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HOMEBREW Digest #4042
HOMEBREW Digest #4042 Mon 16 September 2002
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
Re: Faucet drip trays (Svlnroozls)
Converting refrigerators ("Parker Dutro")
Beet sugar (Tidmarsh Major)
Drip Trays (Nathan Kanous)
RE: Faucet drip trays ("David Houseman")
Sake Brewing and Lactic Acid ("pksmith_morin1")
pretzel sale (Jeff Renner)
Re: freezer problems (EdgeAle) (David Towson)
re: Faucet drip trays (John Bowerman)
HERMS project ("Kirk McDonald")
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Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 00:24:31 EDT
From: Svlnroozls@aol.com
Subject: Re: Faucet drip trays
Dion,
Got a wood plank, a jigsaw, a router, some sand paper and varnish? Know
someone who has them? Heck, if you wanted to, you could make it out of wood,
then cast it in resin so it would be totally waterproof and last longer than
your great-grandchildren. And you could cast a bunch of them and sell them
(You've seen how much people sell those other ones for!). On second thought,
how much would you pay for a nice cast-resin custom-made drip tray? For you,
only $100.
C.T.
Los Anguhleez, CA
In a message dated 9/13/02 9:11:14 PM, Dion Hollenbeck
<hollen@woodsprite.com> writes:
<< Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 15:25:55 -0700
From: Dion Hollenbeck <hollen@woodsprite.com>
Subject: Faucet drip trays
I have a 3" diameter faucet tower with 4 faucets on it. Two faucets are
one one level, and the other two are about 2" higher, and rotated slightly
so that they pour between the lower faucets. Each pair of faucets on a
single level are seperated by about 45 degrees of angle.
I would like to obtain a sort of kidney bean shaped drip tray, but the only
ones I have seen for sale are $150 and up. YIKES!! Does anyone know of
cheaper ones, or some other substitute that is not necessarily meant as a
drip tray but will do the job?
thanks,
dion
>>
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 00:24:20 -0700
From: "Parker Dutro" <ezekiel128@edwardwadsworth.com>
Subject: Converting refrigerators
I just inherited a dorm room type fridge from my school and I need info.
It's an older unit, called an Ariston, made in Italy, 115 or 150 volts.
It's one of those brown jobs you would expect to see in a teachers
lounge or in a trailer, fake wood panels. It wasn't working well, but
was working. I wonder if anyone can share info or refer me somewhere
for help. I am trying to figure out how to "charge" the thing or tune
it up so it works, figure out what, if anything, is malfunctioning, and
then whether it's convertible with the temp. control devices made for
brewers. Can fridges be used for lagering or is it freezers? Can a
ghetto old 115 volt brown thing be worth it, or might it be garbage?
Thanks.
Parker Dutro
"Excuse me doctor, but I think I know a little something about
medicine!"
-Homer Simpson
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 06:53:41 -0500
From: Tidmarsh Major <tidmarsh@comcast.net>
Subject: Beet sugar
As another possible source of beet sugar for Belgian-style beers, the
grocery store here in Tuscaloosa has a German food section (thanks
I'm sure to the nearby Mercedes plant). In that section there is a
sugar beet syrup that might be a reasonable substitute for light
candi sugar.
Has anyone tried this substitution?
Tidmarsh Major
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 07:01:04 -0700
From: Nathan Kanous <nlkanous@pharmacy.wisc.edu>
Subject: Drip Trays
Good Morning,
Dion Hollenbeck asks about drip trays. I too had been searching for that
beautiful stainless drip tray that cost far less than anything on the open
market (even a 1 tap tray runs approx $40).
One Sunday morning I went to get a cup of coffee after the service at
church and discovered that the folks at church don't like drips any more
than beer drinkers (they're just catching coffee and not beer. They had
"reconditioned" 2-liter soda bottles.
Cut off the smallest part of the neck. On the tapered portion of the
bottle, cut a hole large enough to fit over the tap (I have to "thread"
mine over the faucet then over the handle which is only about 2 inches
long....or 5 cm). Cut the remainder of the bottle vertically down the
"sides" leaving a piece about 6 inches wide that comes down from the
"hanger". At the bottom of the bottle, cut around from one vertical cut to
the other leaving the bottom of the bottle intact. Voila', a drip tray.
It's "L" shaped with a bit of the taper of the top of the bottle remaining
at the top of the "L". It's not pretty. It's not stainless. It works
great. It's easy to clean. They're easy to make and I'm notably very frugal.
Good Luck.
nathan in madison, wi
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 08:04:57 -0400
From: "David Houseman" <housemanfam@earthlink.net>
Subject: RE: Faucet drip trays
Dion says "I would like to obtain a sort of kidney bean shaped drip
tray,..."
Hey Dion, this sounds like those SS trays that sat by my hospital bed back
when I had my appendix out...Perhaps medical supply sources?
Dave
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 07:12:33 -0500
From: "pksmith_morin1" <pksmith_morin1@msn.com>
Subject: Sake Brewing and Lactic Acid
Hello everyone -
To the sake brewers out there:
I am making a sake, using the traditional yamahai-moto (natural lactic acid
development, not added lactic acid). On day 4 after starting the moto, day
2 after pitching the yeast, the moto is what I would term sharply sour. Not
an unpleasant sharpness, really, and not "vinegary," but sharp nevertheless.
My concern is that, if my memory serves me well, lactic acid takes longer
than a couple of days to kick off, typically, up to 3-4 weeks (in breweries
or wineries, any way, where it's not wanted), and that its character is not
as sharp as that engendered by other beasties - i.e., acetobacter and acetic
acid - in fact, tons of diacetyl often usually accompany. I have not
observed any ropiness or surface pellicular growth, as I've seen with
acetobacter.
Bottom line: does this sound like I'm screwed? Or is this normal for a
moto? This is a ceremonial batch for an upcoming event for my martial arts
organization, and I will gladly start over, unless this is a-ok. Thanks.
Paul Smith
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 12:45:25 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <JeffRenner@comcast.net>
Subject: pretzel sale
I get a fair number of private emails asking about pretzel salt
availability. I was considering buying a bag (25 lb. or 50 or 80,
whatever it comes in) of it with my next flour order (1250 lbs) and
selling it to brewers at cost, but then I did a google search and
found some mail order sources. Don't know anything about them or
what shipping would be. Also can't vouch that what they call pretzel
salt is the real mccoy, but I assume it is.
http://www.concessionstands.com/items.asp?Cc=PREACCES 2 lb. jar for $3.82
http://www.theingredientstore.com/generalstore/misc-800/ 5 lbs for $3.70.
http://www.barryfarm.com/salts.htm 2 lbs. for $1.19
If the last one has good shipping costs, it would seem to be the way
to go. If anyone orders, please post so others will know.
Jeff
- --
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner@comcast.net
"One never knows, do one?" Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 14 Sep 2002 19:57:22 -0400
From: David Towson <dtowson@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: freezer problems (EdgeAle)
In HBD 4041, Dana asks:
>The freezer I keep my hops in is having problems. It is set to its coldest
>setting and is
> normally quite cold but occasionally it warms up to ~45F.
>
>I suspect that the limit switch for the defrosting heaters are bad. Does this
>sound right to
>those of you with practical experience with freezers? Any suggestions on
>testing this
>hypothosis/fixing the problems?
I think it is much more likely that the contacts on the defrost timer have
been chewed up by arcing to the point they are occasionally sticking
together and extending the defrost cycle. The compartment should not get
hot enough to cause the limit switches to operate if the timer is working
correctly. You can remove the timer and open the cover to inspect the
contacts, and you can achieve a *temporary* fix by cleaning them with fine
sandpaper if you first determine that appears to be the problem. But you
want to get right on this, as defrost heaters can be quite expensive, and
in some cases, quite difficult to replace. I put off doing this for my
hops fridge until the heater burned out due to a stuck timer. The limit
switch failed to operate in time because of corrosion that had built up
between its sensing surface and the metal bottom of the freezer
compartment. The replacement heater cost $94, and was *very* hard to get
interleaved with the evaporator (cooling coil). I was just waiting for the
telltale his of escaping Freon from a broken line the whole time I was
horsing the coil around to get the heater in place. It was not a fun
time. I'm pleased to say I pulled it off, but I sincerely hope to never do
it again. Act now, and don't delay! Good luck.
Dave in Bel Air, Maryland
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 01:53:10 -0700
From: John Bowerman <bowerman@cvc.net>
Subject: re: Faucet drip trays
You might check surgical supply outfits for something called a kidney
tray or kidney dish (stainless of course). Entertaining conversation
piece . . . .
In HBD 4041, Fri, 13 Sep 2002, Dion Hollenbeck wrote:
>I would like to obtain a sort of kidney bean shaped drip tray, but the
only
>ones I have seen for sale are $150 and up. YIKES!! Does anyone know
of
>cheaper ones, or some other substitute that is not necessarily meant as
a
>drip tray but will do the job?
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 21:12:36 +0930
From: "Kirk McDonald" <kirem@ihug.com.au>
Subject: HERMS project
I am starting on the process of building a PC controlled HERMS. I am looking
for information on the right length, number of turns etc that can be
calculated for the heat exchanger? I know I could just do it by trial and
error, but if it can be calculated then I would be much happier.
Regards,
Kirk
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #4042, 09/16/02
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