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


Contents:
  Pepper Beer ("Roger Deschner  ")
  Re: Cat's Meow 2 - How do I keep my printer from exploding?  ("Spencer W. Thomas")
  homebrew "steam" beer and hopping rate ("Spencer W. Thomas")
  List of hombrew competitions? (Mike_Mahler)
  IBUs ("Spencer W. Thomas")
  Airstat (DAMON_NOEL/HP0800_01)
  Large boiling pot and propane cooker (Richard Stern)
  Himalayan homebrew ("John Olson")
  dandelion wine (Micheal Yandrasits)
  Beer Tasting for NASA/Ames, May 1 (Katy T. Kislitzin)
  more malting (Richard Foulk)
  SODA KEG (Donald P Perley)
  Wyeast's New Packages (S94WELKE)


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Date: 24 April 1992 06:35:36 CDT
From: "Roger Deschner " <U52983 at UICVM.UIC.EDU>
Subject: Pepper Beer

Consider the commercial example, CAJUN BEER, made by General Brewing
Company. It is available fairly widely. The recipe they appear to use:

    1. Brew Pabst Blue Ribbon
    2. Add hot pepper oil

The flavor is, well, predictable. It is not an especially pleasant
combination of flavors. This is odd, since beer goes so well with hot
peppery food. At least you will be improving on Step 1.

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Date: Fri, 24 Apr 92 09:51:16 EDT
From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <Spencer.W.Thomas at med.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Cat's Meow 2 - How do I keep my printer from exploding? 

I hacked the cats meow so that psrev would deal with it.  You can FTP
it from hendrix.itn.med.umich.edu:/pub/cat2.ps.Z (login anonymous, of
course).  Don't forget BINARY mode.  Also there are the even and odd
page files for printing double sided (print odd, take out the paper,
turn it over, and print even).

=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: Fri, 24 Apr 92 09:57:10 EDT
From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <Spencer.W.Thomas at med.umich.edu>
Subject: homebrew "steam" beer and hopping rate

Tony Babinec computes an IBU to HBU conversion factor of 1/3.8 to
1/4.5 (utilization 25% to 30%), and suggests using the 1/3.8 factor
when reading AHA guidelines, etc.  I assume this is in a 5 gallon
batch.

Well, since you're approximating anyway, how about using a simple
factor of 1/4, instead.  Lots easier to do in your head than 1/3.8.

=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:           Fri, 24 Apr 92 10:00 EDT
From: Mike_Mahler at vos.stratus.com
Subject:        List of hombrew competitions?

     Is there a mailing list I can get (US or email) that 
     tells me about brew competitions? 

     I'd like to start entering some so I can learn more about
     how to make my beer better (if they do indeed provide
     helpful critiques during judging).

     Best wishes,

     Michael (mm at bigbootay.sw.stratus.com)
     


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Date: Fri, 24 Apr 92 10:26:58 EDT
From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <Spencer.W.Thomas at med.umich.edu>
Subject: IBUs

So is there any way an amateur can actually measure IBUs?  Or does it
require equipment like a gas chromatograph?

Inquiring minds want to know!-)

=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: Fri, 24 Apr 92 09:13:49 -0600
From: DAMON_NOEL/HP0800_01%hpcsee.col.hp.com at col.hp.com
Subject: Airstat

Help!!  A while back I asked for a mail order source for a Hunter Airstat but
got no replies...I'm still hopeful that someone knows where I can get one of
these critters since there have been a number of comments on them on HBD in
the past. ????

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Date: Fri, 24 Apr 92 9:35:44 MDT
From: Richard Stern <rstern at col.hp.com>
Subject: Large boiling pot and propane cooker

I'm moving to all-grain brewing, and I need some help/advice on equipment.
I have 2 options:

1)  Get a large stainless boiling pot (32+ qt), and brew 5 gallon batches
    on the stove.  The pot will cost me $100-150.

2)  Convert a keg into a boiling pot, and get a propane cooker to supply
    the heat.  I assume this means boiling in the garage (or back yard?).

I'd really like to go with #2, since it will enable me to brew 10-13 gallon
batches.  But I have a few questions:

a) Are kegs stainless?
b) Do I need a lid?  Or do I just brew without one?
c) Any concerns about brewing in my garage or back yard?
d) Where can I find a large propane cooker??

Any other help/advice/comments will be greatly appreciated !!

Thanks a lot!!

Richard Stern
rstern at col.hp.com

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Date: Fri, 24 Apr 92 09:49:44 PDT
From: johno at sherpa.com ("John Olson")
Subject: Himalayan homebrew

The Himalayan homebrew we saw a lot in Nepal is called "chang."  It looks like 
milky water, has little white chunkies in it, and tastes 
like bread yeast smells.  It seemed mildly alcoholic, after handicapping it for 
the altitude.

It was quite enjoyable, however, but mainly because of the surroundings.

The Sherpas brew chang from millet, in large plastic food drums left behind 
(i.e. dumped along with all the other trash) by departing expeditions.  
Because so many drums are dumped, production capacity seems quite high 
along the tourist routes.  There was one in the corner of every kitchen we 
saw.

They do not seem to boil or sanatize anything.  In fact, apart from a working
knowledge of fermentation, it appears that the concept of microorganisms of any kind has not reached much of Nepal.

A landlady serves her guests room-temperature chang in clear glasses from a 
pitcher that she fills by dipping into said expedition drum.   She comes 
around with the pitcher once in a while offering refills.  The bill is on 
the order of pennies.

All Western medical advice says don't drink the chang, for the same good 
reasons you don't drink the water (which reasons are abundantly obvious in 
Nepal), and most of our group prudently didn't.  Two of us with less 
concern, who had somehow avoided GI problems and were feeling immortal, 
enjoyed it on several occasions with great pleasure and no ill effects.

Chang is very nice enjoyed while sitting back in a lodge kitchen in the
afternoon.  The Sherpas on a crew head there after seeing to more safe 
and sane refreshments for the tourists.

It is best enjoyed, however, later in the evening after the other westerners 
have crashed.  The Nepalese trek crews love to stay up late in the kitchen,  
singing and dancing and playing a drum, the national instrument, with a 
little chang.

I haven't looked for recipes, because I prefer Our kind of beer better.  
If I were to make chang, it would be as a novelty, or for refreshments for
the big slide show.

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Date: Fri, 24 Apr 92 15:45:32 edt
From: michael at frank.polymer.uakron.edu (Micheal Yandrasits)
Subject: dandelion wine



Has anyone out ther made dandelion wine?  I just picked 21 pints of dandelion
flowers to make 5 gallons of wine.  I'm up scaling the following
1 gallon recipie:

	4 pints dandelion flowers (as little "green" as possible)
	18 oz chopped sultanas (white raisins)
	1 1/2 lbs corn sugar
	3 teaspoons citric acid
	2 camden tablets

The recipie calls for making a "dandelion tea" by steeping the flowers in
a warm water for 24 hours.  I've done this part and the "tea" is a yellow-
brown color with a very grassy smell and taste.  Is this what is supposed to
happen? I've tasted and smelled the flowers very carefully and quite frankly
they don't taste like much at all. Will some "magic" happen durring fementation and aging (not at all uncommon in this type of endevor)?
	I plan to go ahead with the brew since
after 8 years of beer and wine making I'm compelled to make the quintessential
homemade wine but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Mike

 





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Date: Fri, 24 Apr 92 14:03:52 -0700
From: ktk at nas.nasa.gov (Katy T. Kislitzin)
Subject: Beer Tasting for NASA/Ames, May 1

Attention NASA/Ames hombrewers!

Are you interested in showing off your beer?  In tasting the fruits of
others' labor?  I am arranging a homebrew tasting at Ames for Friday
May 1.  If you are interested in joining us, please send me email and
I will fill you in on specifics.

- --kt

ktk at nas.nasa.gov x44622






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Date: Fri, 24 Apr 92 14:41:47 HST
From: richard at pegasus.com (Richard Foulk)
Subject: more malting

A little over a month ago I posted asking about malting.  Lots of good
information has flowed in since then.  There's still a lot of experimenting
to do, but it seems to be working fairly well.

(Someone sent me a list of kilning temperatures for different styles of
malt, which I've misplaced.  I'd appeciate it if whoever sent it would
please send it again.  Or post it, there are a number of others that
are interested.)

The real breakthrough came when I switched from an initial soak of two
days to two hours.  The whole barley from the local feedstore seems to
be almost 100% viable using this approach.  Without attempts to slow
things down the malt goes to full modification in less than three days.

My first brew from home-malted barley is underway now.  This was also
my first all-grain brew, so lots to learn here.  The mash seemed to
work as expected, things got nice and sweet as they're supposed to.
The wort is quite cloudy, perhaps due to a very poor crush, but looks
are the least of my worries at this point.

The wort smells good and the yeast seems to love it.

I have a few unanswered questions that I was hoping someone else in
netville might be able to shed some light on.  BTW, many of the details
of commercial malting operations don't seem to apply to home-malting or
feedstore barley.

 * Is the main purpose of kilning, for light malts, simply to add color
    and a slightly different flavor to the brew?  Or does it play some
    other important role?  I've heard it said that it stops the malting
    process, but drying seems to do that quite well.

 * Is there something that I can safely mix with the steep water that
    will retard bacteria growth (keep the grain from going sour)
    without adversely affecting the malt?  (I currently do a lot of
    rinsing after the steep, every few hours or so, but this seems to
    speed up the sprouting process more than is preferrable.)

 * Is there an easy way to remove the roots from the grain?  Is it really
    necessary to bother?

Some have said that feedstore barley has the wrong protein content for
making beer.  I don't buy this.  It may be inappropriate for some
styles of beer, or for making light beers.  Those issues simply don't
matter at this point.

Any and all info and pointers on home malting are most appreciated.


- -- 
Richard Foulk		richard at pegasus.com


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Date: Sat, 25 Apr 92 05:16:22 EDT
From: perley at easygoer.crd.ge.com (Donald P Perley)
Subject: SODA KEG

Rob Napholz says:

>sediment in the soda keg. As far as cleaners I use massive amounts 
>of bleach with out any problems(only one batch, the second one this
>weekend).

A word of warning, especially since you have just done one batch.
Don't leave bleach solution standing in stainless for a long time
(long term storage, or even overnight).  It is a strong enough 
oxidizer that even stainless steel will rust.  

I left some stuff soaking in my kitchen sink overnight, and found a 
couple of rust spots on edges (like around the drain, or where there
was a scratch in the sink).  They scrubbed off easily, but you wouldn't
necessarily see them inside the keg, and it would be more severe
if you left it for a few weeks while waiting for your next batch
to be ready.

 -don perley


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Date:     Sun, 26 Apr 92 01:34 EST
From: <S94WELKE%USUHSB.bitnet at VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU>
Subject:  Wyeast's New Packages

Well, I just picked up a package of Irish Ale Yeast at my local brewing store
(Brewmasters in Rockville, MD...a great little place with >200 brands of
extract in stock), and the new package struck a very familiar note.  I'm in the
US Air Force, and have been forced occasionally to subsist on "field rations"
once in a while.  If you followed the Gulf War human interest stories, you
may know the new field rations (since about 1987) are called "MREs", short
for Meal, Ready to Eat.  These replaced the "C" rations, which had been around
since WWII.  The main difference is the MRE comes in envelopes, while the C
rats came in cans (hence, MREs are far lighter).  MREs are also much more pal-
atable, but that's beside the point.  The main dish (scalloped potatoes with
ham, my personal favorite, or chicken ala king, etc., etc.) is in an olive
drab foil pouch.  The rest of the meal is in other plastic and foil pouches
of similar blend-in-with-trees colors, and the whole thing is in a large
plastic bag.
Getting back to the point, the Wyeast package is PRECISELY the same as the
pouch in which the main dish of an MRE is packed.  The same color, the same
double notches to tear it open on both sides, the same fabric-like pattern
from sealing all around, the same horizontal ridges in the bottom edge...the
only difference between the packages is the Wyeast label (which is stuck on).
So now we all know (or at least suspect) how Wyeast solved their packaging
problems...they copied the US military!  Now if I can just get over the
flashbacks of cold "ham and cheese omelet" for supper.  Can anyone at
Wyeast verify this?  Was it intentional?  The new packages work great, but
I never had a problem with the old one exploding, either.
- --Scott Welker

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End of HOMEBREW Digest #872, 04/27/92