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


Contents:
  BREWING, SPENT GRAIN (Jack Schmidling)
  Question for Evening Brewers, Morning Rackers (Dale Veeneman)
  Wyeast Belgian (questions) (TSAMSEL)
  Better Late Than Never? (ZLPAJGN)
  irish moss (wampus)
  extract pale ale recipes (Tony Babinec)
  Re: Homebrew Digest #863 (April 14, 1992) (Daniel Paul Checkman)
  The Beer Game (Tony Babinec)
  Re: Locusts for Brewing in Illinois ("Roger Deschner  ")
  Jack (Ken Johnson)
  Comparitive prices for keg systems. ("DRCV06::GRAHAM")
  Whoops, double Whoops! ("DRCV06::GRAHAM")
  Priming sugar (Killer head!) (Douglas DeMers)
  re: Stuck ferment? (Mike_Mahler)
  Pale Ale Request... Followup (Steve Davis)
  Cambridge Brewing Co. review (Bruce Mueller)
  grain vs. extract (florianb)
  Stuck ferment? (Sterling Udell)
  Reply to "Stuck Ferment?" (ALTIMARI)
  Simpler mashing system? (Bob Fozard)
  Brew Club E-Mail Contact Service (Stephen Russell)


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

Date: Mon, 13 Apr 92 21:23 CDT
From: arf at ddsw1.mcs.com (Jack Schmidling)
Subject: BREWING, SPENT GRAIN

 
 To: Homebrew Digest
 Fm: Jack Schmidling
 
 >From: matth at bedford.progress.COM
 >Subject: Disposing of 10 pounds of spent grain
 
 >While putting the garins into the disposal might seem like a bad idea, in
 *most* places it's not a bad idea.  The drain pipe from the sink goes to the
 same place as the rest of the house, meaning a treatment plant.  It's far better
 for the environment (since that appears to be the issue here) to have it go
 there than to:
 
 Keep in mind that treatment plants are just that.   They are an effort at 
 best to remove some of the waste but a good deal still gets through.  
 Furthermore, they are very expensive to operate and you are asking others to 
 pay for your irresponsibility.
 
 Finally, in many cities and Chicago in particular, whenever there is a heavy 
 rainfall, the whole system is bipassed and the garbage disposals go directly 
 into the river system.
 
 >>  1) Put it in a garbage can
 
 >   Where it will most likely end up in a landfill where it could take years 
 to decompose.  
 
 All the landfill does is raise the elevation of the landscape.  It does not 
 matter from a pollution point of view if the grain never decomposes if it is 
 in a landfill.  
 
 >Going through the treatment plant will take days, not years.
 
 That's only because it is a compromise.  If it goes through the sewer system, 
 some of it WILL end un in the water system.
 
  >> 2) Find a friend with a garden.
 
   >   I like this idea, but 10 pounds is an awful lot when you consider that 
 it should be mixed with other stuff (grass cuttings, peat moss)...  You get
 a fairly large pile. 
 
 It does not have to be mixed with anything.  If simply dumped on a pile, it 
 will disappear within a few months in warm weather.
 
 >>  3) Find an empty lot.
 
  >    I'm going to just pretend this isn't on the list
 
 Considering #2 above, this is far more benign than the garbage disposal.
 
 >From: Rob Nelson <70206.1316 at compuserve.com>
 
 >Seriously, I deeply and sincerely thank those who straightend me out.  My
 spent grains will now be adding dietary fiber to some local hogs.
 
 I find it most telling, that you, the admitted villian, took the advice in 
 the proper spirit but the hate mail keeps flooding in from the lurkers.
 
 >I soak some fine commercial beer bottles in an ammonia solution,
 scrape off the label, re-cap the bottle with a generic cap and write a
 cryptic code on the cap..... I sent a McEwans, an Anchor Steam, a Budweiser
 and a Sierra Nevada Stout to the AHA nationals this year.  I'll see you in
 the winner's circle.
 
 This is quite funny BUT I have often wondered how many people have actually 
 done just that and won.  What is to prevent it?
 
 js
 

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Date: Tue, 14 Apr 92 08:38:54 EST
From: Dale Veeneman <dev1 at gte.com>
Subject: Question for Evening Brewers, Morning Rackers

For all you who brew in the evening, then let things settle out
overnight before racking in the morning: when do you pitch - in
the evening after things are cooled or in the morning after racking?
Since the idea is to get the trub away from the fermenting yeast,
morning would be better(?); but is evening pitched yeast at a stage
after 8-10 hours that the fermentation is harmed by the presence of
trub?  The wort temperature would be, say, 60 degrees and have
approximately 24 hour lag time.

Thanks,
Dale

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Date:    Tue, 14 Apr 1992 10:08:34 -0400 (EDT)
From: TSAMSEL at ISDRES.ER.USGS.GOV
Subject: Wyeast Belgian (questions)

Is this a single yeast strain or what? I did a second pitch from
my first batch and had a REAL slow start. I also saw very different
textures on the surface of the wort. I don't think it's an infection,
but it looked like different critters to me.

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Date:    Tue, 14 Apr 92 09:31 CDT
From: ZLPAJGN%LUCCPUA.bitnet at UICVM.UIC.EDU
Subject: Better Late Than Never?

Dear Brewers,

I suppose it's better to learn a lesson later rather than not at all!
The question now is whether or not its's better to have a fermentation
start later than not at all - which is the present case with my latest
batch of spruce / ginger lager:

     (From yesterday's post)  "... And, herein lies the problem: it's
just sitting there!  There's been NO activity whatsoever - no kreausen,
no bubbles through the lock... All's quiet on the yeastern front, so to
speak.  Well, almost.  This morning (Mon.) there was slooowww activity
through the lock, but no Kreausen forming, nor bubbles in the wort."

I guess I spoke too soon, 'cuz the fermentation was in full swing by
yesterday afternoon!  If the lock had a whistle in it, it'd've been
whistling Dixie three octaves too high!  The kreausen's risen to about
1 1/2 inch, and all seems to be taking off well enough!

I guess in this field it's more accurate to say that I've got foam on
my face (rather than egg :-) ), but I'll look at this as a learning
experience.  I suspect that beginners all too often see their yeast
as that majic "stuff" which just gets the ball rolling, unaware of,
or even neglecting the fact that yeasts are living organisms - maybe
even with their own "personalities."  At the very least, now I know
that each pitching will behave differently; that each wort will brew
in a unique way.

Maybe THIS is what being a "real homebrewer" is all about?

Not worrying,

John

ps - I hear the the popularity of "high-water" pants has made a recent
comeback here in Chicago!!  ;-)

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Date:         Tue, 14 Apr 92 09:37:15 CST
From: wampus <C05705DA at WUVMD.Wustl.Edu>
Subject:      irish moss

I have been playing around with pale ales for a little while; and, there
appears to be absolutely no transparency what-so-ever, still tastes good
however.  I've been adding irish moss; but, it appeares to make no
difference.  I add the moss ten minutes before the end of the boil.  Is
there something I'm not doing or doing incorrectly?

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Date: Tue, 14 Apr 92 10:29:05 CDT
From: tony at spss.com (Tony Babinec)
Subject: extract pale ale recipes

Steve Davis is looking for pale ale recipes.

The first beer I brewed was a pale ale, and every 4 or 5 beers I
brewed since then was probably a pale ale!  It's a great style.

Here are two recipes, assuming that you are an extract brewer and
have access to good ingredients.  After all, good recipe + good
ingredients + good process = good beer!  The English Pale Ale will
be somewhat in the style of Bass Ale, while the American Pale Ale
will be somewhat in the style of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Anchor
Liberty Ale.

English Pale Ale

4.5 pounds unhopped light dry malt extract
0.5 pounds dark crystal malt
0.5 pounds dark brown sugar

1   ounces English Kent Goldings 60 minutes before end of boil
0.5 ounces Fuggles 60 minutes before end of boil
0.5 ounces Fuggles 30 minutes before end of boil
0.5 ounces English Kent Goldings 10 minutes before end of boil
0.5 ounces English Kent Goldings 2 minutes before end of boil
 
dry Whitbred Ale or Munton-Fison ale yeast or
 "Brewer's Choice" Wyeast "London" or "British" or "Irish" ale

1 teaspoon gypsum or "Burton Salts" added to boil water

Notice that the recipe calls for unhopped, light, dry malt extract. 
Use unhopped extract because you're going to add your own hops. 
Use light-colored extract because you're going to get some color
from the crystal malt.  Use dry malt because you can measure it
out, unlike syrups.  The crystal malt should be "cracked."  Your
homebrew supply store can do that for you.  Steep the crystal malt
for 30 minutes in your water at 150 degrees F.  Then strain the
husks out, bring the water to boil, add the gypsum or salt, and add
the dry malt.   After the wort has been boiling for 10 minutes, add
the first hops and follow the hop schedule indicated above.  Hops
are English hops.  Brown sugar can be added as soon as the boil
starts.  If you use dry packaged yeast, use the above brands. 
Others are lousy!  Or, if you have access to Wyeast, use any of the
above yeasts.  If you like the recipe, vary only the yeast, and you
get a somewhat different beer next time!  Whitbred dry yeast and
Wyeast "British" ale are the same yeast.

American Pale Ale

5   pounds unhopped light dry malt extract
0.5 pounds dark crystal malt

1   ounce Cascade hops 60 minutes before end of boil
0.5 ounces Cascade hops 30 minutes before end of boil
0.5 ounces Cascade hops 10 minutes before end of boil
0.5 - 1 ounces Cascade hops "dry hopped"

Wyeast "American" Ale (this is Sierra Nevada's yeast!)

"Dry hopping" consists of adding hops not to the boil but after
boil and especially after fermentation.  When your beer is done
fermenting, you must rack it into a second sanitized vessel,
preferably a glass carboy for which you have a fermentation lock. 
The beer and the hops are both added to that second vessel, and the
beer is left from 1 to 3 weeks in the vessel.  It isn't fermenting,
but it's picking up flavors from the hops.  If you don't want to do
this, then instead of dry-hopping, add that last hop addition 2
minutes until end of boil.  When you turn the flame off, let the
beer sit with the lid on for 20 minutes before chilling it and
racking it into the fermenter.  But, I recommend that you try dry
hopping sooner or later, as it adds flavor and aroma that is just
right for this beer!  English Pale Ale also benefits from dry
hopping.

Happy brewing! 

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Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 10:33:35 -0500
From: Daniel Paul Checkman <dpc47852 at uxa.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #863 (April 14, 1992)

Back to locust beer:
	I was talking about the locust trees, not the insects!!!!!  Seriously,
does anyone know a way to make locust beer or know the source that I was
referring to last time.

	Prethanks,
		Dan

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Date: Tue, 14 Apr 92 11:19:05 CDT
From: tony at spss.com (Tony Babinec)
Subject: The Beer Game

Are you thinking of opening a brewery?  Think again.  This is the
sobering advice from Professor John Sterman of MIT, who has created
the Beer game.  The game is designed to illustrate how and why
managers invariably go wrong in making decisions in the corporate
world.  Excerpts follow from a brief mention in the April 1992
OR/MS today:

The result of scientific analyses of thousands of real firms by MIT
computers, the Beer game mimics the way companies operate based on
a simulated example, in this case a beer factory, distributor and
retailer.  A member of TIMS (The Institute of Management Science),
Sterman and the Beer game were featured in the lead story of the
Jan. 18, 1992 business section of The Atlanta Journal and
Constitution.

The game can be played as a board game or on a computer.  An
analysis of thousands of games indicates that all "players" tend to
overreact at approximately the same time, either by ordering too
much or too little inventory.  

"People who run businesses--whether geniuses or morons--tend to
make the same kinds of mistakes when faced with similar decisions
in similar circumstances.  Put another way, of the 85,000-odd firms
that went belly-up last year, even a guru like Lee Iacocca probably
couldn't have saved very many"

"Many businesses, perhaps all, are all but predestined to fail. 
This is why the average life span of a big corporation is only 40
years, why one-third of 1970's Fortune 500 companies weren't on the
list in 1983, and why three times as many companies as go bankrupt
just close up because owners don't make enough profits."

Quotes are credited to the AJC writer, whose name is listed as
Hendrick.

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Date: 14 April 1992 10:27:14 CDT
From: "Roger Deschner " <U52983 at UICVM.UIC.EDU>
Subject: Re: Locusts for Brewing in Illinois

Here in Illinois, the large swarms of locusts come only once every 17
years, and last year was their year. Although I did not try any myself, I
understand they were quite tasty deep fried and served with a light
creamy dill sauce - similar to a smaller size softshell crab. Best when
accompanied by a nice hoppy pale ale. But *IN* the beer?!?!?!? ;} ;} ;}

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Date: Tue, 14 Apr 92 09:38:23 PDT
From: kjohnson at argon.berkeley.edu (Ken Johnson)
Subject: Jack

Hey Jack.  I still can't send email to your address, because I can't find
a node that knows your machine.  Please send me another copy of that file,
because I accidentally erased the old one.

Thanks
kj


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Date: 14 Apr 92 11:53:00 EDT
From: "DRCV06::GRAHAM" <graham%drcv06.decnet at drcvax.af.mil>
Subject: Comparitive prices for keg systems.

Here are some comparative prices for kegging systems I did after my post 
about St. Patrick's of Texas.  All systems include a five gallon Stainless 
soda keg, (reconditioned unless otherwise noted), a five pound co2 tank, 
two gauge regulator with check valve and gas line.  Liquid line with 
hand held faucet and quick disconnects on all lines.

St. Patrick's of Texas, (with reconditioned regulator), $140.

Alternative Beverage, $200.

Beer & Wine Hobby, $229.

Great Fermentations of Marin, (used keg), $183.75.

Great Fermentations of Santa Rosa, (New keg, no co2 tank), $155.

Henessee Homebrew, (new keg), $250.

The Brewery, (5 gal. Beer Ball, plastic), $210.

The Homebrewery, $200.

The Modern Brewer, (1 gauge reg.), $180.

American Brewmaster, $177.

Jaspers Homebrew Supply, $182.

F.H. Steinbert & Co., (new keg), $202.75.

Williams, $249. (Maybe less, it's hard to tell from the catalog.)

Well, those are all of the places I could call for free, or nearly so.  
Looks like there is a great difference between systems, makes it pay to 
shop around.


 - Dan


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Date: 14 Apr 92 11:22:00 EDT
From: "DRCV06::GRAHAM" <graham%drcv06.decnet at drcvax.af.mil>
Subject: Whoops, double Whoops!

The correct phone number for St. Patrick's of Texas is 512 832-9045, NOT 
532.  My apologies, both to you and the poor lady who got some pho ne 
calls.

Now, the second whoops.  I said in my post about the very inexpensive 
kegging system from St. Patrick's that I'm going to get rid of my Grolsch 
bottles.  I have received a flood of responses.  I'm so sorry, I'm blind 
and can't really deal with shipping.    Making beer is hard enough!  I'll 
gladly sell them, (cheap) to someone here in New England who can come to 
pick them up.  I already have one New England response, whom I'll make the 
offer to directly.  Other N.E. interests, mail me and if you're the lucky 
one, (read:  if this other gentleperson isn't interested), I'll contact you 
directly.

Sorry for the confusion.

Dan



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Date: Tue, 14 Apr 92 10:13 PDT
From: dougd at uts.amdahl.com (Douglas DeMers)
Subject: Priming sugar (Killer head!)

In Homebrew Digest #863, Al (korz at ihlpl.att.com) writes:

>Jake asks about a beer which overcarbonates after a while.
>There are three common causes for beer to overcarbonate:

>1. bottling too soon,
>2. infection, and
>3. too much priming sugar.

I agree.  Regarding point #3, you go on to say:
> [...]                           If you are using corn sugar for
>priming, you should probably not use more than 1 cup.

In my experience, 1 cup of corn sugar to prime a 5 gallon batch is far
too much.  When I used 1 cup priming sugar I got no gushers but
significant amounts of foam.  In fact, I routinely had to pour a 12
oz.  bottle into a half-gallon glass pitcher which would be foam right
to the top.  Several minutes later the foam subsides, and the beer can
be poured off.  As an experiment once, by carefully and slowly pouring
the bottle down the side of the glass, I could pour the entire bottle
without causing a foam up.  I do not like my beer highly carbonated,
and resorted to (carefully) stirring the beer with a spoon until the
carbonation level dropped to (what I considered) a drinkable level.

I've since cut back to 1/2 - 3/4 cup of corn sugar (depending on the
style) or (recently) gyle leftover from the start of the batch.  After
racking into my primary fermenter, I run the "dregs" through a strainer
into another container.  I let this settle out, and pour the gyle into
quart jars which I "can" in a water bath canner.  I use 1 - 1 1/2
quarts of the canned gyle in place of corn sugar solution for priming
when it comes time to bottle.

I've also heard tell that the use of dry yeast also tends to produce
overcarbonation, but I have no interest in trying an experiment to find
out.
- -- 
Douglas DeMers,      | (408-746-8546) | dougd at uts.amdahl.com
Amdahl Corporation   |                | {sun,uunet}!amdahl!dougd
  [It should be obvious that the opinions above are mine, not Amdahl's.]
  [               Amdahl makes computers, not beer.                    ]

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Date:           Tue, 14 Apr 92 9:21 EDT
From: Mike_Mahler at vos.stratus.com
Subject:        re: Stuck ferment?

>I brewed a pale ale using M&F extra light extract and Whitbread ale
>yeast Saturday night and have it in a 7 gallon plastic primary with a
>blowoff tube.  By last night the ferment appeared to be stuck because
>there was no more bubbling in the blowoff.  When I opened it this
>morning there was about a 1 inch head of krausen (sp?) on top.  A few
>minutes after closing it, I heard the plastic lid flex and then it
>started bubbling away again for a few minutes before stopping.  

     You've got leaks around the edges.  I have the same problem and
     have solved it by putting Saran wrap around the edge before putting
     the lid on.  Works like a charm.

     Michael



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Date: Tue, 14 Apr 92 15:43:27 GMT-0500
From: sdavis at laforge.ksc.nasa.gov (Steve Davis)
Subject: Pale Ale Request... Followup


 My request for India Pale Ale recipes in HBD#863 generated _tons_ of  
mail; thanks to everyone who responded.  Obviously, I'd rather not  
post all of these to the list... if anyone would like to see the  
responses, I'd be happy to mail you a copy.  Just send me an email,  
and be sure to include an internet address.

Regards,

Steve Davis
Kennedy Space Center, FL
internet: sdavis at laforge.ksc.nasa.gov

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Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 13:10 PDT
From: Bob Jones <BJONES at NOVA.llnl.gov>


	I'm making a Romulan Ale. Unfortunatly I am forced to use some
less than authentic ingredients. It seems the Rihannsu make their drink
from a mixture of distilled ale blended with regular ale, the grain base
is their version of wheat (grown on ch'Havran) and its blue. My effort
is a low hopped wheat wine. The question I have is the blue colour. I
have made in the past a blue cream soda using blue food colouring. This
tended to cause the drinker to have a blue mouth and also to discolour
the lines in my draft system and it left a flavour residue in the lines.
Anyone know of a source of blue colour that safe to drink in doesn't
exhibit the above mentioned problems. Thanks
                                                 Micah Millspaw 4/13/92

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Date: Mon, 13 Apr 92 10:01:11 MDT
From: malone at Scapa.CS.UWyo.Edu ( Patrick K. Malone )

  I just subscribed to this list this weekend. I saw all the talk about
mead brewing.  I am a novice home brewer who is thinking about trying to
brew some mead.  Could someone please send me (or post) an easy, detailed
mead recipe. Thanks.

Patrick K Malone
Sys Admin
EORI/ISC
University of Wyoming
malone at tomatin.uwyo.edu


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Date: Tue, 14 Apr 92 13:17:46 PDT
From: Bruce Mueller <mueller at sdd.hp.com>
Subject: Cambridge Brewing Co. review

Well, a couple weeks ago I was in Boston.  I'd read the previous reviews of
the Cambridge and Commonwealth breweries.  I only had time to visit the former.
It is located in Kendall Sq., at the corner of Hampshire and Portland, next to
a Thai restaurant.

I tried the Tall Tale Pale Ale, which was good and fresh, well hopped (at
least flavored--I had a cold, couldn't smell anything) and the Amber, which
was OK.  The food is quite good. I had grilled chicken, with rojo and negro
salsas (the former milder), black beans, rice, tomato/cucumber salad and corn-
bread.  The last was fair--dry.  For those who don't live near indigenous
Mexican populations (I'm in San Diego), this is GOOD Mexican food.

The Back Bay Hilton has a decent beer bar, with many micros in bottles and 
maybe four on tap.  Low key.

Adios!
Bruce Mueller

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Date: Tue, 14 Apr 92 13:02:46 PDT
From: florianb at chip.cna.tek.com
Subject: grain vs. extract

A few HBD's back, some submitters were discussing all-grain vs. extract
brewing and commented on the amount of work involved.

I, like many others, started out with extract brewing while renting
an apartment in Bend, Oregon. Using extract was very convenient since
we had a small kitchen. However, I was continually disappointed with
the reproducibility and the lack of variety (not to mention cost) of
the brews I produced. For a long time I was hesitant to go "all-grain"
since I thought it would be more work and require lots of expensive 
equipment. I was wrong on both accounts.

I started all-grain brewing after sampling some home brew made by
my brother-in-law, who had begun home brewing about 15 years ago
and has never brewed using extracts. I was so impressed by the flavor
of the beer that I determined to go all-grain as soon as possible.
I asked my wife for a larger boiler for my birthday, then began 
assembling the other things I needed based on what my brother-in-law
showed me.

It is not expensive to go all-grain. It only takes a larger boiler
(I use a big porcelain pot), a picnic cooler, some length of 1/2"
copper tubing, a smaller pot for stovetop mashing, and that's it.

It is not much more time consuming. I start at about 2pm on Sunday,
and I'm done by 7 pm on Sunday. Last week, I started a batch of
wheat beer at 2 pm and was done by 6 pm. Most of the time during
that period was spent standing around waiting. So I played with
my kids, worked on the deck, drank coffee, and watched Star Trek.
Big deal.

If you find that all-grain takes more time for some reasons, then there
are ways to reduce other parts of the brewing process. Like start kegging
instead of bottling. Use a wort chiller. Make a starter culture so
there is little lag time. And the time required in mashing and sparging
can itself be reduced. I have written about this before in the HBD.
Maybe I should write a book on improved mashing techniques. Now that's
and idea!

Quality? Even the reduced-time techniques I use will yield high-quality
brew. Maybe I'm prejudiced, but I enjoy my beers better than practically
anything I can buy. Many of my friends have said the same thing. 
Although this may have more to do with kegging than anything else!

So if you have been hesitating to go all-grain because you are worried
about more work, then you are worring too much! Get bold! Do it!
If it doesn't agree with your lifestyle for some reason, you can always
go back to extracts. But if you have my experience, you never will.

Florian


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Date: Tue, 14 Apr 92 16:50:37 EDT
From: sterling at durin.umcs.maine.edu (Sterling Udell)
Subject: Stuck ferment?

Matt (mb at Princeton.EDU) writes:
 . . .
>morning there was about a 1 inch head of krausen (sp?) on top.  A few
>minutes after closing it, I heard the plastic lid flex and then it
>started bubbling away again for a few minutes before stopping.  Could

I must confess that I'm interested in this thread as well.  I still
use plastic primaries, and a number of times recently I've had an
obviously active fermentation confound me by blowing _no_ bubbles
through the f-lock.  Fortunately, when using a secondary as well it
makes little difference to me; I just rack it when the krauesen's
fallen.  

I just assumed that I was getting a little leakage at the border of
the bucket and lid, but this didn't seem entirely right either, as I
could make the f-lock bubble by pressing down in the middle of the
lid.  In true homebrewer style, though, I relaxed and didn't worry
about it.  I'm still curious about it, however.  Has anyone else seen
this before?

Specificaly to Matt:  Your fermentation probably isn't stuck,
especially if you have krauesen.  If you're using a secondary, rack
when the krauesen goes down as usual.  If not, wait'll the foam goes
away, take a gravity reading, and gauge bottling time accordingly.

String


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Date: Tue, 14 Apr 92 15:38:01 PDT
From: ALTIMARI at FOLSM3.intel.com
Subject: Reply to "Stuck Ferment?"



Matt writes as follows:


> Date: Mon, 13 Apr 92 12:23:11 -0400
> From: Matthias Blumrich <mb at Princeton.EDU>
> Subject: Stuck ferment?

> I brewed a pale ale using M&F extra light extract and Whitbread ale
> yeast Saturday night and have it in a 7 gallon plastic primary with a
> blowoff tube.  By last night the ferment appeared to be stuck because
> there was no more bubbling in the blowoff.  When I opened it this
> morning there was about a 1 inch head of krausen (sp?) on top.  A few
> minutes after closing it, I heard the plastic lid flex and then it
> started bubbling away again for a few minutes before stopping.  Could
> it be that the pressure flexes the lid and breaks the seal, and the CO2
> is escaping from the sides?  Note that there is a lot of pressure
> inside because if I just press down lightly anywhere I get bubbles.
> Could it be that I didn't aerate it enough?  If so, what can I do?  Any
> help is appreciated.

>  - Matt -


I used to see this when I was using the 7 gallon plastic primary
buckets supplied with so many starter kits.  What I found was that
I did have active fermentation occuring (as evident by the krausen)
but that the seal of the top to the fermenter was faulty.  I never tried
to use a blowoff with these however (I have used blowoff technique
exclusively with glass carboys).  I always seemed to have problems 
maintaining a good seal, plastic is also a pain in the wort to clean
and sanitize.  Anyways, my two cents would to chuck the plastic fermenter
and switch to glass carboys using the blowoff method.  Just a thought.

Steve Altimari  (ALTIMARI at FOLSM3.intel.com)
- ------------------------------

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Date: Tue, 14 Apr 92 13:37:19 PDT
From: rfozard at slipknot.pyramid.com (Bob Fozard)
Subject: Simpler mashing system?

I'm interested in simplifying my brewery.  I wanna use my sparging
bucket to mash in.  It's a spigoted 6 gallon plastic bucket with a
false bottom (from the bottom of a 5 gallon plastic bucket, with
stainless bolts for legs, and a bunch of 3/8" holes drilled in it).  I
use a hand-made grain bag as an insert, with canvas for the sides and a
nylon mesh for the bottom.  I made an insulation blanket from a hot
water heater blanket.  What I would like to do is simply add grains and
hot water to this, stir, let rest, and sparge.  Also, for a step mash,
why not start out with a stiff protein rest, then add boiling water to
bring it to conversion temp, rest, and sparge?  Or for a decoction,
remove portions for boiling then dump them back in.  It seems to me
that this can easily be used for any type of mash.  Anybody else doing
things similar, perhaps you picnic cooler guys?  I've thought about
building a copper-tubing-in-picnic-cooler setup, but I get good results
with this bucket, and I wouldn't have to build anything to use it as
described.  Do you see any problems with this?

- -- 
rfozard at pyramid.com


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Date: Wed, 15 Apr 92 2:20:15 EDT
From: srussell at msc.cornell.edu (Stephen Russell)
Subject: Brew Club E-Mail Contact Service

Folks,

A handful of requests in recent days makes me think it's time to repost
this.

I have compiled a list of e-mail contacts to homebrew clubs in the US and 
Canada.  The purposes of the list are to (a) promote interclub activities
and (b) membership recruitment, using a very rapid form of communication.

So far, I have more than 100 people listed as contacts representing 69 clubs,
and I've made more than 35 referrals in the past two months to people seeking 
information.

If you are willing to be listed on this database, please send me e-mail.
Include the name of your club, it's approximate location, and your full name
and preferred e-mail address(es).

(Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, Memphis, Kansas City, Sonoma...are you out there?)

If you would like information on a particular club or clubs or just have
some general questions, please feel free to drop me a line.  I am happy
to make referrals; that is the purpose of this list.

Thanks, 

STEVE


list of clubs with contacts as of 4/14/92 will follows....

(in alphabetical order by state/province, pretty much :-)

Birmingham Brewmasters (AL)
Madison Sobriety Club (AL)
Tucson Homebrewers Association (AZ)
Barley Bandits (Orange County, CA)
Hoppy Campers (Modesto/Stanislaus County, CA)
The Draught Board (East Bay, CA)
Maltose Falcons Home Brewing Society (San Fernando Valley, CA)
Gold Country Brewers Association (Sacramento, CA)
San Andreas Malts (San Francisco, CA)
Brewing Students of Harvey Mudd College (Claremont, CA)
Santa Clara Valley Brewers Association (CA)
The High Desert TRUBle Makers (Edwards AFB/Lancaster/Palmdale, CA)
Worts of Wisdom (South Bay, CA)
Deep Wort Brew Club (Colorado Springs, CO)
Hop, Barley and the Alers (Boulder, CO)
Mash Tongues (Fort Collins, CO)
The Unfermentables (Denver, CO)
Beer Brewers of Central Connecticut (Middletown-based)
Underground Brewers of Connecticut (Fairfield and New Haven counties)
Brewers United for Real Potables (Washington Metro Area)
North Florida Brewers League (Tallahassee, FL)
Brew-52s (Athens, GA)
Covert Hops Society (Atlanta, GA)
Heartland Homebrew Club (Grinnell, IA)
Ida-Quaffers (Boise, ID)
Abnormal Brewers (Association of Bloomington/Normal Brewers, IL)
Chicago Beer Society
Headhunters' Homebrew Club (Sugar Grove, IL near Fermi Ntl Accelerator Lab)
Trubadours (Springfield, MA and vicinity)
Boston Wort Processors
Chesapeake Real Ale Brewers (MD)
Ann Arbor Brewer's Guild (MI)
Keweenaw Real Ale Enthusiasts United for Serious Experimentation in Naturally-
	Effervescent Refreshment Science (KRAEUSENERS)  (Houghton, MI)
Minnesota Brewers Association (Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area)
Minnesota TimberWorts (Rochester, MN)
St. Louis Brews
Fish n'Brew's (Newfoundland and Labrador)
Brew Free or Die! (Merrimack, NH)
Bellhops (Bellcore -- Piscataway, NJ)
Mid-Atlantic Sudsers and Hoppers (MASH) (New Jersey)
Los Alamos Hill Hoppers (NM)
Amateur Brewers of Central New York (Syracuse, NY)
Homebrewers' Emergency Club (Columbia Univ. CS Department, NYC)
Ithaca Brewers' Union (Ithaca, NY)
New York City Homebrewers Guild
Homebrewers of Staten Island (NY)
Sultans of Swig (Buffalo, NY)
Upstate New York Homebrewers Association (Rochester, NY)
The Prairie Homebrewing Companions (Fargo, ND/Moorhead, MN)
Bloatarian Brewing League (Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky)
Dayton Regional Amateur Fermentation Technologists (DRAFT) (Dayton, OH)
Society of Northeast Ohio Brewers (Cleveland Area)
Canadian Amateur Brewers Association (Dundas, ON)
Ontario:  Ottawa Camra
Heart of the Valley Homebrewers (Corvallis, OR)
Oregon Brew Crew (Portland, OR)
Homebrewers of Philadelphia and Suburbs (HOPS)
Happy Valley Homebrewers (State College, PA)
Palmetto State Brewers (Columbia, SC)
Berry Brewers (Saskatoon, SK)
SCA Brewers Guild (Bryan, TX)
Malthoppers (College Station, TX)
The Foam Rangers (Houston, TX)
Mashtronauts (Clear Lake, TX, south of Houston/Johnson Space Center)
North Texas Homebrewers Association (Dallas and northern Texas)
The Back Door Brewers (Charlottesville, VA)
James River Homebrewers (Richmond, VA)
Brews Brothers (Seattle, WA)
Society of Oshkosh Brewers (SOB's) (Oshkosh, WI)







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End of HOMEBREW Digest #864, 04/15/92