BIG SNIPYep, I figured that was going to happen ... but it doesn't exactly seem right that readers get the impression that the controversy is over the use of two words as YOU have now spelled them. If it's not obvious now what I am talking about, replace the 'x' in "hxll" with an 'e', and replace the 'x' in "axs" with an 's'. I still think that you folks are going _way_ overboard with your concept of "profanity".

Whatever! I will try to be a little angel from now on. Now, ... to test your other limits; this isn't considered "obscene" is it?

sighhhh ... I'll bet it is.

Cheers.

Hope you get well, have a Happy New Year, and are able to enjoy lots of homebrew throughout the year.

Yes, I've read about that before. Don't worry if you have some homebrew; I'd probably just confiscate that and let you go ... if it tastes good.

Cheers,

Bill Velek

If the rest of your bottles turned out okay, then I'm sure the bad one hadn't been properly sanitized and it just had an infection of some sort. For the benefit of non-brewers, infected beer might taste lousy, but there is never any health risk from it. There are _NO_ known pathogens which can survive in beer. As for skunkiness, that is caused by exposure to light, but an infection might make your beer smell something like it had been skunked.

As for pruno, it does sound pretty bad, and I'm sure that's not the only way the inmates make their stuff, either. In Arkansas, we are not allowed to bring cookies to the prison if they contain whole raisins, because the inmates pick them out to use them to make alcohol; sugar also must be very closely monitored for the same reason. Lots of other rules, too, like we aren't allowed to take pens with springs in them -- just things like BIC pens -- because the inmates straighten the springs and use them to give tattoos.

I need to try to find time to make my watermelon wine.

Cheers.

Bill Velek

Bill --

My oh my what a wonderful thing we produce. I am recovering quite well from my surgery and its complications. I was finally able to bottle one of the two batches I had in secondary from back in November (both were Anchor Steam clone kits)! This evening I decided I needed to empty a few bottles so that I can bottle the next batch. I have only had two or three bottles since the beginning of December! At present, I am drinking Liberty Cream Ale from a kit from Midwest Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies. I think I have about 4 22 ounce bottles left of that batch and then I move on to a recipe I found for Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I can't wait to dive into it -- it is the first beer that I have dry hopped and I am really a hop head! A neighbor friend of mine often comes over to have a few beers with me and I asked her what beers she liked (she is mostly a Bud-Millers-Coors drinker) and she mentioned that she had liked Sierra Nevada. I was able to find a recipe for it on the net:

6.6 lbs. Briess Light Malt Extract
1.0 lbs. Crystal 20 Malt - Steep
1.0 oz. Perle Hop Pellets (5.9 ) - 60 min.
1.0 oz. Cascade Hop Pellets (5.3 ) - 5 min.
1.0 oz. Cascade Hop Pellets (5.3 ) - Dry Hopped
1.0 tsp. Irish Moss
1 vial White Labs California ale Yeast (WLP001)

I made two batches of it. A case of 12 ouncers went to my four sons up in Chicago. My friend has knocked off 18 more of the 12 ounce bottles. I still have 6 12 ounce bottles and 24 22 ounce bottles left (my friend isn't enthused by the larger bottles -- they get too warm for her before she finishes one). I am looking forward to diving into them for a taste myself!

I am hoping to boil a couple of batches later this week. I bought an aeration system from Northern Brewer that consists of an aquarium pump, HEPA filter and a stainless steel diffusion stone. I am wondering how quick my fermentation will take off using it along with pitching yeast from a yeast starter. Since I have the grain for two more batches of the Anchor Steam clone and I am worried it will not last much longer, the next two batches will probably be that.

Wonder if we can get some of your team mates into the forums here to talk about what they are brewing? It would be nice to hear from them. I like what I see in the growth of your team. I still advertise for you in my signature at the Midwest Forums.

Your brewing buddy,

Kevin --

Thanks -- and you are certainly welcome to drop in for one when you are in Raleigh. You may have to settle for a different brew, though. Only two more Liberty Cream Ales left from that batch. Not to worry -- I have all the ingredients needed to brew a few more batches of it.