Competition organisers:
I'd like to compile a list of Great Lakes region (and slightly beyond?) homebrew competitions for next year. If you know of specific dates already, great, but even a general idea of a competition date (the month, if it generally occurs on a specific week of a month, whatever) is helpful.
Please provide the following information, as available:
* Name of competition
* Sponsoring homebrew club or other entity
* Date (if known, otherwise just the month is okay)
* Location (if specific site not known, okay to state general area or municipality)
* Organiser name or other contact
* Website
* Unique features (may include special categories, such as "Menace of the Monastery," "No One Gets Out Alive," "Holiday Beer," et cetera)
* Typical number of entries
* Anything else that's notable....
Please reply directly to me rather than flooding the list, and please leave the subject line intact to facilitate easy sorting (otherwise your information may get lost among other messages).
If you are a member of another local or regional (i.e., not HBD) homebrew/beer appreciation email list, please feel free to forward this message for those groups to send their information to me.
Thanks!
Now go have a beer,
Bob Paolino
>From the Department of Military Intelligence and Jumbo Shrimp:
Sign seen on a recently poisoned lawn: TruGreen/ChemLawn
( ) ASCII ribbon campaign
X against HTML e-mail:
/ \ Friends don't send friends HTML-bloated messages!
A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
Q: Why is top posting frowned upon?
Just in time for the 70th anniversary of the end of National Prohibition tomorrow, December 5 at 4:31 P.M.
Bob Skilnik
----- Original Message -----
From: "Thomas Griffin" <tgriffin(a)UIC.EDU>
To: <CBS-HB(a)LISTSERV.UIC.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2003 12:54 PM
Subject: booze under attack
> The general point of this article won't be
> news to most of you, but this hot off the presses
> extensive article
> about the neo-prohibitionist movement provides
> many details that may interest you.
>
> http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-501es.html
>
>
> Thomas
Great thread guys.
Dave Berg said it best about the working and sucking end of a pump. Be careful with sanitation since there are some hidden cavities within pumps that will not clean up well. Pumps used in home breweries (with a few exceptions) are not designed to be CIP (cleaned in place). Particularly, pay close attention to hose fittings, bearing locations etc.
My personal suggestion is to use gravity whever practically possible. If a pump is necessary to increase flow or help lift product, do it correctly. Always provide a method to prime the system. Do not allow air to enter and mix with hot wort. Recirculating boiling wort through a cooler for 10-15 minutes seems to kill the nasties. Disconnecting and drying the tubes between usages works very well.
Take care and happy pumping.
Rick
>>> "Jason Nelson" <jason_nelson(a)uhc.com> 12/03/03 09:29AM >>>
I agree - definitely before the chiller. As has been pointed out, you will
probably have issues with that much restriction on the inlet. A major benefit
for me is not having to rely on gravity and the restriction that puts on how
high up you kettle must be.
Sanitation is a little iffy within the pump housing without taking it apart and
giving it a thorough scrubbing once in a while. So far, I have gotten away with
running b-brite, hot water and star san through the whole system. I think the
temparature of the wort coming out of the kettle does a lot to prevent infection
there though.
I was a bit caught up with the whole compaction concept and using a grant. I
decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a try pumping directly from the
mash/lauter tun. I've had zero compaction issues. I just open the throttle on
the pump outlet a crack so it's barely trickling at first and gradually open it
to the desired flow. I use a slotted copper manifold in the tun and get
amazingly clear runoff after about five min. of vorlauf.
One suggestion I would make is to put a tee fitting on your pump outlet to help
purge the air and prime the pump more quickly. One end goes to the chiller and
the other serves as your purge side, which can go either back to the top of the
mash, to a heat exchange loop or a catch basin of some kind. Haven't done this
yet, but I've had some issues getting a good flow out of the kettle initially
when the chiller is hooked up.
Steve Piatz <piatz(a)cray.com>@thebarn.com on 12/03/2003 08:57:42 AM
Sent by: mba-bounce(a)thebarn.com
To: jdcotton(a)mmm.com
cc: mba(a)thebarn.com
Subject: Re: Pumping wort
The pump pushes, it doesn't pull so you would put it before the chiller.
You want the restriction on the output side of the pump (at least the
types we use for brewing).
As Dave Berg and others have said "the pump has one working end and the
other end just sucks".
BTW - I avoid the pump on the finished wort path as that eliminates
another sanitation area. I can gravity feed the kettle through the
chiller to the carboy. It takes a little longer than pumping the wort
but it is one less thing to worry about.
I installed a grant (really just a small stainless pot from Target)
between the mash-tun and the pump to the kettle because the pump could
compact the grain bed too much when recirculating. Or maybe it was
just because it was neat to add the grant :-)
jdcotton(a)mmm.com writes:
>
>
> Hey Guys,
>
> I know this has been asked many times, but I can't remember (nor did I save
> any of the previous emails where this was discussed). So here goes...
>
> My next big purchase for my brewery is going to be a pump. I figured out
> how to pipe it so that I can recirculate and pump the sweet wort from the
> mash tun to the boil kettle. But what about from the boil kettle to the
> fermenter?? Right now I use gravity to move the liquid from the boil
> kettle, through the counterflow to the fermenter.
>
> If I install a pump, would I install it before or after the counterflow
> chiller?? What are the pluses and minus to each??
>
> Jeff
>
>
>
--
Steve Piatz piatz(a)cray.com
Cray Inc. 651-605-9049
1340 Mendota Heights Road
Mendota Heights, MN 55120
This e-mail, including attachments, may include confidential and/or
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European Brewing Study Tour: Conclusion
a.. Belgium is the very definition of European beauty. After touring
Hoegarten we planted ourselves in downtown Brussels for the night. The town
square is a postcard under evening lighting, home to restaurants and bars by
the dozen. The food was the best of the entire 2-week trip, with
melt-in-your-mouth mussels and fries that are the stuff of legend. The
Grimbergen Dubbel & Trippel were the stand-out beers, showcases of how
Belgian brewers are able to hide nearly fatal levels of alcohol in their
ultra-smooth ales.
b.. We also visited industry suppliers and manufacturers during the tour,
including the Ziemann facility in Germany. Ziemann manufactures storage
tanks of astonishing dimensions, looking like Saturn V spacecraft on the
assemble line. These can measure almost 10 meters across and multiple
stories tall. One finished tank was lying on its side, with only a small
opening at the top and bottom. I whistled loudly in the open end, and the
deafening echo lasted for a full 30 seconds. Cool.
c.. At Weyermann malt, the staff treated us to a huge dinner with much
fine beer. Afterwards, they took us to their microbrewing facility where
they conduct pilot brews. They had created 4 beers that were absolutely
identical, except that the type of barley used as the base malt was
different in each case. If anyone ever says barley makes little difference
in the overall flavor profile, please beat them. Barley matters bigtime.
d.. On Friday, we held graduation ceremonies for those on the tour who had
completed the WBA Diploma program. Augustiner cask lager (!) was served,
with two of the students tapping the keg before venting it, resulting in
quite a firehose of beer spraying into the crowd. This resulted in an event
that was less a ceremony than a pagan ritual. The keg was drained in less
than an hour & a half. Doemens hired a stripper, who was having so much fun
speaking Portuguese with our Brasilian students that she stayed through most
of the evening. And then the drums came out. Congas, bongos, tambourines .
Nothing is more dangerous or frenzied than 30 brewers hopped up on cask
liquor after seeing a naked Brasilian woman gyrate on someones lap. The
sound generated was one of pending attack, with tribal rhythms and guttural
shrieks echoing through the building. The window to our room was opened to
the surrounding neighborhood, and I think the only thing that kept the
residents from calling the police was the fear of these angry tribesmen
spilling into the streets, torching their homes and having liberties with
their womenfolk. All ended by about 12:30, with people heading to the train
station only to find the night trains had been cancelled due to track
repair. We were left to find taxis, which delivered us through the Munich
snowfall to our hotels, where we prepared for the ungodly flights returning
us to our homes at the crack of dawn on the following day.
Recovery has been swift, thanks to the sun & sea of Waikiki. Hope all of
you have a good Christmas. Aloha.
Keith Bignose Lemcke
CAMRA BC, Chicago Beer Society, Siebel Institute of Technology, Proud
Drunkard
Definitely a subject of interest. I will not place the order until January but the Surplus Center has a very interesting hi temp roller pump for $12.95.
PN 2-1198 at www.surpluscenter.com
Comments please.
Greg
I agree - definitely before the chiller. As has been pointed out, you will
probably have issues with that much restriction on the inlet. A major benefit
for me is not having to rely on gravity and the restriction that puts on how
high up you kettle must be.
Sanitation is a little iffy within the pump housing without taking it apart and
giving it a thorough scrubbing once in a while. So far, I have gotten away with
running b-brite, hot water and star san through the whole system. I think the
temparature of the wort coming out of the kettle does a lot to prevent infection
there though.
I was a bit caught up with the whole compaction concept and using a grant. I
decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a try pumping directly from the
mash/lauter tun. I've had zero compaction issues. I just open the throttle on
the pump outlet a crack so it's barely trickling at first and gradually open it
to the desired flow. I use a slotted copper manifold in the tun and get
amazingly clear runoff after about five min. of vorlauf.
One suggestion I would make is to put a tee fitting on your pump outlet to help
purge the air and prime the pump more quickly. One end goes to the chiller and
the other serves as your purge side, which can go either back to the top of the
mash, to a heat exchange loop or a catch basin of some kind. Haven't done this
yet, but I've had some issues getting a good flow out of the kettle initially
when the chiller is hooked up.
Steve Piatz <piatz(a)cray.com>@thebarn.com on 12/03/2003 08:57:42 AM
Sent by: mba-bounce(a)thebarn.com
To: jdcotton(a)mmm.com
cc: mba(a)thebarn.com
Subject: Re: Pumping wort
The pump pushes, it doesn't pull so you would put it before the chiller.
You want the restriction on the output side of the pump (at least the
types we use for brewing).
As Dave Berg and others have said "the pump has one working end and the
other end just sucks".
BTW - I avoid the pump on the finished wort path as that eliminates
another sanitation area. I can gravity feed the kettle through the
chiller to the carboy. It takes a little longer than pumping the wort
but it is one less thing to worry about.
I installed a grant (really just a small stainless pot from Target)
between the mash-tun and the pump to the kettle because the pump could
compact the grain bed too much when recirculating. Or maybe it was
just because it was neat to add the grant :-)
jdcotton(a)mmm.com writes:
>
>
> Hey Guys,
>
> I know this has been asked many times, but I can't remember (nor did I save
> any of the previous emails where this was discussed). So here goes...
>
> My next big purchase for my brewery is going to be a pump. I figured out
> how to pipe it so that I can recirculate and pump the sweet wort from the
> mash tun to the boil kettle. But what about from the boil kettle to the
> fermenter?? Right now I use gravity to move the liquid from the boil
> kettle, through the counterflow to the fermenter.
>
> If I install a pump, would I install it before or after the counterflow
> chiller?? What are the pluses and minus to each??
>
> Jeff
>
>
>
--
Steve Piatz piatz(a)cray.com
Cray Inc. 651-605-9049
1340 Mendota Heights Road
Mendota Heights, MN 55120
This e-mail, including attachments, may include confidential and/or
proprietary information, and may be used only by the person or entity to
which it is addressed. If the reader of this e-mail is not the intended
recipient or his or her authorized agent, the reader is hereby notified
that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this e-mail is
prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the
sender by replying to this message and delete this e-mail immediately.
Hey Guys,
I know this has been asked many times, but I can't remember (nor did I save
any of the previous emails where this was discussed). So here goes...
My next big purchase for my brewery is going to be a pump. I figured out
how to pipe it so that I can recirculate and pump the sweet wort from the
mash tun to the boil kettle. But what about from the boil kettle to the
fermenter?? Right now I use gravity to move the liquid from the boil
kettle, through the counterflow to the fermenter.
If I install a pump, would I install it before or after the counterflow
chiller?? What are the pluses and minus to each??
Jeff
X-Originating-IP: [208.186.12.169]
Subject: Fwd: Re: Re: too sweet
From: sweiland(a)usfamily.net
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Hi all,
Chatting with club members about a subject like a "too sweet" mead sure gets interesting. Here's some thoughts by Al Boyce and myself for blending in acidified water to balance the sweetness in a mead. But also consider what Gary (mead guru) Sinnen mentioned....age helps a mead a lot and maybe the mead that is too sweet to your tastes now, may be a lot different and even much better tasting after a year or more of aging. And, consider (what? another consideration?!) the water itself...Steve Fletty, you do make mead with city water, correct?? If it is St. Paul or Mpls. city water it is quite soft (it's river water) and has very little mineral content and therefore a low buffering capacity.... next batch of mead, try blending in some hard water with a mineral content, this also may aid in getting the mead to ferment "drier". Cheers! Steve Weiland [------forwarded message-------------------------]
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Subject: Re: Re: too sweet
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Looks good to me! Post away!
I will certainly share the mead/cider blend with you when it's ready. It
started out with 4 gallons of cider from last year as one of it's
ingredients, so it should blend pretty well.
I also have taken to blending acid to taste at bottling. I use the
titration method to figure out the TARGET range of how much to add, then
do side-by-side samples with NO acid, half the recommended acid, and all of
the recommended acid, then decide which one I like best. It's AMAZING what
a difference just a little bit of acid makes in the final product!
- Al
sweiland@usfamily
.net To: allan.boyce(a)usbank.com
cc:
12/02/2003 11:26 Subject: Re: Re: too sweet
AM
Hey Al,
Your reply to Steve Fletty's overly-sweet mead concern is a good one.
I really like your idea of blending a sweet mead with a finished, dry
cider. Can I taste some of that, please?? :)
Adding sterile water to a very sweet mead is a good idea.... I've done it
and it works ok. You need to consider the water itself.... and the pH of
the water you are adding. If you add sterile, distilled water there will
be a dilution effect in the mead, but the flavor profile may not change
much (still tastes sweet). However, if you spike in a bit of mead acid
blend (citric, tartaric and fumaric blend), then you will get some tartness
in the mead. The target is to try and balance the flavor profile, in my
opinion.... best be very careful how much acid blend is added....
which brings me to my next point. You are correct, sir! Use just a small
sample of mead and run the water dilution expt. If you like the results,
then scale it up to include the whole batch.
Didnt' want to post this to the group....rather just wanted to run it by
you first.
Cheers,
Steve
>All of the options you mentioned are good ones. You will probably need to
>make a little starter if you throw more yeast in - that alcohol level will
>kill the little beasties before they even get a shot. I'm not sure of
the
>best brand.
>
>I have a mixed category mead that I'm going to blend with FERMENTED cider,
>so that it won't add any more sugar to the already too-sweet mead.
>
>Another option (don't anyone throw things at me please!) is to dilute with
>sterile water. Try it in a GLASS of the mead first, a) to find out if it
>tastes any good that way and b) to discover percentage-wise how much water
>to add.
>
>Finally, the polish meads that were for sale at Wine Streets were REALLY
>sweet. If you're quite sure the yeast is DEAD, bottle it the way it is.
>Time will probably turn it into something really wonderful.
>
>- Al
>
>
>
>
>
> "Steve Fletty"
> <fletty(a)umn.edu> To: mba(a)thebarn.com
> Sent by: cc:
> mba-bounce@thebar Subject: too sweet
> n.com
>
>
> 12/02/2003 09:18
> AM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>So, what are my options if a mead is too sweet?
>
>I know I can add champagne yeast. If the alcohol level is already around
>11%, how much more can champage yeast go? What's the best choice for yeast
>here? Pasteur? Champagne? Premier Cuvee?
>
>What about making another batch with the same type of honey and making it
>dry and then blending?
>
>Meadmakers, please let me know what you think.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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So, what are my options if a mead is too sweet?
I know I can add champagne yeast. If the alcohol level is already around
11%, how much more can champage yeast go? What's the best choice for yeast
here? Pasteur? Champagne? Premier Cuvee?
What about making another batch with the same type of honey and making it
dry and then blending?
Meadmakers, please let me know what you think.
I have about 35 Grolsh-style (ceramic top) bottles, 2 glass carboys, and numerous home-brewing bottles to get rid of. $15 for the lot, OBO.
CWP
reply to the e-mail cpeter(a)srfconsulting.com
Thanks.
