January 1998 Issue 21
Inside This Issue
January 1998 Issue 21
Inside This Issue
by Bill MacKenzie
dedpetvet@aol.com
The relatively low price makes the Corona mill an attractive choice for the Homebrewer getting into all grain brewing but only if it will do a decent job crushing malt. In 1994, Zymurgy did a comparison of the malt mills designed for Homebrewers, including the Corona mill, and compared them to a six-roller commercial mill. That article gave the impression that the Corona mill was not as good as the others and many readers came away with the notion that the Corona was poor choice for a Homebrewer. Now, there are a lot of things wrong with the Corona but a bad crush isn't one of them. Well, lets take a second look at the results of the tests of mills in Zymurgy article.
The Zymurgy test was based on passing the grist from the mills through a series of six screens of decreasing mesh size and weighing the recovery in each screen and comparing the results with the commercial six roller mill. Hugh Baird pale ale malt was used throughout and each adjustable mill was run at gap settings of 0.040, 0 .045, 0.050, and 0.055 inches, as measured by an automotive gap tool. The Schmidling mill was not adjustable but the Grain was milled with single and double passes. This is a standard laboratory test and the data was produced by a commercial lab. The results were surprising in that the Corona mill set at .045 inches; the authors stated ". . . if one looks at the numbers from the sieve tests, the Corona looks as good or better than the roller mills."
In my interpretation of the data the Corona produced the best fit of curve of the data produced by the commercial mill. So what was wrong with the Corona? The Authors noted that during the crush test "it was observed that the Corona consistently sheared the husks into multiple pieces." This statement was followed by the declaration that "others" have "observed that" over crushing grain is undesirable because of stuck sparges, poor yields, and rough flavors. Although true, this statement originally was based on a worse case crush of the whole grain with the production of excessive powder and pulverized hulls. This quote is entirely out of context given the results of the experiment. The major cause of stuck mashes is not torn husks but powdery grind of the starchy endosperm. The screen tests show that none of the mills including the Corona produced excess powder. The Authors came to correct conclusion in the summary that all of the mills tested "produced a good quality crush." But, the Authors also noted, correctly, that the others "were superior to the Corona mill in maintaining hull integrity." So what! The hull pieces are more than adequate to form a filter and the amount of powder is comparable to the other mills, including the commercial mill.
To summarize various books and authors on the correct grinding of grain is easy. The object is to grind the innards into small grits while leaving the hulls intact or in big pieces and avoiding flour at all costs. Getting there is the hard part. What do some of the books on home brewing have to say about crushing grain with a corona mill? Dave Miller in Homebrewing Guide suggests grinding the back plate to keep the grinding plates from wobbling. He rates the Corona better than some of the other mills and not as good as others. Randy Mosser in The Brewer's Companion calls the Corona adequate but slow. Greg Noonan provides a profile of an ideal grist:
US Standard Mesh Commercial Mill Corona
#10 (husks held) /
#14 (husks held) 1-15% 68%
#18 (husks held) /
#30 (coarse grits) 25% 11.3%
#60 (fine grits) 20% 3.9%
#100 (flour) 10% 5.9%
The big difference between the commercial mill and the Corona is the amount of very course grits that are screened with the hulls. This results in a longer mash and less efficient conversion of starch to sugar. Compare the Corona's 68% with the Glatt's 54%, the Listerman's 63.9% and the Schmidling's 61%. The Glatt produced more fine flour than the Corona. To put the poorer efficiency of the grinds in proper perspective; a grind that is little too course will require 1 more pound of grain in a 5 gallon batch with a starting gravity of 1.050. The fatal error in grinding grain is milling it too fine.
Well, enough of my soap box. The Corona mill is a cantankerous beast that requires attention to keep it adjusted correctly and it is a laborious way to grind grain if you do it by hand. It will also burn out heavy duty 3/8ths inch drills(personal experience). But, it will give an goodcrush and the price is right. Carboy will raffle a Corona Mill at the January meeting!
The January meeting of CARBOY will be held on Wednesday, January 28 at 7:00 P.M.. We will meet in the BB&Y Restaurant. This meeting will include a grain grinding discussion led by club President, Bill MacKenzie. Bill is an excellent speaker with a wealth of knowledge to share. The discussion will help everyone from all-grain brewers to extract brewers who are considering using specialty grains in their brews!
It just wouldn't be a CARBOY meeting without beer. So, to keep the tradition alive, we will include a tasting of our members' beers. Please bring at least three 12 ounce bottles (or equivalent) of either homebrew or interesting commercial brew. Feel free to discuss your beers as much or as little as you prefer!
Bill MacKenzie has donated a Corona mill to the club. This mill will be raffled during the January meeting. If you want a chance at owning a great mill (see this month's cover story), be sure to attend this month's meeting!
The BB&Y Restaurant is located on the first floor of the Caswell Building at 3700 National Drive, in the Koger Center off Glenwood Avenue in west Raleigh. Owner Nick Jones allows CARBOY to meet monthly at his restaurant when we don't have picnics or field trips scheduled.
BB&Y is open for breakfast and lunch each
weekday. We encourage members to visit BB&Y for a relaxed informal
meal. Please let Nick know you're from CARBOY when you visit his restaurant.
The next monthly CARBOY night at Harrison's Bar and Grill in Cary will be held on Tuesday, February 3. Every month, CARBOY members gather for the sole purpose of enjoying beer, food, and friends. Tomcat Ales are served for $2/pint, and appetizers are 1/2 off. Avoid the post-Groundhog Day blues and stop by! The gathering starts at 5:00 and ends when the last of us leaves.
by Bill MacKenzie
dedpetvet@aol.com
The January club meeting will include a program of education and discussion of topics of interest to Homebrewers and beer Celebrators alike. Since, I enjoy teaching and our Vice President for education has left for greener pastures and stronger beer, I'll fill in for the rest of this term. I hope to start an informal education program to complement the social program. After all, one cannot live by bread in a bottle alone!
The educational theme for the January meeting will be grinding grain. For February it will be mashing and sparging. I do not want to do all of the discussion leading and such so I am asking for volunteers to lead the discussion of various subjects at future meetings. Do I hear any volunteers? .
Nothing helps shake off a winter chill like a hearty Irish stout or a warm chocolate cake. Why not combine the two into this wonderful treat? Enjoy!
Chocolate Stout Cake
 | 0.25 cup cocoa powder (to dust the baking pans)
| 2 sticks butter
| 1 cup stout or porter
| 2/3 cup (scant) Dutch-process dark cocoa powder
| 1 scant teaspoon salt
| 2 cups unbleached flour
| 2 cups sugar
| 1.25 teaspoon baking soda (sifted)
| 2 extra-large eggs
| 0.5 cups sour cream
| |
-Heat oven to 350ø.
-Lightly dust two greased 8" springform pans with cocoa powder.
-In heavy saucepan, heat butter, beer and cocoa powder until butter melts.
Cool.
-Sift dry ingredients together, add the beer-cocoa mixture and beat thoroughly 1 minute on medium speed.
-Add eggs and sour cream and beat 2 minuted on medium.
-Pour batter into prepared pans and bake at 350ø for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a pick inserted into the center comes out clean.
-Place pans on a wire rack, cool 10 minutes, remove the sides, and cool completely.
-Use a long serrated knife to even tops of cakes.
-Using a flexible spatula, spread each layer with a thin coating of chocolate frosting, stack, and cover the sides with frosting.
Unforgettably Chocolate Frosting
| 12 oz. High quality, extra-bitter chocolate,
chopped or semisweet chocolate chips
| 8 tablespoons butter
| 0.75 cup heavy cream
| 0.25 cup stout
| 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
| 2 tablespoons liqueur - Amaretto,
| Frangelico, or Kahlua (optional)
| |
-Place chocolate and butter into the bowl of a food processor.
-In a medium saucepan combine heavy cream, stout, and powdered sugar, stirring until smooth. Heat to a slow boil.
-While motor is running, slowly pour the hot liquid into the chocolate and butter and blend until smooth. Add liqueur and cool before spreading.
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The Fermenter is the newsletter of CARBOY. As such, it relies on its membership for content. Please submit any articles, letters, recipes, comments, questions, or suggestions to the address shown below. Electronic mail to mlew@ntrnet.net is preferred, but not required. Thank you!
January 25: Superbowl Party
January 28: CARBOY meeting
February 11: TRUB meeting
February 25: CARBOY meeting
March 14: Shamrock Open
The AHA Club-Only-Competition, Stout Bout, will be held in March. If you get started now, you should be able to get an entry ready.
If you find yourself with extra stout on your hands, you can always make a chocolate stout cake!
by Steve Murphrey
Steve and Donna Murphrey have been kind enough to host our first club Super Bowl party on Sunday, January 25. The fun is scheduled to begin at 4:00. Spouses and children are encouraged to come. The available activities will include watching the game via satellite on the big-screen TV, eating and judging the chili you bring, playing foosball, playing backgammon, and sampling homebrew.
This will be a "pot luck" affair with a chili theme. Bring whatever food or beer you like. We'll have an informal chili judging. First place wins the "thrill of victory" plus one year's bragging rights. Last place gets to eat leftover chili until the Pro Bowl. See the December issue of The Fermenter for chile judging guidelines.
If you will be attending, please let Steve know (via E-mail or phone) how many will be in your party.
Location: 4001 Old SturbridgeDrive
Phone: 779-4482
E-mail: swmurph@ibm.net
Driving instructions: The Murphrey's live a little bit south of Cary.
Get onto 1010 Road by any appropriate route (e.g., come south on Killdare Farm Road and turn left, come south on Walnut Street or Holly Springs Road and turn left, come south on Lake Wheeler Road and turn right, or come south on US 401 and turn right). Turn south on Bells Lake Road. (Bells Lake Road intersects 1010 between Lake Wheeler Road and Holly Springs Road. Look for street sign on the south side of 1010 Road.) Old Sturbridge Drive is the 4th street on the right (about a long mile south of 1010 Road). It's the corner house on the south side of Old Sturbridge Drive Parking: Just pull into any of the 3 large driveways.
So prepare your chili or fixings or whatever you like, and come on over. It should be a blast