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HOMEBREW Digest #3608
HOMEBREW Digest #3608 Mon 16 April 2001
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Digest Janitor: janitor@hbd.org
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Contents:
Re: CO2 cylinders ("John Zeller")
DC/Roberts ("A. J.")
Mini Keg Bungs (Dan Listermann)
RE: Starter Grenades ("Angie and Reif Hammond")
failed hydro test ("Joseph Marsh")
Re: CO2 cylinders (Demonick)
Re: Starter Grenades (RBoland)
Re: Secondary for ale (Mike Mckinney)
Starting A Canadian Home Brewers Club; (angela patterson)
Fermentation And Cellar Temp Blues, Part II (Todd Bissell)
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Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 01:23:08 -0700
From: "John Zeller" <jwz_sd@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: CO2 cylinders
Jason & Art,
>From my experience with scuba diving compressed air cylinders, I believe
that if a tank fails a hydro test, the tester is required by law to
permanently disable the tank. A hydro test measures the ability of a
cylinder to expand when pressurized and then return to very near its
original size when the pressure is relieved. A pressure vessel like a CO2
cylinder will eventually fail the test as the metal gradually loses its
elastic properties due to metal fatigue after a certain number of expansion
and contraction cycles. The cylinders are also visually inspected
internally and externally for any sign of corrosion or stress cracks.
Sometimes a cylinder will fail the visual inpection due to a dent or ding
even though it can still pass the hydro test. I doubt that the compressed
gas dealer would trade the tank if the cylinder did not have a current hydro
test certification stamp.
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Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 12:19:19 +0000
From: "A. J." <ajdel@mindspring.com>
Subject: DC/Roberts
For DC beer info start with http://www.webtrek.com/~dcbeer which will in
turn refer you to other links (but the DC Beer Guide seems to be crook
at the moment).
With Roberts you take in your cylinder and they replace it with another
which has been prefilled. IF they notice that the one you are returning
is out of hydro they charge $12 (??) for the test. They seem to assume
the risk that the bottle might not pass. So provided that your bottle is
not marked in some way to show that it has failed you can probably get a
new one simply by taking it to Roberts and you might even get it at no
cost over that of the gas. I leave the ethical question as to whether
you want to call their attention to the fact that it is out of hydro or
not up to you.
A.J.
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Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 10:14:27 -0400
From: Dan Listermann <72723.1707@compuserve.com>
Subject: Mini Keg Bungs
<Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 12:12:29 -0400
From: "Pannicke, Glen A." <glen_pannicke@merck.com>
Subject: Mini Kegs
Maybe your tap OD and bung ID are not a perfect match. It might be best to
use either matched Phil tap & bungs or Fass-Frisch tap & bungs, but do not
mix them. They should work together, but who knows.>
The "Phil's Relieph Bung" is a Fass-Frisch bung modified with a crude but
very effective pressure relief valve. To my knowlege all bungs and taps
should be interchangeable.
Dan Listermann Check out our E-tail site at www.listermann.com
Participate in the anti-telemarketing forum. It is my new hobby!
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 10:53:07 -0400
From: "Angie and Reif Hammond" <arhammond@mediaone.net>
Subject: RE: Starter Grenades
Jeff -
Take the rings off of your jars after the lids pop down. It is generally
easy to remove them then, you don't need them to keep the lids on, and if
you get an infection, it will just push the lid off instead of exploding.
Sorta like a pile of gunpowder will not explode when lit, but enclose it in
a container and bang!
Reif
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Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 10:12:36 -0500
From: "Joseph Marsh" <josephmarsh62@hotmail.com>
Subject: failed hydro test
Please don't try to pass the problem on to a Welding gas company or anyone
else. If your tank Failed a hydro it needs to be destroyed. In my opinion
passing it on to someone else is criminal.
Most likely nothing will happen, but the only reason a pressure tank ever
fails is from over pressure. The walls get streached and weakened. If you
pass it on you're passing on a bomb. Literally.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 10:01:32 -0700
From: Demonick <demonick@zgi.com>
Subject: Re: CO2 cylinders
>Jason Gorman wrote:
>I have an old CO2 cylinder that failed the hydro test.
From: "McGregor, Arthur, Mr, OSD-ATL" <Arthur.Mcgregor@osd.mil>
> ... Typically you take an empty 5, 10, 20 lb. tank to
>the gas supply shop and exchange it for a full one, then pay for the gas
>($10-20). If your tank doesn't have any large noticeable markings to
>indicate that it failed, you should be ok. ...
By law, I believe, a failed tank is supposed to be indelibly stamped
in some way.
When you think about it, how exactly does a cylinder fail the
hydrostatic pressure test? Seems to me that there is only one way
to fail the test, and at that point the tank is "indelibly marked".
Could it have failed the visual inspection? (Rust on the inside).
Domenick
Seattle, WA
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Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 17:22:40 EDT
From: RBoland@aol.com
Subject: Re: Starter Grenades
Jeff had exploding starter solutions after using the boiling water method of
canning. I've read some posts in this forum stating 'no problem' with this
method. I've also been doing some research on the matter because I hate the
time and trouble involved in making starters. USDA recommends pressure
canning for low acid foods. 10 to 15 psig achieves 249 to 250 F. See
http://www.foodsafety.ufl.edu/consumer/he/he201.htm. I've measured a few
wort pH's recently and found them to be above the 4.6 threshold, so pressure
canning is the way to go. The higher temperature will kill the botulism
bacteria which are present on just about everything. It's a few more bucks
for the pressure equipment, but it will avoid bacterial activity and
explosions. Neither you nor your starter will go boom.
There was also a recent post flaming St. Louis beers. I may not prefer the
light flavor of the beers brewed by the big guy, but I'd think I had reached
the pinnacle of homebrewing expertise if I could brew them. A homebrewer who
can make a good American Light Lager is a good brewer indeed! Try judging
this category at a competition and you'll also hone your judging skills. You
can also get some fine craft beers in STL micros now. Or, you can come to
town on a first Thursday to taste the St. Louis Brews' homebrew.
Bob Boland
St. Louis, MO.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2001 17:25:12 -0500
From: Mike Mckinney <mikemck@austin.rr.com>
Subject: Re: Secondary for ale
John Clark writes:
>I do not know why but I have been using a secondary on
>all of my ales. I started doing this last year and it
>has worked out well for me. I get less yeast in my
>bottles but the same good carbonation. I think the ale
>taste just as good if not better than bottling from
>the primary. It takes an extra few days but I have
>noticed nothing but good things with my final product.
>
>Can anyone give me a good reason why I should do this?
> I am talking regular ales. Some with honey some with
>fruit concentrate some are just light ales. Are there
>any good advantages or am I just wasting my time?
It looks like you have pretty much answered your own question. Only thing
I would add is that I think it's good to rack of off the trub and dorment
yeast found in the primary unless you plan on bottling after only a week
or so.
Of course, I'm still a newbie at this, so others may have a different view...
- --
mikemck@austin.rr.com
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 09:35:40 -0300
From: daniel.angela@ns.sympatico.ca (angela patterson)
Subject: Starting A Canadian Home Brewers Club;
Hello All;
We have recently started a Canadian HomeBrewers Club with the express
purpose of helping people in the different regions of Canada get some
helpful information about their own area's. We are also hoping that the
group will be able to spawn a few taste offs not to mention recipe and
method information exchange.
Anyone interested in Canadabrew can subscribe to our Egroup by sending an
email with your first or screen name and the Area of Canada you live in too.
canadabrew-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Thank You.
Daniel
N.S.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 18:19:05 GMT
From: Todd Bissell <bis9170@home.com>
Subject: Fermentation And Cellar Temp Blues, Part II
To refresh the minds of any readers that may have been sampling their
wares a few too many times lately, I was the the newbie brewer who was
agonizing over my primary fermentation temperatures in the closet of my
small one bedroom apartment (routinely between 72 and 76 degrees). After
posting, I received a boat load (literally!) of advice from at least
10 or 15 list members, who gave me some great ideas and advice, but all
repeated the same refrain of "don't toss your batch...!!" To all who
spent their time to write me, thanks....!!!
So how did my Mild Ale turn out, after a long lag time and consistently
high fermentation temp's...? Actually, not nearly as bad as I thought, to
be honest. A touch sweet, more of a subdued Amber than a Mild, if you
want to get down to the nitty-gritty, but I think that's more due to
the cheapo canned extract only recipe I used than anything else.
I've tasted it at both the 1 week and 2 week aging periods (a Friday
night ritual in the making, apparently!), and while it could probably use
another week or two, overall, I'd say my first batch was a positive
learning experience.
For my second and third batches (a Scotch and a Best Bitter, hey, when
I get into a hobby, I go diving in head first!), I ended up going to
Walmart and buying two of their cheapest Rubbermaid plastic garbage cans
($6.00 each, so you can imagine we're not talking about any great
investment here!), and cut them in half, so that the bottom half was just
the right
size to fit my plastic 6-gal fermenter. With enough room on the sides to
pour in cold tap water, and a few frozen "blu packs" that I change out
daily, I've gone from a "marginal" 74 degree ferment to more satisfactory
high 60's. I'm still tweaking the setup, including adding the classic
"wicking wet towel" approach, and maybe putting a small fan into the mix,
but overall, feeling much more comfortable with what needs to happen now.
I'm shooting for a consistent 65 degrees, but living in San Diego (i.e. A
desert next to the ocean!), I'll take what I can get...! Still using
extremely temperature tolerant yeast's, but maybe once I get my setup
working the way I want it to, I can shoot for my first real challenge: a
killer porter...! (Gotta dream big, eh...?)
Cheers!
T.S.Bissell
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #3608, 04/16/01
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