From: homebrew@lupulus.ssc.gov
Subject: HOMEBREW Digest #951
Organization: The Internet
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 07:41:34 GMT


HOMEBREW Digest #951		             Wed 19 August 1992


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


Contents:
  Yeast: Freezing & Nutrients (SLK6P)
  Bleach in SS kegs from Micah Millspaw (BOB JONES)
  Re: Allergies  (Dave Coombs)
  Connecticut breweries (wiehn)
  Re : yeast nutrient (Conn Copas)
  Chillers and Labels (Paul dArmond)
  Re: Be-Gyled by Priming ( Neil Mager )
  gyle (Mark R. Garti)
  HOP ALLERGIES (ALTENBACH)
  coffeemaker/mashtun (donald oconnor)
  Yeast washing ("UNRECOVERABLE APPLICATION ERROR: Abort? Retry? Buy OS/2?")
  RE: siphon woes (Andy Phillips)
  near bottle failure (Steve Anthony)
  Canadian Beers...... (JEFF)
  Canadian Beers (Philip A. Webster)
  Re: Old time brewing (was Flames) ( Neil Mager )
  Proposed process for moving from extract to all grain (smanastasi)
  Beer Bread Recipe (Lou Curcio)
  Question about adding yeast at bottling time. ("C. Lyons")
  Maisel Brewery info (Darryl Richman)
  Re: Plum Wine (Norm Pyle)
  Re : Recipe for Fullers ESB wanted (Conn Copas)
  Pop keg valves (flowers)
  Coffee makers as a mashtun (BOB JONES)
  Alabama Water / B'ham Brewing Co (Darren Evans-Young)
  Getting labels to stick (and come off easily) (Mitch Gelly)
  Octoberfest (Michael Howe)
  Re: PlumWine/Siphon/ChicagoBrewSuppliers (SLK6P)
  Hunter Control, etc. ("Rad Equipment")
  All Grain Help (Thomas D. Feller)
  Re: Coffeemaker Mashtun (Richard Stueven)
  Re: Help with Basement Brewery Layout (Richard Stueven)
  Re: Dixie Cup (Chuck Cox)
  mash tun design from Micah Millspaw (BOB JONES)
  K. Bloss going to Germany (Don Scheidt)
  Brew Pubs in Maine (Meade_Eggleston)


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

Date: 17 Aug 1992 11:10:17 -0600 (MDT)
From: SLK6P@CC.USU.EDU
Subject: Yeast: Freezing & Nutrients

A couple of responses to some posts in HBD 949
I can't remember who wrote them- so here they are   up for grabs.

1)  Glycerin:  It's use in storing yeast.
        For bacterial cultures we had used 10% glycerin.  I would
agree,  use your normal culturing medium.  You won't be able to
pipet pure glycerin (extremely viscous) so make a 50% soln and
use that.
        If you want to maximize viability, I would recommend a
quick freeze (so there is less chance for ice crystals to form
inside yeast cells.)  Make a dry ice/alcohol bath.  (rubbing
alcohol is fine-  you should be able to get dry ice from the
grocery or refrigeration supply)    Dip your tubes of cells and
medium and glycerin into them until they freeze, then place them
in the freezer.  ideally  -70 deg C-  not likely for a home freezer.
Alternatively use a ice/rock salt bath for a quick chilling.
        In addition-  try to use a concentrated culture of yeast
from the exponential phase of growth (fastest).  They will be more
able to withstand the freeze than old bugs.  Again- ideally you
would want to concentrate the cells (but may not have the equipt)
by centrifugation.  Alternatively:  You could use a solid medium
for growth (plates/slants)
, then scrape up a gob of cells and mix
into the medium in your tubes (for a thick cell slurry).
        Lastly:  Be sure to use a good plastic tube for freezing.
Preferably one with a tight screw cap.  Glass tubes would be likely
to dismember themselves upon freezing.

2)  Yeast Nutrient:  Now I don't know exactly what goes into the
YN we buy from homebrew suppliers, but in micro labs for yeast and
bacterial cultures Yeast Extract is a very common component of
many different types of media.  I believe it is essentially pulverized
yeast, but may have had some components separated out. (Since it is
and "Extract").  This type of stuff is available from DIFCO suppliers
and other "
biologicals" supply stores.
        Regarding "grinding up yeast" yourself (Bob D.)  I would not
recommend trying it.  The cells are microscopic, and to effectively
"pop" them open with a coffee grinder or rolling pin is quite unlikely.
You could try freezing them with liquid nitrogen and grinding with
a mortar a pestle.  Sonication is effective.  But often enzymes are
used to degrade the cell walls of the fungi, then the cells are lysed
releasing all the goodies from inside.  (At least these are ways to
get the cells open to get their DNA).  I presume for good yeast extract
you MUST open the cells to make the proteins, amino acids, vitamins
etc available to the growing yeast.  Seems that it is easy enough to
buy the stuff.  We generally use it in such small quantities that it
is not a financial setback, and to make it yourself might require more
expense than it's worth (anyone know the going rate on sonicators?)

        Well anyway.  Hop on ye heathens!
        Brew on Brethren of Barley, Bee, and Vine.
_____________________________________________________________________
                                J. Wyllie (The Coyote)
                                SLK6P@cc.usu.edu
"As long as he's got 8 fingers and 8 toes, he's alright by me."  H.J.S.
_______________________________________________________________________


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

Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 10:30 PDT
From: BOB JONES <BJONES@NOVAX.llnl.gov>
Subject: Bleach in SS kegs from Micah Millspaw


About bleach and SS kegs. I have often heard it said that clorine bleach
would corrode stainless steel. Most of the stainless that homebrewers
encounter is either 304 or 316 stainless, the 316 is very corrosion
resistant and is the material that most cornelius type keg are made of.
Moderate use of clorine bleach will not harm the kegs. I have many kegs
and have been cleaning them with bleach for several years, I only
resently switched to iodaphor sanitzers. I did however have one bad
experience with the bleach, I loaned a keg to a fellow homebrewer who
had all of his kegs full, unfortunately he filled the keg with boiling
water and a strong bleach solution, something came up and the keg was left
sitting with this solution in it for several hours. I received a horrified
phone call telling me the the keg was ruined, when I saw the keg it was
infact badly pitted and unsuitable for storing beer. So it may be okay
to use bleach on stainless steel but not hot or for a long time.

                                           Micah Millspaw
                                            8/14/92

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

Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 13:01:27 -0400
From: Dave Coombs <coombs@cme.nist.gov>
Subject: Re: Allergies

>> wines, and cheeses.  Homebrew affects her the worst (bad for her, good
>> for me).  Her throat swells up and becomes painful.  Researching this
>> briefly led me to believe that the culprit was tyramine (yeast product).

My wife has a similar reaction sometimes.  We haven't tried to
pinpoint it, but she thinks the reaction is worse when we're careless
in decanting.  Of course this is only an anecdotal observation...

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

Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 09:08:36 EDT
From: wiehn@evax.gdc.com
Subject: Connecticut breweries


Hello

I've received your email list address from a fellow librairan - They suggested
I ask here my question..............................

I've had a patron to my library ask if I could find a list of breweries of
Connecticut which were in exsistance prior to 1918 (pre-prohibition). Can
anyone help with this list????????

It would be great if you could help us.

Is there a book or email list which would provide this info???  Would the
list of Connecticut breweries tell where in the state the breweries were
located???

Thanks everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

John Wiehn
EMAIL: WIEHN@EVAX.GDC.COM


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

Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 20:37:25 BST
From: Conn Copas <C.V.Copas@lut.ac.uk>
Subject: Re : yeast nutrient

Bob writes :

> So that's were my thought-experiment ended.  I had considered
> buying packages of dry brewing yeast or even baking yeast and
> grinding it up.  But fear of contamination has me still buying
> the over-priced packages of commercial yeast nutrients...
>
Dried yeast is sold as a food supplement by many health food stores, at a cheap
rate. It would be interesting to see how it actually ferments. Some commercial
breweries also divert their excess yeast into the manufacture of toast spreads,
as in "Vegemite" in Australia and "Marmite" or "Promite" in GB, all of which
are touted as being high in vitamins, but unfortunately also high in salt. I
presume that some of this interest in organic nutrients arises from health as
well as cost concerns. If so, beer trub is a rich source of protein and
therefore nitrogen and is a good nutrient for the more robust wines, meads and
ciders. The sparging leftovers are best, as boiler trub is loaded with hop
bitterness. You could try bottling some trub, then pasteurising it prior to
use. Avoid heating it beyond about 75C, or it will extract too much tannin. It
will inevitably increase both tannin and fusel oil content of anything it is
added to, but that might not necessarily be out of place in a full bodied, high
alcohol brew.
- --
Loughborough University of Technology          tel : (0509)263171  ext 4164
Computer-Human Interaction Research Centre     fax : (0509)610815
Leicestershire  LE11 3TU           e-mail - (Janet):C.V.Copas@uk.ac.lut
G Britain                 (Internet):C.V.Copas%lut.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk


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

Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 12:23:16 -0700 (PDT)
From: Paul dArmond <paulf@henson.cc.wwu.edu>
Subject: Chillers and Labels

This weekend I measured the flow through my 25' x 3/8" (1/4" ID) immersion
chiller.  It filled a 5 gallon carboy in 1:43 (avg of two runs, 0:01.5
difference between the two).  This is a flow rate of ~2.9 gal/minute.
With continuous stirring it takes about 20 minutes to cool 5 gal to 80F.
My water temperature at the tap is 58F.  So, I'm using about 58 gallons @ 58F.

Mike McNally (HBD 939) gives a formula for minimum water consumption that
indicates I cannot use less than 27.5 gallons.  I figure that makes my
immersion chiller ~50% efficient.  I just bought two 20' lengths of 3/8"
OD tube at a going out of business sale.  Should I hook them in parallel
or in series to get the quickest cooling with the least water consumption?
 I'm inclined parallel, but I'd be interested to hear comments.

David Clump asks what other people are using for labels.  I'm xeroxing
three labels per letter-size (8 1/2" x 11") sheet.  8 1/2" will wrap
nicely around a long-neck bottle.  I've tried all sorts of adhesives:
mucilage, Elmer's, rubber cement, and glue sticks.  I like the glue sticks
best.  It is not messy, soaks off easily, and is easy to use.  Next best
is mucilage, but there is a lot of difference between brands.  The cloudy
variety that comes from Mexico is best.  The very clear mucilages can be
very hard to soak off.  Try a glue stick...

Is there any sort of a forum, newsletter, APA, pen pals club, etc. for
people who like making and collecting homebrew labels?

Paul de Armond  --- If it tastes good, you did it right!


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

Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 15:57:13 EDT
From: neilm@juliet.ll.mit.edu ( Neil Mager )
Subject: Re: Be-Gyled by Priming



C.R. Saikley writes:

 > Before questioning the bottles, I'd take a closer look at the amount of sweet
 > wort (gyle) used to prime. One gallon sounds like an awful lot (I'm assuming
 > you're making a standard 5 gallon batch).
 >
 > I've been priming with gyle for over five years because I prefer the result
 > to that obtained with corn sugar. While the exact amount of gyle required
 > varies from batch to batch, for me it usually works out to be somewhere
 > between 32 and 48oz for 5 gallons. If you back off on the priming, you'll
 > probably be happier with the result.


 I checked the recipe, it indeed calls for one gallon of
 gyle. The beer tasted fine, with a slightly larger than average
 head. The carbonation level is a little higher then it probably
 should be. All in all, not a bad brew. It wouldn't win any
 awards, but everyone who tried it liked it and had more than one
 (thats my measure of success!).

 The recipe is the (May or June) recipe of the month from the
 Beer and Wine Hobby in Woburn, MA. If anyone else is thinking of
 brewing this, the consensus is to use 1/4 - 1/2 as much gyle as
 the recipe calls for.



===============================================================================
Neil Mager
MIT Lincoln Labs            Lexington, MA
  Weather Radar - Group 43

Internet                    <neilm@juliet.ll.mit.edu>
Voice                       (617) 981-4803
===============================================================================



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

Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 16:34:48 EDT
From: garti@mrg.xyplex.com (Mark R. Garti)
Subject: gyle

There has been some talk of using gyle to prime.  How
does one keep gyle until it is needed?  Does it need to
be boiled before it is used?

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

Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 16:53 PDT
From: ALTENBACH@CHERRY.llnl.gov
Subject: HOP ALLERGIES

Here's another data point for the beer allergy discussion. My wife has many
diagnosed allegies, and claims an allergy (tho undiagnosed) to HOPS. Even
the slightest contact with my backyard hop vines causes her to break out
with hives. Hop aromatics filling the house during wort boiling gives her a
stomach ache, as does drinking very bitter beer. Fortunately the balanced
and malty syles are ok, so we can drink lots of those.

Tom Altenbach

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

Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 20:12:49 -0500
From: oconnor@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (donald oconnor)
Subject: coffeemaker/mashtun


Chuck Cox asks about using a beautiful SS coffee urn as a mashtun.
There is an article by Al Andrews in the 1985 Zymurgy special issue
(Grain Brewing) that briefly describes such a mash tun.  the article
seems like a place to start although he only discussess the coffee
urn in a few sentences.


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

Date: 17 Aug 1992 22:42:31 -0500 (EST)
From: "UNRECOVERABLE APPLICATION ERROR: Abort? Retry? Buy OS/2?"
Subject: Yeast washing


  Decided to go over Dave Miller's book Brewing the World's Great Beers, and
found a tidbit I'd missed earlier. He goes into washing yeast. If I understand
the method it essentially consists of getting yeast from the primary, and
storing it in a sterile container for 12 hours. Dump half of the contents of
the container, replacing that with chiller, sterile water, and stirring the
concoction. This should be done two more times at 8-12 hour intervals, and
pitched about 8 hours after the final washing. Has anyone else tried this? Any
tips or anecdotes? Thanks in advance.

Steve Grigg

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

Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 13:08 GMT
From: Andy Phillips <PHILLIPSA@LARS.AFRC.AC.UK>
Subject: RE: siphon woes

Chris Goedde reports a problem with CO2 coming out of solution
during siphoning into secondary. I've had this problem in the
past, and I can think of three ways to reduce it:
1) The CO2 comes out at the top of the siphon tube because
of the reduced pressure here - you can minimise this by reducing
the height difference between the two ends of the siphon tube
ie. raise the secondary up somewhat. Unfortunately, this is fine
in theory, but I sometimes found that although less gas came out,
the bubbles were more likely to stay stuck in the bend because of the
slower flow rate.
2) Rouse the primary several times before siphoning. If you
rock the vessel, you may be able to liberate CO2 without disturbing
the sediment too much. Alternately, shake a few hours before racking
to allow the crud to drop back to the bottom.
3) Siphon a few days later, when the gas production has dropped off -
I usually rack about 4-5 days after pitching.  I see no reason why
later racking should harm the beer (but I would welcome postings
from those with different opinions).

Andy

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

Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 08:37:03 EDT
From: Steve Anthony <steveo@Think.COM>
Subject: near bottle failure

I went down to the basement last night to grab a brew, and reached for a
bottle. To my suprise, it was stuck fast to the shelf. I mean stuck. Two
hands, some pulling, with my face turned away incase it broke, etc. It
finally came free, with some paint from the shelf. The bottle was sticky,
so that answered why the thing was stuck to the shelf. However, the
question remained, how did the bottle get sticky?

Upon opening and pouring the brew, the answer became clear. I found a small
lump of crust on the neck of the bottle; just above where the body of the
bottle turns into the neck. washing it abit, I noticed a hairline crack in
the bottle. What had happened was obvious, the pressure in the bottle was
pushing the beer out throught the crack.

Well, at any rate the beer was good, and I promised myself that I'd check
my bottles as I empty and wash them, to avoid having one of them turn into
a glass grenade. As the guy on TV said, "Let's be careful out there".

BTW, it was a Grolsch bottle, although I don't think that has much to do
with it.

Steve Anthony                     |  "Ain't nobody gettin' outta here |
Application Engineer              |   with out singin' the blues"     |
(617) 234-4000                    |                                   |
steveo@think.com                  |  - Albert "The Iceman" Collins    |

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

Date: 18 Aug 1992 09:24:21 -0400 (EDT)
From: JEFF@RCC.RTI.ORG
Subject: Canadian Beers......


Date: 	Mon, 17 Aug 1992 08:34:12 -0400
From: pawebs@ohpspd.com (Philip A. Webster)
Subject: Canadian Beers


>>As far as I know, the beers exported to the U. S. are the same as those
>>available here in the Great White North.  That is,they are the light, pilsener
>>style beers produced by the big brewers, which achieve massive sales by means
>>of extensive advertising aimed at young, blue collar (usually white) males. Of
>>course, with the current trade dispute on this very topic, exports are likely
>to be at a very low level until the lunacy subsides.

>>With regard to strength, you should be aware that the reputation of Canadian
>>beers as being stronger that U.S. beers is a fallacy.  This arises because we
>>measure alcohol content by volume whereas south of the 49th it is by weight.
>>Since alcohol has a specific gravity of less than one, a beer of, say, 5% by
>>volume would be about 4% by weight.  Hence the confusion and the unwarranted
>>reputation.

Most foreign brewers who export to the U.S. use a recipe specifically tailored
for U.S. tastes.  Heine-corn is a great example.  The Brador malt liquor
available in Canada is indeed stronger than that available here.  The latest
bottle I got of it says 6% alcohol by volume.  The U.S. version is 5%.  There
indeed are several mass-produced Canadian beers not available here.  Moosehead
makes a malt liquor called James Ready which is good and their "Busch" is
called Alpine, which is a good summertime beer to quench a thirst.

Also, each state has it's own laws governing alcohol strength.  Here in North
Carolina, the maximum allowed is 6%.  Thus, we cannot get EKU 28, Samiclaus,
Bigfoot, Old Foghorn, etc, etc.  Mendocino Brewing Company of California is
kind (or smart) enough to brew separate batches of some of their stronger beers
for NC and other states lower in alcohol than the versions available in
California.

Note that even though most Canadian beers available here are 5% by volume,
these are STILL stronger than Bud and Coors!  See Fred Ekhart's book on Beer
Styles to get the scoop on alcoholic strength of many commercially available
beers.

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


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

Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 09:35:59 EDT
From: neilm@juliet.ll.mit.edu ( Neil Mager )
Subject: Re: Old time brewing (was Flames)


Wally L. Blume writes:
 >   Very well put, I only recently started getting the HBD, and when I
 >   first read it I was mystified at how some readers would take offense
 >   at someone doing something that was not technically motivated.
 >   I learned brewing from two old men, namely my grandfathers, they both
 >   did things differently and they both produced very good beers. And
 >   each had it's own flavor. Most of my equipment is homemade, and the
 >   techniques I use are pretty old (and abstract at times) but I
 >   wouldn't dare post them here for fear of getting flamed by a "techy"
 >   saying my hydrometer reading was all wrong or I used the wrong temp.
 >   and therefore my beer could not possibly be worth drinking and I must
 >   be an idiot for doing something like that.


    Actually, I think a post about how your grandfathers brewed,
    what ingredients they used (were malt extracts available to
    them?), what equipment they had, brewing tips they passed on
    to you, recipes, and your technique & equipment would be pretty
    interesting to the readership. Most of us are from the school
    of Papazian, Fix, & Miller. A different perspective would be
    interesting.

    We promise to behave ourselves!


===============================================================================
Neil Mager
MIT Lincoln Labs            Lexington, MA
  Weather Radar - Group 43

Internet                    <neilm@juliet.ll.mit.edu>
Voice                       (617) 981-4803
===============================================================================



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

Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 09:11:14 CDT
From: smanastasi@mmm.com
Subject: Proposed process for moving from extract to all grain

I am an extract brewer ready to go all grain.  I have dilegently read
the last 200+ homebrew digest articles and now am ready to come out of
the Homebrew Digest closet and begin posting.  I have summarized all
Homebrew Digest wisdom on going all grain into an easy 10 step process.
Please comment.  After final review, this could be of value to all us
simple extract brewers.

Please - this is only the basics.  Let's not argue the merits of immersion
 .vs. conterflow chillers (again).  Half the fun of homebrew is discovery.

New equipment:
1.	Mash/lauter tun.  5 gallon cooler with a false bottom and improved
	spigot system, ideally with temp probes added.
2.	10 gallon brew pot - preferrably stainless steel.
3.	Immersion or counterflow wort chiller.
4.	Grain mill (or access to one).

Easy 10 Step Procedure:
0.	Crush grains such that each kernel is broken into several parts
	but not flour-like.

1.	Place grain in cooler.

2.	Add hot water such that water covers all grains and temp is 135F.
	Try not to exceed 20 oz.s per 1lb of grain.  Let sit for 30 (??)
	minutes.  This is the protein rest period.

3. 	Raise temp to 168F by adding hot water (how hot, I don't know).
	Maintain this temp for 45 (??) minutes.  Do not exceed 32 oz.s per
	1lb of grain (total water).  This is the starch conversion period.

4.	Begin draining cooler into brew pot.  One can recycle the wort by
	slowly draining the cooler until 7 gallons of wort have been
	collected.  This is the sparge process.

5.	Boil and add hops, etc. as if doing an extract brew.

6.	After boiling is complete, chill wort to pitching temp via
	counterflow or immersion chiller.

7.	Siphon cooled wort off of cold break into carboy allowing wort to
	airate.

8.	Pitch yeast and dry hop, etc. as if an extract brew.

9.	Enjoy a far superior beer due to all sorts of "all grain"
	advantages well documented in Homebrew Digest.

- --------------------
Steve Anastasi
smanastasi@mmm.com
St. Paul, Minnesota


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

Date:         Tue, 18 Aug 92 10:13:41 EDT
From: Lou Curcio <LACURCI%ERENJ.BITNET@pucc.Princeton.EDU>
Subject:      Beer Bread Recipe


Since I've taken a break from homebrewing this summer (too hot in Texas!),
I'd like to try making some beer bread. If anyone has a recipe they can
recommend, please forward it to me at the above address.

Thanks,
Lou

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

Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 11:02 EDT
From: "C. Lyons" <LYONS@adc1.adc.ray.com>
Subject: Question about adding yeast at bottling time.

I have a question about the addition of yeast at bottling time.  Is this
recommended, and if so how much yeast should be added for a 5 gallon
batch?  The reason I ask is that I have repeatedly primed with 3/4 cup of
corn sugar and have gotten poor carbonation.  I have increased the amount
of corn sugar to 1 cup for my last three batches, which has improved the
carbonation, but is still far from the carbonation of commercial brews.
I typically brew extract pale ales with and let the beer sit in the
secondary for 4-to-5 weeks.  Could the yeast be settling out and not
in sufficient enough quantity for bottling?  Any comments would be
appreciated.

                                       ... Christopher Lyons
                                           lyons@adc1.adc.ray.com

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

Date: Mon, 17 Aug 92 16:16:02 PDT
From: Darryl Richman <darrylri@microsoft.com>
Subject: Maisel Brewery info

Brian Cole asks about the Maisel brewery, whose beers he encountered on
a trip through Germany this year:

Maisel is a German brewery based in Bayreuth, a town in Bavaria (west
of Munich, I think).  The six pointed star is one of a number of old
symbols for a brewer, and is, I believe, unrelated to its use as the
Mogen David.

		--Darryl Richman


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

Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 08:54:20 MDT
From: pyle@intellistor.com (Norm Pyle)
Subject: Re: Plum Wine

Thomas Kellogg asks about Japanese plum wine.  I have many Japanese friends
and I believe the beverage you ask about is not made the way you think it is
made.  They have a drink called "umeshu" (oo-may-shoo) which is made from
green plums, sugar, and vodka (or some other high-alcohol distilled liquor).
The high alcohol prevents any yeast or bacterial growth.  The ingredients are
all thrown together, sealed, and left alone for a year.  If you want details
(like a recipe) contact me and I'll get it to you.  If it is a true wine you
are looking for (like any of the non-grape-based wines out there) you'll have
to ask someone else.  Good luck.

Norm

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

Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 16:03:03 BST
From: Conn Copas <C.V.Copas@lut.ac.uk>
Subject: Re : Recipe for Fullers ESB wanted

Whilst Fullers ESB is one of my favourites, I don't believe the formulation is
overly elaborate. You need an initial gravity of 55, which can be achieved with
9-10 lbs of (ale) malt. Substituting 0.5-1 lb of that with wheat malt will
improve head retention. A protein rest is probably of dubious utility when
using ale malt. The brew is reasonably light, so go easy on the specialty
grains; say 0.5 lb of crystal malt at most as a substitute for the above. Up to
1 lb of a dark brown sugar could add interest (as a substitute for 1.3 lbs of
malt), but in that case make sure you use a clean yeast and a reasonably cool
primary ferment. The real signature of ESB is derived from hop aroma, and that
requires dry hopping with around 1oz of English Goldings in the secondary. In
the boiler, I prefer to avoid Goldings and would use around 2.5oz of seedless
Hallertauer, with 0.5oz Goldings for finishing. Aim for a terminal gravity of
around 12.

- --
Loughborough University of Technology          tel : (0509)263171  ext 4164
Computer-Human Interaction Research Centre     fax : (0509)610815
Leicestershire  LE11 3TU           e-mail - (Janet):C.V.Copas@uk.ac.lut
G Britain                 (Internet):C.V.Copas%lut.ac.uk@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk


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

Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 10:15:07 -0600
From: flowers@csrd.uiuc.edu
Subject: Pop keg valves

I recently took delivery of two used Coca-Cola kegs and was cleaning them
yesterday.  I cannot remove the two valves on the top, (one is the pick-up
tube, the other is for the CO2 line).  I used considerable pressure and
added a longer handle to the wrench for greater leverage.  Still, they
wouldn't budge.  Is it necessary to remove these to properly clean them?

 -Craig Flowers
 (flowers@csrd.uiuc.edu)

PS - We are moving to a new building today so I will be off-line for a few
days.  I will be unable to acknowledge replies for that time.


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

Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 08:18 PDT
From: BOB JONES <BJONES@NOVAX.llnl.gov>
Subject: Coffee makers as a mashtun

To Chuck Cox :

I didn't have your email address ( killed the HBD that your post was in) but
after reading Jeff's response on the old article in Fred's Amateur Brewer, I
remembered that article. I know I have it, I'll have to dig it up if you want
it. I can fax it to you. Email me with your response.

Bob Jones



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

Date:         Tue, 18 Aug 92 10:28:03 CDT
From: Darren Evans-Young <DARREN@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Alabama Water / B'ham Brewing Co

Doug Behm <DBEHM@UA1VM.UA.EDU> said:

>RE: boiled water -  usually use tap water to bring my wort up to 5 gal
>in my fermenter. I haven't had a problem but I never thought about it.
>I use tap water because it is very cold and shortens the cooling time
>and, in my mind, lessened the time for airborne bugs to enter.

Doug,

Always boil your water. Tuscaloosa water has the highest chlorine levels
in the state.  Boil for at least 30 mins then let cool overnight.
This will also kill any nasties in the water.  I checked Tuscaloosa
water and it has > 5 ppm chlorine. I believe swimming pools have
less than that.  You can smell the chlorine coming out of the tap.
Tuscaloosa water very cold?  What part of town are you in?  You might
measure the temp with a thermometer. Where I live, the tap water is > 80F!

>Birmingham has had a micro brewery opened. The beer is good,
>reminds me of an IPA. First brewery in AL in about 60 years. Made me
>wonder why UA1VM distributes this letter (Bible belt and all that).
>Afraid to ask, may cancel if powers that be realize it.

Apparently a law was recently changed to allow brewing. I dont know
the exact wording or what it exactly permits.  UA1VM distributes this
message because the 'powers that be' is me and I brew! :-)
Dont worry BEER-L isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Re: Birmingham Brewing Co.

Latest word is Brewmaster Lee Nicholson who was instrumental in restarting
the company, was fired last month. This could have some major implications.
Such as, if the beer doesnt sell well, the beer ignorant snobs who are
probably running it now, will change the recipe...you know, make it
lighter?

Darren

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

Date: Sat, 16 Jan 93 7:34:51 CST
From: gelly@persoft.com (Mitch Gelly)
Subject: Getting labels to stick (and come off easily)

Greetings,

I know this isn't highly technical or directly related to the quality of your
beverage, but a couple of people have inquired as to a better method for
keeping your labels adhered to the bottle. This thread was also in
rec.crafts.brewing (don't smack me, I know the HBD is the TRUE source of
enlightenment, I just read r.c.b because we have a news feed, and it's there
for the reading).

What was passed on to me by a friend (Hi Brian!) was to use rubber cement. A
thin (or thick, no matter) coating on your label will keep it on the bottle
until you want it off, and then it peels right off, cleanly. I've even put
labels on cold bottles in the fridge, with no problem.

Labels are a fun addition to the beverage. For home consumption I generally
do not bother, but they're usually a hit at club meetings or at any other
gathering where you're rewarding people with the fruits of your labors.

Cheers,

  Mitch

 - gelly@persoft.com - | Better living, through zymurgy +-:-)

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

Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 08:48:25 -0600
From: Michael Howe <howe@gp_sparc45.gwl.com>
Subject: Octoberfest


Greetings fellow homebrewers,
    My roommate and I were just noticing that Octoberfest is coming up
real soon.  We thought we would like to take a crack at brewing up
something special for the occassion.  Problem is, we do not have any 'good'
recipes for an Octoberfest beer (or any recipes at all, for that matter).
We are not beginners, per se, but neither are we experts.  Try to keep the
technical stuff to a minimum, if possible.  We are open to all suggestions
and all types of brews.  If you have any good recipes or know someone who
does, could you please forward them to me A.S.A.P..  We need to get started
if we are going to be able to quaff in time for the big fest.

   You can send suggestions/recipes to me directly at

howe@gp_sparc45.gwl.com  (internet)

or if you think your recipe can benefit everyone, go ahead and put it in
the digest, and I can read it there.

Thank you very much in advance,

Michael Howe
Great West Life Assurance Company
Denver, CO

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

Date: 18 Aug 1992 10:36:04 -0600 (MDT)
From: SLK6P@CC.USU.EDU
Subject: Re: PlumWine/Siphon/ChicagoBrewSuppliers

In response to a couple of posts in HBD 950:

1) For Thomas Kellogg-  here is a plum wine recipe from
the Art of Wine Making.  If you want more detail e-mail me
    Per gallon:     3 lbs Plums
                    2.5 lb sugar
                    1/2 level tsp yeast nutrient
                    1/4 tsp grape tannin
                    1/2 tsp pectic enzyme
                    1 campden tablet
                    1 1/2 level tsps acid blend
                    Wine yeast
Starting specific gravity should be 1.090-1.095,  acid  60%.
Follow normal wine brewing techniques.

2) Chris Goedde has siphon woes:  Getting bubbles in the racking tube
and siphoning ceases.   A hassle I've experienced.  A couple options:
    a.  Increase the height drop between your source and recipient of
        your siphoning.  The greater the hight, the faster the flow.
        This might help keep the bubbles moving.
    b.  If you have a CO2 tank hanging around, apply a LITTLE positive
        pressure to your carboy (but leave it UNSEALED- partially, so
        you don't build up too much pressure and BLOW IT UP!)  This will
        help push the brew through the tube, and also reduces chances for
        oxidation.  The best way might be to stick your racking tube
        through a stopper with two holes.  Then stick the CO2 outlet
        tube into the stopper too.Don;t keep building pressure, just
        get it flowing, and add a little pressure as required.

3)  Glenn Anderson was looking for home
brew suppliers in the Chicago area.
    My E-mail to him got rejected- so here are a couple.
Brewin Beer  6148 W. Belmont Ave, Chicago, IL. 60634 (312) 685-2895
Fred Lane Co  1515 W. Berwyn Ave, Chic.IL. 60640 (312) 275-5600
PMP fermentations 121 Wayne St. Peoria, IL. 61603 (309) 637-0400
Mitchels Vineyard and Berry 434 State St. Madison WI. 53703 (608) 257-0099

I'm sure there are more. I haven't tried these, just have the addresses
so If anyone know which (if any) of these are good, please lemme know.

Guess that's enuf for know.  Brew on ye brethren of Barley, Bee, and Vine.
_____________________________________________________________________
                                J. Wyllie (The Coyote)
                                SLK6P@cc.usu.edu
"As long as he's got 8 fingers and 8 toes, he's alright by me."  H.J.S.
_______________________________________________________________________


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

Date: 18 Aug 92 09:42:19 U
From: "Rad Equipment" <rad_equipment@rad-mac1.ucsf.EDU>
Subject: Hunter Control, etc.

Subject:  Hunter Control, etc.                  Time:9:23 AM     Date:8/18/92
This is not a commercial, just information.

For those of you who don't have access to a Home Depot where you can buy a
Hunter Temp Control for $20, here is a mail order alternative.

American Science & Surplus shows Hunter Model #42205 in their August '92
catalog for $19.50. Item #22345 on page 54 of catalog #67. AS&S always seem to
have something which will help out in the brewery. Another item in this catalog
is on page 17, item #21674 20" Drum Dolly, $7.50. This is a pretty lightweight
5 wheel dolly but works well enough under my 15 gallon fermenter when it is
full. Saves my back and can't be made cheaper unless you have access to casters
for almost free.

American Science & Surplus
601 Linden Pl.
Evanston, IL 60202
(708) 475-8440

RW...

      Russ Wigglesworth              CI$:      72300,61
|~~|  UCSF Medical Center            Internet: Rad Equipment@RadMac1.ucsf.edu
|HB|\ Dept. of Radiology, Rm. C-324  Voice:    415-476-3668 / 474-8126 (H)
|__|/ San Francisco, CA 94143-0628


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

Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 10:09:49 PDT
From: thomasf@deschutes.ico.tek.com (Thomas D. Feller)
Subject: All Grain Help

Well I did it last night, my first all grain brew. It did not go very well!

My round cooler mash/lauter tun work OK, I used a Phill's Phalse bottom and
a toilet type water valve to control the flow rate. The problems here were
the valve moved thin wall of the cooler and the valve got very hot and was
diffcult to turn. I had to hold the valve with a wrench in order to adjust
it, oh well, live and lrean.

To the point or rather the problem, very very low extraction. I used
3 lbs of 2 row malt and 3.5 american wheat. I decide to do a protien rest
because of the wheat, 30 min. at 122-118 deg.F. Then raised to 158 deg.F
and placed in my cooler for 1 hr. after the hour the temp was at 153 deg.F
I added about 3 qt. to 180 deg.F water to try and raised the grian to mash
out temp, this did not really work only raised to about 160 deg.F. I
recirlculated the run off until clear and the used sparge at about 175 deg.F,
the sprage was too fast, about 25 min. I sparged until the run-off not longer
tasted sweet, this was about 1.008, I then added water to make my 7 gal.,
stirred and took a SG reading, 1.020. The recipe I was using
as a general guide was a fruit ale from Dave Miller new book, it called for
4 lbs. of two row and 2.5 lbs. of wheat, I followed the recipe's mashing
instructions, the expected SG was 1.045.

Now I am in trouble I could have lived with a SG around 1.032 but 1.020
was not goiog to cut it. So I heated up my 7 gal. of not so sweet wort to
160 deg.F and put it back into my cooler, this raised the mash temp to 153
deg.F. I let this sit for another 45 min. then sparged with the hot wort at
175 deg.F. Well after all this and a boil I ended up with about 5.5 gal.
of wort at a SG of 1.028. Anyway this is now in the primary and we will
see what happens.

So what is my problems.

	Did I need more two row to convert the wheat?

	Should I have checked the mash water for ph. level?

	Should I have mashed longer at 155-158 deg.F?

	Did I sparge way too fast?

	Could my Hydrometer be wrong?

	Or am I just lame? (Sorry could not resist)


And yes I cooled the wort before taking the SG readings.

Oh, thanks to everyone for the cooler mash/lauter tun ideas and the copper
cleaning pad as a filter idea, They worked great!

I plan on doing another all grain brew on Friday.


Tom Feler

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

Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 10:30:45 PDT
From: gak@wrs.com (Richard Stueven)
Subject: Re: Coffeemaker Mashtun

In #950, Hal Laurent writes:
> In #949 Chuck Cox writes:
>
> > What is a good cleaner to remove coffee
> > taste/aroma from stainless?
>
> Well, you might try Efferdent denture cleaning tablets.

Ha!  Efferdent, the Universal Solvent.

No kidding...it'll clean anything!

gak			Der Herr Buergermeister gibt bekannt, dass ab
gak@wrs.com		Donnerstag Bier gebraut wird und deshalb ab
attmail!gakhaus!gak	Mittwoch micht mehr in den Bach geschissen
107/H/3&4		werden darf.

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

Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 10:34:24 PDT
From: gak@wrs.com (Richard Stueven)
Subject: Re: Help with Basement Brewery Layout

In #950, Roger McPherson asks for suggestions on how to lay out a
basement brewery.

Check out Bill Owens' book "Building a Small Brewery".  (Hmmm...I'm
pretty sure that's what it's called, anyway.)  There are a lot of good
design tips, as well as ideas on building your own equipment, etc.

gak			Der Herr Buergermeister gibt bekannt, dass ab
gak@wrs.com		Donnerstag Bier gebraut wird und deshalb ab
attmail!gakhaus!gak	Mittwoch micht mehr in den Bach geschissen
107/H/3&4		werden darf.

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

Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 12:08:54 EDT
From: Chuck Cox <chuck@synchro.com>
Subject: Re: Dixie Cup

cl7841s@ACAD.DRAKE.EDU sez...
>
> America's second largest homebrew competition
> will be held October 16 and 17, 1992 in Houston, TX.
>
> The Dixie Cup is sponsored by the Houston Foam Rangers
> Homebrew Club and DeFalco's Home Wine and Beer Supplies
> of Houston.  It is an AHA and HWBTA sanctioned competition.

And don't forget; the 3rd annual Homebrewer Gran Prix is an official
part of the Dixie Cup.  This is your chance to challenge me for the
title of World's Fastest Homebrewer.  Other titles to be defended:
World's Fastest Female Homebrewer, Texas' Fastest Homebrewer, Medford's
Fastest Homebrewer, etc.

The Dixie Cup is the best homebrew event in the country.  It is the most
fun you can have without risking arrest (especially in the South).
Hell, if the republicrats found out, they'd probably make it illegal, so
enjoy it while you can.  Just don't go into any enclosed spaces with the
boys from the Crescent City Homebrewers.

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


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

Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 12:31 PDT
From: BOB JONES <BJONES@NOVAX.llnl.gov>
Subject: mash tun design from Micah Millspaw




Clearing the details;

Just to clear things up. My mash\lauter tun is stainless steel and
is not insulated, SS is a poor conductor and the wet grain is a great
thermal flywheel. I lose 2 degrees per hour. There is no sparge bag
either, the tun has a false bottom made of 10 gauge perforated stainless
steel, in fact the whole thing (my brewery) is stainless steel and
is qiute easy to care for.
Also, it is possible that many small breweries did go out of bussiness
because of their mash stirring habits, or so claims G.Fix.


                    Micah Millspaw
                          8/17/92

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

Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 9:08:59 PDT
From: tahoma!dgs1300@bcstec.ca.boeing.com (Don Scheidt)
Subject: K. Bloss going to Germany

In HOMEBREW Digest #949, Karl Bloss asks:

>I'm heading to Germany in about a month.  Is there anything I should look
>for there that is not available here?

Where are you going in Germany??  There are more than 1100 brewers, and
they collectively produce over 4500 different beers!  There are a *lot* of
beers that are never seen in the USA - we tend to get the bigger brewers'
products, from Munich, Bremen, Frankfurt, and some of the stronger regional
brewers, but a lot of the little guys are left behind, not to mention the
German brewpubs (Hausbrauereien) and microbrewers.  There's lots of Pils,
Altbier, Koelsch, Rauchbier, Fraenkische Ungespund'n, and Weissbier that
aren't shipped very far from where they are produced, and never mind the
international export market!

"I'm heading to Germany", in this context, is about as specific as "I'm
visiting { the USA | Canada | France | Japan | any fairly big country }."
Tell us *where* you plan to visit, and you'll get better info about what
to check out - I can promise you that much personally!

Prost!
- --
Don                             | Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate
dgs1300@tahoma                  | things.
 .!uunet!bcstec!tahoma!dgs1300 |       -- Vice President Dan Quayle


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

Date: Tue 18 Aug 1992 15:37:50
From: eggleston@Readmore.Com (Meade_Eggleston)
Subject: Brew Pubs in Maine

Hi all,

Does any one know of brewpubs or good micro breweries in the
Bangour or Port Smith area of Maine?

Does any one have the addres of the Commonwealth Pub in Boston?
I'll be swinging by there as I make my way back from Maine.

Thanks for the help.

Meade

Eggleston@Readmore.Com




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


End of HOMEBREW Digest #951, 08/19/92
*************************************
-------

Xref: sparky rec.crafts.brewing:4603 alt.beer:4825