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


Contents:
  'Dry-malting' (Progress Through Tradition  15-Jan-1992 0917)
  "chlorine" and boiling ("Spencer W. Thomas")
  weizen/weisse (Tony Babinec)
  hop shoots as delicacy (Tony Babinec)
  Re: Homebrew Digest #802 (January 15, 1992) ("Spencer W. Thomas")
  Re: 1" i.d. tubing (IBD) <abrant at BRL.MIL>
  Re: Unholy carbonation (coors story) (Craig Artley)
  subscription (RYOUNG)
  Honey isn't just for Bears ("Dan Barkey, Libraries of the Claremont Colleges")
  Bigfoot Yeast (Drew Lawson)
  Re: Microwave Sanitizer (Richard Stueven)
  Honey in Beer (GEOFF REEVES)
  Pitching Wort ONTO Yeast (GEOFF REEVES)
  New WYeasts (ingr!b11!mspe5!guy)
  UV sterilization (Mark Thompson)
  Priming with Malt (caitrin lynch)
  Re: 1" tubing (Judy Bergwerk)
  Hop Munching, 100 Years of Brewing (Carl West)
  Was: 7gallon vs. 5gallon (Dave Sheehy)
  Sierra Yeast (C.R. Saikley)
  Source of Tubing (C.R. Saikley)
  UV Sterilizers (Dave Sheehy)
  Radiation Sterilization (scott p greeley)
  tumultuous porter ala cp (Sean J. Caron)
  Re: fermentation times vs vessel size (Dan Feldman)
  ss ferment (Dan Feldman)
  Re: importing yeast (Dave Sheehy)
  Calcium Chloride (KENYON)
  Alcohol ("KATMAN.WNETS385")
  oldest brewery (Dan Feldman)
  Freezing yeast cultures (Chris Shenton)
  Re: yeast nutrient (korz)
  BJCP upcoming exams (homer)


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

Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 06:16:45 PST
From: Progress Through Tradition 15-Jan-1992 0917 <donham at browny.enet.dec.com>
Subject: 'Dry-malting'


I had an ale produced by the Boulder brewing company recently at a club meeting. 
It was delicious, but what most intrigued me was the nose...it smelled like 
fresh, malted grain, just like sticking your head into a feed bag.

Some of us thought that this might be a result of 'dry-malting', an analog to 
dry-hopping. Anyone have any information on this?

I plan on trying it with my next batch; a pound or so of malted 2-row in the 
secondary.

Regards,

Perry Donham
DEC Education/Training

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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 09:56:54 EDT
From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <Spencer.W.Thomas at med.umich.edu>
Subject: "chlorine" and boiling

Larryba at microsoft.com writes:

> I have noticed that hot water from my tap usually comes out
effervescent and
> never smells clorinated, unlike the cold water which sometimes smells
> clorinated - Usually near the end of summer when supplies are low.

May be that your water supply uses chloramine for disinfection, as mine
does.  This doesn't smell like chlorine, but some of its breakdown
products do.  According to the chemist I talked to at the local water
plant, it takes 3-4 days for the breakdown to occur, and it is usually
helped along by nitrifying bacteria in the water mains.  It only
happens when the temperature is warm (above 14C in the pipe), and so is
usually evident in late summer and fall, and then only if you live far
from the plant in "pipe distance", as I do.

No doubt the effervescence in your hot water is due to gasses coming
out of solution.  Whether the chloramine is among these gasses, I don't
know.  I boil all my brewing water now (since talking to the chemist). 
Who knows what those nitrifying bacteria might do to my wort, not to
mention the chloramine.

"Relief" may be on the way, though, but at a cost.  The paper reported
recently that new federal regulations will probably require the Ann Arbor
water treatment facility to switch to ozone for disinfection.  This
will make the water bill go up by 25-30%, but will mean that there
won't be "any" chlorine in the water (and fewer bacteria, too).

=Spencer W. Thomas 		HSITN, U of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
spencer.thomas at med.umich.edu	313-747-2778


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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 9:12:04 CST
From: tony at spss.com (Tony Babinec)
Subject: weizen/weisse

I was doing my bedtime beer reading last night, and here's what
Jackson's New World Guide says.

In south Germany, Weisse and Weizen are used interchangeably, although
Jackson's column heading refers to the south German style as Weizen.
This is the style most of us are likely to be familiar with:  50-60%
wheat malt, relatively low hopping, use of sacchromyces delbruckii.

In north Germany, notably Berlin and Bremen, the Berliner Weisse style
(and never Weizen to my knowledge) is a low-gravity (low 1030s), sour
wheat beer, very lightly hopped, and fermented with lactobacillus  
delbruckii (that Delbruck got around!).

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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 9:12:41 CST
From: tony at spss.com (Tony Babinec)
Subject: hop shoots as delicacy

As I understand it, hop shoots as food are served for only a very
limited time during the year, namely the time when the hops are just
sprouting.  As the very young hop shoots are beginning to grow, they
will force their way out of the hop mound.  Until they really get
going, they are very small and white rather than green.  To cultivate
hops for eating, throw a bit of dirt on the young sprouts to keep them
white.  After they've grown some and turned green, they're tough and
"thorny."  

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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 10:21:35 EDT
From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <Spencer.W.Thomas at med.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #802 (January 15, 1992)

You write:
 
 This also happens to be the most efficient method of producing nitrosamines 
 and even the hardliners like Breis, make crystal malt by the indirect 
 process.  That is, by kilning it in such a way that it is never exposed to 
 the combustion products of a gas flame.  This also led me to stop making malt 
 in my kitchen oven.

Obvious solution: get an electric oven!  My favorite cooking combo is gas
range and electric oven. You can't dry things effectively in a gas oven
because of the H2O in the combustion products (I learned this trying to
make meringues).

=S


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Date:     Wed, 15 Jan 92 10:25:36 EST
From: "Andrew L. Brant" (IBD) <abrant at BRL.MIL>
Subject:  Re: 1" i.d. tubing

All of your tubing needs can be supplied by: U.S. Plastics Corp.,
1390 Neubrecht Road, Lima, Ohio 45801.  There phone is (800)-
537-9724. They have just about any size/type of tubing made.  
The vinyl tubing that you are probably looking for comes in
 ...,7/8, 15/16, 1, 1-1/16, 1-1/8,.. OD and so on.  
You should be able to find just the right size.
They cost about $6.80/10' for the 1" tubing and you must
buy in 5' lengths.  They also have FDA, USDA, USP approved
B-IV type lined tubing that cost $20.60/10' for the 1" OD stuff.


                                      Peace,
                                       Andy


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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 11:24:51 -0500
From: frosty at mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Frosty D. Snowman)


Hello all.  I have a few questions about culturing yeast.

I was reading Papazian and understand about getting the sterile wort in the
bottles.  However, then he says to dump some pure yeast culture in the first
bottle.  I assume he means wyeast.  However, do you dump it all in one bottle,
or do you put a little in all bottles.  It seems to me that you would put
a little in all bottles, so it can multiply and you would have 12 bottles
full of cultured yeast.

But back to his method.  If you put it all in one bottle, he seems to imply
that you then dump the first bottle in the second and so on.  That makes no
sense to me.  Bottles are only so big. 

I am sure I am missreading him, and I plan to go buy millers book friday to
see what he has to say.  But could you please explain the procedure to me.
I understand about getting the sterile wort, but what do you do after that.

Thanks for the help on this and everything.  I hope I get net access when I
start working.

Frosty

ps.  speaking of that, does anyone know anything about public user unix
access in chicago?  that is where I will be working...thanks!


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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 09:37:06 MST
From: cartley at sengbush.Mines.Colorado.EDU (Craig Artley)
Subject: Re: Unholy carbonation (coors story)

In HBD-892, Douglas Luce <dl2p+ at andrew.cmu.edu> mentions

> On my way to the Anchor tour this winter, my mother told me a story
> about a clause in the union contracts of Coors brewery employees in
> the mid 1960's.  

> 

> Apparently, for each employee at the brewery, 5 gallons of brew had to
> be on tap in the lunchroom.  Each employee was allowed 4 beer breaks a
> day.  How did they get any work done??  (A brewer at the Anchor told
> me that the rules there was "no beer until you've worked 4 hours...")
> 

> Bottoms up, heads down!
> 

> douglas luce
> 

While I don't know about the 60's, Coors is now and has been (for many
years, at least) a non-union operation.  But they do have beer on tap
in the lunchroom.  I've seen it on tours.  The tour guides say the policy
is that anyone not operating machinery (lift trucks, bottling machines,
etc.) is free to drink the beer.  But if you get drunk, you loose your
job.  The guides say that has never been a problem.

All in all, I think Coors is a really good company, even if I don't like
all of their products.  If only they would make Winterfest all year long....
Of course, I'm biased!  Coors sends excess steam from the brewery over
here to heat many of the campus buildings.
- ---
Craig Artley  cartley at dix.mines.colorado.edu  (303) 273-3557
Geophysics Dept., Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401
 


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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 11:47 EDT
From: RYOUNG at hamp.hampshire.edu
Subject: subscription

please put me on your subscription list for the Home Brew Digest
		Thanks,
			Rob Young (ryoung at hampshire.hamp.edu)

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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1992 08:56 PDT
From: "Dan Barkey, Libraries of the Claremont Colleges"
Subject: Honey isn't just for Bears

Honey isn't just for bears, it also goes with beers!  I have been devoted
to Charlie P.'s Rocky Racoon Honey Lager for some time, honing it to 
perfection.  And let me tell you it really hums--like the sound of bees
making love. (If that's something bees do.)   Refer to CP's bible for
source instructions.  


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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 11:57:42 -0500
From: lawson at BDCD102.nrl.navy.mil (Drew Lawson)
Subject: Bigfoot Yeast

>The other bottle was the Bigfoot ale.  Does anyone know anything about
>what yeast is in this thing?  Is it different from the Pale Ale
>strain?  Would it be suitable for a high-gravity brew or barleywine?

>From what I have read, the yeast added to make the Bigfoot Ale is the
same as that added to make the Pale Ale.  I choose the wierd phrasing
because of what I read about the repitching at SN (Zymurgy Styles
issue?).

Sierra Nevada repitches their yeast from batch to batch.  They do not
harvest yeast fom the Bigfoot Ale, however, because the high alcohol
content makes it likely that the yeast will have mutated.

So, the yeast in the Bigfoot bottle is descended from the Pale Ale
yeast, but may not be identicle.

+------------------------------+--------------------------------------+
| Drew Lawson                  |  If you're not part of the solution, |
| lawson at bdcd102.nrl.navy.mil  |  you're part of the precipitate      |
| 71141.1660 at CompuServe.COM    |                                      |
+------------------------------+--------------------------------------+

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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 08:58:57 PST
From: Richard.Stueven at Corp.Sun.COM (Richard Stueven)
Subject: Re: Microwave Sanitizer

In HBD #802, Chris McDermott <mcdermott at draper.com> wonders:

>Wouldn't a microwave make an effective equipment sanitizer?
>I would guess that the
>'wave would cook the beejezus out of any little buggers on your stuff without
>even heating up your delicate plastic equipment (at least not much).

This subject has been covered in some detail a few times, most recently
last October.  I found references in HBD #70 & #72 (Feb 89), #630,
#632, & #633 (May 91), and #740 (Oct 91), all of which are available
from the archives.  (If you can't get to the archives, let me know and
I'll send you the back issues.)  (Maybe.)

Here's the "definitive" (ha!) answer from #740:

>From: cjh at vallance.HQ.Ileaf.COM (Chip Hitchcock)
>Subject: more on uwave bottle sanitizing
>
>In theory, it would; microbes, like most living organisms, are mostly water.
>
>However, the problem is hitting something that small with a microwave in
>a reasonable amount of time. Think of microbes as kernels of popcorn you're
>trying to pop, and consider that there are always unpopped kernels in
>microwave[d] popcorn, even the prepackaged stuff with the special bag.

In the same issue, Jack Schmidling includes the results of some of his
experiments that seem to confirm this.

Richard Stueven       AHA# 22584 |----------|
Internet:       gak at Corp.Sun.COM |----GO----| Disclaimer: I'm not allowed to
ATTMAIL:         ...!attmail!gak |---SHARX--|             have opinions.
Cow Palace: Sec 107 Row F Seat 8 |----------|

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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 10:09:43 -0700
From: 105277 at essdp1.lanl.gov (GEOFF REEVES)
Subject: Honey in Beer


> - -- richard childers	writes:
> Beer making news .... I'm just bottling my first batch. Thinking about
> dosing it with a tablespoon of honey per five gallons to see what it will do,
> but I don't know if it's the wise thing to do, and it's too early to relax
> and have a homebrew ...
> 
I don't think this will really do anything at all Rich. Honey ferments out

pretty cleanly if it is allowed to ferment completely. If I want to get any
honey flavor into my beer at all I use a minimum of two pounds. Still, this
is like adding corn sugar - you get a boost in alcohol but not much 
change in flavor.

Geoff Reeves

Atomic City Ales
Los Alamos New Mexico


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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 10:10:18 -0700
From: 105277 at essdp1.lanl.gov (GEOFF REEVES)
Subject: Pitching Wort ONTO Yeast


> 
> I recently read somewhere that most commercial brewers have their
> yeast in the fermenter (the hungry beasties ready to go) prior
> to filling it with cooled wort.  They say the beasties start working
> as soon as the fermenter starts filling.
> 
> I have been using this procedure (put the yeast starter in the fermenter
> before filling with chilled wort) for some time now.  I have heard
> rumors that the little beasties (the yeast) would take longer to
> start re-production since they are "buried" under the weight of the
> wort and it is harder to make their way to the top.
> 
> any comments...
> 
> Thanks martin
> 
You still have to aerate your wort. So assuming you have plenty of 
turbulence when you siphon into the fermenter then the yeast won't
get burried and you shouldn't have to worry.

Geoff Reeves

Atomic City Ales
Los Alamos New Mexico

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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 11:13:02 CST
From: ingr!ingr!b11!mspe5!guy at uunet.UU.NET
Subject: New WYeasts

In Digest #802, Tony Babinec asks:

> Does anyone have information from Wyeast or anywhere else about the
> two newest yeasts in the line, namely, "Belgian" ale and "California"
> lager?  They are supposed to be arriving in the homebrew shops soon.

    St. Patrick's of Texas already has them listed in their catalog.  (Remember
Don O'Connor's posting re: the nice lady that runs the place sleeping with him
if he posted her address?)  Well, I thought the posting was quite humorous and
I have a soft spot for someone (in this case, Don's wife Lynne) who runs a
business out of their home in order to be with their children.  So, I called
and got a catlog from her.  Her price for WYeast is $3.90 each.  From her
catalog:

	Belgian Ale		#1214

	California Lager	#2112

Her number is (512) 832-9045.

I have no affiliation with St. Patrick's.  I *will* be a customer soon.

- --
Guy McConnell
"And the beer I had for breakfast wasn't bad, so I had one for dessert"


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Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 08:38:02 pst
From: Mark Thompson <markt at hpirs.cup.hp.com>
Subject: UV sterilization

>Also, for those who have high levels of bacteria, with or without chlorine,
>or for those who simply wish to be anal about sterilization, he suggested
>using ultraviolet light rather than boiling, for energy conservation
>purposes.  They use a 254 nm wavelength blacklight in the lab to kill
>everything dead; he suggests surrounding a carboy of water and the proper
>blacklight with aluminum foil and leaving overnight.  Another option is

I'm not sure about the glass that is used for carboys but i believe that 
window glass removes a significant about of UV.  Putting a black light
outside if a carboy may not be doing much.  You might be better off putting
the light in the lid of a wide mouth container (hopefully not plastic but
stainless).  I heard glass absorbs the UV and that is why  UV EPROMS have
a piece of quartz over the window and not glass.

Mark Thompson


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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 12:57:14 CST
From: caitrin lynch <lyn6 at midway.uchicago.edu>
Subject: Priming with Malt


After brewing several batches of reasonably good beer, I have noticed a
strange aftertaste which diminishes over time. When I taste the beer
immediately before bottling and carbonation it is fantastic. However, the
finished product never tastes even close. My sanitation could not be better
short of an autoclave. I have been priming these extract brews with corn
sugar could this be the problem. How does one prime with malt? I would like
to boil up some dried extract and add it to the unprimed beer before
bottling. Papazian mentions krausening with unfermented wort, but I would
rather just use malt instead of sugar. Any suggestions on how much malt
extract to use would be appreciated.

When I brewed in Massachusetts I never had this problem with an identical
setup and procedure. So maybe the problem is Chicago water and not the use of
sugar, but then again the beer tastes great before bottling. I am getting
frustrated because prior to bottling I think I have made an ambrosia of the
gods, but after priming in the bottle the taste alters considerably for the
worse, although still much better than Bud etc. What is happening here?
Anyone else have a similar problem. How was it solved? Help!!!

Thanks in Advance,
Caitrin

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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1992 11:13:54 -0800
From: judyb at waldo.asd.sgi.com (Judy Bergwerk)
Subject: Re: 1" tubing

Try an aquarium supply shop.  They carry all sorts of tubing.

Judy






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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 12:59:18 EST
From: eisen at kopf.HQ.Ileaf.COM (Carl West)
Subject: Hop Munching, 100 Years of Brewing

A friend's father grew up in a hop growing town in Bavaria and he 
explained that you eat hop shoots when they look like asparagus, and 
you treat them the same way. 

This same friend lent me his copy of _100 Years of Brewing_ 
copyright 1903, These guys don't seem to have been very worried 
about oxidation. It also appears that the American taste for lighter, 
fizzier beer goes back to at least the early 1800's. The author also 
goes on about the first uses of thermometers and hydrometers in the 
brewery. amusing stuff. 

I'll probably post more when this cold is gone 
and the keyboard holds still.

Carl

bm.


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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 11:43:36 PST
From: Dave Sheehy <dbs at hprnd.rose.hp.com>
Subject: Was: 7gallon vs. 5gallon

> Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 11:07 CST
> From: korz at ihlpl.att.com
> Subject: 7gallon vs. 5gallon
> 
> Ahhh! I think I might have the answer.  Wheat beer, right?  Top fermenting
> yeast, right?  The 5 gallon carboy used the blowoff method, so it blew-off a
> lot of the yeast that would have dropped back into the beer when the
> krauesen fell.  

I've been stewing about this top/bottom fermenting thing ever since Micah 
mentioned it several weeks ago. I remember reading in one of the brewing
tomes (Noonan? or was it Miller?) that top fermenting = ale and bottom
fermenting = lager is not strictly true. Several strains of ale yeast 
available to the home brewer are bottom fermenters. I don't remember if it
was stated that there are any top fermenting lager strains. Does anybody else
remember this or do I need to go and dredge up a reference?

> Al.

Dave Sheehy


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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 11:44:41 PST
From: grumpy!cr at uunet.UU.NET (C.R. Saikley)
Subject: Sierra Yeast

There have been a couple of questions about Nierra Sevada lately :

From: quinnt at turing.med.ge.com (Tom Quinn 5-4291)

>I'd been keeping my eye out for the Pale Ale both to
>taste and as a source of yeast to culture, but I was quite surprised to see
>_lots_ of these beers stacked out on the floor, right next to the Bud!  

Storing Sierra right next to Bud is clearly undesirable, but you may be OK
anyway. :-0 :-) Oh yeah, warm storage isn't ideal either. 

A seldom mentioned advantage of making starter cultures is that one has the
opportunity to do quality control checks (yumm) along the way. First of all,
smell and taste the Sierra. Second, taste it again. Third.....

If you find anything off, don't bother making a culture from it. Hold out
for a fresher source. (Fire up those flame throwers!) Yeah, I live in the 
SF area, so that's easy for me to say. There are probably folks out there
who will maintain that you can get a perfectly viable yeast from a beer that
is light struck, oxidized, etc.... This is probably OK if you are willing
to streak the yeast on a petri dish and isolate a healthy colony. If however,
you simply plan to dump the dregs into sterile wort, your best bet is to 
get hold of a clean, fresh tasting sample.

Once you've made your starter and it's ready to pitch, smell and taste it.
It may be bready, yeasty or overly sweet, but above all it should be clean.
If you detect any defects, don't use it. If it tastes fine, then it's
probably OK to pitch, even if it was stacked next to cases of Bud.

>I wasn't able to find any date code on the
>bottles (is there one?) so I don't know how old they may be.

I believe that Sierra uses notches on the label to encode the date. There
are no months written there, but the key to the code has been published.
Zymurgy?? I met some Wort Processors at the 1990 AHA convention in Oakland
who had this little card that deciphered the date when properly aligned
with the label. Maybe JaH knows of this.

From: Douglas Allen Luce <dl2p+ at andrew.cmu.edu>

>I did, however, smuggle back a couple of bottles of Sierra Nevada.

			[snip snip]

>The other bottle was the Bigfoot ale.  Does anyone know anything about
>what yeast is in this thing?  Is it different from the Pale Ale
>strain?  Would it be suitable for a high-gravity brew or barleywine?

I've heard that Sierra uses the same yeast for all of their products.
Since Bigfoot is pretty serious stuff, it's safe to say that Sierra
yeast works well for barleywines. You're better off getting your yeast
from a Pale Ale though. It will be healthier because the higher levels
of alcohol in Bigfoot are more toxic to yeast. It will also be fresher
because Bigfoot requires a longer maturation period than Pale Ale. Living 
at the bottom of a bottle of Bigfoot is difficult, even if you happen
to be a yeast cell :-)

CR



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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 11:54:45 PST
From: grumpy!cr at uunet.UU.NET (C.R. Saikley)
Subject: Source of Tubing


From: dab at pyuxe.cc.bellcore.com (dave ballard)

>I need help locating 1" i.d. plastic tubing.  I wanna use it for a blow-off

Out here in CA, there is a chain of stores called TAP Plastics. They are
pretty well stocked with hoses of various sizes and compositions. There
is also a store called Hoses Unlimited (San Leandro), which pretty much 
says it all. I doubt that they mail order, so check the Yellow Pages under 
"Hoses" or "Plastics".

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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 12:05:24 PST
From: Dave Sheehy <dbs at hprnd.rose.hp.com>
Subject: UV Sterilizers

 JW Smith writes:

> Also, for those who have high levels of bacteria, with or without chlorine,
> or for those who simply wish to be anal about sterilization, he suggested
> using ultraviolet light rather than boiling, for energy conservation
> purposes. ...  
> ... Another option is
> a gadget which is listed in the Cole-Parmer catalog; it's a UV water
> sterilizer which works on demand.  They come in 1 or 2 gal/min flow
> capacities and a range of power requirements, and range in price from
> $340 to $500.  Or if you are adventurous and want to build your own,
> replacement lamps for this gadget are $32.  None of these are cheap, but
> they may be worth it to you in time reduction or peace of mind....

Holy Moly! That's a good chunk of change for a UV sterilizer. If you want to
experiment with UV sterilization there's a lot cheaper route to go. UV 
sterilizers are used by aquariust types to kill parasites. Here are some 
selected prices from "That Fish Place", a mail order outfit that I do business 
with:

        Aquanetics 30 watt inline UV sterilizer ......  94.89
        Hawaiian Marine 30 watt inline sterilizer .... 199.89
        30 watt UV replacement bulb ..................  25.49

Sorry, I don't know the flow rates these sterilizers will support but you can
be sure they're less than 1 gal/min. You could probably do 5 gallons in an
hour or two but that's a purely random guess on my part.

> |  James W. Smith, University of Arkansas  |      jws3 at engr.uark.edu         | 
David Sheehy


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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 12:18:54 PST
From: spg9052 at fred.fred (scott p greeley)
Subject: Radiation Sterilization

 That was a nice writeup on radiation by Mike Hall in hbd #802.  I would like
to add something about the use of microwaves that has been questioned occasionally.
Microwaves will not sterilize wort or equipment.  The microwave ovens can sterilize
or pasteurize by heating its contents to an appropriate temperature but the
microwaves themselves have a small or no effect on killing microorganisms.  I say
that not because I'm a microbiologist or a nuclear physicist but because I use
a microwave oven periodically for warming bread dough to make it rise.  It heats
the dough very evenly and can really speed up the rising provided that you do not
heat the dough too much.  My conclusion from this is that the yeast is not dying;
it is actually thriving.

I have not, however, gone so far as to heat my yeast starter solution in the
microwave oven because I am afraid of the microwaves causing mutations in the beer
yeast.  Perhaps a microbiologist can respond as to whether this paranoia of mine
is justified.  Mutations of bread yeast would not bother me because they are there
only to produce CO2.

Sterilization in a microwave is practical provided that there is sufficient water
and not very much metal inside.  I've heard that if you violate either of these two
rules you run the risk of destroying the klystron.  I have a friend, though, who
has put many different kinds of things in his microwave such as foil and light
bulbs (no cats though) and his still works.  

The temperatures required for sterilization are:  250 F for steam sterilization and
300 F for dry sterilization.  Pasteurization temperature is typically 150 F which
would kill all yeast and most (99% ?) bacteria.  These temperatures should apply
inside a microwave oven also.

Scott Greeley
spg9052 at madrona.boeing.com

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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 15:17:34 EST
From: Sean J. Caron <CARONS at TBOSCH.dnet.ge.com>
Subject: tumultuous porter ala cp



morning brew-gurus!

ive been thinking about making a batch of tumultuous porter as described
by cp. among the optional ingredients, charlie lists 6oz unsweetend baking
chocolate. I can't think of anything tastier than a nice rich porter with
chocolate overtones - wow!!!!

so how about it? any experience brewing with chocolate? do the oils kill
head retention? since unsweetend chocolate is very bitter, should i 
adjust hops accordingly?

                                         sean

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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 12:29 PST
From: Dan Feldman <Feldman at GODZILLA.SCH.Symbolics.COM>
Subject: Re: fermentation times vs vessel size

    Date: Thu, 9 Jan 92 15:03 CST
    From: korz at ihlpl.att.com

    The reasoning seems sound, and it is true that oxygen-deficient wort
    will cause your yeast to have trouble reproducing, but 2 gallons of
    air sitting on top of your 5 gallons of wort are not going to enter
    the wort unless you shake.  I think the rate that the air will dissolve
    into the wort, if it simply sits quietly, is very slow and aeration
    during the filling of the carboy would be several orders of magnitude
    more than aeration from the air sitting quietly.  Comments?
    Al.


Al's comments are very true.  A great deal of air will disolve into wort
if it's surface is disturbed or agitated, and very little if it is not.  

I found out about this when I was researching aeration techniques for
my aquariums.  Basically what was said is that if the surface of the water
is disturbed, air will be disolved into the water.  So I experimented by
rigging up a water pump with a tube on the pumps outlet.  I pierced the
tube every 3"-4" (approx 1/8" dia hole) over the length of the tube.
Placing the tube under water, orienting it so that the pumps output just
barely disturbed the surface.  None of the fishies that I put in the tank
suffered from O2 starvation (this was 2 years ago).  I have now converted
all my tanks to using this method.  It's quieter (can't here it from a few
feet away), simpler, and seems to aerate the water more efficiently than
those d*mn air pumps!

Oops!  Sorry for excess detail - but seeing as how wort is mostly water...

Dan

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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 12:31 PST
From: Dan Feldman <Feldman at GODZILLA.SCH.Symbolics.COM>
Subject: ss ferment

    Date:    Thu, 9 Jan 1992 9:36:20 -0500 (EST)
    From: R_GELINAS at UNHH.UNH.EDU (Russ Gelinas)

       I just racked a light lager to secondary last night.  I dry-hopped
    it with an oz. of Saaz.  It's actually gonna be more of a steam beer (TM),
    since it's been fermenting at about 50 degF.  Anyway, the important info
    is that the primary was done *in the brewpot*.  I cooked it up, chilled it 
    with an immersion chiller, pitched, covered, and moved it to the cool room.  
    It was a Rapids 10 gal. pot.  It worked great.  The cover is loose enough to 
    allow CO2 out.  One odd thing is that the brewpot is now as clean as it has 
    ever been.  There were minor scorch marks on the bottom, from the 2 gas flames
    I use to cook with, but now the bottom is absolutely clean.  Hmmmm.  The 
    pot itself cleaned *very* easily.  Obviously, if you're concerned about 
    racking off the cold break, this is not for you.  But it's quick and easy.  
    We'll see how the beer turns out.  Recommended, so far.

I've been doing this for about a year now.  It works great, and has freed up
my old fermenter for use as a carboy.  I can now brew approx twice as often
as I used to.

Dan

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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 12:52:18 PST
From: Dave Sheehy <dbs at hprnd.rose.hp.com>
Subject: Re: importing yeast


>Does anybody know what the rules are concerning bringing yeast into the US?
>I may have an opportunity to get some yeast samples in London.  I have brought
>samples in before (please don't tell), but I'm not sure about the legality.

Well this isn't exactly timely but I just came across this information. While
I was at the passport office I found a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture pamphlet 
entitled, "Traveler's Tips On Bringing Food, Plant, and Animal Products into 
the United States" (Program Aid No. 1083). Under the heading of "Other 
Biological Materials" it says, "You must have a permit to bring in most 
organisms, cells and cultures, monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, and related 
substances. ... For information and a permit application, write Import/Export
and Emergency Planning ..." The address for Import/Export and Emergency 
Planning is:

        Import/Export and Emergency Planning Staff, USDA, APHIS, VS
        6505 Belcrest Road, Hyattesville, MD 20782

>Chuck Cox

Dave Sheehy


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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1992 17:10 EDT
From: KENYON at MOE.ERE-NET.COM
Subject: Calcium Chloride


Correct me if I'm wrong (like it had to be said), but
isn't Morton's Lite salt (or sumpsing like that) made
with Calcium chloride instead of Sodium Chloride??

**************************************************
**************************************************
*****                                        *****
*****   Homebrewers do it on Malt Beds !!!   *****
*****                                        *****
**************************************************
**************************************************


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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 21:55 GMT
From: "KATMAN.WNETS385" <6790753%356_WEST_58TH_5TH_FL%NEW_YORK_NY%WNET_6790753 at mcimail.com>
Subject: Alcohol



     Date: 15-Jan-92      Time: 04:48 PM       Msg: EXT02657

There is an interesting article on Alcohol and Alcoholism and other aspects of
drinking in this month's National Geographic. I haven't yet decided if the
authors were neo-prohibitionists or not, but they don't speak a lot on
moderation, just on the extremes.

Lee (I'm a woman :) Katman == Thirteen/WNET == New York, NY

=Do not= use REPLY or ANSWERBACK, I can not receive mail in that fashion.
Please send all mail to
INTERNET katman.wnets385%wnet_6790753 at mcimail.com
OR
MCIMAIL EMS: wnet 6790753  MBX: katman.wnets385



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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 15:48 PST
From: Dan Feldman <Feldman at GODZILLA.SCH.Symbolics.COM>
Subject: oldest brewery

    Date: 14 Jan 1992   8:08 EST
    From: dab at pyuxe.cc.bellcore.com (dave ballard)

    Charlie P. mentioned in his posting that he was going off in search of
    "the oldest brewery in the americas."  Anyone have any idea what that 
    may be?  I _think_  that Jackson's book says that Yeungling (sp), in
    Pottstown, PA, is the oldest in the US.  I assume that "the americas"
    means both continents.  Which do you think has the older brewing history,
    north or south america?  

On a recent trip to New Hampshire, I tried "Frank Jones Indian Pale Ale".
The Frank Jones Brewry (Portsmouth, Maine)claimed to be the oldest brewry
in the US (I have forgotten the date they were established).  The brewry
closed their doors during prohibition, and reopened a few years ago.  They
claim that the recipes they are using are the origial, authentic recipes
used when established, or was it when they closed their doors?  Good
Indian Pale.

I vote for south america; Inca, Myan (sp), et al.

Dan

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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 16:16:40 PST
From: css at boa.CCSF.Caltech.EDU (Chris Shenton)
Subject: Freezing yeast cultures

      I would highly recommend for those who maintain your own
    cultures learning how to streak for single colonies.  I may offer
    suggestions for this in the future if it seems useful.

Yes, please do.

Good article. Thanks.

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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 19:18 CST
From: korz at ihlpl.att.com
Subject: Re: yeast nutrient

Micah Millspaw writes:
>The urine smell/taste in your mead is a result
>of the yeast nutrient. Don't use the ammonia salt type nutrients for
>meads. Their use and appearance in recipes is the fault of CP. The
>smell/taste will go away in a year or so.

I just checked TCJoHB and TNCJoHB and nowhere does Charlie mention
ammonia salt nutrients for meads.  In the 1st edition, he simply
says "3 teaspoons of yeast nutrient" in the one mead recipe listed,
the "Barkshack Gingermead."  In the 2nd edition, there are three
recipes for mead and in the two new ones it says "1/4 oz. yeast
extract" which he describes as the "guts" of yeast cells.  The
"Barkshack Gingermead" recipe now recommends that you add either
the yeast nutrient or the yeast extract.

Now... I don't know about either of these nutrients, or whether the
only variety of yeast nutrient is the ammonia salt type, but I
just wanted to clear this up.  I disagree with some of the things
that Charlie has written, but I disagree a lot more with Miller.
By the way, as I read Miller, I marked things with which I disagree.
Maybe I'll post a couple for debate someday.
Al.

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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 92 20:16 MST
From: homer at drutx.att.com
Subject: BJCP upcoming exams

Vancouver BC
Feb 9, 1992
Betty Ann Sather (604) 524-9463

Boise ID
Feb 14, 1992
Terry Dennis W (208) 342-0944 - H 336-0528, Loren Carter 342-4775

Lenexa KS
Feb. 23, 1992
Jackie Rager (913) 469-9393 894-9131

Westport Mass
March 1, 1992
Leslie Reilly (508) 636-5154

Montreal PQ
March 1992
Tom Robson (514) 287-7529

Orlando, FL
April 11, 1992
Ed Greenlee (407) 277-3791

Rochester, New York
April 25, 1992
Stephen Hodos (716) 272-1108 272-3465

Exams are in the works for Frankenmuth MI, Richardson TX and
Millwaukee WI, when they are official I will post them.


Full details on the Beer Judge Certification Program are contained
in a booklet that can be requested by writing to:

AHA
PO Box 287
Boulder, CO 80306
Attn: BJCP Administrator

Jim Homer
BJCP Co-Director
att!drutx!homer

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End of HOMEBREW Digest #803, 01/16/92