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Priest Brews in Washing Machine 660

An anonymous writer sends in this story about a priest who has made a brewery out of his washing machine. See his website for recipes and pictures.
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Priest Brews in Washing Machine

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  • by jo_ham ( 604554 ) <joham999@gma[ ]com ['il.' in gap]> on Friday February 07, 2003 @10:27PM (#5255935)
    ...sober as a preist on Sunday.

  • by Cali Thalen ( 627449 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @10:27PM (#5255937) Homepage

    Another counter-productive idea. I mean, I have enough trouble trying to convince myself to do my laundry...

  • I guess this is better than the koolaid-baited cage in the basement. *runs*
  • by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 07, 2003 @10:29PM (#5255956)
    *hic* Or, something liek taht.
  • by Black Parrot ( 19622 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @10:30PM (#5255958)

    ...agitated, not spun.

  • My Sig. (Score:5, Funny)

    by DeadBugs ( 546475 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @10:30PM (#5255963) Homepage
    Now maybe my Sig. will have more meaning.
    • Re:My Sig. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by superyooser ( 100462 ) on Saturday February 08, 2003 @03:44AM (#5257326) Homepage Journal
      That's not as unique a thought as you might think. Following is an excerpt relating to John 2:1-11 (Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding) from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible written in 1706.
      The beginning of Moses's miracles was turning water into blood (Exodus 4:9; 7:20), the beginning of Christ's miracles was turning water into wine; which intimates the difference between the law of Moses and the gospel of Christ. The curse of the law turns water into blood, common comforts into bitterness and terror; the blessing of the gospel turns water into wine. Christ hereby showed that his errand into the world was to heighten and improve creature-comforts to all believers, and make them comforts indeed.

      Of course, there is a very important balance to this teaching [searchgodsword.org] of drinking the fruit of the vine. Drinking to merriment is not drinking to intoxication. Wine was often watered down (1 part wine, 2-3 parts water) back in those days, which was encouraged in the Rabbinic literature. In that light, one could "drink freely" without necessarily being drunk.

      • Re:My Sig. (Score:3, Insightful)

        Drinking to merriment is not drinking to intoxication.

        I disagree. I suspect there wasn't a huge distinction. I'm not a student of history, so I may be all wet here. But it seems logical that when you don't have automobiles or other dangerous machinery that there might not be the same social stigma with drinking.

        I know there is a new testament teaching about drunkenness.

        But back to this wedding. Hey's it's a party, a wedding. Be happy. People drink. In fact, one of the points about bringing out the best wine first and the really cheap stuff later is that the guests are too drunk to notice. But the "water to wine" was the "good stuff" and raised the question of why the good stuff was being saved to last. (because they had run out of wine, and Jesus turned water to wine.)

        Just my opinion, but I think the 20th century church is way too uptight.

        Turning the water to wine being the first miracle, and it had a good result. The chief result: his disciples put their faith in him. (At end of the story.) Everyone gets so hung up about the fact that alcohol was involved. He seemed reluctant to do it at first, but his mother said "do whatever he tells you", sort of persuading him, and he did it.
  • Honey, are you through with the laundry?

    I'm running low on the hootch.
  • A priest? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Major ( 14936 )
    Maybe I'm blind as a bat (and granted I don't speak German) but where did it say that this guy is a priest? Browsing through the website, I couldn't find a mention.
  • .... In a laundrymat?
  • What the hell is a priest doing with a brewery in a washing machine? Simply WTF?
    • Re:Is it just me? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by gmack ( 197796 )
      Germans have a much more ballanced view on alcohol. Contrary to what a lot of the religious right and others who wish to protect us from ourselves the bible does not actually ban drinking. It only bans getting drunk or becomming addicted.

      It's also important to note that beer taken in moderation is actually good for you and so are several other alcoholic drinks such as red wine.

      One can also enjoy beer for it's flavour although that is hard to do when all you can find on the store shelves is wattered down crap like Molsons or Labatts. Yes I realise your average American finds those to be strong, and it is compared to say Budwieser, but my German heritage demands I drink *good* beer and that means microbrewed with ingrediants in compliance with the German purity laws.
  • He did a fine job too. Strongest wine I've ever tasted.
    The parish kids even went out picking buckets of dandelion heads once, so he could make wine from them too.
  • funny title (Score:5, Funny)

    by Digypro ( 560571 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @10:35PM (#5256011) Homepage
    Ever heard the one about the Priest, the Brewery, and the Washing machine? .....me either
  • Well... (Score:3, Funny)

    by WilliamsDA ( 567274 ) <derk@der k . o rg> on Friday February 07, 2003 @10:36PM (#5256015) Homepage
    This will finally give reason for college students to do their laundry :)
  • The beer with That special flavor.
  • by philovivero ( 321158 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @10:39PM (#5256053) Homepage Journal
    I had a history professor who loved giving quizzes with off-the-wall "bonus questions" at the end.

    The quizzes were given orally.

    Question #9: "What is a lager" (most people, myself included, thought he meant "logger" and were confused)

    Question #10: "What is a beer brewed in the bottom of the barrel?

    It was pretty clear to even non-beer-drinkers like myself (I'm probably more ignorant of beer terminology than most nuns) what was meant by the two questions at this point, and those of us with minimal reasoning skills got the two questions right. It was funny to listen to the whiners that said the questions were unfair.
  • Simply amazing... now you can make BOTH types of suds in a maytag.

  • by K-Man ( 4117 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @10:41PM (#5256073)
    It took over 100 years, but men can now be liberated from the tyranny of daily washing.

    They make bread machines, food processors, even pasta machines. Why not a beer machine?
    • by TheTomcat ( 53158 ) on Saturday February 08, 2003 @02:12AM (#5257136) Homepage
      http://www.beermachine.com/ [beermachine.com]

      I'm skeptical, though...

      S
      • Bah, find a local homebrew supply store and walk in and pick up a copy of "The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing," it's really the only book you need. Then you need 1 plastic bucket with an airlock, 1 bottling bucket and a few other misc. items. You may need to pick up a big pot to cook it all in. (Stainless steel is the best)

        The beer machine will make beer but if you want high quality beer for just a little more of an investment go to the homebrew supply store. Instead of plastic bottles, you can reuse your other beer bottles. It's fun to do and really isn't that hard. The hardest part is the wait.

        I got started brewing my freshman year of college. Mainly because I couldn't bring beer into the dorm room so I decided to bring the ingredients in and make it. Now that I'm out of the dorms, I'm still brewing because I like the taste of homebrew and it's not that expensive.
        -Chris

        ps. I've got 10 gallons (2 batches ~4 cases) fermenting right now for st. patty's day. (I'm gonna dye it green)
  • I do hope he doesn't mix his boxer shorts in during the brew cycle.

  • The only problem is that his beer tastes like laundry detergent.
  • And why not? (Score:2, Informative)

    by MannyDixn ( 557653 )
    It makes a lot of sense, that's how a lot of commercial beer is made: in vats with heating coils and stirrers. The article doesn't say, but I am sure his beer is fermented in a conventional way, the washing machine is just to prepare the wort. And the washing machine is set up for exactly this, better than most homebrewers' stovetop setups. I wonder what his wife thinks about having to do laundry in a pail, but with so much homebrew around, once you get a little tipsy, such concerns are just not as pressing!
  • That's the best way I've ever seen to get away with alchohol you're not supposed to have.

    Don't know if my parents will fall for it though...
  • Sort of like... um, socks?
  • by Dimwit ( 36756 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @10:52PM (#5256153)
    I mean, this guy must be drunk. Look at how he's typing:

    "Bierbrauen" - WTF? What kind of English is that???
  • by commodoresloat ( 172735 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @10:53PM (#5256160)
    His clothes will stay dirty until he finishes another project, converting his still into a washing machine.
  • Home Brew (Score:3, Interesting)

    by pez ( 54 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @10:54PM (#5256166) Journal
    For anyone who hasn't tried it, I heartily recommend attempting at least one home-brew batch (if you're a beer fan, of course). For less money than a case of commercial beer, you'll end up with something that tastes significantly better, and it's less work than you would imagine!

    If you buy a kit (not Mr. Beer, but a real kit), do a little research, and commit about an hour of your time and two weeks of patience, you'll be rewarded with some of the best beer you've ever had, plus the pride of having made it yourself. Try it, you'll like it! ;-)
    • Re:Home Brew (Score:3, Interesting)

      by passion ( 84900 )

      Or, join a club... learn a new skill. This is one hobby where the source code is free as in speech, even if the beer isn't.

      I've been brewing for about 6 years now [northstatebrewers.org], have won some awards, made some friends, learned some chemistry, and drank a lot of really tasty beer.

  • by Sneftel ( 15416 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @10:55PM (#5256174)
    Wow, just imagine a Beowulf cluster of washing machines used for brewing beer! It'd be like... um... a laundromat! That brews beer!
  • Who's got the first "priest walks into a bar" joke/post?
  • And his beer comes out sparkling white, too!
  • Didn't people go blind from doing this during prohibition?
    • Re:Blindness? (Score:3, Informative)

      by Poeir ( 637508 )
      No, that's an urban legend. Fermentation is a natural process; distillation just speeds that process up. If this is badly done, it will give people a stomachache and/or headache (which may be a typical reaction anyway), but the only way it will cause people to go blind is if there are impurities (read: poisons) in it. Things like methanol (wood alcohol) or solvents like turpentine, will cause blindness, and some people put those.

      Now, there's a good probability bleach was in that washing machine at some point, and that is a poison, so it's possible he'll go blind from the bleach, but not from the alcohol component; i.e., what he's trying to make.
  • Great- more broken stories not to be able to post on. What a rarity- seeing 2 stories on the front page with no comments.

    graspee

  • On his homepage, the appropriate link is Bierbrauen [m-fey.de].

    First post?
  • Religious figures and beer definitely mix... If you haven't tried a Corsendonk brown ale [beeradvocate.com], I highly suggest the experience. Apparently Corsendonk monks in Belgium began the brew in 1400. More history can be found here [mythbirdbeer.com].

    Also, I noticed the guy doing the washing machine brewing has an amateur radio webpage. Apparently in Germany it is called "amateurfunk". :^)
  • The priest brews in accordance with the Reinheitsgebot, the German beer purity law that dictates only water, malt, hops (and now yeast) shall be used in making beer.

    Another example of legislation failing to keep up with technology. I'm sure that whoever wrote the Reinheitsgebot would have prohibited using computer-driven washing machines if only they'd anticipated their existence.
  • ...bathtub gin!
  • First toast? :-)
  • And it takes care of that pesky ring around the collar?
  • remove beer steins?
  • I guess a joke about "suds" is in order.


    Perhaps "These are the kind of suds that can make your clothes MORE dirty!"

  • At least he's not making methamphetamines with his computer-controlled toilet.
  • by Aexia ( 517457 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @11:19PM (#5256373)
    Source code [m-fey.de]

    I guess this is a case where open source really *is* free as in beer.
  • So he can turn water into beer and wash his socks at the same time?

    A better trick than turning water into wine, IMHO.

    blog-O-rama [annmariabell.com]

  • red green (Score:3, Funny)

    by passion ( 84900 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @11:24PM (#5256413)

    Red Green did this on his show about 3-4 years ago. It was hilarious, one of those DIY things that only gets accomplished with an axe.

    ...and hey, it the ladies don't find you handsome, they might as well find you handy.

  • is slashdot down in some horrible way? i see new stories, but not a single post... weird ghost town effect...
  • I hope he doesn't do his laundry in there too..
  • by CaptainCarrot ( 84625 ) on Friday February 07, 2003 @11:34PM (#5256485)
    American washing machines generally expect to have hot water supplied to them. If I understand this guy's process correctly -- and I might not; I don't read German -- the machine here maintains its own temperature settings. Does anyone sell a machine like this here?

    This must be a wonderful story. It's been up for several minutes now, with nary a First Post to be seen. I guess even the trolls love a good beer story.

  • I'm not able to see any comments at all in the first 2 articles.
  • You speak German fluidly!
  • It might do a good job cleaning his clothes

    Jason
    ProfQuotes [profquotes.com]
  • by LordYUK ( 552359 )
    I saw this posted like, an hour ago... I've never gotten first post... guess everyone is out cleaing their washing machine so as to brew their own, umm, brew like the holy man there....
  • Ah-ha--I thought the Maytag repair man was looking a bit tipsy in his last commercial!
  • ...has got to be the spin cycle. You drink enough of the beer, and the clothes spin my themselves!

    Saves a ton on electricity.
  • this server doesn't have a chance

  • by ACK!! ( 10229 )
    I can see the commercial now:

    Its beer.

    No its holy blessed beer!

    Its clean too.

    Straight from the washing machine to the priest for his blessing and on to you the consumer...

    Its clean, its washed and holy too.

    Washing machine beer made by a priest.

    You can't beat that with a stick.

  • Considering the other popular "hobbies" among priests, it's probably a good thing he has something to do, rather than somebody's son to do.

    But I won't be impressed under he can brew Holy Water and the sacramental wine. Throw in the consecrated host, and you've got Jesus in the Whirlpool. (If you believe in Transubstantiation [newadvent.org], that is.)
  • history repeats itself. :)


  • For those of you who read German-English machine translations better than I do,
    I've pasted one below. Maybe it's just that I'm too lazy to read
    closely... but can anyone figure out how the heck this guy cranks enough heat
    out of the machine to achieve a rolling boil?




    Beer brow with PC and washing machine - we came a report through Jean Pütz and the "Hobbythek" on the idea to brew even once beer. The first attempt took place as INDUSTRIAL TRADE UNION in a vacations warehouse: the groups leaders got given a bottle apiece of "Hankenberger-Lager-Bier of the participants to the end of the warehouse". Did after the Verkostung the question stand: "and when we brew the next time?"

    In the following 3 years, there was a row of brow trial with different persons circle. Again and again the problem stood to find a suitable brow container and a suitable Heizquelle.

    Three years ago, we had the idea, an old washing machine (Toplader) for brewing umzubauen. Following reasons spoke for that:

    Large Edelstahlgefäß with incorporated Heizquelle motor to the stirring and pump to the Umfüllen incorporated are easy and wassersparende cleaning possibility accidentally saw I some days later a suitable washing machine in a colleague stand. It was defective (like itself later laid out, must only the condenser renewed become), and I was able to take it directly with home. So that the geschrotene malt did not fix itself on the Heizstäben and the pump did not clog, a type of giant tea bag was sewed out of material diaper. So the drum in the machine was able to remain and used become the motor stirring.

    In a sample conduit - the machine naturally before was cleaned and the flow tube replaced become - was tested, theoretically reasoned functioned should be washed out whether that principle, for the contents materials yes out of the malt into the brow water. When this attempt was arrive, I went at the reconstruction of the machine.



    Certainly it would be also possible to serve motor and heating per hand, but I searched for an automatic solution: the brow process should be driven over time sections to be selected freely and temperatures, and also the drum rotations should be freely eligible.

    Therefore I removed the electromechanical control and replaced it through a row of relay, that individually can be addressed and drive water and flow, heating as well as motor to the left and/or to the right. The temperature measurement takes place via an electronic building block, that changes the temperature into digital impulses, that delivers water level measurement over a building block, that according to water pressure (=Füllstandshöhe) a corresponding tension, that is changed into digital signals.

    The parallel interface of the PC gives the relatively simple possibility to address single tax directions and data directions. Through a C program, the beer brow washing machine is driven now.

    A brow process looks now so:

    The machine is connected to the water direction, that flow tubes hung out of security reason into the Spülbecken. The computer is connected and the program started. If the temperature is reached to the Einmaischen, the computer gives a signal and holds the machine on. Now the well locked bag with the malt on abundance and the cover is closed. The machine heats now up to the different Rastzeiten, the drum revolves in the intervals determined before. If the purification phase is terminated, bag and drum can be removed. For a better Ergiebigkeit, it is however meaningful let run the Sud in an external Läutergefäß once again through the Maische.

    The Sud is heated now on 100 degrees and the hops in a little bag admitted. After an hour, the Sud is finished and can become into the Gärgefäß umgefüllt. If he cooled off himself on 20 degrees, the beer yeast in addition gift prepared before becomes.

    The beer later is drawn-off some days of the yeast and in bottles umgefüllt where now the remainder fermentation worries for the necessary carbon dioxide pressure. Some weeks the beer is later finished.

    Continuing literature:

    Wolfgang left, fairs - taxes - rules over the parallel interface of the PC, Franzis publishing house Munich 1994


  • I'm just itchin to burn some karma on this one.

    4LL j00R PC B33R M0D R B3L0nG T0 U$ ;)
  • Aren't priests not supposed to drink and stuff? Or am I just misinformed?
    • First, IANARC (Roman Catholic) and I'm not sure this priest is a Roman Catholic. (My German is practically non-existent)

      Anyway, Catholics are imbibers. They are typically not contaminated by American Calvinistic teotalitarianism. (This is equally true for Lutherans)

      The key is moderation, which can be a huge problem for many people, priests or not.
  • ...

    4ll j00r pc b33r m0d$ r b3l0ng to u$!
  • by Phexro ( 9814 )
    This sounded like something I'd usually see on Rotten [rotten.com], until I read that the priest was brewing beer in his washing machine, not that a priest got brewed in his washing machine.

    Time to go watch some Disney cartoons or something.

  • The beer tastes like old socks...

  • does the priest get moderated as "realistic" for this?
  • by strredwolf ( 532 ) on Saturday February 08, 2003 @12:07AM (#5256691) Homepage Journal
    ...that in heaven there is no beer.
  • Just imagine a Beowulf cluster of these! Oh wait..that would be a laundromat.
  • guess he should be just about ready for Oktoberfest come the fall considering how much homebrew he's allowed to make :>
  • "A priest without alcohol, that's the wrong combination," he said. "Jesus didn't say, take this healthy camomile tea, he offered wine."

    Amen, brother.
  • An anonymous writer sends in this story about a priest who has made a brewery out of his washing machine. See his website for recipes and pictures.

    You have got to be kidding me. That has to be the oddest, most random sentence I've ever seen (including my .sig).

  • It's not offtopic! I'm drunk!
  • by dWhisper ( 318846 ) on Saturday February 08, 2003 @12:17AM (#5256753) Homepage Journal
    This man is my new official hero. I'd just hope that the beer wouldn't get a soapy aftertaste.

    However, it might be nice to drink and leave my breath with that Mountain-Fresh straight off the line feeling
  • Hmm, it seems that no one bothered to comment. Perhaps I will.

    Considering that Priests/Clergy have been making alcohol for centuries, this doesn't seem all that odd. Replace the traditional tun [vat/cask] with a washing machine.

    Pretty straightforward, really
  • by grungebox ( 578982 ) on Saturday February 08, 2003 @12:18AM (#5256762) Homepage
    Um...what do they use for baptisms in Germany? Heineken? What the hell else is the priest brewing alcohol in his washer for? I mean, if he had a wine distillery or something in the machine, that'd make sense.
  • screw this! (Score:3, Funny)

    by SHEENmaster ( 581283 ) <travis&utk,edu> on Saturday February 08, 2003 @12:19AM (#5256771) Homepage Journal
    how long until I can make caffeine w/ my washing machine!?
  • to enjoy this. You just have to like beer.
  • ... a Beowulf cluster of wasHIC!ng machines...
  • This is the second story with no comments posted. What's up?
  • Ahh. Good beer and smelly clothes. That is the life.

    -Sean (fp?)
  • technical details (Score:2, Informative)

    by e**(i pi)-1 ( 462311 )
    Based on an older idea? http://chattanooga.net/~cdp/wrims/wrims.htm
  • In India.. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by heytal ( 173090 ) <hetal,rach&gmail,com> on Saturday February 08, 2003 @12:28AM (#5256823) Homepage
    In India they use top loading washing machines in restaurants to prepare buttermilk and lassi.

    I do not know what they do in Soviet russia though :-)
  • Dude, that's freaking awesome!!! I want one.

    SealBeater
  • How do you get the beer stains out?

  • Washing Machine (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ctar ( 211926 ) <christophertar@nosPAM.gmail.com> on Saturday February 08, 2003 @02:07AM (#5257127) Homepage
    I am a homebrewer, and I don't really understand what part of brewing a washing machine can come into play. The english article mentions temperature control, but I can't imagine how a washing machine could do the type of temperature control needed for making beer. During the mash (early stage) you need to keep a high temperature (around 150F) for at least 4 or 5 hours. But the water can't change. Its part of what will become beer!

    During fermentation of lagers (which he is probably brewing if he is German, and if he is brewing the beers linked on his page) you need to keep a constant LOW temperature (around 40F?) for weeks. Again, I don't understand how a washing machine could help accomplish this...(unless he has a 2nd container inside the wash tub, and circulates consistently cold water around it?)

    The great thing about brewing beer is you don't really need any mechanical machines. Its more about temperature control and keeping everything sanitary.

    • Re:Washing Machine (Score:3, Informative)

      by greenius ( 300851 )
      You can recirculate the wort during the mash, and I believe most commericial breweries stir the grain and recirculate water during mashing.

      This will help keep the temperature more or less constant throughout the grain instead of having hot and cold spots.

      German lagers often use a complicated temperature cycle, starting at cool temperatures and having a rest at various different temperatures on the way up, to allow different enzymes to do their work.

      This is very difficult to do using some other home brewing methods, and require adding measured amounts of hot water and restirring at various times, or mashing in a mash tun with a thermostatic heater control.

      The washing machine would also have the benefit of the drum acting as a grain filter, so just run a controlled rinse cycle to do a good sparge.
    • Re:Washing Machine (Score:3, Insightful)

      by jonbrewer ( 11894 )
      but I can't imagine how a washing machine could do the type of temperature control needed for making beer

      Such washing machines heat their own water, unlike American machines, which take hot water from the house. With his computer control, he can keep the temperature elevated for several hours.
  • by ncc74656 ( 45571 ) <scott@alfter.us> on Saturday February 08, 2003 @02:14AM (#5257145) Homepage Journal
    ...would be the shiznit. I'm working on it right now...had the Win2K box fired up to check some digital photos I took of the early stages, checked /., and found this article. I'm working on setting up an Apple II+ as a programmable temperature controller/logger for the refrigerator I use for fermenting and lagering. At this point, I have a Dallas DS18B20 temperature sensor tied to the computer's joystick port through a little bit of glue logic (a 74F00 and 74F125). I've written the routines to read/write bits on the 1-Wire bus and reset the bus; the most I've gotten so far is for the reset routine to tell me if any 1-Wire devices are on the bus. Routines to read/write bytes will probably be the only other assembly-language bits I need; the rest ought to be programmable from BASIC. I'll also have a DS2417 real-time clock on the bus, and a relay (switched through a transistor) on an annunciator output to switch the compressor on and off.

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