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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Hands-Free Beer Glass ("Jeff Hewit")
  Airlocks (Mike Lemons)
  Re: RE: Draft box  - Funny you should mention that ("RJ")
  making a starter (leavitdg)
  Pretzel recipe? (Mark Linton)
  Full-wort boils ("Bill Pierce")
  Beer Kit Delima ("gmc")
  Malt fermentability ("Fred L. Johnson")
  Polygamy Porter (Jeff Renner)
  Thought for the day ("Bret Mayden")
  My take on Wort Chillers (Bob Sheck)
  Is it ok to reuse an inline filter? ("Lou King")


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Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2001 00:44:29 -0500
From: "Jeff Hewit" <aleman at home.com>
Subject: Hands-Free Beer Glass

Does anyone know a source for a hands-free beer glass?  I have seen them - a
container with a cord you can put around your neck so you can use both hands
without needing to find a spot to place your beer - great for crowded
parties.  If possible, I would like to get them in quantity as a fund raiser
for my homebrew club.  Thanks in advance to anyone with any information.



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Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2001 01:30:20 -0800
From: Mike Lemons <ndcent at hotmail.com>
Subject: Airlocks

I really depend on airlocks. The frequency of the bubbles tells me what
stage the fermentation is at. Sure gravity readings would probably be
more accurate, but it is such a pain to get a sample out of the
fermenter! I've got one of those big glass wine thief things, but it
dribbles on my carpet. It's very long and hard to sanitize. Compare this
to the pleasant experience of pulling up a chair and listening to the
airlock. It reminds me of when I had a vegetable garden and would sit in
the back yard watching the plants grow.

I don't understand these air leakage problems that people are having.
It's basically a big glass bottle with a thick rubber stopper stuck in
it. There is an airlock in the stopper that takes a lot of force to
remove. It seems like a leak proof design to me.

My plastic primary could leak, but it doesn't seem to. I recently bought
a new one and discovered that it didn't have a rubber seal in the lid. I
was going to call and complain, but I decided to do a test first. I put
a gallon of water in it and a solid rubber stopper and turned it upside
down. No water leaked out. I guess the lid forms a seal like a C-clamp
and the back of the C doesn't matter.

As for how an airlock gets dirty, it happens to me when I use it when I
should have used a blow off tube. This is a bad thing because the
airlock will become clogged and build up pressure. Have you ever seen a
plastic primary before it blows its top? I was surprised at how
spherical they can be.

I try to predict whether I will need the blow off tube based on gravity,
temperature, yeast and fill level. Sometimes I'm wrong. I should
probably use a blow off tube for every new batch, but an airlock is so
much easier to use. Trying to get a blow off tube to bend the way you
want is like working with a live ox tail. I've been using a 1 inch O.D.
tube that will only form a seal in a 1 inch hole when it is exactly
vertical. It's hard to clean and finally got so cruddy that I threw it
away. I found a 1 inch I.D. tube at the hardware store. It was wrapped
so tightly around the spool that it got smashed like an anaheim pepper.
I jammed a beer bottle in the end, so maybe it will be somewhat round by
the time I need it.

I have a little brush for cleaning air locks. It works pretty well
except for the curvy parts of the fancy glass ones. I'm sorry to hear
that you can't buy those anymore. (glass airlocks) Although they are
fragile, they are really something to look at. I bought three of them
about ten years ago. The place is still in business, but they don't seem
to have a catalog online: http://www.semplexofusa.com/ I have a soft
place in my heart for them because they sent me a free catalog when I
was in grade school and I answered their ad in Popular Science.

Mike Lemons
Carlsbad, CA


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Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2001 07:51:34 -0500
From: "RJ" <wortsup at metrocast.net>
Subject: Re: RE: Draft box  - Funny you should mention that

"Audie Kennedy" <audie_24293 at yahoo.com> wrote:

"...I considered doing what you suggest, but went a different route.  I
built a cooler for my cornie kegs out of a $8 trash can, $10 of insulation,
a $3 five gallon
plastic bucket, a $3 sleeping pad, and that cheap tubing.  I duct-taped a
cylinder made from the sleeping pad onto the top of the bucket, placed it in
the middle of the trash can, insulated all around, and made a "collar" from
the left over sleeping pad to cover the gap between the cylinder and the
wall of the trash can. I used a $1 piece of pipe insulation around the top
of the cylinder to give it a finished look.  I cool the beer by putting a
few ice cubes down in the bucket, then placing a 2-liter soda bottle with
ice on top of the keg..." <snip>

Audie & et al,

I do basically the same thing as you, but even simpler, I have a 55 gallon
"Rubbermaid" trash can with a pull handle and wheels - (yup, same one I use
in the winter to CF in, but that's another thread) - I put a large wet heavy
terry towel in the bottom, the "can" will accommodate (2) 5 gallon cornies,
and (1) 3 gallon corny; the CO2 tank sits outside in the warmth, allowing
easy adjustsments and better pressure; after arrainging the kegs, fill with
ice and add a second large wet heavy terry towel on top.

The can cover has (3) small holes cut out of the top, thru which I pass the
beer line (one caveat to my system is that you need "flair screw" hose
connections); while the upper side wall has a hole to accommodate the gas
line(s) in.  The cover has a built in twist-lock system that is integral
with the handle in the flipped-up position (in other words, it won't come
off unless you really want it too).

Will keep beer cold for up to 24 hours (provided it was cold to begin with,
and at least partially shaded).

Clean up is a snap, too...

RJ <aka Olde Phenomian>
43:30:3.298N x 71:39:9.911W
Lakes Region - NH




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Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2001 07:21:51 -0500 (EST)
From: leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu
Subject: making a starter

Dan mentions his method of drawing off some fresh wort, cooling with bottled
water then starting his dry yeast in the mix.  I certainly think that this is
better than just adding the dry yeast to the fermenter, ie without re-hydrating,
but my question is this:  Some have said that yeast can get osmotic shock if
the gravity of the medium they re-enter life in is too high.  I wonder, is there
an optimal mix of wort and water (gravity) below which this method might be 
ok for those of us who buy into the osmotic shock concept?

Or, is it just better/ safer to rehydrate with warm water...?

 ..Darrell
[500, something...Rennerian]


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Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2001 09:31:44 -0600
From: Mark Linton <cryptcl at earthlink.net>
Subject: Pretzel recipe?

Hi all,

I joined the list a little late, and have been following the lye/pretzel 
recipe thread.  I keep hoping that someone will attribute an earlier post 
with the recipe attached.  No luck so far.

Would someone be so kind as to post it again, or email it to me directly?

My first homebrew batch (too dark, but whatta ya gonna do...) is a Munchner 
Helles.  It's been in the keg for two weeks, and I've been sampling it 
recently - it's aging nicely.  This beer just begs for a soft pretzel.

I was in Munich two months ago and enjoyed the pretzels at the 
Augustinerkeller by the train station - how I wish I could peek at the 
grain bill/hop bill for the Augustiner Helles!  My guess is that it's 
predominantly Saaz hops, but I'm willing to be corrected.

Prost,

Mark
  



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Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2001 11:26:09 -0600
From: "Bill Pierce" <BillPierce at aol.com>
Subject: Full-wort boils

The recent posts about the desirability of a full-wort boil, as opposed to
boiling a concentrated portion of the wort and diluting it off with water in
the fermenter, ignores one very important benefit in my mind.  I'm firmly
convinced that full-wort boils result in better beer and that one of the
causes of the so-called "extract tang" found in some beers is boiling only
part of the wort.

On quite a number of occasions I have judged beers that received very high
scores in competitions, including at least two best-of-show winners, that
later I discovered were brewed with extract.  In every case when I have
spoken with the brewer I have found that the full volume of wort was boiled.
This leads me to conclude that full-wort boils contribute to better flavor
and improved quality.

An analogy I can make is the difference between condensed soups to which
water is added when they are heated and soups in which the full volume is
heated.

Brew on!

Bill Pierce
Cellar Door Homebrewery
Highwood, IL




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Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2001 15:04:14 -0600
From: "gmc" <gmc at setel.com>
Subject: Beer Kit Delima

I recently bought a beer kit that instructed me to add the ingredients to 2
gallons of water for the boil. This contradicts everything I've read on the
subject. I was under the impression that a 3 gallon boil was typical for a 5
gallon batch. I guess my question here is, what's the difference between
boiling 3 and adding 2 or boiling 2 and adding 3? Any information on the
matter is greatly appreciated.

Greg Collins
Clay City, Kentucky




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Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2001 17:18:17 -0500
From: "Fred L. Johnson" <FLJohnson at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Malt fermentability

Following on the recent thread regarding malts that produce less fermentable
wort, I just had another experience suggesting that this variability can be
a significant issue.   I just brewed a 1.047 porter with 17% of the grist
composed of malts kilned at elevated temperatures (crystal 60, chocolate,
and black patent).  The base malt was English Pale.  Mashed for 90 min at
151 F.  I used a 1600 ml starter of Wyeast 1318 prepared by continuous slow
infusion, aeration, and stirring of 1.060 wort.  This type of starter has
consistently provided me with goodly amounts of healthy yeast.  (However,
this IS a new yeast for me.)

Fermentation started off normally under the house at 65 F, but I had a cold
snap and the ambient temperature under the house dropped to 57 F on day 2.
Fermentation was considerably slower on day 3 and didn't pick up again when
the ambient temperature came back up to about 68 F.  I transferred the beer
to a secondary on day 5. Gravity was 1.019. Because attenuation was so poor,
I left the secondary in the house at 72 F for several days.  Some very slow
bubbling continued for a day or two but it was obviously close to finished.
The beer became still and clear for several days and was bottled with a
final gravity of 1.017, Clinitest tested 1/4% sugar--a useful test used in
the appropriate context--indicating a low liklihood that a significant
amount of fermentables were present.

I believe there was ample opportunity for the yeast (if it had become cold
shocked) to consume any fermentables that were available, and my conclusion
is that the wort simply was not very fermentable.

We've all read the tables of the amount of extract we can get from various
malts, and these generally are right on target for obtaining desired
original gravities, but nowhere have I read anything on the fermentability
of wort obtained from these.  Such would be another very useful malt
parameter to publish.  (I'm of the camp that believes there is little
difference between most brewing yeasts in their ability to ferment a given
wort.) 

Comments/flames?
- -- 
Fred L. Johnson
Apex, North Carolina
USA

- -- 
Fred L. Johnson
Apex, North Carolina
USA



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Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2001 10:07:12 -0500
From: Jeff Renner <JeffRenner at mediaone.net>
Subject: Polygamy Porter

Brewers

Fun story from 
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.brew09nov09.story:

Jeff

 -=-=-=-=-

Utah beer's flippant ads land brewmaster in the suds
State liquor commission censors jokes; billboard companies refuse space
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Candus Thomson
Sun National Staff
Originally published November 9, 2001


PARK CITY, Utah - Polygamy Porter tastes good. The question in this 
Mormon-dominated state is whether the billboard advertising for the 
beer is in good taste.

Greg Schirf, the brewmaster and owner of Wasatch Beer, insists the 
slogans, "Why have just one?" and "Take some home for the wives," are 
in good fun.
But the Utah Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission and two local 
billboard companies disagree.

The state agency has toyed with the idea of banning advertising that 
pokes fun at religion while the billboard companies have refused to 
rent Schirf space on their signs.

Although acquiring multiple wives has been illegal in Utah since 1890 
 - a ban required by the federal government as a condition for 
statehood - there are still pockets of practicing polygamists.

Civic leaders promoting a cosmopolitan image consider it a sore point 
to bring up an activity once sanctioned by the Church of Jesus Christ 
of Latter-day Saints, as the Mormons are formally known.

That Schirf would poke fun at Utah's embarrassing history has become 
a brew-haha that is taking on Olympic proportions.

"They're being thick-headed," says Schirf, who knows a thing or two 
about heads. "With everyone watching because of the Winter Olympics, 
they don't seem to realize they are drawing more attention to 
themselves. I couldn't pay for this kind of publicity."


Steering clear of issue

But Reagan Outdoor Advertising, which had a one-year contract with 
Schirf, and Young Electric Sign Co. are sticking to their guns.

"We just do not want to be associated in any way with anything that 
associates in any way with polygamy," company President Dewey Reagan 
told The Salt Lake Tribune.

"The entire ad is offensive."

Seventy percent of Utah residents are Mormons, a religion that 
forbids the consumption of alcohol and frowns on caffeine.

Government at all levels, including the liquor board, is dominated by 
church members.

Park City, home to Schirf's Wasatch Brew Pub, is not so sober-minded.

It is Utah's party central, a skiing town about 45 minutes outside 
Salt Lake City that attracts both the Mountain Dew and the Veuve 
Clicquot crowds.

It's the perfect place for beers such as Polygamy Porter and St. 
Provo Girl ("If you just said 'Oh my heck,' it's probably not for 
you").

And Schirf, a fun-loving guy with a beer-barrel shape, is no stranger 
to fermenting controversy.

He wrestled with state regulators to license microbreweries and brew 
pubs in the 1980s. And two years ago, he successfully tangled with 
Olympic organizers over his "2002 Unofficial Amber Ale."

"I'll never understand that one," he says.

"Which part did they have licensed? 2002? Unofficial?"

The current spat is starting to attract worldwide attention, 
especially from the European press, which already is skeptical of 
Utah's ability to party down beneath the shadow of the Mormon Temple.

The Dutch Olympic team has paid $180,000 to turn a golf course 
country club in a nearby suburb into Holland Heineken House.

Park City is leasing its library and education annex to the Norwegian 
Olympic team for $200,000.

Anheuser-Busch, a $50 million Olympic sponsor, has paid an extra 
$155,000 to lease the city-owned Gallivan Center for a beer garden.


Legality questioned

The liquor board took an awkward run last month at trying to head off 
Schirf's style of mischief, passing a regulation that banned ads 
using religious themes or symbols.

But the board approved the measure during an apparently secret 
meeting, raising questions about its legal underpinnings.

The matter is now in court.

Meanwhile, Schirf is the life of the party, selling beer and 
merchandise on his Web site (www. utahbrewers.com) and promoting Park 
City.

"I'm getting 400 online orders for T-shirts every day. The beer is 
flying off the shelves," Schirf crows.

"The church has been so helpful, I should tithe 10 percent. It's the 
only right thing to do."
- -- 
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner at mediaone.net
"One never knows, do one?"  Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943


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Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2001 22:10:05 +0000
From: "Bret Mayden" <brmayden at hotmail.com>
Subject: Thought for the day


"But man is a lazy creature!  There are times, many times, when he feels the 
strain of polite society, when he would escape from the charming necessities 
of being on his good behavior before the delightful creatures who often 
demand good behavior.  These are the times when he wishes to retire with a 
group of 'kinspirits' and drink beer.  The female, for the most part, is 
willing to allow him to do this, as she does not apparently love that noble 
beverage.  Thus we have our place cut out for us.  We know where we can 
escape.  The brewing and drinking, in masculine society, of good beer, is 
our last frontier, our last refuge.  Let us make the most of it!  We may 
never have another."

From: The Homemade Beer Book, Vrest Orton, 1973, Charles E. Tuttle Co.
First published privately in 1932 (height of Prohibition) for members of 
"The Company of Amatuer Brewers," a private homebrew club.



Bret A. Mayden
Oklahoma City, OK
brmayden at hotmail.com



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Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2001 21:27:30 -0500
From: Bob Sheck <bsheck at skantech.net>
Subject: My take on Wort Chillers

I have used both, but in the main, I have made 
an immersion chiller from 50' of 3/8 copper wrapped 
around a corny keg. I've used this for the last 5 yrs, 
and I find it quite suitable.

My brewing friend has made a CFC which hooks up to his
large boiling vessel's valve.  The last several batches (12 gal 
which we have split into our respective fermentors)
have been cooled with this method. 

Which do I prefer? I like the simplicity of the immersion chiller.
Although the convenience of having cold wort flow 
directly into your fermenter is nice. No fooling around with 
swirling the immersion chiller around. I can sit back and relax, 
not worry, have a homebrew. However, there is the prep-work of
cleaning/sanitizing the rig before the boil, and cleaning 
it after the boil.

We run about 5 gallons boiling water through the CFC before 
the wort boil and then about the same amount after the boil 
to rinse. then we wrap the ends with sanitized aluminum 
foil for storage between use.  This is a lot of work!

With the immersion chiller, I just periodically use copper polish on it to
remove the verdigris on the outside, then clean with Logic's A+ 
to remove whatever gunk was in the copper polish, then rinse, 
wipe down, rinse, rinse, rinse, then into the boil the last 
10 minutes before the end of the boil.

During the cooling process, I swirl the coil around. and 
once the boiler is cool to the touch, up and down to 
oxygenate the wort, then when cool, whirlpool, 
remove, and rack to the fermenter.

A quick rinse with the garden hose to blast off the trub
and into a plastic bag for the next brew evolution. No messing
around with boiling 2 5 gallon batches of water to clean and
sanitize. No worry about what kind of verdigris build-up is going
on inside the CFC tube, no worry at all! No worry about Irish Moss
build-up inside the tube, or hop jams -yea, with an immersion chiller
you can use leaves all you want, and not worry about enclosing them
in bags (as long as you have a screen on the bottom of your boiler
or outlet tube to act as a hop-back).

I would have to say that immersion is easier than CFC in use, cleaning,
and energy use. There may be better methods, but as for simplicity, I
have to say that immersion is the way to go. The CFC is nice, but
there is a lot of dicking around with it to insure that it's sanitized and clean
and rinsed after use. I just like to relax, not worry and have a lot
of homebrews!




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Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2001 22:08:09 -0500
From: "Lou King" <lking at pobox.com>
Subject: Is it ok to reuse an inline filter?

Sort of on the discussion of cloudy beer, today I tried filtering for
the first time.  I got a spun poly 1 micron filter from Beer, Beer and
More Beer (FIL40 with FIL62).  Beer, Beer and More Beer recommends
against reusing the filter.  See 
http://www.morebeer.com/index.html?page=detail.php3&pid=FIL62 .
However, looking at the St. Patrick's of Texas web site
http://www.stpats.com/filtering.pdf, they say to seal the filter in the
housing, using a bleach solution to sanitize it.  NAYYY

Has anyone had any experience one way or the other trying to sanitize an
inline filter?  The filter isn't that much money, probably worth the
expense, but I wouldn't mind using it a few times before tossing it out.
(Even St. Pat's says only use the filter 2-3 times).

BTW, since I normally keg my beer, it was really easy to use the filter,
you just need an extra keg.  Took about an hour including sanitation and
cleanup, to filter 10 gallons (two Corny kegs).

Lou King (Lou's Brews) Ijamsville, MD; [394.4, 118.4] Rennerian




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