Brewing Master » Homebrew Beer » HOMEBREW Digest #917
HOMEBREW Digest #917
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HOMEBREW Digest #917 Mon 06 July 1992 FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator Contents: RE: B-Brite ("CMD 2NDLT ALBERT W. TAYLOR ") root beer (popowich) Silicone Rubber Caulking in Mash Tun ("Roger Deschner ") cats meow 2 (eurquhar) rolled oats (Scott Jay) Dave Miller’s New Book (Norm Hardy) Silcone again (Nick Zentena) Book Review: _Belgian Ale_ by Pierre Rajotte (Phillip Seitz) MALTMILL GIVEAWAY (Jack Schmidling) Send UNSUBSCRIBE and all other requests, ie, address change, etc., (Stay tuned for info on a new archive site) **Please do not send me requests for back issues!** B-Brite is mostly Sodium Carbonate. It may interest some to know that automatic dishwashing powder is also mostly sodium carbonate, as well as a chlorine additive, which should help sterilizing whatever you are cleaining. Another bonus is that a big, 5.5 pound box can be had for about $5. I’m not sure, but I think this is a lot cheaper than the same stuff packaged as B-Brite. Al Taylor Uniformed Services University School of Medicine Bethesda, Maryland I am looking for a good root beer recipe. I can buy extracts at my local homebrew store, but the extracts have a lot of crap in them and after being offerred a taste-test, I definitely would prefer not to resort to using them. Does anyone have a great recipe from scratch? Or nearly from scratch? Or can someone point me to a book that has one? Thanks, (608) 262-9830 University of Wisconsin – Madison I’m about to use it, but I am going to be sure to find the variety which claims to be OK for aquarium use. I believe other types will emit trace amounts of solvents. I figure if it’s formulated not to kill tropical fish, it won’t do me in either. "Aquarium Seal" is likely to be slightly more costly than other types of silicone rubber caulking. Would you please send cat2.uuz from recipe-book Thank you In issue 910 Larry Barrello was replying to Chris Estes re. Pearled Barley. Larry mentioned the use of rolled oats and barley. I tried mailing to Larry directly but could not get anything through. My question is this. Are these regular, grocery store, rolled oats? How much and when would you add these? Do they add to head retention? Are Beta-glucans harmful? I am: /////// //// /////// // // // // // Scott Jay // // // // // // // // // // Forestry Association // // // /////// of Brewers Greets brewsters, Sitting somewhere amongst my brewing supplies is a 5 gal carboy. Upon further inspection one will find that it contains a full load of some crystal clear mead (yummy!). A little research will show that it was actually brewed about 2 years ago, and after a couple weeks of primary fermentation, the mead was racked to the secondary where it still sits today. But this is not a history lesson… Here’s the problem – due to a combination of the bottling blues and negligence, this batch has been left sitting for these past 2 years, and on more than one occassion, I had noted that the water level inside the airlock had run critically low – as in empty! Of course I immediately refilled it and followed with a quick ritual anti-infectionary dance/chant session and prayed for the best. Alas, I have asked too much of the gods… floating obnoxiously on the surface of my unfortunate mead is a layer of (for lack of a more poetic term) SCUM. A quick nasal scan shows that nothing smells afoul however. Since this mead was made with 7.5 lbs of honey for a five gallon batch, and was "safely" fermented in the primary at least, with champagne yeast, I’m assuming that there is a healthy dose of alcohol present to protect it. I also know from experience, that two years in the life of mead is equivalent to the adolescent stage, so its nowhere near its expiration date. What I’m looking for are possible suggestions as to what that SCUM is, and any ideas on how to go about bottling this. It appears that whatever is currently living off my mead can only due so at the surface, so I’ve had thoughts of ever so gently siphoning the mead from the bottom, and at first sign of SCUM in the proximity of the siphon head, shutting it down and using the remains to appease the great spirit of the garbage disposal. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Mark At the local homebrew shop, The Cellar in Seattle, I came across several copies of Miller’s new book, "Brewing the World’s Great Beers". A quick glance seemed to show the PRACTICAL nature of the material. There are MANY recipes along with the gradual transition from extract to grain brewing. Interesting, I just might have to buy a copy if I can’t borrow it from someone who has already bought it 
Has anyone else bought/read the book? Hi, So I guess the general concensus is that Silcone is 1) Reasonably inert chemically 2) Won’t kill me? Thanks I drink Beer I don’t collect cute bottles! Persons of discriminating taste, I’ve been reading this magazine for almost two years now, without contributing any words of my own. I have controlled myself, because all I really have to offer are some recipes, and everyone always has enough recipes already. But I can’t resist contributing these two. The first, in response to the recent popularity of Weis beer, is a recipe of my own. It is not as heavy as the German varieties, and does not have the clove-like taste: instead, I made it in pursuit of the taste of Grant’s Weis Beer, which is much paler, and lighter of body; with a hoppier aroma; and drier, but not bitter, to the taste. Hefeweizen, for 5 gal: 5# wheat 3# 6 row lager 1 oz Tettnang (45 min before end of boil – alpha 4.7%) 1/2 oz Saaz (25 min – 3.8% alpha) 1/2 oz Saaz (10 min – 3.8% alpha) Wyeast 1056 ("American Ale") Boil 1 hr., adding hops as specified above. While I’m at it, I also want to offer this recipe. It is time to start thinking about this Winter’s beer, so here is a Scotch ale recipe which yields, I think, superb beer. for 5 gal. 9# pale ale 1# crystal 1# Munich 1/2# chocolate 1/2 oz. Bullion (60 min – 9% alpha) 2 oz. Fuggles (30 min – 4.5% alpha) 3/4 oz. Golding (10 min – 4.9% alpha) 1 tsp. Irish moss (30 min) Whitbread or Wyeast 1007 ("German Ale") Heat 14 qts for 140 F strike heat Boil1 1/2 hr., adding hops and Irish moss as scheduled above. I am very fond of both these styles, and should be pleased if anyone would offer his own recipes. So much for my 15 minutes of fame. Thanks. P.S. nec parce cades tibi destinatis Jed Parsons : Harpsichordist, Classicist, Homebrewer Review: _Belgian Ale_ by Pierre Rajotte Copies of the Association of Brewers’ newest publication, _Belgian Ale_ by Pierre Rajotte, are now available. Despite it’s defects (most of them editorial) this will undoubtedly be the bible of Belgian-style brewing for some time to come. Anyone interested in brewing Belgian beers must read it. While it’s a matter of (well founded) opinion that the Belgians are the world’s best brewers, the specifics of Belgian-style brewing will come as quite a shock to many: these include obligatory use of large quantities of sugar, high-temperature fermentations (up to and over 85 degrees fahrenheit), microscopic hopping rates (take *that*, hopheads!), and deliberate production of sour and high-ester beers. The book’s strength lies in
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Response:
Jack Schmidling writes: To help overcome the hostility toward my alleged commercialization of the Digest by product announcements and progress reports, I would like to show my appreciation by giving a MALTMILL to one randomly selected participant of the Home Brew Digest.
This is kind of like using a propane torch to treat sunburn. I wonder if jack-s’s article is stand-alone enough to be accepted into rec.humor.funny. To avoid more criticizm for collecting names and building mailing lists, I am simply going to give a MALTMILL to the author of the 100th article following this announcement. The next article is Number 1 and you can all help me count to 100.
The urge to dash off 100 postings was quickly subdued by the desire to avoid doing anything which might encourage jack-s. Of course, maybe I just have. — david wiley "The American passion for hygiene and dark Intergraph Corporation restaurants had made me start my meal with 205-730-6390 an hors-d’oeuvre of hot face towel."