NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/rec/crafts/brewing/6920

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HOMEBREW Digest #1018                        Mon 23 November 1992


        FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
                Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator


Contents:
  Broad Ripple ESB (Scott Weintraub)
  West Virginia Brew (tim)
  re: beer & ale  (R.) Cavasin" <[e-mail]>
  New Brewing On-line (vers.1.1) (Carlo Fusco)
  Hop growing (Aaron Birenboim)
  SN Celebration Ale (Brian Bliss)
  inconsistent carbonation (Brian Bliss)
  HBD1016 Re grain mills (Garrett Hildebrand)
  Aging beer from Micah Millspaw ("Bob Jones")
  Random musings (John DeCarlo)
  Suspended Animation (pmiller)
  Ale vs Beer/Lovibond Questions (Phil Hultin)
  oatmeal honey recipe wanted/needed ("frank lopez" )
  Strange infection? (Mark N. Davis)
  single-stage vs. two-stage fermentation ("Knight,Jonathan G")
  Ring around the carboy (John Williams)
  Brewers Publications Quality (Paul dArmond)
  book on Belgium and Dutch cafe (Victor Reijs)
  Filling Bottles (Jack Schmidling)
  Belgian Beer (fjdobner)


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  (Articles are published in the order they are received.)
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**Please do not send me requests for back issues!**
*********(They will be silenty discarded!)*********
**For Cat's Meow information, send mail to [e-mail]**

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 8:08:38 EST
From: [e-mail] (Scott Weintraub)
Subject: Broad Ripple ESB

I recently took a trip to Indianapolis and, due to the suggestion of some
 HBD'ers went
to the Broad Ripple Brew Pub.

WOW!!!

Of the brew pubs Ive tried, this was the best by far.  The beer was excellent,
 as was the
food (you must try the armadillo eggs).

Anyway, they had an ESB which I would love to make at home...does anyone know
 their
recipe?


- --Scott Weintraub
  TRIONIX

  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  | Scott Weintraub             |  TRIONIX Research Laboratory, Inc.          |
  | Software Engineer           |  8037 Bavaria Road                          |
  |                             |  Twinsburg, OH 44087                        |
  | e-mail: [e-mail]     |  Voice: 1-216-425-9055  Fax: [phone] |
  -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 08:19:23 EST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: West Virginia Brew







           As in the reply  for  Bill  "the  former  Mountaineer"  the

           migration  away  from  WV  is more the norm.  Anyway to the

           point, A brew pub has  recently  opened  in  Morgantown  WV

           Aprox.  150 miles north of Charleston, called the one onion

           I am not sure of the address only that it is on  University

           Ave.   I  hope to get up that way soon and give it a try, I

           am sure that it will considered the number one brew pub  in

           the state considering it is the only one.


------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 09:16:00 +0000
From: "Rick (R.) Cavasin" <[e-mail]>
Subject: re: beer & ale


Actually, as I read Gayre, the distinction he makes (and it should be
noted that it is rather heavily qualified) is that the word ale WAS
used to signify an unbittered beverage, while beer WAS the bittered
counterpart.  While he speaks on their relative alcoholic strengths,
he concludes that the use of a bittering agent (hops or other herbs)
is the main thing that separated a beer from an ale. This distinction
became blurred when hops became predominant in brewing, and ales
began to be hopped as well.  His contention that originally ale and
beer would have been made with honey rather than malt must be taken with
a decidedly bigger grain of salt since he's delving much deeper into
the past on this one.  (ie. long before the 'middle ages' I believe)
It may be that the two words are effectively synonyms, used in different
regions to signify the 'same' thing; differences in brewing style being
incidental (ie.  Region A says 'Hey ya know what?  In region B they
put hops in their ale!  while Region B says 'Hey! In region A they
don't put hops in their beer').  Kind of a chicken and egg sorta thing.
Rick C.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 11:44 EST
From: Carlo Fusco <[e-mail]>
Subject: New Brewing On-line (vers.1.1)


****************************************************************************

                        Brewing On-Line (version 1.1)

****************************************************************************

>From the Internet you can subscribe to the following daily publications:

HomeBrewersDigest: [e-mail] (Rob Gardner,coordinator)

        (BEER-L is a redistribution list for the Homebrew Digest.  It's
address is [e-mail]. It is for all HBD subscribers.  Subscribers
are encouraged to use this or any other redistribution list to receive the
Homebrew Digest so as to lessen the impact on Rob Gardner's site.)

Brewers Forum: [e-mail] (Jay Hersh, coordinator)

Mead Lover's Digest: [e-mail] (John Dilley, coordinator)

Hard Cider Digest: [e-mail] (Jay Hersh, coordinator)

Lambic Digest: [e-mail] (Mike Sharp,
coordinator)

JudgeNet Digest: [e-mail] (Chuck Cox, coordinator)

The Houston Brewing Group: [e-mail] (For SW Texas, small list)

*******************

Usenet:

rec.crafts.brewing

*******************

email clubs:

                    THE NEW ENGLAND BEER CLUB
This new list was created for the promotion of beer related activities in the
North East.  This is not a competitive list to the _Home_Brew_Digest_ and is
not for discussions of homebrewing issues.

The charter of this list is to promote homebrew clubs, homebrew competitions,
tasting, picnics, pub crawls, brewpubs, breweries, homebrew suppliers and any
other organization, news or activity related to beer in the New England area.

To subscribe: [e-mail] -or- uunet!semantic!beer-request
To post:      [e-mail] -or- uunet!semantic!beer

On subscription please include your Full Name and Email Address in the message
text. The moderator is Bob Gorman.


                        THE AUSTIN BEER CLUB
There is a Austin, Texas Beer club that sends out weekly notification
via email. Contact [e-mail] to be put on the list. We meet every
Tuesday Night(Starts 6:30 or 7:30 depending on the season) at the
Dog & Duck Pub, 17th & Guadalupe in Downtown Austin.
A diverse crowd shows up, The Celis Brewery people are sometimes there
and it a social gathering more than anything else.

*******************

Commercial Networks:

COMPUSERVE
There's a very active beer and homebrew forum on the CompuServe
Information Service, sharing online quarters with the wine forum. Unlike
Internet, this is not a "free" service; CompuServe charges from $6 an hour
(300 bps) to $21/hr (9600 bps) for online time, but the wide participation and
quick interactivity make it another outstanding online option for brewers.

PRODIGY
In the U.S., there's now a dial-up service called Prodigy, run
by IBM and Sears.  It contains a number of BBSs, including one on
Beers & Brewing (under the "Food and Wine" umbrella).  It's much
more informal than the internet forums, and there's a lot of
chatter. Serious brewers might be turned off by the low signal-to-noise ratio.
Prodigy costs $14.95/month and requires an IBM-style or Macintosh PC.  There
are no hourly connect charges because each new display page contains
advertisements.

********************

BBS's:

There is a new BBS dedicated to brewing information. It post daily issues of
Homebrew Digest and is in the process of archiving all information
on brewing available.

Jami Chism
System Operator
The Party Line BBS
717-868-5435
4 lines, all 14,400bps v.32bis


The Better Brewing Bureau
415-964-4356
24 hour, 2400 bps
SySop: Russ Pencin (Mountain View, CA)
Local brewing chat, HBD Archived.
Not very active these days, but still running.

**********************

Other Sources:

Fidonet
        BBS 2:500/275.1, BIERDAT, all day open, [phone]
        BBS ???, NOBODY, all day open, [phone]
        echo-mail: BIER.028
Videotex
        European Brewery Company (EBC), account needed (more info
        can be gotten by speach from Heineken, [phone])

wine:
Videotex
        Dutch-videotex, tel. 06-7400, area VINOTEX

pipes/cigars:
        [e-mail]

*************

For Canadian Homebrewers:

The Canadian Amateur Brewers Association (CABA) is a non-profit organization
whose purpose is to promote homebrewing as an enjoyable hobby through
educational publications, events, and other activties.

                                CABA
                                19 Cheshire Dr.
                                Islington, Ontario
                                M9B 2N7

I can forward information if anyone needs it. This is not on-line, I just
thought other Canadian homebrewers might be interested.

******************************************************************************

I would like to thank the following people for making this list possible:

"[e-mail]"  "Robin Garr"
"[e-mail]"  "Spencer W. Thomas"
"[e-mail]"
"[e-mail]"
"[e-mail]"
"[e-mail]"  "Victor Reijs"
"[e-mail]"  "Phil Hultin"
"[e-mail]"  "MIKE LIGAS"
"[e-mail]" Bob Gorman
"[e-mail]"  "STROUD"
"[e-mail]"  "Rad Equipment"
"ctci.com![e-mail]" Dewey Coffman
"[e-mail]"  "Carl J. Appellof"
"[e-mail]" Richard Akerboom
Darren Evans-Young <[e-mail]>
"[e-mail]"  "Arthur Delano"

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 09:54:47 MST
From: [e-mail] (Aaron Birenboim)
Subject: Hop growing


   I just got a street lamp installed in front of my house.
I was wondering...  could i grow hops up this pole?  or do they
need something thinner like a string to twine up?

   the pole is pine, not metal.

       aaron

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 11:23:13 CST
From: [e-mail] (Brian Bliss)
Subject: SN Celebration Ale

I picked up a six of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale (Seasonal)
last night.  It's made in the true SN style, assertively hopped
(Cascades & N Brewer?), somewhat darker in color & heavier body
than their regular beer (though it has been awhile since I've
drank SNPA), and it had a definite fruitiness to it.  I was most
impressed by the fine carbonation & creamy mouthfeel.

"Scotty, can you give me any more?"

bb

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 12:05:19 CST
From: [e-mail] (Brian Bliss)
Subject: inconsistent carbonation


>The problem is that about half of the bottles have good carbonation and
>great head retention while the other half are more-or-less flat.  (The
>"flat" half do have a little carbonation, but they form only a very
>weak head when decanted.  The head quickly disappears and the beer
>tastes flat when drinking it.)

another thing to look for is how much headspace you left.
If you left too much, it will take a lot of CO2 to build up
enough pressure to keep the rest in solution.  If you leave
too little, carbonation will begin quicker but you risk
glass grenades.

This assumes there is sufficient yeast in the beer
for "normal" carbonation.

bb

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 10:59:41 PST
From: mdcsc![e-mail] (Garrett Hildebrand)
Subject: HBD1016 Re grain mills

In HBD1016 Daniel Roman remarked, in response to an inquiry about
KitchenAid mixer with grain mill, the following:

>Forget about it, it's not suitable for the coarse grinding (cracking
>really) needed for beer making.  I've considered heavily modifying one
>but it does not look to be worth the expense or effort if it can even
be
>done.  For what it costs you are better off getting the Marcato or
>something (unless you got one as a gift already and don't mind hacking
>it up).

What is a 'Marcato'?

By the way, what do any of you think about the Bell mill?

Garrett Hildebrand

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 12:20:28 PST
From: "Bob Jones" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Aging beer from Micah Millspaw



Subject: Aging Beer


> Fm: Jack Schmidling

> The following is excerpted from THE NEW BREWER, May/Jun 1992.  The article is
> by Fred Scheer, Frankenmuth Brewery.

 ..................

> "In my research of draft beer, I found that one of the biggest problems is
> the age of the beer.  As with bottled beer, draft beer does not improve with
> age!"

> "Draft beer is at the peak of freshness and taste the day it is put into the
> keg.  Ideally, a brewer would be able to fill his kegs in the morning and get
> them back empty at night.  But because this is not the case, the beer loses
> quality each day after it is kegged."
 ...................

> This view seems at odds with the conventional wisdom of hombrewers and I see
> two possiblities:

> 1.  His "research" is seriously flawed.

> 2.  People who claim that their beer improves with age are
     simply confused by the fact that the defects in their
     beer sometimes mellow out or become less obvious with time.

> js

First of all this is not a flame. I would however like to say something
about the article in question and the aging of beer in general.

The article in New Brewer (a publication for the commercial brewing
industry) was intended for a non homebrewing audience. I doubt that
Mr Scheer's research is flawed, he is a very reputable commercial brewer
and is concerned with something quite different than most homebrewers.
 I have to agree that once beer is packaged
it will start to deteriorate and is subject to many detrimental outside
influences. This however applies to a finished beer. It does not apply
to bottle conditioned or cask conditioned beer or process similar to
methode champenois (sp?) these are the ways that most homebrewers
package their brews and aging is very important to mature those beers
properly. In the of case bottle conditioned beer, both commercial and
homemade, these tend to improve with a period of aging that has nothing
to do with hiding defects. To even suggest this implies that given
enough time, vinegar would become wine, NOT. Being able to achieving
the proper maturation of a beer is one the greatest skills a brewer
can have, it is a artistry that takes time to aquire. In the case of
most commercial beers the maturation process has been completed before
the beer is kegged or bottled. If a beer is at it peak when it leaves
the brewery where can it go but down?
 I feel that this assertion by JS is unfounded
and is likely to only confuse others to whom, this does not apply.
 So be patient, let your beer age properly and you will more greatly
appreciate efforts, as the taste will reward.

micah
11/18/92

Oh, and Jack try your hand at the WG barleywine and see (taste) for
yourself if aging improves it or not.

------------------------------

Date: Friday, 20 Nov 1992 15:51:54 EST
From: [e-mail] (John DeCarlo)
Subject: Random musings

Re: Aging.

I mostly agree with everyone's postings, especially those pointing out that
homebrew is alive and that stronger beers or those with different additives
may take longer to peak.

However, let me say that since I have cleaned up my act (better sanitation,
better ingredients, better yeast), my beers, IMHO,taste great going into
the bottle.  I just wait a week to get carbonation.  Before that I had to
wait for some off-tastes to mellow before the beer was any good.

Note that almost anyone can taste the difference in my beers between a week
and a month--there is a "freshness" that can be tasted to really new beer.
In a few styles, this freshness is probably inappropriate or unexpected.  In
particular, I made a batch of weizen beer for a club meeting, but put it off
so that it had only been in the bottle four days at the time of the meeting.
Everyone liked it, but few recognized it as a weizen.  A few weeks later
it was a good example of the style.

Re: Corn syrup

If you go out and buy corn syrup in a US supermarket, you should check
carefully, as many brands have additives that would probably be unwanted
in your beer, such as vanilla flavoring.

Re: Digital thermometers

I am really happy with the metal thermometer with a dial on top--mine is
made by Taylor.  Almost instantaneous readings (OK, so you have to wait a
second for the hand on the dial to move to the new reading), and you can
keep it in your shirt pocket for the extra-nerdy brewer look :-).

P.S.  Be careful not to let the plastic dial cover get too close to the
source of heat while brewing.

Internet: [e-mail] (or [e-mail])
Fidonet:  1:109/131

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 15:08:57 CST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Suspended Animation

Greetings.

I've found that the guidelines on Wyeast packages for the time
required to "grow" them are often wrong.  You know, 'Allow 1 extra
day for each month past the manufacturing date'.  My experience is
that the pesky things swell up 1" thick in about a day regardless
of how old they are.  However, I _know_ I'm going to get burned one
of these days if I just assume a one day incubation time.

Here's the question:  Suppose I start a package 3 days before I
brew (assuming 2 days incubation time) and the package swells to
bursting after 1 day.  Am I better off pitching the package into my
starter and letting it sit there for 2 days (so that I end up
pitching the starter into the carboy after high krauesen) OR is it
possible to chuck a swollen package of Wyeast back into the fridge
for a day and then pitch it into my starter 1 day before brewing
like usual?


Phil
[e-mail]

------------------------------

Date:    Fri, 20 Nov 1992 16:14 EST
From: Phil Hultin <[e-mail]>
Subject: Ale vs Beer/Lovibond Questions

G.A. Cooper very nicely summed up the ale vs beer question, but perhaps
one more comment is in order.

We in N. America tend to refer to that mystical time when Hops Arrived On
The Scene as if it were a definite thing.  And, to the extent that our
brewing traditions come from England, this may be so.  Hops seem to begin
to gain acceptance in England in the early 1500's, and are universal
by the end of the 1600's.  HOWEVER... on the continent, the use of hops
goes back far earlier, in some places, anyhow.  There is a mention of a
hop garden associated with a brewery in the Hallertau district which
dates to about A.D. 730!  So, the point is, "Ale" styles and "Beer"
styles developed along different paths in different places at different
times.  This is really no big surprise;-).

Anyhow, I have a question.  None of the retailers I have purchased malted
grains from in the Toronto/Ottawa/Eastern Ontario area seem to have heard
of the Lovibond scale.  They do not post the data for their products, and
when asked, either stare blankly or just say "Our suppliers don't divulge
that information to us".  So, how can I get at least an estimate of the
degree of colour in the malts I use?  Is there a comparison chart for
Lovibond colour available?  And, what suppliers Do in fact ship malts
with the Lovibond numbers attached?

Thanks all, P.

------------------------------

Date:         20 Nov 92 18:25:09 PDT
From: "frank lopez"  <[e-mail]>
Subject:      oatmeal honey recipe wanted/needed

My friend and I are getting ready to brew or Christmas ale.  What I
am looking for is a recipe for oatmeal honey beer.

Any advise or tips or otherwise will be greatly appreciated.

Frank

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 20:08:09 PST
From: Mark N. Davis <[e-mail]>
Subject: Strange infection?

Brewsters,

Alas, I have bragged too much. My latest batch appears to be a disaster.
Not only did it come out a completely different style than I intended,
had a lower SG than targeted, and apparently fermented out leaving too high
of an FG, it now has a rather strange type of infection.

Floating on top of my more-like-a-porter-Scotch-ale is a clear membrane. You
can see parts of it about 1/4 inch up the sides of the carboy as well. Not
only that, but there are several pachinko ball size bubbles portruding
through, looking like domed buildings on a colonized planet. You can gently
nudge the carboy and watch the waves rock underneath the membrane, much like
you could with a waterbed mattress. What in the hell is this stuff?

A little background on this batch:
It was to be an all grain Sctoch Ale (first attempt at style), using nothing
too exoctic except maybe 1 cup molasses. I was forced to do a rather stiff
mash since I didn't use my normal 4 gallon mashing kettle, and had to fit
8 pounds of grain into my 2.5 gallon pot, with just enough water to fill to
the top. I think it was just a tad over 1 quart/pound. Anyways, this made
for some tricky heating, and I managed to burn some of the grain. I assume
that at least some of the mash was converted at very high temps, which would
account for a final gravity of 1.018 from an original gravity of 1.042.
I pitched my 'bionic Edme starter' which I described maybe 20 issues back,
and it took off with no holds barred. It then dropped dead 2 days later, and
I finally racked to a secondary after another 3 days. I let it sit there for
another week where a gravity check showed it had dropped only .001 point
since racking. I figured that it was just in slow-mo so I left sitting for
a while. Its now 2 weeks later and I discovered much to my chagrin this
foreign scum floting in MY beer. On the other hand, it smells very good,
with an excellent malty nose. Previous tastes from racking and gravity
measurements show that its got potential to be a very tasty porter (which
the color matches anyway >:-)
Another data point is that this is my first batch in a new house, following
my standardized procedures.

Back to the original question: What's growing in my beer? If it still smells
and tastes good, should I bottle anyway and hope for the best? If each bottle
then grows its own little membrane, it would be kind of cool to watch people
try to pour the bottles, only to have them react more like ketchup!
ould it just be time to toss my old hoses, siphon gadgets, spoons, and any
other inexpensive pieces and get new ones? I try my best to sanitize each
of them before and after use (using predominently Clorox), but maybe deep
in the recesses there is a lurking beastie? My last few batches all do seem
to have a lingering harshness to them which could indicate a recurring mild
infection from somewhere, although I've been rather hop-happy as well of
late.

                               In a state of beer denial,
                                       Mark


------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Nov 92 11:31:55 cdt
From: "Knight,Jonathan G" <[e-mail]>
Subject: single-stage vs. two-stage fermentation


I'm wondering about comments I have seen with posted recipes in this forum
and in brewing books as well which say something like, "this recipe lends
itself to single-stage fermentation."

Such statements lead me to the following questions.

(1) I've noticed that the darker brews seem to have this said about the more
frequently.  Is secondary fermentation then of importance primarily (sorry
about the pun (:)  for clarification of lighter colored brews?

(2) Or, do some types of brew ferment more quickly than others?

(3) Or, is secondary fermentation always desirable, but the benefits less
noticeable with certain types of brew (i.e. you can get away with single-
stage fermentation more easily).

My beer has improved considerably since I started using a secondary but I
also started using liquid yeast, and not splashing my hot wort and a few
other things all around the same time.

Any thoughts?

Jonathan

------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Nov 92 14:19:06 EST
From: [e-mail] (John Williams)
Subject: Ring around the carboy

Brewers:

        I have just checked out a bass clone that I put up in a carboy
about 2 weeks ago and I found a white ring of spider web like stuff
around the neck of the carboy, just above the level of the beer.  My
first infection that I know of.
        The question is the beer totally wrecked and not worth the
trouble of bottling or will it just have a slightly wierd taste and no
effect on my digestive system?  I have not pulled the stopper out and
tasted the beer so I can not let you knwow what it tastes like.

        I am scheduled to bottle either Monday (probably today if this
goes right in) or Friday so a quick response would be appreciated.
        Thanks in advance for your help.



                                                John W


------------------------------

Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 16:41:26 -0800 (PST)
From: Paul dArmond <[e-mail]>
Subject: Brewers Publications Quality

The recent opinions on Pierre Rajotte's book, _Belgian Ale_, have brought
to light something that has been troubling me for the last year.  The
editorial quality of the Brewers Publications books and Zymurgy magazine
have been declining.  The flaws in Pierre's book are mainly editorial. The
unclear passages, the horrible typography in the recipes section, and the
poorly written and ineptly laid out captions to the photos are the
responsibility of the editor and layout staff.  Similarly, the recent
Zymurgy Annual is offensive to the eye, with its spindly typeface and
uneven illustration style.

The prime responsibility of an editorial staff, particularly when producing
a series, is to ensure that all of the books are as even in tone and
design as possible.  Were it not for the covers and the price, you really
wouldn't know that these books all came from the same publisher.

There are some things that could be done to improve the quality of these
publications:

1) Get some experienced writers to work with the authors.  This is a
standard practice in producing technical books.  These writers should
concentrate on the clarity and readability of the writing.  There should
be a clear description of the target reader, level of reading ability,
amount of detail, standards for citing other authors (sadly lacking in all
but the Fixs' book on Vienna), and the other features that distinguish a
series from a group of books with similar-looking covers.

2) Update the glossary with each new book.  Currently, the glossary is
just a piece of useless boilerplate.  For example, there is no entry for
candi sugar or knockout in the glossary of Rajotte's book.  If it is in the
index, it had better be in the glossary as well.

3) Establish some guidelines for overall graphic design, the use of
illustrations, recipe typography and the content of captions.  The picture
on p.27 of Belgian Ale is meaningless without a caption.  The uneven
layout of the recent annual on Gadgets and Equipment sacrifices
readability to meaningless "artsy" design elements.  Both Belgian Ale and
Porter have serious problems (including massive typos) in the recipe
sections.

4) Employ some reviewers to go over the drafts before the book is set in
type.  One gets the impression that these books are being rushed to press.
A book needs to be read by the editor to be sure that it meets the
requirements of the series; by the proofreader to catch the mechanical
faults; by the consulting writer (see 1 above) for clarity and style; and
by the reviewers to make sure that the expectations of the audience are
being met.

Hopefully, the second editions will remedy the faults of the first.

Paul


------------------------------

Date: Sun, 22 Nov 92 15:20:06 +0100
From: Victor Reijs <[e-mail]>
Subject: book on Belgium and Dutch cafe

Hello all of you,

Sometime ago I got the question about some information on cafes
(beerhouses) in Holland. There is a book which covers this area. It is:
Good beer guide to Belgium and Holland, by Tim Webb, Alma books, St.
Albans, GB, ISBN 1-85249-110-8.

All the best,

Victor

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 22 Nov 92 11:10 CST
From: [e-mail] (Jack Schmidling)
Subject: Filling Bottles


 To: Homebrew Digest
 Fm: Jack Schmidling

 Like most really good ideas, they tend to survive the Momily buster.

 I recently evaluated and posted my rather negative comments about
 counter-pressure bottle filling.  Although my evaluation was based on a
 particular commercially available filler, I basically wrote off the general
 process as a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.  In summary, I claimed
 that I got acceptable results just by adjusting the pressure and tapping
 right into the bottle.  As I only bottle to take out, it really was not a big
 deal to me.

 Although my bottled beer had adaquate carbonation, it never had much head and
 occassionally it was foam city trying to get a couple litre bottles filled.

 I returned the filler to the producer (MM) and my money was cheerfully
 refunded but upon re-examining the problem, I came very close to sending
 another check to get it back but that would have been a bit too much.  So, I
 put together some bits and pieces and made it work and am now a believer.

 The major problem was making it work through my cold plate as I have no way
 of chilling a keg at will.  One advantage to the cold plate is that I can
 carbonate and bottle at much higher pressures because of the small diameter
 of the flow in the plate.  The final product is slick and simple, with quick
 disconnects for easy cleaning and setup.  I can fill one bottle or a case
 with no foam and no mess.  The bottle goes pffft when I pop the top and the
 head is as thick and creamy as a fresh tapped mug.

 The only question is, when will the EASYFILLER be introduced? :)

 js


------------------------------

Date: Sun, 22 Nov 92 21:34 CST
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Belgian Beer


To any of you interested in Belgian Beer of all types, I have a book that
I bought while I was living in Holland in 1986 called "Belgisch Bier."
Rather an encyclopedia of Belgian Beer than any discussion, it is written
by Julien van Remoortere from 1985 with ISBN 90-6798-012-9. I bought it,
with strong interests in commercial plans of importing some of the beers
I tasted, into the U.S. We used to drive across the border to a small
distributor and pick up cases of Westmalle Dubble and Tripple for
about $0.60 a bottle. Now I am lucky if I can even find the stuff here!

Basically the book is an alphabetic listing of about 348 different beers
all not available in bottle, some brewed by the same breweries but
quite a few nontheless. Each listing has a picture of the bottle if
so packaged, the name of the brewery, color (basic dark, light etc.),
volume, alcohol contents, general body characteristics, cellar
recommendations, and serving suggestions (temperature that is). In
addition, each listing shows the appropriate type of glass that it
would be served in if one has such resources.

At the end of the book are the addresses of all of the breweries
that brew these beers. Although I would probably not be willing to lend
the book, I would be willing to offer myself as a lookup resource to anyone
interested in any particular beer or brewery. If you are interested
in writing or visiting Belgium breweries, I have the addresses.

One catch,the book is entirely written in Dutch. I can, however feabily
translate with whatever Dutch remains after years of non-use.


Frank Dobner


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End of HOMEBREW Digest #1018, 11/23/92
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