From: homebrew@lupulus.ssc.gov
Subject: HOMEBREW Digest #965
Organization: The Internet
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 08:02:36 GMT


HOMEBREW Digest #965		             Wed 09 September 1992


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


Contents:
  Supplier close to NY (Pablo Ares)
  Frank Jones Tour & Dry Hopping ("C. Lyons")
  malt supply in UK, wild hops (Paul I Hilditch)
  "Sterile enough" ("Spencer W. Thomas")
  Aerobic vs. Anaerobic (Jon Binkley)
  Budweiser kegs (John Freeman)
  Corsendonk (John Freeman)
  Skimmin the Skum (Brewing Chemist)
  re: dough-in (mcnally)
  Re: Beginner Hop Question (Michael J. Tuciarone)
  Dry ice (Chuck Coronella)
  Big Bad Wold (Jack Schmidling)
  Gott Cooler Lauter Tun COnstruction (KIERAN O'CONNOR)
  Stout Recipe ??? (Chris Estes)
  Proper flaming (John DeCarlo)
  Re: oxidation (John DeCarlo)
  Beginner Hop Question (John DeCarlo)
  How much fresh hops to use? (BELLAGIO_DAVID)
  NOVICE QUESTIONS (CW06GST)
  re: DMS and Briess Malt/Gears for Motorized Mill (John Hartman)
  Re: Electric Corona (Chuck Cox)
  Beer Yeast/Bread Yeast ("George Kavanagh")
  Quest for brewing paraphenalia (Bill Othon/LinCom)
  Conducting the boil and beer color (Richard Goldstein)
  Christmas Brew (steve rein)


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----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 08:13:00 EDT
From: pablo@math.sunysb.edu (Pablo Ares)
Subject: Supplier close to NY

Here is the phone number of
a supplier close to NY:

Northeast Brewers Supply
PO BOX 232
West Kingston, RI 02892

Call toll-free for a catalog at
the following numbers:
(800) 352-9001 (Outside RI)
(800) 974-2739 (In RI)

They are good.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 08:29 EDT
From: "C. Lyons" <LYONS@adc1.adc.ray.com>
Subject: Frank Jones Tour & Dry Hopping

I visited the Frank Jones Brewery in Portsmouth NH last Saturday.  They
have tours at 11AM and 2PM every Saturday.  The guide offers the guests
samples prior to the tour.  Kind of fun tasting the product ahead of time.
You may bring your drink with you as you tour the brewery.  After the
tour ... more samples :-).  They only have two products available, with
a third to come out next month.  Their golden ale is a pilsner, and not
much to speak of.  Their portsmouth ale is a india pale ale, and is quite
good.  Their pale ale uses three types of grain: 2-row pale ale, crystal,
and carpils.  The tour guide (Shawn(sp?)) explained that the carpils are
used to give the beer its extra body.  All grain is mashed together.  The
mash consists of a single infusion, 145F for 45 to 60 minutes, with a
test for conversion after 45 minutes.  Two types of hops are used, Fuggles
and Challengers.  A 55/45 ratio of Fuggles/Challengers is used for
bittering, and Challenger is used for finishing.  The wort is boiled for
90 minutes.  The first 30 minutes is treated as a sanitation stage with
no hops added.  The bittering hops are added 30 minutes into the boil.
After 90 minutes the boil is stopped and the finishing hops are added
(steep).  The reason the tour guide gave for not using Fuggles as finishing
hops was because it would give the beer a grassy character.  He had the
group smell the hops, and the Fuggles had a flowery aroma, but did smell
green.  The Challenger hops were not as aromatic, but seemed more refined,
without the green fragrance.

This brings me to my question, when I dry hop I've noticed a green (or
grassy) flavor.  In the past I've used Kent Goldening and Cascades to
dry hop.  In all cases the grassy flavor from dry hopping was quite
pronounced.  I've cut back from 10z, to 0.5oz, to 0.25oz.  I haven't
had a chance to taste the last batch with 0.25oz, but I'm hoping to
make the taste less dominating.  Does anyone have any recommendations
of An alternative hop that would be smoother?  Or is this the flavor
that people seek when they dry hop?

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 08 Sep 1992 15:44:31 +0100
From: Paul I Hilditch <oxcommed@vax.ox.ac.uk>
Subject: malt supply in UK, wild hops

John Sampson asks (hbd952) about malt suppliers in southern England. I
buy malt by the sackful from:
     Pops Homebrew, Cheltenham 0242 232426

On another subject, I noticed one or two postings mentioning wild hops
recently. Round here there is one place where a lot of hops are growing;
since this is near two quite old inns, I wonder if this is a population of
naturalised hops dating from the time when the innkeepers would have
brewed their own beer. Hops are generally pretty rare in the wild
otherwise.

Has anyone any experiences of using wild/naturalised hops? How can I
judge the quality of the cones (other than by tasting the final product)?


------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 10:44:24 EDT
From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <Spencer.W.Thomas@med.umich.edu>
Subject: "Sterile enough"

I've recently been discussion yeast culture with my wife, who cultures
E. Coli almost daily (she's a molecular biologist).  She feels that
many of us are being overly paranoid about infection -- she rarely
flames her tubes, etc, nor does she feel that a "sterile box" is
necessary.  A fellow in her lab has a term: "sterile enough".

Now there is a question as to whether we have good reason to want a
greater degree of sterility (if it indeed has degrees), because of
factors such as
	* Beer wort is (initially) a very attractive medium for lots
	  of nasty things to grow in.  (As opposed to specialized
	  culture media?)
	* Yeast in beer grows for a much longer period than the
	  typical "plate culture" in a lab.

It's kind of funny -- I'm running around paranoid about infection and
she's much more casual.  Familiarity breeds comtempt?

=S

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 09:18:56 -0600
From: Jon Binkley <binkley@beagle.Colorado.EDU>
Subject: Aerobic vs. Anaerobic


Sometime last week I wrote:

>>Another seeming paradox of open fermentation which confused me
>>for quite some time is: given fermentation is an ANaerobic
>>process, how can it take place in an open, aerobic environment?

In Digest #963, Jack S. asked:

>Would not the fact that a blanket of CO2 over the beer make it an anerobic
>environment?

While the CO2 level would be too high for you or I to breathe, I'm
pretty sure that there would be too much oxygen exchange for it to
be formally called anaerobic; labs working with obligate anaerobic
bugs go to some pretty extreme measures to keep ANY 02 out of
their systems.

At least one brewery which employs open fermentation, Samuel Smiths,
not only ferments in open tanks but actively aerates the wort
throughout primary fermentation.  They have what looks like a
fountain head in the middle of each of their big slate tanks
and periodically pump the fermenting beer through it.  Seeing this
was what got me perplexed in the first place-  all my biochem profs
and textbooks said that alcoholic fermentation was an obligate
anaerobic process.  Luckily for us, the yeast don't listen to them.

Jon Binkley



------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 10:40:12 CDT
From: jlf@palm.cray.com (John Freeman)
Subject: Budweiser kegs

> Date: Fri, 4 Sep 92 12:43:17 EDT
> From: Arthur Delano <ajd@itl.itd.umich.edu>
> Subject: Bud keg help needed again
>
>
> What tool(s) is(are) needed to open a Budweiser keg?  I've been able to
> drain out all the old beer by pressing on the ball valve and letting
> the overcarbonated beer do its thing (all over me, unfortunately).  But
> now i want to fill it and don't know how to remove the valve/stem assembly
> to get to the insides.
>


I haven't bought a Bud keg in many years, but I have one from a
previous life.  It is technically known as a Golden gate keg.
Mine has two fittings, one on the top and one on the side near
the bottom.  My brother made a special tool to remove the valves,
which is no more than a flat plate welded to a handle.  The
flat plate is the right width to fit into the slot of the fitting.


------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 10:52:02 CDT
From: jlf@palm.cray.com (John Freeman)
Subject: Corsendonk



After seeing the brand name Corsendonk mentioned here in the digest,
and seeing it in a store, I bought a bottle.  I'm glad that's all
I bought.  Perhaps I got a bad bottle, but it tasted infected.
Mind you, I've never had a Belgian beer before, so I don't know
if they are supposed to taste this way.  But, when my beer has
tasted like this, I poured it out.  I didn't know I should have
been selling it for $3 per bottle.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 09:54:00 -0600
From: walter@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Brewing Chemist)
Subject: Skimmin the Skum


Howdy Folks,
	I started a batch of mead the other day.  While looking for
recipes, techniques, etc., I came across Byron Burch's recipe for
his "Alberta Frost" mead which won him best of show last June.  In
his recipe he said that you should skim the scumk that forms on
the top of the honey during the boil.  And, I believe that I have
seen this advice at least one other time.
	My question is, why?  I do remember talk of skimming wort when
boiling to prevent boilover.  Is this the reason in mead?

Live Long and Prosper,


   Brian J Walter               | I ) I I <~ I_I |  |~~|      Relax,     |~~|
   Colorado State University    | I \ I_I _> I I | (|HB|   Don't Worry,  |HB|)
   walter@lamar.colostate.edu   |     ROCKS!     |  |__| Have A Homebrew |__|

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 08 Sep 92 09:00:51 -0700
From: mcnally@wsl.dec.com
Subject: re: dough-in


If you're doing a single-step mash by heating water and adding the
grain to the water, the dough-in step is a pain.  I've had success in
breaking up flour by using a big wire whisk vigorously for a couple of
minutes after dumping the dry grain into the mash water.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Mike McNally                                           mcnally@wsl.dec.com
Digital Equipment Corporation
Western Software Lab

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 09:30:56 PDT
From: tooch@auspex.com (Michael J. Tuciarone)
Subject: Re: Beginner Hop Question

> 1) I added hops to my last brew for the first time. I did not want the hassel
> of sparging the leaves so I improvised. I boiled the hops in a small pot of
> water for 30 minutes. (I used pellets)  I then used a coffee filter to add
> the hop water to my boiling wort. I stirred it in and transfered it to a open
> primary.  Is this an acceptable way to add the bittering qualities of hops to
> my brew? Or, am I missing something really important by not boiling them in
> my wort?

I've never tried this particular technique. The only serious objection I
can think of is that the hop bittering efficiency is strongly dependent
on the volume of the boiling liquid (at least, according to some learned
reprints a friend gave me, which I don't have at hand). Apparently the
hop acids et al. reach equilibrium quickly, and 2 oz. of 4% alpha acid hops
produce *much* more bitterness in a five-gallon boil than in a two-gallon
boil. But I don't know...you're performing a grand experiment now, so let
us all know how it comes out.

By the way, sparging the hop pellets or even flowers isn't really that bad.
When I use a bucket for my primary, I fit the top with an elasticized
disk of fine nylon mesh I got from the local homebrew store. I pour the
wort through the mesh...that's that. When fermenting in a carboy, I siphon
the wort in, and since hops generally float I haven't had any trouble there,
either. By the time I get down to the bottom of the pot, I can just pour
the last gallon or so through a mesh-lined funnel by hand.

If your local shop doesn't carry any hop-straining cheesecloth or nylon
gadgets, let me know and I'll dig up a mail-order address. The gadgets are
really really cheap and helpful.

> 2) My last batch of beer is undercarbonated. I used 1 cup of corn sugar to
> prime 5 gallons.  It has been sitting at room temp. for 2 weeks now and still
> the problem persists.  I think it is because I did not leave a large enough
> air space in the bottle. If I pour out some of the beer and recap the bottles
> and leave them for another week, will carbination increase? If I do this will
> the risk of contamination greatly increase? Will there still be enough sugar
> and active yeast in the bottle to further increase carbination?

Personally, I *never* mess with the bottles after bottling, because it's at
bottling that I most often cause infections. One cup in five gallons is more
than adequate; in fact, I've had over-carbonated beer using one cup and lately
I've been cutting back to 3/4 cup. Air space may not be the issue: even one
or two finger's worth of space is adequate. (You didn't fill the bottles
right up to the lip, did you?) Most likely you have some slow-working yeast
there. Give it another week, since I've had beer that has taken three to
four weeks to carbonate properly.

> P.S. I am posting these questions because I really need help and because of
> the plea not to blast beginners in the last digest.

"Relax." :-)


Mike Tuciarone, Software Thumb
Auspex Systems, Santa Clara, CA 94043; 408-492-0900 vox -0566 fax
"What for you bury me in the cold, cold ground?" --Tasmanian Devil

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 11:05 MTS
From: Chuck Coronella <CORONELLRJDS@CHE.UTAH.EDU>
Subject: Dry ice

As you may recall, I recently asked the readership for advice regarding the
use of ascorbic acid for the purpose of preventing (or repairing) damage to
a finished beer due to oxidation at bottling time.  Judging from the low
number of responses (2), I guess not too many people bother with it.  This
is a very relaxed crowd, who obviously don't worry too much about
oxidation.

But, I can't help it-  I've got this mead that's been sitting in my carboy
for nearly a year now, and I don't want to take any chances. I happened to
read my summer edition of Zymurgy the other day, and in it, Charlie P.
advocates the use of dry ice.  It's such a simple concept! Just take a
chunk of dry ice, and put it in the bottom of your bottling bucket, and
allow it to "melt" (actually, sublime.)  As the CO2 changes from solid to
gas, it will displace the air in the container, and, since it is somewhat
heavier than air, it will (hopefully) stay there.

This, then, is my solution.  I will throw a chunk of dry ice into my bucket
before racking, allow it to fully sublime, rack and bottle my mead, and
then cap with SmartCaps to absorb any O2 thay may have made its way into
the bottles in the mean time.

But, now that I think about it, I wonder if the dry ice might be full of
contaminants and nasties.  Any thoughts on that?

Trying to relax,
Chuck

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 11:44 CDT
From: arf@ddsw1.mcs.com (Jack Schmidling)
Subject: Big Bad Wold


 To: Homebrew Digest
 Fm: Jack Schmidling

 >As a beginner who is just starting to experiment with his brew, I have a few
 questions.

 I would normally assume that the Digest would be flooded with answers but in
 light of the recent remarks about a "Jack Free Forum" and today's limited
 entries, we may be all that is left.  So here goes....

 >1) I added hops to my last brew for the first time.

 I remember the first batch I made with real hops.  It was the first time I
 ever smelled the stuff and really got hooked on that smell.  The hopped
 extract is a rather poor substitute.

 > I did not want the hassel of sparging the leaves so I improvised. I boiled
 the hops in a small pot of water for 30 minutes. (I used pellets)  I then
 used a coffee filter to add the hop water to my boiling wort.

 I am affraid what you did is not much of an improvement on what they do in
 hopped extract.  They basically add "hops extract" to the malt extract.  A
 much better approach would be to add pellets directly to the wort and boil it
 for the full time.  You can use Kinney's  copper scrubber around a syphon or
 my system of a short roll of window screen pinched off at the end.

 I suspect a copper scrubber stuffed in a funnel would also make an acceptable
 filter.

 I will let the experts fill in the details but a whole bunch of chemestry
 takes place while the hops boils in the wort and it just does not occure when
 done separately.

 >2) My last batch of beer is undercarbonated. I used 1 cup of corn sugar to
 prime 5 gallons.  It has been sitting at room temp. for 2 weeks now and still
 the problem persists.  I think it is because I did not leave a large enough
 air space in the bottle.

 The head space has little or nothing to do with carbonation level.  There are
 a number of possible causes/solutions to you problem:

 Time.... give it a few more weeks before you condemn it.  The is particuarly
 true in cold weather.

 Incompletely rinsed bottle.  If any bleach was left in the bottles, it would
 kill the yeast.  However, you said under- not un- carbonated so I doubt this
 is the problem.

 There are other possibilities but I would bet it will improve with time.

 If not, try adding a little more sugar to a few bottles just to see what
 happens.  BTW, when I was using bottles, I always bottled several samples in
 plastic pop bottles just to monitor the carbonation.  When they get hard, you
 know they are carbonated without having to open them.

 >P.S. I am posting these questions because I really need help and because of
 the plea not to blast beginners in the last digest.

 Well, now you know that, the Big Bad Wolf is a myth.   His teeth are sharp
 but he only bites in self-defence.

 js


------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 11:32 EDT
From: KIERAN O'CONNOR <OCONNOR%SNYCORVA.bitnet@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: Gott Cooler Lauter Tun COnstruction

Hi,

I'm starting to make the move to all grain. I have seen
some discussion about Lauter Tun cconstruction with Gott Cooles.  I
would appreciate help form any and all on this topic. What I was
thinking was:
1) Get a round gott cooler.
2) Cut the bottom off a bottling or other bucket, leaving about and
inch or so of plastic. If I put this in upside down, I would have a
grain bed.
3) I'm not sure how to replace the spigot, so I could use some help
here.


I would love some help. perhaps of, via personal mail
off HBD would be best, since some of this has been discussed before.

Kieran O'Connor

oconnor@snycorva.bitnet

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 13:48:37 -0400
From: cestes@argos5.DNET.NASA.GOV (Chris Estes)
Subject: Stout Recipe ???


Hi everyone...

Will wonders never cease???  Whilst at a local watering hole (serving a
decent variety of beers: Roratonga Rodeo in Arlington, VA) this weekend,
I discovered that my sweetie does indeed have a taste for beer, heretofore
unknown to either of us.  What struck a happy chord upon her palate was a
particular variety of stout, a very sweet stout.  We discovered two which
she enjoyed: Watney's Cream Stout and Dragon Stout from Jamaica.  I've had
a few stouts in my time, but these were _sweet_; like they had sugar added
or something.

Can anyone suggest an extract based recipe for such a beer?

Thanks,

 -Chris Estes-
cestes@argos5.dnet.nasa.gov

------------------------------

Date: Tuesday, 8 Sep 1992 14:23:13 EDT
From: m14051@mwvm.mitre.org (John DeCarlo)
Subject: Proper flaming

JS writes:

>So to make sure, I heat the loop cherry red and the glass rod
>till I know it is hot.  The problem is, if you then poke it into
>the yeast to transfer it, the yeast gets fried unless you let it
>cool.  While cooling, it is in the unsterile air and one never
>really knows when it is cool.

A solution to cooling that people have recommended to
me (including my wife the microbiologist) is to use cooled
sterile water.  Of course this water doesn't remain sterile very
long once exposed to air, but presumably you are organized and
not spending forever transferring with the loop.

As others have mentioned, the unused part of your plate works as well.

Internet: jdecarlo@mitre.org (or John.DeCarlo@f131.n109.z1.fidonet.org)
Fidonet:  1:109/131

------------------------------

Date: Tuesday, 8 Sep 1992 14:23:52 EDT
From: m14051@mwvm.mitre.org (John DeCarlo)
Subject: Re: oxidation

>From: bgros@sensitivity.berkeley.edu (Bryan Gros)

>With the talk about oxidation, it is said that shaking COOL wort
>is good--leads to aeration which yeast like.  Then it is said
>that shaking beer (before bottling) is bad--leads to oxidation
>which taste buds don't like.  So what is the difference in the
>two settings?  Why is unfermented cooled wort not as susceptible
>to oxidation?

Roughly speaking, there are two basic processes in action as far
as oxygen is concerned in brewing:

1) Yeast will use dissolved oxygen in the wort to reproduce.
   Lack of dissolved oxygen can cause poor fermentation.  An
   article in _zymurgy_ claimed that this is the biggest problem
   for beginning homebrewers.

2) Oxidizing reactions will occur for certain molecules in wort,
   causing new molecules that adversely affect the taste, can
   darken the wort, and probably a handful of other things.
   Believe me, you don't want to hurt your beer any more than you
   have to. :-)

*Plus*, the 2) processes occur *much* faster at high temperatures
than low ones.  I know someone posted some numbers on this in the
HBD, though I couldn't find it with my limited data base at work.
Anyway, the molecules will oxidize at least several orders of
magnitude faster at boiling temperatures than at 60F.  So, even
though you risk causing 2) when you aerate for 1), if you do it
just before or shortly after you pitch the yeast, and the wort is
cool, the dissolved oxygen should be used by the yeast and not
cause perceptible levels of oxidation.



Internet: jdecarlo@mitre.org (or John.DeCarlo@f131.n109.z1.fidonet.org)
Fidonet:  1:109/131

------------------------------

Date: Tuesday, 8 Sep 1992 14:24:41 EDT
From: m14051@mwvm.mitre.org (John DeCarlo)
Subject: Beginner Hop Question

>From: Carlo Fusco <G1400023@NICKEL.LAURENTIAN.CA>

>2) My last batch of beer is undercarbonated. I used 1 cup of
>corn sugar to prime 5 gallons.  It has been sitting at room
>temp.  for 2 weeks now and still the problem persists.  I think
>it is because I did not leave a large enough air space in the
>bottle.  If I pour out some of the beer and recap the bottles
>and leave them for another week, will carbination increase?  If
>I do this will the risk of contamination greatly increase?  Will
>there still be enough sugar and active yeast in the bottle to
>further increase carbination?

Hmmm.  I sincerely doubt that lack of head space (air space) in
the bottle is the problem.  I leave about 1/4" to 1/8" in my
bottles, as a rule, with no carbonation problems at all.
Even those I overfill leaving no head space carbonate just fine.

Perhaps there is some other factor in the process you used to
bottle (sometimes a problem mixing in the sugar syrup cuases some
bottles to be undercarbonated and others to be overcarbonated)
that is affecting carbonation.  Room temperature is at least 70F,
right?  What kind of carbonation level do you have now?  Are you
sure the bottle caps were crimped tightly?  Does it have a good
head but poor carbonation or good carbonation but no head?

Before you consider rebottling, check the rest of the
process.  Anyway, I always tell people that if you can ask the
right questions, you are more than halfway to the solution
<grin>.

Internet: jdecarlo@mitre.org (or John.DeCarlo@f131.n109.z1.fidonet.org)
Fidonet:  1:109/131

------------------------------

Date: 8 Sep 92 11:13:00 -0700
From: BELLAGIO_DAVID@Tandem.COM
Subject: How much fresh hops to use?

I recently brewed a batch of IPA with some fresh Cascade hops I received from
a friend.  These were just recently harvested.  They sure looked great.  Not
like the ones I get at the brew store all packaged up.  BTW, I did not use
my Oak Chips as I didn't want to possibly make an overly woody beer and as
people pointed out, traditional IPA does not have an Oak barrel flavor.  So,
now I have a few questions:

1) Is there a way to determine the AAU from the hops I have?  I assume there
   is now way, but, the most potent Cascade hops I have seen in the store are
   around 7.8% AAU.  Is there a maximum AAU for each type of hops or could any
   hop type be at any AAU level?

2) Are pellet hops fresher than the whole hops purchased at brew stores?  One
   book I have read states that they are, but the store I go to always pushes
   their whole hops claiming that they are fresh.  Maybe they just want to move
   their inventory.

Super Dave

Bellagio_David@Tandem.com

------------------------------

Date:        Tue, 08 Sep 92 12:30:11 EDT
From: CW06GST <CW06GST%SJUMUSIC.bitnet@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject: NOVICE QUESTIONS

Hello All,

     I hate to do this but...about a week and a half ago I posted an
article under the title "The Novice Revisited".  The day after I sent
in the article my node @SJUVM was shut down and consequently I was not
able to receive any mail.

     In that post I asked a few questions and if anyone answered them
I appreciate it but I was not able to read them.  I will repost a
summary of the questions and ask that if you answered them in the first
place that you resend them to me at CW06GST@SJUVM.  Of course all are
welcome to comment, suggest, flame or do whatever you want as I am not
easily offended.  I will post a summary of answers if it is warranted.

1. Can anyone suggest some good reading material other than Papazian or
Miller?  Preferably something entertaining as well as informative.

2. Please send suggestions, comments, tips, recipes, advice on the
following styles of beer:  Porter, Stout and Marzan.  I will soon
have access to a refridgerator and would like to try making lager beer.
Unfortunately I am only able to brew extract beers presently, so please
post accordingly.

3. I recently tried to make a mead and would like to know how long
it takes to ferment.  When I went to the homebrew supply store they
told me to add 1 pkg. of yeast for every gallon of mead.  It was a
wine yeast that looked and smelled like ground up mushrooms.  I also
added a package of yeast nutrient.  After about 12 hours very vigorous
activity began and the fermentation lock blew of 3 times.  It has been
about 2 weeks now and there is still a lot of activity in the fermenter.
Also, what can I expect the finished product to taste like?  I have
never tasted mead.

4. Finally, if there are any brewclubs in the lower Westchester, NYC
area,  my partner and I would be interested in joining; if there are
other brewers in this part of New York who are interested in forming
a brewclub please let me know.


                      Thanks to everyone for this wondeful forum.
                      Erik Zenhausern  CW06GST@SJUVM

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 10:18:54 PDT
From: hartman@varian.varian.com (John Hartman)
Subject: re: DMS and Briess Malt/Gears for Motorized Mill


I too am speaking up to say that I have had a recent DMS experience
and I use Briess malt.  I couldn't figure what might have caused
this as nothing unusual occurred during the process.  It simply
smelled mightily of cooked corn.  It's an experience you do not want
to have.  I had to throw that 10 gal. batch out, which was quite a
disappointment.  I wish I could say for sure that the problem was
the malt, but I can't since apparently an infection can cause high
levels of DMS.  Micah's test sounds pretty conclusive though.  Way
back in digest 765, 11-21-91, Jack Schmidling pointed out that in
the direct firing process the grain is "sulphured".  The grain is
sprayed with sulphur as a means of reducing the nitrosamines
to a level below the FDA limit of 10ppb.  Maybe they forgot to wash
the sulphur off after the process or they used too much sulphur.
Who knows.  Perhaps the Briess people know.  At any rate does anyone
have a reasonably priced California source for Great Western Malts?
If you do, please speak up.

On a different topic, I plan on motorizing my grain mill.  I have
a 1700 rpm, 1/4 HP motor which I'd like to use.  I'll be attaching
it to the mill with what I guess you'd call pulley wheels and a radiator
belt.  I don't know who sells these pulleys though.
Does anyone have a vendor for such pulleys, or at least an idea of
what type of vendor sells them?

Thanks in advance,
John

hartman@varian.varian.com



------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 14:11:39 EDT
From: chuck@synchro.com (Chuck Cox)
Subject: Re: Electric Corona

Thanks for all the useful suggestions about elecrifying my Corona.

Here's what I did:

I made a small sawhorse with the cross-beam sticking out 8" or so on one
end.  I Added a 4"x4" shelf on the side of the long end.  When the
Corona is mounted on this shelf, it is parallel to the beam and
discharges over the end.  I made a simple drill mount with some scrap
2x4 which bolts to the handle bolt hole on the drill.  Using empty
bleach bottles, I fabricated a larger hopper and a discharge guard.  I
attached some flexible ducting to make a dischage chute that empties
into a small barrel.

Looking down at the empty chassis:

             ----------------------------- legs
            /                          /
           /                          /
                                              cross-beam
         +---+                     +---+     /
         |   |      +---+          |   |    /
+-----------------+-+---+-+---------------+
+-----------------+------++---------------+
|    |   |   |           ++        |   |
+----+   +---+         \           +---+
                        \
   \                     \
    \                     drill mount bracket
     \
      mill mount shelf

Looking at the side:

                        drill mount bolt
                       /
                      /       bit of wood to help support drill
                  +-------+  /
                  | o    ++ /
                  +------++
                    |   |
+----+---+---+---------------------+---+--+
+-+--+   |   |                     |   |  |
+-+------|   |---------------------|   |--+
         |   |                     |   |
 |       |   |                     |   |
 |       +-----------------------------+
 |       +-----------------------------+
  \      |   |                     |   |
   \     +---+                     +---+
    \
     bit of wood to help support shelf

With everything attached:

            +-----------+
            |           |
            |           | ----- extra hopper (approx 5 lb capacity)
            |           |
             \         /
              +-------+
              |       |
              |       |   corona w/ large hopper
discharge     |       |  /
chute          \     /  /                   big variable speed drill
   \            \ _ /  /                   /
    \      ----\/   |      /------------+ /
     \    /    |    |==--=<            ++
      \  /     /-+  |      \-----\  \--++
        /     /  +-++            |\ _\
       /     /----+||-+---+---------------------+---+--+
      /     /+-+--+|| |   |                     |   |  |
     /     / +-+=====-|   |---------------------|   |--+
    |     |           |   |                     |   |
   +---------+        |   |                     |   |
   |         |        |   |                     |   |
   |         |        +-----------------------------+
   |         |        +-----------------------------+
   |         |        |   |                     |   |
   +---------+        +---+                     +---+

Its not quite as unbalanced as it looks.  The drill is fairly heavy, and
the sawhorse extends far enough back to act as a counter-balance.  I
have only tested it with small amounts of grain.  I hope to have my new
brewery finished this week, then I'll run about 20 lbs through it.

- --
Chuck Cox <chuck@synchro.com>
In de hemel is geen bier, daarom drinken wij het hier.

------------------------------

Date:         08 Sep 92 16:39:31 EST
From: "George Kavanagh" <GEORGE.KAVANAGH@OFFICE.WANG.COM>
Subject:      Beer Yeast/Bread Yeast

Being both a homebrewer and a homebaker, and having read many articles
in HBD about beer yeasts & their culturing, incubation, & life cycle, it occurs
 to me to ask of the similarities/differences between beer yeasts & bread
yeasts:
    * does anyone know of a reference that describes bread yeasts, their
      likes & dislikes, lifecycles, & etc.?
Thanks in advance..... -gk

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 16:39 CDT
From: othon@ial7.jsc.nasa.gov (Bill Othon/LinCom)
Subject: Quest for brewing paraphenalia


I'm not sure this is the proper forum for this question, but since there
are a number of experienced, well-travelled beer drinkers here, I'll ask.

I'm looking for a Guiness dartboard cabinet. And actually, if there is
some kind of catalog of general paraphenalia from British, American, or
European breweries, I'd like to find out about it.

Thanks
Bill

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 14:57:07 PDT
From: Richard.Goldstein@EBay.Sun.COM (Richard Goldstein)
Subject: Conducting the boil and beer color

OK homebrew fans--

I have two questions, and I believe that they are at least partially
related.

1) What is the proper way to conduct a boil (for an all-grain brew)?
Dave Miller talks about a strong, vigorous boil for at least the first
30 min to help the protein coagulation. And homebrewing companions have
talked about a roiling boil to get the most out of the hops. But do I
really want that full-strength of a boil for the whole boil?

The reason I am wondering is that I seem to be boiling off more than
most of the books/recipes assume. If I sparge to 6.5 gals, I can easily
boil away 1.5 gals rather than 1.0 gals that are usually assumed. I'm
not using a blast furnace or anything, just a plain old gas stove.
Beside leaving me with less finished product, we now go to question
#2...

2) How do I make a light colored beer? This may sound funny, but I
haven't really been able to get a pale (straw colored?) brew. I'm
talking about beers made with 2 row Klages malt, and maybe an adjunct
like Vienna malt. I realize that my full-blast boils are carmelizing my
wort, and that is difficult to avoid to a certain extent. But what do
you folks do to create light colored beers?

Are there any other dangers/defects/flaws I should be aware of due to
vigorous boiling?

Thanks for your input.

Rich Goldstein
richardg@cheesewiz.sun.com

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 8 Sep 92 15:08:56 PDT
From: rein@gandalf.Berkeley.EDU (steve rein)
Subject: Christmas Brew

Greetings, More Experienced Ones!

I've brewed up 2 batches so far and haven't yet left the world of
extract brews.  I'm interested in brewing up a batch of Christmas
Beer (you know, spiced and more highly charged).  However, I'm
not ready to take the full plunge until well after Christmas.

Do any of you have a recipe that only uses malt extract (malt syrup of
various types are available cheap near here) for a Christmas Ale?
How about a version that uses mostly extract?

many thanks,

steve rein			There are three kinds of lies:  lies,
rein@stat.berkeley.edu		damned lies, and statistics - Disraeli

------------------------------


End of HOMEBREW Digest #965, 09/09/92
*************************************
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Newsgroups: rec.crafts.brewing