate the lambic worts of Belgian brewers in the Senne Valley of
     Belgium.

     The recommended use of this "wild" yeast is rather unusual, to say the
     least.  Wyeast suggests that the homebrewer inoculate the brewhouse with
     the yeast culture by spreading small amounts of actively fermenting
     culture throughout the room.  Because it is a naturally occurring wild
     yeast, Brettanomyces is very vigorous and will quickly establish itself as
     the dominant "wild" yeast species.

     This will allow the homebrewer to replicate the actual preparation of a
     lambic beer in their own home.  The hot wort can be allowed to cool slowly
     overnight in open shallow containers whereby Brettanomyces will inoculate
     it.  It can then be racked to a closed primary fermenter and fermentation
     continues in the normal manner.  Introduction of the proper bacterial
     cultures (also available from Wyeast) and aging (as discussed in
     Jean-Xavier Guinard's excellent book Lambic) will produce an authentic
     lambic beer.  Of course the homebrewer can also add cherries or
     raspberries to make a kriek of framboise.

     Because this is a one-time purchase, the cost will be higher than normal
     for Wyeast products, probably in the $20 per pouch range.  For more
     details, contact Wyeast  at  1-800-APR-FOOL (227-3665) or call your local
     homebrew supply store.


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Date: Sat, 30 Mar 91 15:02:11 -0500
From: mason at habs11.ENET.DEC.COM (Gary Mason - I/V/HI PCU - 603-884[DTN264]1503 30-Mar-1991 1428)
Subject: LP Gas burner for homebrewing

Thanks to the couple of people who sent me the clue, I went to Service
Merchandise in Manchester, NH, and bought it.  Herewith are the facts:

Identification:	2MBM (Service Merchandise number)
		"Cookmaster" (on the burner and packing box)
		UPC 94428 13122
Price:		$69.97 (probably varies by location)
Rating:		135K BTU
Accessories:	10 1/2 Qt aluminum pot & basket - no lid (separate price $49.95)
		Approved LP regulator and hose
Warranty:	Five years
Manufacturer:	Masterbuilt Manufacturing, Inc.
		1645 Second Avenue
		Columbus, GA  31901
		(800)288-1581 for orders
	      
		*** Some assembly is required ***

The unit is a 3 1/2" (approximately) diameter, two piece cast burner and
venturi pipe.  At the outer end are a spring loaded air shutter and a needle 
valve.  The hose screws into the valve on one end, and the regulator on the 
other.  The burner is attached to a frame of rigid metal strap and bar that 
serves as a tripod for the whole affair, and which mounts a six inch high 
sheet metal wind collar (remember, this is intended for outdoor use).  The
burner surface is about 8 1/2" above the bottom of the legs. The cooking vessel
is held about 11 1/2" above the bottom of the legs on three arms of metal bar,
(similar to a gas countertop) which are welded to the tops of the legs.  The 
only problem I see (for me, anyway) is that these arms are about 1/2" below 
the top edge of the wind collar.  My Vollrath 38 quart brewpot is about 1/2" 
larger in diameter than the collar.  That means that I will have to balance 
the pot on the collar top (it sort of nests in, because the pot's bottom is 
rounded, and the smallest part fits inside the collar, but not far enough so 
that the pot rests on the arms).  I will probably solve that problem by having 
an additional set of bars welded on top of the existing arms, which would 
bring them to the top of the collar.  Or, I could cut down the collar, but 
that could get messy (and I HATE working sheet metal).

Among several other (expensive, in my opinion) accessories available is a leg 
kit (Item # LK-26: $15.95) that raises the unit 26".  This might be handy for 
waist high cooking.

I hope this helps someone else in their quest for adequate heating.

Cheers...Gary

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Date: Sat, 30 Mar 91 16:45:43 -0500
From: hpfcla!hp-pcd.cv.hp.com!hpupora.nsr.hp.com!ogicse!ee.ecn.purdue.edu!zentnerl (Lynn Zentner)
Subject: pseudo-lambics and an ale recipe


Can someone out there who has the Lambic book or anyone who has tried to
make a lambic post or send me a basic recipe that will give me some idea
of what kinds of ingredients to use and what quantities.  Extract recipes,
please.  The reason I say pseudo-lambic is that I am going to try to culture
yeast from a bottle of Schultheiss Original Berliner Weisse.  We bought some
last week and popped a couple expecting a normal, everyday, old wheat beer
and instead got something that tasted a hell of a lot like a lambic.  If any
one sees this stuff, give it a try, it is very unusual.  Anyhow, I am sure
if i use this yeast, i may not get something that tastes just like an 
authentic lambic, but i don't really care, the fun is in the attempt!!  Thanks
in advance.

Now to share the recipe from my first solo batch of beer (I have been my
husband's trusty brew assistant for far too long :)).  I derived it from
a recipe i pulled off the digest over a year ago, but made some significant
changes........Here goes:

PURDUE RED HOT APPLE ALE  

4 lb. Mountmellick Brown Ale Kit (Hopped)
1 lb. Light DME
1 lb. Honey
1/2 lb. Crystal Malt
4 lbs. Sliced Winesap Apples (from Purdue Hort. Farms---hence, the name)
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup Cinnamon Imperials (Red hots)
10 g. burton salts
1 tsp. Irish Moss
1 pkg. Brewer's Choice London Ale Yeast (#1028)
2/3 c. dextrose to prime

Bring 3 gallons H2O to boil and put in brew bucket to cool.  Bring 1.5 gallons
H2O and crystal malt to boil.  Remove grain.  Add extract, honey, burton salts,
and irish moss and boil for 15 minutes.  Add red hot candies.  Turn heat to
low after candies melt.  Add apples and cinnamon and steep 15 minutes.  Dump
into brew bucket, then transfer to primary.  I made malted applesauce out
of the apples by the way!

This ale is a nice light beer with little bitterness.  You can't really taste
the red hots too much, but the are definitely in the aroma.  My husband had
his doubts about this since the only hops were whatever was in the extract,
but he was pleasantly surprised.  Everybody seemed to like this, and in just
a couple of months, all we have left is a sixer.  We're going to sit on that
for a while, cause we think this will age nicely.  Anyhow, red hot candies
make a very nice addition to the brew.  I think they might be good in some
other styles, too.

"Drink all you want.  We'll brew more!"

Lynn Zentner


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Date:    Sun, 31 Mar 91 12:23 EST
From: SHICOFF%UNC.BITNET at ncsuvm.ncsu.edu
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #606 (March 29, 1991)

please unsubscribe me.  thank you!

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End of HOMEBREW Digest #607, 04/01/91
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