Hi,
We are having a West Side Meeting on Thursday 7/31 at
7:00 pm at WindRiver Brewing. If tehre is interest we
can head over to Hops after a little while.
You can find a map at
http://www.windriverbrew.com/map.html
Cheers
WH
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Remember: Next Wednesday, July 16 at 7pm we will pick the MhBA Entry for the
AHA Club Only European Pilsner competition. Email me if you have an entry,
or if you'd like to help judge.
Al Boyce
3208 Edgewood Ave So
St. Louis Park, MN 55426
952-927-8968
Just another reminder about the next competitions.
I will be shipping club entries for anyone that would like to participate. I
will make the club shipment on Monday July 21st (to arrive Thursday the
24th).
Let me know at least a week before if you have entries.
Jonathan Crist
Check out the web site for the FOAM cup>
Award for best all-grain recipe
Award for best extract recipe
Award for best novice brewer
4. FOAM Cup
http://www.alemakers.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=1
ENTRY FEES & DEADLINE
1. AHA REGISTERED CLUB MEMBERS: $ 6.00 PER ENTRY; NON - MEMBERS: $ 8.00
PER ENTRY.
2. FOAM MEMBERS: $ 5.00 PER ENTRY.
* Make checks payable to the FELLOWSHIP OF OKLAHOMA ALE MAKERS (FOAM).
Ship to:
MECCA COFFEE COMPANY
1143 E. 33RD PLACE
TULSA, OK. 74105
3. THE ENTRY DEADLINE IS 5:30p.m ON 7/25/2003.
5. River City Roundup:
http://www.douglascountyfair.com/ochandbook/lots.php?id=13 For those who
choose to ship via UPS or another carrier, entries will be accepted Monday,
August 25, 2003 through, Saturday, September 6, 2003.
Entries should be addressed to:
Upstream Brewing Co.,
ATTN: Zac Triemert/DCF,
514 S 11th St.,
Omaha, NE 68102.
A couple of other ideas.
Install one way check valves between C02 tank regulators and white
inlet valves. If you slightly overfill a tank and accidentally continue
with your fermentation, your tank pressure will exceed regulator
pressure. If you connect the inlet fitting before venting excess gas,
the beer, beer sludge, and contamination will work back through the
regulator and is a bear to clean. I found some real nice plastic check
valves in a Cornelius dispenser but have not been able to locate more in
the market. Currently, my best find is the imported red handle valve
(with internal check ball). Best buy is at Superior Homebrewing. I
constructed a 6 valve manifold inside a chest freezer and manually turn
on the valves for the separate tanks as needed.
Once you get the general hang of carbonating, it gets easy to let just
a bit of gas into the beer and maintain the carbonation levels
appropriate for the style.
Jim said it well - all beer is different. Some beer seems to absorb
C02 very quickly and other beer (or pop) is quite stubborn. It is easy
to add and easy to remove the gas. Make sure the supply line is long
enough and small enough (internal diameter).
Fitting sanitizing. Picnic valves grow really nasty goobers that turn
white, green, orange, brown, and gray. It is really gross to have to
spit one of these critters out and even worse if you provide a beer,
with a treat, to a friend you wish to keep. Keep a small spray bottle
of your favorite sanitizer mixed up and use it whenever you disconnect
or connect a tank fitting. Also spray the sanitizer into the picnic tap
between servings. Keep a few spare lines (valves, hoses, and tank
fittings) filled with sanitizer so if you need a spare or if one goes
sour, you can attach a clean assembly to your tank. A little beer will
wash out the sanitizer and you will be back in business with fresh
tasting beer.
Last tip (honest). If you use a chest freezer and convert it to a
refrigerator by installing a separate control, you will generate and
trap moisture. The freezer is not designed to vent or drain out
moisture. Left unchecked, it will rust out the freezer and also create
a nice dark area for bacteria growth.
To prevent this problem, make some sort of collection channel and glue
it to the side of the freezer. This way, when the compressor is off and
the ice melts, the moisture will run down into the channel.
The best channel I found was a brass door air seal. It is basically a
brass "V." I took a small copper tube and soldered it into the base of
the "V" and routed the tube into the freezer drain. From there, I added
a small tube to the outside of the freezer and divert the escaping
condensate to a small evaporator pan located under the freezer. This is
almost identical to what is used in current day freezers and
refrigerators and it keeps the internal area quite dry.
Best of luck with testing, carbonating, sampling, etc. Please let us
know when we should show up for the sample party.
Rick Oftel
MHBA
Do any of the brewing programs calculate carbohydrates?
Most of the programs I have seen only calculate calories.
I have a few diabetic friends who are would like to know the carbo level in
a few of my brews.
Wow! Fabulous detailed answer Jim! A great primer for anyone getting
started on kegging!
- Al
"Jim L.
Ellingson" To: Sphbc(a)sphbc.org
<jellings(a)me.umn cc:
.edu> Subject: Re: [SPHBC Public] keg testing?
Sent by:
Sphbc-admin@sphb
c.org
07/08/2003 11:50
AM
Please respond
to Sphbc
Quoting Steve Fletty <fletty(a)umn.edu>:
> How do you go about leak testing a keg? Do I pressurize it empty?
Hi Steve,
Kegs are great.
Pressure testing is done w/ water. Water is incompressible
therefore much safer if a "pressure vessel" should fail under
pressure. Way too much "potential energy" w/
compressed gas.
Leak testing is different. You might "fill" the keg w/ water,
and then apply the pressure. That will save on gas.
I use a squirt bottle of water to test for leaks. Soap sln would
also work, as would iodophor sln. Spray around all the fittings,
seals, and the pressure release valve. Most common leak will be
at the gas inlet valve, especially if it's been dinged or damaged.
I "leak test" my gas fitting each time I apply/remove CO2. I leak test the
fittings after each fill.
Soda kegs will not seal at low pressure, and may not
hold a seal at low (less than 5 psi) pressure. "Priming"
a keg w/ sugar can be tricky. I did it for a while, but
quickly switched to force carbonation.
Here's an example of how force carbonating might work. I don't
like to leave my CO2 on, connected. So when I fill my kegs I
leave some headspace. E.g. If I have 2 qrts of
head space, and I pressurize to 60 psi (14.7 psig = 2 volumes = 1 gallon,
30 psi = 2 gal, 60 psi = 4 gallons of CO2 in the head space), I have
about 4 gallons of CO2 in the head space. I need 9-13.5 gallons if
I have no CO2 in the beer (unlikely) to achieve 2.0 - 3.0 volumes of CO2.
In time, that CO2 will dissolve into the liquid until "equilibriam"
is reached. (per the chart of Temp vs Pressure vs volumes of CO2.)
How long does it take? Good question. It can take a while.
How do I know/measure the pressure in my keg <Pkeg> (and therefore
the volumes of CO2 in the liquid)? Assuming the volume of the
headspace is much greater than the volume of your CO2 system, and
the keg is at equilibriam, you can do the following.
Pressurize CO2 system so some value greater than Pkeg.
Close the CO2 bottle.
Attach CO2 system to keg.
CO2 will enter the keg until Pco2 = Pkeg.
E.g. I think my keg's at 8 psi.
So I charge my co2 system to 15 psi, and then
close the CO2 bottle.
When I attach the CO2 to the keg, my regulator will
drop down to the keg pressure (8 psi.)
If you heat sanitize the lid in a pan of boiling water,
you will also soften the big-dawg o-ring.
I "seat" my kegs at max pressure. Ball and pin lock cornelius
kegs are rated at 110 psi. Sankey (aka Bud) kegs are rated at
60 psi. Your beer regulator may only go to 35 psi, which is
both adequate and safe.
Cold liquids carbonate faster, easier, at lower pressures.
If you're in a real hurry, you can agitate th keg. Take care
to not get any beer in th CO2 line.
Other first time problems. Foamy beer. Generally too much
pressure. Possibly too warm or over-carbonated. 32^F liquid
holds it's gas very well (e.g. for bottle filling). 60 degree
F liquid is very eager to out-gas.
You want about 2 psi across the tap at a flow rate of
about 1 oz per second. 4 to 6 ft of 3/16 ID plastic tubing
should get you 10 or so psi drop. If your carbonation chart
says you want/need 12 psig to get 2.5 volumes of CO2 at your
fridge temp of 42 degrees F (from memory, no idea if these are
close), then you're in great shape.
I hope this helps, YMMV. I've got some other info on line,
but I can't get to it from here.
Cheers,
Jim
>
> Anyt kegging tips for a kegging newbie?
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sphbc mailing list
> Sphbc(a)sphbc.org
> http://truthbrew.com/mailman/listinfo/sphbc_sphbc.org
>
Jim Ellingson, Ph. D. jellings(a)me.umn.edu
1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 651-645-0753
Great Lakes Brewing News
_______________________________________________
Sphbc mailing list
Sphbc(a)sphbc.org
http://truthbrew.com/mailman/listinfo/sphbc_sphbc.org
Here is a reprint of the invitation from the Cloudy-Town Brewers for the
Inter-Club campout this year. For two days, this campgrounds has the best
beer selection in the Midwest - don't miss it!
> Hello fellow homebrewers,
>
> The dates been set and reservations have been made for the 2003 Inter-
> club campout. Keep your weekend free on July 18-19th. at Collinwood
> County Park. We decided to go to Collinwood this year because of its
> centralized location for the brew clubs and because they welcome us
> with all our homebrew and homebrewing activities every time. Again
> we have the same spot in the back as last year but hopefully without
> all the rain. So once again ....
>
> What: Inter Club Campout
> When: Friday and Saturday July 18 + 19th
> Where: Collinwood County Park, Three miles southwest of Cokato
> off State Hwy 12
> Who: Home brew Clubs of the area or anyone who appreciates good beer
> Why: because if you brew it, they will come
>
> Hope to see you-all there!
> Any questions contact
>
> Bruce LeBlanc
> Cloudy Town Brewers
> brewski(a)cloudnet.com
And here's a reprint of my invitation for the MASTER OF MALT Competition:
As bearer of the travelling Master Of Malt trophy, it is my responsibility
and pleasure to announce the 2003 Inter-Club Campout Homebrew Competition!
It will be held Saturday afternoon, July 19, at the Inter-Club Campout at
Collinwood County Park, near Cokato, MN. The campout is hosted this year
by the Cloudy Town Brewers.
The four categories for this year's competition are:
6.A. California Common
7. India Pale Ale
12. C. Russian Imperial Stout
25.B. Varietal Honey Traditional Mead
Each club participating is invited to present TWO BOTTLES of each style to
represent your club. Each of the four styles will be judged separately,
and ribbons will be awarded for first, second and third place. Then the
first place entries of each style will be evaluated in a Best-Of-Show
competition to determine the 2003 MASTER OF MALT. Who will be judging you
say? YOU will! We'll split into tables of volunteers who don't have an
entry in that category.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW - May 20-22, 2003 !!
The Upper Mississippi Mash-Out homebrewed beer, mead and cider competition
is changing it's date. The new date is May 20-22, 2004. Now you can
attend BOTH the First-Round Nationals for our region as well as the Upper
Mississippi Mash-Out, and make your club's Big Brew date too!
Features of the 2004 Upper Mississippi Mash-Out:
* AHA and BJCP Certified Competition
* Beds for Judges
* Pub Crawl Friday night of several Twin Cities brewpubs
* Customized souvenir glass for the Pub Crawl
* Lunch provided for judges on Saturday afternoon
* Awards Ceremony Saturday night at Summit Brewery in St. Paul
* Special Guest Speaker (To be announced soon!)
* Fabulous door prizes
* SPECIAL BEER CATEGORY FOR 2004: THE EIS-BEER COMETH! (Eis-Anything!)
The Upper Mississippi Mash-Out will be held in the Twin Cities of
Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, sponsored by the Minnesota Home
Brewers Association and the St. Paul Homebrewers Club.
Set aside the weekend of May 20-22, 2004 now to help us judge the Upper
Mississippi Mash-Out!
Visit our website at: http://www.mnbrewers.com/mashout
Thanks!
Al Boyce, Organizer
2004 Upper Mississippi Mash-Out
alboyce(a)bigfoot.com
Hey its me again!
Ok, there are still a few places left at the best Elearning Event of the year.
Please contact me directly for final discounted prices [yes, even lower now]
Yours,
Edwin Jones
www.conferenceupdate.net
Sales
China Conferences
Tel +44 131 440 9881
Fax +44 131 440 9882
edwin(a)conferenceupdate.net