HOMEBREW Digest #1452 Fri 17 June 1994

Digest #1451 Digest #1453


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


Contents:
  Beer judge poisoning (Bob Jones)
  water (Ulick Stafford)
  Potential Zoological zymurgy flamebait :) (Bill Sutton)
  California Common Beers? (Joseph P. Gorski)
  Plastic Carboys ("Harrington, Stephen J")
  Light pollution (Mark Worwetz)
  Polyclar Question ( LARRY KELLY)
  Chimay in LA (Chuck Black)
  Autosparge details (Bob Jones)
  Heat vs. Temperature ("pratte")
  bylaws, the last word! (/R=HERLVX/R=AM/U=KLIGERMAN/FFN=KLIGERMAN/)
  Brewing Schools? (ash)
  Aerobic starters (korz)
  Skunk in a can? (Bob W Surratt)
  Lambik Digest address?? ("Thomas J. Ramsey")
  shipping problems (Rich Ryan)
  RE:Hot water,live animals,kelvin. ("Upward, not Northward!")
  Oh my God, an infection?? (Jack Skeels)
  Questions regarding soldering of copper? (Kevin Schutz)
  Brass Ball Valves/Cleaning SS/Gravity Feed vs Pumps/Grain Mills (Teddy Winstead)
   (WIRESULTS)
  Thermometer Calibration (Pbr322)
  3 Micron Filter Elements (McKee Smith)
  Munich Beer Garden and Errant Thermometers (Aidan "Krausen Kropping Kiwi" Heerdegen)
  Maine Brewpubs (NR706)
  Yeast Starters (Jeff Frane)
  Munich Beer Garden and Errant Thermometers (Aidan "Krausen Kropping Kiwi" Heerdegen)
  shame ("Steven C. Boxer")
  Pilsner Urquell recipe (Marc de Jonge)
  Homebrew Digest (BOBHVM)
  How to customize home for brewing (Flyboy)
  Growing Hops (Arthur McGregor 614-0205)
  Beer Tasting (Michael L Montgomery +1 708 979 4132)
  Guiness draft cans (Chuck E. Mryglot)
  Rubermaid coolers for mashtuns (Wayde Nie)
  Misc (GONTAREK)
  Gravity at Bottling. (braddw)

Send articles for __publication_only__ to homebrew at hpfcmi.fc.hp.com (Articles are published in the order they are received.) Send UNSUBSCRIBE and all other requests, ie, address change, etc., to homebrew-request@ hpfcmi.fc.hp.com, BUT PLEASE NOTE that if you subscribed via the BITNET listserver (BEER-L at UA1VM.UA.EDU), then you MUST unsubscribe the same way! If your account is being deleted, please be courteous and unsubscribe first. FAQs, archives and other files are available via anonymous ftp from sierra.stanford.edu. (Those without ftp access may retrieve files via mail from listserv at sierra.stanford.edu. Send HELP as the body of a message to that address to receive listserver instructions.) Please don't send me requests for back issues - you will be silently ignored. For "Cat's Meow" information, send mail to lutzen at novell.physics.umr.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 07:58:42 +0900 From: bjones at novax.llnl.gov (Bob Jones) Subject: Beer judge poisoning I think most of know that a beer can get pretty nasty with infections and not be hazardous to you health. Now when I judge a beer I expect the beer to have normal ingredients and I would not worry about tasting it. Now say our experimenting brewer decides to add and interesting ingredient to the beer to insure a winner. Maybe something cool like oysters or hemlock! Hey I don't know about other judges, but I don't want to be subjected to such experiments! At one of our club competitions, one of our judges judged an oyster stout (it was not labeled as such) and was pretty upset that he was unknowingly subjected to the foul stuff. I agree! The entrant was also upset that his beer (that was hammered) was not judged as an oyster stout. The catagory was Dry Stout. Some ingredients are on the fringe, I don't want to be subjected to them! As far as I know there is nothing in the normal ingredients of beer that prevents or cancels out all bad or dangerous ingredients. Have fun experimenting with YOUR beer! Bob Jones bjones at novax.llnl.gov Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 10:37:51 -0500 (EST) From: ulick at ulix.rad.nd.edu (Ulick Stafford) Subject: water Jeremy Bergsman comments on a water analysis, but made one or two comments I must question. The extremely soft water was obviously a surface water, possibly from a fast running stream. This can be told by its softness, high silica level - sand being washed, and its high organic level. a> T ALK CAC03 16.0 MG/L > PHOS-TOTAL .03 MG/L > C TOT ORGAN 1.2 MG/L jb>This sounds bad to me. Usually organics in water supplies are the jb>result of industrial pollution. Yes, it is bad but it is not the result of industrial pollution. Jeremy's statement is ridiculous. Usually organics in the water supply are the result of biological activity, i.e. algae photosynthesiziing and excreting or decaying. The organic matter makes treatment tricky and usually requires more chlorine than an organic free ground water. It can also react with chlorine to form not very nice compounds. For such water I recommend activated charcoal filtration to remove the organics and chlorine. (While on the subject - so called environmentalists and their disinformation really get my goat - over 99% of so-called carcinogens in surface waters are naturally occurring). > T HARD CACO3 27.0 MG/L > SILICA TOTAL 17.95 MG/L jb>Sandy water? > FE 334.0 UG/L jb>I think this borders on being too high. No. It is fine. Anything under 1 ppm is OK and even a little over will not adversely affect the taste. __________________________________________________________________________ 'Heineken!?! ... F#$% that s at &* ... | Ulick Stafford, Dept of Chem. Eng. Pabst Blue Ribbon!' | Notre Dame IN 46556 | ulick at darwin.cc.nd.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 94 11:41:14 EDT From: Bill Sutton <wrs at hpuerca.atl.hp.com> Subject: Potential Zoological zymurgy flamebait :) Re: Zoological zymurgy (kit.anderson) Ahh, I can see it now ... Jack will begin posting announcements for his new EasyMouser (tm), while flaming anyone with the gall to recommend the Glatt MouseMill (especially if they try to motorize the rodentation). Jim will dispute the amount of tannins extracted in the void phase. Dr. Fix will publish a paper on the effect of complex proteins from the various orders, genii, and species - with special emphasis on head retention and chill haze. A major rift will develop between those who favor "boullion" brewing due to its ease and convenience and those who would never do anything but "all-meat" batches (complete with decomposition rests). Someone will suggest that we split the digest into two parts, one for mammalian brewers and one for arachnae brewers. Threads will develop on % utilization of hops by using jumping spiders, crossbred yeast strains combining qualities of ale yeast and venus flytraps, whether calcium carbonate from bones adds too much mineral salt content to soft water ... Finally, the distribution site will be mailbombed by soc.religion.hare-krishna for blatent consumption of animal flesh. Now, I think you should consider the effects of your postings much more carefully in the future! :*) :*) :*) :*) Bill Sutton wrs at hpuerca.atl.hp.com Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 94 12:12:54 EDT From: Joseph P. Gorski <gorski at yankee.com> Subject: California Common Beers? Full-Name: Joseph P. Gorski Fellow brewers, I have seen in the yeast FAQ a yeast for use in California Common Beers. I don't know anything about this type of beer and would like to ask the collective brewers on HBD for information about them. I am looking for descriptions and all-grain recipes. Are they ok for summer brewing in NE, my basement stays at about 68F? Thanks in advance, ********************************************************** * Smokin Joe Gorski gorski at yankee.com ~{:<} * * Brewer, BarBQer and Chili Head * ********************************************************** Return to table of contents
Date: 15 Jun 1994 08:58:37 -0800 From: "Harrington, Stephen J" <sharrington at msmail4.hac.com> Subject: Plastic Carboys I am new to internet surfing but not to homebrewing (about 25 batches). I have a question regarding plastic carboys. I originally started out using a glass carboy, but when a mishap caused me to smash a tile in our kitchen, I was banished to the garage and decided to switch to the plastic type. I have often heard that plastic retains beer spoiling 'nasties' much more so than glass, so I was wondering if I am asking for trouble using plastic? Since I am paranoid about ruining batches, I do not rack into a secondary but let the whole fermentation process occur in the primary. Is this a big mistake too? I hope that these questions have not come up recently in HBD. Thanks for all responses, Stephen Harrington sharrington at msmail4.hac.com - -- Shaking and Brewing in LA. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 10:37:03 -0600 (MDT) From: Mark_Worwetz at Novell.COM (Mark Worwetz) Subject: Light pollution Howdy from Zion! The recent thread on light induced skunk essence has me concerned. How much light will cause this problem? Most of the stories tell of carboys or bottles left in the sun for 1/2 hour, 1 day, etc. being affected. Will I get this problem from occasional and very indirect sunlight? I keep my carboys in a closet for primary. Will 60W lightbulbs hurt the beer? For secondary, I place the carboy on a rolling cart in my dining room (read very, very indirect sunlight). I have not noticed any obvious problem, but I would like to read some quantitative information regarding this light pollution. Private replies are OK, but "Inquiring minds want to know"(tm)! Mark Worwetz in Scum Lick City, Utarrrrr Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 12:31:03 EDT From: KMYH09A at prodigy.com ( LARRY KELLY) Subject: Polyclar Question I used polyclar on two batches of brew, I used 2 teaspoons of polylcar to each batch. One batch I boiled some water, then after a boil of 5 minutes, I added the polyclar to that water, then dumped the stuff into the fermenter. Only a little, little, little bit of foaming occured. My airlock did bubble, but not tremendiously. the other batch I added 2 teaspoons polyclar directly to the fermentor, I got a little more foaming. I have read messages on HBD and in books on how this stuff is suppose to REALLY FOAM UP! Well where is all this foam???? My batches are 3 gallons each. I could of bottled the beer, but I wanted to give polyclar a try and see what happens. Did I do something wrong? Did I use to little polyclar? Where's the foam?? Larry KMYH09A at prodigy.com Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 94 11:30:16 CDT From: Chuck Black <chuckb at redstone-emh2.army.mil> Subject: Chimay in LA Beerlovers, Can someone please tell me where in the Marina del Rey area ( or close by ) that I can purchase Chimay/Corsendonk or other fine beers? I know about Nahas' in Redondo Beach but they are very pricey and you can't take them to the hotel with you:) Thanks and sorry about the non-homebrew related post. Please reply to me directly. Thanks again, Chuck Black chuckb at redstone-emh2.army.mil Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 10:01:26 +0900 From: bjones at novax.llnl.gov (Bob Jones) Subject: Autosparge details I have had several requests for more detailed info on the autosparge gadget I described in a recent post. Here is another amusing ascii graphic.... the information superhighway needs some improvements! Sparge H2O --------- input ------ | | | | | | | Side view Top view | | | | | | | | ..[ ].. | | . | . | |___ . | . [ ]-----------(float) . | . ring ----- . | . with float . | . holes valve . ( ) . . . ....... I use a float valve from Graingers, part number 2X524, $13.70. It doesn't come with a float. I got a SS float surplus at a local junk store. The entire assembly is adjustable in heigth, which allows me to place the ring right down about an inch above the mash bed. I consructed it all out of 1/2 rigid copper and 1/2" flex copper for the ring. Better brewing through hi-tech, Cheers, Bob Jones bjones at novax.llnl.gov Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 13:04:00 EST From: "pratte" <PRATTE at GG.csc.peachnet.edu> Subject: Heat vs. Temperature Sorry to waste more time on this, but duty calls. In yesterday's post, Andy Walsh takes umbrage with my definitions of heat and temperature. Sorry, Andy, but those are the technical definitions for these terms. Heat is energy, but it is the energy TRANSFERRED between two objects of different temperature. An object does not contain heat; it contains thermal energy. And you are correct in pointing out that there are equations correlating temperature to thermal energy (They are not the one that you wrote, though, which is the equation for the amount of heat that an object delivers or takes in when it experiences a temperature difference at constant volume and without a PHASE CHANGE. Since every object will undergo at least one phase change on the way to absolute zero (0 K), your idea to set T1=0 is incorrect.). However, this does not change the fact that temperature is defined as the property that two objects in thermal contact have in common when no heat is transferred between them. The reason that I belabor that point is because if you understand this, then you immediately realize how to calibrate your thermometer. Each temperature scale (Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin) is defined by the temperature at 2 points. Therefore, if you allow your thermometer to come into thermal equilibrium (no heat transferred) with the appropriate objects at these two points, you will be able to calibrate your thermometer. For example, put your thermometer in boiling water and read it. This point, whatever it is on the scale, is 212 F (100 C) at standard pressure (check your favorite handbook for corrections do to altitude). Next, put the thermometer in ice water and read it. This point is defined to be 32 F (0 C) at standard pressure. For any point in between these two points, merely interpolate by dividing the space between these two readings by 180 F (100 C). For readings outside of the boiling and freezing points, the only thing that you can do is to assume that the thermometer is linear and extrapolate appropriately. The other point that I would like to make is that the equation that I mentioned in my article was NOT meant to be used by homebrewers. All three forms of heat loss are occurring and therefore using an equation that describes only one form would be innapropriate. I agree with you to run the experiment and check the results. I mentioned the equation only to point out that Jack's assumption that the same amount of heat would be lost in equal amounts of time was wrong since the amount of heat lost depends upon the temperature differences involved. I apologize once again for the interjection. And now back to brewing... John Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 13:18:23 -0400 (EDT) From: /R=HERLVX/R=AM/U=KLIGERMAN/FFN=KLIGERMAN/ at mr.rtpnc.epa.gov Subject: bylaws, the last word! As a past preseident, treasurer, and vp of a homebrew club run on the principles of anarchy, a few of us have decided that bylaws are needed. Can any club with short and concise bylaws send me copies by e-mail or snail mail so we can model our own bylaws? email: homebre973 at aol.com snail mail: Andy Kligerman 5128 Green Meadow Rd. Hillsborough, NC 27278 Do clubs need to be incorporated to protect officers against any liability? __ On a different subject, I have just been itchin' (maybe chiggers of poison ivy) to get into the debates with Jack Schmeidling versus the world. But since Jack is the type that has to get the last word I say "Zyzzogeton" to him %> Andy Kligerman Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 13:36:25 GMT From: ash at io.org Subject: Brewing Schools? I know this has been covered before, but I have no FTP and can't get to the archives, so... Can anyone list the various brewing schools, around the world, and, more importantly, give their addresses? I know of UC Davis, Weihenstephan/ University of Munich, and BrewLab/ University of London. Are there any more? What sorts of programs do they offer? I'd like to know about homebrewing and commercial brewing courses. So, does anyone have the appropriate addresses, or more schools? Reply by private email; I'll summarise and post. Ash Baker Whitby, Ontario ash at io.org Return to table of contents
Date: 15 Jun 94 18:16:00 GMT From: korz at iepubj.att.com Subject: Aerobic starters Ron writes: >So that's my method, which I realize might be kind of hard for real >homebrewers. But my question is about the aeration. My starter cultures >are grown _very_ aerobically, then pitched. I've always assumed that since >I can keep my cultures sterile right up to pitching, this would be an >advantage, building up stores of sterols (according to Fix). This works >very well, with my fermentation beginning quickly and smoothly (hardly ever >any foaming-over). Does the fact that the starter is aerobic bother >anyone? Yes and no. Is the air with which the starter is aerated sterile? If not, then the starter is not sterile. If it is sterile, then I think you have a very good system. I know that yeast propagators used in commercial yeast production grow the yeast aerobically. Al. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 94 12:01:01 PST From: Bob W Surratt <Bob_W_Surratt at ccm.fm.intel.com> Subject: Skunk in a can? Text item: Text_1 I know this has been debated for quite a while and it makes sense that light struck beer will turn skunky, but how does a canned beer go skunky? Just thought I'd ask. Bob Surratt Intel Corp. Folsom, CA Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 14:02:27 -0600 (CST) From: "Thomas J. Ramsey" <tjram at ccwf.cc.utexas.edu> Subject: Lambik Digest address?? Could someone be so kind as to send me the address for the lambic digest? Even better would be a site for an faq about making p-lambics, which I couldn't find on Sierra. Hey, when someone (especially a beautiful woman) offers to buy the cherries and other ingredients, and all I need to do is try to find out how to put them together and make something unique, I'll try my best to rise to the challenge. Private E-mail is fine, perhaps even preferred so Jack and Jim can have enough bandwidth to argue. :-) (Perhaps that comment reversed would make more sense, but we all know it wouldn't do any good. :-).) TIA T.J. in Austin, <tjram at ccwf.cc.utexas.edu> Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 17:00:15 -0400 From: ryancr at allspice.jsan.gtefsd.com (Rich Ryan) Subject: shipping problems My apologies to Jack and the rest of the HBD. I was wrong to post my comments about Jack's product the other day. Please accept my apologies. Rich Ryan Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 17:43:34 -0500 (EST) From: "Upward, not Northward!" <CULP1405 at splava.cc.plattsburgh.edu> Subject: RE:Hot water,live animals,kelvin. Hello All, a few comments and a question. 1. Andy Walsh is curious about boiling water being hotter than boiling. Last semester in Food Science 361 we learned that sugar too will raise the temp. of boiling water. Anything that is in the solution will absorb/hold the heat and raise the temp. Candy making can be dangerous for this reason. The sugary syrup can be really hot from being supersaturated. It won't LOOK hot but...I hope that the more scientific h.b.er's will forgive me for not provid- ing graphs. Also boiling is not a function of temperature. It is a function of pressure and the heat needed for the "escape velocity" to break the bonds and to "leap" into the air. I don't know about the thermometers. Perhaps the manufacturer did like you, but at a higher altitude, he stuck the therm. in boiling H2O then stuck on the internally accurate scale based on "boiling at 212/100", wrongly. Is there a city/country of manufacture? What is it's elevation? 2.(Live) Animals are used in brewing in China. There is a medicinal liquor that is made with lizards. It is a pale green color and has lizards on the label. I was told that the lizards are thrown in the vat. It is supposed to be very good for you. If any h.b.er lives in NYC or San Fransisco he/she can find it any chinese store. If you live in NYC I invite you to buy some at Kamman Food Canal Street, or any grocery store on the Bowery below Broome. Let us know how you like it. Just as life is too short to drink cheap beer; life is too short not to drink Lizard Liquor! I had some, it won't kill you.Just Do It! 3. The Question- I have some cherries and want to use them in beer. Is there a prefered chemical sterilization or is boiling in/before/after wort good? Is an ale or lager yeast recommended? This is only my second batch, any sugg- estions are welcome. I do have the C.M. Thanks for your indulgence. Private e-mail flame or reply is prefered. It's tacky to feud on a public forum... Culp1405 at splava.cc.plattsburgh.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 94 12:04 EST From: Jack Skeels <0004310587 at mcimail.com> Subject: Oh my God, an infection?? I'm beginning to think that some of my latest bottling is infected, and I'd like to tap the collective wisdom of the HBD. I've read Miller's Finding Faults section, and it seems I may have one. Background: The recipe is the Bohemian Pilsner from Miller's book. I used Saaz hops and a partial mash. The yeast was Brewtek Original Pilsner. In the secondary (glass) I dryhopped 1.5 oz of Saaz pellets for about 2 weeks -- basically until they all dropped to the bottom. I then racked and bottled. One week after bottling, the beer had a wonderful creamy head -- very stable - -- but had a weedy, grassy bitterness. One of my friends and Mark Garetz's new book both said that this weediness should dissipate with some time. Well last night the weediness is mostly gone, but the beer has a pronounced lemon flavor. I looked this up and Miller says that astringency is a lactobacillus infection. Is this what's up? What are the probable causes? The only weak spot I can think of is my racking technique, which I changed as a result of the recent postings. When I racked this beer, I sanitized the tubing and cane in bleach, rinsed and filled with tap water and plugged the end with my...THUMB! I'm naively hoping that this lemon thing is yet another phase that my beer is going through, not a terminal condition. What do ye think, oh great ones? TIA, and clean racking, Jack Skeels JSKEELS at MCIMAIL.COM Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 14:49:58 MDT From: Kevin Schutz <kschutz at atmel.com> Subject: Questions regarding soldering of copper? Hello all! Within the last month or so, someone posted some good information regarding the types of solder that would be appropriate for homebrewing. They specifically listed several mixes/compounds to avoid. Unfortunately, I've misplaced that post. I'm in the process of making a copper racking tube to use for siphoning from my brew kettle thru my chiller. My plans call for soldering a larger end cap at one end to help keep some of the trub out of the chiller/fermentor. If anyone knows of the post that I am referring to or has a copy, I would appreciate hearing from you. Private reply to kschutz at atmel.com will work. Thanks! Cheers - Kevin Schutz Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 20:37:42 -0500 (CDT) From: winstead%brauerei at cs.tulane.edu (Teddy Winstead) Subject: Brass Ball Valves/Cleaning SS/Gravity Feed vs Pumps/Grain Mills Well, first I'd like to thank everybody who replied to my last posting about Stainless Steel/Valves/Pumps/etc. The consensus about cleaning them was that the best way is to use the old "Boy Scout" method of applying liquid soap all over the bottom and then washing it off when done. The funny part is that every reply I got mentioned the Boy Scouts specifically. I think that this warrants further study. Was everybody out there a Boy Scout? I only made Cub Scouts.... Otherwise I would've known, I guess... A word of caution about ball valves, specifically brass ones. The Home Depot sells these ones made by "Jones Mfg Co.", and they are complete crap. The hex-nut part of the valve is poorly machined, and the brass is soft, and this leads to your wrench stripping off the damned corners of the thing. I did not have this problem with the "Speedaire" brand valves that I picked up from Grainger for the same price. Hope this helps someone. Also a lot of people asked why I wanted to use a pump and not use the full gravity feed system. Well, the answer is that I am a complete klutz, and would suffeer 8th degree burns all over my body after the complete 15.5 gallons of scalding hot sparge water hit me square in the noggin. The burner'd probably also whack me on the head, causing a nasty concussion to go along with it. Don't beleive me? Come over sometime for a homebrew and entertain yourself. Also, the recent post about animals in beer was intensely amusing, congrats to the gentleman that posted it. We need more humor around here! My query -- Could anyone point me to more information about building a grain mill? I've been wanting to do this for a long time, but recent events have motivated me even more. I have already got the Zymurgy gadgets issue, in which there's an article about how to build a grain mill from hell, complete with 30 lb hopper, 800 hp motor, etc, etc. What I'm really looking for are those knurled rollers, like the ones used in the MALT(TM)MI(TM)LL(TM). I know exactly what they are, they're made from the same stuff that they make handles for dumb bells with. They also make bench-press bars from the same stuff. Anyone know where I can buy this stuff? Grainger doesn't seem to have anything comparable. If anyone else is interested, contact me, and I'll mail you all the information that I get. Finally, what about a crank? What's the best way to build one of these? Beleive it or not, I can't get past this one... Once again, thanks in advance! This digest is seriously one of the best places to get information anywhere on the Net... Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 94 22:17:49 -0400 From: WIRESULTS at WINET.mste.org Subject: > Date: Mon, 13 Jun 94 17:55:18 pst > From: wyatt at Latitude.COM > > Has anyone used, priced, seen or heard any information on > cylindroconical fermenters. The smallest I have heard of is 1/2 > barrel. They seem to be a pretty good idea but I imagine that they > are quite expensive. They all seem to be temperature controlled, > which would help to reserve the refrigerator for lagering. I have > seen extremely large ones in large brewpubs but never one this small. > I plan to check them out but I thought I would get some input first. > Any info would be greatly appreciated. TIA. > > Wyatt The only manufacturer that I have run into that sells 1/2 bbl fermentors is Elliott Bay Metal Fab. (normal disclaimers apply). I don't have a price from them for this fermentor, but they sell the 2 bbl ones for $6,700. I would expect that the 1/2 bbl one would be on the order of $1,500 to $2k To this you would have to add the price of the compressor to chill the glycol or water to run in the jacket plus the pumps. Many other groups sell systems from 2 bbls and up. for correspondingly large sums of money. Happy brewing.... rjl rjl Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 16 Jun 94 00:13:49 EDT From: Pbr322 at aol.com Subject: Thermometer Calibration Dweller at GVSU.edu writes "...can I assume the error is linear..." No. You cannot assume it is linear. It may be linear, it may be non-linear, it may be a combination with linear and non-linear components. If you want to calibrate the thermometer, you can create a standard curve using another thermometer that is "known" to read true. Take several readings in a range that you will be using the instrument with both the "bad" thermometer and the "good" thermometer. Plot the temperature readings taken with each thermometer on different axes on a piece of graph paper. Depending on the correlation, you may need a set of french curves to draw a best fit line (or, since you have a computer, you may be able to do this with software). The more data points you take, the better your graph will be. If you want to get fussy, you can take several temperature readings at each temperature with each instrument and average them before plotting. You can interpolate the "correct" temperature by finding the point on the graph that corresponds to a reading taken with the "bad" thermometer and finding the coordinate on the "good" thermometer axis to which it corresponds. Then again, if this seems like an inordinate amount of work, throw it out and buy a laboratory grade thermomter ($15-20) (BTW you will need to have one -- the "good" thermometer -- in order to perform this exercise anyway). cheers Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 16 Jun 1994 01:21:02 -0400 (EDT) From: McKee Smith <MCKSMI at delphi.com> Subject: 3 Micron Filter Elements Phil Brushaber wrote: >I have been pretty successful filtering some of my beers using a >cartridge filter. When I bought it, it came with a 0.5 micron filter. >From a local hardware store I got a 5 micron water filter (sometime >used on some darker beers, gets out any junk, but does not filter chill >haze or bacteria). What I am looking for is a 3 micron filter >(recommended by George Fix). >Dr. Fix says that it is a good compromise filtering out haze and large >amounts of yeast but not too much body. I have the same filter unit. When I ordered, I knew 0.5u was too small, so I ordered it with a 1u filter. I found this was taking too much malt flavor and body out with the yeast. I did as you and got a 5u filter from a local store and have been quite happy. I think you can order a 3u element from the people you bought the original unit from. However, I should point out that I saw George in early May and asked him about the difference between the 3 and the 5. He said many people were getting excellent results with the 5, that there was not a lot of difference between the 3 and 5 (considering the sizes things in the beer I was trying to filter out), and that I probably would not get marked improvement in going from the 5 down to a 3. Of course, I was trying to get rid of extra yeast. I have not had a problem with chill haze in my Oktoberfest or other amber beers. McKee Smith, Irving, TX Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 16 Jun 94 17:07:53 EST From: Aidan "Krausen Kropping Kiwi" Heerdegen <aidan at rschp2.anu.edu.au> Subject: Munich Beer Garden and Errant Thermometers Full-Name: Aidan "Krausen Kropping Kiwi" Heerdegen jeff_sargent at il.us.swissbank.com (Jeff Sargent) wrote: * There is a beautiful biergarden/open air market in downtown Munich * within a few blocks of the Town Hall/Glockenspiel called the * Viktualmarket or something similar. They server wonderful helles and * weissBiers there, in large class mugs with optional pewter discs that * you could place over the top. They are wonderful mugs aren't they? I was so impressed that I bought one (6 DM - what a bargain!) and managed to lug it all the way back to New Zealand and then broke it on a train on the last part of my journey :-( You could put a can of beer in it and it would hardly seem to have anything in it ... they are 1 litre, without the head-space taken into consideration of course (aren't the Bavarians civilised!). I would kill to get another one, is anyone in Munich listening in? Is anyone going there soon? I am more than happy to pay for it and it's pilgrimage to me. Mike Walsh in Sydney (I knew there was an advantage to living in cold Canberra - lagers!) said his thermometer wasn't working, any sort of contaminant will affect the boiling pt, if you want to check it properly get some distilled double-deionised water and boil that. Those mercury thermometers tend to full immersion jobs too, though I would have thought that would make it read too low ... hmmm. Thanks Aidan (aidan at rschp2.anu.edu.au) Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 16 Jun 94 02:59:03 EDT From: NR706 at aol.com Subject: Maine Brewpubs I know most HBD'ers are tired of these questions, but here's one more --> I'll be in Maine in a couple of weeks ... comments about brewpubs in the Portland/Kennebunkport/Boothbay Harbor areas? And anything in Portsmouth, NH? E-Mail responses, please. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 09:37:49 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Frane <gummitch at teleport.com> Subject: Yeast Starters Only a datapoint: I do NOT use hops in my yeast starters. For why? Because I autoclave them, I don't feel like the feeble antiseptic contribution is worth the effort. And because I let the starters sit around in their Erlenmeyer flasks and I don't want to fret about whether sunlight is going to make them stinky. And because I love that fresh bread aroma of the yeast. - --Jeff Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 16 Jun 94 17:07:53 EST From: Aidan "Krausen Kropping Kiwi" Heerdegen <aidan at rschp2.anu.edu.au> Subject: Munich Beer Garden and Errant Thermometers Full-Name: Aidan "Krausen Kropping Kiwi" Heerdegen jeff_sargent at il.us.swissbank.com (Jeff Sargent) wrote: * There is a beautiful biergarden/open air market in downtown Munich * within a few blocks of the Town Hall/Glockenspiel called the * Viktualmarket or something similar. They server wonderful helles and * weissBiers there, in large class mugs with optional pewter discs that * you could place over the top. They are wonderful mugs aren't they? I was so impressed that I bought one (6 DM - what a bargain!) and managed to lug it all the way back to New Zealand and then broke it on a train on the last part of my journey :-( You could put a can of beer in it and it would hardly seem to have anything in it ... they are 1 litre, without the head-space taken into consideration of course (aren't the Bavarians civilised!). I would kill to get another one, is anyone in Munich listening in? Is anyone going there soon? I am more than happy to pay for it and it's pilgrimage to me. Mike Walsh in Sydney (I knew there was an advantage to living in cold Canberra - lagers!) said his thermometer wasn't working, any sort of contaminant will affect the boiling pt, if you want to check it properly get some distilled double-deionised water and boil that. Those mercury thermometers tend to full immersion jobs too, though I would have thought that would make it read too low ... hmmm. Thanks Aidan (aidan at rschp2.anu.edu.au) Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 15 Jun 1994 17:07:43 -0400 (EDT) From: "Steven C. Boxer" <scb15 at columbia.edu> Subject: shame Last week I sent a request to cancel the daily delivery of this digest. Rather than take the time to read the header that comes before the body of the digest, I sent the request to the wrong address. In the past I have been solely interested in skipping directly to the contents to see if anything would be of interest. For sending my request to the wrong address (a flagrant violation of homebrew protocol and breach in Email etiquette) I offer my apologies. However, in response to this innocuous fax pas I received several nasty letters and unnecessary comments. For example: Steven C. Boxer had the nerve to spew: > > set homebrew nomail > set mailing_list_user newbie As stated on the first page of each and every digest ever sent to your mailbox, list requests go to the address (surprise surprise) hombrew-request. To send this to the actual list just makes for more clutter and pushes back real articles a day or two from being published. "Technology is a wonderful thing in the hands of responsible people; a void of wasted resources in the hands of fools." In response to those individuals who have tainted this digest with personal attacks, pejorative and profiteering, I say shame on you. I suggest to those who are so self-absorbed that they wish to transform a hobbyist's newsletter into an arena of negativism that they take stock of themselves and to the relative insignificance of homebrewing. This recent trend has yielded a less enjoyable digest, created a negative impact on the hobby and alienated at least one reader. Steven Boxer Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 16 Jun 94 09:50:48 +0200 From: dejonge at tekserv.geof.ruu.nl (Marc de Jonge) Subject: Pilsner Urquell recipe In HBD 1450 Aaron Shaw qoutes a recipe for Pilsner Urquell by Dave Line. I can't resistcommenting on that... > 7lb.10oz./3.85 kg Crushed lager malt ok > 3 gallons/15 litres Water for "lager" brewing read 3 imperial gallons of "soft water" > 1 tsp. Irish moss no, don't bother > 2.5+.5+.25 oz./75 + 15 + 10 gm Saaz hops Don't dry-hop for the original taste! (amounts are appr. right for 4% alpha hops) > 2 oz./60gm Lager yeast ok > .5 oz./15 gm Gelatine no, forget it. If it doesn't clear after two months of lagering it won't do much good anyway. > .5 tsp.per pint/5 ml per liter White sugar how about keeping a little sweet wort for priming... > 1) Raise temp. of water up to 45'C and stir in crushed malt, ok. > while stirring raise mash temp to 55'C, leave for .5 hours. ok-ish. > Then raise temp to 66'C, leave for 1 hour, occasionally > returning temp. to 66'C. Use decoction at least for this step (boil 1/3 of the mash separately and add back to the mash-tun). Add this step: Raise temp to 72'C, leave for .5 hour > . > . deletia > . > 4) Add 2nd batch of hops, strain of clear wort and top > up with cold water to make 4 gallons/20 litres. Do a full volume boil and cool before splashing (straining). > 5) Pitch yeast when cool... Read: when temperature is below 10'C, skip the dry hopping. > 6) Leave for 21 days before racking to bottles, allow 30 > days maturation. No, leave for 60 days at a temp. below 4'C, then prime and bottle. Note that the recipe that Dave Line gives is not one of 'a beer like I would buy'. It sounds too much like English mock-lager to be called pilsner, let alone Pilsner Urquell. _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ Marc de Jonge dejonge at geof.ruu.nl Utrecht University, Geophysics dept, Utrecht, the Netherlands -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_- Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 14 Jun 94 20:48:15 EDT From: BOBHVM at aol.com Subject: Homebrew Digest Please remove BobHVM at AOL.com from the Homebrew Digest. Thank you Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 16 Jun 1994 00:10:43 GMT From: flyboy at ralph.com (Flyboy) Subject: How to customize home for brewing Hi all....I'm back on net, new address shown below. I asked this question about 18 months ago, but it now looks like we're actually going to build so here we go again....If you had the chance or have had the chance to modify your house for brewing purposes, what would or did you do? Please note that we are in Austin, TX so a basement is not possible. Please let me know what you all have come up with over the years and maybe I can incorporate some of this into our new home. If there's enough response, I'll summarize and repost. Send responses to ralph!flyboy at ralph.com (Chris Pencis) Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 16 Jun 1994 07:52:56 -0400 (EDT) From: Arthur McGregor 614-0205 <mcgregap at acq.osd.mil> Subject: Growing Hops Howdy All: I have a few questions on growing Hops. I planted some Hops rhizomes this Spring, and all have sprouted. I live in northern Virginia, near Washington, D.C. One of the rhizomes, a Cascade, has done fantastic, with five shoots (three over 5' high with one at 15' with small flower buds), while the rest the rhizomes only have 1-2 shoots, and between 1-3 feet high. Is the one Cascade plant unusual for growing so fast in its first year? This Cascade plant gets a little more sun than most, but a few get just as much but are not doing as well. All rhizomes were planted in March/April in a 50-50 mix of Virginia red clay and compost cow manure (16' dia. x 18" deep). Other varieties growing in addition to the Cascade are Hallertauer, Northern Brewers, Saaz, Tettnang, and Willamette. I also have another Cascade in a different (less sunny) location, and is not doing nearly as well. My second question is if there is a good or recommended liquid fertilizer that can be used to give the hops a boost (e.g., Miracle Grow)? Email or post ok. TIA Art McGregor (mcgregap at acq.osd.mil) Return to table of contents
Date: 16 Jun 94 12:15:00 GMT From: mlm01 at intgp1.att.com (Michael L Montgomery +1 708 979 4132) Subject: Beer Tasting ATTENTION CHICAGOLAND AREA BEER LOVERS: There is a beer tasting being held at Armanetti's in Addison this Saturday 6/18/94 from 1-6pm and it's free. I was told that there will be about 50 beers. The directions are: I-355 to Lake St. go East about 2 miles to Armanetti on the North side of the street. The address is 508-510 W. Lake St. Phone 708-543-0440 I have no affiliation with this event or with the liquor store. Mike Montgomery mlm01 at intgp1.ih.att.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 16 Jun 94 08:43:07 EDT From: cem at cadre.com (Chuck E. Mryglot) Subject: Guiness draft cans Gruss, I took apart one of those Guiness can that have the nitrogen gizmo inside which creates the creamy head, etc. A few of us were discussing how it works and how it is manufactured/installed in the can, etc..... Does anyone out there know for sure how this works and is assembled. Enquiring minds want to know... Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 16 Jun 1994 08:51:04 -0400 (EDT) From: Wayde Nie <niew at mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca> Subject: Rubermaid coolers for mashtuns Hi Brewfolk, I remember hearing that some coolers tend to warp (or are otherwise unsuitable) at mash temps. I have come across a new 57L Rubbermaid rectangular cooler at a good price and was thinking of buying it. Is there any reason that this brand shouldn't be used for mashing? TIA, - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Wayde Nie | PROGRAM tr. v. To engage in a pastime Student Consultant | similar to banging one's Computing and Information Services | head against a wall, but McMaster University | with fewer opportunities NIEW at McMail.CIS.McMaster.CA | for reward. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 16 Jun 1994 9:06:39 -0400 (EDT) From: GONTAREK at FCRFV1.NCIFCRF.GOV Subject: Misc Hello everyone! I have a hop question that I was hoping to get an answer to. I am brewing a partial-grain honey lager that I want to dry-hop. My local brewstore only had Cascade hops in leaf form. My question (I hope I don't sound like a fool) is: Can whole leaf hops be used exactly the same as pellets? My last batch of beer used 1 ounce of Cascade pellets in the secondary, so I was wondering if I can toss 1 ounce of Cascade leaf hops in and get the same amount of aroma, etc. Private email would be appreciated. Also, does anyone know where I can get good (cheap) bulk grain? My local store only occasionally has 15 pound bags for sale. I'd like to get, say, 50 pounds to keep around. I know William's sells bulk grain, but living on the east coast would make the package a tad on the expensive side. One last question: How do you expert all-grainers measure the amount of grain? For my first all-grain batch, I crushed 15 pounds of pale malt and then measured-out how many cups of crushed grain I had. Then I had a conversion factor by which I could tell how many cups of crushed grain equals one pound. This crude method was good for the first batch, but it would not be practical if I bought a 50 pound bag o' grain! Is there anything clever that people do short of buying a scale? Thanks for the help. Ta ta, and have a cold one for me! Rick Gontarek gontarek at ncifcrf.gov Return to table of contents
Date: Thu Jun 16 09:06:49 1994 From: braddw at rounder.rounder.com Subject: Gravity at Bottling. I have a Lager that has been two weeks in the primary, that I want to get into bottles soon because it's wrapped in wet towels and ice packs in my closet due to the mini heat wave we are having in New England. It started at 1.047-8, I pitched with wyeast American Ale yeast, it has been fermenting around 55-60 deg F for 2 weeks and there is nore more activity in the air lock. Question: what F.G. should I expect/bottle at? Due to the heat I'm anxious to get it into bottles where I can lager it more easily. TIA etc.... **** ---- "There's always time for a Homebrew!" ---- **** C|~~| ----------------------------------------------- C|~~| `--' --------------braddw at rounder.com------------- `--' ------------------------------------------- Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1452, 06/17/94