Midnight Brewer

We frequently read and hear about funny diaster stories told by homebrewers...how we dropped a full carboy down the steps, forgot a few pounds of malt extract, lit the deck on fire...

While they are certainly a way to learn what NOT to do, I thought it would make for better reading if members would tell us about their homebrewing successes: the things they tried which worked, which made their brewing go easier or produce better results.  Here are some of our ideas, which were contributed by Melinda Byrd, Toby Gouker, Greg Lambrecht, Neil Mezebish, Paul Seegers and Steve Kranz.

1. I use a 3 gallon kettle to brew a 5 gallon batch of beer which requires me to boil and cool additional water to make the total 5 gallon batch.  When cooling the wort, I put the outlet water from my wort chiller into another 3 gallon kettle to catch the water and start the second boil.  This lets me start with water at about 170-180 deg F rather than room temp.  This saves both time and propane.


2. I have about 6 carboys, so I never have to wait for one to empty before racking to another.  And I have handles for all of them.


3. Joining a homebrew group was the turning point for me between ok beer and "great beer" -- (sorry to brag).


4. It was a smart move to start working at Maryland Homebrew Supply a few days each month to keep up on brewing knowledge (with occasional tastings) and to have multitude of ingredients at my fingertips.

(Continued on page 3)

The U.S. government's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) is considering a petition filed by a variety of anti-alcohol groups to change the government warning requirements on alcohol beverage containers.  Briefly, they want the warning to be bigger, bolder, and more prominently displayed on the front of each package.  For example, the petition alleges, among other things, that many labels include the warning printed sideways along the edges, which makes the warning too inconspicuous because the consumer has to turn either the bottle or his/her head sideways in order to read the warning.  Thus, this pinhead argument goes, the warning in its current form goes mostly unread.
Two points on this, if I may.  First, the warning may very well go mostly unread, but I suggest the reason is the warning's irrelevance rather than its placement on the label.  Second, after a number of beers, my head often winds up in a sideways (horizontal) position resting on the bar or table.  This way I can read the warnings just fine, and I get to do so frequently.
The ATF has received some valuable input from the Surgeon General, as well as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), both of which seem to say it would be just dandy with them to embark upon this ridiculous new labeling scam.  Of course, nothing contained in any of this makes any mention of including in the new warning scheme the well-documented health BENEFITS which moderate alcohol

(Continued on page 6)