Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
HOMEBREW Digest #0237
HOMEBREW Digest #237 Fri 25 August 1989
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
supply sources (Joe Kagenski)
Clarification regarding sterilization..... (Doug Roberts @ Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Cornelius Kegs (man)
Still looking for tapping info (plus a Chicago brewpub comment) (Edward A Estes +1 312 982 3969)
well water (Doug)
hops and light (cwilson)
Re: Chlorine (dw)
Send submissions to homebrew%hpfcmr@hplabs.hp.com
Send requests to homebrew-request%hpfcmr@hplabs.hp.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 09:19:01 EDT
From: kagenski@APOLLO.HP.COM (Joe Kagenski)
Subject: supply sources
I would be interested in getting a list of suppliers
(catalogs) that have homebrew supplies and equipment
that folks find of value.
thanx
joe
______________________________________________________________________
Joe Kagenski CAE Engineer, CAE-Logic Design Tools Group
Hewlett Packard Company, Apollo Division
300 Apollo Drive M/S CHR-03-DW, Chelmsford, Ma 01824
Internet: kagenski@apollo.hp.com
UUCP: {mit-eddie,yale,uw-beaver}!apollo!kagenski
Telco: 508-256-6600
FAX: 508-256-2384
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 08:54:43 MDT
From: roberts%studguppy@LANL.GOV (Doug Roberts @ Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Subject: Clarification regarding sterilization.....
>
> Mix 4 oz of sodium bisulfate into a non-metal quart bottle. Seal the
> lid tightly and store in the refigerator. This is a concentrate. To
> sterilize your beer making equipment, mix one part concentrate with
> three parts water and rinse your stuff with it. It doesn't keep, so
> throw the unused portion away.
>
Upon reading this the next morning, I realized that the meaning wasn't
clear (the hazards of late nite posting :-}). What I meant to say is
the the 3 to 1 diluted bisulfate solution doesn't keep, throw the
unused portion away. The concentrate will keep indefinitely, provided
the lid is tight.
Sorry about that.
--Doug
------------------------------
Date: 24 Aug 89 09:35:53 EDT (Thu)
From: man@granjon.att.com
Subject: Cornelius Kegs
Kegs:
A few weeks ago Steve Conklin posted the number of the RAPIDS
company which sells bar and resturant equipment. I wanted
to purchase the necessary equipment for using soda kegs, but
I am not sure exactly what combination of stuff to buy. It
seems pretty straight forward, but after gazing into the catalog
for a while, it gets confusing. Anyway, Steve offered his advice
on outfitting a system. I tried email, but I don't think he
got it. I decided to post the request here, with hope that he,
or another kegger, can help me out. For instance, I know I need
a CO2 tank, but they have MANY listed and not just different
sizes, but several differently priced 5 lb tanks. Which one to
get ? Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Mark Nevar
(201)580-4414
(arpa|att)!kato!man
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 10:56:51 -0600
From: hplabs!utah-cs!ihc!estes (Edward A Estes +1 312 982 3969)
Subject: Still looking for tapping info (plus a Chicago brewpub comment)
A while back, I asked if someone might have saved the discussion on
tapping systems which occurred ~1 year ago. I got an address/phone #
for Rapids Wholesale Bar & Restaurant Equipment, and sent for one of
their catalogs. While the catalog has all sorts of neat pictures, it
doesn't give much of a clue as to what I need to put beer on tap.
For example, there is a wide choice of pressure regulators -- how do
I choose.
So, in an attempt to ferret out the desired information, I will try to
jog some memories. During the aforementioned discussion on beer delivery
systems, one poster went into great detail about the necessary fittings,
hoses, gauges, etc. As I recall, he also talked about the different
types of fittings found on various Cornelius kegs. Also, this person
had an anecdote about always refilling one's CO2 tank, rather than exchanging
it, since he made the mistake of exchanging a brand-new, shiny tank for
an ugly, dinged one.
Does this spark any memories? I received one email message from someone
else also interested in this info, so maybe it could just be posted again.
Now, to contribute to the Chicago brewpub discussion:
I've only tried Tap and Growler, and Goose Island. I agree with the previous
poster that noted that the food at Tap and Growler surpasses that at
Goose Island. The one time I visited T&G, they had only two different
beers available. The porter (or was it a stout?) was very smooth, and went
well with their spicy sweet potato chips. I was unimpressed with the
pilsner -- it had a chemical taste to it. Our group later discovered that
the glass of ice water on the table had the same taste, so we attributed it
to a glassware cleaner. The pilsner was also almost flat; perhaps due to
the cleaner. T&G uses extract-only brewing. The brewpub is one of the
"brewpub kits", available for about $75K. The group that sells the equipment
also sells the extracts, and provides their own recipes, as I understand.
(I have a brochure from some brewpub kit outfit, and could post the address,
if someone is interested.)
Goose Island, on the other hand, does all-grain brewing. Every time I've
been there, they've had their four flagship brews, plus 1-3 seasonal brews.
I always get the 6-oz. sampler glasses, so I can try all the beers.
The flagship brews are excellent, and have always been of consistant
quality. (Personal favorite: Honker's Ale) The seasonal brews are usually
very good. They had a spiced beer last Christmas that tasted just like
graham crackers -- it went over well in our group, although I would
classify it more as a "dessert" beer, than one to serve with a meal.
As previously noted, the food at GI is mediocre, at best. (I once had
a nacho-type platter, described as made with melted cheddar and Monterey jack,
that was actually smothered in Velveeta. YUK!)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 13:14:07 EDT
From: bonar@math.rutgers.edu (Doug)
Subject: well water
I've scene so many people on this list advocating well water in
their beers, I just have to ask a question. I was under the
impression that many (most?) wells were prone to e. colli.
infections. The do taste great (a lot better than most city
water), but I would imagine that using them without steralizing
them would be an even greater hazard to the beer than using
city water. Do you at least get the water tested regularly?
Doug Bonar bonar@math.rutgers.edu
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 89 10:44:36 PDT
From: cwilson@cs.uoregon.edu
Subject: hops and light
I have been hearing quite a bit about the importance of keeping ones
beer away from light, as certain spectra interact with the hops causing
an unpleasant 'skunky' flavor. This reaction, apparently, can happen
within a matter of hours. This also helps explain the necessity of
storing hops in a dark, cool, airtight place (reducing oxidation is
another reason).
In my backyard I have three hop plants (one year old Brewer's Gold)
happily producing flowers. Papazian's book indicates how to check
for ripeness (standard hop odor, presence of yellowish resin at base
of petals).
My burning question is the obvious one. Why don't the hops on the vine,
sitting in the full sun, develop these skunky odors? Is it because
the hop resins contain water? (If so, then beer -- mostly water --
should be immune to light.) Another response is that on the vine the
resins haven't yet been produced. (So they miraculously all get
produced 15 minutes before you happen to pick the hops.) The only thing
that slightly makes sense is that the acids in the resin chemically
change when dried, making them susceptible to light. If this is the
case, then I *have* to dry my hops before use and cannot simply pick
some fresh hops and throw them into boiling wort.
Does anyone know how the light affects the hop flavor?
Chris Wilson
cwilson@cs.uoregon.edu
------------------------------
Date: 24 Aug 89 15:33:05 EDT (Thursday)
From: dw <Wegeng.Henr@Xerox.COM>
Subject: Re: Chlorine
Another solution to the chlorine in tap water problem is to filter the
water. Here in Rochester the city water is so bad that my morning shower
sometimes reminds me of a swimming pool. About a year ago I bought an under
the counter activated charcoal filter for about $30 which seems to do a
pretty good job (I haven't had the water tested to prove that it works -
but the taste of the water is dramatically better and the chlorine odor is
gone). The filter element has to be replaced every 6-12 months, but they
don't cost ver much and are simple to replace.
/Don
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #237, 08/25/89
*************************************
-------
