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


Contents:
  Carbonation chart... (GARY MASON - I/V/V PCU - 603-884[DTN264]1503  24-Jan-1992 0716)
  Leagal homebrew in MO (chip upsal)
  re: oak chips in ipa (dave ballard)
  brewlaws (jbutz)
  Re: Oak chips in an IPA (gkushmer)
  Shipping beer/Eisbock (dbreiden)
  Brewshops (kbrunell)
  Shipping Beer Across the Northern Border (MIKE LIGAS)
  re: shipping homebrew (darrylri)
  Multi-strain yeast (Mike Lelivelt)
  local perspectives, Lauter tuns (Carl West)
  Matching Color to Style ("John Cotterill")
  Re: lauter tuns (Richard Stueven)
  re: PUMPING BEER (D.R.) Brown <DRBROWN at BNR.CA>
  Re: PUMPING BEER (martin wilde)
  Re: Shipping Beer (martin wilde)
  Eisbock & EKU-28 (David Suda)
  Art's Brewing, Sourdough Cultures, Long Digests (Chuck Coronella)
  Dave Miller's Brewpub (Brian Bliss)
  RIMS unit, only computer controlled (David Pike)
  Legality of Homebrewing in Alabama (ingr!b11!mspe5!guy)
  pre-crushed grains and basil beer (Bryan Gros)
  Schmidling's NA beer (Chip Hitchcock)
  Eisbocks and the law (who cares?) (John Post)
  sassafras extract for root beer ("Ihor W. Slabicky")
  Mamba (Aaron Birenboim)
  Oldest brewery (Ed Westemeier)
  Botulism, Dry Yeast (Jack Schmidling)
  Re: To Blow-Off Or Not? (farleyja)


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


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

Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 07:16:40 EST
From: GARY MASON - I/V/V PCU - 603-884[DTN264]1503 24-Jan-1992 0716 <mason at habs11.ENET.dec.com>
Subject: Carbonation chart...

Please post the PostScript version to the archives.

Thanks...Gary

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Date: 24 Jan 92 07:51:19 EST
From: chip upsal <70731.3556 at compuserve.com>
Subject: Leagal homebrew in MO

Andy Leith:

> Homebrewing is still illegal in Missouri though.

Are you shure?  I thought it was only illegal in a few states out east and
Utah.  If it is illegal here, the law is certanly much over looked; we
have sevral homebrew shopes across the state and at least two home brew
clubes that I know of.

Chip


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Date: 24 Jan 1992   8:27 EST
From: dab at pyuxe.cc.bellcore.com (dave ballard)
Subject: re: oak chips in ipa


guy mcconnell writes:

    A quick question to anyone who has used oak chips in an IPA.  I have one in
the primary that I want to rack on Monday into a secondary containing the oak.
My question is, how do you sanitze the oak chips (or do you)?  Charlie says
something about "steaming" them.  How does one accomplish this?  Any insight
will be appreciated.


i write:

I was just getting ready to do a batch of ipa with oak chips.  The recipe 
I plan on using calls for the chips to be boiled in a pint of water for
15 minutes.  After cooling, the whole mess is dumped into the secondary.
I also got a word of warning from Bill at the Home Brewery saying that 
the things are pretty powerful and to be carful not to use more than 
what the recipe calls for, if not a little less...



iko-
dab

=========================================================================
dave ballard			"Life may not be the party we hoped for,
dab at pyuxe.cc.bellcore.com        but while we're here we should dance."
=========================================================================


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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 09:00 EST
From: jbutz at homxa.att.com
Subject: brewlaws


	Homebrewing was just legalized in NJ this week.  I think that
	this includes legalization of brewpubs.  Anyone have any better
	news on my formerly illicit hobby?

JB
jbutz at homxa.att.com

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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 9:04:38 EST
From: gkushmer at Jade.Tufts.EDU
Subject: Re: Oak chips in an IPA


(Sorry I didn't e-mail this, but I couldn't get the mailer to work for
me):

Here's an idea - Try steaming them in a strainer put over a boiling pot.

That or using a pressure cooker would do a number on any nasties.

- --gk

- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To any and all Americans:

Mrs. Dan Quayle has her own office in the White House. Her staff 
of nine are being paid with YOUR tax dollars.

If this pisses you off as much as it does me, do what I did and call:

	Marilyn Tucker Quayle - (202) 456-7022
	
- ----------------------------------
gkushmer at jade.tufts.edu


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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 09:21:27 -0500
From: dbreiden at mentor.cc.purdue.edu
Subject: Shipping beer/Eisbock

1.  On shipping beer:  While waiting in line to pick up a package at the
    Lafayette, IN UPS office, I persused the info they have hanging on 
    their walls.  There I noticed that they refuse to ship "wine or liquor."
    I noticed that they did not specifically mention beer.  But, I am not
    at all surprised that people would catch flak about trying to ship
    beer.  Evidently, what you have to do is lie.  The  standard line I
    hear is that you tell them you are shipping non-perishable food in
    glass.  If pressed, I would tell them it is beans canned in mason jars.
    Or strawberry preserves.  Since UPS is a private company, you can lie
    all you want to and all you have to worry about is reckoning with your
    God (if you have one and if It doesn't want you to lie).  I'd never
    pull such a lie with the USPS.  I get nervous around gov'ment 
    organizations--even if they are pseudo-private.

2.  On Eisbock:  I am not an authority, but I read in this forum a long
    time ago that distillation of alcoholic beverages is strictly illegal.
    Freezing alcoholic beverages and removing the water is a form of
    distillation.  I tend to believe that the BATF would not condone these
    activities if they knew about them.  Just a thought.

- --Danny

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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 07:27:06 MST
From: kbrunell at NMSU.Edu
Subject: Brewshops

Hi!
  Does anyone out there know of any brewshops in the Las Cruces, New Mexico
/El Paso, Texas area?  Thanks in advance!

 -Ken
<kbrunell at nmsu.edu>

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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1992 08:54 EDT
From: MIKE LIGAS <LIGAS at SSCvax.CIS.McMaster.CA>
Subject: Shipping Beer Across the Northern Border

In HD809 John Freeman brings up the question of how to ship beer. I wish to
extend that query into what is likely to be a more complicated issue. A friend
in California wishes to set up a FedEx beer-exchange with me in Ontario,
Canada. He will send me some mighty fine US microbrewery products and I will
reciprocate with some of our local beauties. Judging from past posts in HD on
the issue of shipping we have decided to avoid both the postal system and UPS,
and have chosen FedEx as a likely deliverer. My questions are as follows:

	1) Should the package contents be revealed or should we just say
	   "bottles, but they are double boxed and well padded."?

	2) Have any HD readers shipped beer successfully by this or any
	   other method across the US/Canada border?

	3) Is there any other advice to extend our way?

This is a thread which has been on HD in the past but was never resolved. Some
detailed replies to both John and myself would be much appreciated. Replies to
me can be direct e-mail if you wish. Take care.

				- Mike -
			ligas at sscvax.cis.mcmaster.ca

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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 08:57:06 CST
From: andy at wups.wustl.edu (Andy Leith)

Guy McConnell asks in HBD#809 about the use of oak chips in IPA's.

I have never understood why people (presumably in search of an
authentic taste) put oak chips into IPA's.  As Terry Foster points
out in 'Pale Ale', English oak doesn't impart any flavour to beer,
American oak does but it wasn't used for transporting IPA. Type of
wood aside, I think that the barrels were often lined with pitch.
 
Andy

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Date: Fri Jan 24 06:47:39 1992
From: darrylri at microsoft.com
Subject: re: shipping homebrew

Although there is no explicit regulation against shipping alcohol by
UPS (it is illegal via the post), they can and will turn you down
on their own authority.  I have never had a problem shipping beer,
because I don't call it that.  I tell them that the contents are
"Perishable Food".  This is an official category of items for the UPS,
and saying so probably gladdens the heart of the clerk I meet at the
counter.

They will not insure such items, so you can't get any money if your
case reaches its destination wet inside.  I have never been pressed
for more detail, but if I am, I will state that I'm sending canned
food.

Another way to deal with this is to take your package
to a Mailboxes, Etc. (or any other PO Box type of outfit) and pay
for their pickup service.  Since they are completely clueless, and
and the UPS fellow will be in a hurry to pick it up, you probably
won't have any difficulties as long as there aren't big black words
on the outside saying BEER.

Perhaps someday the AHA will win an official ruling from UPS, but
we're small and they're in a hurry.

		--Darryl Richman


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Date:         Fri, 24 Jan 92 09:51:43 EST
From: Mike Lelivelt <UTB at CORNELLA.cit.cornell.edu>
Subject:      Multi-strain yeast

First, my thanks to George Fix for the advice on isolation techniques of
the Whitbread culture.  However, I (and Dr. John) still have two
questions.  First, are there other Wyeasts beside 1098 and 3056 that are
multi-strain in nature?  Second, is the dried Whitbread culture composed
essentially of the same three strains as 1098?  Also thanks for the
answers to autoclaving carboys.

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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 10:53:13 EST
From: eisen at kopf.HQ.Ileaf.COM (Carl West)
Subject: local perspectives, Lauter tuns


Local perspectives:

css at boa.CCSF.Caltech.EDU (Chris Shenton)
             ^^^^^^^
asks

David Suda <suda at barley.Colorado.EDU>
                        ^^^^^^^^ 

>How are you going to freeze it? Stuff a carboy in a freezer?

I suspect, it being winter in Colarado, he'll put it outside, 
which might not work at Caltech. Do you get *winter* there?
It's so easy to forget that just about everywhere else is 
different from here. :-)

Lauter tun:

If you're gonna drill it, drill from the inside. Hold the bucket 
between your knees, make sure your body parts aren't in the way, 
and drill. Shaving the curls off the outside has got to be easier 
than shaving them off the inside.

Hmmm, how about a similar bucket to put on *top* of the grain bed 
so that you can dump sparge water on the bed without disturbing it?

Carl

When I stop learning, bury me.


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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 9:22:58 PST
From: "John Cotterill" <johnc at hprpcd.rose.hp.com>
Subject: Matching Color to Style
Full-Name: "John Cotterill"

I have recently begun entering my brews into competition.  My first observation
is that taste is important from a technical perspective, but assuming no
problems occured in the brew, how close your beer comes to meeting the 
criteria of the style is what wins the ribbon.  I have a good handle on
pretty much everything except judging whether or not by beer meets the
color standards set forth by the AHA.  How do you do this?  Is there some   
practical, quantitative way for the homebrewer to make the measurement?
Thanks,
John
johnc at hprpcd.rose.hp.com

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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 09:42:28 PST
From: Richard.Stueven at Corp.Sun.COM (Richard Stueven)
Subject: Re: lauter tuns

> It only took me about an hour to put a bizzilion holes in the bottom of
> one of those buckets.

I used the shaft of an awl.  (I couldn't find the handle.)  It took me
four hours to poke some 1200 holes in the bucket, after which time I
had some 1200 blisters on my fingers.

Don't do it this way.

Richard Stueven       AHA# 22584 |----------| Proving once again that
Internet:       gak at Corp.Sun.COM |----GO----| I don't do hardware.
ATTMAIL:         ...!attmail!gak |---SHARX--|
Cow Palace: Sec 107 Row F Seat 8 |----------|

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Date: 24 Jan 92 14:04:24 EST
From: CHUCKM at CSG3.Prime.COM

Greetings fellow homebrewers...

The water cooler in my office is now using 6 gallon plastic carboys.
Are these acceptable for brewing.... does anyone have an opinion or
experience.

Please reply to   chuckm at csg3.prime.com

Thanks in advance......

chuckm

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Date:       24 Jan 92 13:20:00 EST
From: David (D.R.) Brown <DRBROWN at BNR.CA>
Subject:    re: PUMPING BEER

> From: "DRCV06::GRAHAM" <graham%drcv06.decnet at drcvax.af.mil>
> Subject: PUMPING BEER.

> I've been looking at the Little Giant SC serive magnitic drive pumps.
> Am I nuts?  Thoughts?

Call up the manufacturer for advice on pumping beer. I have a Little Giant
pump that I use for home hydroponics (another great basement sport). The
owner's guide includes a number to call if you're worried about pumping
fluids that might void the warranty. Chances are if the beer's OK for the
pump, then the pump won't hurt your beer.

Dave Brown

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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 18:22:59 GMT
From: martin at daw_302.hf.intel.com (martin wilde)
Subject: Re: PUMPING BEER

I just recently purchased a pump for pumping beer.  It was a Teel
pump.  The specifics are as follows:

     - a chemical magnetic drive pump.
     - designed for sanitary conditions.
     - pumps fruit juices (beer should have no problems!!!).
     - ph range of 5-9.
     - temperature range of 32-180 degrees.
     - gravity feed (will not pull a column unless primed).

I payed about $60 for this pump (wholesale).  It is quiet and does
the job.

I also checked out the following:
     
     Little Giant Pump Co.  PN #2-MD-SC ord PN #1-MD-SC

Look in the yellow pages for a pump dealer.  My experience with
aquarium stores are that they markup alot.  There are lots of
chemical pumps out there.  I settled on the Teel (Grainger Dealer)
because it was cheaper and its pumping rate was about 3-5 gallons
per minute instead of 8-12 (wow suck that pot of brew up in < 1 minute!!!).
The size of the pump is small (5" x 6" x 7").

I hope this helps.

martin at daw_302.hf.intel.com


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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 18:56:09 GMT
From: martin at daw_302.hf.intel.com (martin wilde)
Subject: Re: Shipping Beer

The recent Zymurgy (Winter 1991) contains information about how to
ship beer (alcohol) using UPS.  

It is not illegal to ship alcoholic products for judging purposes.
It is best to not tell the bozo behind the desk what is in the
package.  Just label it as "Food in Glass".  Just like any other
organization not all the people know all the rules.  IF THE PERSON 
STILL WANTS TO KNOW MORE, JUST GO TO ANOTHER PLACE.  My experience
has been the little "satellite" places which ship UPS don't really
care much what is in the package.  They just go through the motion
of asking since they are required too.  I guy looked at my "Food in Glass"
statement and said okay...  He probably knew there in there by the
address I was shipping it to.

martin at daw_302.hf.intel.com

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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 12:16:20 -0700
From: David Suda <suda at barley.Colorado.EDU>
Subject: Eisbock & EKU-28

In HBD #809 Chris Shenton (css at boa.CCSF.Caltech.EDU) writes:

> How are you going to freeze it? Stuff a carboy in a freezer? or bottle
> - -- sans caps? -- then freeze? If the latter, you should probably top
> off each bottle since you'll lose some to the ice.

I think the easiest method would be to rack to a bottling bucket (I don't
like the idea of freezing in glass), freeze it, and then rack to a keg for
force carbonation. Forced carbonation is needed since the high alcohol
content would kill off any beer yeast. The problem is that I don't have a
kegging system, but might be able to borrow one.

> > Is it possible to carbonate the beer, freeze it, and then bottle the
> > results with an acceptable carbonation level? 
>
> Why carbonate first? Sure, I've had my fair share of ``ice cold beer''
> which froze upon uncapping, so that will work. Seems unnecessary tho.

If I can't get access to a keg, the options are to carbonate before
"icing" the beer or else repitch with an alcohol tolerant strain of wine
or champagne yeast.

> I believe EKU-28 (Germany) is an Eisbock.

Although Jackson used to claim EKU-28 was an eisbock, I think he now says
it is not. Is EKU-28 still available in the US? I haven't seen it in a
couple years.

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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 12:16 MTS
From: Chuck Coronella <CORONELLRJDS at CHE.UTAH.EDU>
Subject: Art's Brewing, Sourdough Cultures, Long Digests

Ken Dobson mentioned legal status of brewing around the country:  
Just so you know, homebrewing is still illegal in Utah, and probably will 
be for a very long time.  This despite the existence of 3 homebrew supply 
shop I know of in UT.

Which reminds me...

John Cotterill mentioned buying inexpensive kegs from Art's Brewing, in 
SLC.  That was a one time deal, since he managed to get a great price for 
many kegs (1 1/2 yrs ago?).  I'm pretty certain that his price is back up 
to the "market" price, now.

__Sourdough__

Last night, my girlfriend and I attended a class offered by the city's
school system, on making your own sourdough bread.  REALLY interesting to
me, and to many homebrewers, I'm sure.  (I'm quite certain I was the only
brewer in the class; the others looked to be Mormon housewives ;-)  The
thing I'm concerned (not worried) about is keeping wild yeast in the
brewery.  Since much effort is expended keeping wild yeast OUT of my beer,
am I asking for trouble by culturing wild yeast for my bread?  Has anybody 
had this problem?

====Concerning the length of the Digest===

As a result of recently learning that the digest is limited in length, a
few things have occured to me. 

1.  If you submit a post and it doesn't show up the next day, RDWHAHB. That
digest was probably filled to its 50k limit, and so your post will show up
the next day.  Two posts just clog the digest with redundant material, and
probably pushes somebody else's post back to another day. 

2.  Try to limit the length of your posts.  Again, lengthy posts make the
digests approach the 50k limit, thus causing other posts to be delayed.
There's no need to include lengthy quotations from previous posts; just
include the relevent facts.  Besides, we've all read it before.  Also, some
people have pretty long "tags" (is that the name of the long thing at the end
of each letter with your name, favorite quote, disclaimer, and operating
system preference? ;-)  Maybe these can be trimmed down a little? 

I don't mean to be a stick-in-the-mud, but the distribution of the HBD has
grown and continues to grow, so we've all got to start assuming some societal
responsibilities.  (I know, this post is pretty damn long...)

Cheers,
Chuck

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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 13:36:03 CST
From: bliss at csrd.uiuc.edu (Brian Bliss)
Subject: Dave Miller's Brewpub


>On another Miller topic, the brewpub of which he is brewmaster has
>recently opened in St. Louis, after a considerable amount of effort
>expended by Dave on getting Missouri's laws changed. We previously

What's the name of the place and address - how do I find it?

bb


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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 12:43:04 PST
From: davep at cirrus.com (David Pike)
Subject: RIMS unit, only computer controlled


All this talk about the RIMS units make me want to talk about our setup...
Ours is very similar to the one recently described, however pumps can be 
purchased through surplus houses(JerryCo) from time to time... look around,
you'll find one eventually.

But, the nifty part about our system is that it is CPU controlled. Take one 
of the versions of the 68hc11(16 bit motorola part), the one with the built
int parallel i/o port and the built in A/D converter. Then get the 1millivolt 
per degree F temperature sensors and attache to A/D converter. Connect the
parallel port to a DC/AC controller(+5v makes the AC go on), and control the
Hot water heater elements in the path of the wort pump. Connect the built in
serial port the the hc11 to a dumb terminal, or PC, the write nifty user
inteface SW(just a matter of software!) , and voila, CPU controlled step 
masher, mash-outer, and sparger. Gives the brewer the chance to wash bottles
(of the previous batch) uninterrupted.....,
 

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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 12:34:41 CST
From: ingr!ingr!b11!mspe5!guy at uunet.UU.NET
Subject: Legality of Homebrewing in Alabama

in Digest #809, Ken Dobson writes:

> In HB #808 (I think), someone said that homebrewing is illegal in Missouri.
> In TCJOHB, Papazian states that homebrewing is legal everywhere but Arkansas,
> Oklahoma, and Utah.  When I told him that we were fighting for legalization
> still here in Georgia, he admitted that the 3 states were incorrect and that
> they should have been Arkansas, Alabama, and Georgia.  Now we can read in
> zymurgy that NJ just attained legalization.
>
> ***Just what is the status of legalization across the country???***
>
> Has this question been addressed in prior issues of HBD?  We would really like
> to be disseminating correct information to the Georgia Legislature when we tell
> them that we are one of only 3 states firmly rooted in the '20s.

    Well Ken, I just got off of the phone with the enforcement office of the
Alabama Beverage Control Board here in Huntsville.  The gentleman I talked to
said that "there is no law specifically covering homebrewed beer in Alabama".
He said that winemaking is legal but your are "supposed to have your own grapes
and stuff".  He said "as long as you don't try to sell it or give it to minors,
no one will bother you about it (homebrewing)".  So, it is neither legal nor
illegal in Alabama, according to this source.  On the surface, that seemed to 
be a pretty good situation to me but, the more I think about it, the more it
worries me.  All it would take is one zealous group and we could suddenly find
it illegal here.

- --
Guy McConnell
"All I need is a pint a day"


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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 14:00:35 PST
From: bgros at sensitivity.berkeley.edu (Bryan Gros)
Subject: pre-crushed grains and basil beer

How long would one want to keep pre-crushed grains around, assuming
they are sealed pretty well (not necessarily air-tight) in a cool,
dry environment?  
What is the problem with old pre-crushed grain, is the yield simply
lower, or do bad flavors (or some other catastrophe) develop?
What is the best way to store pre-crushed grain?

If you were going to make a basil beer, how would you add the basil?
would you:
    1.  throw some into the boiling wort?
    2.  steep some in hot non-boiling water, strain, and add the
        result to the primary fermentation?
    3.  throw some into the primary (or secondary); i.e. like dry-hopping?
        (would you need to sterilize somehow?)
 or 4.  some other ingenious method?

Any ideas on how much you would add to a 5 gallon batch?

Thanks.                                  - Bryan


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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 18:08:00 EST
From: cjh at vallance.HQ.Ileaf.COM (Chip Hitchcock)
Subject: Schmidling's NA beer

   I asked Jack how he was sure his procedure produced NA beer, and got
the following info, which I've annotated.

>I for got the numbers but you would be amazed at the volume reduction just
>bringing up to 170 and letting it cool.  It is on the order of a cup or more.
>That's about 4 times the volume of the alcohol in the beer so I think it is
>safe to say, it's gone.

 * 1 cup per gallon is 6.25%; by volume, typical homebrew is 4-6% alcohol.
(All US commercial figures are in weight%, which is lower; the traditional
weak "3.2 beer" is 4% by volume.)
 * The composition of a vapor is governed by the concentrations and vapor
pressures of the components of the underlying liquid. At 170F (76.7C),
vapor pressure is 310 mmHg for water and 711 mmHg for ethanol, which means
that the vapor should have ~2.3x as much ethanol as the beer---e.g., it will
be ~10-15%v/v ethanol.

>As I am currently a very light drinker, I can vouch for the fact from my
>personal reaction that, this is NA beer.  I get a considerable buzz from
>a glass of normal beer but zero from this stuff. 

There is certainly a psychological as well as a physiological component in
the "buzz" from alcohol, but I don't know how significant it is. It may be
true that "the proper measure of mankind is man", but you can't substitute
"beer" for "mankind"---I wouldn't trust subjective measurements.

>I am not quite sure why I started using Champaign yeast but it clearly is
>unnecessary.  I use if for soft drinks because it is supposed to impart little
>or no flavor of its own and I happened to have some on hand when I started the
>NA project.

You should have included this info---if you want to be a momily-buster, don't
spread any of your own....

>	It also occurred to me that one should not have to prime the beer
>because the alcohol which originally limited the fermentation is gone but that
>doesn't seem to be the way it works.  I got no fermentation without sugar.

Not surprising; most fermentations poop out not because of high alcohol but
because the sugars the yeast can ferment are gone. You might get more gas
by using a less-]attenuative[ yeast in the primary and a more-]attenuative[
one in the bottle (where ]attenuative[ refers to the # of types of sugar it
will digest, not to the alcohol level it tolerates), but this is chancy.
You could also try repitching a bit of the yeast slurry (heating to 170F
probably wipes out any suspended yeast) instead of using fresh
yeast---especially if you were trying to hold down the cost.

>The next batch I am going to carbonate in a keg.  It will be interesting to
>see how that turns out.
> 
> js

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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 1992 16:58 PDT
From: John Post <POST at VAXT.llnl.gov>
Subject: Eisbocks and the law (who cares?)

David Suda and Chris Shenton have been chatting a bit about eisbocks. As I have 
been following the other threads regarding the various legalization efforts, I 
seem to recall that any type of home distillation of alcoholic beverages is 
illegal by Federal law (hence the "revenoors" of the Prohibition days). To my 
knowledge, this has never been changed. Since it is freeze distillation which 
makes an eisbock an eisbock, it's probably illegal. (Don't worry, I'm 
relaxing...) 

Would that make an eisbock category at a sanctioned contest a case where the AHA 
is inviting and condoning an illegal activity? 

(I don't know why I thought this question up, but is is Friday afternoon, and 
I'm in a rather philisophical mood...time fer anuther 'un, I guess)

john
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|John Post                     |                                               |
|post1 at llnl.gov                | "Of COURSE it's only my opinion....           |
|post@ vaxt.llnl.gov            |    what kind of ninny do you think I am?"     |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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Date: Fri, 24 Jan 92 17:27:30 -0500
From: "Ihor W. Slabicky" <iws at sgfb.ssd.ray.com>
Subject: sassafras extract for root beer


For those of you who are still looking for extracts of roots to try
and brew a 'real' rootbeer, here's something you might try to use...

	Pappy's Sassafras
	Concentrate
	Instant Tea

	12 oz.  355 ml

Contents:  filtered water, extractives of sassafras (safrole free), and
	natural flavors, caramel coloring, potassium sorbate as a 
	preservative.  Very low sodium.  No caffeine.

Made by:  H & K Products, Inc.
	  Columbus Grove, OH 45830

	"Refreshing As Spring ... All Year 'round"

This is sold in a glass bottle and is meant to be added to hot or cold
water and made into a tea ... add as much as you like, and sugar, YUM!
Actually, I have had it cold, and it tastes like weak root beer - a
hint of the wild cherry mintiness comes through.

Btw, I don't know where you DO get this.  I got mine at the NHD store
in Middletown, RI, in their close-out bargain basement for a buck.
Call the company, maybe...


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Date: Sat, 25 Jan 92 08:35:45 MST
From: abirenbo at isis.cs.du.edu (Aaron Birenboim)
Subject: Mamba

  An african beer called Mamba is becoming quite popular in many
denver area dining establishments.  It has a bright, almost phosphorescent
yellow color, fine bubbles, and a distinct, buy not cloying, sweetness.
Very malty... but in a strange way.  Does anybody know what might contribute
to this unique character?  I have been entertaining ideas about odd malts
or adjuncts.... perhaps millet?  CP mentioned the use of millet in areas
where it is grown..... like africa.  Is millet grown near the ivory
coast where Mamba seems to come from?

      aaron


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Date: Sat, 25 Jan 92 10:14:21 EST
From: homebrew at tso.uc.EDU (Ed Westemeier)
Subject: Oldest brewery

There was some speculation here recently about Charlie P's visit to the
"oldest brewery in the Americas."  An article appeared in the local paper
a few days ago that might hold the clue.  A Vermonter named Alan Eames
recently returned from a similar quest, down in southern Peru.  He was in
the "sacred valley" area, not far from Machu Picchu.  A brief quote from
the article:
"He aimed to examine a beer prized by the Incas ....  The lifeblood of 
their society was a corn beer called 'chicha,' brewed for 10,000 years --
still brewed, in fact -- by women of the remote Quechua Indian tribes."

This would be my guess for C.P.'s whereabouts, and a very likely candidate
for oldest brewery in the Americas.

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Date: Sat, 25 Jan 92 21:21:53 CST
From: bill o'donnell 283-5672 <odonnell at sweetpea.jsc.nasa.gov>


Please take me off the mailing list.

Thank you for the articles for the past year...
I found them to be both informative and useful.

odonnell at sweetpea.jsc.nasa.gov

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Date: Sun, 26 Jan 92 08:56 CST
From: arf at ddsw1.mcs.com (Jack Schmidling)
Subject: Botulism, Dry Yeast

 
 To: Homebrew Digest
 Fm: Jack Schmidling
 
 
 Date: Fri, 17 Jan 92 09:57:54 MST
 From: Greg Beary <gbeary at advtech.uswest.com>
 
 >That is, if you have a can with the big "B", you can boil the
 contents and kill the critters that manufacture "B", but that
 doesn't remove what they have already produced.
 
 It's the other way around.  The toxin is destroyed by moderate heat but he 
 spores  can only be confidantly killed in a pressure cooker.
 
 From: CHUCKM at csg3.Prime.COM
 
 Greetings fellow homebrewers...
 
 > However, I have been using Redstar yeast and think that it may not be 
 giving me all the fine flavor that I should expect.  
 
 It's not the fine flavor you are missing, it's the extra, not so fine flavors 
 that Red Star contributes randomly.  Almost, without exception, the beer I 
 have made with Red Star has eventually gone bad.  Sometimes it took a month 
 or more and other times it was by the time of secondary.
 
 >What dry yeast do people recommend....What about liquid yeast, .. Can I
 use this at temperatures 55 - 60 degrees (my basement temp.)
 
 I am now on  batch #7 using EDME and my beer has become boringly consistant.  
 I can now move on to change other variables knowing that the yeast in not one 
 of them.
 
 I will no doubt, one day try liquid yeast but there are too many less subtile 
 variations I want to experiment with.  I think for a beginner to mess with 
 liquid yeast is a headache he/she does not need.  Just do NOT use Red Star.
 
 js

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Date: Sun, 26 Jan 92 20:30:37 EST
From: farleyja at sol.crd.ge.com
Subject: Re: To Blow-Off Or Not?

John DeCarlo writes:

> If I had to try and say something relatively unbiased in
> conclusion, I would say that if you don't use a secondary
> fermenter, you may well benefit from having stuff removed during
> blow-off.  OTOH, if you rack to a secondary fermenter shortly
> after high kraeusen, you are leaving behind a fair amount of
> trub in the primary, thereby avoiding any need for blow-off.

I agree with John's advice wholeheartedly.  However, the major
reason that I use a blow-off tube is not because I don't use a 
secondary, but because of the fear of gook getting spewed all over
my kitchen when my airlock gets blown off by CO2 pressure during the
first few days of fermentation.  Is there an alternative method for
avoiding this that I am unaware of?

                                      Jim Farley
                                      GE Corporate Research and Development
                                      farleyja at sol.crd.ge.com


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End of HOMEBREW Digest #810, 01/27/92