Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
HOMEBREW Digest #3531
HOMEBREW Digest #3531 Tue 16 January 2001
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Digest Janitor: janitor@hbd.org
***************************************************************
THIS YEAR'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
Northern Brewer, Ltd. Home Brew Supplies
http://www.northernbrewer.com 1-800-681-2739
Support those who support you! Visit our sponsor's site!
********** Also visit http://hbd.org/hbdsponsors.html *********
Contents:
scavanged bread machine (Scott Murman)
Mungo man, dropping (craftbrewer)
Samuel Adams, fridge evaporator (craftbrewer)
The Whereabouts Of Andy Walsh ("Helen Pay")
Temperature-controlled fermenter (fridgeguy)
RE:Steam Age ("Steve Potter")
dry sanitizing ("Pannicke, Glen A.")
RE: Recirculation problems with RIMS ("C.D. Pritchard")
Peristaltic pumps ("Houseman, David L")
Re: Sugar vs. DME priming (Greg Remec)
grinding malted barley with coffee grinder? (Paul Burant)
StarLink corn in beer (John Baxter Biggins)
Fridge problems (Mark Kellums)
Hop Pellets (Beaverplt)
Steam URL (Road Frog)
"What's up Doc" ("Alan Meeker")
maifest ideas ("steve lane")
I'm not dead yet... ("Andrew Walsh")
*
* Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy!
*
* Bluebonnet Brew-Off Entry Deadline is 2/9/01!
* http://welcome.to/bluebonnet for more information
*
Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org
If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!!
To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE send an e-mail message with the word
"subscribe" or "unsubscribe" to request@hbd.org FROM THE E-MAIL
ACCOUNT YOU WISH TO HAVE SUBSCRIBED OR UNSUBSCRIBED!!!**
IF YOU HAVE SPAM-PROOFED your e-mail address, you cannot subscribe to
the digest as we canoot reach you. We will not correct your address
for the automation - that's your job.
The HBD is a copyrighted document. The compilation is copyright
HBD.ORG. Individual postings are copyright by their authors. ASK
before reproducing and you'll rarely have trouble. Digest content
cannot be reproduced by any means for sale or profit.
More information is available by sending the word "info" to
req@hbd.org.
JANITOR on duty: Pat Babcock and Karl Lutzen (janitor@hbd.org)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 14 Jan 2001 21:44:21 -0800 (PST)
From: Scott Murman <smurman@best.com>
Subject: scavanged bread machine
tore the useful stuff out of our old bread machine. the motor is
still in top shape, and could be useful as a mash mixer, or similar.
anybody been down this road?
also contains one heating element. i imagine this is a simpler
version of what RIMsers use, though i've never paid that lot much
mind. i'm curious if it could somehow be used to heat a fermentation
chamber stuck in the garage over winter. i don't like the idea of a
heating element next to styrofoam, but am curious if someone has
worked out a method. currently i'm using a setup similar to ken
schwartz's fermentation chiller.
-SM-
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 17:32:44 +1100
From: craftbrewer@telstra.easymail.com.au
Subject: Mungo man, dropping
G'day All
well what could one say about all this then
>>>>From: Tom smit <tom@lunica-data.com.au>
You may need to divert your attention from beer related items for
a few minutes and review recent news archives to know what I
am talking about. Mungo Man is proof humankind evolved not
in Africa but in Oz! (True!) <<<<<
SH=T mate that was meant to be our secret, and you blurted it
out to all insundry. But since you mention it I did find an article
from the Nth Qld Scientific and Cultural Elitist Society which I
think some of the chapters bear mentioning on the HBD to
further educate everyone. To quote and paraphrase:
The discovery of the 60,000 year old mungo-man significance
truly came to light when they were able to extract the DNA,
making it the oldest recorded DNA sample of man in the world......
The extraction of the DNA was a milestone, but when compared
to humans todays and correlated with social studies of small
communities were revelations revealed about human behaviour
that shed new light on the social aspects of people generally......
In particular was the disturbing findings that there were small
communities in the southern Highlands of NSW with identical
genetic structures to mungo-man..... Dr. Parvo was quoted
This explains the odd behaviour of some of these individuals.
They haven't basically changed in 60,000 years'. Its like a
window into the past....
When pressed on some of these characteristics, he pointed
out that these are simple folk, retreating to these small
communities as they cant understand modern technology.
"More often than not, they drive on small scooters - cars are
far too complex for them to master" he said..... On asking
how they survive in the real world, he said" oh there's plenty
of jobs out there they can do, as long as a computer does the
thinking for them and its not complicated - you know, things
like a cash register operator, up to surprisingly airline pilots- its
really a non thinking occupation nowa-days."......
Also enlightening was how they approached their aspect on
things like hobbies. Its seems these simple folk approach all
things, including hobbies with a simplistic view, often with
disastrous results. " Its a bit like a chef that can only use two
ingredients, he will never amount to much, but he will think he
can cook'' Dr Parvo said......
Anyway there was something I wanted to comment on
From: "Pannicke, Glen A." <glen_pannicke@merck.com>
Subject: Dropping & EBUs
The Doc suggests to drop around the
"white krausen" period. Since I don't follow this practice,
I would have chosen the point where you first begin to see the
white, wispy formations on the surface.<<<<
I dont know about the rest of you, but when I making starters I
aerate the buggers three of four times to keep introducing O2 to
them. I believe that you must keep the blighters in a constant flux
of wanting to stay aerobic. It can be any good for any creature to
go from one state (aerobic) to another state (anaerobic) and back
again.
Now when bubbles start to rise up the yeast are starting to
change their systems from aerobic to anaerobic, so to me this is
latest time to hit them with 02. if its any later then the yeast has to
change its chemistry again and again which at the very least
will cause oxidation problems. Now as Glen has said the pros
have all sorts of tests to tell them where their yeast is at, we dont.
But to me Glen is right, the very first signs of aerobic fermentation
wanting to kick in would to me be the logical time to aerate the
wort, certainly no latter, but even far better earlier.
Shout
Graham Sanders
Now I bought a new drill bit for everyone operation. Thats all
except Phil- I recon I will use a ball hammer. Thinking about it,
his head should crack open like coconut - and what flows out
will be similar.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 17:32:41 +1100
From: craftbrewer@telstra.easymail.com.au
Subject: Samuel Adams, fridge evaporator
G'day All
Well I had an interesting recent craftbrewers meeting where we
tried a few imported beers including a Samuel Adams Boston
Lager. Now it received mixed reactions with our group, the hops
heads fell in love with it, but some of us more subtle folks thought
it was a bit over the top. True thou, a nice drop never the less,
and i can certainly can see why its popular
Now the hops heads were 'yes we must copy this one'. Someone
pulled out out a clone book and read it out that this was the
recipe. One thing in particular was to use tetnanger hops for
flavour. I felt that it wasn't Tet I was tasting, and even felt like
this was dry hopped. I was willing to bet its some sort of
American hop we cant get over here
Now I'm on holidays at the moment so am internet impaired and
cant search the HBD, so my question is, can someone give me
an accurate recipe on this beer so the arguments can be
settled. If crystal is used can they give the colour rating as well.
_--------------------------------
Now a mate has also stripped a fridge for a project and has
pulled out the copper evaporator (thats the bit inside the fridge
i think) . Now for such an old fridge its in bloody good condition.
Its basically straight horizontal copper tubes with u bits soldered
on the ends. The whole thing has an aluminium grill over it to
heat exchange. I'm in one of my experimental moods at the
moments and i want to see how it would go as a cooler running
beer thru it.
I will test it with boiled water first, test it with just a fan, and
spraying water on it. Now my question is - lets assume it will
work at cooling my beer. Can it be effectively cleaned out
with a chemical cleaner to remove all the contaminants. If so
what would it be - say a caustic clean with detergent, followed
by an acid rinse, then rinse with water. I'm not really worried
about the solder as its only on one side, and the u-pieces are
slid over first then soldered, so there should be minimal
surface area exposed if any at all.
Shout
Graham Sanders
Oh
yes it is shocking isn't it, all technical article. yes you are right
i'm not well, suffering a hangover, but I will get back to normal.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 22:34:30 +1100
From: "Helen Pay" <hpay@optusnet.com.au>
Subject: The Whereabouts Of Andy Walsh
Demonick asks:
>Any of you Aussies seen or heard from Andy Walsh? He was the original
>Aussie on this group IIRC.
Andy has been through some dramatic life style changes. At one stage he
fancied himself as a panther but later discovered he had a chicken in his
shorts. Sorry to be so obscure, you may have to ask Steve Alexander what all
of this could possibly mean. I know he knows and he knows I know.
The last time I saw Andy was last year and we were deep in discussion on the
matter of higher sugars in wort. This was at the Thursday night get together
of brewers at Regan's shop. Regan himself has since moved on to become a
brewer with Chuck Hahn.
I shall pass your message on to Andy who thankfully has lost the urge to be
a panther and can no longer pull a chicken out of his shorts. I believe he
stopped reading the HBD quite some time ago.
Jeez, no wonder they call us "a weird mob".
Cheers
Phil Yates
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 08:19:44 -0500
From: fridgeguy@voyager.net
Subject: Temperature-controlled fermenter
Greetings folks,
In HBD #3530, Craig Jensen spoke of building an enclosure for
his soon-to-be-acquired 10 gallon conical fermenter and asked
about the feasibility of using a dorm fridge as the cooling unit.
Congratulations Craig! With a 10 gallon stainless conical
fermenter, you'll be the envy of many if not most of us on the list.
I've corresponded with many folks who have reported success
using small dorm fridges to cool fermentation chambers of similar
capacity (17 cu. ft. in this case).
Good construction techniques to minimize air leaks and
uninsulated areas will be important. I used 2x4 construction with 3-
1/2" of expanded polystyrene foam board for my cold room, and it
is adequate for the conditions in my basement. I would use more
insulation if I were to build the room in a garage since ambient
temperatures in a garage are generally higher and more variable,
and radiant heat loading could be a factor.
For the conical fermenter enclosure, I think I'd use a minimum of 3-
1/2" of *extruded* polystyrene foam board which costs more but
has a higher R value for a given thickness. An alternative would be
2x6 construction with 5-1/2" of expanded polystyrene. The first
option would likely be cheaper to build.
Good enclosure design minimizes voids in the insulated envelope. I
designed my cold room framing in a way that provides at least 2" of
insulation inside of most of the framing. I used staggered framing
members and stepped corner joints to get attachment points for the
interior paneling and accessories.
Door gasketing is critical, as is sealing the fridge to the enclosure.
I prefer bulb-type gaskets (like those used in a fridge door), but
dense closed-cell foam can be used. Some fridge door gaskets are
held on with steel battens and a lot of screws. This type of gasket
could be removed from the door and reused to seal the fridge to the
enclosure.
For the simplest cooling setup I'd suggest mounting the fridge near
the top of the enclosure to allow good convective air movement. A
fan shouldn't be needed. The fridge would cycle on and off with the
external controller to maintain temperature. The disadvantage of this
configuration is poor moisture control. An external vent from the
fermenter airlock to the outside would help.
A more complex cooling setup would be to run the fridge at its
normal temperature so its evaporator stays below freezing. Ducting
would be run to and from the enclosure. A fan would be connected
to the external temperature controller. The fan would circulate cold,
dry air from the fridge into the enclosure and return the warmer,
moist air to the fridge. Since the evaporator is below freezing, the
moisture will condense on the evaporator and freeze. This means
periodic defrosting will be needed. This setup will require
experimentation to get the desired results, but a drier enclosure
might well be worth the added work.
Let us know how the project turns out!
Lastly, Thanks for the kind words. The Fridgeguy is my way to
return something of value to this group in return for the wealth of
brewing knowledge the group has freely shared with me. Thanks to
all of you.
Hope this helps!
- ----------------------------------------
Forrest Duddles - FridgeGuy in Kalamazoo
fridgeguy@voyager.net
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 07:33:22 -0600
From: "Steve Potter" <spotter@meriter.com>
Subject: RE:Steam Age
Tom asks about steam injection and mashing. Check out this link for futher
information
http://hbd.org/1stdraft/links.html
I have been using steam injection for years when I do decoction mashing.
It really helps when you undershoot.
Cheers,
Steve
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 10:14:18 -0500
From: "Pannicke, Glen A." <glen_pannicke@merck.com>
Subject: dry sanitizing
Steve G's got the trick:
>I use 350 F for one hour (no gradual step up, just
>fire away) and cool with the oven door closed. I haven't yet
>had any bottles shatter when I stick to returnables.
I have 2 cases of Bud longnecks in returnable bottles. These guys are very
thick and I'm not surprised you've had much success with them using this
method. Most non-returnable bottles are pretty thin and I'd expect a crack
or two every now and again from either the heat or the stress of
carbonation. But I was very surprised to see (at least from my supplier)
that the bottles available for homebrewers are just as thin as
no-returnables. I would have expected thicker glass for our purposes.
Unfortunatley about 25% of the returnable bottles I've come across are
usually pretty ratty -AND- to get them I have to buy mediocre beer ;-)
Glen Pannicke
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 10:22:43
From: "C.D. Pritchard" <cdp@chattanooga.net>
Subject: RE: Recirculation problems with RIMS
Paul Shick posted info on dealing with stuck RIMS mashes.
A good way to prevent stuck mashes with a RIMS is to use a sight gauge.
Connect it to a tap located between the tun and the pump suction. Some
1/4" ID clear vinyl tubing arranged in a U configuration works well for a
sight gauge. After adding the foundation water to the rims tun, purge all
air from the sight gauge. After adding the mash, close the valve
downstream of the pump, start the pump and slowly open the valve while
observing the level of fluid in the sight gauge- it'll drop but should
stabilize in a munute. I run mine with a fluid level in the sight gauge
that's ~12" below the surface of the mash in the tun. Keep watching the
level during the first 2-3 minutes because a stuck mash typically occurs
within 2-3 mins. after you've increased the flow. If the level in the
sight gauge starts dropping, close the valve, stop the pump, stir the mash
and try again. If you don't pay attention and the mash gets stuck, the
pump will likely suck air thru the sight gauge- it's an audible alarm of
sorts :-). After ~3 minutes, you can usually gradually increase the flow
if you want- again, while watching the sight gauge. After the sight gauge
level has been stable for ~3 minutes, I've never had a stuck mash.
Some folks dough-in the grain inside the RIMS tun while recirculating.
I've had the manifold in my RIMS get plugged on occassion so I dough-in in
a pail. After dumping the mash into the RIMS tun, letting the grain bed
settle for a few minutes helps prevent stuck mashes.
Rice hulls added to the mash also helps prevent stuck mashes. If the mash
gets stuck, you can add them while stirring up the bed.
c.d. pritchard cdp@chattanooga.net
http://hbd.org/cdp/ http://chattanooga.net/~cdp/
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 09:34:06 -0600
From: "Houseman, David L" <David.Houseman@unisys.com>
Subject: Peristaltic pumps
Sean Richens wants a peristaltic pump but finds the prices a bit high.
While not a true peristaltic pump, I did buy a CO2 driven (not electric)
pump from Moving Brews (www.movingbrew.com) (no connection other than a
satisfied customer, yada, yada) that was originally designed as a condiment
pump and used as soft drink syrup pumps so they are good for food. I don't
remember the exact price but I think it was in the range of $75. And you
can use standard 3/8" tubing. It's powered by CO2. It can really move the
liquid at a rapid pace. I sanitize this unit by first pumping iodophor
solution through the hose and pump (in fact I use it to keep from having to
lift a carboy of iodophor as well), then pump beer and finally warm water
and again the iodophor solution.
David Houseman
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 12:12:26 -0600
From: Greg Remec <gremec@gsbpop.uchicago.edu>
Subject: Re: Sugar vs. DME priming
Hello All,
Although I did not find DME priming to be substantially superior to priming
with corn sugar, my experiments led me to try kraeusening. Particularly
for malty styles and higher carbonation levels, kraeusening has produced
some marvelous results.
I generally ferment about 5.5 gallons in my primary carboy, then rack to a
five gallon secondary. This provides for about five or six preview bottles
to fill from the primary, which I can use to compare priming alternatives
with the main batch. Typically, I'll use Primetabs for priming the preview
bottles, and find them to be quite convenient and reliable. But when I
kraeusen the remaining beer, the results have blown away the sugar primed
bottles.
A recent example is a steam beer, of which I saved 10% (about two quarts)
of the wort in canning jars. I used a 2-row (77%), munich (15%) and
crystal 40L (8%) grist with a 145F/158F step mash that was once suggested
by the tremendously helpful Jeff Renner, and lots of Northern Brewer hops
(plus some aromatic Cascades for mash hopping and finishing). I pitched
onto a White Labs San Francisco yeast cake from a cream ale (that used
Jeff's cereal mash instructions for 20% corn meal, which was fun) and had a
two-hour lag. I saved a few ounces of yeast slurry from the primary when I
racked two weeks later, which I used to start the saved wort the day before
bottling. At high kraeusen, I added this to the bottling bucket and
bottled as usual.
The sugar-primed previews were really nice, so I couldn't resist (as usual)
opening one of the kraeusened bottles only one week after
bottling. Kraeusened bottles seem to carbonate quickly, and this was no
exception, with almost full carbonation. The main difference compared to
the sugar-primed examples was much longer head retention with a thicker,
creamier head and superior malt character, as well as being slightly
darker. The extra dose of yeast left a thick paste that clung to the
bottom of the bottle.
Since you're adding about 10% volume, I think it's important to use the
same wort for kraeusening that was used for the main batch, particularly
with highly hopped recipes. I've never kraeusened an extract recipe, but
don't know why it wouldn't work well too. Doc Pivo has even reported
rescuing failed recipes by kraeusening, and the first time I tried
kraeusening was to carbonate a flat alt that turned me into a believer.
Anyway, I still use sugar priming for most of my recipes, but some styles
seem to really benefit from kraeusening. Lagers seem to benefit as well as
ales, but take longer to carbonate. Kraeusening is definitely more
complicated, but that's part of the fun for me.
Cheers,
Greg
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 10:44:28 -0800 (PST)
From: Paul Burant <pgburant@yahoo.com>
Subject: grinding malted barley with coffee grinder?
Hi!
I'm still a novice brewer, but I'm hoping to use less
extracts and more grains. Does anyone know if it's
okay to use a coffee grinded with the grains?
Thanks
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 13:49:24 -0500
From: John Baxter Biggins <jbbiggin@med.cornell.edu>
Subject: StarLink corn in beer
My understanding of the entire picture may be sketchy, but is
generally accepted in the science community that problems associted
w/ genetically modified (GM) foods present a socio-economic impact
rather than a medical one. The only problem to human consumption is
if a person might allergic to the new proteins being created in the
GM product. Such allergies can be similar to the one found in some
people w/ peanuts. Interestingly enough, it is a protein in peanuts
that creates the sometimes fatal allergic reaction, which one GM
project is aiming to correct by "knocking-out" that allergen
protein-encoding gene. There will also be about a zillion dollar$
worth of testing to meet FDA & USDA approval of anything targeted for
human conumption (even though I know the StarLink isn't approved as
such yet).
Mostly, people use the term "genetic pollution" as since such foods
are modified, they can cross-breed w/ non-modified foods (say 2
adjacent farms both grow corn; one GM, the other not). The GM strain
can "pollute" the non-GM strain, creating an unwanted hybrid. Since
many GM foods are to be produced "sterile", so that you must always
buy the seeds directly from the source every growing season, this can
be disasterous to the non-GM farm if the hybrid does not
self-replicate.
Anyhoo...take home lession...it won't kill 'ya. Then again, I'm a
scientist so I'm biased as hell. Personally, I feel that any brewer
using the GM corn is most likely not making the quality stuff that we
brew & consume ourselves.
Just my $0.02
- --
- -------------------
John B. Biggins
Cornell University Medical College
Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences
Student -- Program in Pharmacology
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Laboratory for Biosynthetic Chemistry
Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics
lab:(212)693-6405 fax:(212)717-3135
http://www.ski.edu/lab_homepage.cfm?lab=189
"Science, like Nature, must also be tamed
With a view towards its preservation.
Given the same state of integrity
It will surely serve us well."
-- Neil Peart; Natural Science (III) -- Permanent Waves
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 14:12:01 -0600
From: Mark Kellums <infidel@springnet1.com>
Subject: Fridge problems
Hello,
Uh oh, I'm worried that my lager fridge/hop freezer is on the blink. The
fridge is still running but it won't freeze or cool. I can hear the fan
running. About once every minute it will make a "click" noise like
something's trying to turn on but isn't. Is my fridge fried?
In the mean time I've got my hops in the chest freezer in the garage.
And my beautiful Dopplebock that was lagering peacefully is now sitting
on the garage floor soon to be an Eisbock I'm sure.
Thanks very much,
Mark Kellums
Decatur Il.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 12:49:20 -0800 (PST)
From: Beaverplt <beaverplt@yahoo.com>
Subject: Hop Pellets
There's been some discussion about the problems of
straining hop pellets out of the wort.
My question is why not use a Hop sack made out of some
cheesecloth? Does doing this result in under
utilization of the hops? I know it certainly
concentrates them. Can that be accounted for?
I thought I'd read about someone doing this before. I
just brewed a new batch yesterday and tried this.
Straining the wort never went better. I guess I'll
have to wait a couple of weeks to see what the effect
on the taste is.
=====
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 13:21:10 -0800 (PST)
From: Road Frog <road_frog_run@yahoo.com>
Subject: Steam URL
Direct Injection of Steam for Mash Temperature Control
By Kelly E. Jones
Republished from BrewingTechniques' July/August 1994.
A simple, inexpensive, easily fabricated steam heat
system can provide precise temperature control for
mashing. This system can be immediately applied to
home brewing setups and holds promise for
commercial-scale brewers as well.
http://brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue2.4/jones.html
Glyn Crossno
Using Mother Nature to ferment a CAP in
Estill Springs, TN
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 16:42:01 -0500
From: "Alan Meeker" <ameeker@mail.jhmi.edu>
Subject: "What's up Doc"
Thursday's Doc Pivo posting, in which he waxes poetic concerning a research
article (!) on oxygenation, begs the question, "Which Doc Pivo is currently
gracing us with his presence?" Surely not our usual contributor - that
champion of experience uber alles and tireless combatant of "librarians"
everywhere. Could it possibly be that he is coming around, recognizing that
while experience is invaluable there is also much to be gained from perusing
the scientific brewing literature? Well, it is a new millennium after all,
perhaps it is a new beginning for the good doctor.
That a delay in the timing of wort oxygenation is beneficial under most
circumstances has been discussed here previously. Unfortunately, prescribing
a definite delay time applicable for all brewers is impossible due to the
significant differences between individual brewers' pitching habits. On top
of this is the fact that, other than opening the lid of their bucket or
carboy and swirling, most homebrewers don't have a good mechanism for
oxygenating their wort during the fermentation.
For the homebrewer, starting one's beer with a decent pitch size using yeast
that have been well-oxygenated while stepping-up avoids many of the
potential problems that crop up due to sterol-starved yeast.
-Alan Meeker
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 17:08:17 -0600
From: "steve lane" <tbirdusa@hotmail.com>
Subject: maifest ideas
Went to our monthly brewwers meeting only to be approached by the board
about being a member of the Maifest committee. Got the "you've sure been to
alot of functions and I don't think you've been on a comm yet,,,,, have
you?". Well, when posed as a question by the guy that is pouring beer, it
was hard to answer with a lie. With that I was thrust into the Maifest
committee,,,, kicking and screaming I might add.
As I've only been brewing for 2 years and have attended only one Maifest
party, does the collective have any great ideas for activities, contests,
(leave it alone Aussies), and/or anything to take up the afternoon.
Last year we had a beer bottle derby, along the lines of a Boy Scout balsa
wood derby (without the perverts supervising) and, of course, the phloating
keg :) competition. Any "reasonable" ideas for the party would be greatly
appreciated and off the wall ideas whould, by all means, be shared with the
group. Just please, don't involve and pool table and rice lager. Regards.
Stephen
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 12:08:22 +1100
From: "Andrew Walsh" <awalsh@somelab.com>
Subject: I'm not dead yet...
Hello all....
I don't read HBD any more but still have my HBD spies...
I'm still around but not brewing much any more due to circumstances... the
beer I do make is pretty ghastly these days...(gotta stop those vegemite
additions but I just can't help myself...)
Re: Steve A's post on nucleation: I've seen diamotaceous earth mentioned to
help nucleation - I've tried it and it works OK (but then so does doing
nothing). There are also some soy grit based yeast nutrients around that
increase apparent attenuation - these are *generally* thought to work by
acting for bubble nucleation rather than as yeast nutrient per se in normal
worts. As Steve points out, the problem is generally greater in commercial
brewing due to the higher hydrostatic pressures involved.
Good to see a few old faithfuls still here. Hope all are well and are making
much better beer than I am!
Regards
Andy Walsh.
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #3531, 01/16/01
*************************************
-------
