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HOMEBREW Digest #0451
This file received at Mthvax.CS.Miami.EDU 90/07/02 03:12:11
HOMEBREW Digest #451 Mon 02 July 1990
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Auto Mash (Crawford.WBST129)
A possible cheap brew kettle? (Kenneth R. van Wyk)
CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION PLEASE (BLCARR02)
National Competition Results (hp-lsd.cos.hp.com!att!drutx!homer)
Subjectivity, AHA Competition Revisited (Jay Hersh)
Spruce Beer (Gary Benson)
Oatmeal stout... ("Gary F. Mason - Image Systems - MKO2-2/K03 - 603884[DTN264]-1503 01-Jul-1990 2053")
Send submissions to homebrew%hpfcmr@hplabs.hp.com
Send requests to homebrew-request%hpfcmr@hplabs.hp.com
Archives available from netlib@mthvax.cs.miami.edu
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Date: 29 Jun 90 05:44:49 PDT (Friday)
From: Crawford.WBST129@Xerox.COM
Subject: Auto Mash
In the latest issue of Zymurgy I saw an ad for Auto Mash. It's a
programmable mashing device that uses a heated water jacket for maintaining
temp. (to avoid scourching). You simply program what temp and how long for
each of up to three temp. rests and start it up. It will even stir the
mash if you want. It didn't give a price so I assume it's expensive.
Does anyone know anything about this gadget? It sounds like a great idea.
I could start the mash in the morning, come back later that day, sparge and
boil. It sounds good in theory but I hate to buy it and find out it
doesn't work very well. If anyone has any more info. on this device,
please let me know.
Greg
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Date: Fri, 29 Jun 90 15:19:41 EDT
From: Kenneth R. van Wyk <krvw@cert.sei.cmu.edu>
Subject: A possible cheap brew kettle?
I was out in the Bay area last week, and got to try some of the
fabulous microbrews there - great! Anyway, a friend there suggested a
cheap source for stainless steel brew kettles. I thought that I'd
toss it out here for discussion/suggestions/etc.
Apparently (though we're not certain) Budweiser kegs are made out of
stainless steel. For the price of the beer + the $15 (or so) deposit,
one could cut the top off of the keg and use it as a kettle. It even
has nice handles at the top. If I'm not mistaken, a quarter keg is in
the order of 7.5 gallons. Cutting and smoothing the top of the keg
could be a bit of a hassle, but nothing that a few minutes with an
oxi-acetylene torch couldn't cure.
So, the main question is - are Bud kegs actually stainless? If not,
are there any other kegs that are, and could be used as kettles? Has
anyone tried this with or without success? Ideas? If it works, it
could be a great source for big and cheap stainless kettles. Thanks
for the idea, Dave!
Of course, you'd have to find something to do with all of that
Bud...
Cheers,
Ken van Wyk
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 90 15:47 EDT
From: BLCARR02%ULKYVX.BITNET@CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu
Subject: CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION PLEASE
PLEASE CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION TO THE HOMEBREW DIGEST
THANK YOU
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 90 20:17:36 mdt
From: hplabs!hp-lsd.cos.hp.com!att!drutx!homer
Subject: National Competition Results
Here are the results from the AHA National competition. We had 1500+ entries
this year.
1. Alt/German AltbierAward Sponsored by Great Fermentations of Santa Rosa, California
1st: Norman Dickerson, Santa Rosa, California Kolch
2nd: Steven Daniel, League City, Texas Hat Trick Alt (or League City Alt Part III)
3rd: Phil Rahn, St. Peters, Missouri The Good Stuff
2. Barley WineAward Sponsored by Edme, Ltd., Mistley, Manningtree, England
1st: Clay Biberdorf, Portland, Oregon Tsampa
2nd: Norman Dickerson, Santa Rosa, California Big Bam Hot Damn
3rd Richard Rinehart, Carrboro, N. Carolina F.U.B.
3. Belgium-Style Specialty BeerAward sponsored by Manneken-Brussel Imports, Austin, Texas
1st: Mr. Terry Olesen, St. Charles, Missouri N/A
2nd: Robert Burke, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Cream City Abbey Ale
3rd: Chris Studach, Eugene, Oregon Unknown
4. Brown AlesAward sponsored by Premier Malt Products, Grosse Pointe, Mich.
1st: Phil Rann, St. Peters, Missouri T-Brown
2nd: Charles Lawhon, Holly Spring, N. Carolina Dottie's Brown Ale
3rd: Michael Oliver, Lake Oswego, Oregon M & B's Special Dark
5. Cream AleAward sponsored by Homebrewery, Fontana, California
1st: Richard Schmidt, Arlington Heights, Illinois Arlington Ale # 33
2nd: Murray Scott, Prince George, B.C., Canada Ernie's Ale
3rd: Hubert Smith, Selma, Oregon Precursor Brew "C"
6. Fruit BeerAward sponsored by The Purple Foot, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1st: John Abbott, Chico, California
3-Dimensional Raspberry Ale
2nd: Jeff Andersen, Santa Rosa, California Fletcher's Ale
3rd: Stephen Weiler, Niceville, Florida Altar Boys Raspberry
7. Herb BeerAward sponsored by Oregon Specialty Company, Portland, Oregon
1st: Matt Ennis, Cincinnati, Ohio Ginger Honey Lager
2nd: Ray Spangler, ERlanger, Kentucky 3 Wise Guys - One Grand Cru
3rd: Phillip Moeller, Fair Oaks, California Dunkin Ale Ala Bill Owen
8a. Old Pale Ale / Classic Pale AleAward sponsored by Wynkoop Brewing Co., Denver, Colorado
1st: Tom Cooper, Houston, Texas Cascade Delight
2nd: Norman Hardy, Seattle, Washington Cascade Pale Ale
3rd: Robert Burko, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Cream City Pale Ale
8b. Pale Ale / India Pale AleAward sponsored by Wynkoop Brewing Co., Denver, Colorado
1st: Harry Graham, San Jose, California Crocky
2nd Leon Boroditsky, Oakland, California Kwa Kiutt
3rd: Kelly Robinson, Ceres, California Indian Rhino
8c. Pale Ale / British BitterAward sponsored by Wynkoop Brewing Co., Denver, Colorado
1st: Ron Page, Middletown, Connecticut Quick and Dirty
2nd Kathy Pratt, Chico, California Pratt's Ale
3rd: Ken Barry, Martinez, California English Bitter
9. Porter / PorterAward sponsored by The Cellar, Seattle, Washington
1st: Padraic Giffen, Cotati, California Entirely Yours
2nd: Cory Bailey, Sandy, Utah TGI Porter
3rd: Don Moore, Edmonton, AB, Canada Ye Old Porter
10. Scotch AleAward sponsored by Wine & Hop Shop, Denver, Colorado
1st: Jerry Bockmore, Dayton, Ohio Scotch Ale
2nd: Kelly Robinson, Ceres, California Fifty Six Pound Ale
11. Specialty BeerAward sponsored by Beery and Wine Hobby, Woburn, Mass.
1st: Philip W. Fleming, Broomfield, Colorado Anne's Choice Christmas Ale
2nd: Phillip Moeller, Fair Oaks, California Extra Stout Chocolate Porter
3rd: Sal Pennacchio, Staten Island, New York Pumkin Ale #3188 - Hold the Cool Whip
12. StoutAward sponsored by Great Fermentations of Marin, California
1st: Byron Burch, Santa Rosa, California Breakfast of Champions Imperial Stout Framboise
2nd: David Hammaker, Roaring Spring, Pennsylvania Imperial Stout
3rd: Wayne Greenway, Oakland, California Stout
13. Wheat Beer German StyleAward Sponsored by National Association of Wheat Growers, Washington.
1st: Michael Croddy, Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Weizen
2nd: Ray Ballestero, Sacramento, California West Coast Wheat
3rd: Art Priebe, Albuquerque, New Mexico El Bock
14. BockAward sponsored by Yakima Valley Hop Growers, Yakima, Washington.
1st: Darryl Richman None Given
2nd Phil Rahn, St. Peters, Missouri Basicly Bock
3rd: Jeff Thomford, Berkley, Michigan Light Heavyweight
15. Continental DarkAward sponsored by Crosby & Baker, Westport, Massachusetts.
1st: Ray Daniels, Chicago, Illinois Diversey Lager
2nd: N. Pablo Tognetti, St. Charles, Missouri St. Louis Dark
3rd: Irvin E. Byers, Chicago, Illinois Continental Dark
16. ExportAward sponsored by DeFalco's Wine and House Beer, Dallas, Texas
1st: Quentin Smith, Rohnert Park, California Expert Export
2nd: Donald Weaver, New Freedom, Pennsylvania Orwig Export
3rd: Eric McClary, Carson City, Nevada Neue Rothenburg
17. MunichAward sponsored by Wines, Inc., Akron, Ohio
1st: Byron Burch, Santa Rosa, California Handbasket Helles
2nd: Larry Polacek, Solon, Ohio Solon Dark
3rd: Rod Romanak, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Big Island Lager
18. PilsenerAward sponsored by California Concentrates, Acampo, California
1st: Sal Pennacchio, Staten Island, New York BME Pilsener
2nd: Quentin Smith, Rohnert Park, California Pilsener Urpwell
3rd: Gerald Stoker, Los Alamitos, California American Beauty
19. RauchAward sponsored by Jim's Hombrew Supply, Spokane, Washington.
1st: Ron Butt, Aurora, Colorado Across Quincy Smoke
2nd: Ralph Bucca, Huntingtown, Maryland Bar-b-que Ranch
3rd: Andy Runnoe, Monterey, California Rauch! Rauch!
20. SteamAward sponsored by Anchor Brewing Co., San Francisco, California
1st: David Sherfey, La Crescenta, California #26 Steam
2nd: Ralph C. Housley, Sacramento, California Sacramento Steam Beer
3rd: Kelly Dunham, Pacifica, California Steam Cheat
21. ViennaAward sponsored by F.H. Steinbart, Portland, Oregon
1st: Ron Page, Middletown, Connecticut Les Dames De Paris
2nd: Gary Morris, Burbank, California Do-Dew
3rd: Kenneth Waugh, Silver Spring, Maryland Vienna Lager
22. Traditional MeadAward sponsored by Havill's Mazer Mead, Rangiora, New Zealand
1st: Gordon Olson, Los Alamos, New Mexico Sack Mead
2nd: Walter W. Dudley, Golden, Colorado New Moon Mead
3rd: Woodie Beardsley, Salt Lake City, Utah Ole #2
23. Melomel, Pyment, Cyser, Flavored MeadAward sponsored by Friends of Mead, Boulder, Colorado.
1st: John McKew, Davis, California Raspberry
2nd: Buck Wyckoff, Jr., Houston, Texas Foam Rangers
3rd: Mike Sternick, Denver, Colorado Fillmore UPS Cactus Mead
Best of Show - Homebrewer of the Year:
Richard Schmidt, Arlington Heights, Illinois Arlington Ale # 33
The Somona Beerocrats again won the club trophy.
Thanks to Paul Echternacht at the AHA for helping get the file from their
Mac to my PC.
Jim Homer
att!drutx!homer
------------------------------
Date: 30 Jun 90 00:08:06 EDT
From: Jay Hersh <75140.350@compuserve.com>
Subject: Subjectivity, AHA Competition Revisited
Hi there,
Sorry to take so long to repsond to John Melby's and others comments
regarding censorship, and subjectivity, but it's amazing how a silly
little thing like a broken leg will slow you down, the bright side is
that from now on I'll have enough metal to set off airport detectors
everywhere I go.
Regarding censorship, those who know me know that I am not an
advocate of censorship of any sort, just courtesy and occasionally
self-restraint. This leads up to John M's interpretation of my
remarks. I thjink John missed the central point. It is not so much
a matter of subjectivity (I like this, I don't like this, ..) as
much as perceptual ability. The tqwo major points being
1) Individuals have drastically varying abilities to detect flavor
characteristics. While perception training can enhance these abilities
as far as strengthening recall and identifiaction, you just can't
overcome what flavors and thresholds your body is physically limited
to.
2) The other major point was that John does point out that judging in
style is important, yet I would like to add that I have seen it written
that there are as many beer styles as there are brewers (ie there is
substantial variability, thus room for subjectivity, even in a well
defined style).
All of my experience judging at many competitions, with many people,
and helping to train people leaves me convinced that unless I really
have a feel for a persons flavor perception capabilities and personal
tastes their opinion on a beer and even their scores on it (see Chuck
Cox's comment on the AHA National competition in recent digest) can
be anywhgere from meaningless to totally useless.
Regardiung Chuck's comments, I see he put a plug in for a the futility
of the current judging system and for Regional eliminations. For those
of you who are more recent to this digest 1-1/2 to 2 years ago one of
the first real long ongoing discussions I particpated in was a suggestion
I made (surprised??) that the AHA competition was useless and that a
tiered competition consisting of local, regional and National
levels be discussed. I put forth what was a rather half-baked idea
on how to pull this off with the active intent of solciting discussion
and input. It is my belief that the creation of the "bye" system
where a beer which wins at a local or regional competition can go
right on to the second round at the Nationals was a result of this and
other related discussions. I would like to suggest that perhaps it is time
to re-visit this issue, maybe we can generate some good practical
ideas and convince someone from the AHA who may be listening that
the current systerms still has serious flaws.
Jay H. - Need a screw, I've got a few in my leg!
P.S. Seems a lot of people are posting requests to be removed from
this digest, are these just casual passing readers. Seems to me the
dedicated readership has been growing here, but I wonder if Rob G.
can post some stats??
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 90 23:37:44 PDT
From: hplabs!gatech!mailrus!uunet!tc.fluke.COM!inc (Gary Benson)
Subject: Spruce Beer
Ah! the smell of fresh leaf Nugget hops happily bubbling away! It has been a
LONG time since I brewed, and finally decided I wanted a "summer beer" so
even as we speak, the Nut Brown Ale I have in mind is starting...
When I was picking up this latest batch of supplies, I noticed (and of course
had to buy!) a tiny little bottle of "Spruce Essence". It smells really
good, but I cannot imagine the character it might add to the beer, never
having had a "spruce beer".
As usual, the people at the Cellar (home beer and wine shop here in the
Seattle area) were not very informative. I wasn't really expecting them to
haul a bottle out for me to try, but I have to admit, I did expect more
than, "well some people like it, some don't". My only homebrewing book ("The
Complete Handbook of Home Brewing") doesn't mention it. I wish the Cellar
people had been been able to characterize it in some way. If anyone here
ever used it, I'm interested in the answers to a few questions:
When is it added? I suspect at bottling time would be fine. Does the beer
pick up the soft, semi-sweet medicinal tones that are so predominant in the
smell of the essence? Or does something else happen when it mixes with malt
and hops flavors? What style of beer is best suited to the use of Spruce
Essence? Is there a commercial beer representative of the style that I can
obtain here in Seattle?
For those who have never seen it, mine is in a small plastic bottle that
looked for the world like nose drops, and the only information on the label
(besides the maker: Leigh-Williams and Sons of TATTENHALL, Nr. CHESTER) is
that the 1/2 fl oz bottle is "Sufficient for eight gallons of spruce beer."
Who's used it?
Gary Benson -=[ S M I L E R ]=- -_-_-_-inc@fluke.tc.com_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
The price one pays for pursuing any profession, or calling,
is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side. -James Baldwin
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 1 Jul 90 17:56:55 PDT
From: "Gary F. Mason - Image Systems - MKO2-2/K03 - 603884[DTN264]-1503 01-Jul-1990 2053" <mason@habs11.enet.dec.com>
Subject: Oatmeal stout...
I am trying to develop a sense for the different styles of brews - ales
and heavier. In the past, I have tasted Guinness stout a couple of
times, and found it much too astringent for me. Even porters seem too
far to that side of the spectrum. I have never tasted what I knew to
be a brown ale.
I was at a wedding this weekend in Maryland, and they had some bottles
of an oatmeal stout. I was persuaded to try it, and it was very good.
My sense is that it wasn't as astringent as the porters I have tried,
and certainly nowhere near the stout. It was a very dark brown, and
the best description I can make is that it is a VERY heavy ale. Struck
me as not to hoppy either.
Can anyone enlighten me further on this phenomenon known as oatmeal
stout.
Thanks...Gary
P.S. The stout was Samuael Smith (Tadcaster). Charlie says there is only
one brewed commercially, so that may be it.
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #451, 07/02/90
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