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HOMEBREW Digest #0128
HOMEBREW Digest #128 Sat 15 April 1989
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Monopolies and Mergers Commissions Report on UK Brewing Industry (But I'm feeling MUCH better now)
BrewCo boiler, CIS, Pilsner recipe ("1107-CD&I/VIRUS DISEASES")
NC homebrew club (Pete Soper)
Electric Brew Pots (Pete Soper)
Send submissions to homebrew%hpfcmr@hplabs.hp.com
Send requests to homebrew-request%hpfcmr@hplabs.hp.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Apr 89 07:53:30 CDT
From: jmellby@ngstl1.csc.ti.com (But I'm feeling MUCH better now)
Subject: Monopolies and Mergers Commissions Report on UK Brewing Industry
The following is a flyer, apparently added a the last minute, to the April
1989 issue of What's BREWING (the newspaper for the Campaign for Real Ale).
****************************************************************
What's BREWING
Newspaper of the Campaign for Real Ale
MMC report
CAMRA'S POLICIES on the increasingly monopololistic position in the UK brewing
industry have been totally vindicated by the Monopolies and Mergers Commissions
report into the supply of beer in the UK>
The main recommendations of the report are.
* A ceiling of not more than 2,000 tied pubs to be owned by an individual
brewery or group: this includes tenanted and managed houses.
<A Tied Pub is owned by the brewery and hence serves mainly/only that
brewery's beer. Since almost all pubs are tied, this tends to restrict
the choice of beer you can drink in the UK.>
This will mean the divestment of 22,000 pubs by the big six brewers as no
regional or local brewer currently owns more than this number. Breweries will
have three years to carry out the MCC recommendation.
<The Big Six are the major brewing conglomerates including (Can I remember
them?) Bass, Watney, Whitbread (bad reputation with the real ale drinkers),
Allied, Scottish & Newcastle, and ?>
* Pubs being sold should have no covenants attached restricting a new
owner to the former brewery's products.
Also there should be no sales of pubs with covenants which preclude them
from being used as pubs in the future.
* The elimination of all loan ties. Existing loans should be allowed to
run their course.
<The breweries make large loans to pubs on the condition that the pubs
sell mainly/solely that breweries beer. Again this makes it VERY hard
for small breweries to compete, and extremely difficult for new, small
breweries to enter the market.>
* Tennants should be allowed to buy a minimum of one draught beer, free
of the ties. Also there should be no tie at all for wines, cider, soft drinks.
* Brewers should publish wholesale price lists which set out the discounts
that are available.
<Do they keep them secret now?>
In its report the MMC is scathing about the state of the industry. It targets
its recommendations specifically at the Big Six and has set the ceiling
on pub ownership in order to boost the position of the independents. It
recognises the complex nature of the industry -- with vertical and horizontal
integration--and has not made sweeping changes which would have been
disastrous for the regionals.
The report is an historic victory for the consumer. Buy ensuring the
survival of the smaller brewers, outlawing loan ties and forcing brewers to
compete on wholesale prices, the MMC has paved the way for genuine choice and
price reductions for drinkers.
By ensuring the survival and expansion of the independent regional and local
breweries, the commission has moved to protect Britain's unique brewing
heritage. The commission also noted that the price of beer had risen by 15
per cent above the retail price index between 1979 and 1987, almost double the
rise in restaurant prices. The report adds that brewers have exploited their
monopoly situation and act against the public interest.
The MMC reserves most of its venom for lager. It says that the high price
of lager is not justified by the cost of producing it. Lager sold for
approximately 10 pence a pint more than bitter but despite the claims of
the Brewers' Society that lager costs more to produce and advertise, the
real difference on a pint-to-pint basis was half a penny more in favour of
lager. It dismissed the Brewers' Society's claim that extra money was
needed to establish a 'new product' such as lager on the grounds that it had
enjoyed a significant market share for the last 25 years.
The MMC also recommends that tenants should be covered by the provisions of
the Landlord and Tenant Actd of 1954, which will give them greater security
of tenure.
While the Campaign will be overjoyed by the MMC's findings, which underscore
18 years of research and lobbying, there should be no room for complacency.
Local branches must ensure the recommendations are enforced. We do not
yet know how they will be policed and it is vital that the Big Six are not
let off the hook by divesting only low-barrelage pubs that other brewers
will not be keen to buy. As with the infamous pub swaps of the late 1970's,
we must insist that the major brewers do not get around the report by
cosy insider dealing between themselves.
The report is silent on the subject of take-overs and mergers but we can
draw comfort from the fact the the Elders bid for S&N has been blocked,
again to the benefit of the consumer, which signals a new toughness on
this situation by the Government.
CAMRA can take enormous pleasure from the vindication of our stance and
will take Lord Young's advice at his press conference when he suggested
breaking out the champagne. Naturally, we will celebrate with the grain
rather than the grape.
Surviving the American Dream
John R. Mellby Texas Instruments
jmellby%ngstl1.ti.com P.O.Box 660246, MS 3645
Dallas Texas, 75266
(214)517-5370 (214)343-7585
*****************************************************************************
* "I am (not) recommending that you totally ignore your responsibilities as *
* a homeowner and just sit around all day with a beer can in your hand. *
* No indeed, I have long been a believer in purchasing bottled beer, and *
* pouring it into a chilled glass." *
* -- "Homes and Other Black Holes", Dave Barry *
*****************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: 14 Apr 89 11:46:00 EST
From: "1107-CD&I/VIRUS DISEASES" <henchal@wrair.ARPA>
Subject: BrewCo boiler, CIS, Pilsner recipe
To: Len Reed
Thanks for your extensive comments and advice concerning the
BrewCo boiler. I will surely let you know how it all works out.
By the way I did receive your E-mail through the regular route,
but I was unable to reply directly. This E-Mail address thing
still puzzles me sometimes.
RE: Compuserve. My comments concerning the costs of Compuserve
have been printed here before, so I will not burden the readers
with these again. I probably subscribe to almost all of the
known BBS's and beer networks in my constant search for new
brewing information. Compuserve will serve me as one other
resource to tap on the road to my perfect beer. I look forward
to having some heart-to-hearts with Professor Surfeit. I guess
I'll be talking to you on CIS, Greg (Wageman).
The following recipe has produced one of the finest pilsners I
have every made...CHEERS.
For 5.5 gallons
4 lb can Mountmellick HOPPED light extract
3 oz Crystal Malt
2 tsp gypsum
1/4 oz Saaz hops (boiling, 75 minutes)
1/2 oz Saaz hops (finishing, last 10 minutes)
Wyeast #2007 liquid yeast (2 qt starter)
47-49 degrees F for 3 weeks (primary fermentation)
30 degrees F for 4 weeks (lagering)
The Crystal malt was steeped at 170 degrees F for 20 minutes in
the brewing water (and then removed) before the start of the
boil.
What could be simplier?
Erik A. Henchal, Ph.D.
<Henchal@WRAIR.ARPA>
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Apr 89 13:36:54 edt
From: Pete Soper <soper@maxzilla.encore.com>
Subject: NC homebrew club
If there are any fellow Homebrew Digesters out there that live in the
Triangle area of North Carolina, send me mail so I can tell you about the
homebrew club I found recently. As inducement I'll tell you about the 5
different commercial and *15* different homebrewed beers I tasted at the
first meeting I attended. Good thing there were only a couple swallows of
each and that the meeting lasted 3 hours. The meetings are held at a brew
pub and both the head and assistant brewmasters attend the meetings. One
of the first things out of the brewmaster's mouth was "Oh sure. Just bring
a sterile container by any time and I'll fill it with our yeast. I've got
plenty.". Wow.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Pete Soper, Encore Computer Corp, 901 Kildaire Farm Rd., bldg D
Cary, North Carolina 27511 USA phone 1 919 481 3730
arpa: soper@encore.com (129.91.1.14)
uucp: {talcott,linus,bu-cs,bellcore,decvax,necntc}!encore!soper
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Apr 89 13:22:19 edt
From: Pete Soper <soper@maxzilla.encore.com>
Subject: Electric Brew Pots
I've used a 220v Bruheat since Christmas. From the recent
descriptions of the BrewCo unit it is very similar if not identical.
The Bruheat has a cute multicolored design on the side and claims
to be from "Cordon Brew" at Burton on Trent. It came packed with
Brit newspapers and was $69 from Koeppls (according to Santa Klaus).
I use my dryer outlet. It seems to be standard practice to have to
wire these brew buckets yourself. Let's be REAL sure we get the ground
connected properly with these things. You don't usually get a second
chance after contacting 220 volts. The 220 setup may seem like a hassle,
but according to a "Zymurgy" review the 110 volt units (e.g. Thorn
Electrim) have much lower power elements and take forever to get to
boiling temperature compared to the 220 models. Finally, if the BrewCo
unit is just like a Bruheat then it comes with a dinky 4 foot power cord.
Don't be tempted to add an extension of the same gauge. As it is with
my Bruheat, the 4 foot dinky cord is warm to the touch when the unit is
running. A 14 gauge extension is the way to go.
I use the Bruheat for preparing dough-in water, water for infusions,
sparge water, and as a boiler. I've never mashed grains in it directly or
tried to sparge in it. It holds water temperatures very accurately.
The element on the Bruheat uses about 15 amps at 220v.
My problem with maximum settings until recently had been the opposite of
Len's, in that I got at most a 1:1 on/off duty cycle and it took a long time
to get a boil started (but with no danger of boil-over!). I turned the
adjustment screw inside the thermostat unit clockwise 1/4 turn. Now I
get around 4 or 5:1 on/off cycle at maximum setting and have to manually
jocky the control at the start of a boil like Len.
Both before and after this tweak, the Bruheat element comes on *even
at the lowest setting*, so I cannot plug the unit in dry.
I find that keeping the lid on greatly reduces the time needed to come
up to boiling temperatures. I leave a thermometer floating in the wort
and when it gets to around 190-200 degrees I pull the lid back off since
a very fast boilover is guaranteed with the lid left on too long.
I calibrated the side with a grease pencil since I got tired of using
the imperial gallon and liter markings. On a level surface about
.3 US gallons are left in the Bruheat when it is drained down to the tap
level. In the past for recipes that used 2 ounces of hops or less I could
usually get all the hops and hot break to settle below the tap and save
a racking step, since I ignored the cold break. I use only pellet hops.
Recently I've started racking off the cold break too, so I just tip the
Bruheat and get everything I can out of it and into a carboy for settling.
I also use an immersion chiller and found that independent of the very
poor cooling of the bottom layer of wort and hops sticking to the coils,
the Bruheat cannot stand the mechanical stress of the chiller resting on
the heating element. I bent the bottom coil of the chiller so it curves
down past the element and rests on the bottom of the Bruheat, taking
most of the weight of the chiller off the element. This was after I
discovered a slow leak around the element once and momentarily lost all
my relaxation :-(
Speaking of the drain clogging, I've noticed that even with pellet hops
it is common to get clumps stuck in the tap. But the tap is held
on with a plastic threaded collar and both it and the heating element can
be removed easily. I find it a lot easier to clean the element with it out,
just by scrubbing with a Brillo pad. I soak the tap in a bowl of hot
detergent and then flush it with water.
Overall I'm very pleased with the Bruheat. It has added a lot of
convenience to my brewing as well as some qualitative improvements like
greatly reduced wort darkening and better hop utilization.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Pete Soper, Encore Computer Corp, 901 Kildaire Farm Rd., bldg D
Cary, North Carolina 27511 USA phone 1 919 481 3730
arpa: soper@encore.com (129.91.1.14)
uucp: {talcott,linus,bu-cs,bellcore,decvax,necntc}!encore!soper
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #128, 04/15/89
