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

Contents:
  novice questons     (Gordon Hester)

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Date: Mon,  1 May 89 13:50:30 -0400 (EDT)
From: Gordon Hester <gh0t+ at andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: novice questons    

well, I have been reading this bboard for several months now, being an
inveterate beer drinker and someone who usually enjoys making something
rather than buying it ready-made whenever practical. Besides, the beer I
can buy is invariably either insipid or expensive, and sometimes both.

so I prevailed upon my wife to buy me a beer-making kit for my birthday, and
I brewed my first batch about a month ago. I followed a recipe from
a little book that came with the kit. Basically, it called for using one can
of hopped malt extract and about 3 cups of invert sugar to make a three
gallon batch. The result is ok, but not great. Specifically, it is a little too
sweet, and it has a flavor that I think could be described as yeasty (based
more on my bread-making experience than anything else.)
Before I try my next batch, which I plan to make with crystal malt rather
than sugar and with a can of hopped amber malt extract, I thought I would see
if I could solicit a little advice.

1) the recipe called for adding a full cup of sugar to prime the beer before
bottling. from what I have read since, I think this might have been a bit much
for a 3 gallon batch. (I've acquired Papazian's (sp?) book since I brewed that
batch.) Might that account for the slightly sweet taste?

2) I bottled in 16 oz. returnables. I find it a bit tricky to pour out of these
without stirring up the yeast sediment on the bottom of the bottle. I am most
successful when I leave about 1.5 inches of beer in the bottle, which seems a
bit excessive to me. Is it? Is there a trick to this that I don't know about,
or are the bottles that I am using suboptimal? (BTW, another reason that
I think the beer tastes yeasty is that this taste is stronger when I pour
more beer from the bottle and get a little of the sediment in the pitcher.)

3) the guy in the supply store told me that he understands that someone has
compiled an index to Papazian's book that is available through one of the nets
(although he really knew very little about the nets.) Is there any truth to
this? If so, how can I get it?

I know these are novice questions that have probably been asked before, so
you may want to email rather than post answers. I leave that judgment to you
(and the moderator of this bboard.) Thanks in advance for any help. (BTW,
any other advice that doesn't pertain directly to these questions will also
be gratefully accepted.)

Gordon Hester

one address that works for some people if "reply" doesn't:

gh0t+ at andrew.cmu.edu

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