HOMEBREW Digest #1101 Fri 19 March 1993
Digest #1100
Digest #1102
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
sterilization, aeration, filtration. (Timothy J. Dalton)
New brewer (YC06000)
crystal malt in muslin bag (Peter Maxwell)
Disappointing Results (Jeff Frane)
pH meter questions (STROUD)
Temp. Controls / Freezer (Glenn Raudins)
Irish Bus trip (card)
Keeping bottles clean (Karl F. Bloss)
Hong & Singapore (Joseph Gareri)
Rye Malt and the Extract Brewer (Julie Kangas)
Yeast starter and bottle drying (Keith A. MacNeal HLO1/T09 225-6171 18-Mar-1993 1041)
Chili Pepper Beer (Mark Taratoot)
Basic Homebrewing in Spanish? (myersr)
hop vine spacing (Brian Smithey)
Maltmill and Easymash source (McHarry)
Re: Chili Pepper Beer ("Roger Deschner ")
SNPA Yeast ("Rad Equipment")
local brewmaster on sparge time/mashing dark grains (Frank Tutzauer)
Re: yeast starter (help!!!) (atl)
Re: Sterilized bottles (atl)
Bock recipe ("Spencer W. Thomas")
Re: Moderate drinking & minimal cold catching (atl)
Lauter Tuns, PU (Jack Schmidling)
Beer and Cancer (Paul AndersEn )
Re: yeast starter (help!!!)/sludge/bottling/starter correction (korz)
Ninkaski - brewing an ancient beer (Don Sharp 18-Mar-1993 1428)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 93 16:42:36 -0500
From: Timothy J. Dalton <dalton at mtl.mit.edu>
Subject: sterilization, aeration, filtration.
I've been reading an intersting book the last week:
The Biotechnology of Malting and Brewing, by J.S. Hough
(Cambridge Univ Press, 1985)
Anyway, while reading it, i've run across a few things that
answer recent threads on r.c.b and in HBD
All are quoted without permission.
Steam Sterilization: (p.49)
"Steam is also use for sterilisation but can only be fully effective if
it is saturated and operates in hot equipment. There must be ample
oppotunity for the condensate to escape as the equipment heats up.
At least 30 min steam treatment at 1 bar over pressure after the equipment
has heated to 100C is necessary to achieve sterilisation of a
cleaned piece of equipment."
Wort Aeration: (p. 91)
"Aeration of wort is needed for yeast growth. Specifically it is
required in small amounts (5-15 mg/l) by the cells in order to
synthesise unsaturafed fatty acids and sterols for intracellular
membranes...Air will provide a maximum of 8 mg/l dissolved oxygen.
Some strains of yeast however require more than this and oxygen is
substituted for air."
Yeast Size: (p. 96)
"A typical brewing yeast cell will, when fully grown, be between 8
and 14 um diameter and have a mass of about 40 pg when dry. Thus,
10^12 dried cells will weigh 40 g."
Control of Infections: (P. 111)
in austenitic stainless steel vessels,
"The sequence is wash thoroughly by water, using high pressure
revolving jets or static spray balls in the vessels. When the
water has drained, hot caustic soda (usually with
some sodium hypochlorite) is used as a detergent-sanitizer.
The caustic soda kills microbes effectively and is an excellent
dissolver of protein. It is not however suitable for dissolving
and keeping in suspension calcium salts, therefor additions
of various polyphosphates, metasilicates or guconates may be made.
The hypochlorite is a source of free chlorine and therefore a strong
bacteriocide; it also enhances the cleaning power of the
detergent. Free chlorine is however a dangerous agent of corrosion
of stainless steel if the pH of the solution falls to neutrality or below."
Filtration: (Pg. 143-147)
Several filtration techniques are talked about. Its too long to post.
Bottom line is that diatomaceous earth (kieselguhr) is the
most popular filter type. This, in combination with a secondary
membrane filtration does a great job. 1.0 um membranes will be expected
to prevent yeasts from be penetrating, and a 0.2 um membrane would be
expected to hold back bacteria.
Tim
- ----
Timothy J. Dalton tjdalton at mit.edu
MIT, Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Materials Etching Technology Lab
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Date: Wed, 17 Mar 93 16:13:26 EST
From: YC06000 <YC06%FERRIS.BITNET at PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU>
Subject: New brewer
Hi-
I am new to the art of homebrewing. I have a couple of small
paperbacks on the subject, but would like to know if there
is one or two good sources for us novices? I have yet to brew
my first batch, but I am getting anxious to start. Any info
that you longtime brewers can impart to a beginner would be
greatly appreciated.
I just moved to Big Rapids, MI and don't know where I could get
brewing supplies. Is mail order the answer? Help!!!
Thanks for your time!
Dan deRegnier yc06 at ferris.bitnet
Ferris State University
Big Rapids, MI
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Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1993 14:20:28 -0800 (PST)
From: Peter Maxwell <peterm at aoraki.dtc.hp.com>
Subject: crystal malt in muslin bag
In HBD 1099 Mike Rego asks about Cara-pils haze. This prompts me to ask a
more general question regarding the addition of other malts to an
all-extract brew. Up until now I've been putting these in a tighly-woven
hop bag, but am convinced that the bag is too small, packing all the grains in
much too closely and restricting the extraction I get.
I'm thinking of using a much larger bag made out of muslin, but am wondering
if the much coarser weave will allow undesirable things into the wort. My
procedure is generally to steep the grains for 20 minutes or so at 170
degrees, then remove the bag prior to bringing the wort to the boil.
The grain crushing process (either a rolling pin for me, or sometimes I buy
it pre-crushed from my brew shop) produces powder along with broken grains.
How important is it to sift all this powder out? If it gets into the wort
will it cause any problems?
My thoughts are that the muslin idea would work, because in full grain brewing
all this stuff is thrown in with no strainer bag, right?
Any comments/suggestions are most welcome.
Peter
Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 1993 15:43:44 -0800 (PST)
From: gummitch at techbook.com (Jeff Frane)
Subject: Disappointing Results
Mike Rego asks:
>
>
> My first attempt at a lager was a modified version of Papazian's
> Crabalocker German Pils, and I brewed it on 2/21/93.
>
[deleted]
> The Cara-pils was put in a muslin bag in 1.5 gal water and removed when
> water began to boil. Then the extract and boiling hops were added. The
> flavor hops were added at 30 min, and the aroma hops were added for the
> last 2 min of a 60 min boil.
>
At that point it was very cloudy, and disappointingly
> an amber color. It has been five days now, and the haze has mostly
> settled.
>
> My questions are: Did the Cara-pils cause the haze? (I used it to
> give it a little more body, but have since learned that it is not
> like other specialty grains.)
Here are some answers (even to questions you didn't ask): the amber
color is not surprising, really. You'll find that one company's "light"
is another's "amber" and that truly pale beers are tough to make from
extracts. In part, this is because the evaporation process necessary to
create syrup from wort often is allowed to darken the product. But the
German syrups are particularly dark, or they were several years ago when
I did an experiment for Zymurgy and compared a dozen brands of extract.
Carapils does not cause haze, although there seems to be an odd train of
thought out there to this effect. On the other hand, regardless of what
Charlie Papazian says, you shouldn't be boiling your specialty grains.
Far better to get them out earlier, and even better to simply steep them
at about 150F for an hour or so, then rinse them and use the resulting
liquid along with your extract. Carapils will give your beer more body
if it's properly used; I can't imagine what "not like other specialty
grains" means in this context, but it sounds as though someone was
giving it a bum rap. Carapils also has the added benefit of enhancing
the "maltiness" of beer, which is why microbrewers often use it in
conjunction with American pale malt.
I'm a little confused about what you mean by "haze" in a fermenting
beer. Was it hazy when it went into the carboy, and did it not clear at
all (with a large deposit of solids) within an hour or two. After the
yeast takes off, of course, there's a whole new "haze" which is just two
or three ***illion yeast cells performing their mating and working
rituals. If the beer never looked bright in the kettle (taking into
account all the stuff floating around in it -- take a spoonful out and
look to see if the liquid itself is clear when the hop particles etc
have a chance to settle), it's possible your boil is not vigorous
enough.
========================================
On another note, has anyone ever gotten results anything like Charlie's
from one of his recipes? He seems to bat them out at a fairly high
rate, and I've wondered over the years how much time goes into
developing each one, and whether he's ever brewed one of them more than
once (or better yet, more than three times) before publishing them.
What really struck me was his recipe in the most recent Zymurgy, which
calls for (not having it in front of me, and whoops, here we go again
relying on memory) something in the neighborhood of 3.5# of dry malt
extract and about 3 pounds (maybe a little more) of specialty grains.
This to produce five gallons of a beer over 1.065. Does anyone else
think this is unlikely?
- --Jeff Frane
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Date: 18 Mar 1993 08:49:35 -0500 (EST)
From: STROUD%GAIA at leia.polaroid.com
Subject: pH meter questions
Nicks asks:
>1) can I just use distilled water to calibrate at ph7?
No. Distilled water is NOT pH 7, it is acidic due to dissolved CO2.
You need to buy (or make) buffer solutions to accurately calibrate your meter.
Your meter should also have some instructions about calibration. Many of the
meters have two-point calibrations where you adjust the pH reading at, say, pH
4 and 9. Since pH varies with temperature, you also need to make sure that you
calibrate it at the temperature specified by the manufacturer (unless your
model has auto-temperature correction).
Steve
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 8:24:05 CST
From: raudins at galt.b17d.ingr.com (Glenn Raudins)
Subject: Temp. Controls / Freezer
Re: Temperature Controls
I would like some feedback on what people think of their temperature controls
for their refrigs/freezers. Has anyone used the digital one from American
Brewmaster? I like the idea of the digital ones, but I've only seen ones that
go down to 40 degrees. I know Williams beverage sell one that goes down to
20 degrees but it does not have a digital display.
Re: Refrig/Freezer
Any recommendations on refrigs/freezers that have worked well for people? I
seem to think that a chest freezer would allow the best utilization of space
and it would allow the temperatures for lagering. Also, what results have
people gotten lagering with just their refrigs (down to 40 degrees I believe)?
Glenn Raudins
raudins at galt.b17d.ingr.com
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Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 09:17:06 EST
From: card at apollo.hp.com
Subject: Irish Bus trip
> From: boover_c
> Date: Wednesday, March 17, 1993 7:40:41 am (EST)
> Subject: St. Patrick's Day...
> To: junk:
>
>
> This Irish moment is brought to you by my parents:
>
> This is a true story, I visited Ireland in the mid 70's during the summer. It
> was in the 90's, very hot. My wife and I choose to take the bus from Limerick
> to Kilarney to "see the countryside". Well the bus trip started at 9 am and
> due to arrive sometime in the afternoon taking into account a number of stops
> in citys/towns along the way. There was a bus driver and a fare collector on
> board. Besides us there were about 8 other tourist Americans and some local folk
> going whereever. At the 1st stop, the bus driver would open the door and get out
> closely followed by his fare collector and walk down the street and disappear.
> 15 minutes later they would re-appear and head out. I didn't think too much of it except
> we were stopping every 20 or 30 minutes and they would go thru the same routine.
> Being hot, it became a pain to constantly wait for these guys. Finally, we said let's
> following these guys. Sure enough, we turn the corner and lo and behold theres a bar!
> We go in and theres' our driver and fare collector with 2 stouts in front of them.
> Well needless to say, at every bus stop along the way, the driver would get out and
> the fare collector and it was like a pied piper after that. By the time we got to
> Kilarney we were all speaking tonque and having a blast. I asked the driver if he was going
> back that night and he said no he spends the nite there.
>
> Have a happy day.
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 09:35:44 -0500
From: blosskf at ttown.apci.com (Karl F. Bloss)
Subject: Keeping bottles clean
In HBD #1100, CRD at imagesys.com (Chris Dukes) writes:
>Once the bottles are boiled, bleached, NaOH'ed, etc. . .where do you keep
>them before they are filled and capped? I am concerned about nasties
>falling into the bottles while they are waiting to be filled. Should I
>bottle a six or twelve pack at a time to make sure no bottles are waiting
>too long?
I use a technique I saw here on the HBD once and has worked well. After
cleaning, rinsing, and drying the bottles with your favorite method, take a
small square (~ 2"x2") of aluminum foil and seal up the bottle opening. Then
bake the bottles (theoretically nothing lives over 60C, but I use just over
100C) for 15 minutes and let them slowly cool. When you're ready to bottle,
just take the foil off. I've done this up to 3 days before bottling and
have never had an infection yet.
-Karl
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Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 09:51:32 -0500
From: jpgareri at acs.bu.edu (Joseph Gareri)
Subject: Hong & Singapore
I have a trip (leaving 3/24) to Hong Kong and Singapore. I have not found
much in the way for specialty beers for there places. Does anyone have
suggestions of places to try or try to avoid? I would appreciate any
responses.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
jpgareri at acs.bu.edu "Nothing worthwhile is ever accomplished without
Joseph P. Gareri The vision to perceive, The enthusiasm to continue,
Boston University And, regardless of temporary obstacles,
(617) 353-2102 The persistance to complete." -- Waite Phillips
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 06:51:33 PST
From: julie at eddie.jpl.nasa.gov (Julie Kangas)
Subject: Rye Malt and the Extract Brewer
Hi folks,
I'm wanting to try my hand at making the Finnish beer Sahti. I've
found the malted rye (a tricky thing) but have a question. You see,
I'm still an extract brewer and am not ready to go all grain right
now. So I was wondering how I handle the rye malt. Should I
treat it like a speciality grain by steeping it in near boiling
water and then adding it to the regular malt? Or will I need to
do a partial mash? How would I go about this?
Thanks,
Julie
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Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 10:53:49 EST
From: Keith A. MacNeal HLO1/T09 225-6171 18-Mar-1993 1041 <macneal at pate.enet.dec.com>
Subject: Yeast starter and bottle drying
In HBD #1100, John Williamson writes:
> I was hoping to brew a lager this past weekend when I ran into
>trouble getting a yeast starter going. I was hoping that someone out
>there in HB land could shed some light on the situation and perhaps save
>me starting over. Here are the particulars:
> Thursday evening I broke the inner package on a pack of Wyeast
>pilsen lager yeast (sorry, forgot the number). The package of yeast was
>dated 8 February. By Friday morning the pack had expanded to about 3/4
>to 1 inch in thickness. I pitched this into 3/4 quart of wort I had
>prepared the evening before. The wort starter was made by mixing 3 Tbs
>of an amber DME with 3/4 quart water in a 1 1/2 quart clean juice jar.
I think your problem was that you used only 3 tbs of DME. Are you sure you
gave the yeast enough to eat?
Chris Dukes asks about suggestions on what to do with bottles after they've
been sterilized:
>Once the bottles are boiled, bleached, NaOH'ed, etc. . .where do you keep
>them before they are filled and capped? I am concerned about nasties
>falling into the bottles while they are waiting to be filled. Should I
>bottle a six or twelve pack at a time to make sure no bottles are waiting
>too long?
I suggest that you keep the bottles with the open end down to prevent stuff
falling into them. I can get about a case of 16 oz. bottles into a standard
dish drainer. That's a pain since a 5 gal. batch takes about a case and a
half of bottles. So, I picked up a drying rack. It's a plastic tower that
holds up to 45 bottles and is expandable in increments of 9. I wipe it down
with a bleach solution while my bottles are soaking, rinse the bottles with a
bottle washer attached to a faucet, and then let the bottles drip dry on the
rack. It works great and doesn't take up much counterspace. You might be
able to make one out of wood, but I'm not sure you could keep it as clean as
the plastic version. I bought it at a local homebrew supply shop for around
$25.
I've heard of other folks using the dishwasher set on rinse and dry, but
that's not an option for me since I don't have a dishwasher or any room in the
kitchen to put one.
Keith MacNeal
Digital Equipment Corp.
Hudson, MA
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Date: 18 Mar 1993 08:57:06 -0600 (MDT)
From: Mark Taratoot <SLNDW at CC.USU.EDU>
Subject: Chili Pepper Beer
Greetings.
I usually put half a chili in each bottle before sealing the crown.
First slice the pepper lenghwise.
Then remove the seeds (but not the inner white membrane)
Rinse
Put half (or two halves) chili in each bottle you want to "pepperize"
Seal crown
I have found that as soon as the beer is carbonated and conditioned it
is at it's best "pepperness." The chili aroma and flavor seem to
mellow with age. I cracked open a chili beer that had been sitting for
a couple of months, and the flavor was there, but it was very subdued.
So, maybe wait a couple of weeks if you want a beer that is at it's
greatest pepper potential for cinco de mayo.
I have tried putting chilis in with the boil, but the finished product
did not have any "pep," just a bit of peppery flavor. Also, with the
pepper in the bottle trick, you can make less than a batch of pepperized
brew. Perhaps if you plan on crating more than one batch of beer to be
consumed by may 5, then pepperize some of each and do a side by side
by side by side comparison of all the pepperized/non pepperized beers.
-toot
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Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 08:05:32 PST8PDT
From: myersr at geoduck.nosc.mil
Subject: Basic Homebrewing in Spanish?
Anyone know where I can find basic homebrewing instructions written
in spanish? I have a friend near Mexico City who is extremely
interested in learning how to brew beer. He wants to someday serve it
in his restaurant. Is there a spanish edition of "The Complete Joy of
Homebrewing"?
Thanks,
Dick Myers
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Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 09:50:47 MST
From: smithey at fuji.Central.Sun.COM (Brian Smithey)
Subject: hop vine spacing
I'm waiting for my hop rhizome order to arrive from Freshops.
In the meantime, a friend has already received his, and tells
me that 6 ft. spacing is recommended between varieties. I have
a good idea where I want to put them, but I'll only have about
4.5 - 5 ft between varieties. I'd like to hear from some
experienced growers out there: how far apart your varieties
are, any problems, speculation on whether I'll get into trouble
with closer than 6' spacing, etc.
Thanks,
Brian
- --
Brian Smithey / Sun Microsystems / Colorado Springs, CO
smithey at rmtc.Central.Sun.COM
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Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 11:29:31 EST
From: mcharry at freedom.cwc.com (McHarry)
Subject: Maltmill and Easymash source
A number of brewers suppliers (chandlers?) carry these things. Last I
knew, you could also order them directly from:
Jack Schmidling Productions
4501 Moody
Chicago, IL 60630
+1 312 685 1878
You can also E-mail Jack for more info on current prices, retailers, etc.
He is a little reticent about posting commercials, but will probably reply
privately.
I use both these devices and am quite pleased with them. You can build an
Easymash yourself--Jack posts directions from time to time. If you want it
done right the first time, Jack doesn't charge that much over the cost of
parts for his kit, which has had some die work done on the air cock.
The Maltmill is another thing again. It has custom castings, from recycled
aluminum cans! I have no idea how Jack grooves the rollers, or where he
gets the stock. It also is well-made and worth the investment. I have the
non-adjustable version and have had no problems crushing various malts and
even raw rye.
I seem to recall that the Maltmill is about 120-125 dollars and the
Easymash is about 25 dollars. If you order direct there is a small
shipping charge, but only one charge for both ordered together.
disclaimer--I have no interest in any of Jack's businesses. I am just a
satisfied customer and amused observer.
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Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1993 11:04:30 CST
From: "Roger Deschner " <U52983 at UICVM.UIC.EDU>
Subject: Re: Chili Pepper Beer
I've not been incautious enough to make one, but I've judged several, and
the palatable ones all had a high residual maltiness which balanced the
pepper. So many of these are awful, but I tasted one which was actually
good - and the trick in the recipe was to use Wyeast 1338 yeast (European
Ale/Dusseldorf Altbier) which will naturally leave a high maltiness.
Gravity was in the normal range around 1.050.
Return to table of contents
Date: 18 Mar 1993 09:15:47 U
From: "Rad Equipment" <rad_equipment at rad-mac1.ucsf.edu>
Subject: SNPA Yeast
Subject: SNPA Yeast Time:8:52 AM Date:3/18/93
Tim Sasseen says:
>that maybe the yeast at the bottom of the bottles wasn't
>all that pure
I have done the bottle culturing bit from SNPA for quite some time without any
problems. The yeast is a washed version of what was used to ferment the beer.
It is added to filtered beer to provide for the bottle conditioning. If there
were faults with this yeast or the culturing method I would expect we'd hear
about lots of problems from lots of homebrewers. I'd also expect there would be
some evidence of such a problem in Sierra's products. I can't say I've ever had
a bad bottle of anything that Sierra Nevada produced.
As for the OG recommended for starters:
I believe George Fix did some research (or at least referred to somebody's
research) which indicated that the performance of yeast was best when begun in
a starter which was close to the OG of the batch to be pitched. This was
especially true for higher gravities. George?
RW...
Russ Wigglesworth (INTERNET: Rad_Equipment at radmac1.ucsf.edu - CI$: 72300,61)
UCSF Dept. of Radiology, San Francisco, CA (415) 476-3668 / 474-8126
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Date: 18 Mar 1993 12:24:14 -0500 (EST)
From: Frank Tutzauer <COMFRANK at ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu>
Subject: local brewmaster on sparge time/mashing dark grains
I know Micah's no longer with us (gee, that sounds like he's dead--you know
what I mean: He's no longer with the DIGEST), but before he left he made the
argument that dark grains should only be added at mash out, rather than for
the whole mash. The subject came up at our homebrew meeting last night, and
Fred Lang, the brewmaster at our local micro, agreed with Micah. He said to
put the dark grains in for just ten or twenty minutes at the end, while
mashing out.
Also, not too long ago, Joe Stone and I wondered about sparge times. This
subject also came up at our meeting last night. One guy said he aimed for 2
and a half to three hour sparges. Another person said, "Gee, I just do it for
about twenty minutes." Again, the question was put to Fred. He said that the
length of time is really irrelevant, because it depends on your grain bed,
temps, and other things. He maintained that you should use the gravity to
determine when to quit sparging. In particular, do not go below 2 degrees
Plato, and in fact you should quit a little above that since it would be
better to throw out a little extract rather than get the tannins. So what's 2
degrees Plato? Like 1.008 maybe?. Looks like those of you who stop at 1.010
have been talking to Fred...
Just thought you'd be interested,
- --frank
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Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 09:32:25 -0800
From: atl at kpc.com
Subject: Re: yeast starter (help!!!)
> I was hoping to brew a lager this past weekend when I ran into
> trouble getting a yeast starter going. I was hoping that someone out
> ....
> prepared the evening before. The wort starter was made by mixing 3 Tbs
> of an amber DME with 3/4 quart water in a 1 1/2 quart clean juice jar.
What was the SG of the starter? I always use >= 1.040 starters, and 3Tbs
to 3/4 qt seems awfully thin to me. I also pitch WYEAST packets into
300-500ml starters and then step up to 800-1000ml starters. It seems that you
are using too large of a starter with too low a DME content. Wioth any luck,
your yeast should still be viable, I might try boiling up some really thick
wort, and adding it to you existing starter.
Drew
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Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 09:35:21 -0800
From: atl at kpc.com
Subject: Re: Sterilized bottles
> I have been following the thread on sterilization/sanitization, but have
> yet to read anything regarding what to do once the bottles have been
> sterilized, other than fill them with homebrew. ;-)
>
> Once the bottles are boiled, bleached, NaOH'ed, etc. . .where do you keep
> them before they are filled and capped? I am concerned about nasties
Set a sterile cap on top of each bottle for the time between sanitizing and
filling.
Drew
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Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 12:42:55 EST
From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <Spencer.W.Thomas at med.umich.edu>
Subject: Bock recipe
Well, I was going to wait until after this beer won the Bock is Best
competition :-) to post this, but a friend asked for the recipe, so
I'll kill two birds with one stone. Since this was the first batch in
my new mash/lauter tun, the procedure required some fine-tuning. Thus
the multiple infusions, etc. This may make it difficult to exactly
reproduce the recipe!
I made this on Dec 26, so it's
Boxing Day Bock
10# Belgian Pilsener Malt
3# Belgian Munich Malt
(above Corona crushed)
.5# M&F Crystal malt
2 oz chocolate malt
(above pre-crushed by roller mill at the HB shop)
4oz Hallertau plugs at 2.9%
2oz Saaz plugs at 3.1%
Wyeast Munich Lager yeast (2308)
Procedure:
Mix Pilsener & Munich malts in mash tun, infuse 10.5qts H2O at 170F (mash
temp 137F -- oops!), infuse additional 3qt at boiling (mash temp to 145F
- -- sigh!), decoct 3qts (pretty thick) to boiling (mash temp to 156F --
finally!) Meanwhile, steep crystal in 1qt H2O at 165F. Mash 1hour.
Infuse 3gal at boiling to 165F, add crystal & chocolate malts & stir.
15min rest. Start sparge, recirculate 6 qts. Sparge to 6.5gal
(ending sparge gravity 1.010 at 150F == 1.026??)
Boil 1.5 hours. Hop schedule
2 oz Hallertau at 30 min
1 oz each Hallertau & Saaz at 60 min
1 oz each at 75 min
Chill & rack. Yield approx 4 gal at 1.066.
Pitch yeast from 1pt starter. Move to cellar at 58F. After two days,
krauesen is evident, move to fridge at 50F.
Primary time: 6 weeks
24 hour diacetyl rest at end.
Bottled at FG 1.022, lagered in bottle.
Comments:
It came out as a borderline "Helles Bock." Probably should have left
out the chocolate malt.
This stuff is yummy. Wonderful malt nose & flavor. Nicely hopped.
Friends have said it's one of the best beers they have tasted.
I have to attribute much of its goodness to the ingredients: Belgian
malts and hops plugs. This is the first time I've ever really smelt
the "spiciness" of Saaz hops. I wonder whether the little decoction I
did to get the mash temperature up had some effect on the maltiness.
=Spencer W. Thomas | Info Tech and Networking, B1911 CFOB, 0704
"Genome Informatician" | Univ of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Spencer.W.Thomas at med.umich.edu | 313-764-8065, FAX 313-764-4133
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Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 09:57:46 -0800
From: atl at kpc.com
Subject: Re: Moderate drinking & minimal cold catching
> While we're on the topic of alcohol and health again, I saw an
> interesting but superficial tidbit on CNN Streamline News a couple
> nights ago. According to CNN, "a group of British researchers" has
> released a study showing that moderate drinkers have "a much lower
> chance" of catching a cold than folks who drink rarely or never.
>
> This is all the info that was given. I'd like some more details, but
> haven't seen anything in the _NY Times_ or the _Wall St. Journal_
> since then. Does anyone know more?
I have no hard data, but my brewing has increased manyfold over this flu
season, to a point where I nearly never buy commercial beer anymore. (Less
than one case in 6 months). For the first time in years, I have not gotten a
single cold through the flu season. I attribute this to greater increase in
vitamin B intake.
Drew
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Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 12:22 CST
From: arf at genesis.mcs.com (Jack Schmidling)
Subject: Lauter Tuns, PU
>From: Jeff Benjamin <benji at hpfcbug.fc.hp.com>
_ end cap
|
tee +---------] cap
|
[--------+
|
+---------]
|
[--------+
[--------+
|
elbow \
90 deg up --------------->==========
standpipe siphon hose
(this would be coming out of the screen)
Perhaps I am thick but I do not understand this. Which way is up?
>From: pyle at intellistor.com (Norm Pyle)
>Subject: PU yeast
>Where did you get PU yeast, Jack? All of the PU I've bought (and I've
bought a _lot_) has been filtered (no sediment).
I got mine from a customer on the West coast but he got it from Paul
Farnsworth in Texas.
I called Paul and learned that he got it on a recent trip to the source. He
sells a rather extensive library of yeast cultures on slants for $15 ea. He
also sells culturing supplies and equipment. Thus far I have tried his PU
and Essex ale. I also have a Suffolk ale and a Bavarian lager that I have
not gotten around to trying.
His company is:
Scientific Service
7407 Hummingbird Hill
San Antonio TX 78255
(512) 695 2547
From: "Bob Jones" <bjones at novax.llnl.gov>
>a quote from GW malt stated that the conversion time for their pale malt
(Harrington) is 5-7 minutes! Has anyone ever tried to sparge after a 10
minute mash? Sounds like a good test for Jack S. with all that time to burn!
I have no access to GW malt but I always do the iodine test at ten minutes.
Most domestic malt is just about fully negative at this point and the times I
have checked it in 5 minutes, there has been a significant reduction in
starch.
As I do not really understand or trust the iodine test, I still usually mash
for one hour. After all, with time to burn....
>From: korz at iepubj.att.com
>Jack writes:
>> up with 4 after 90 min is just about right. Frankly, I do not think there
is such a thing as too vigorous a boil. If you lose too much wort, just
start > with more. I would figure on about a gallon per hour of boil.
>I disagree. A vigorous boil we want, but in most cases (i.e. for most
styles) we don't want to caramelize the wort. The higher the heat, the
more the wort caramelizes. This would not be good in a Pils style.
Judging from all the interest in getting that caramel flavor recently
displayed on the Digest, I presume that lots of people would not find that a
problem. More importantly, Ken Pachivich at Bader Brau makes an issue of his
"fire brewed" process to achieve that caramel taste for his award winning
Pilsner. He brags about how hot the fire must be to achieve caramelization.
El Cheapo Easymasher....
The idea for this one came from McHarry and if you find me pushing a shopping
cart full of empty cans, you can blame him. He, of course, stole an idea
from Benjamin but I couldn't understand the latter's drawing so, he beat me
to it.
This is the ultimate (in simplicity) EASYMASHER. In fact it will probably
always be an easymasher (lower case) because I can't think of any reason
anyone would pay me to make it.
______
| |
| | |
| | | 3/8" O.D. Copper Tubing
* | | / with 3 bends
* | | /
* | | /
* | | /
* | |
* | | Screen Roll
* | | /
* | ---######
* |________________________
* /
* Kettle Bottom
*
\
3/8" I.D. Plastic Hose
1. It requires no hole in the kettle.
2. Does not interfere with stirring because it can be put in
when ready to sparge.
3. Can be used in any kettle, plastic bucket, crock or
toilet bowl.
4. It can be built for about $2.
5. It looks a lot like the traditional siphon with a Chore
Boy on it but has far more class.
6. Although untested, I suspect it will work better than
any other system available today, with one exception.
7. Aside from the convenience of a spigot, it has all the
technical advantages of the world famous EASYMASHER.
The only remaining question is, where do I sign up for welfare?
js
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Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 10:29 PST
From: Paul AndersEn <ECZ5PGA at MVS.OAC.UCLA.EDU>
Subject: Beer and Cancer
Hello fellow brewers, Now I could be wrong, but, while doing research for
a paper in my Biology of Cancer class here at UCLA, I found some articles
which described studies being done in Europe regarding the effects of beer
and alcohol in general on the risk of colorectal cancer. What they seemed
to be saying was that spirits and wine did not increase the risk of colorectal
cancer, but they found that beer did. Of course the risk was substantially
increased only in subjects who drank large amounts of beer regularly over
the course of a lifetime. There was also a link to dark beers and smoked
foods, such as fish.
I did not end up writing my paper on this topic, so I cannot give any
references, however, it would not take me long to look them up again if
anyone is interested.
If anyone else can shed some light on the subject, feel free.
By the way, I tried the new Pub Daught Guiness in the can for the first
last weekend and I loved it. Just for fun I ripped open the can to check
out the doohickie on the bottom: pretty cool. If you haven't tried it yet,
and you like Guiness, go out and get some. It is amazing how it looks and
tastes like it came out of the tap. My only gripe is that you have to
open it cold (otherwise you have beer all over the place: like homebrew).
I haven't seen it in too may stores though. In southern california you can
get it at the Price Club (although it may be seasonal). It sure made my
St. Patricks Day.
Homebrewers do it sanitarily
P.Andersen
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Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 13:02 CST
From: korz at iepubj.att.com
Subject: Re: yeast starter (help!!!)/sludge/bottling/starter correction
JW writes:
> Thursday evening I broke the inner package on a pack of Wyeast
>pilsen lager yeast (sorry, forgot the number). The package of yeast was
>dated 8 February. By Friday morning the pack had expanded to about 3/4
>to 1 inch in thickness. I pitched this into 3/4 quart of wort I had
>prepared the evening before. The wort starter was made by mixing 3 Tbs
>of an amber DME with 3/4 quart water in a 1 1/2 quart clean juice jar.
I think that this may be your problem. 3 tbsp in 3/4 quart is an *very*
low gravity wort. Even the 1020 wort that I use barely if ever shows
any kraeusen -- besides there being very little sugar for the yeast to
get excited about, the viscosity of the wort is so low that no "head"
forms. You probably have a fine yeast starter, albeit a bit weaker than
it could have been. If you want to continue to use the juice jar for
your starters, get a one-hole stopper to fit the top and put an airlock
in it. The airlock will show you activity a lot more accurately than
watching the surface of the starter.
> I called the supply house where i got the yeast and they mentioned
>that the low pressure storm system which just came through Phila may have
>caused the starter to mis-start. This seems suspicious to me, however,
>because I've never heard of problems at higher elevations where atmospheric
>pressure is also less than at sea lever.
Ridiculous. Perhaps all the yeast in the US is now dead thanks to this
low pressure storm system? Find a reputable supplier.
********************
Joe writes:
>I have a question about when the krausen begins to fall after 2-3 days of
>very active fermentation. As the krausen falls I am left with (real techinical
>term here) "brown sludge" stuck to the sides of my primary (plastic bucket).
>The fermentation slows rapidly after this, and if I scrape the sludge into the
>beer it begins fermentating again.
>
>The question is, should I be scraping this sludge back into the beer? Am I
>doing something wrong to be getting the sludge in the first place? This has
The sludge is a combination of hop petals that made it through, hop resins,
dead and dormant yeast and probably a couple of other things. Leave it
be. The sludge is expected, but if you still think you want it in your
beer, taste it and decide for yourself.
******************
Chris writes:
>Once the bottles are boiled, bleached, NaOH'ed, etc. . .where do you keep
>them before they are filled and capped? I am concerned about nasties
>falling into the bottles while they are waiting to be filled. Should I
>bottle a six or twelve pack at a time to make sure no bottles are waiting
>too long?
I bought a bottle tree and a sanitizer thingamabob. It mounts on the
top of the tree. I pump bleach solution into the bottles (30 pumps)
and then set the bottles onto the tree. When I've got two cases on
the tree, I rinse the first bottle, fill it, cap it and then go on to
the next bottle. Perhaps you may want to sanitize all your bottles
(even if you leave them face up) and then rinse just before bottling.
This way, if anything falls in, the residual sanitizer will kill it.
************************
I wrote:
>>fermented at maybe 1 bubble per 30s. Is this slow
>>fermentation normal??
>
>Consider the size of the batch and the gravity (which, by the way, was
>good for a starter). Consider that a regular 5-gallon batch would have
>almost 27 times the wort. That equates to almost a bubble per second.
>Not bad. If the wort was 1040 or 1050 or 1060, you could have expected
>2 bubbles per second, but 1 bubble/30 sec for a 24 ounce, 1020 starter
^^^^^^^^^^
>is just fine.
That should have been 2 bubbles per 30 seconds.
Al.
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Date: Thu, 18 Mar 93 14:27:28 EST
From: Don Sharp 18-Mar-1993 1428 <sharp at rumor.enet.dec.com>
Subject: Ninkaski - brewing an ancient beer
Our colleague Stephen E. Hansen - hansen at sierra.Stanford.EDU - volunteered to
help me get the article installed in the Homebrew Archives at Stanford - I was
inundated with more requests than I could possibly fulfill, so that seemed like
the right thing to do. If after a reasonably diligent effort to retrieve the
thing from the archives you have no success ping me again and I'll see what I
can do.
Don
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #1101, 03/19/93