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


Contents:
  Dr. John is Right--Kind Of (Jeff Frane)
  Re: pearled barley (Patrick J. Volkerding)
  Bedeviled hops ("Dr. John")
  English bitters (Conn Copas)
  Pearled Barley (Chris Estes)
  Wort Chillers for Extract Brewers? (smc)
  Strawberry Wine???? (rizy)
  Re: Homebrew Digest #908 (June 23, 1992) (Justin Seiferth)
  Re: sterilizing counter-flow chillers (Mike Zentner)
  Re: Homebrew Digest #908 (June 23, 1992)  (-------------------------------------------------------------------------------)
  Bar Harbor Amber, Cerpa (Russ Gelinas)
  Re: Pitch in Brewkettle (Greg Winters)
  Priming with grocery store juice (korz)
  SF Brews (That's Santa Fe - the original SF :-) (GEOFF REEVES)
  AHA Nat. Comp. Winners (James Spence)
  re: bugs are eating my hop plants (Dave Platt)
  Re: G. Fix/Cambridge/CAMRA Good Beer Guide (Paul Jasper)
  Re: Aeration with aquarium pumps (Larry Barello)
  Re: Aeration with aquarium pumps  (Steve Dempsey)
  Sam Adams Wheat (Mike Wilson)
  bitter (Rob Bradley)
  On Tap (World Beer Review) (Michael L. Hall)


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

Date: Mon, 22 Jun 92 15:26:25 PDT
From: gummitch at techbook.com (Jeff Frane)
Subject: Dr. John is Right--Kind Of

Well, it's true that August Schell Pilsner and Capital Special are great
beers.  Capital Special, in fact, holds a very special place in my
heart, and I managed to commandeer and disappear two bottles during the
AHA banquet.  Compared to NW beers, however, it's not particularly
hoppy.  When the AS Pilsner appeared at the Oregon Brewers Festival on
draught about 3 years ago, it blew me away: an extraordinarily hoppy
beer and my favorite from the festival.  But the bottle version is
considerably more timid; the local distributor, in fact, is convinced
that AS is bottling their real pilsner as their Export and the Export in
the Pilsner bottles.

And don't mistake me: I love good Midwestern Microbrewed Lagers (TM); I
brought a case of Sprecher's home on the plane, and it's already almost
gone.  But... when you need HOPS, stick to the Left Coast.

- --Jeff Frane
  Beer Snobs United (hooray for good taste)




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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 04:04:28 -0500
From: volkerdi at MHD1.moorhead.msus.edu (Patrick J. Volkerding)
Subject: Re: pearled barley

Yes, pearled barley is useful for brewing, and can be substituted
in all-grain recipes for flaked barley. I've seen Charlie P. suggest
its use in stout to help give it that creamy, Guinness-like head. 
 
I'd try about a pound of it in a stout. It will most likely create a
beer that will not clear, so I'm not sure I'd use it in a beer that
wasn't opaque. It has to be cooked prior to the mash. Just boil it up
with the water you plan to use for the mash. When it seems done, let it
cool down to whatever your mash strike temp is (or chill it if you
don't want to wait) and add the rest of the grains to start the mash.
Mash and sparge as usual.

Pat


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Date:         Tue, 23 Jun 92 07:49:50 EDT
From: "Dr. John" <JELJ at CORNELLA.cit.cornell.edu>
Subject:      Bedeviled hops


Greetings all,
      Seems that the HopDevil's hops are bedeviled.  John, identifying the
perpetrators will be a boon to dealing with them.  You can knock back many
types of soft-bodied critters (such as aphids) pretty handily with a soap
spray.  If memory serves, and I'm not sure it does exactly, a 1% solution
is adequate.  You can go to the trouble of buying one of the horticultural
products (i.e. Safers) but plain old Ivory Liquid dish soap will do the job.
You can eradicate many other bugs with specialized BT preparations.  Bottom
line is that pest identification is the key to eradication, unless you are
willing to do the job with industrial strength chemicals and expose yourself
to all the potential risks they carry into your hopyard and your life.
      On another note, I'd like to thank all who were so kind as to send
private responses to my question about beer in Baltimore.  Looks like there
plenty of places to get good beer there.
Ooogy wawa,
Dr. John

P.S.  Good to see you online again Master Baughmann.

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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 12:49:02 BST
From: MICKS at d.sss.co.uk

Subject English Bitter....
 
 
Eric Pepke writes:
 
>Paul Stafiniak asks about English bitter.  Though an American, I travel to
>England quite a lot and drink prodigious quantities of the stuff, so I
 
As an Englishman living in the Real Ale mecca of Salford/Mancheter area
(Thats NW England for those not sure !), who also drinks gallons of bitter,
I commend your good taste !
 
>style that Americans in general and the AHA in particular does.  A beer
>style over there is much more likely to describe a range of
>characteristics, which may overlap with other beer styles.  "Bitter" is
>a continuum, not a point.)
 
Absolutely right, there are many different types of 'Bitter'. Some good
some ...  Oh Oh I nearly forgot the golden rule which states that there is
no such thing as BAD beer. just that some is better than others !
 
>a tang which is hard to describe.  None are heavily carbonated.  In London,
>beer is served practically flat.  Go up North and it gets fizzier, but
>never so fizzy as any bottled ale.
 
It depends what you mean by 'fizzy'. Both Real Ale and Keg beer is pulled
flat into 20 ounce glasses in the South of England, Whereas up north
many pubs use 24 ounce glasses and pull the beer with a thick head on top.
Keg beer always tastes gassier than Real Ale because it is chemically killed
and filtered before being artificially carbonated. Real Ale uses the natural
carbonation provided by the yeast and is not treated in any way, apart from
the occaisonal use of finings to clear a particularly stubborn barrel.
 
Happy brewing and tasty drinking,
 
Mike Smedley

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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 13:15:23 BST
From: Conn Copas <C.V.Copas at lut.ac.uk>
Subject: English bitters

I'm not sure that traditional definitions of bitters correspond with current
practice. As has already been observed, the term 'IPA' tends to be abused
frequently. On the other hand, session bitters are an important category which
don't seem to fit the definitions. They are more than a light ale; in fact,
skill is required in order to perform various conjuring tricks which make the
beer seem 'bigger' than it really is. The tricks include using darker malts for
flavour, increasing the proportion of unfermentables (so that, for example, a
SG 36 wort finishes fermenting around SG 12), and employing hop aroma and
esterification to advantage. On the lager front, Pilsener Urquell is a good
good example of some of these techniques. Obviously, the alcoholic
warmth/sweetness of high gravity brews will not be present, but that is
something that can be compensated to a certain extent. The upshot is that it is
possible to brew to less than 3% alcohol by volume without sacrificing too much
in the way of flavour. The brew may not win competitions, but is a good
alternative to soft drinks or low alcohol beers, IMHO.

- -- 
Loughborough University of Technology          tel : (0509)263171  ext 4164
Computer-Human Interaction Research Centre     fax : (0509)610815      
Leicestershire  LE11 3TU           e-mail - (Janet):C.V.Copas at uk.ac.lut   
G Britain                 (Internet):C.V.Copas%lut.ac.uk at nsfnet-relay.ac.uk


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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 09:16:50 -0400
From: cestes at argos5.DNET.NASA.GOV (Chris Estes)
Subject: Pearled Barley

In HBD #908, Brett Lindenbach writes:

> Hey brewheads. I was recently in my local bulk-food store and noticed a
> bin of pearled barley. I thought this might come in handy, so I bought
> a pound. Well, I checked all my mash recipes and could not find any
> mention of this stuff. Does anybody have any suggestions? Brett

If this is just regular barley I've used it with neutral results.  I was
struck by the same thought while wandering through the grocery store and
picked up a 2 lb bag of the stuff.  I've used as much as a 1/2 lb in my
brews; I'm not sure if it added or detracted very much.  I generally
grind it in my trusty coffee grinder and add like a specialty malt.

My feeling on this is that I'm not doing it exactly right.  I'm an extract
brewer and not well versed in the procedures of infusion mashing, which
would probably bring out more good stuff from the barley.  I do have a
feeling that the pearled barley contains starches and protiens too complex
to ferment without correct mashing, but I understand that could add to the
head.

My experience is that moderate amounts won't hurt anything, so go ahead
and try it.

				-Chris Estes-

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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 09:34 EDT
From: smc at hotsc.att.com
Subject: Wort Chillers for Extract Brewers?

Kinney Baughman <BAUGHMANKR at CONRAD.APPSTATE.EDU> writes in the HBD:
> 
> But whatever the case, use one or the other.  Wort-chillers are 
> essential to any homebrewery.  

I'm an extract brewer (with occasional specialty grains), on my 16th
batch in about 1 year.  Will a wort chiller help my brew?

I am not interested (for now) in going to all-grain; I don't have that
much time for this hobby!

My current procedure is to boil only about 2 gallons of wort (from
extract/H20), adding hops/grains as necessary, and then dumping this
into the fermenter with 2-3 gallons of cold H20.  The temperature drops
from boiling to pitching temperature instantly, and I can pitch right
away.  There's no "cold break" that I can notice with this method;
I imagine the trub eventually precipitates out into the primary
yeast cake.

I've just started using liquid yeast (Wyeast Ale) and whole hops for
aroma.  Batch 15 was the best so far with these improvements.  Thanks
to the HBD for these suggestions!

Steve Casagrande
smc at hotsc.att.com

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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 15:49:33 +0200
From: rizy at eel.sunet.se
Subject: Strawberry Wine????

Does anybody out there have a good recipe for a Strawberry wine.  They are out
in full force this year in Sweden here and I'd love to try utilising some.
Could you write to me directly as the season will soon be over.

                Thanks in advance,
                                  Rick Zydenbos

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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 8:09:32 MDT
From: seiferth at utah.cs.unm.edu (Justin Seiferth)
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #908 (June 23, 1992)

There is a brewpub a short way up the road from Sante Fe towards Taos.  It's called embudo \
station and they have an excellent green chile beer.

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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 09:33:39 -0500
From: zentner at ecn.purdue.edu (Mike Zentner)
Subject: Re: sterilizing counter-flow chillers


This comes up every so often, but at caveat for those making or
purchasing a counter-flow chiller.  Make sure the inside of the
tubing is free of machining oils.  Chemical cleaning is not
sufficient in many cases...requiring actual physical scouring
of the inside of the tubing before you bend it into a coil.

If you want to test your tubing for oils, swab a q-tip soaked
in rubbing alcohol around the inside.  If it comes out dirty, 
you've got a problem....if not....no problem...

Mike Zentner, who has tried to clean oil out by running 20
batches of boiling water, rubbing alcohol, beer, bleach, soap water and
even lysol through an already constructed chiller...to no avail.

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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 09:49:40 CDT
From: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <qian at iastate.edu>
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #908 (June 23, 1992) 


Please drop me from your mailing list.  

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Date:    Tue, 23 Jun 1992 11:10:47 -0400 (EDT)
From: R_GELINAS at UNHH.UNH.EDU (Russ Gelinas)
Subject: Bar Harbor Amber, Cerpa

   Had the chance to taste an Amber Ale from the Bar Harbor Brewing Co.
in Maine, on tap.  Pretty standard amber, except for having absolutely no 
hops aroma at all.  Bitterness/malt were balanced ok, but either they
forgot to add the finishing hops, or they should change their recipe.
Anyone tried any of their other brews?

    On a better note, I had a Cerpa pilsner from Brazil.  Came in a colorful
can.  It's an eastern European style pilsner, very similar in flavor/aroma/color
to Budvar, or maybe even the Czech version of Pilsner Urquell.  A nice beer.
I was told that the "generic" beer in Brazil is better than generic US
Budmiloors.  Oddly, Xingu lager was not to be found, and the locals had not 
even heard of it.

   And now, a homebrewing question.  Darryl Bock-man ;-) said he sanitizes
his plastic with boiling water, reasoning that the heat will kill the
nasties in any cracks.  I've been thinking of using a zapap lauter tun (bucket
in a bucket) as a hop-back, but have been concerned about exposing my chilled
wort to the plastic buckets.  But, if Darryl's assumption is true, then pouring
the *hot* wort through the lauter-tun/hop-back would eliminate sanitation 
concerns about the plastic.  It would oxidize the wort, but at this stage it 
would mostly just darken it.  Correct me if I'm wrong on that.  I'd also be
concerned about handling a brewpot full of hot wort, but I can imagine a way
to be careful about that.  Am I forgetting anything?  Any holes in my thinking?

Russ

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Date: 23 Jun 92 11:14:55 EDT
From: CHUCKM at CSG3.Prime.COM

Hello everybody...  I'v got a few questions that I need some info
                    about..... maybe someone can help or has an opinion.


    1. Aeration of wort. Why should I do it and how.

    2. Does anyone have any experience or opinion about the malt extracts
       from North Western.

Thanks in advance

chuckm at csg3.prime.com

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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 08:48:56 PDT
From: Greg.Winters at EBay.Sun.COM (Greg Winters)
Subject: Re: Pitch in Brewkettle



In HBD #908 Chris Karras writes -

(Process of pitching yeast in brew kettle...)

and 

>During respiration, cell production uses lots of trub components
>and your lag time will be reduced.  Afterwords, the trub is harmful
>by contributing to overproduction of fusel alcohols and esters (which
>are combinations of fusel alcohols and fatty acids).

>For this reason, I have been pitching my yeast into the brewkettle and then
>racking off into the primary.  I have been waiting about two hours after
>pitching to rack, but perhaps should wait longer. . . .  From what I can
>tell from the speed that fermentation progresses, there is no interruption
>in the fermentation process.  I am also under the impression that the active
>yeast cells are in suspension (and therefore get moved with the racked wort)
>and only the inactive cells drop to the bottom with the trub.  Of course I
>am only doing ales with top fermenting yeast this summer--bottom working
>lager yeast may be a different story.

I have read with interest over the last few months the different methods
and suppossed pros/cons of the trub/no trub discussions. While admiting
I have not done any controlled experiments (no patience) I tend to pick
the parts that sound logical and incorporate them into my technique,
while also trying to keep things as simple as possible.

First off, I am currently strictly an extract brewer. Rather than the above
method I tend to dump the hot wort directly into a plastic fermenter
and let it sit about 1-2 hours to let the trub settle. I then rack off 
to a glass carboy which allows me to areate the cooled wort very well
and then I just pitch in a quart or so of wyeast starter. I get great
results with only 2-3 hours lag time and then have no reason to mess with
the beer once fermentation has begun. Have had excellent results so far,
even if I do say so myself!

Questions: 

Is there any problem with racking (read oxidation) after fermentation has 
begun in the kettle?

Would the use of a yeast starter reduce or eliminate the need for pitching
with the trub intact?

Thanks for all the great info provided on the HBD

Brew On!

Greg

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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 10:54 CDT
From: korz at iepubj.att.com
Subject: Priming with grocery store juice

Rich asks about priming with juice.

I suspect that you will have great difficulty in priming with
store-bought juice.  Most contain preservatives to keep them
from becoming what we're trying to make them: alcoholic.  Read
the label.

Regarding quantity (in case you find some that does not have preservatives),
remember that not all sugars are alike.  The fermentability of anything
is dependent on what kinds of sugars you have and what kinds of yeast you
have.  Highly-attenuative yeasts will eat almost any type of sugar, whereas
the less-attenuative yeasts will only eat simpler sugars.  I'm afraid that
the only way you will know for sure is to perform an experiment.  Bottle
five bottles worth with varying amounts of priming solution (juice, in your
case) and let sit a week.  See what amount of priming solution is right.

Al.

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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 10:13:43 -0600
From: 105277 at essdp1.lanl.gov (GEOFF REEVES)
Subject: SF Brews (That's Santa Fe - the original SF :-)



> From: team login(bmn) <team at sl2arc.ho.att.com>
> Date: Fri, 19 Jun 92 10:33:52 -0400
> 
> Next week I will be traveling to Santa Fe New Mexico. 
> Does anyone have any recommendations for brewpubs 
> in the area? Thanks in advance!
> 
> John Costelloe
> att!homxc!jrcost
> 

I wouldn't be surprised to find that Mike or Mary Hall answer
this too but in case they don't...

There are no brew pubs in Santa Fe. Embudo Station (on the
way up to Taos) is the closest. It's probably about a 45 min 
drive but very pretty and worth going. Santa Fe Pale Ale
is brewed at the Galisto Brewing Company just south-east of
Santa Fe. It's not a brew pub but they will give you a tour
(I think just on the weekends unless you arrange otherwise).
If you just want to try the beers you can get any that are
available at The Royal Buck on Galisto Street in Santa Fe. They
have a pretty good selection of beer and they carry "Santa Fe"
beers from the Galisto Brewery which are not available in bottles
anywhere but at the brewery. Of course there are good beer
drinking establishments in Albuquerque too.

Geoff Reeves
Atomic City Ales
Los Alamos New Mexico
(Atomic City Ales are not available in stores, brewpubs or bars :-)

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Date: 23 Jun 92 12:58:12 EDT
From: James Spence <70740.1107 at compuserve.com>
Subject: AHA Nat. Comp. Winners

AMERICAN HOMEBREWERS ASSOCIATION
1992 NATIONAL COMPETITION WINNERS



Homebrewer of the Year
Sponsored by Munton & Fison, England
Stu Tallman, Rochester, MA
StuBrew
Munich Dunkel
Roundtrip travel and accommodations have been awarded to the 
Homebrewer of the Year to visit the Great American Beer Festival XI 
in Denver, Colorado, Oct. 2 and 3, 1992.

Ninkasi Award (High-Point Homebrewer)
Sponsored by JV Norwest, Inc. Wilsonville, OR
Steven J. and Christina Daniel
League City, TX  14 points total

Meadmaker of the Year
Sponsored by the Home Wine and Beer Trade Association
Byron Burch, Santa Rosa, CA
Alberta Frost
Sparkling Mead

Cidermaker of the Year
Sponsored by Mayer's Cider Mill, Webster, NY
Charles Castellow, Edmonds, WA
Hard Core XXX Cider
Sparkling Cider

Sakemaker of the Year
Sponsored by Hakusan Sake, Napa, CA
Tina Long, Sacramento, CA
Sake/Japanese Rice Beer

Club High-Point Trophy
Sponsored by DeFalco's Wine & House Beer, Dallas, TX
First Place
Sonoma Beerocrats, Sonoma, CA
Second Place
The Wort Processors, Boston, MA
Third Place
Hop, Barley, and the Alers, Boulder, CO


Barley Wine ~ 82 entries
Sponsored by EDME Ltd., England
First Place
Greg Leas
St. Charles, MO
Foghorn Leghorn Barleywine

Second Place
Rob Brunner
Windsor, Co
Robert the Bruce

Third Place
Harry Clayton
Seymour, CT
Old Boots & Panties


Belgian-Style Specialty ~ 81 entries
Sponsored by Manneken-Brussel Imports, Inc., Austin, TX
First Place
White
Mark Richmond
Springfield, OH
Hoe Garden - Mow Lawn

Second Place
Dubbel
Rick Larson, Paddy Giffen
Sebastopol, CA

Third Place
Belgian Strong Ale
David Suda
Boulder, CO
#35


Brown Ales ~ 120 entries
Sponsored by Premier Malt Products, Grosse Pointe, MI
First Place
American Brown
Randy Gremp
Calistoga, CA

Second Place
American Brown
Charlie Milan
Baton Rouge, LA
Stars & Stripes Brown

Third Place
English Brown Ales
Ron Page
Middletown, CT
The Brown Cow


English Style Pale Ale ~ 168 entries
Sponsored by Wynkoop Brewing Company, Denver, CO
First Place
Classic English Pale Ale
Kevin Johnson
Pacifica, CA
Salutation #4

Second Place
India Pale Ale
Robert Drousth
Madison, WI
IP-ALE-X

Third Place
India Pale Ale
Rick W. Guthrie
Livermore, CA
Wolf Dog IPA


American Style Pale Ale ~ 144 entries
Sponsored by Northwestern Extract Co., Brookfield, WI
First Place
American Pale Ale
Bill Draths
Chicago, IL
Dan Ale

Second Place
American Pale Ale
Michael Chronister
Norristown, PA
Third Place Floor Mild Ale

Third Place
Cream Ale
Steven J. Daniel, Christina Daniel
League City, TX
League City Cream Ale


English Bitter and Scottish Ale ~ 97 entries
Sponsored by Jasper's Home Brew Supply, Litchfield, NH
First Place
English Ordinary
John Arends
Calistoga, CA

Second Place
English Special
Ross Hastings
Edmonton, AB  Canada
Amber Ale IV

Third Place
English Special
Alex Puchner
Hermosa Beach, CA
Bitter Again


Porter ~ 150 entries
Sponsored by The Cellar, Seattle, WA
First Place
Brown Porter
Dennis Kinvig
Toronto, ON  Canada
Coal Porter

Second Place
Robust Porter
Jack Spence
Alexandria, VA
Peters Porter

Third Place
Robust Porter
John Arends
Calistoga, CA


English and Scottish Strong Ale ~ 61 entries
Sponsored by Wine And Hop Shop, Denver, CO
First Place
Strong Scotch Ale
Jim Campbell
San Jose, CA
A peek under the kilt ale

Second Place
English Old Ale/Strong Ale
Dale James
Fresno, CA
What the heck's that flavor? Strong Ale

Third Place
English Old Ale/Strong Ale
Donald S. Gosselin
Winthrop, MA
Old Buck


Stout ~ 205 entries
Sponsored by BME Extract Co., Staten Island, NY
First Place
Imperial Stout
Dick Van Dyke
Park Forest, IL
Rose's Russian Imperial Stout With Mayo

Second Place
Classic Dry Stout
Randy Gremp
Calistoga, CA

Third Place
Classic Dry Stout
Paul Hale
East Northport, NY
Oast House Oatmeal Stout


Bock ~ 140 entries
Sponsored by Yakima Valley Hop Growers, Yakima, WA
Bock
First Place
Doppelbock
Steve Dempsey
Fort Collins, CO
Scintillator

Second Place
Doppelbock
Vern & Darlene Wolff
Esparto, CA
Doppeltitilator Bock

Third Place
Doppelbock
Brian & Linda North
Franklin, WI
Bock & Roll I


Bavarian Dark ~ 50 entries
Sponsored by Crosby and Baker, Westport, MA
First Place
Munich Dunkel
Stu Tallman
Rochester, MA
StuBrew

Second Place
Munich Dunkel
Steven J. Daniel, Christina Daniel
League City, TX
Accidental Dunkel

Third Place
Munich Dunkel
Ross Herrold
La Porte, IN
Herroldbrau House Dark


American Dark ~ 15 entries
Sponsored by Briess Malting Company, Chilton, WI
First Place
American Dark
Craig Beifus
Milford, NJ
Dark Amber

Second Place
Steven J. Daniel, Christina Daniel
League City, TX
Sun Tanned & Bland

Third Place
Christopher Hansen
San Luis Obispo, CA
Tweeners Dark


Dortmund/Export ~ 38 entries
Sponsored by DeFalco's Wine & House Beer, Dallas, TX
First Place
Norman Dickenson
Santa Rosa, CA
Grain-n-Beerit

Second Place
Gregory Walz
Pittsburgh, PA
Walz' Export

Third Place
Bill Murphy
Brookline, MA
Wortmunder Export


Munich Helles ~ 43 entries
Sponsored by Wines Inc., Akron, OH
First Place
Brian & Linda North
Franklin, WI
Meltdown Lager

Second Place
Steven J. Daniel, Christina Daniel
League City, TX
W.I.T.H.I.M. II

Third Place
Chris Harding
Ketchum, ID
Back to Basics Lager


Classic Pilsner ~ 97 entries
Sponsored by California Concentrates, Acampo, CA
First Place
German
Patrick Drigans
Buffalo, MN
Distinctly Deutsch Pilsner

Second Place
German
James Cannon
Wiliamsburg, VA
Un-named

Third Place
Bohemian
Richard Rosen
Andover, CT
The Bohemian Beat


American Light Lager ~ 83 entries
Sponsored by Coors Brewing Company, Golden, CO
First Place
American Premium
Steven J. Daniel, Christina Daniel
League City, TX
Butt-Scratcher

Second Place
American Standard
Steven J. Daniel, Christina Daniel
League City, TX
Butt-Weiper

Third Place
American Wheat
Jim Lopes
Fresno, CA
Brick of Peat 'n Wheat


Vienna/Oktoberfest/Marzen ~ 87 entries
Sponsored by F.H. Steinbart Company, Portland, OR
First Place
Vienna
Keith Weerts
Windsor, CA
Vienna Lager

Second Place
Vienna
Ray Taylor, Maureen Taylor Neil Gudmestad Marty Draper
Fargo, ND
Amber Waves

Third Place
Marzen/Oktoberfest
Thomas J. O'Connor III
Rockport, ME
Oktoberfest 1991


German-style Ale ~ 62 entries
Sponsored by Great Fermentations of Santa Rosa, CA
First Place
Dusseldorf-style Altbier
Tom Young
Loyaltor, CA
Fat Horse

Second Place
Kolsch
David J. Rose
Yountville, CA

Third Place
Kolsch
Donald Weaver
New Freedom, PA
Kolsch


Fruit Beer ~ 110 entries
Sponsored by The Purple Foot, Milwaukee, WI
First Place
Fruit Beer
Dan Robison
Salt Lake City, UT
Leftover Strawberry Ale

Second Place
Fruit Beer
Daniel Jodoin
Livonia, MI

Third Place
Fruit Beer
Thom Tomlinson, Diane Tomlinson
Boulder, CO
Roseanne's Blackberry Ale


Herb Beer ~ 83 entries
Sponsored by Marin Brewing Company, Larkspur, CA
First Place
Herb Beer
Eric McClary
Carson City, NV
Chile Garden Pils

Second Place
Herb Beer
Wayne Greenway
Oakland, CA
Wet Dream ALe

Third Place
Herb Beer
Ron Page
Middletown, CT
Thai House


Specialty Beer ~ 109 entries
Sponsored by Beer and Wine Hobby, Woburn, MA
First Place
Specialty Beer
Bob Barson
Chicago, IL
1991 Christmas Ale

Second Place
Classic Style Specialty Beer
Rob Lillard
Lyons, CO
Old Maple Dog

Third Place
Classic Style Specialty Beer
Neil Gudmestad, Ray Taylor
Fargo, ND
Rye Porter


Smoked Beer ~ 36 entries
Sponsored by Jim's Homebrew Supply, Spokane, WA
First Place
Bamberg-style Rauchbier
James Cannon
Wiliamsburg, VA
Beech Beer

Second Place
Bamberg-style Rauchbier
David Woodruff
Sebastopol, CA
Hermit's Hearth

Third Place
Other
Tom Altenbach
Tracy, CA
Alt 'n' Bock Rauchbock


California Common Beer ~ 64 entries
Sponsored by Anchor Brewing Co., San Francisco, CA
First Place
Phil Rahn
Cordova, TN
Memphis Steamer

Second Place
Rob Reed
Kokomo, IN
Northside Lager

Third Place
Larry Fergison
Brooklyn, NY
One Eye Steam Beer


Wheat Beer (Ale) ~ 101 entries
Sponsored by the American Homebrewers Assoc., Boulder, CO
First Place
German-style Weizen/Weissbier
Eric Warner
Lafayette, CO
Supai's Weissbier

Second Place
German-style Dunkelweizen (dark)
Rick Larson
Sebastopol, CA

Third Place
German-style Weizen/Weissbier
Harry Clayton
Seymour, CT
Weizenbier


Traditional Mead ~ 35 entries
Sponsored by Havill's Mazer Mead Co., New Zealand
First Place
Sparkling Mead
Byron Burch
Santa Rosa, CA
Alberta Frost

Second Place
Still Mead
Mark Quade
Port Arkansas, TX
But Will You Love Me Tomorrow

Third Place
Still Mead
Micah Millspaw
Oakdale, CA
Anjuli's Wildflower Mead


Melomel Cyser Pyment Metheglin ~ 90 entries
Sponsored by American Mead Association, Ostrander, OH
First Place
Sparkling Mead
Vern & Darlene Wolff
Esparto, CA
Forbidden But Plum Good

Second Place
Sparkling Mead
Dave Resch
Colorado Springs, CO
Mix and Match Mead

Third Place
Still Mead
Walter Dobrowney
Saskatoon, SK  Canada
Mead #14


Cider ~ 36 entries
Sponsored by Mayers Cider Mill Inc., Webster, NY
First Place
Sparkling Cider
Charles Castellow
Edmonds, WA
Hard Core XXX Cider

Second Place
Specialty Cider
Steve Mclaughlin
Orwell, NY
Linda's Lumbar Cherry Cider

Third Place
Specialty Cider
Robert Gorman
Waltham, MA
Summer Dew


Sake ~ 12 entries
Sponsored by Hakusan Sake, Napa, CA
First Place
Tina Long
Sacramento, CA
Sake - Japanese Rice Beer

Second Place
Jim Long
Sacramento, CA
Sake - Japanese Rice Beer

Third Place
Fred Eckhardt
Portland, OR
Sake - Japanese Rice Beer



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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 10:20:05 PDT
From: dplatt at ntg.com (Dave Platt)
Subject: re: bugs are eating my hop plants

> Some pests are eating the leaves off of my hop plants!  I am looking
> for some friendly pesticides or remedy, as one of the plants is almost
> gone.  I'll check the WAIS HBD archive for stuff, but I am looking for
> something like a cigar nicotine extraction method to put on the plants,
> or something equally innocuous.  I have done this before for other
> plants, but want to collect net wisdom before I do anything.

Home-made "tobacco tea" has a number of real disadvantages, and I don't
recommend using it for the following reason:

 -  Nicotine is one of the most toxic "botanical" insecticides, weight-
   for-weight.   It's substantially more poisonous than the commonly-
   used synthetic organophosphate insecticides such as malathion.
   Commercial nicotine sulphate insecticide is quite poisonous (I
   believe that it carries a Danger labelling requirement) and has
   been the source of a substantial number of accidental poisonings
   (as well as being a staple in British murder mysteries).
   
   Although "tobacco tea" is a relatively dilute form of nicotine, it's
   not something to be treated casually.  If you spray it on your
   hop vines, take precautions:  wear gloves and a facemask, don't
   spray on a windy day, don't overspray, don't get it on your skin,
   and wash yourself off afterwards.

 -  A large percentage of commercial tobacco is infected with tobacco
   mosaic virus (TMV).  This virus can infect most plants in the nightshade
   family, including tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and certain ornamentals.
   It can stunt or kill these plants, and is incurable.  Don't use
   tobacco tea anywhere around these sorts of plants, and don't use the
   same sprayer to spray fertilizer, etc. onto these plants at a later
   time (TMV can survive, dormant, for quite some time).

 -  Well-fermented tobacco tea can stink to high heaven.

Two other botanicals you might want to consider, as alternatives, are
pyrethrum and rotenone.  Pyrethrum is a fast-acting contact insecticide
with a fast "knock-down", and is of low overall toxicity to birds and
mammals.  Rotenone is a stronger contact/stomach insecticide, but is
more toxic (especially to fish) and should be treated with respect.
These botanicals are sometimes used in combination.  They biodegrade within
a few days, and so can be used up to within a day or two of harvest
(check the labels for details).

Another technique which sometimes works, is to lay down a barrier of
some sticky substance (e.g. Tanglefoot) on the plant's stem and on
the supports for the trellis.  This isn't always practical - one cannot
always blockade all of the routes by which an insect could climb up
into the plant... but if it's practical in your situation, it can
be an effective way to keep crawling/chewing insects from chomping
your plant.  [Won't do diddly if you have a problem with flying insects
such as Japanese beetles].

All of this is relevant _if_ your plants are being eaten by insects.
If they're being chewed up by snails, you'll need to use other methods
(e.g. laying down a metaldehyde-laced bait).

Before spraying anything, I'd recommend catching the guilty parties in the
act, so that you'll know what it is you're fighting.  This will give you
the best chance of choosing the right remedy, rather than simply nuking
your future homebrew supplies with chemicals (synthetic or botanical)
chosen at random.

Dave Platt                                                VOICE: (415) 813-8917
              Domain: dplatt at ntg.com      UUCP: ...netcomsv!ntg!dplatt
 USNAIL: New Technologies Group Inc. 2468 Embarcardero Way, Palo Alto CA 94303


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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1992 11:00:28 PDT
From: paul at Rational.COM (Paul Jasper)
Subject: Re: G. Fix/Cambridge/CAMRA Good Beer Guide

On 23 Jun,  1:46, Phillip Seitz wrote:
> Subject: G. Fix/Cambridge/CAMRA Good Beer Guide
> 
> This might be a good time to mention the _Good Beer Guide_ which is 
> published annually by CAMRA.
> ...
> The problem is how to get a copy.
>
>-- End of excerpt from Phillip Seitz

Why, from CAMRA, of course!  They can take Visa and Mastercard orders
if you phone during UK office hours (approximately 4am-noon Eastern US
time) and should be reasonably priced - I don't have that information
at hand, but it should be close to the $17.95 Phillip mentions, inclusive
of shipping.  The 1993 Good Beer Guide will be published in October or 
November of this year.

Their phone number from the US is:

	011+44-727-867201

They also have a fax number; perhaps someone would like to check out
the procedure for ordering from them by fax?

While you are talking to them, enquire about overseas membership - 
it is only 14 pounds (approx $25) per year.  This includes timely 
delivery of What's Brewing, the Campaign's very informative 
monthly newspaper.  Highlights of the June issue include fears that
Guinness is poised to axe its bottle-conditioned Guinness Original
Stout, criticism of Greene King's acquisition policies, "The Beer
Hunter Down Under" - Michael Jackson reporting on his trip to
Australia, a special section devoted to the resurgence of Porter, 
and even some hints on where to find draught (sic) Anchor Steam in 
London!

I guess I should declare an interest: I'm a longstanding member myself.
I hope no one objects to blatant promotion of this non-profit-making,
consumer organization.

- -- 
- -- Paul Jasper
- -- RATIONAL
- -- Object-Oriented Products
- --

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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 11:10:43 PDT
From: polstra!larryba at uunet.UU.NET (Larry Barello)
Subject: Re: Aeration with aquarium pumps

Steve Dempsey writes:
>...
>I missed Alberta's talk at the conference (had to make choices) but
>from recent posts, it sounds like folks are waiting until the primary
>is full or nearly full before aerating.  This will surely cause problems
>with foam blowing out.  I start mine as soon as there is enough wort
>in the carboy to cover the air stone and leave it in until the carboy
>is about half full of wort and half full of foam.  Then the air is
>turned off and the foam subsides while the remainder of the wort is
>siphoned in.
>

At the risk of sounding dumb, what is the advantage of such a complicated
procedure as using aquarium pumps, micron filters and aeration stones?  It 
seems like a lot of effort for such small gain over some other Very Simple
Gadgets.

For example, I have been using a 6" length of copper tube (surplus from my
wort chiller) with four 1/16" holes drilled around 1" from one end.  The 
short end is placed in the outlet hose of my chiller.  Air is sucked into the
holes, mixed with the chilled wort and a nice frothy bubbly wort is dumped into
my carboy.  A five gallon batch o beer fills the head space of my 6.5 gal 
carboy with foam.

Simple, effective, easy to sterilize, cheap.

 - Larry Barello

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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 13:14:52 MST
From: Steve Dempsey <steved at longs.lance.colostate.edu>
Subject: Re: Aeration with aquarium pumps 


Larry Barello writes:

> At the risk of sounding dumb, what is the advantage of such a complicated
> procedure as using aquarium pumps, micron filters and aeration stones?  It 
> seems like a lot of effort for such small gain over some other Very Simple
> Gadgets.

Depending on how clean your air is, filtering it may certainly be overkill.
It's just one more way to eliminate potential problems.

The simple `holes in the siphon' method of getting more of your wort
exposed to oxygen may not be enough.  A cool, high-gravity wort is not
very receptive to O2 absorbtion to begin with.  Most homebrewers underpitch
significantly and really need a large amount of dissolved O2 for the
best fermentation possible.  For example, I know of a microbrewery that
had problems traced to insufficient aeration (they used filtered air).
and had to move to pure O2 injection for proper yeast respiration.
The brewer calls it Vitamin O.

My subjective experience indicates that lag times can be reduced by
factors of 2-4 when an air stone is used to introduce more oxygen
at pitching time.

We're not talking about much work or expense here, either.  Figure
about $6 cheap aquarium pump, $1 air stone, $3 filter, $0.50 tubing.
Sanitize the tubing and air stone in bleach or ethanol.  Sounds to
me like a Moderately Simple Gadget.


             Steve Dempsey,  Engineering Network Services
  Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO  80523    +1 303 491 0630
INET: steved at longs.LANCE.ColoState.Edu, dempsey at handel.CS.ColoState.Edu
UUCP: boulder!ccncsu!longs.LANCE.ColoState.Edu!steved, ...!ncar!handel!dempsey

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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 10:50:55 CST
From: brewer at meltdown.chi.il.us (Mike Wilson)
Subject: Sam Adams Wheat

I've had it on tap and in bottles and, although I don't mind it, I'm not
particularly crazy about it.  It also doesn't strike me as much of a wheat
beer.  The first time I had it I had it with the traditional lemon slice and
the flavor immediately struck me as being akin to Bazooka Joe bubble gum. 
Very strange, indeed.

Mike Wilson
brewer at meltdown.chi.il.us
U29204 at uicvm.cc.uic.edu

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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 18:12:05 -0400
From: bradley at adx.adelphi.edu (Rob Bradley)
Subject: bitter

Let me add my $.015 to the recent discussion of English bitter.
Drinking real ale in England during the 2 years I lived there
opened my eyes to beer outside of the Molson/Labatt/O'Keefe
axis (beers which my Dad assured me were the 'best in the world').
The wish to duplicate (OK, approximate) fresh English bitter is
what inspired me to take up homebrewing more than 7 years ago.

Most of the comments which have appeared recently have been on
the mark (continuum not point, classification of style as a
function of gravity, etc.).  Especially the matter of Fuggles or
Kent Goldings as finishing hops (although Northern Brewer makes a
good bittering hop, especially in combination with Fuggles).

I can't stress enough the importance of serving bitter on draft
if you really want to experience the stuff they serve in English
pubs.  At very least, it should be fresh and lightly carbonated.
And what's the point of bottling if that's what you want?

I used to 'keg' my bitter in the 5 gal. (20 litre, actually)
collapsible polythene cubes which can be bought in camping supply
(and sometimes homebrew supply) stores.  I'd keg the stuff on
about day 7, and serve it a couple of days later.  The cube
would puff out a bit during these few days.  It should be checked
opnce or twice a day -- draw off a pint if it's puffing up too
much.  The beer comes out quite flat but, if you're lucky, the 
first gallon or so will be lightly carbonated.  It's best served
at a party and finished off that evening (usually no problem).
At the very least it has to be drunk within 48 hours of the time
when the air starts bubbling into the cube.  This 48-hour deadline
is typical of English bitter, in which air replaces the beer which
is pumped out of the keg.

These collapsible kegs come in a 2 1/2 gallon size, alllowing you
to keg half a batch and bottle the rest.

Another trick is to use a little sugar (horrors!).  A pound of
brown sugar in an otherwise all-malt batch doesn't hurt the beer
and gives the sort of flavour you might find in a darker bitter.
And don't forget to dry hop, or at least finish the beer aggressively.


As far as commercially available bitter, Wellington County Brewery
in Ontario makes excellent bitter.  Unfortunately, you'll have to 
travel to Ontario to get it.  In the provincial beer stores, there
are 4(?) varieties available in 1-litre plastic bottles.  However,
there are a handful of pubs in the Toronto area that serve the stuff
on draft.  There are two real ales: Arkell Best Bitter - lighter
gravity, hoppier and made with Fuggles - and County Ale - higher
gravity, maltier and made with Goldings.  Perhaps a Toronto hbd'er
can supply the names of pubs which carry it...it's been 3 years since
I've lived in Toronto.  In those days I usually drank it at the
University of Toronto graduate student's pub.

Cheers,
Rob
bradley at adx.adelphi.edu

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Date: Tue, 23 Jun 92 17:31:18 MDT
From: mlh at cygnus.ta52.lanl.gov (Michael L. Hall)
Subject: On Tap (World Beer Review)


Phillip Seitz writes:

>This might be a good time to mention the _Good Beer Guide_ which is published
>annually by CAMRA. 
[ stuff omitted] 
>So how come we don't have a guide like this for the U.S.?

There is one that is pretty good, called "On Tap" and put out by the World
Beer Review people (Steve Johnson, I believe). It details brewpubs and micros
in the U.S. with a page showing locations, directions, beers available, and
info about the type of place (fern bar, yuppie hangout, sleazepit or whatever).
It was put out in 1991 (I think) and there is already a supplement out. It
costs about $15 and the supplement costs about $10. WBR has ads in Zymurgy, and
is located in Clemson, SC. If anybody is really interested, and can't find them
in Zymurgy, I will post the address (I don't have it with me now).

And, no, I have no connection to WBR.

Mike Hall
hall at lanl.gov

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End of HOMEBREW Digest #909, 06/24/92