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


Contents:
  Sassafras, Aluminum, and Lager (Scott Benton)
  translate some German beer labels ("Ihor W. Slabicky")
  Nitrosamines (Jack Schmidling)
  Mashing Wheat, Revisited (Martin A. Lodahl)
  Underpitching Liquid Yeast (joshua.grosse)
  Status and Stout (Peter Glen Berger)


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Date: Fri, 6 Sep 91 00:11:42 -0700
From: bgros at garnet.berkeley.edu


Someone asked about mail order grains.  I just received a
catalog (haven't ordered yet) from The Home Brewery, based
in Ozark, MO with distribution centers in San Bernardino, CA
and Las Vegas.  They advertise Klages 2-row malt for 0.90/lb.
Also, 10lbs is $7.50 and 50lbs is $32.  sounds pretty cheap
to me.  all specialty grains are $1.50/lb or $6.50/5lbs.

to get a catalog, call 1-800-321-BREW.  Does anyone have
any experience with these people?  Just for comparison, they
sell most hop varieties for $1.95 per 2oz pack.  Wyeast is
$3.75 each.  A wort chiller is $29.95

Quick question:  when priming a normal 5-gal batch with
honey, how much should i add?  and what kind of honey?
i was considering trying it with my wheat beer.

                              - Bryan Gros


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Date: Thu, 05 Sep 91 17:01:10 EDT
From: scott at sps (Scott Benton)
Subject: Sassafras, Aluminum, and Lager


** Sassafras **

Safrole is the major component of sassafras oil (75 to 93%).  It is 
carcinogenic in mice and rats.  Administered orally, safrole is 
metabolized to a compound which produces liver tumors.  However, such 
effects are only manifested at high dose levels (5 g/kg body weight).  
Safrole is present, in lower amounts, in cinnamon, nutmeg, and mace.  So 
if you can get some, relax, and don't leave any out for Willard.

** Aluminum **

There is no hard evidence that Al causes Alzheimer's.  However, if the 
prospect of Alzheimer's causes your stomach to become upset, you may (on 
your physician's advice, of course) take an antacid.  Be sure to read the 
label, though, because aluminum hydroxide, or a similar Al compound, is 
the active ingredient in many antacids.  If you do go with an Al 
containing antacid, be forewarned that Al inhibits intestinal 
contractions, causing constipation, a much more likely effect of Al than 
Alzheimer's.  Relaxation is the best treatment here.

Incidentally, for those of you (or your friends) who drink commercial 
beer out of cans (ugh!), can companies test can interior coatings to 
ensure that Al does not migrate into the beer.

** Brewing **

On a more serious note, I have to date done higher temp. fermentations 
(65-75F), but with the acquisition of an old fridge, am considering a 
lager fermentation.  I'm looking for a few tips on how to start out 
successfully (which commercial yeast to use, pitching temps, etc).  Also, 
when racking to secondary fermenter, should the settled material (which 
I'm presuming contains a generous amount of the yeast) be transferred as 
well?

Thanks.....Scott

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Date: Fri, 6 Sep 91 09:22:17 -0400
From: "Ihor W. Slabicky" <iws at sgfb.ssd.ray.com>
Subject: translate some German beer labels

I am wondering whether someone can translate some of this
German language text that I found on two German beer labels:

(on the neck label):

	Kulmbacher
	Kapuziner Schwarze
	Dunkles, Hefetrubes Weizenbier

(on the main label):
(on the left side of label):

	Imported by Dieter Steinmann Inc.
	Garden City, NY (this is overprinted in the label)

	Gebraut nach dem deutschen Reinheitsgebot

	alc. 5.3% / vol (this has overprinted with a black stripe,
			but I could just make it out)

	e 0,5 l

(on central area of label):

	Kulmbacher
	Kapuziner
	Schwarze
	Hefeweizen

	Kulmbacher Premium-Weizen

	1 Pint
	1 fl. oz. (again, overprinted)

	Imported beer
	Product of W.-Germany (overprinted)

(on right side of label):

	(list of refund states - overprinted)

	Hersteller:  Monchshofbrau Kulmbach

	Mindestens
	haltbar bis

	22.11.89


and on the second bottle, it says:



(on the neck label):

	Kulmbacher
	Kapuziner Weizen
	Kristallklares Weizenbier

(on the main label):
(on the left side of label):

	Imported by Dieter Steinmann Inc.
	Garden City, NY (this is overprinted in the label)

	Gebraut nach dem deutschen Reinheitsgebot

	alc. 5.3% / vol (this has overprinted with a black stripe,
			and I could not make it out, though I assume
			it to be the same as the first bottle)

	e 0,5 l

(on central area of label):

	Kulmbacher
	Kapuziner
	Weizen
	Kristallklar

	Kulmbacher Premium-Weizen

	1 Pint
	1 fl. oz. (again, overprinted)

	Imported beer
	Product of W.-Germany (overprinted)

(on right side of label):

	(list of refund states - overprinted)

	Hersteller:  Monchshofbrau Kulmbach

	Mindestens
	haltbar bis

	25.12.90

Can anyone help to translate this one?

I assume that here so many overprints because the beer was imported.
The 'e' by the 0,5 l proabably means it is an 'export' bottle of
0.5 liters (which it is).  The dates are either when the beer was
bottled, or when it should be drunk by - but which?  I bought both
of these in the Spring of 1991, and drank them this week.  The
Weizen beer did taste old.  The Schwarze was not too bad, probably
because the stronger taste was able to disguise some of the old taste. 
Both beers had tremendous heads - like I'm used to seeing with the
Spaten Weiss beer. The Schwarze had a bit of sediment in it - when
I poured the first half of the bottle into a glass, it was okay, but
when I swirled the sediment and poured that into the glass, the beer
in the glass started to produce bubbles on it's own... 

Thanks - Ihor

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Date: Thu, 5 Sep 91 22:03 CDT
From: gargoyle!ddsw1.mcs.com!arf at charon.amdahl.com (Jack Schmidling)
Subject: Nitrosamines

 
 
 To: Homebrew Digest
 Fm: Jack Schmidling
 
 RE: Article 240 (86 more) in rec.crafts.brewing:
 From: Paula Burch
 Subject: nitrosamines in homebrew?
 
 >I have read that beer is full of nitrosamines. I rarely 
 drink commercial beer, and so I wonder:
 
 Does homebrew contain nitrosamines?
 
 ARF says:
 
 I have been patiently waiting for someone to clear up this 
 issue but not seeing any knowledgeable response, I will put 
 forth what I know, which is just enough to be dangerous.
 
 Years ago, in the late seventies, I think, when the 
 nitrosamine business was first recognized, a report was 
 published listing the concentrations in commercial beers.
 
 I only recall a few benchmarks but it should provide fuel 
 for thought.
 
 At the very top was Heinekins and lots of imports.  
 
 Bud was right up there with them but I don't remember the 
 exact position of amount.
 
 Coors was at the very bottom with no detectable level.
 
 The "media" told us that there was something in Coors' 
 process that had something to do with heat (or lack of) that 
 prevented nitrosamines from forming.
 
 Shortly thereafter, "they" told us that all breweries had 
 switched to this process and the problem just went away.
 
 I didn't believe a word of this whitewash but that was about 
 the time I quit drinking and I am now very sorry that you 
 brought it up.
 
 jack schmidling
 


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Date: Fri, 6 Sep 91 14:43:33 PDT
From: Martin A. Lodahl <hpfcmr.fc.hp.com!hplabs!pbmoss!malodah>
Subject: Mashing Wheat, Revisited

In HOMEBREW Digest #717, Al Marshall raised an intriguing question:

>In TCJOHB, Papazian states that wheat malt is weak in diastatic
>enzymes and must be mashed in conjunction with barley malt
>of great diastatic power.  I have seen this opinion stated elsewhere
>I think; Gary Bauer's article in the Zymurgy All-Grain Issue comes
>to mind.

And that has always been my understanding, too, but I don't know
where I got it.

>I am aware of some dissenting opinions and (I think) some counter
>examples:
>
>Miller, Fix and Foster in their books on Continental
>Pilsener, Brewing Science and Pale Ale respectively state that
>wheat malt has plenty of enzymes (Miller and Foster say this in
>text, Fix shows the DP of Wheat Malt in a table).

Well, yes and no.  In the Miller and Foster examples, they're using
the wheat malt as such a small portion of the mash that its distatic
power isn't really needed.  Fix's hard numbers are buttressed by
similar numbers in Hough, et al.'s authoritative "Malting and
Brewing Science".  Hmmm ...

>The Widmer Brewing Company of Portland Oregon mashes Briess wheat malt
>and Klages 2-row pale in a 50/50 ratio without any diastatic crutches
>that I am aware of.  Anchor uses an even higher ratio of wheat/barley
>according to their outstanding tour-guide and only has problems
>with the runoff, not the mashing.

Standard German Weizen ratio is 2 parts wheat malt to one part
barley malt, which I've used with great success.  My one attempt at
a higher percentage yet (4 lbs wheat malt, 1 lb barley malt) was
much less successful, with poor extract efficiency and the Mother of
All Set Mashes.

>Are Papazian and Bauer completely wrong?  Do I understand the problem? 

Could it be that this is an area where brewing tradition is at
variance with science?  It seems possible to me that the real reason
brewers discovered that wheat shouldn't be mashed alone was that it
has no separate husk, as barley does, so the mash turns the
consistency of library paste.  Extract is usually substandard from a
set mash, since its impermeability protects some of the grain from
the sparge water, and since cutting the mash to open it up often
releases water that hasn't contacted grain.  Ergo, the "low
diastatic power" rap.  An interesting question ...

= Martin A. Lodahl   			Pacific*Bell Systems Analyst =
= malodah at pbmoss.Pacbell.COM       Sacramento, CA       916.972.4821 =
= If it's good for ancient Druids, runnin' nekkid through the wuids, =
= Drinkin' strange fermented fluids, it's good enough for me!  8-)   =


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Date: Sunday, 8 September 1991 0:55am ET
From: joshua.grosse at amail.amdahl.com
Subject: Underpitching Liquid Yeast


On 8/15 I pitched Wyeast directly from the package into wort, according
to the directions on the package.  You may recall my letter on
refridgerated fermentation, and my wondering about the seeming lack of
significant activity.  I was unable to determine if the inactivity was
from refridgeration or from underpitching.

I wanted folks to know that at the 2-1/2 week point, the fermentation
suddenly kicked into gear.  There is active carbonation, and the kreusen
has gone from thick to foamy.  To date, the wort has been in the primary
for more than three weeks now, and the way the wort is progressing, will
likely stay in the primary for another week or two.

I believe that the 2.5 week lag is due to directly pitching the liquid
yeast, instead of creating an intermediate starter of 1-2 quarts with
dry malt extract.  Next time, by pitching incrementally, I'll be able to
save myself more than half a month on a 4 month lager.
- -----------------------------------------------------------------
Josh Grosse                                jdg00 at amail.amdahl.com
Amdahl Corp.                               313-358-4440
Southfield, Michigan

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Date: Sun,  8 Sep 1991 11:36:14 -0400 (EDT)
From: Peter Glen Berger <pb1p+ at andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Status and Stout

Well, my amber ale has been bottled for about a week now, and it has
survived.  The ferment stopped after 2 days, and then started up again
after another 2.  Ingredients:  1 can malt extract, 3 cups corn sugar,
and luck.  It's slightly cidery, low alcohol, but it doesn't suck.  

QUESTION for experienced homebrewers:  I want to make a high-alcohol
beer next.  My initial idea was a 5-gallon batch using about 6.6
pounds of (liquid) malt extract, and then maybe 2 cups sugar to boost
alcohol content.  One of my friends said that Ale yeast couldn't
survive in that high an alcohol environment, and I should mix ale and
champagne yeasts.  Is this true?

I'd also *really* like to make a stout.  Anyone have a good, SIMPLE
recipe that doesn't involve mashing?  When the Cat's Meow lists "malt
extract", do they mean dry or liquid?  Can I make Papazian's honey
lager recipe at room temperature?  Will this make it a "steam beer",
and what will it taste like?  Is anyone annoyed by all of these stupid
questions?  

Thanks,

- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pete Berger		       ||  ARPA:     peterb at cs.cmu.edu
Professional Student	       ||            Pete.Berger at andrew.cmu.edu
Univ. Pittsburgh School of Law ||  BITNET:   R746PB1P at CMCCVB
Attend this school, not CMU    ||  UUCP: ...!harvard!andrew.cmu.edu!pb1p
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Goldilocks is about property rights.  Little Red Riding Hood is a tale
 of seduction, rape, murder, and cannibalism."  -Bernard J. Hibbits
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------



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End of HOMEBREW Digest #719, 09/09/91
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