HOMEBREW Digest #3199 Mon 20 December 1999

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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: janitor@hbd.org
		Many thanks to the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers of 
		Livonia, Michigan for sponsoring the Homebrew Digest.
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Contents:
  Carbonation (William Frazier)
  re: ramping up, burners ("Mike DeHart")
  Tannins (AJ)
  Re: False bottom design (Susan/Bill Freeman)
  RE: 3 Container Cask Ale System ("S. Wesley")
  Georgia Alcohol Restrictions, Related Legislation ("Mark Nelson")
  Re: Yeast Profiles ("Glen Pannicke")
  Fad Diets ("Glen Pannicke")
  RE: Carbonation level (Robert Arguello)
  diets & eggs (with a beer chaser) (Bob Devine)
  US state beer laws (Bob Devine)
  Re: Carbonation level (Jeff Renner)
  SS Chiller/Beer and Nutrition (SW) Mike Pensinger" <mpensing at deyo.navy.mil>
  Propane (Tom Clark)
  Steam injection and tannin extraction ("Dean Fikar")
  Beautiful San Fran once again ... ("Alan McKay")
  Re: Oxygenator regulator ("Brian Dixon")
  Classical music and Beer (Cave)
  Musical brewers (Pat Babcock)
  RE: Controlling Fermentation Temperature (LaBorde, Ronald)
  RE: beer/alcohol regulations (LaBorde, Ronald)
  Kettle drain system ("Doug Moyer")
  re: beer/alcohol regulations ("Doug Moyer")
  source for SS washers? (patrick finerty)
  Mead (Ballsacius)
  Mash Efficiency (DawgDoctor)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 07:07:46 +0000 From: William Frazier <billfrazier at worldnet.att.net> Subject: Carbonation Bruce Carpenter asks about forced carbonation. I think your English Pale Ale should have a low level of carbonation but that's only because the English beer that I see Morse drinking on PBS Mystery always seems to have little or no head. Also, just the other day I was reading the British version of the HBD and a couple of fellows were complaining about a pub that served beer with about 1-inch of head. They felt they were being cheated. With respect to the micro beer with the soda pop bubbles, I think the quality of the head has more to do with the quality of the beer than with natural or forced carbonation. There has been much discussion about how certain mash regimens can affect head quality. At home my beers are single temp infusions with very little in the way of non-malt adjuncts. After force carbonation in Corny kegs the beers have Guinness-like heads. You can vary the size of the head easily by changing the amount of CO2 added. I happen to like a big, foamy head so I carbonate with 20 psi to start. If this creates too much foam (like a whole glass) I bleed the pressure back to about 8 psi. Regards, Bill Frazier Johnson County, Kansas Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 06:56:17 -0500 From: "Mike DeHart" <dehart at localnet.com> Subject: re: ramping up, burners I noticed mention of the burners in many of the follow up posts in the = ramping up discussion. I just purchased a twin 30,000 btu Camp Chef = burner (with legs) from dsports.com (blah blah...) for $99 - that 20% = discount coupon that they send in the mail and hand out at Dick's = sporting goods, free shipping. So $79 net. I have used a friends in = the past and it works great for my brewing. I did have some trouble = with their on line ordering, but a call to their customer service # = (only a 1 minute hold) got it ordered. Being my first post (long time lurker) I would like to thank all of the = contributors for increasing my brewing knowledge/quality. Mike DeHart A half day drive through another country from Jeff Renner (Buffalo, NY) Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 14:56:46 +0000 From: AJ <ajdel at mindspring.com> Subject: Tannins Bob <pbsys at pbsbeer.com> wrote: >When you decoct you're taking only the thickest part of the mash and have a >low liquid to grain ration. >Tanin is extracted in a high liquid to grain ratio causing astringency. While a high liquid to grain ratio may cause more tannins to be extracted it is nevertheless true that appreciable tannins are extracted during the boils of decoction mashes. One of the reasons for lagering is to give these tannins time to complex with proteins and precipitate. The beer becomes smoother as lagering progresses for this reason. Note that the lower pH of the decoction mitigates tannin extraction somewhat. Even so, my decocted beers have polyphenols typically 5 times those of undecocted beers as they come out of the fermenter. It just occurs to me that I've never measured after a full lagering period. I must try that. - -- A. J. deLange Numquam in dubio, saepe in errore. Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 09:32:47 -0600 From: Susan/Bill Freeman <potsus at bellsouth.net> Subject: Re: False bottom design Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 13:28:59 +0000 From: "J. Doug Brown" <jbrown at labyrinth.net> Subject: false bottom design - any experience out there? Doug, I used the following 304 stainless sheet purchased from McMaster-Carr: hole dia: 0.125 Open % area: guage: 14 C to C spacing: 3/16 staggered McMaster part # 9358T461 on page 263 of the catalog. Look under "perforated metal and plastic" . I used stainless bolts and washers purchased from Lowe's as stilts to raise the false bottom off the botom of the mashtun. I don't think you want to go much larger in hole size as there is quite a bit of "grits" passed through this size already. Enough so that the "grits" on occasion will clog solenoid valves and pumps if you are using fractional mag drives. Picture is of the completed false bottom for a 15 gallon Volrath stock pot. You will find that you need to fit the false bottom to your particular pot and mark the direction where it fits best as all pots are not created round even though they look that way. http://www.brewrats.org/hwb/er/er07.jpg Hope this helps. Cheers Elder Rat aka Bill Freeman - Birmingham, AL Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 10:20:10 -0500 From: "S. Wesley" <WESLEY at MAINE.MAINE.EDU> Subject: RE: 3 Container Cask Ale System From: S. A. Wesley RE: 3 Container Cask Ale System In HBD #3198-18 Bruce Garner suggested using a three container system in which a corny filled with CO2 would replace the beer drawn from a serving keg with gas, and draw in water from a third container open to the air. In some ways this is a very clever idea, but there are two potential problems I can see with it. First the CO2 gas will dissolve into the water in the second corny so the gas cushion will disappear over time. The water will essentially become carbonated over time. This may or may not be a problem depending on whether or not the beer continues to evolve gas to replace the CO2 which dissolves in the water. You could, of course just keep an eye on the amount of water in the corny and replace dissolved gas from a tank as needed. The other concern is sanitation because of the fact that the water is open to the air and might act as a source of contamination. Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 11:44:32 -0500 From: "Mark Nelson" <menelson at mindspring.com> Subject: Georgia Alcohol Restrictions, Related Legislation With Georgia newly on his mind, Larry wrote: >Having just moved to Georgia from California, I'm trying to come >to grips with the restrictive alcohol laws here and wondering if >any of you GA brewers are aware of efforts to change the legislation. There is an effort underway to change the restrictions on the alcohol content of beer. Georgia is currently at a 6% abv limit, and we hope to either have the limit removed, or add a category of "beer" that can be above that limit to cover "specialty beers". We're hoping to do the latter without needing to change tax structures or labeling requirements, btw. Anyone who is interested can contact me through menelson at mindspring.com We have a website at www.beerinfo.com/worldclassbeer if you're interested in visiting. Larry, you can also visit www.beerinfo.com/atlbeer for a site devoted to Atlanta-area beer attractions. www.tacomac.com is probably the best beer bar in town, with three locations that are owned by a beer nut. (There are other owners who aren't as beer nutty and their locations aren't as good beerwise.) The newest Taco Mac has over 200 taps, and can be found north of Atlanta on the Alpharetta Autobahn (aka GA-400) in Cumming. Ale Atlanta, a beer appreciation type club, meets at the Sandy Springs Taco Mac once a month to drink beers unavailable in the state. We call the affair Beer Journeys, and focus on beers folks bring to the meeting from their out of state travels. First Thursdays of every month. Mark Nelson Atlanta GA Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 11:54:01 -0500 From: "Glen Pannicke" <gpannicke at email.msn.com> Subject: Re: Yeast Profiles On Fri, 17 Dec 1999 12:34:10 EST Headduck at aol.com asked: >Is there a comparative list somewhere that shows what Wyeast yeasts >correspond to what to what White Labs yeasts. For example is White Labs WLP >001, California Ale Yeast and Wyeast 1056 American Ale the same strain? White Labs WLP001 and Wyeast 1056 are both of the Ballantine/Chico strain. So are Siebel BRY-96, BrewTech CL-10 and Yeast Labs A02. Information was obtained from "An Analysis of Brewing Techniques" by G. Fix (for those of you who want %$# at ! references). Fix's book has a nice section on yeasts, but is by no means a definative list. You would have to check with the suppliers to determine the exact yeast bank strain sources. As for how *closely* related they are, that is another story since different yeasts are known to mutate in liquid and agar storage at different rates and in different manners. But they should be close enough for homebrew ;-) Glen ================================ Millstone Alehouse alehouse at homepage.com http://alehouse.homepage.com ================================ Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 11:54:00 -0500 From: "Glen Pannicke" <gpannicke at email.msn.com> Subject: Fad Diets On Fri, 17 Dec 1999 16:56:34 GMT mikey at swampgas.com (The Artist Formerly Known As Kap'n Salty) wrote: >AND I feel great -- with STAMINA to spare! Literally. The >garage is overflowing with boxes of my excess stamina, which I'll >gladly send anyone for postage. Mike, I'd like a box or two for the next time I clean up after attempting a Belgian decoction mash. I never knew I could create such havoc using only 3 tuns, a ladle and a strainer! Thank God for (soon-to-be) spousal support! And now, back to our regularly scheduled beer... Glen ================================ Millstone Alehouse alehouse at homepage.com http://alehouse.homepage.com ================================ Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 09:12:26 -0800 (PST) From: Robert Arguello <robertac at calweb.com> Subject: RE: Carbonation level On Fri, 17 Dec 1999 18:34:48 -0600 Bruce Carpenter asks: <Does force carbonated beer produce larger, and a <less "smooth" head? I tried an IPA at a micro recently and the carbonation <seemed almost soda fountain like. Any thoughts? Absolutely not! I force carbonate every beer that I brew and the foam is almost merinque-like with lots of Belgian lace. Quality of foam and retention is a result of ingredients and mashing techniques, not a result of method of carbonation. Large bubbles, (popcorn foam), can also appear in a beer when it has aged past its peak. ******************************************************************** Robert Arguello <robertac at calweb.com> Corny kegs - ProMash Brewing Software http://www.calweb.com/~robertac ******************************************************************** Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 13:01:43 -0700 From: Bob Devine <bob.devine at worldnet.att.net> Subject: diets & eggs (with a beer chaser) msmiley at cardiology.utmb.edu (Matt Smiley) writes: > Here's why the Atkins diet doesn't work for beer drinkers. First and > foremost, beer contains carbohydrates and good homebrew in particular is > loaded with them. So, you say, why not switch to pure grain ethanol which > has no intrinsic carbs? You can't do that either, because the liver inhibits > most other metabolic processes (including gluconeogenesis) while > metabolizing ethanol. The Atkins diet, and other related no-carb diets, does have some efficacy in the short term. But I definitely agree that it is way over-hyped by its advocates. Many of the folks behind it were probably pushing "colloidal vitamins" or other such silliness before jumping on this bandwagon. If you eat the (ab)normal American diet and are overweight, the Atkins diet might give you a temporary weight loss. Nearly every long-term study I've seen shows that the weight comes back. As Matt writes, the metabolization of food is very complex. The simple equation of calories_in = calories_burned for maintaining stable weight isn't exact. For example, many street winos consume an enormous amount of alcohol - thousands of calories a day - but are gaunt and undernourished. - -- On peeling hard-boiled eggs: McGee's "On Food and Cooking" (a great book for a techie cook) says that peelability is related to pH of the egg white. A fresh egg has a pH of about 8.0 but a 3 day old egg is over 9.0. If the pH is less below 8.9, the egg's inner membrane tends to adhere to the shell. So either use old eggs or take heart that a hard to peel egg is fresher. Two suggestions: carefully prick an egg's air space with a pin or immerse the eggs in ice water (this also lessens the problem of green yolks caused by ferrous-sulfate). The April 99 edition of "Cook's Illustrated" has an article on "The Best Way to Hard-Cook an Egg". Their instructions are: 1) put eggs in a saucepan, cover with 1 inch of tap water 2) bring to boil over high heat 3) when it hits boil, remove pan from heat, cover, & let sit in the hot water for 10 minutes 4) after 10 minutes, place eggs in ice bath for 5 minutes (www.cooksillustrated.com - the best pure cooking magazine, IMHO) Hmmm -- fire, air, water, and earth (egg) -- the ancient elements. The author says that this works on differently powered burners and produced eggs that had bright yolks and tender whites. The author also tried every trick in the kitchen to improve peelability and finally called a person at the "American Egg Board" who suggested the problem was trying to remove the shell in large chunks. An improved method is to crack the shell all over by rolling the egg and then start peeling from the air-pocket comp.arch debates... :-)) This trick proved to be the best. I suspect that Jack Schmidling's suggestion of using a dryer helped dry the egg which increased the air pocket, plus it aged the egg by a day which made it more alkaline. Both do increase the peelability ... but at an increased risk of food poisoning. I'd be cautious. - -- And now for the beer chaser, in the spirit of holiday cooking, I added a little bit of a pseudo-Belgian dubbel to my batch of gingerbread cookies instead of water. Tasty! Bob Devine Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 14:05:19 -0700 From: Bob Devine <bob.devine at worldnet.att.net> Subject: US state beer laws Larry Maxwell asks about the Georgia state laws: Look at this web site: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uniform/vol9.html#consb for the state by state rules for alcohol purchase, consumption, etc. If the state site has a search capability, try looking for "malt" because that is often used in the statutes as a generic term for beer. Yep, the US is filled with a crazy quilt of regulations controlling alcohol use. The reason behind the inconsistent laws is that the overturn of prohibition was a tough sell and only through a compromise that allowed for state control did it pass. Famous story: Bourbon County, TN, is dry. For example, Georgia's regulations are filled with interesting loopholes. For example, in cities with more than 400,000 people the sale of alcohol on Sundays is different than for smaller municipalities. I guess that state's legislators never heard of a city's population growing... Some of Atlanta's northern suburbs may now qualify for this. This web page has the relevant section on Georgian definitions: [linebreak added to keep the HBD tools happy....] http://www.ganet.state.ga.us/cgi-bin/pub/ocode/ ocgsearch?docname=OCode/G/3/1/2&highlight=malt Surprisingly, it defines a "small beer" as included in the group of beers having more than 6% alcohol. I won't comment on my current state of Utah's laws. Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 16:26:16 -0500 From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu> Subject: Re: Carbonation level Bruce Carpenter <alaconn at arkansas.net> wrote: >Opinions needed on the suggested carbonation level (high, medium, low) for >an English Pale Ale with FG of 1.012. I keep my British style beers on a very low carbonation with maybe 4 psi, then use a pocket beer engine (introduced to HBD by me many years ago and subsequently published by Zymurgy). This is a 5 or 10 cc syringe (an oral syringe or an oral irrigator) with a small opening. You suck up some low carbonation beer from the glass and squirt if forcefully back into the beer, This releases excess carbonation and produces that swirling effect in the beer, which settles and results in a creamy head, and an equally creamy mouthfeel. Warning, do not do this with an excessively carbonated beer! One HBDer did and it resulted in a chipped front tooth. How, I hear you asking yourself? The beer started to foam out of the mug as it sat on the counter, and he lunged forward to sip the foam, but hit his tooth on the heavy mug rim. Try explaining that to your dentist. >On a somewhat related note: Does force carbonated beer produce larger, and a >less "smooth" head? I tried an IPA at a micro recently and the carbonation >seemed almost soda fountain like. Any thoughts? I can't think of any reason this should be so. It has been discussed here often. I ordinarily get great head retention and small bubbles with forced carbonation. However, my latest ESB has soda pop head retention and I can't figure out why. The only thing different is a new yest - Wyeast 1335, British II. A while back there was discussion of FOOP, fold only once proteins, the idea being that you have a limited amount of foam producing proteins, and once they form foam, they cannot do it again. I skimmed the crud off the head of the fermenting beer, and skimmed the yeast head, but I always do this. I also got a lot of foam while aerating, but again, I always do this. I'm stumped on this one. Jeff -=-=-=-=- Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, c/o nerenner at umich.edu "One never knows, do one?" Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943. Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 16:27:15 -0500 From: "FC1(SW) Mike Pensinger" <mpensing at deyo.navy.mil> Subject: SS Chiller/Beer and Nutrition In HBD 3189 On Tue, 07 Dec 1999 15:47:44 -0500 Marc Sedam <marc_sedam at unc.edu> wrote: Subject: SS wort chillers >Hey all. St. Pat's offers a 50ft. SS wort chiller for ~$60. I >found this at approximately the time that my copper, home made >chiller got a serious crack in it. I will likely buy this >(correction, my brother, good soul that he is has offered it as a >present) but wanted to know if anyone thought it was a bad idea >based on the ability for SS to conduct heat and therefore >function as a good immersion (or counterflow) chiller. Seems to me that copper has a far superior heat transfer coefficient than stainless steel. Apart from the neato SS aspect the copper homemade chiller will probable work better. On a related note I discovered a great way to increase the efficiency of my immersion chiller. I had built a HLT stirrer for my electric HLT out of an ice cream maker motor and a copper tube propeller assembly. I discovered that the moror quickly overheated in that application so back to the drawing board. But, it stirs very slowly and i mounted it over my kettle and used it to stir my wort gently while chilling. It reduce my chilling time about 75%. No exact data but I usually leave the water running and go inside to eat while it is chilling. It was done in under 15 minutes with the stirrer! In HBD 3190 on Wed, 8 Dec 1999 12:40:39 -0500 (EST) Alan McKay <amckay at magma.ca> wrote: > Subject: beer and nutrition > I just had an argument with a friend at lunch about beer and nutrition. > They of course maintained that beer is bad for you, and extremely fattening. > I of course maintained that beer is actually pretty good for you, and it's > generally the barfood which goes with it that's fattening. I am by no means an expert but the notion that beer is fattening boggles me. The labels all say 0 fat so it can not be "fattening". The misconception that beer is fattening comes from the normally sedentary life styles that some serious beer drinkers maintain (I am borderline on that myself). I do remember reading some research about targeted calories aand body parts. Seems that the unused calories from beer are generally more redily stored aroung the midsection. v/r FC1(SW) Mike Pensinger Network Administrator Ext 225 Email at home welcome: beerlvr at hrfn.net Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 16:51:37 -0500 From: Tom Clark <rtclark at eurekanet.com> Subject: Propane Brewers Propane is a colorless non-toxic gas. Mercaptan is added to it to cause a foul odor if released into the air. Propane is 1.68 to 1.83 times heavier than air. If released, it will flow to the lowest place it can find. Propane boils at -42 degrees C. Propane expands 270 times it's volume when allowed to expand from a liquid into a gaseous state. Propane must be combined with air or oxygen to burn. The lower limit is 2% and the upper limit is 10%. (a mixture of 2% propane gas and 98% air will ignite when presented with an ignition source at normal room temperature.) note: When your car won't start because it is "flooded" it means that the ratio of gasoline vapors to air is above the upper limit for gasoline vapors. Propane will auto-ignite at a temperature of 460 to 580 degrees, depending on pressure and concentration. Propane tanks greater than one pound capacity should never be stored indoors. In some states, it is against the law to do so. If you use propane in an enclosed area, even though the tank is outdoors, invest in a combustible gas detector and mount it close to the floor near the propane device. For more information on LP gases, see the link below. http://members.tripod.com/afandi/lpgas/lpgas02e.html I have no affiliation with this organization. Tom Clark Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 14:23:49 -0600 From: "Dean Fikar" <dfikar at flash.net> Subject: Steam injection and tannin extraction >From: "Dean Fikar" <dfikar at flash.net> > >A couple of posters mention that direct injection of steam into the mash is >bad because you might heat >portions of the mash enough to extract tannins. I don't agree. After all, >when you decoct a portion of >the mash you're doing the same thing but to an even greater extent. I did >not notice any astringency >with any of my steam-injected beers, >Re: More steam (RobertJ) > >_____ >When you decoct you're taking only the thickest part of the mash and have a >low liquid to grain ration. > >Tanin is extracted in a high liquid to grain ratio causing astringency. > I've not heard this explanation before. Can anyone else verify? I always thought that it was the low mash pH that kept tannins from being extracted when boiling a decoction. I also don't understand why a relatively small change in mash thickness would have any bearing on whether tannins are extracted. My typical "thick" decoction is about 0.8 to1.0 qt./lb. vs. about 1.0 to 1.33 qts./lb. for a typical steam injected mash. Can any chemist enlighten me here? - --------------------------------------------- Dean Fikar - Ft. Worth, TX (dfikar at flash.net) Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 17:52:08 -0500 From: "Alan McKay" <amckay at ottawa.com> Subject: Beautiful San Fran once again ... For my first installment, check out : http://www.hbd.org/hbd/archive/3194.html#3194-2 First and foremost - my apologies to the folks with whom I did not manage to hook up. The schedule for the conference ended up being considerably tighter than I had expected, so the times we did manage to get out to brewpubs we didn't really know until the last minute. The official part of our conference was Sat - Thu 9am to 5pm. But then they had these "Birds of Feather" sessions each evening, and on top of that different vendors like Cisco and Digital Island held recruiting events in the 44th floor penthouse, so it was pretty difficult to turn down free beer and a fabulous panoramic view of San Fran! In addition to what was in my first installment, I managed to get out to the following places - some of which we did the "whirlwind" thing all in the same night. - 20 Tank Brewery (in the Tenderloin on 11th) - Gold Dust Beer Bar and Lounge (downtown a block from the Hilton) - Jack's (?) in the Cannery (waterfront - was it called "Jack's") - Magnolia Brew Pub The 20 tank had about 7 or 8 beers on tap, two of which were cask conditioned. I tried the Kinnickinnick (or however you spell it) and the ESB, and the person I was with had the stout. Both the ones I had were very good beers. The food there was upper-grade pub-ish food, but was extremely reasonably priced. Especially for San Fran. Most of the stuff on the menu was around $6. Had excellent vegetarian sandwiches, too. Can't wait to get back and try the place again. Gold Dust has about 20 or 30 beers on tap, but we only stayed there for 1 beer since it turned out they didn't take Amex, and the only food they served was pre-made sandwiches. It was a really cool retro-lounge-lizard sort of place, though, with red velvet seats with high backs, that sort of thing. Looked very fancy, but was done in a mocking sort of way. Apparantly they regularly feature some very good live music, but we didn't stay around since we were hungry. We both had the Erdinger Hefeweizen, imported from Germany. Served in a proper Hefewiezen glass, but unfortunately it was very off. It didn't really taste foul or bad, it was just definitely not the taste of a Hefeweizen. I was EXTREMELY disappointed, especially since I was so thrilled to see Erdinger on tap initially. Jack's (I'm uncertain of the name because now I'm mixed up with the "Jax" steakhouse we went to for lunch one day, but I think it's called "Jack's in the Cannery") boasted 110 taps, but unfortunately almost half of them were not serving beer. They had a huge list of all their beers, and another huge list of which ones were not available at the moment. About 20 to 30 micros on tap. Nice environment. Had a really old (37?) roadster inside. Live folk music. In addition to not having many of the beers, they had almost no seafood available, even though we were almost right on the wharf. There was lots on the menu, but the waitress kept saying "sorry, not available" when we asked for it. We figured you have to have seafood down in that area. Apparantly they get their order on Wednesdays, and we were unfortunate enough to be there on a Tuesday evening. So we had to settle for burgers and fries. Luckily they did have the Anchor Porter on tap, and it definitely worth the rest of the misfortune we'd had there. It wasn't as different from the bottled version as Steam on tap is from it's counterpart, but it definitely had a fuller taste to it. Very nice! Don't recall the other ones I'd had. I'd definitely go back to Jack's - just not on a Tuesday night ;-) The Magnolia (Haight and Masonic - down near Golden Gate Park) was a rather small and very trendy little place. "Hippy" sort of food in some regards. They had a very excellent Chili, some exceptionally good sandwiches, and the mashed-potato thing which I had was excellent, too. 7 or 8 of their own beers on tap, a couple of which doubled as cask-conditioned as well. They also had "guest beers" from other micros. I got to try a Prohibition which I understand Jeffrey Donovan (a la Promash) helps brew. It was my favorite beer of the evening, though I did thoroughly enjoy all I tried. Will certainly come back here. We also got to the E&O Trading Company, but they were having a privite Shin-Dig so we had to take off elsewhere. It was downtown, very huge inside, and looked to be extremely trendy. Can't wait to be in town again to give this place a proper try. In addition to the beer, I also got to try a good number of local restoraunts. San Fran is afterall famous for it's variety of food. Got some North (East) Indian BBQ (Tandoor), a couple of steak houses, Foley's Irish Pub was excellent, a Chinese place which served a Californian twist on bacon and eggs (served a fresh fruit salad in place of the hash browns - almost made it healthy). All in all, I can't wait to go back! I really love San Francisco! cheers, -Alan - -- - -- Alan McKay amckay at ottawa.com http://www.bodensatz.com/ What's a bodensatz? http://www.bodensatz.com/bodensatz.html Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 21:27:46 -0800 From: "Brian Dixon" <briandixon at home.com> Subject: Re: Oxygenator regulator >Anyway, I want to use those red disposable O2 bottles and a regulator, but I >can't seem to find the regulator. I checked Home Depot, Menards, Lowes, >McMaster Carr... Can't seem to find them. I'm thinking I should have just >bought the oxygenator from Liquid Bread. They seem to be able to get the >right regulator. I'm thinking of a welding supply store next ( I need a CO2 >tank for my kegs anyway). I think what you really need is just a valve. I bought the Oxynator from Liquid Bread and it just uses a valve ... no regulator. You just turn it all the way on, and off you go! (And off your beer goes!). BTW, you are saving much more than 30 minutes when you avoid the aquarium pump ... you also avoid having to wait for the foam to die down over and over. With the oxygen system, I run 20 seconds into it, let the foam drop (1 or 2 minutes), then run 20 seconds into it again. Brian Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 10:32:19 -0800 From: Cave <cave at psc.org> Subject: Classical music and Beer Liz Blades comments on enjoying classical music and beer. In my view, when making the latter, the former is an essential ingredient to the process. Other music just won't do--beer quality will suffer. Further, when enjoying the former, the latter is an essential ingredient to the process! Jim Cave Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 15:44:31 -0800 From: Pat Babcock <babcockp at mediaone.net> Subject: Musical brewers Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager.... Jim cave emotes: Liz Blades comments on enjoying classical music and beer. In my view, when making the latter, the former is an essential ingredient to the process. Other music just won't do-beer quality will suffer. Au contraire, mon ami! Though I deeply enjoy classical music, I find country music imparts that je ne sais quoi I require to brew well. (And if I don't find the time to brew soon, I'll explode! Or be overrun by the yeast stater I have had going for the last month or so. Five liters and counting...) Sensibilities vary! - See ya! Pat Babcock in SE Michigan pbabcock at hbd.com Home Brew Digest Janitor janitor@hbd.org HBD Web Site http://hbd.org The Home Brew Page http://hbd.org/pbabcock/ "Just a cyber-shadow of his former brewing self..." Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 16:58:14 -0600 From: rlabor at lsumc.edu (LaBorde, Ronald) Subject: RE: Controlling Fermentation Temperature From: Harley Ellenberger <HarleyE at CMAGTRACKS.com> >I am wondering if you can offer any suggestions on simple ways to control >fermentation temperatures........Any ideas For simplicity and results, you just can't beat the method of placing your fermenter into a rectangular picnic cooler filled halfway with cold water. Place a 2 or 3 liter plastic pop bottle of frozen water into the cooler on each side. Rotate two more pop bottles between your freezer and the fermenter as needed. Ron Ronald La Borde - Metairie, Louisiana - rlabor at lsumc.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 17:24:51 -0600 From: rlabor at lsumc.edu (LaBorde, Ronald) Subject: RE: beer/alcohol regulations From: "Larry Maxwell" <larrymax at bellsouth.net> >Having just moved to Georgia from California, I'm trying to come >to grips with the restrictive alcohol laws here Larry, you named the subject line "beer/alcohol regulations", but I must tell you the government and those in present control call this same subject "alcohol/drug regulations". This difference to a sensitive and alert person should be heard as a loud message of impending danger. Just listen to the television news broadcasts, and I am sure you will hear every mention of any shooting, of any traffic accident, of and disturbance involving alcohol always reported as alcohol/drug related. If I do not have your attention yet, let me implore you one more time - I have noticed a subtle and insidious marriage of the words alcohol and drugs by the government and the media. I too was caught by surprise when in Georgia and very shortly after purchasing another beer to go with my Pizza Hut pizza, at 11:55 PM the waitress informed us that we needed to drink the beer in 5 minutes or have it confiscated. My reaction (which immensely pi$$ed off the waitress) was to ask if I was required to also urinate before midnight. The bullies are flexing their muscles, heed the warning all. Ron Ronald La Borde - Metairie, Louisiana - rlabor at lsumc.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 18:41:08 -0500 From: "Doug Moyer" <shyzaboy at yahoo.com> Subject: Kettle drain system Brewers, In an effort to get more out of the kettle, I replaced my loosely coiled SS washing machine hose sheath with a loop of 1/2" copper tube with slots cut into the bottom every 1/2" or so. The diameter of the loop is about 10", so I could do a proper whirlpool, leaving the stuff in the middle. (Note: my washing machine hose sheath worked fine as long as I didn't use pellet hops--it just left too much wort behind as it stopped draining when any part of the bundle went above wort surface level.) The only batch that I did using my new drain worked great with water, but only drained about a quart of wort before stopping completely. This batch (a biere de garde) seemed to have a huge amount of floaties (break?). I boiled for 30 minutes before adding the single hop addition, and then 60 minutes after. I added 1/2 tsp. of Irish moss at 15 min. Also, the cooling post-boil was slower than usual (tried something else new.) I don't know if the inability to drain was due to this fluffy break, or to a poor manifold design. I didn't have any difficulty when I made the batch the first time, but I had a racking cane siphon system then. Anyone with real experience along this line want to speculate? Brew on! Doug Moyer Salem, VA Star City Brewers Guild: http://hbd.org/starcity Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 18:46:31 -0500 From: "Doug Moyer" <shyzaboy at yahoo.com> Subject: re: beer/alcohol regulations "Larry Maxwell" <larrymax at bellsouth.net> sez: "Does anyone know of a source that would tell me what efforts are being or have been made to change them, particularly in Georgia?" I'm sure that the AHA is working diligently to sponsor grass roots efforts to reform these laws. </sarcasm> Brew on! Doug Moyer Salem, VA Star City Brewers Guild: http://hbd.org/starcity last line designed to be removed by the new hbd software Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 19:13:47 -0500 (EST) From: patrick finerty <zinc at zifi.psf.sickkids.on.ca> Subject: source for SS washers? howdy fellow brewers, i need to purchase a couple of SS washers for the ball valve i'll be installing in my brewing kettle. i'm going with a 1/2 in OD valve and have seen 13/16 in (ID) washers on McMaster-Carr but they sell them in packs of 25; i only need two to four. home depot does not have ss washers this large. if anyone has another place i can look, i'd appreciate it. also, i'm going to be buying teflon washers from McMaster-Carr but if you know of a store carrying these, that would be great. slainte! patrick in toronto - -- "There is only one aim in life and that is to live it." Karl Shapiro,(1959) from an essay on Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer finger pfinerty at nyx10.nyx.net for PGP key Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 19:27:23 EST From: Ballsacius at aol.com Subject: Mead I recently read something that got my attention. It made mention of mint flavored mead. I have been entertaining the idea of making a few meads. I have never tried one but am always up for a new adventure. Where could I find(or taste) a "commercial" mead. I would like to try a couple before i put the time and effort into making one of these concoctions. I would like to try to make maybe a "mint" flavored mead and a subtle rasberry flavored mead. Any help, or suggestions. Thanks to all in advance. Bob Fesmire Madman Brewry Pottstown,PA Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 19 Dec 1999 20:55:43 EST From: DawgDoctor at aol.com Subject: Mash Efficiency Please help me calculate my extraction efficiency. 8 # Marris Otter 0.5 # Flaked Barley 1.0 # Flaked Wheat 0.5 # Dextrine Malt 0.5 # 60 L Crystal Malt 0.5 # Chocolate Malt 0.5 # Roasted Barley 11.5 # total grain + adjuncts 104 F 140 F 158 F x 30 min each mash schedule Initial runnings 1.062 pH=5.2 Final runnings 1.032 pH=5.3 Kettle (collected 7 gallons) 1.042 pH 5.15 Return to table of contents
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