HOMEBREW Digest #3807 Fri 07 December 2001


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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  more freezer talk (M340HILL)
  RE: Fermentap ("Bissell, Todd S")
  RE: Using Cornelius keg as secondary (John Wilkinson)
  ProstRate problems ("Peter Fantasia")
  Local Club Competitions ("Mark Tumarkin")
  mash compacting with pump ("Bridges, Scott")
  AHA 2nd Round Judging ("Mark Tumarkin")
  RE: Ice to cool wort ("Adam Warren")
  Re: Ice for cooling wort ("Steve Wood")
  Re: Ice for cooling wort ("Doug Hurst")
  Scaling Down (mohrstrom)
  Ice for cooling wort (Calvin Perilloux)
  re: Wort Aeration-Infection ("Steve Alexander")
  Buck (ALABREW)
  re: wheat yeast flavor ("Steve Alexander")
  Subject: __publication_only__ (susan woodall)
  ice for cooling ("Scott Basil")
  re: Wort Aeration-Infection (Jeff Renner)
  Laying down beer ("Mark Tumarkin")

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2001 23:44:00 EST From: M340HILL at aol.com Subject: more freezer talk Yet another caution about drilling freezers. Often a condenser line whith "hot" gas is routed near the door seal to prevent freezing the seal. I saw one freezer ruined by the installion of a pad lock. Sincerely. Mark Hill Zinzinnati Ohio Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2001 21:12:50 -0800 From: "Bissell, Todd S" <bis9170 at home.com> Subject: RE: Fermentap >On Tue, 04 Dec 2001 22:23:27 -0600, Brian Dube <bdube at gotgoat.com> wrote: ? >A question for the group: > >Do you think it would be difficult to build a Fermentap-style device with a >larger diameter to prevent clogs? The picture I have seen on morebeer.com >looks a little complicated, but probably not too complicated to build and >modify. Any thoughts on this? >From what I understand, it's not just the diameter of the bottom Fermentap spout assembly that presents a challenge. Assuming that you're talking about using an inverted glass carboy ala Fermentap, it's also the fact that the bottom cone is generally not steep enough to get all of the yeast to slide down to the very bottom. I've read that 60-degrees is the "magic number", in terms of how steep this bottom cone needs to be...... Cheers, Todd Bissell Imperial Beach, CA Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2001 00:39:59 -0600 From: John Wilkinson <jwilkinson at goquest.com> Subject: RE: Using Cornelius keg as secondary John Wagner wrote: >I'm a relative newby and have just aquired a few cornelius kegs. Does anyone >use these as secondary fermentors by putting a trap on the inlet line and >plugging the outlet line? I know that there is some sediment in the bottom >of the secondary. Can I pressurize this out through the outlet line or will >it clog the line up? I routinely use cornelius kegs for secondaries. I ferment in a 10 gallon Cornelius type keg and transfer to two 5 gallon kegs using a three headed out to out transfer tube, driving the beer with CO2. I purge the secondaries with CO2 prior to the transfer. The out tubes on the secondary kegs are shortened about an inch to leave sediment behind when later transferring to the serving keg. I put the secondaries into a converted chest freezer lagering fridge for settling. When I transfer to a serving keg I don't move the secondary so as to not stir up the sediment in the bottom. I have never had nearly enough sediment to come close to clogging the output line. The fermenter out tube was clogged with yeast on the batch before the last one I transferred from the fermenter, however. This was the fourth batch from the same yeast and it had built up to a thick mat all the way up to the shortened out tube in the fermenter. I ended up transferring a lot of yeast to the secondary so when I transfer that batch to serving kegs I may have a lot more sediment than usual. I doubt it will be enough to cause a problem, however. After transferring that batch I dumped a lot of the yeast before putting in the next batch of wort. I had no problem with the transfer of that batch today. John Wilkinson Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 07:31:58 -0500 From: "Peter Fantasia" <fantasiapeter at hotmail.com> Subject: ProstRate problems As your resident biologist I must take issue with Jim's prostrate problem. The problem you describe Jim is caused by the prostate. The prostrate is a little known gland wich causes older men to want to lie around the house. Especially after a few pints. LOL Pete Fantasia Mays Landing, NJ Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 08:12:27 -0500 From: "Mark Tumarkin" <mark_t at ix.netcom.com> Subject: Local Club Competitions We also hold a monthly style competition in our club, Hogtown Brewers of Gainesville, FL. We have set up a calendar that covers all the styles, folding related styles together to fit into a yearly schedule. Each brewer is limited to a max of two entries per contest. Points are awarded as follows: 5 points for 1st place, 3 points for 2nd, 2 for 3rd, 1 for entering (points awarded only for your highest score, unless placing). Points are also awarded for wins at AHA/BJCP contests on the same basis, with addtl 3 points for Best of Show (but no points for just entering). At each meeting, we also hold a related presentation/tasting for the style that will be the judged two months later. For example,our next competition is on Browns & Milds - the presentation/tasting was held at the October meeting. We taste a variety of examples (mostly commercial, but also homebrewed), and learn about the history, brewing procedures, recipe issues, etc for the style. This then gives us two months to brew an example for the upcoming comp Of course this doesn't work for the big beers like barleywine, but does work well for most styles. We used to do the judging at the meetings, but that didn't work out well. So we started holding the judging at a different time. Currently, we are doing a BJCP study group once a month, and we are holding the judging at that time. We have always used a mix of BJCP judges and novice judges. This is a great way for brewers to get some judging experience without the pressure of being part of a sanctioned competition. I'd highly recommend starting a monthly competition if your club isn't already holding one. This is the third year since we started holding the competition and presentations. Participation has been slowly growing. This year it has been fantastic and the race is down to the wire. There are currently three brewers tied for first place, and three other brewers within one or two points of the leaders. So the results of the the last competition will determine the final standings. You can imagine the level of exitement this generates. Mark Tumarkin Primary Fermenter Hogtown Brewers, Gainesville, FL Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 08:15:38 -0500 From: "Bridges, Scott" <ScottBridges at sc.slr.com> Subject: mash compacting with pump Rob writes: >Date: Wed, 05 Dec 2001 07:31:02 -0600 >From: Rob Dewhirst <robd at biocomplexity.nhm.ukans.edu> >Subject: Re: Pump recirculation using a grant > >>Q1: Is there a problem with hooking the mash tun outflow hose directly to >>the pump? I thought I read there could be a problem with grain bed >>compaction if the pump outflow was too fast. > >Yes, you can compact the grain bed by hooking the outflow directly up to a >pump. This is not to dispute the experience of other brewers, but to provide another data point. I've been using a magnetic drive pump for probably 5-6 years connected directly to the mash tun outlet and I've never, ever had a problem with the grain bed being compacted. I'm not sure under what conditions this occurs to other brewers. I've made many different beers using widely varying grain bills from 5 gallon up to about 12 gallon batches. Not once did I compact the grain bed. Scott Brewing in Columbia, SC Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 09:38:04 -0500 From: "Mark Tumarkin" <mark_t at ix.netcom.com> Subject: AHA 2nd Round Judging I thought I'd chime on the thread of lower scores at the 2nd Round AHA Nationals. First of all, let me say that I agree with Jeff Gladish. From a judging standpoint, there's no reason to expect different scores at the 2nd Round. The competition should be stiffer because all the entries have already been judged as winners at the 1st Round, but each beer is judged individually. Of course, we all know that the same beer can get widely varying scores at different competitions. There are many reasons for this - palate fatigue, order or position in the flight, judge experience, etc., not to mention possible deterioration over time or selection of an individual bottle that has a problem (infection, oxidation, etc). Overall, though, I think that there is remarkable consistency in judging. A beer that is given 38 points by one group of judges will usually be scored within a few points of that by a different group of judges at a different time or competition. Not always, but on the whole judging is consistent - this is certainly what we strive for. I wanted to bring up a related point. One reason that scores can be lower at the 2nd round is that some styles are truly best when young and fresh. Some styles can suffer badly over the months between rounds. For example, I judged the German Wheats at last year's 2nd Round (along with some very well known and experienced judges) We were very disappointed at the quality of the entries and the points reflected this. I'm sure that many of the beers we judged may have gotten much higher scores at the 1st Round - they were better beers back then. The esters and phenolics that characterize these styles drop off significantly over time. You can only judge the beer in front of you now, not what it may have been like. Of course, other styles (mostly the high gravity beers) can improve with time. As part of the AHA Board of Advisors, we are trying to deal with this issue for future Nationals. Years ago, the rules required that the beer entered in the 2nd Round had to be from the same batch as the beer entered in the first round. That rule had been dropped in recent years but nothing was said specifically about the issue. Starting this year; it is specified in the rules that it's the brewer's choice to rebrew a new batch for the 2nd Round or to enter the beer previously judged. This is the policy followed in the MCAB and we feel it makes a lot of sense for a multi-round contest. The brewer can make the decision based on style and other factors. The choice to rebrew has it's own dangers. How consistent are your brewing practices and results? There's no guarantee that you'll come up with an equal or better batch than the one that won in earlier round. But at least you'll have the option, clearly and specifically stated in the rules. I think this is a definite improvement and I look forward to judging some hefes and other German wheat beers with the characteristic flavor profile intact. Mark Tumarkin AHA Board of Advisors Gainesville, FL Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 10:21:53 -0400 From: "Adam Warren" <warrenal at mcmaster.ca> Subject: RE: Ice to cool wort I don't understand why the use of ice for cooling is not discussed more often. I've never seen it even mentioned in a book. If one does it carefully, I don't see why problems should arise. I fill a zip-lock bag with the correct amount of water and freeze it. (Obviously, I leave some room for expansion.) To be on the safe side, I usually put this bag in another bag. When it's time to add the ice to the wort, I rinse the outside of the bag with warm water to release the ice. I find this method has several advantages 1) You can calculate the exact amount of ice you will need to cool your wort to the desired temperature. 2) It cools the wort very quickly. 3) You don't need to mess with cooling coils and the like. Has anyone else used this technique? Does anyone understand why this technique is not used more often? Cheers, Adam Hamilton, Ontario Canada - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2001 09:04:36 +0200 From: "Braam Greyling" <braam.greyling at azoteq.com> Subject: Ice for cooling wort Henry, Dont do it !!! I also did it years ago when I started brewing. At some stage you get to throw away an entire batch of beer. The critters will come, believe me! Rather dump all the ice in your bath, add some water and put your fermentor with the hot liquid into the bath until it is cooled. That way your fermentor is also clean. Regards Braam :::::::::::::::::::::::::: Henry wrote: Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2001 14:31:14 -0500 From: "Henry Van Gemert" <hvangeme at edcen.ehhs.cmich.edu> Subject: Ice for cooling wort I'm extract brewing and in order to bring my 2 gal boil down to pitching temp, I've been emptying my icemaker and dumping it directly into the wort. I have read that this is a bad idea, because of the introduction of critters, but I've been doing this for about 10 batches now with no problems. If I'm using chlorinated municipal water in my icemaker, and emptying it about every other week, am I fairly safe in continuing to do this? Any body with longer experience than me doing this out there? Henry Portage, MI Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 09:48:49 -0700 From: "Steve Wood" <stevewo at us.ibm.com> Subject: Re: Ice for cooling wort When I did partial volume boil extract brewing, I always did the ice bath method and then added cold water to my wort to build up to the 5 gals. and hit the target pitching temp. After converting to full volume boils (extract and now mashing), I still do the ice bath method but add an extra "feature" (something I picked up here on the digest). While my wort is bathing in its ice bath, I have a 10 gal. Gott cooler that is filled with 3/4 ice and 1/4 water about 2 feet above my wort. I have the input hose of my wort chiller attached to the cooler which allows me to cycle ice cold water thru the chiller along with the ice bath (gravity fed). While the chiller is doing its duty, I keep a very gentle stir going on the wort to "mix" the wort to enhance the cool down time. The output hose of the wort chiller goes into an extra 8 gal. pot. The collected water is used for watering until it becomes cool enough, at which time I then recycle into my Gott cooler filled with ice. This method allows me to bring a boiling wort down to lager pitching temps (50F or less) in 30 minutes time. Even less, if I'm making an ale! Hope this helps. Steve Wood Tucson, AZ. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 11:22:09 -0600 From: "Doug Hurst" <DougH at theshowdept.com> Subject: Re: Ice for cooling wort I would be leery of putting ice directly into the wort to cool it. There are other options. Braam suggested dumping ice into a bathtub and putting the fermenter of hot wort in the tub. This would work as long as the fermenter's not glass. I used to immerse my brew kettle into a tub of ice water. The metal kettle is better at transferring heat than a plastic fermenter. Alternatively, you could fill 2 or 3 plastic quart sized milk jugs 3/4 full of water and freeze them (keep the caps loose or off). When it's time to chill, cap the jugs, sanitize their exteriors, and immerse them in the wort. I highly recommend acquiring a copper immersion chiller. Chilling is a lot faster and easier. They can be purchased pre-built and ready to use for around $30. Doug Hurst Chicago, IL [215, 264.5] Rennerian Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 14:14:18 -0500 From: mohrstrom at humphrey-products.com Subject: Scaling Down I'll second the vote for the Royal electronic scale sold by B^3. I checked it against a precision weight set (as well as mapped the platen) and it was spot on within its resolution of 0.1 ounce, all the way up to 8+ pounds (all of the weights I had). However, I found it at Sam's Club for $19.95 some time ago. I pose now the question of what to use at the opposite end of the spectrum - what's the best (read "cheapest") precision scale for building water, etc.? Am Sci and Surp has a little Jeweler's Balance for $12.95 that looks good. Any advice? Mark in Kalamazoo Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 12:39:29 -0800 (PST) From: Calvin Perilloux <calvinperilloux at yahoo.com> Subject: Ice for cooling wort >> I'm extract brewing and in order to bring my 2 gal boil >> down to pitching temp, I've been emptying my icemaker >> and dumping it directly into the wort. Yikes! A far better idea is to simply make an addition of cold water to the wort for cooling: Cold and sterile water. I take plastic jugs (just the gallon jugs you get bottled water in at the US stores), sanitise them, fill them with water, and put them in the fridge a day or two before brewing so they have lots of time to cool. When wort-chilling time arrives, I cool the pot in a water bath to, say, 120 F or so, which doesn't take nearly as long as cooling the wort to 70 F. Then just add it to the fermenter and add the prechilled, sterile water. A bit of easy math can give you a close enough approximation to get you near your desired pitching temperature. e.g. (2gal*120F + 3gal*38F)/(2gal + 3gal) = 71F (This is approximate, due to specific heat diffs between water and concentrated wort, but it's close enough.) If I'm not feeling trusting of the local water supply, or I want to remove chlorine/chloramines, then two days before brewing, I filter the water, boil it, and let it cool before filling the sanitised jugs for the fridge. MAKE SURE TO LET THE WATER COOL FIRST to near room temperature if you do this, or you'll ruin all the milk and meat in your now-60's-F, struggling fridge! Note that if you boil the water to sterilise it, you'll have very little oxygen in it compared to water coming straight out of the usual kitchen tap with the aerating/ filtering screen in it, so make sure to splash the water a lot as you pour it into the fermenter (or check out the thread on oxygenation via filtered air pump or O2 canister). Calvin Perilloux Middletown, Maryland, USA Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 15:53:37 -0500 From: "Steve Alexander" <steve-alexander at worldnet.att.net> Subject: re: Wort Aeration-Infection >Then comes the important part - I "crack" the hose connection at the >outlet to allow the pump to pull in a stream of air bubbles. .... >Obviously, if you have problems with infections this method isn't for >you - use a filter. I was shocked a few years back when HBing with a friend in Arizona and he cooled the wort in an open kettle outdoors. I always assumed the drier climate was part of the story, but to hear JeffR in soggy Michigan can get away with this is another surprise. What I do know is this. Open wort at my old place under the trees in Fall was a formula for 'white-floatie' infection. This stuff is a pernicious mold which has on several occasions appeared to make it's way through a fermentation lock filled with water. I remember conversations with Al Korzonas about newbies in Chicagoland having endless infection problems in Fall too. So much that he advised beginners to avoid brewing in Autumn and didn't brew much during that period. There are a lot of possible explanations, but my renewed interest in winemaking has convinced me that even in a naturally infected substrate like grapes it's possible to get a reasonably clean primary fermentation by pitching big. You can get bacterial contamination and DMS etc during the early hours of fermentation, but the serious headaches begin after the primary fermentation when the yeast are nearly done and the very few organisms that can handle the high alcohol, low pH and lack of oxygen emerge. There aren't many such organisms, especially if oxygen is unavailable. If you don't have any of these rare critters in you're neighborhood and you pitch big and keep the O2 out after the primary then you can probably ignore most of the rules regarding brewing sanitation (beer not starters). >A.J. DeLange posted [...] how quickly yeast at proper pitching rates >took saturation of O2 down to zero - I think it was under ten >minutes. So I figure I'm getting continuous oxygenation of the yeast >for an hour. My recollection is 20 minutes but no matter. I just read a paper that showed that saturation levels of O2 (20ppm) disappear in UNPITCHED wort in about 2 hours. There are a lot of chemical processes that love to gobble up the O2 and most result in negative color and flavor changes. O2 addition for yeast growth is an absolute *must* and there is no substitute, but don't over-aerate your pitched wort just for grins. The critical period for anaerobically grown healthy yeast (like pitch-packs or fermented-out starters) is when they draw down their trehalose reserves and make most of the sterols and UFAs - usually the first couple hours. Once the first CO2 bubbles appear (approximately the time when the yeasts internal reserves like trehalose are used up) then the wort sugars should induce Crabtree effect and the yeast won't use O2 for fermentation or sterols, even if it's present. This changes in a matter of hours as the sugar levels decrease and the trehalose levels slowly rebuild. I think it's sensible to aerate the wort initially and perhaps for the first few hours after pitching. After that I'd wait at least a couple hours after the first CO2 bubbles appear and use any such late aeration as a band-aid correction for poor yeast performance. I think Jeff might be better off aerating his kettle twice at 30 minute intervals rather than continuously for an hour. That should be enough for any common yeast in decent shape. For aerobically grown starters pitched at kreusen you may not need any wort aeration or at most a little initial wort aeration. Hardwick's "Handbook of Brewing" notes that additional aeration may be necessary at high altitudes, but that excessive aeration can lead to "unduly rapid" fermentation and unsuitable beer quality. I doubt this loss of quality is a big issue - something like the "dangers" of overpitching. Another factor that receives little attention is the amount of O2 needed for yeast health. I've seen studies that show some brewing yeasts can produce good fermentations repeatedly given as little as 4ppm of O2 at repitching, while others benefit up to 20ppm. I wish the yeast vendors would publish the O2 reqs for the individual yeasts rather than their attenuation guesstimates. << I have been able to get short lag times using this method and pitching a tube of Whitelabs yeast into an eight gallon batch - no starter. >> Nothing wrong with short lags, but it isn't the holy grail either (and some HBers think it is). You don't want excessive lag periods that permit infections to get a start, but seeing the first bubble an hour earlier is of no real benefit. I think a reasonable lag period for an anaerobic starter says more about the yeast's internal reserves than about the wort or O2. -S Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2001 15:10:32 -0600 From: ALABREW <homebrew at alabrew.com> Subject: Buck Dwight wrote wanting a recipe for Buck Dwight, My real job is with the Alabama Dept. of Corrections as a Correctional Officer (18 years) Down here we call it Julip. There is no set recipe because you have to steal the ingredients. As a general rule, they use sugar, fruit cocktail, and bread yeast. Sometimes they will use Kool-Aid for more flavor. I would say start with 2 lbs. of sugar, 1 can of fruit cocktail, and 1 presweetened bag of Kool-Aid for one gallon. You might consider using wine yeast instead of bread yeast. Kim Thomson - -- Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 16:39:18 -0500 From: "Steve Alexander" <steve-alexander at worldnet.att.net> Subject: re: wheat yeast flavor Art McGregor asks ... >Every time I brew a wheat beer (extract based) the wheat flavor from the >yeast only lasts a few batches, then fades away. [...] >Is this a common problem? This is a weird one Art. The clove-like weizen flavor is from 4 vinyl-guaiacol(4VG) and is created by the yeast from a phenolic precursor from the grain called ferulic acid. Many yeasts can perform this conversion - probably most wild yeasts. It's possible your strains have lost their ability to produce 4VG but that's quite unlikely. It's most likely a problem in the wort level of ferulic acid or in the fermentation conditions. If you were a masher rather than an extract brewer I'd suggest you perform a rest at around 44C to increase the amount of ferulic acid extracted from the grist. As an extract brewer you are at the mercy of the vendors to include enough ferulic acid to make a tasty weizen. I'd experiment with the choice of extracts, Art. Also perform a healthy boil. The boil actually converts enough ferulic to 4VG to be almost tastable. This leaves less for the yeast to do. Perhaps George DePiro will comment on it, but he under-pitches weizen yeast to get optimal flavor and starts his fermentations cool (low 60sF), and allows them to increase to around 70F after fermentation starts. 4VG is also not temperature stable so the clovey flavor fades over a period of months. Keeping the beer colder helps preserve it. -S Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2001 14:10:58 -0800 From: susan woodall <woodsusa at moscow.com> Subject: Subject: __publication_only__ Yes it is a common perenial ground cover plant Is the heather they talk about the same as the heather plants we grow in the flower bed? Or is it something grown in Britan/England? Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 16:39:05 -0600 From: "Scott Basil" <sbasil at glasgow-ky.com> Subject: ice for cooling A lot of the responses to the ice question regard the source of the water. Don't forget though that there are all maner of beasts just floating around in your fridge/freezer and some will have certainly settled on the ice that is exposed to them. If it has worked for you great, but it does seem that you are taking an unnecessary risk... Scott Basil Glasgow KY If I had all the money back that I've spent on beer, I'd just spend it on beer... Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 19:45:44 -0500 From: Jeff Renner <JeffRenner at mediaone.net> Subject: re: Wort Aeration-Infection Steve Alexander (who was kind enough to send me a cc of his post) wrote: >I always assumed the drier >climate was part of the story, but to hear JeffR in soggy Michigan can get >away with this is another surprise. <snip> >If you don't have any of these rare critters in you're >neighborhood and you pitch big and keep the O2 out after the primary then >you can probably ignore most of the rules regarding brewing sanitation (beer >not starters). I don't even keep O2 out of my primary as I ferment my ales in covered "open" fermenters and keep peeking. Well, I do this when I use a top cropping yeast. It makes me nervous when no yeast head forms. But I made a dandy bitter earlier this fall with WhiteLabs WLP002 English Ale Yeast, which surprised me by forming no yeast head. I left it in the fermenter four days, which was a day past active fermentation. I covered it with wide plastic wrap the whole time, but I did skim off the thin brown crud several times, which no doubt introduced more O2. It's now nearly two months old and still tastes fine. BTW, this was an eight gallon batch with a tube of this yeast and no starter, only the aeration method I described. It had a thin layer of foam at about 20 hours. I really like the flavors of this yeast, and in spite of its not forming a yeast head, have continued to use it, albeit in a carboy now that I know this characteristic. >Nothing wrong with short lags, but it isn't the holy grail either (and some >HBers think it is). I agree. Indeed, I am not speaking of spectacularly short lag times, more on the order of 15-20 hours for ales and perhaps 20-24 hours or a bit longer for lagers fermented at 9-10C (48-50F). In other words, short enough for me to know that things are healthy. Short, complete fermentations are another indication of this, especially with lagers or strong beers. Jeff - -- Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner at mediaone.net "One never knows, do one?" Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943 Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 21:17:44 -0500 From: "Mark Tumarkin" <mark_t at ix.netcom.com> Subject: Laying down beer Those interested in the recent thread about cellering beer may also be interested in the following from BeerBreakMail, an email newsletter sent out by Realbeer.Com (n/a yada yada) Mark Tumarkin Gainesville, FL * * * * * * * * * * * THAT TIME OF YEAR - LAYING DOWN BEER As our beer cellar/fridge starts to fill with holiday beers, many of them relatively high in alcohol content, we can't help be think about saving a few for months or even years down the road. We've discussed the subject of laying down beer before in Beer Break. That's archived at: http://realbeer.com/library/beerbreak/archives/beerbreak20010208.html Now Michael Jackson checks in on the subject, most particularly those beers suitable for cellaring: http://www.beerhunter.com/askmichael.html Jackson advises against refrigerating beers meant to mature, but people who live in apartments, houses without basements or warm climates find they are better off using a beer refrigerator to simulate a cellar. You'll find more about at: http://realbeer.com/library/beerbreak/archives/beerbreak20010201.html Return to table of contents
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