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- What's the only RoundTable on GEnie with a head on it?
-
- Zymurgy.
-
- No, I didn't sneeze. Webster's says, "Zy.mur.gy \'zi--(.)m*r-je-\ n : a
- branch of applied chemistry that deals with fermentation processes."
- That's why the RoundTable that deals with homebrewing, wine-making,
- mead-making, cider-making, and even home-made soft drinks is called the
- Zymurgy RoundTable.
-
- To get to it, though, you don't have to remember how to spell it. Just
- type M1152 or the keyword BEER at any GEnie page prompt.
-
- Home Bulletins
-
- The Zymurgy Bulletin Board is made up of both recipe and discussion
- topics. Chief sysop Gail Beatrous says, "We have a wide array of Topics to
- choose from, ranging from reviews of books and brewing software, to talk
- of pending legislation that will affect homebrewers, to designing a beer
- online, or organizing beer swaps."
-
- In Category 2, On Tap: Beer Appreciation!, you'll find discussions of
- beers organized according to types, such as Lagers (Pilsner, Munchner,
- Dortmunder, Vienna, Maerzen, Oktoberfest, Bock, Dopplebock, and Light
- Beer) and Ales (British Styles, Cream Ale, Porter, Stout, German
- Alt/Kolsch, Barleywine, and Imperial Stout). There is also discussion of
- Steam Style, Specialty Beers, Trappist Abbey Beers, Weisse/Weizenbier, and
- Lambics/PseudoLambics.
-
- Not sure what they are? This is the place to find out. Beatrous emphasizes
- that both novices and experts are welcome.
-
- Category 3, Pubs, Brewpubs, & Microbreweries in YOUR Locale, focuses on
- trends in the United States and elsewhere. These Topics deal with pubs and
- bars, brewpubs, and microbreweries, and breaks them down further by region
- in Europe and the United States to facilitate touring.
-
- Want to know what all is actually involved in brewing at home? Turn to
- Category 4, Homebrewing, for topics in beer kits, extract brewing, partial
- mash brewing, yeast, culturing, cleaning and sanitation, water treatment,
- hops, cooling your wort, gravity testing, fermentation techniques, brewing
- aids, troubleshooting, bottles and bottling, kegging, aging your homebrew,
- lagering, and (just in case you need to know you're not alone) Homebrew
- Disasters.
-
- Category 5 is dedicated to recipes for an incredible variety of beers.
- Category 6 deals with equipment, Category 7 tells you about books and
- software, and Category 8 focuses on suppliers for all of the stuff you'll
- need.
-
- Although beer gets most of the attention in the Bulletin Board, other
- Categories deal with different kinds of grain and fruit-based beverages.
- For instance, Category 10 encompasses Cider, Mead, Soft Drinks, & Other
- Fermentables. Category 11 deals with wine-making. Other Categories deal
- with some of the social aspects of home brewing.
-
- The Wine Cellar
-
- The Zymurgy RoundTable shares a Library with the Food & Wine RoundTable,
- but there's a whole separate area set aside for the Zymurgy RoundTable
- files. They have recipes, files on brewing beer, and files discussing
- kegging or building a cheap wort chiller. For instance, file #3202
- HBD-1194.TXT is an ASCII (text) version of Homebrew Digest dated 8/2/93.
- File #3092 SUDS22.EXE is SUDS, the brewers cookbook and log program. SUDS
- maintains DBase III compatible recipe and log files which can be browsed
- by any util ity capable of viewing DBASE III file formats. It also
- includes a pop-up calculator to help with calculations, a pop-up calendar,
- a hop-IBU spreadsheet to calculate hop IBUs for beer batches, and printing
- of beer labels.
-
- The Virtual Pub
-
- The Zymurgy RoundTable holds Real-Time Conferences every Saturday night at
- 10 PM Eastern time. Beatrous says, "Sometimes winners of our various
- contests are announced there, sometimes we hold trivia contests, and
- always we talk about brewing." As with the Library, they share conference
- rooms with the Food & Wine RoundTable; room 2 is set aside for the Zymurgy
- folks.
-
- Whatever your level of interest, the Zymurgy RoundTable serves up a fine
- menu of information on homebrewing and microbreweries. Maybe some new
- ideas will bubble up; you might brew up a new hobby. It's worth a taste.
-