HOMEBREW Digest #1269 Thu 11 November 1993

Digest #1268 Digest #1270


        FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
                Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator


Contents:
  need help with water chem (Carlo Fusco)
  Beer in Kuwait? ("Mark S. Nelson")
  siphoning hot wort? (George Tempel)
  Beer Dandruff (fjdobner)
  Re: Adding spices to beer (REGINAH)
  Dry Hopping BUs??? (npyle)
  Propane, natural gas, and toxic fumes. (Andrew Baird) (andrewb6)
  Head Retention problems ("Dennis Lewis")
  Inadvertent Lambic ("Dennis Lewis")
  Insulating a keg boiler ("Dennis Lewis")
  Re: Nasty Brews (Julie Kangas)
  Plugging Your Homegrown (Alan Edwards)
  zymurgy recipe correction (WESTEMEIER)
  A Primer on Czech Beers (C.R. Saikley)
  Changes at Pilsner Urquell (C.R. Saikley)
  re: BREWING ORGANS (Mike Peckar  10-Nov-1993 0909)
  Ithaca Brewpubs (bickham)
  Old beer recipes in Zymurgy (Spencer.W.Thomas)
  sm-ALL Grain/  Sake (Spencer.W.Thomas)
  Grolsch Tops and Ithica  (laewell)
  More on labels (Paul deArmond)
  wasting water (Tom Tomazin)
  Re: Greenplug (Dion Hollenbeck)
  multi-strain brew ("Daniel F McConnell")
  Grant's IPA Clone? (Steve Zabarnick)
  RE: Nasty Brews (Part 1) ("/R=FDACB/R=A1/U=RIDGELY/O=HFM-400/TN=FTS
   402-1521/FFN=Bill Ridgely/")
  signoff homebrew ("R.A.Lewis")
  Priming / concise $.02 (Carl Howes)
  Counter Pressure Fillers and Foam (Gary S. Kuyat)
  Responses to college brewers (esonn1)
  b&t (Mark Bunster)
  Hunter Airstat modifications (snystrom)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1993 11:08:00 -0500 From: carlo.fusco at canrem.com (Carlo Fusco) Subject: need help with water chem Hello Everyone, After reading someone elses post about water chemistry I decided to look into my own water supply and it generated 2 questions. I am now hoping that net wisdom will shed some light on how to fix my problems. Water parameters York Region, Ontario, Canada hardness 160 pH 8.0 Ca 38 ppm Cl 4 ppm Mg 16 ppm K 1 ppm SiO2 13 ppm Na 22 ppm Fe 1 ppm They could not provide me with Bi/carbonate levels only hardness measured as calcium carbonate. Everything else is in trace levels. Question #1 Is 1 ppm Fe to high? Miller states that it gives a metallic flavour, adds haze and hampers yeast activity. I have noticed that since I moved and switched to LabYeast from Wyeast that my fermentations are considerably longer and less vigourous, sometimes 4X longer. [note: Wyeast is no longer available where I am.] Miller states that Iron is not wanted in brew water. How do I remove excess Iron? Question #2 Since they could not provide me with the bi/carbonate concentrations, I would have to figure them out. Using standard analytical methods I can calulate how much hardness is contributed by Ca, Mg, Fe, and Mn [the key contributers of hardnes]. Did I figure this out correctly? hardness = 38 ppm Ca * 2.497 + 16 ppm Mg * 4.116 + 1 ppm Fe * 1.792 + 0 ppm Mn * 1.822 Ca contributes 94.89 ppm hardness as Calcium Carbonate Mg contributes 65.86 ppm hardness as Calcium Carbonate Fe contributes 1.792 ppm hardness as Calcium Carbonate Total calculated hardness is 162.5 ppm, which is pretty close to the 160 ppm reported. Now assuming that all bi/carbonate is only associated with Ca and it is all removed by boiling as outlined in Miller. I should then have 0 ppm Ca left in the water and about 67 ppm bi/carbonate left in the brew water. Will the addition of Gypsum prior to boiling remove the remaining bi/carbonate and reintroduce Ca to the brew water? How much Gypsum? Will the sulfate and sodium conflict and cause a harshness described by Miller? Will Mg and Fe react like Ca and percipitate out after boiling? If so, will my Iron/hard water problem be fixed my simply boiling all brew water before using it. Thanks for your help Carlo <carlo.fusco at canrem.com> - --- * Freddie 1.2.5 * The first full-featured QWK reader for the Mac. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1993 09:46:55 -0800 (PST) From: "Mark S. Nelson" <mnelson at eis.calstate.edu> Subject: Beer in Kuwait? I didn't know they allowed beer in Kuwait, or do they? My suggestion is to go across to Bahrain. The beer prices and selection aren't the greatest, but it's legal. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused. Mark S. Nelson nelsonm at axe.humboldt.edu mnelson at eis.calstate.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 09 Nov 1993 14:31:05 +0000 (U) From: George Tempel <tempel at MONMOUTH-ETDL1.ARMY.MIL> Subject: siphoning hot wort? siphoning hot wort? This may be a FAQ, but the title says it all: how does one siphon hot wort into the primary? my first brew starts this weekend... george 908/544-2673 Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 93 13:02 CST From: fjdobner at ihlpa.att.com Subject: Beer Dandruff I remember about a half year ago someone posted their experience in using a starter for their yeast and finding rice-like size pieces of something at the bottom of their starter vessle after the fermentation ceased. Can whomever posted that please contact me with their experiences? I have witnessed the same thing and would like to know what I am up against. I am using the Yeast Lab Bavarian Lager yeast. The taste of the fermented liquid decanted from the starter tasted a bit winey. That could be because it is a lager yeast and the temperature for the starter is about 66-68F. Any answers? Frank Dobner Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1993 14:31:20 EST5EDT From: REGINAH at SOCIOLOGY.Lan.McGill.CA Subject: Re: Adding spices to beer Hello out there-- I just brewed a Christmas Porter loosely based on Papazian's Goat Scrotum Ale recipe (if anybody's offended, blame him not me), using cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. In trying to figure out the amounts of each, I reviewed both Papazian's other spiced beer recipes and his section on spices. I found a confusing discrepancy. All the recipes direct the brewer to add the spices at the beginning of the boil, but the spice section says to add them 15 minutes before the end. I added all of mine at the beginning, figuring that for a Christmas beer, the more time the merrier, but am still wondering about this point. Any opinions? Regina Harrison MA student McGill University Montreal, Quebec Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 93 14:11:34 MST From: npyle at n33.stortek.com Subject: Dry Hopping BUs??? I was reading the 1990 Zymurgy Hops and Beer Special Issue today and an issue came up that I haven't seen addressed directly. From the article, "Matching Hops with Beer Styles", Quentin B. Smith mentions "Occasionally I will dry hop using Byron Burch's formula for figuring total bittering units". Earlier in the article he mentions Burch's book "Brewing Quality Beers", which I assume is his source for this formula. Does anyone have Burch's book? He is certainly an award winning homebrewer but I've never heard any authoritative word on IBUs from dry hopping. We have discussed the perception here in the HBD, but I don't think we have come to any conclusions. What exactly does Byron say about this? Norm Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 09 Nov 93 16:28:00 EST From: andrewb6 at aol.com Subject: Propane, natural gas, and toxic fumes. (Andrew Baird) I recently built a burner for brewing. I built it for (and tested it with) natural gas. I've been reading literature on similar *propane* cookers and they all say for outdoor use only. I assume this is because toxic levels of haxardous combustion products are produced, and I'm guessing that carbon monoxide is the main culprit. My questions are as follows: 1. Is CO the ONLY gas/ byproduct I should be worrying about? 2. Is this a problem with both propane and natural gas? 3. When they say OUTDOORS ONLY, do I take that literally, or does an open garage qualify. I've yet to use this burner for other than testing purposes, and I've been thinking about buying a CO detector before I brew, but if CO is not the main culprit, I may be wasting my time. Incidentally, the burner can heat two kettles at once. Each unit produces 70 little blue flames that can be controlled so that the flame height ranges form approx. 1/8" to 1 1/8". I'm not sure how many BTU's it puts out, but I'm considering re-jetting it for propane and measuring output (it's too hard to weigh natural gas). Any insight to these questions is welcome via HBD or private e-mail. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1993 16:31:08 CDT From: "Dennis Lewis" <DLEWIS%jscdo6 at jesnic.jsc.nasa.gov> Subject: Head Retention problems Has anyone else experience head retention problems when using malt extract as a primer? The one beer I primed with DME has no head on it at all! And it's a single decoction wheat beer! It should have loads of foam. I keep thinking that something in the extract may have goofed up the foaming. I've noticed some slight, oily-looking stuff on some of the un-hopped boils that I do for unhopped yeast starters. At any rate, I'm going to stick to corn sugar or reserved, sterile wort from the same batch. Dennis Lewis <dlewis%jscdo6 at jesnic.jsc.nasa.gov> Homebrew, The Final Frontier. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1993 16:39:30 CDT From: "Dennis Lewis" <DLEWIS%jscdo6 at jesnic.jsc.nasa.gov> Subject: Inadvertent Lambic I made a batch of aborted vienna lager and the brew turned out to be infected from the new fermenter I was using (used keg). In the process of washing out the goo, some flat, ropy-looking stuff came washing out. It was the color of trub, sort of an off-beige and very stringy. I examined a piece of it and it was quite resilient with a faint acidy smell. Any ideas what that might be? I've heard of a pellicle forming on lambic beers...this stuff looks like it would form a covering on the ferment. By the way, the brew wasn't too bad and was salvaged by mixing with an over-hopped brew and dryhopping to freshen the taste. Dennis Lewis <dlewis%jscdo6 at jesnic.jsc.nasa.gov> Homebrew, The Final Frontier. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1993 16:44:09 CDT From: "Dennis Lewis" <DLEWIS%jscdo6 at jesnic.jsc.nasa.gov> Subject: Insulating a keg boiler Has anyone out there in net-land insulated a 15.5 gal keg boiler? I'm using a propane cooker and it comes to a boil fairly quick, but I'd like to insulate it to improve the efficiency. I've heard of people wrapping the keg in a hot-water-heater insulating jacket (I think from this forum). Are these the way to go? Will they withstand boiling temps? Flame retardent? E-mail is great, if it's not of general HBD interest. Thanks in advance... Dennis Lewis <dlewis%jscdo6 at jesnic.jsc.nasa.gov> Homebrew, The Final Frontier. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 93 13:48:32 PST From: julie at bruno.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Julie Kangas) Subject: Re: Nasty Brews Rowley at kuhub.cc.ukans.edu asks about nasty brews, including drinks fermented with milk... I know of two such drinks: kefir from the Caucauses and kumis from Mongolia. Kefir is a fizzy milk drink that contains a yeast and a lactobacilli. It is slightly sour and very refreshing. The yeast/bacteria colony forms a large clump that is simply amazing to behold. Kumis is fermented mare's milk. I have never tried it. The "standard" method of preparation is to put your mare's milk in a leather bag and hang it outside your yurt. Whenever you or anyone else enters/leaves the yurt, you give the bag a good shaking. The Romans used to ferment fish (cut up fish and let them rot (er--ferment)). This is the ancestor of Worchester sauce. Charlie Papazian reprints an old recipe that uses a dead rooster as an important ingredient. The Aztecs and Mayans drank pulque which is fermented maguay. Don't know about farther north. South America has a tradition of corn beer. Julie Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 93 15:04:55 PST From: rush at xanadu.llnl.gov (Alan Edwards) Subject: Plugging Your Homegrown Tom Kaltenbach writes (in HBD #1264): | ... Now for my question: has anybody tried making their own plugs with | homegrown hops? It seems like you would just need a press of some sort, | and a mold to form the hops into a convenient shape (i.e. plugs). Any | ideas? The closest I've come is to cram as much as I can into baby food jars. I can get 1/2 oz crammed into the smallest ones (2oz) and usually put an even 1 oz into the large 6oz jars. It's convenient to have a pre-mesaured amount on hand. I start out by measuring an amount of hops and putting them into a large glass mixing bowl. Then I stick the jar down in the hops and stuff them in with my hand. There's not much room for air in there; and the lids are air-tight. I keep them in the freezer. -Alan Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 09 Nov 1993 19:25:32 -0400 (EDT) From: WESTEMEIER at delphi.com Subject: zymurgy recipe correction I just received the Special edition of _zymurgy_ and noticed a serious error in my article. The article (about reviving old British beers) is fine. However, the recipes (on pages 40 and 41) seem to have suffered from the attentions of a gremlin somewhere between the translation to American (from the original English) and the final printing. Terribly sorry it happened, but the editors are aware of it and promise to print a correction in the next issue. All of the recipes list ingredients for making "six US gallons" which is plainly wrong if you examine the quantities. In fact, the quantities shown are for making _one_(UK)_gallon_. CORRECTION: To make five US gallons, multiply all quantities by 4.2 (that's close enough). This should be obvious, but you never know.... By the way, thanks again to Geoff Cooper for making the article possible and the opportunity to have the delightful evening I wrote about. Ed Westemeier Cincinnati, Ohio westemeier at delphi.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 93 20:01:19 PST From: grumpy!cr at uunet.UU.NET (C.R. Saikley) Subject: A Primer on Czech Beers A Primer on Czech Beers A fresh Czech Pilsner, like Pilsner Urquell or Budweiser, is a stunning example of the level of refinement achievable in lager beer. Perfectly clean, crisp, and sparkling, these beers provide a venue to show off the two main flavor components of beer - malt and hops - with emphasis definitely on the hops. There are no traces of yeastiness, and fermentation by-products are kept to a minimum. The slow, cool fermentations, and even slower and cooler lagering produces a full flavored smoothness which can not be realized by any other means. The pale lagers are always brilliantly clear and have a rich golden color. At 4 degrees Lovibond, they are a shade deeper in color than their Western European counterparts. They are typically served in tall, half-liter glasses, crowned with a white frothy head which extends well above the lip of the glass. The aroma, like the flavor, is purely that of malt and hops. The prized hops of the Zatec region (Saaz in German) of Bohemia are renown the world over for their noble qualities, and Czech brewers use them liberally. The flavor profile is decidedly toward the hop end of the spectrum. The extremely soft waters of Plzen lend themselves to copious hopping rates, allowing a clean bitterness to come through in the finished product. Hop aroma is achieved exclusively by late kettle additions; dry hopping is not employed. The full bodied character of these 12 degree Balling beers derives from pale Moravian and Bohemian malts. Some of the malt sugars are carmelized during the triple decoction mash and lengthy boil, which deepens the color slightly and adds depth to the beers' character. The only fermentation by-product present in perceptible amounts is diacetyl. The concentration is low enough that it is not distinguishable as a buttery note, but instead it gives the beer a fuller palate. Even though the malt charge is quite substantial, its role is essentially that of providing a foundation for the expression of hops, the dominant element of Czech beers. While the beers of the Czech Republic may not be as diverse as those of other brewing nations, the beers that are produced there are classics. They are the most imitated beers in the world, but most imitators pale by comparison. There are no finer Pilsners to be found anywhere. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Nov 93 20:00:55 PST From: grumpy!cr at uunet.UU.NET (C.R. Saikley) Subject: Changes at Pilsner Urquell Greetings Brewers, I hesitated before sending this, since it's not strictly about brewing, and since the Digest is so crowded these days. But people have generally responded favorably to my travel stories in the past, so here goes... Enjoy, CR ************************************************************************ Change is Brewing at Pilsner Urquell These are tumultuous times in Eastern Europe. Communism is practically dead, the lines on the map have been redrawn, and some nations have plunged into bloody civil war. The former nation of Czechoslovakia is now split into two separate countries : the Czech Republic in the west, and the Slovak Republic in the east. Along with the change in government is an attendant change in philosophy; the people are opening up to the ideas of the west. Capitalism is taking hold, and there is a great deal of investment and rebuilding going on. Even though these are difficult times, a general sense of optimism toward the future prevails. There are big changes at Pilsner Urquell as well, but that's getting ahead of the story. First, a little history. The story of brewing in Plzen goes back to at least the 13th century, when the burgers of the town were granted brewing rights by King Wenceslas. The breweries were typically large homebreweries, and for several centuries, the beer produced was pretty wretched. During the 19th century great advances in brewing technology took place in Munich, Vienna, and Copenhagen, and the citizens of Plzen set out to imitate the beers of Munich. In 1842, the new brewery was established, and although the beer produced there was not what was expected, it proved to be very popular. By 1870 the beers of Plzen were exported to Vienna, Paris, London and Moscow. The rapid growth continued, and by 1913, the brewery's output exceeded 1 million hectoliters, making it the largest brewery in Europe. The 20th century has not been so kind to the brewers at Plzen. The first world war brought an end to their rapid growth, and the time between the wars was one of stagnation. The second world war put the Soviets in charge of Czechoslovakia, and separated Eastern Europe from the west. During most of this century, the brewery's output has remained a constant 1.3 million hectoliters. The export sales of Pilsner Urquell generated a good deal of hard currency, but this was siphoned off by the communists. The brewery was unable to expand or modernize. The Velvet Revolution of 1989 brought big changes to the nation and to the brewery. As capitalism was introduced, new ways of thinking were required. Suddenly they had to be concerned with capitalist concepts such as profit and efficiency. However, old habits die hard, and some of the old guard were unable to adapt. There was a lingering attitude that it was easier to cover oneself by writing lengthy excuse letters rather than solving a given problem. Unfortunately, the first true taste of capitalism that some employees experienced was being layed off! A more positive aspect of the transition is that the brewery is now able to modernize and expand production, and they have tremendous plans for very carefully doing so. There is substantial investment in Plzen, most of it coming from bank loans that the brewery has taken on. They have installed 104 new stainless fermenters ranging in size from 800 to 3600 hectoliters, which more than doubles their fermentation capacity. To match this equipment, a new four story complex is under construction which will house modern filtration, kegging, and bottling equipment. This will be followed by a new brewhouse. Production projections call for 1.5 million hectoliters this year, going up to 2 million next year. Interestingly, all of this increase in production is aimed at the Czech market, which comprises the bulk of their sales. All over the country, the larger breweries are investing and expanding, which of course means that we'll see a shake out of the smaller Czech and Slovak operations. Already, Pilsner Urquell has gobbled up the nearby Gambrinus, Domazlice, Cheb, and Karlovy Vary breweries. Undoubtedly more consolidation will follow. This may not be as bad as it sounds. Even though it's always a shame to see smaller enterprises consumed by the big guys, at least the large Czech breweries have remained true to their traditions. Consequently, Czech brewing heritage does not have the large discontinuity that we find in America. Indeed, the American drinker would be surprised to learn that for the most part, the largest Czech breweries make the best beer. Amidst all of this change, the brewers in Plzen are committed to keeping one thing constant, Pilsner Urquell itself. They fully recognize the value of their 150 year old reputation, and would do nothing to compromise it. To this end, extensive experiments have been undertaken to determine exactly which parts of the old process must be retained to preserve the character of their world renown brew. In side by side comparisons, their expert panel of tasters has found that there are no detectable differences between beer lagered in wood versus stainless steel. However, they have found that the primary fermentation must take place in the traditional open wooden barrels, or the character of the beer is changed. Thus the shiny new fermentation facility is reserved for some of their other products, but not for the original. Further investigation led to an interesting experiment with a surprising result. A standard batch of Pilsner Urquell was brewed and fermented in the normal fashion, while across town at the Gambrinus brewery, a standard batch of the similar Gambrinus was brewed and fermented in its usual fashion. Then both test batches were transferred across town for lagering in stainless at the other brewery. Upon maturation and tasting, the panel was able to detect these beers as different from the normal beers. In effect two new beers were created, somewhere in between the originals. Thus it was concluded that the convenience of being able to lager Pilsner Urquell at either facility must be sacrificed for the sake of the beer's quality. Every aspect of the modernization effort is being scrutinized very carefully. The brewers rightly feel they are compelled to modernize, but must proceed with utmost caution. They are simultaneously faced with the challenges of an unknown world, and a future that is wide open. Let's hope that the stagnation of the 20th century is over, and that Pilsner Urquell moves into a new era of growth and prosperity. The author wishes to thank Mr. Jaroslav Rous, Technical Director of Pilsner Urquell, for his warmth and hospitality. His assistance in writing this article has been invaluable. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 09:28:29 EST From: Mike Peckar 10-Nov-1993 0909 <m_peckar at cscma.enet.dec.com> Subject: re: BREWING ORGANS in reference to Jack Schmidlings response to my long post on SS kegs... 1. Air Cock, yes. thanks. I also disn't use the proper plumbing jargon to describe what I refered to in my article as a "stand off". Its called something else, I forget what. Again, its a one foot copper pipe with a molded end which a 1/2" brass compresssion ring fits over and a one inch flare to 5/8" I.D on the other side. Most hardware stores only carry these in PVC anymore, but better ones will have the copper type. 2. The "lower temps" I had trouble at were under 154 degrees. In later batches, when I would raise the temp at the end of the mash (Mashout), flow would increase significantly with my version of the screen sparger. Any batches where the mash temps did not exceed this, it'd get stuck. 3. Yes, my design was very different than what you describe. I can see how the easymasher's copper tube provides support for the screen and a better clamping surface. Mine was simpler yet that that, though, being just a wrap or two of screen clamped to a 1/2" nipple. it was 3/4" in diameter and 9 inches long. Too long and too flimsy. It was easy, though. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 09:32:09 -0500 (EST) From: bickham at msc.cornell.edu Subject: Ithaca Brewpubs Bill Gorman writes: >Date: Tue, 09 Nov 93 11:46:59 EST >From: gorman at aol.com >Subject: Brewpubs in/near Ithaca, NY > >Any info on brewpubs in or near Ithaca, NY? Funny that you ask - I was going to post a notice today about the recent renovations at the Chapter House Brewpub. Well it hasn't really been a brewpub for the past few years. The owners used to brew the beer at the Vernon Valley, NJ location and bring kegs here to sell, but for a number of reasons I won't discuss, they stopped brewing there a few years ago. They did have the equipment to produce smaller volumes at their building here, but had decided to brew all of their beers in New Jersey due to economies of scale. In the meantime, their license to brew here had expired and the renewal was held up in the beauracracy in Albany until recently. Now for the good news. The Chapter House brewing equipment was refitted to brew lagers, and at the same time, the number of taps was increased to a total of 30. At the moment, there are 14 commercial beers on tap, including Sierra Nevada (Pale Ale, Celebration Ale, Stout), Sam Adams (Lager, Ale, Winter), Fullers ESB, Watney's Cream Stout, and Paulaner Hefeweizen. Woodpecker and Woodchuck cider are also available, as well as several of the Yeungling and Catamount products. The house brews are gradually coming on line. Last night I tasted the porter (which was being carbonated) and thought it was very nice - it was a little hoppy for my taste, but it had some body and maltiness. By the end of the week, there will be a Maerzen (which I tasted while it was conditioning and found to be a little light in color and maltiness) and an Amber. I think the Clements are also planning to brew the Blond Double Bock which was popular when it was brewed in Vernon Valley. The Chapter House is located on Stewart Avenue ( the one paved with bricks), one block North of Buffalo Street (where there is a flashing yellow/red light) . It lies in between Cornell and the downtown area, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. On the other hand, there is street parking only, so you might have to park a few blocks away :-( Have fun! Scott Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 09:45:29 EST From: Spencer.W.Thomas at med.umich.edu Subject: Old beer recipes in Zymurgy I was reading the latest Zymurgy last night, and happened upon the old English beer recipes. (From the Durbin Park club??) Anyway, the quantities in these recipes are surely off (1.060 from <3lbs of grain in 6 gallons???). If anyone has the correct numbers for these recipes, could you please post them in this forum? Thanks. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 09:52:38 EST From: Spencer.W.Thomas at med.umich.edu Subject: sm-ALL Grain/ Sake You CAN make moderate gravity beers with a small boiler. Sure, it's not recommended, and you leave a lot of sugar behind, but it can be done. Example: mash 10 lbs of grain in about 3.5 gallons of water, drain 2.5 gallons of "first runnings" at about 1.090. Boil down to 2 gallons, then dilute to 5 gallons at 1.045. Yes, you'll get lousy extraction, yes, you'll get lousy hop utilization (but this is no different from extract brewing), yes you'll get some caramelization of the wort sugars. But it can be done. Personally, I wouldn't, though. =S Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 09:26:21 CST From: laewell at iastate.edu Subject: Grolsch Tops and Ithica To Whom it May Concern, Bill Gorman asked about brewepubs in Ithaca. I went to a place I beleive was called the Charter House in Ithaca on the outskirts of the Cornell campus. I had a few glasses of 'Blond Doppel Bock' that was OUTSTANDING! On a different subject. I was dismayed to find out that the tops of Grolsch have recently been changed from ceramic to plastic. I find the bottles perfect for homebrewing after an appropriate bleach soak. Isn't anything sacred anymore? Lars Ewell Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 07:20:03 -0800 (PST) From: Paul deArmond <paulf at henson.cc.wwu.edu> Subject: More on labels Since I am an enthusiastic label maker AND a big fan of appropriate technology, here are two suggestions for putting curved text on labels: 1) If you have access to a PostScript printer, get the PostScript manuals that are published by Adobe. They are known as the Red, Green & Blue books (clever graphics reference, huh?) The titles are PostScript Language Reference Manual (red), PostScript Language Program Design (green), and PostScript Language Tutorial and Cookbook (blue). I've used straight PS code for doing interesting things that would be impossible through many application programs. Also, you might want to look for CricketDraw, a Mac program. It was one of the earliest PS code generators out there. Used copies (*with* manual) may be cheap or free, since it has been superseeded by Freehand, CorelDraw, etc. - or - 2) Do what graphic artists have been doing for years, snip out your text and make a bunch of cuts most of the way through the strip of paper, so that you can bend it. This works best if you use a waxer, rather than glue, paste or rubber cement. Impressive ASCII figure: _______________________________________________ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |_______________________________________________| ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ snip snip snip snip snip snip snip... Paul. ps. The miscreant in "BATF Outlaws Steam Injection" didn't sign the release, so we'll have to watch the COPS show with one of those blurry mosaic fogs over his face... Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 09:56:29 -0600 (CST) From: tomt at nano.sps.mot.com (Tom Tomazin) Subject: wasting water George Tempel asks: >Is there another method that _doesn't_ require gallons >upon gallons of water running from the tap to cool >the wort? I'd rather not keep the local water authorities >in business just to have quickly cooled wort. I use an immersion chiller and collect the outflow water into a 6 gallon bucket. When the bucket is full, I dump it into my washing machine and do a load of underwear. No waste! Incidentally, it takes about ~8 gallons of Texas tap water to cool 5 gallons to about 90 degrees. I reaffirm that giving the wort a gentle stir every minute or so greatly improves the efficiency of the chiller. - -- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thomas Tomazin Parallel Scalable Processor Design MOTOROLA SPS, Inc. (512) 505-8124 505 Barton Springs Rd. Suite 1055 Austin, Texas 78762 Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 08:20:59 PST From: megatek!hollen at uunet.UU.NET (Dion Hollenbeck) Subject: Re: Greenplug >>>>> On Fri, 5 Nov 93 13:16:06 EST, Ulick Stafford >>>>> <ulick at michaelangelo.helios.nd.edu> said: Ulick> I saw this gadget that may be of interest to homebrewers like Ulick> me who have many fridges and freezers. This device uses Ulick> computer circuitry to work out how much electricity is actually Ulick> needed to keep a motor running (it cuts up the sine wave in Ulick> some way - ask an electrical power engineer). And not only Ulick> does it save around 25-33% of electricity, the motor runs more Ulick> smoothly as well A discussion went on about these in misc.consumers.house a while back. I had bought one and responded that I did not see a drop in my electric bill, but my fridge was quieter. The common consensus seemed to be that if you have an older fridge (more likely when it is a beer fridge, than your primary household fridge) you will benefit more from this device. Newer, more efficient compressors in fridges now will not benefit so much. A couple of months ago, I signed up with my utility company for an energy monitoring program and last Friday, was loaned a meter. It has been hooked up to my fridge for 2 days with the Green Plug and now one day without. Definite quantitative results will be forthcoming tomorrow when the non-Green Plug test period is completed. Dion Hollenbeck (619)455-5590x2814 Email: hollen at megatek.com Senior Software Engineer megatek!hollen at uunet.uu.net Megatek Corporation, San Diego, California ucsd!megatek!hollen Return to table of contents
Date: 10 Nov 1993 10:50:43 -0500 From: "Daniel F McConnell" <Daniel_F_McConnell at mailgw.surg.med.umich.edu> Subject: multi-strain brew Subject: multi-strain brew Glenn GANDE at slims.attmail.com writes: >I've been toying with the idea of blending yeast strains to get >'novel' results. I have a passion for 1056 and pale ales, but would >like to introduce another layer of complexity. My plan is to make a >starter with both Wyeast 1056 and 1007 (American Ale and German Ale) > - then brew the house Pale. I tried this a few years ago in a misguided (read non-controlled) experiment, back when I was doing more *open* fermentations. Misguided for two reasons 1) The ENTIRE batch was fermented with all three strains and 2) I made a pale ale that was WELL hopped. I used Chico, Whitbread and Whiteshield strains simultaneously pitched. The beer was good, but since I did not split the batch and taste each strain individually, obvious differences in taste due to the triple strain were not apparent. In addition, since I hopped to about 40 IBU, most of the flavor came from hops, and the subtle yeast nuances were lost. OK, maybe I wasn't so smart, but you can learn from my errors. BTW I repitched this after top cropping and later went back to single strains. I would recommend that you use either 1056 OR 1007 and another yeast with MORE character. For instance the combinations 1056/1028, 1007/1028, 1056/1098 or 1007/1098 might be interesting. BUT be sure to due a pure culture ferment for each strain as well so you can do a three point taste comparison. As unpalatable as it might seem, try to keep the hop rate and dark grain contribution to a minimum. Consistency in brewing has never been one of my strong suits (way too much tinkering going on at my house), but if you "brew the house pale" consistently and reproducibly maybe you can get a handle on the multiple strain effect without control experiments. Please post re the results. DanMcC Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 11:50:54 EST From: Steve Zabarnick <steve at snake.appl.wpafb.af.mil> Subject: Grant's IPA Clone? I recently tasted a bottle of Grant's IPA and was amazed by its being a dead-ringer for an extract Pale Ale that I brewed this summer (my last extract before moving to all-grain). My recipe was based on an attempt at an Anchor Liberty clone posted by someone to HBD previously. Here is the recipe. 6 lbs. Light M&F DME 1 lb. Crystal Malt (unknow Lovibond) 2 oz. Northern Brewer (7.1 AA) for 60 mins. 1 oz. Cascades (5.7 AA) for 10 mins. 1 oz. Cascades (dry hopped in secondary for two weeks) Wyeast 1056 OG= 1.054 FG=1.011 I'm curious about which ingredients cause these two brews to taste and look so similar. Does Grant's use Wyeast 1056? Do they use Northern Brewer for bittering? Do they dry hop? The only difference I could detect was a slighty different hop aroma; perhaps they don't dry hop with Cascades. I calculate almost 60 IBU's for my brew (this was a full wort boil); is this similar to Grant's IPA? Steve Zabarnick Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 11:59:00 EST From: "/R=FDACB/R=A1/U=RIDGELY/O=HFM-400/TN=FTS 402-1521/FFN=Bill Ridgely/" at mr.cber.fda.gov Subject: RE: Nasty Brews (Part 1) In HBD #1267, Matt Rowley writes: >I'm taking a course now on the genetics of human behavior, >and we got around to alcoholism last Thursday. It's a four >hour seminar, so we sometimes drift around the topic of the >week. One of us mentioned the in-escapability of drinking >alcohol in the field (anthropologists we are), even when what >the locals drink may be foul beyond words. Ah, now you're speaking my language :-) Actually, not all of those beverages are "foul beyond words", although many are unusual by western standards. >I ventured that I'd drink most anything "homebrewed." Tales >from the field then included fermented milk and cream from >no-longer Soviet Georgia. Fermented milk is not so unusual. I'm sure you've eaten cheese and yogurt, the most common examples (although these are bacterial fermentations for the most part and contain little or no alcohol). The specific beverage you're referring to is "kefir", a fermented milk which originated in the Caucasian mountains. Milk from sheep, goats, and cows is used in its preparation. Fermentation is accomplished by lactic acid bacteria and yeast, and the resulting beverage contains about 1% alcohol. A similar drink called "koumiss" is brewed from mares' milk by Mongol tribes of the Asiatic steppes. >What about fish? I've heard tell that various Eskimo people >bury fish for months, then return to eat it. I'm not sure about the Eskimos (who, along with the Australian aborigines, are thought to be the only known cultures without a history of alcoholic beverages), but the people of Southeast Asia have been fermenting fish and shrimp for centuries to create salty sauces and pastes. The fermentations are bacterial in nature and are controlled by the use of large quantities of salt. >Native Americans are said not have had any alcohol ( I find >this hard to believe since natural fermentation is so common: Fermented beverages were not widely used by native Americans, but examples did exist. The Apaches brewed a rather nasty concoction called "tiswin" from germinated corn, wheat, and jimson weedd (sometimes referred to as "Loco Weed", a poisonous plant of the nightshade family). Tiswin's rather potent effects resulted in its being outlawed by the federal government in the 1880's. Native Americans in the southwest also brewed versions of "pulque" and "mezcal" from the stems and core (respectively) of the Agave or Century Plant, as well as "tesguino" from germinated corn and corn stalk juice. [To Be Continued] Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 17:56:45 GMT From: "R.A.Lewis" <R.A.Lewis at chemistry.hull.ac.uk> Subject: signoff homebrew Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 14:19:46 EST From: sdlsb.dnet!73410%sdlcc at swlvx2.msd.ray.com (Carl Howes) Subject: Priming / concise $.02 I plan to bottle my first lager over Thanksgiving weekend. Particulars since my post in #1240: Primary at 45F for 3 weeks, secondary at 45F since. Am I likely to need more yeast (after Wyeast #2007) for conditioning and, if yes, what type(s) are least likely to affect the character of the beer? Also on priming, has anyone else heard of or have more info on the "Crabtree effect" described by Troy Howard in #1264? Sounds like a good reason to abandon use of corn sugar for priming on the face of it. Private email please, given enough responses I will summarize to save bandwidth. $.02 - Humor: laugh or ignore it, "all business" is not a realistic expectation. Offensiveness: eschew self righteousness. js: sarcasm fails in print for those of us (most?) who don't know you offline. Carl Simple address: 73410 at sdlcc.msd.ray.com Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 14:47:29 "EST From: Gary S. Kuyat <gsk at sagan.bellcore.com> Subject: Counter Pressure Fillers and Foam Full-Name: Gary S. Kuyat After drinking litres of flat beer (you didn't expect me to THROW AWAY that foam?!?) and having beer colored walls, I have come to the conclusion that LESS is MORE when it comes to counter pressure bottling. I find that pressurizing over 25 lbs. at 40 degrees is too much carbonation, and too much foam. I had a tough time getting it through my head, that 20 lbs. at 40 is fine. I bottle at 10 lbs. or so after letting the beer "stablize" at 5-6 lbs. for an hour. If you can't tap a pint with a reasonable head, you won't be able to fill bottles without tons 'o foam. If I remember my Braukunst, their catalogue had a nice table refering to pressure, temperature and volume of CO2 dissolved. My tendency was, "The keg is rated to 160! Heh! Heh! Pump up the volumes!" But this is totally wrong. If only I had a counter pressure filling room! - -- -Gary Kuyat gsk at sagan.bellcore.com (908)699-8422 Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 1993 11:23:42 -0500 From: esonn1 at cc.swarthmore.edu Subject: Responses to college brewers Hello brewers, I have been inundated with messages in response to my post "College Brewers" (but would welcome more responses). Many have warned about either drawing attention to the possibility of exposing underage brewers and thus spoiling it for them. Believe me, I do not plan to write an article about underage brewers, especially since a majority of the responses I received were from graduate students. I could easily write a story which only included student brewers who are 21+. It seems that the best thing I could do is write an article and post it to the HBD, thus we can all benefit without causing undue alarm outside of the homebrewing community. I have already received several funny stories about college brewing experiences. If the digest's collective wisdom (?!) believes that any article would be harmful to homebrewing's image etc, I may just keep all these stories to myself. Sorry for the bandwidth, but since questions were posted to the digest instead of being mailed to me directly, I thought it was appropriate. Eugene esonn1 at cc.swarthmore.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 15:04:51 EST From: Mark Bunster <mbunster at hibbs.vcu.edu> Subject: b&t Two notes on black and tan-- The one that I always see around town is Yeungling Black and Tan. Yeungling is out of Pottsville PA, and claims to be the oldest brewery in America (continually brewing I suppose). Anyway, it's a mix of their porter (not bad but nothing special, although $3.99 a six for it is reasonable) and their lager (pretty smooth, and again decent for the money). They also make a light (better than Swiller Lite, but what isn't). around here it must be pretty popular, for you can get it on draft in at least 5 places i can think of offhand. This will likely completely destroy any chances I have of gaining a good rep as a beer drinker, but I've found that a surprisingly drinkable B&T you can make yourself uses Guinness and..... Pabst Blue Ribbon. Call it a Black and Blue if you like. No, honestly! - -- Mark Bunster |Exchange conversation if you dare-- Survey Research Lab--VCU |Share an empty thought or a laugh. Richmond, VA 23220 | mbunster at hibbs.vcu.edu | (804) 367-8813/353-1731 | -edFROM Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 10 Nov 93 12:10:57 EST From: snystrom at aol.com Subject: Hunter Airstat modifications A few editions ago, Mark Garetz reported that Hunter will be discontinuting their airstat thermistor/sensor. Like many, I raced out and purchased one. NOW I'm looking for someone who would be kind enough to repost the instructions that will allow xthe Airstate chill below 40 degrees. They appeared in a b ack issue of the digest. According to Mark, it may have been a 10K ohm resistor in series with thex thermistor/sensor, but he didn't save the posting. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Scott Nystrom snystrom at aol.com Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1269, 11/11/93