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HOMEBREW Digest #3047
HOMEBREW Digest #3047 Thu 03 June 1999
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Digest Janitor: janitor@hbd.org
Many thanks to the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers of
Livonia, Michigan for sponsoring the Homebrew Digest.
URL: http://www.oeonline.com
Contents:
Some history about The Albany Pump Station ("George De Piro")
Ferment under pressure for under 5 bucks ("Alan McKay")
Did ya notice... (Harold Dowda)
Re: Brutal Bitter In NC ("Mark Nelson")
ice (kathy/jim)
dextrin malt (Marc Sedam)
Pressure cooker, Life's dream (Dave Burley)
Mash Efficiency and Relief Valves (Dan Listermann)
Allegations, Insinuations, and Suppositions (Blech) ("Jeffrey M. Kenton")
Re: HSA (Matthew Arnold)
An anonymous poem (Scott Abene)
Pressure Canners (LaBorde, Ronald)
HSA (John Wilkinson)
kreusening (Scott Murman)
Cold sparging? (Gail Elber)
jeremy york's efficiency problem ("Bayer, Mark A")
1st Anual DFD Homebrew Taste off ("West, Robert M. SFC")
Blitz-Weinhard's *and* Rainier nostalgia ("Rich, Charles")
RE: Siebel/HBD/AHA (John Wilkinson)
Brutal Bitter (Matt Hollingsworth)
Kudos to the Siebel Institute (Richard Gardner)
New list announcements (Homebrew Digest)
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy!
* 2000 MCAB Qualifiers: Boneyard Brew-Off 6/12/99
* (http://www.uiuc.edu/ro/BUZZ/contest5.html); Buzz-Off!
* Competition 6/26/99 (http://www.voicenet.com/~rpmattie/buzzoff)
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JANITORS on duty: Pat Babcock and Karl Lutzen (janitor@hbd.org)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 02 Jun 99 00:08:46 PDT
From: "George De Piro" <gdepiro@fcc.net>
Subject: Some history about The Albany Pump Station
Hi all,
Hopefully this isn't too commercial. I am quite proud of
what we are doing at the Pump Station and thought that
some of you might be interested in knowing where our name
came from.
The full name of our brewpub is the C.H. Evans Brewing Co.
at the Albany Pump Station. CH Evans Brewing Co. was
founded in 1786 in Hudson, NY (about 80 miles north of NYC)
and was a vibrant brewery until prohibition ended production of
Evans Ales. Neil Evans IV, the great-great grandson of Neil Evans,
has revived his family's brewing tradition. I am proud to be the first
brewer in the Evans Company since prohibition.
The Evans Brewing Co. was fairly large, and had its own maltings
in Hudson. They had a bottling plant in NYC and even exported beer
to Europe (the Evans IPA was pretty well-known).
Now to the other half of the name: the Albany Pump Station.
The building our brewpub occupies was once...you guessed it...
a pump station! Situated near the Hudson river in Albany, NY,
it housed giant pump engines which moved water from the river
to a reservoir situated at what is now Bleeker Stadium.
Two bridge cranes, each capable of lifting 20 tons, still hang from
the 50 foot ceilings of the pub. Despite 50 years of neglect we were
able to easily put an electric motor on one of them and use it to
lift the fermentors and serving tanks to their second-floor home.
It was quite an impressive sight!
Hopefully that explains my sig line. Have fun!
George de Piro (Nyack, NY)
Head Brewer, the Albany Pump Station
Malted Barley Appreciation Society
"Brooklyn's Best Homebrew Club"
http://hbd.org/mbas
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 07:29:31 -0500
From: "Alan McKay" <amckay@nortelnetworks.com>
Subject: Ferment under pressure for under 5 bucks
If anyone wants to ferment in kegs under pressure, here's a neat little
device that only costs about a buck or three to make. A fellow in one
of the German brewing groups I frequent came up with it. You have
to have kegs to do it, though.
http://www.snafu.de/~mctoten/Spund.htm
Cut both pieces of the syringe as shown in B. Then put the spring
inside, then the rubber stopper thing. Set your CO2 tank to the
desired pressure, then tightly hold your regulator over the hose.
The pressure will push in the spring so the stopper goes to a certain
point. Watch where the stopper stops, then drill a tiny hole in the
syringe housing just on the other end of the stopper. This way CO2 is
allowed out if the pressure gets too high. Once it lowers, the spring
pushes the stopper out to cover the hole again. So you've set your
"regulator" to be always on the pressure you determined.
He doesn't really say how to attach it to the keg, but that shouldn't
be too difficult to do with a fitting and a piece of hose, and
maybe a double-ended hose-barb or something.
Pretty neat ...
cheers,
-Alan
- --
Alan McKay
OS Support amckay@nortelnetworks.com
Small Site Integration 613-765-6843 (ESN 395)
Nortel Networks
------------------------------
Date: 2 Jun 99 06:15:34 PDT
From: Harold Dowda <hdowda@netscape.net>
Subject: Did ya notice...
Did anyone notice that 25% (4/16) of the posts in #3046 were personal
attacks
and/or support for some one?
Huummm...I wonder if there would be any interest in a moderated HB group
where
this kinda thing is flushed, relegated to the sewer of personal
e-mail....it
has been going on for sooooo long.
____________________________________________________________________
Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at
http://webmail.netscape.com.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 08:56:23 -0400
From: "Mark Nelson" <menelson@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: Brutal Bitter In NC
Michael Tucker asked about Rogue's Brutal Bitter and Mocha Porter in NC. I
have seen and purchased 22 ounce bombers of BB at Weaver Street Market in
Carrboro, just down the street from UNC-CH. You might call them and see who
the distributor is, then get a more local source to order you some. I
believe they also had the porter. Great beer selection, in general, at
Weaver Street...
Mark Nelson
Atlanta
PS, I'd also be interested in a recipe!
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 02 Jun 1999 08:50:22 -0400
From: kathy/jim <kbooth@scnc.waverly.k12.mi.us>
Subject: ice
> From: Radzan1000@aol.com
> Subject: Siebel answer to dr pivo - subject: Rising temp in secondary
>
> So, people are using old underground cellars for fermenting beer just as they
> did in breweries before the invention of mechanical refrigeration. Have you
> guys forgotten what these brewers did to lengthen their brewing season into
> the times when outside temperatures were rising and getting quite warm? They
> went out to the rivers and lakes and cut ice into blocks and hauled this ice
> to these same underground cellars, packed the blocks in sawdust and burlap
> and moved the blocks very close together. The sawdust and burlap helped to
> insulate the ice and retard melting. These brewers extended their season
> quite substantially and some times, if their space was big enough and they
> had enough ice, they produced good beer year round.
It is my understanding that the cheap lake ice available at Milwaukee
made it an early brewing center. Ice was important not only for
lagering, but for packing boxcars to ship via railroads. Milwaukee beer
arrived thruout the lower midwest in better condition then the local
brewer could do in his warmer climes. cheers, jim booth, lansing, mi
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 02 Jun 1999 09:27:45 -0400
From: Marc Sedam <marc_sedam@unc.edu>
Subject: dextrin malt
George de Piro wrote:
"Later, during the higher temperature kilning and subsequent cooling,
these amylose molecules recrystallize in a process known as
'retrogradation'. For reasons not yet known to science, these
recrystallized starch molecules are very resistant to enzymatic
hydrolysis, and thus do not yield fermentable sugars in the mash tun."
Ahhh. Science DOES know why retrograded starch is resistant. Not to be
redundant, but what has been created is known in the literature as
"resistant starch" (go figure). Amylose and debranched amylopectin in
solution (or in the presence of excessive moisture) will retrograde.
Retrogradation/crystallization of amylose causes the molecule to form
helices, making most of the polymer unavailable for enzymatic attack.
Although I don't have a reference on hand, alpha-amylase needs at least
a seven polysaccharide chain to have any activity. Beta-amylase would
be able to react with short chains on the surface of the amylose helix,
but would eventually create the beta-limit dextrin, i.e. the molecule
left over when b-amylase has no further effect. In retrograded starch,
many of the once-available starch branches are restricted by the form of
the helix. These helices can (and do) form tertiary structures as well,
making the starch even more resistant. Repeated heat/cool cycles can do
this.
This concept is more eloquently explained in the text of US Patent
5,281,276:
"It is generally believed that resistant starch is formed when the
amylose fraction of starch is retrograded or recrystallized after the
gelatinization of starch. The theory is that the flexible linear amylose
molecules align themselves after gelatinization into tight linear
configurations that can form helices or spheres making many of the
alpha-1,4-glucosidic linkages inaccessible to alpha-amylase. Normally,
as described in the literature, the process for the formation of
resistant starch by retrogradation is cumbersome involving the initial
gelatinization and then the cooling of starch, frequently with repeated
cycles."
The whole concept of resistant starch (which almost directly relates to
the production process for dextrin malt) is better elucidated by reading
the whole patent here http://164.195.100.11/netahtml/srchnum.htm Enter
"5,281,276" to get the body of the text. Trust me, if you were
interested in the dextrin malt part of the story, it's not that boring.
Based on George's description of the malting process of certain "styles"
of malt, it's likely that differing amounts of resistant starch are
being produced in each malt. Not a bad study for Breiss or Great
Western to take up. Of course, Jim Liddl and I are still waiting for
someone with a DSC to take us up on studying the effects of calcium on
starch gelatinization (see archives, although most was offline). :-)
Cheers!
Marc Sedam
"Huisbrowerij Zuytdam"
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 10:06:19 -0400
From: Dave Burley <Dave_Burley@compuserve.com>
Subject: Pressure cooker, Life's dream
Brewsters:
Harlan asks if it makes me feel better about his use of
a homemade pressure kettle, since he hasn't lost his
fingers in a buzzsaw, despite the fact that he took off
the guard. He assumes that his lack of accident
demonstrates that he is a very careful person.
Not necessarily so. Just lucky, so far, IMHO.
Unfortunately, I remember, early in my career, when
one of my technicians ( a 30+ year veteran) walked into
my office with his fingers stuck in his mouth and blood
running down his chin. He had run his fingers into a
table saw blade. A week before, this "kid" (me) had told
him to put the guard back on and use a pusher. He did
for a while, but considered it dangerous, like Harlan does.
My nephew, an executive for a trucking company, stuck
his fingers in a buzzsaw blade and almost cut them off.
Quick action, he now has movable sausages with poor
dexterity. He had been working with a buzzsaw most of
his life as a hobby. He had taken the guard off. My brother
- a dentist - ignored my concern that he should put the
guard back on his saw and suffered finger injury shortly
after my nephew. Interestingly, all the above parties
considered a blade guard to be dangerous, but none
could describe or prove to me why such was the case.
I also rememeber all those arguments against seat belts
and how dangerous they supposedly were. Not so.
A mechanic of 30+ years experience
was checking out a gear (constant displacement) pump
in one of the chemical plants where I was working and
stuck his finger into the sight hole and had his finger tip
prompty removed. When asked during an interview
why he did it, he said he didn't think the pump was on,
but wanted to be sure. Stupid? Nope, just what happens
when you are around dangerous equipment too often.
The message - familiarity breeds unwarranted confidence.
Just because you get away with it for years does not
make it safer.
"Safety is NO accident" as the signs tell us. We
work hard to avoid them, but we all know accidents
happen and we should plan for the inevitable accident
and minimize the risks.
First, we must be sure we believe that no work or
hobby accident is worth personal injury or
destruction of personal property.
Then behave accordingly.
What do I suggest to Harlan? First put your saw
blade guard back on, place a spotlight directed on
the saw blade cutting point, so you can clearly see
what is going on, use a pusher and learn to work
WITH the guard.
Go visit a chemical or pharmaceutical purveyor of
used reactors, buy an autoclave, have it re-certified
for pressure use, install it in a proper environment,
so that when it blows it will take out a wall and not
people. Do not fool around with this kind of thing.
For sure, do not depend on the fact that you can
control the pressure by applied heat. And believe
that mechanical meters and mechanical
controllers fail with time. Most of all, believe
that you are human and will be disracted from time to
time. Nothing is a boring as watching water boil, so
your brain will wander ( I mean, how often has
your brewpot boiled over?) , or you will try to do
something else also to be "efficient" and bingo! a
potentially deadly accident.
Please re-evaluate your needs for pressure sterilized
wort - maybe just boiling it will be sufficient for your needs.
- ----------------------------------------------
Congratulations to George De Piro on his new job
as Head and Only Brewer at the Albany Pump House.
I wish him all the best in realizing his life's dream.
Sounds like hard work and fun. May your
business grow.
- ----------------------------------------------
Keep on Brewin'
Dave Burley
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 10:42:09 -0400
From: Dan Listermann <72723.1707@compuserve.com>
Subject: Mash Efficiency and Relief Valves
Jeremy York ( beamish@blarg.net) suspects that his problems regarding
mash
efficiency are milling related. I have found that the bulk of these
problems are related to the crush. Many homebrewers, for fear of a stuck
mash, are very bashful about their crush. This problem is especially
noticed in beginner all grainers. I believe it comes from reading
literature that was written before the advent of good mills for
homebrewers. These pieces tell you to "just crack the grain." This may
have been good advice for burr mills like the Corona, but much better
efficiency can be had with a roller mill because they can crush harder
without damaging the husks. If you "just crack the grain," you are
leaving
a lot of grain ends with very little water exposure.
Adjust the mill until all but the most undeveloped corns are crushed. If
you do get a stuck mash, just underlet a little water through the bottom,
restir, let settle and recirculate ( you don't really need to recirculate
two gallons. I rarely feel a need to do more than a couple of pans worth
)
Harlen Bauer ( blacksab@midwest.net) discusses converting his Sanke keg
into a pressure cooker. If you look at some canning pressure cookers you
will see that the pressure relief valve unscrews from the lid. Buy one
of
these cookers and remove the valve. Drill and tap a hole in the top of
the
keg to fit the valve and off you go. 15psi and no more (250 F). Maybe
the
rubber back up relief valve can be mounted the same way?
Dan Listermann dan@listermann.com 72723.1707@compuserve
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 02 Jun 1999 09:56:14 -0500
From: "Jeffrey M. Kenton" <jkenton@iastate.edu>
Subject: Allegations, Insinuations, and Suppositions (Blech)
Good Day. Is it still alright to ask questions here and have them answered?
Or do I have to toss some random insults first? Well here goes:
I've never liked what you had to say, and furthermore, you dress funny.
(Now while you are fuming)
Does anyone have profiles about Lallemand's yeast offerings for the home
market? (Nottingham, Windsor, Manchester and London)
I'm interested in attenuation, esters thrown and at which temps, and
flocculation. Failing information on those topics, I'd be interested to
know how to set up some experiments so I can develop my own data... And to
prevent a firy tirade about whose experimental procedure is more "right,"
I'd appreciate responses off line at jkenton@iastate.edu
Thanks (or rather "I'd kick your dog, but I don't want to get my shoes dirty")
Jeff
Jeff Kenton
"If you can't be nice, at least have the decency to be vague."
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 02 Jun 1999 15:07:05 GMT
From: marnold@ez-net.com (Matthew Arnold)
Subject: Re: HSA
On Wed, 2 Jun 1999 00:14:07 -0400, you wrote:
>2. I was at Siebel over 1.5 years ago and posted way back then about
>their belief that the danger of HSA is overrated. Rob Moline
>coauthored the post.
>
>3. While the danger of HSA may be overrated, it is also one of the
>easiest things to avoid, even in a home brewery. When presented with
>the option to either spray hot wort through the air or move it
>quietly, the answer should be obvious, and not take any extra effort!
Thank you, George, for stating well what I intended to say all along. In my
system, the tube from my mash/lauter tun goes straight to the bottom of my
kettle and I always take care to recirculate the first runnings as gently as
humanly possible. These two steps take virtually no effort whatsoever.
As far as long term effects on my beers go, I only have one datapoint. A
year-old barleywine of mine was given a score of 38 in a competition recently.
The only "fault" that was noted was that it should have been a little sweeter
for an English-style barleywine. Which reminds me, I need to whip up (not
literally) another batch of that soon . . .
Ahhh brewing . . .
Matt
- -----
Webmaster, Green Bay Rackers Homebrewers' Club
http://www.rackers.org info@rackers.org
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 09:19:17 -0700 (PDT)
From: Scott Abene <skotrat@yahoo.com>
Subject: An anonymous poem
Hmmm I was asked to post this by an anonymous party.
Many things in it ring loud and true.
A POEM....
I live in a state where I masturbate.
The name of this state, just happens to be Kuwait.
We have no malt, no hops no yeast,
because to be caught with these is a sign of the beast.
I malt my own grain and I smuggle a bit,
and because of this my beer tastes like shit.
I brewed with herbs, spices and meat,
but no matter how hard I tried it still smelled like ass and feet.
I surfed the net in search of some tips,
the HBD I spied, and I read some quips.
One post out of a hundred seemed to be of use,
the rest of the bullshit was just verbal abuse.
HSA seemed to be the rage of the day,
the wordslinging wars left me in dismay.
I survived the knowledge of the best,
even when they forgot about beer and raged of Clinitest.
Then the great character wars of '99 began,
at this point I wished I was just on a LAN.
I endured the great judging debates,
even though at times I would infuriate.
I got so sick of hearing who knew more than Jobe,
that I flushed away the ceremonial HBD robe.
A "LURKER" you yell as you read my post,
whatever you say, you bullshit the most.
So, as another day comes to an end,
learn how to learn and not to offend.
I thought that the idea was to help and to learn,
not to degrade, slash and burn.
But someday maybe I will be fortunate enough to see,
you quarreling people bitch slapping on TV.
C'ya!
-Scott
===
ThE-HoMe-BrEw-RaT
Scott Abene <skotrat@mediaone.net>
http://skotrat.dynip.com/skotrat (the Homebrew "Beer Slut" page)
"This Space Currently for Rent... Inquire within"
_________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 11:29:05 -0500
From: rlabor@lsumc.edu (LaBorde, Ronald)
Subject: Pressure Canners
On the subject of Pressure Cooking:
I just purchased a new large Presto canner and used it to can some wort, and
I was very pleased with the results.
The unit has good safety features, and once one examines them, it is obvious
how well it all works, and how safe it really is.
Before I used one, I thought one would need a lot of heat to get it up to
pressure. But to my surprise, to reach and maintain 15 PSI, the burner can
be throttled back to medium. The jiggler starts rocking at exactly 15 PSI,
so this is a good way to know that your pressure gauge is still in
calibration. I really like the gauge, it gives one a real sense of what is
going on inside.
So now, I have about a dozen quarts of canned wort, a dozen pint jars of
canned wort, and it should be easier to grow my yeast starters now. I plan
to just put an ounce of water and the stirring magnet in the flask, boil for
a few minutes, cool and pitch the canned wort and yeast.
Next thing is to sterilize and start my yeast bank.
_________________________________________-
>From: Harlan Bauer <blacksab@midwest.net>
>3. Pressure-relief valve. You've got me here--good point. This point has
>always bothered me. Not sure how to do it just yet.
A pop off release valve, (really a soft rubber plug), can be ordered from
Presto, or purchased at some hardware stores. In the Presto, it is inserted
into a simple hole in the cover, and provides a safety pop out at somewhere
around 20 PSI. This thing is designed to take the heat and pressure and
although I have not priced it, it should be fairly inexpensive. It is just
a piece of rubber. One can test it with his CO2 by applying pressure and
noting the pressure needed to pop it out.
Ron
Ronald La Borde - Metairie, Louisiana - rlabor@lsumc.edu
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 11:37:47 -0500
From: John.Wilkinson@aud.alcatel.com (John Wilkinson)
Subject: HSA
Since the HSA thread won't die I guess I will add my experience. On one
occasion I forgot to turn the water on to my CF chiller and collected 2-3
gallons of near boiling wort with about a 2 foot free fall into a bucket before
I noticed what was happening.
I never noticed any bad effects on the resulting beer. My beer is usually
stored for a couple of months before consuming and may be consumed over the
span of a month. I don't recall specifically with this beer how long it was
from ferment to last tap but I do know no bad effects were noticed. I do
take care to avoid aeration after fermentation and keep the beer cold until
it is served from the keg. Since then I still try to avoid excess splashing
when hot just in case but am not too frightened of it.
If there is an effect it must be after a longer time and/or be quite subtle.
John Wilkinson - Grapevine, Texas
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 09:44:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: Scott Murman <smurman@best.com>
Subject: kreusening
Sir Pivo, and Dave BurleyWine were discussing the effects of
kreusening. I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned, but this is my
understanding of why it's effective. The young, healthy yeast that
are added with the speize are much more effective at reducing the
fermentation by-products than the older yeast. This reduces the aging
time, and can also lead to a very different end-product as the
original fermentation yeast may not be able to completely metabolize
all their ferment by-products. This practice is also commonly done
with lagering. Sorry, no fancy chemical reactions necessary to
understand this concept. Old guys just need someone to clean up after
themselves occasionally.
-SM-
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 10:00:18 -0700
From: Gail Elber <gail@brewtech.com>
Subject: Cold sparging?
Nobody's replied yet to John Robinson's question about cold sparging: does
it work, and is there really an energy savings, seeing as you have to heat
the wort to the boiling point anyway? I'd be interested to hear about
people's experiences with this. I'd rather heft pots of cool water around
my kitchen than pots of hot water.
Gail Elber
Associate Editor
BrewingTechniques
P.O. Box 3222
Eugene, OR 97403
541/687-2993
fax 541/687-8534
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 10:09:05 -0700
From: "Bayer, Mark A" <Mark.Bayer@JSF.Boeing.com>
Subject: jeremy york's efficiency problem
collective homebrew conscience_
jeremy york wrote:
>The first brew was the AHA milk stout; <snip>I'm guessing that I got
>somewhere in the neighborhood of 52% efficiency <snip>The pH of my runoff
>has been in the 5.0 - 5.4 range,
>so I haven't worried about acidifying my sparge water. My water is very
>soft; I've been treating it with 1 tsp (~5 grams) gypsum and scant 1/4 tsp
>(~1 gram) table salt per 5 gallons.
in my experience, very soft water plus a grain bill including roasted
malts/barley, plus gypsum sounds like your mash ph might be a bit low.
the fact that your lauter runoff doesn't get above 5.4 also points in this
direction. the fact that you're checking the runoff ph also indicates to me
that you are probably checking mash ph also, so that's a little confusing.
i would recommend calcium carbonate instead of gypsum. caco3 will help to
raise your mash ph and offset the effect of the roasted malts/barley. i am
only assuming that you have roasted malts/barley in the grain bill since you
say the recipe is a stout. shoot for a room temperature mash ph of 5.5 to
5.7. in my experience this is nearly impossible to achieve with the water
and mineral additions you state, for a stout recipe.
adding a heat source to your recirculation routine might help also. i
normally have a pot of mash liquor going about 160 deg f on the stove the
whole time i'm recirculating and the runoff gets transferred into the pot
before any goes back into the top of the tun. hsa risk, for sure, but i
minimize splashing and agitation as much as is reasonable to do, and it
helps the bed temperature to stay above 145 deg f.
hope this helps.
brew hard,
mark bayer
stlmo
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 16:05:30 -0400
From: "West, Robert M. SFC" <westr@ftknoxdfd-emh13.army.mil>
Subject: 1st Anual DFD Homebrew Taste off
The first annual DFD Homebrew Beer Tasteoff was conducted yesterday to
determine the true BrauMeister emeritus of the directorate. Six
participants entered nine separate hand-crafted brews of various styles,
ranging from pale ales to dark bocks. There was one weitzen entry.
A distinguished group of judges was empanelled to conduct a blind taste test
of the nine beers. The judges considered factors such as taste, clarity,
head, aroma, body and finish in their evaluation. The identity of the
brewer of each entry was kept secret from the judging panel to prevent
pettiness and personal envy from unduly influencing the evaluations.
As originally conceived by the President of the Mess, the judging panel was
to consist of the Director and the Division Chiefs; alas, this was not to be
the makeup of the final judging panel. Neither S&T nor Organization
Divisions were able to supply a Division Chief or a stand-in (due to
schedule conflicts or fear of possible liver damage...) so alternate judges
were employed. The final judging panel consisted of:
COL Kalb - President of the Mess
LTC Pride - Chief, Systems Division
Mr Dinnell - Highly regarded man of good taste and
demeanor
CPT Rhine - Weasly XO of low repute, well known for his
over-fondness for beer
A description of each beer, identity of the brewer, and judges comments
follows:
Entry #1: (Bock/Stout) - CPT Buhl
This entry initially impressed the judges with its classic flip-top
green bottle and dark, malty flavor. Although this beer exhibited no head
and very little carbonation, its distinct spicy after-taste gained it
consideration as a finalist. Some of the competitors believe the judges may
have been more enthused with the bottle than the contents....
Entry #2: (Weitzen) - SFC West
The judges were initially perplexed by the subtle flavors and aroma
of this wheat beer. Comments like "I've had this taste in my mouth before,
but I'm not sure when" were overheard. This brew's soft pallet, full head
and smooth finish made it a finalist.
Entry #3: (Irish Stout) - CPT Jones
The taste, aroma, and flavors displayed by this beer thoroughly
confused the judges. It was proclaimed "Bizzarro Beer" for its
schizophrenic character and not given further serious consideration as a
contender.
Entry #4 (English Stout) - SFC West
This beer made a positive impression on the judging panel, being of
hearty body (cloudy as it was) and firm head. However, after a few moments,
the judges noted a distinct "Naugahide" aftertaste.
Entry #5 (Amber Ale) - MAJ Haszard
This beer also made a positive impression on the judging panel with
its sparkling clarity and crisp taste, although the presence of unidentified
"floaties" intermingled in the foam caused the judges some consternation. It
eventually became a finalist.
Entry #6 (Ale) - CPT Jones
This entry made, by far, the greatest impression on the judges -
some of whom reacted immediately and violently to its putrid odor and vile
taste. One judge likened the taste to that of Weed-Be-Gone. This brew was
deemed "Death Brau" and was immediately thrown out of the competition and
the brewer cautioned to follow EPA guidelines for its disposal. On a
positive note, the National Institutes of Health are investigating this
product's utility as a chemotherapy agent for colo-rectal cancers.
Entry # 7 (Ale) - SFC West
The judges were unanimous in their like for this brew. However,
after consuming the aforementioned "Death Brau", it is unsure that tepid,
flat Blatz Beer wouldn't have scored equally as high. Be that as it may,
the judges made this beer a finalist for its full flavored taste, fine
hopped aroma and satisfying finish.
Entry #8 (Honey Brown Ale) - CPT Vanyo
This beer was deemed a "Heavy Fuel" and was by far the most potent
of the competitor's entries. Obviously produced with greater emphasis on
its buzz factor than palatability, this beer was thick, black and
reminiscent of Texas sweet crude oil. The judges upgraded this beer from
its initial classification of "Lawnmower Gas" to that of "Rocket Fuel" when
one of the panel lost feeling on the left side of his body.
Entry #9 (Red Ale) - CPT Peterson
The judges deemed this beer reminiscent of Germany - in fact, the
Rhine River in Germany - more precisely, the murky bottom of the Rhine
River. In its defense, this beer might have been victimized by its being
the last entry sampled by the distinguished panel. Some doubt exists as to
whether the judges could discern beer from Scope mouthwash at this point in
the competition.
Results of the Competition:
The distinguished panel of judges declared the following results of
the first annual DFD Homebrew Beer Tasteoff:
Honorable Mention - Entry #2: (Weitzen) - SFC West
Bronze Medal - Entry #5 (Amber Ale) - MAJ Haszard
Silver Medal - Entry #1: (Bock/Stout) - CPT Buhl
Gold Medal - Entry # 7 (Ale) - SFC West
SFC West was proclaimed the DFD BrauMeister emeritus for the 1999 event. An
appropriate certificate commemorating his achievement was conferred upon him
and a six pack of fine imported beer presented him as the objective standard
for his future brewing endeavors.
V/R
SFC Robert M. West
DFD, FSCS SME
USAARMC, Ft Knox, KY
(COM) 502-624-7801
(DSN) 464-7801 (FAX) 7126
westr@ftknoxdfd-emh13.army.mil
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 13:19:11 -0700
From: "Rich, Charles" <CRich@filenet.com>
Subject: Blitz-Weinhard's *and* Rainier nostalgia
Mike (Vachon?) in New Orleans wrote a nice recap of the Henry
Weinhard/Stroh's/Miller changing of hands in Portland, Oregon. We've had
the same thing happen up here in Seattle with the Rainier Brewery which was
also sold by Stroh's to Miller in the same deal. It closed it's doors the
weekend before last.
The Rainier brewery is a character filled Seattle landmark that I'll miss.
As a kid riding past it I always wondered how the giant red cursive 'R' atop
it could read correctly from either side. Jim Whittaker opened a Rainier
when he reached the summit of Everest in 1963. I saw Jimi Hendrix play Sicks
stadium which Emil Sick (owner of Rainier Breing Co.) built for his team,
the Seattle Rainiers in 1937. I had my first horrible beer experience with
Rainier Ale (aka Green Death) in high school, and so on..sniff.
Now the point to this maudlin meandering is this... Has any of the
readership managed to score any of Rainier's yeast(s)? I do not know if
with each change of hands the new owners bring in their own yeast or if they
keep the original strains. I know that both Blitz-Wienhard and Rainier
produced Mickey's for Strohs which suggests that Stroh's brought in their
own. I spoke to the QC head at Rainier last month but they couldn't
realease any as part of the Miller deal. Miller gets the yeast too.
I'd love to have the strain they used through the 70's and 80's, strictly
for private use. If anyone has managed to keep it, *please* let me know.
Private email is just fine.
Whoops! gotta go sample some HotD's Fred! (I love my job :-))
Cheers,
Charles Rich (Bothell, USA)
Here's some Rainier Beer sites:
http://www.beerchurch.com/upcoming.htm
http://www.narrows.com/brady/rainier.htm
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------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 16:13:23 -0500
From: John.Wilkinson@aud.alcatel.com (John Wilkinson)
Subject: RE: Siebel/HBD/AHA
Jim Liddil wrote:
>It was great to have Siebel participate. And in my never ending jab fest
>let me point out that this was done on the HBD. The AOB/AHA could have
>organized something like this for it's members on thier web site, but they
>did not.
I, too, enjoyed the answers from the Siebel staff and may have learned more in
this short time than I have in many months of other reading. I think it only
fair to point out, though, that the event was arranged by Rob Moline who is
now on the AHA advisory board. My thanks to Rob as well as the Siebel staff.
John Wilkinson - Grapevine, Texas
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 02 Jun 1999 16:32:12 +0000
From: Matt Hollingsworth <colorart@spiritone.com>
Subject: Brutal Bitter
"Michael Tucker" <mtucker@hesketh.com> asked about Brutal Bitter.
While I have no specific recipe, try brewing a really hoppy pale ale
using only Crystal hops for ALL hop additions. This beer is made
exclusively with Crystal...
-Matt
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 23:27:05 +0100
From: Richard Gardner <rgardner@mwr.is>
Subject: Kudos to the Siebel Institute
Very interesting and informative. I even read the ALL CAPS responses.
What I found most interesting is the tenor of the responses, namely that a
few things in brewing are downright dumb, but there are many variations and
acceptable practices in brewing, that is to say, no one answer. Several
area that were unclear to me are now understandable (although some are
still in the haze like most of the organic chemistry discussions, just a
poor engineer here). The most intriguing for me is the #3042 discussion of
COLD side aeration. Same old thing, different terminology. Took me a few
minutes to realize what the topic was. The attack on "momolies" is also
interesting. Reminds me of the fights here 2-3 years ago where long held
views were destroyed. I think we're now in for some more experiments and
discussion. I greatly enjoyed the discussion on the questionable antics of
the maltsters (outside this discussion, that word would be suspect).
The other item here is the professionalism of Siebel, and of the major
brewers - which I have seen questioned by some here in the past (look in
the deep archives and you will find my name). I'd say that 99% of the time,
that brewing is brewing, be it by a megabrewer or a homebrewer, but I'll
give it to the mega-folks that they are consistent and know their stuff.
The problem is that the market their "STUFF" is aimed for is expecting
bland beer, but they produce that same bland beer consistently (It is like
McDonalds vs Taco Bell vs a real Mex reataurant, all produce beef products,
but is there a difference - but who makes the $$, McDonalds). The
homebrewer has so many variables to contend with that the product may
suffer. Unfortunately that is also true of the microbrewer. The folks like
Siebels are converting craft secrets into common knowledge so that all may
benefit. The question is how much is applicable for the homebrewer (small
batch)? I think no one has the answer to that, because while this isn't an
"art" like wine, neither is it pure science; it is somewhere in between
(must be engineering).
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 23:23:19 -0400 (EDT)
From: Homebrew Digest <hbd@brew.oeonline.com>
Subject: New list announcements
Two new lists have been added to the HBD corral:
o The Home Vintner's Digest (HVD)
o The Distilled Beverage Digest (DBD)
The former is for the discussion of wines, their enjoyment, wine making
and things pertinent to those processes. Subscribe by sending the word
"subscribe" to HVD-REQUEST@hbd.org.
The latter is for the discussion of distilled beverages and their
enjoyment (and production for those living in countries that allow such
things...). Subscribe by sending the word "subscribe" to
DBD-REQUEST@hbd.org.
Unlike the HBD, these lists are run on the dreaded Majordomo - however,
only as digests. No undigested version. Further, posting is restricted to
only those subscribed to each list. There is no moderation on either list;
however, subscriptions must be passed by the list owner(s), hopefully
preventing spam-meisters from being allowed on.
Once subscribed, you can send posts to the HVD at HVD@hbd.org and the DBD
at DBD@hbd.org.
Enjoy!
Cheers!
The Home Brew Digest Janitorial Staff
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #3047, 06/03/99
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