HOMEBREW Digest #1348 Sat 12 February 1994

Digest #1347 Digest #1349


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


Contents:
  Contamination (Gary Cote)
  where to get Cajun; has anyone tried Coleman? (tims)
  Dryhop Catastrophy (Doug Lukasik)
  all-grain to extract equation (dong298599)
  Re: Annoying low fills ("Mark MANVILLE")
  Pint Glasses/Kegging (SCHMIDT_K)
  Toxic, But Clean! ("Dan Z. Johnson")
  MaltMill motor ("Dan Z. Johnson")
  Smokin'Brews ("Dan Z. Johnson")
  Strong beers at the Brick (dan_fox)
  Commercial Cream Ales (Aaron Morris)
  Re: wort chiller use (Pete Geib)
  Laaglander DME Starters ("Glen A. Wagnecz, X6616")
  HOPTECH ("Glen A. Wagnecz, X6616")
  Acidifying soft sparge water (Glen Tinseth)
  Hop Source address (Eric Wade)
  Filtering while racking... (Kurt Eaton)
  Women only competions/Laaglander (COCKERHAM_SANDRA_L)
  CP Fillers (Glenn Raudins)
  re: flame to all (Tom Lyons)
  Priming with Canned Wort ?? (Kevin "Puck Head" Hardee)
  Robertson Book (Dan Ferstenou)
  The sex gap in homebrewing? (Greg Kushmerek)
  Competition announcement (Jason Goldman)
  wheat beers (708) 938-3184" <HANSEN.MICHAEL at igate.abbott.com>
  re:discounts at Fullerton (Jim Doyle)
  Geeesh! (AMBLAD)
  Spaten Recipe (Mark Worwetz)
  EKU28SCALDISSANTICLAUSPECHEUR 3619 ?'s (Rich Rosenthal)
  Fuggles, Saaz (Eugene Zimmerman)
  Queen of Beer / Cream Stout (Earle M. Williams)
  lined oak/saaz/decoction mashing (korz)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 9 Feb 1994 13:50:50 -0500 (EST) From: Gary Cote <gary at mv.MV.COM> Subject: Contamination I have a couple of questions..... About 6 batches ago I had a mild infection problem which I traced to a infected racking tube. I would like to know what type of infection this is as some customers at the homebrew shop where I work part time have had the same problem. The primary fermention went as planed and then I racked it to a secondary, After about 4 days it looked like somebody opened up my carboy and sprayed a light coat of white spray paint on top. I took a chance and kegged this to a 5 gal. keg. This still tasted good with a slight after taste. I had the same problem on the next 2 batches but these I bottled. After about 3 weeks in the bottle little white specks began to form inside the bottles just at the liquid line. These also tasted ok with a slight after taste. Any ideas on what has formed in there??? Problem #2..... The last 2 batches have been high gravity brews, # 1 was a dopplebock that started at a whopping 1.150, I know too high for a dopple but, oh well. Fermenting started out fine and went about 6 days real strong than stopped. I took a reading and was still at 1.050 . I then made a started of champagne yeast but no go. I did another batch and split it in 2. I the dopple onto this brew and it fermented out to 1.025 so no loss there. My second batch is a barley wine that started out at 1.110. I used a liquid british yeast (1098) this also stopped at 1.050 but with this one I put 2 champagne yeasts in with the start. After a week at 1.050 I made another champagne starter of about 8 cups. I put this in the carboy and after 6 days there was no movement in readings. What can I be doing wrong????? For batch # 1 I used a (1007) yeast. Both of these were extract batches. All of my grain batches have come out great so I don`t know what is going on. Any help with this would be great. Gary Cote - -- Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 09 Feb 94 10:20:13 -0800 From: tims at ssl.Berkeley.EDU Subject: where to get Cajun; has anyone tried Coleman? Hi Brewers, Well, my next generation brewing system is nearly ready to go, but I haven't bought the burner for my 15.5 gallon keg-kettle. Has anyone ever tried using a Coleman two-burner campstove? I have one of these and thought I might try it before spending the bucks on the Cajun cooker. Also, is there a cheap mail order source for the cajun cooker? thanks, Tim Sasseen tims at ssl.berkeley.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 09 Feb 1994 15:18:14 -0500 (EST) From: Doug Lukasik <LUKASIK_D at sunybroome.edu> Subject: Dryhop Catastrophy About a week and a half ago I made up a Liberty clone and put it in the primary fermenter. After six days it was ready to rack to the secondary and when I did this I added 1 1/2 oz of Cascade plugs in a hop bag for dry hopping. Having been informed earlier that they would float (I had only dry hopped using pellets in the past) I put a handfull of boiled marbles in the bag to weigh it down. Low and behold 2 hours later it was in the neck of the carboy, blocking the CO2 from escaping and bubbling beer out of the airlock. Welllll, I added a handful of nuts (boiled of course) to the bag and of course it sank again. 2 hours latter same problem. This time I added 3 large lag bolts (boiled of course) and it sank again. 2 hours later same old story... [at this point you can stop laughing - I am thinking of naming the brew "Nuts and Bolts Ale"]. Having decided that there was enough "hardware" in the brew at this point it became obvious that the only solution was to keep opening the airlock, sticking a large bread knife (cutting) in and squishing the CO2 out of the hops bag. After 3 days of this my wife was ready to kill me (she of course was required to do this while I was at work). In the interest of brewing harmony I opened it up last night and very painstakingly removed a large amount of the hops with a large pair of hemostats. The remianing hops is now staying at the bottom of the carboy. I am praying that I did not contaminate/oxygenate the beer as it tasted great at racking time. Any suggestions as to how to keep this much hops down in the beer if I try it again? I am expecting the arrival of 48 oz of whole hops later this week and would really like to use some of them for dry hopping. The knife, by the way, was run under very hot water each time it was used in an attempt to sanitize it. Anyone know how much weight per oz is needed to keep whole hops from reaching the surface? Would I be better off ust dumping the hops in the carboy without the hops bag? TIA, Doug. <lukasik_d at sunybroome.edu> Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 09 Feb 94 15:48:41 EST From: dong298599 at aol.com Subject: all-grain to extract equation Does anyone have a method of converting the ingredients in an all-grain recipe to the equivalent using extracts? (i.e. 6# 2-Row Klages equals 3.5 lbs. extract syrup) I am aware that malt syrups will vary and there is an abundance of brands available. I have progressed to the phase of dry and/or syrup extract with specialty grains, but seriously doubt I'll make the transition to all-grain because, well, the beer's just fine with my simpler methods. I would like to try to convert some of those award winning all-grain recipes to simpler extract brewing, though. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 09 Feb 94 15:05:40 CST From: "Mark MANVILLE" <Mark.Manville at ccmail.adp.wisc.edu> Subject: Re: Annoying low fills Kelly Jones <k-jones at ee.utah.edu> writes in Wednesday's HBD: There's a brewpub in Logan, Utah called Ebenezer's. When I was there, I ordered a pint of whatever. What the waitress brought was a glass which couldn't hold 13 oz on its best day, let alone 16 oz. I said, "Excuse me, but I ordered a pint". She said, "That is our Pint". Seeing people around me drinking beer out of pint glasses, I said, "If this is a pint, then whats that _he's_ drinking?" "Oh, that's our 'Super Guzzler' [or whatever] size!" "But this isn't even close to 16 oz!" I protested. "Well, we call it our 'Pint' size, but that doesn't mean its 16 oz", said she, clearly exasperated at my ignorance. Apparently, "Pint" is just a quaint name, like "Big Gulp" or "Super Guzzler", and not a defined unit of volumetric measure. Silly me. - ----------------------- I lived briefly in the UK in the late eighties, and while I was there a major piece of legislation was passed to standardized the size of a pint glass of beer. I assume you must have been there before '87 or so. Pubs even had to junk their old glasses and get ones that conformed to the standards. The legislation also included regulations on how far the beer could be from the lip of these glasses and still be legally called a pint (I hope I have all of this right -- can any UKers correct me?) The British take their beer seriously, you see. By the way, the Imperial pint is actually 19.6 fluid ounces (the American pint is 16), so you were even further from a "real" pint than you thought. If anyone brews according to a foreign recipe (on Edme kits, whatever) they should keep this in mind. Among other things, this means 5 Imperial gallons is really 6 U.S. gallons ... Oh, by the way, let's not point out the sliver in our transatlantic friends' eyes while missing the beam in our own (or however that parable goes). Can you tell me that you've never been uncertain of what you'd get when you order a pitcher (or even a glass) here in the US? Mark Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 1994 21:32:15 -0600 (CST) From: SCHMIDT_K at bj.palmer.edu Subject: Pint Glasses/Kegging Greetings and salutations. JC Ferguson writes: >the you are not getting 16 oz of beer. Ever pour a 12oz bottle of beer in >one of those straight-sided 16oz glasses? It damn near fills it, maybe 1/2" >below the top of the glass. That is how lots and lots of pints are sold here >in this area. They charge you a price for 16oz and you are getting 12-13oz >of beer!! That last 1/2 inch of the glass is about 4 oz of beer! I love to drink my beer from "pint" glasses, even at home. I was overjoyed to find some nice ones several years back. But I did notice that a 12 oz. bottle filled them up. Mr Ferguson's note intrigued me, so I just measured water into my glass. It holds 16oz. But drinking it is going to be tricky. There is a discernable "dome" of liquid at the top of the glass, and I doubt it could be picked up without spilling. He shouldn't feel bad, we get the same thing here in I.O.W.A (Idiots Out Wandering Around). Apparently, I have never seen a real 16 oz glass of beer. Are the glasses bigger in England, or do they fill them to the brim? Also, Mark Bunster writes: >The reconditioning keggin_info was helpful. My partner is thinking of >shelling out $200 for a complete kit. Fair/great/awful price? My partner and I just shelled out $150 for a kegging system which included a "used" 5 gal keg, new hoses, new fittings, new regulator, and a 4 lb CO2 tank. Our local brew supplier (whom we did *not* buy this from) said that was a good price. Now we are also looking for spare kegs. I understand that bottling organizations destroy their used kegs before discarding? Our wonderful liability system in action again? The HBD is great. Most of you people are *way* into this. The chemistry is too much for me. My big problem? Finding the time to read it!! Keep up the good work! Kurt Schmidt Davenport, IA "You traded the Blues-mobile for a microphone?! I can see that." Return to table of contents
Date: 10 Feb 94 10:16:57 EST From: "Dan Z. Johnson" <75430.3532 at CompuServe.COM> Subject: Toxic, But Clean! Edward H Hinchcliffe-1 <hinch001 at maroon.tc.umn.edu> writes: >>Leave the toxic stuff to the nerds; we will look after it for you. How very good of you. Keep the lid screwed tight. The only infections I (or anyone else i know) have had in brewing is after dropping a racking tube in the toilet and screaming "Damn The Torpedos, I'm Bottling Anyway!". It isn't easy to infect beer. You have to work at it. A bleach solution should do ya' if you keep you equipment clean. Hot water will clean off most brew-related messes when they are fresh. And chlorine is bad enough for the old environment as is. Throw away the tyvek jumpsuits and have a homebrew. -Z Return to table of contents
Date: 10 Feb 94 10:16:51 EST From: "Dan Z. Johnson" <75430.3532 at CompuServe.COM> Subject: MaltMill motor msellman at vnet.IBM.COM asks about motorizing the maltMill from Jack Schmidling. Jack won't sell the mill motorized (for liability reasons, i think), but it can be motorized. It just takes a bit of work to do it right. I talked to him about it before i motorized my mill last fall: First, don't drive it directly. If something gets caught in it (like you fingers) you are in deep doo-doo. Driving the mill by belts is much safer. They slip when overloaded, if not over tensioned. And it looks cool. Like Oliver Twist and Rube Goldberg are working in your brewery Second (or "B"), don't try to run it much faster than hand-crank speed. Others may disagree on this, but I found that the higher the speed, the poorer the grind. Lots of flour and torn husks. Third, devise a way to clamp the motor, mill and receiving bucket together. I built a cabinet that the whole thing fits in, all the parts locked down tight. It can be used inside without alot of dust all over the place. An old kitchen cabinet can be reworked for this. That said, I used a 1725 rpm motor from a very old clothes dryer. With a 2" pulley on the motor I ran a belt to a mandrel with a 5" pulley and another 2" pulley mounted on the same shaft. A mandrel is a shaft set in two bearings where you can mount a polishing wheel or multiple pulley wheels for speed control. Another belt ran from the 2" to a 6" pulley mounted on the MaltMill. Effective speed is about 125 rpm. The trick is: small pulley to big to reduce speed. Try to mount the motor and mandrell with wing nuts or some other way to slide them back and forth a bit to tighten and loosed belt tension. Put an on-off switch right at the MaltMill for safety. Leave the safety screen jack puts in the hopper. It doesnt speed things up to remove it. It sounds a bit involved but it is VERY worth it, especially if you are an all-grain brewer. I used to hate doing this with a Corona. -Z Return to table of contents
Date: 10 Feb 94 10:17:01 EST From: "Dan Z. Johnson" <75430.3532 at CompuServe.COM> Subject: Smokin'Brews SCOTT LLDSC at utxdp.dp.utexas.edu writes >>It's as if everyone immediately assumes that all stoners care about is getting the rest of the world high. (well...) It's a paranoid thing. You wouldn't understand. -Z Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 94 10:58:27 EST From: dan_fox at ccmail.GSFC.NASA.GOV Subject: Strong beers at the Brick Hello all! Last night (2/9) I attended the annual Strong Beer Tasting at the Brickskellar in Washington DC. For those who don't know, the Brick is one of the foremost beer bars in the world, or at least the East Coast. >500 brands - one goes there to worship. They have a monthly series of tastings; January is Strong Beer. On another list, I am in the habit of posting short, informal reviews of concerts I attend, and thought y'all might appreciate some of the same treatment here. I did write up a page or so to send to my private list of beer buddies. Since this is the _Homebrew Digest_ and not the _Beer Enjoyer's Digest_ I thought I'd do it off line. If you want a copy, email me and I'll return one to you. I would also appreciate quick messages along the lines of "Post it, you fool!" or "Thanks for not wasting my bandwidth." If I get a lot of "Post-It Notes" (sorry) I will do so. If there are more requests than I care to deal with I will also post it. Dan Fox dan_fox at ccmail.gsfc.nasa.gov Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 94 12:17:22 EST From: Aaron Morris <SYSAM at ALBANY.ALBANY.EDU> Subject: Commercial Cream Ales A big favorite in this area is Genny Cream Ale, which was also rated highly in the last Great American Brew Fest (or was it two festivals ago?). It's brewed by the Gennesee Brewing Company, Gennesee, N.Y. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 94 15:11:52 -0500 From: Pete Geib <plg at ll.mit.edu> Subject: Re: wort chiller use I posted a question about wort chiller use a few HBDs ago. I received several email responses and decided to forward them on (since this is what I like to see others do). I also talked to a friend in Seattle who works at a microbrewery. What I plan to do based on all of this is: 1. Continue to place the chiller in the wort 10 minutes before the end of the boil. 2. Turn on the cold water and turn off the fire and wait till it cools to below 65 or 70. 3. Remove the chiller and whirlpool the wort to create a cone of sediment. 4. Siphon the wort with a screen of some kind around the wand. If it clogs, I'll have my strainer ready and just pour the wort into the primary. HSA is not a concern since the wort is not hot. Thanks to all who replied. I've posted a few of the replies. For those who were worried about how to make a chiller and what it's for, all I can say is that if your delaying your first batch because of this, DON'T. It's not THAT big of a deal. It just makes the process a little more convenient since you can cool the wort faster, and slightly reduce the chance of some bad guys getting in there. It may make better beer, but I think making a batch now is better than making a better batch next month:) Replies from: rick at adc.com (Rick Larson) btalk at aol.com Robert Jordan <JORDAN at ANLBEM.BIM.ANL.GOV> - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- just siphon until you think you are sucking solids from the bottom. I typically lose 1/2 to 3/4 of a gallon (not all of this is liquid). But since i do full boils that typically yeild 5.5 gallons its not a big deal. my finishing hops always seem to sink. I usually agiate the kettle slightly (swirl actually) while the chiller is in there to improve cooling. this may be what sinks the hops. Either way it's ok to suck up a little cold break. Good yeast food I think. Besides cold break will continue to precipitate out during the first 6 hours of primary. you either leave it all behind racking to secondary or leave it behind racking to your bottling bucket. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- to filter out the spent hops and break, wrap a copper (or SS) ChoreBoy around the end of your racking tube. This will prevent most of the "mush" from getting into your fermentor. good luck, - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pete- I've used immersion style chiller for almost 2 years. Here's what works best for me: Sanitize as you do. Cover pot at flame off. Occasionally stir wort w/o lifting lid to increase heat transfer. once chilled(mine ends up ~70f depending on my patience) I remove chiller and whirlpool w/spoon for a minute or so, cover and let sit for 10-15 min. Siphon carefully. This usually leaves a mound of sediment in the center of the pot bottom, but there is still some crap lingering in the last inch or two of wort. I probably don't chill low enough to get a good cold break. It usually happens in my carboy primary. Large 'clots' form when I add cold water. ( i do partial boils) This stuff starts settling out right away. I don't wort chill too low because I don't want to pitch yeast into too cold of an environment. My own paranoia perhaps ;) My $.02 wort , hope it helps. Play around to see what you like. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I have used an immersion wort chiller and like you haven't really experienced seeing the cold break settle out and fall to the bottom of the pot. I do just like you said. I put the wort chiller the last 10 min. or so of the boil to sterilize it and the turn off the heat, add my finishing hops and turn on the water to the chiller. I then pour the chilled wort into my fermentor through a strainer into enough previously boiled and chilled water to make five gallons. The strainer filters out most of the hops and I assume at least some of the cold break material. I then pitch the yeast and let that ferment for a couple of days, or until the fermentation has died down and has gone about "half way". So then I siphon the beer into a secondary fermentor (a 5 gallon carboy) and leave behind the yeasty foam head and whatever trub (hops, dead yeast, cold and hot break material) that has now had a chance to settle out. I then let it ferment out in the carboy, and so far all I've had on the bottom of that is a nice layer of yeast. Just my $0.02, Oh yeah, someone left a post a few month back about cleaning copper chillers. They submerge the chiller in water, heat it up and add vinegar to the water. They weren't specific as to how much vinegar, prabably a cup or two. The hot vinegar will then clean the chiller to a nice new shiny finish. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for band width. Hope this helps others. BTW, This is a great forum for learning. - -- Peter L Geib at MIT Lincoln Lab plg at ll.mit.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 94 15:32:45 EST From: "Glen A. Wagnecz, X6616" <wagnecz at PICA.ARMY.MIL> Subject: Laaglander DME Starters Mark S. Woods <woodsman at genesis.mcs.com> writes: Subject: Using Laaglander in starters >Now I've experienced the same problem using Wyeast Bavarian Wheat yeast. >Any comments on my whole miserable experience? A data point: I made a starter w/ 1 pound of Laaglander light DME in a gallon of water, which I boiled down to 3/4 gallon and cooled to about 75 F. I pitched a pack of Wyeast 3056 (Bavarian Wheat) that I had started the day before (~20 hrs. old and puffed quite fat!) to this mix and capped with a lock. This was about 09:00 am. By 16:00 I had a krausen of about 1 1/2 inches in the one gallon container. I pitched this starter to 15 gallons of a 66/33 wheat/pale 6-row wort at 22:00 the next evening. By the next morning, All three of my five gallon fermenters were purring along with 2 of the 3 having some blowoff already (only 7 hours later!) In short, a better than average starter. In summation, no problems with the Laaglander DME. I believe that if you get a good quick start from the liquid pack (as evidenced by being "puffed out" within a day), you'll do OK with your starter). Make a generous starter, a least one quart per 5 gallons of batch. It doesn't pay to skimp on starter volume, besides it only costs a little more, is about the same amount of work, and can help prevent infections! The only problem I really had was breaking the damned inner bubble in the lq. pack - I finally put it on the floor and carefully stepped on it! Glen P.S. George Tempel, I know you're out there. I haven't forgot your email message to me Re: good wheat recipes, I just need a little more time to proof this one. I post it in a couple of weeks after I've got it bottled/aged/rigorously tested by the "BOARD" (Board of Accomplished Research Drinkers, my "test pilots"). Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 94 15:45:32 EST From: "Glen A. Wagnecz, X6616" <wagnecz at PICA.ARMY.MIL> Subject: HOPTECH Just some good comments regarding my recent purchase of fresh hops from Mark Garetz. I picked an assortment of 93 whole hops from hoptech and was quite pleased with my order. Up until now, I've been using that pelletized crap from last year. What a difference right from the start when you crack open an oxygen barrier bag of fresh whole hops (read: intense aroma). I can't wait to taste this latest batch, I'm sure the difference will be just as great! Mark appears to fairly customer orientated, as he personally called after the order arrived to tell me that the tettnanger should have been labeled as 5.5% and not 11%.AA. Contrast that with BreTek, who couldn't send me the right yeast after two tries and several phone calls... The only problem I have is storing these hops, I could only cram about 2 oz's in a coffee cup sized jar... Glen Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 1994 13:57:56 -0800 From: glent at falstaff.cache.tek.com (Glen Tinseth) Subject: Acidifying soft sparge water In HBDs 1345 and 1346, Ed O'(edo at marcam.com) and Ron Hart (hart at axon.rutgers.edu) discussed how much conc. lactic acid to add to *very* soft sparge water. This is a common thread over the years on the HBD and according to my information the correct answer is *NONE*. That's right, don't add any acid to very soft (ie low concentrations of everything) brewing H2O. The buffer system found naturally in malted barley is more than adequate to achieve the proper pH during the mash and sparge when using very soft water. The *only* time sparge or mash water should be acidified is if the malt is not able to establish the right pH range during the mash/sparge. This usually occurs when your brewing water is hard and alkaline. I have soft well water and have never had my pH above 5.7 at any time during the mash or sparge. I typically add small amts of CaSO4 (50-75 ppm) or nothing at all to my brewing water. The important thing to pay attention to is *not* the pH of your water, it is the interaction of the pH and the ionic content of the water that is the key. As I said at the beginning, this is all based on my background in brewing and chemistry and is not written in stone. Feel free to let fly and straighten me out if you think I screwed up. Cheers, Glenn Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 1994 16:57:39 -0800 (PST) From: Eric Wade <ericwade at CLASS.ORG> Subject: Hop Source address Does anyone have an address or phone number for the Hop Source? Or Glenn Tinseth's e-mail address. Eric Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 94 21:22:08 CST From: Kurt Eaton <ZU02357 at UABDPO.DPO.UAB.EDU> Subject: Filtering while racking... Hey, I've just started my first batch of homebrew last weekend, and I wanted to ask a question before I screw something up. I'm using a hopped beginner's kit, American Lager, and have had very active fermentation in my carboy since begin ning (4 days). However, I've noticed a fair amount of sediment flowing around which is, I'm sure, yeast, but may also contain some residue from my aroma hops and Irish Moss since I (ghasp!) didn't filter or screen when transfering from the boiling pot into my carboy. I'm wondering if any subsequent oxidation that could be caused if I filtered while racking into another carboy for secondary fermentation would negatively affect the brew in any way. I've read not to splash it around while racking, s o I'm sort of hesitant to filter it unless someone knows that it won't hurt any thing. I'd hate to end up with a beer with "texture" <g>. Thanks... Kurt Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 1994 22:02:51 -0500 (EST) From: COCKERHAM_SANDRA_L at Lilly.com Subject: Women only competions/Laaglander I have also been pondering the thought of "Women only Competitions".. I don't know whether to be glad that we are recognized as people who brew beer or to be honked off because we get "separate but equal" status. Since one of our fine posters blasted me for being a "shrill feminazi bitch" last year for my views, I hesitate to wonder any further...... I just want to bring forth a challenge. Guys, get your wives, girlfriends, SO's, to help you brew (IF they *like* beer). Two heads are better than one for creativity. Women, if you are out there.... continue to brew. In olden days, the wife was the brewer. There is a precendent for women brewers! I have noticed time and time again in Zymurgy the husband and wife winning teams. I have had the acquaintance of many fine brewers who are men, but I look forward to the day when HBD is an equal mix. Not because the guys don't have equally great ideas, but because the women are starting to learn about brewing and the Internet. Off my soap box on that one. ******** To the issue of Laaglander DME. I have seen numerous posts blasting it because of the high final gravity. I for one, (and maybe the only one!), have been excited by this information! I have recently started all-grain brewing, but with my schedule don't always have the time to plan for it. Going up to my favorite homebrew shop to grind grain isn't always convenient. The flip side is that extract brews are often thin, lacking in body. It only seems reasonable that the use of Laaglander DME with its unfermentables would help extract brewers end up with a final product with more body (ie. "mouthfeel"). My future plans include using Laaglander along with a more fermentable brand of DME (Breiss, M&F, or your favorite canned extract) to achieve a beer with "body". ******* Good luck and good beer!!!! Sandy C. From: COCKERHAM SANDRA L (MCVAX0::RX31852) To: VMS MAIL ADDRESSEE (IN::"homebrew at hpfcmi.fc.hp.com") Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 10 Feb 94 11:15:47 -0800 From: raudins at elan2.coryphaeus.com (Glenn Raudins) Subject: CP Fillers I would like to know people's opinions of various COMMERCIALLY available Counter Pressure Bottle fillers. I believe Dr. Fix has in the past recommended Defalco's. Are they still around and selling this? I am not looking for alternatives to buying one, to save bandwidth. I am simply looking for opinions on CP fillers from people who have used them and which ones they prefer. (This may be a good addition to the kegging FAQ when one appears.) I will gladly post a summary of responses if people wish to send their opinions via e-mail Glenn Raudins (raudins at Elan2.coryphaeus.com) No wasteful sig. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 1994 05:56:19 -0800 (PST) From: tlyons at netcom.com (Tom Lyons) Subject: re: flame to all "Phillip Seitz" <p00644 at psilink.com> writes: >I can say that there is a point at which free and open >discussion degenerates into useless noise. We've just about hit that >level if you ask me. Really? Well, I can understand your being pissed off that your friend was insulted by a piece of email he received, I guess, but I think your message flaming all of us because of it was as close to "useless noise" as anything I've seen on the digest. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 94 08:15:50 CST From: khardee at rdxsun33.aud.alcatel.com (Kevin "Puck Head" Hardee) Subject: Priming with Canned Wort ?? Ok, here's the situation. Last weekend, I brewed up a batch of Bitter, and it is currently happily glugging away. The batch was brewed to 8 gallons in order to be able to lose 1 gallon with the trub, ferment 5 gallons, and save 2 gallons in quart and half quart canning jars. What I would like to do is to use part of the canned wort to prime the batch instead of using Dextrose or DME. I have read Noonan's book on krausening, however, I would like to prime without first adding yeast to the wort. Given that the correct primeing amount of DME is 1 1/4 cups of DME, and given the fact that 1/4 cup of DME to 1 pint of water used for starters normally produces a 1.020 wort, and given that the canned wort is 1.040, I have made the following calculations: 1/4 cup DME per pint = 1.020 1/2 cup DME per pint = 1.040 1 cup DME per quart = 1.040 Thus to get the equivilant of 1 1/4 DME for priming, I would need to add 1 1/4 quarts of 1.040 wort for priming. Does this seem right?? Given Noonan's table on krausening, I would need 2 1/2 quarts of 1.040 (10 Balling) krausen beer to prime 5 gallons to 2.5 ATM. My assumption is that by adding yeast to the wort and allowing it to reach high krausen, it becomes neccessary to double what would be used for unfermented wort due to the fermentation achieved to get to high krausen. Does this sound correct?? I am still about a week from priming, so I would like to get this resolved before I under or over carbonate the batch. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Kevin - -- Kevin M. Hardee UUCP: ...uunet!fozzy!khardee Alcatel Network Systems, Inc. Internet: khardee at aud.alcatel.com Richardson, TX PHONE: (214) 996-6112 Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 94 8:18:07 CST From: Dan Ferstenou <dan at admin.stkate.edu> Subject: Robertson Book In the early 1980's I got a book called 'The Connoisseur's Guide to Beer' by John Robertson. I really liked this book. It was very informative and Robertson's tastes seemed to be close to my own. Unfortunately this book has gotten out of date as a large number of the breweries in the book have had major changes during the past decade. Has anyone seen an updated version of this book or whether Robertson continued writing beer books? I have been having a difficult time finding any decent beer books in the Twin Cities. Despite the excitement in microbrewing, there seems to be less books available than there were in the past. - -- FROM: Daniel Ferstenou dan at admin.stkate.edu College of St. Catherine 612-690-6404 St. Paul, MN Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 1994 09:39:22 -0500 From: gwk at world.std.com (Greg Kushmerek) Subject: The sex gap in homebrewing? Whatever reasons people use to justify having a women-only beer competition, gender balance is a poor one. I've judged beers before, and I've entered (never won anything). I seemed to have missed the line that said "SEX (M/F)_____" on the entry forms. Moreover, I never was able to tell the difference between beer brewed by women and beer brewed by men. Furthermore, I've never been to a homebrew club meeting or a supply store that charged more to women or restricted women from access to the same resources available to men. In other words, I can't see a damned thing in policy or practice that discourages women from joining in the activities/deals/clubs open to men. Therefore, when an event becomes closed to a group of people based on their sex I see this as sexist in its own right. This would not be sexist if it existed to right injustice, but there are no injustices already present in the homebrewing world. Perhaps a better reason for having this event is to boost female brewers' egos. If a number of women enter competitions now and don't do well, then cutting off a significant percentage of the brewing population gives them less competition. Winning something becomes more likely. If this kind of artificial victory helps some woman feel more confident in entering another competition (open to all), then what's the harm done? Maybe I should come up with some set of standards that makes me more likely to win through a restricted competition? Let's call a spade a spade. There are no wrongs to right on the field of brewing/competition access for women. This is an event that sets up an uneven playing field; any respect earned from a victory in this event cannot translate over to a wider audience. True victory comes from competing with your peers, many of whom are men in this hobby (by fact not design). - --gk Greg Kushmerek gwk at world.std.com Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 1994 08:16:25 -0700 From: Jason Goldman <jason at bluestar.cnd.hp.com> Subject: Competition announcement Fort Collins, Colorado's homebrew club, the Mash Tongues is announcing... The Fourth Annual March Mashfest Homebrew Competition. This is an AHA sanctioned competition. The deadline for entries is March 1. Rather than clog the digest with all the details, please email me for a postscript version of the entry materials or paper copies. Jason Goldman President, Mash Tongues Homebrew Club jason at bluestar.cnd.hp.com Return to table of contents
Date: 11 Feb 1994 09:14:00 -0600 (CST) From: "Michael D. Hansen (708) 938-3184" <HANSEN.MICHAEL at igate.abbott.com> Subject: wheat beers Hi Gang, Can anybody tell me what the fundamental difference is between a wheat beer, a weissbier, and a weizenbier? Anybody got a good recipe for a dunkelweizen (extract or mash-extract)? TIA and brew on my friends! Mike (HANSENMD at RANDB.ABBOTT.COM) Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 1994 08:13:08 -0700 From: Jim Doyle <jgdoyle at uci.edu> Subject: re:discounts at Fullerton I seem to have lost the contact name and number regarding the fullerton hoffbrau beerfest discounts for homebrewers...can somebody please enlighten me? Thanks... jgdoyle at uci.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 1994 08:21:52 CST From: <AMBLAD at cei.com> Subject: Geeesh! Is anyone ever going to discuss homebrewing/beer-related issues on this digest? I read this thing for advice on brewing. It seems like very few articles nowadays are about this subject. There are plenty of knowledgable brewers out there. Share your brewing expertise, please! Steve Amblad amblad at cei.com Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 1994 09:14:56 -0700 (MST) From: Mark_Worwetz at Novell.COM (Mark Worwetz) Subject: Spaten Recipe Greetings from Zion! I have just recently been introduced to the Spaten family of beer (thanks to our enlightened state liquor commission!), and I have found a true love for the Spaten Optimator. This beer is fairly dark, very malty without being too heavy, and produces a nice little buzz. Unfortunately, at $2.50 a pint it also dents my wallet a bit too! My question is: Does anyone have an EXTRACT based recipe for this beer? I think I can get it close, but would appreciate the knowledge of the HBD. Private replies preferred. Mark Worwetz Mark_Worwetz at Novell.COM Return to table of contents
Date: 11 Feb 94 11:57 EST From: rosentha at oasys.dt.navy.mil (Rich Rosenthal) Subject: EKU28SCALDISSANTICLAUSPECHEUR 3619 ?'s I like my beers STRONG! Everything in excess. Three of the strongest beers i've been able to find, enjoy immensely and still be intrigued by are EKU 28 malt liquor, Scaldis and santiclaus, but what's in them? EKU 28 is the chocolateyest of the three, from Germany and 28 proof. Scaldis is the nuttyest, from Belgium where it's called BUSH and the lable saz its triple malted and hopped three times. Santiclaus is the maltiest and has the reputation of being the strongest beer available, but only brewed one day a year in Switzerland. Pecheur 3619 is the aphrodisiac beer from France. It saz it has ginger, cinnamon, Kola, ginsing, cooriander Etc. My questions are: For EKU 28 what kind of German malt can anyone taste in there? Or does anyone know whats-in-there? Suggestions on hops or GFerman malt liquor capable yeast strains would also be appreciated. For Scaldis do they mean they use three different kinds of Belgian malts? Which of the Belgians might give it the chocolate taste? Biscut? Special B? Does hopped three times mean boil, aramatic, and finish or three different strains of hops? Any good yeast ideas other then cultered strains right from the bush bottles?> For Santiclaus? Any ideas on reproducing this brew? Pecheur 3619? A typical spice beer receipe will work with all pale malts, but what kind of hops is in there? What other strong beers do any of you out there think i would like? I tried a strong German bock in an all black non-see-through bottle that was supposed to be as strong as the others mentioned but it didn't taste that strong HELP I WANT TO BREW THESE BEERS!x9 PS Is the Rich Chillders from San Fran Ca the Rich i went to Lehigh Universiry with? Respond Rich - ------- Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 94 10:26:54 -0700 From: ezimmerm at master.uwyo.edu (Eugene Zimmerman) Subject: Fuggles, Saaz I have the "Beer Hunter" series on video (thanks to my sweet wife ;) and MJ says something like this: F + sm(UGGLE) + S --- get it? Just the paren part of smuggle is said. sort of like a pictogram. pi(ZZA) + pi(ZZA) --- ZAAZ is Chech, it has the German sounding Z which is is like a 'TS' The first ZZA has a longer A sound... Too bad the HBD doesn't include sounds. Hey, perhaps someone could create a digitized pronouncation of these words and put them at sierra! Gene in Laramie ezimmerm at uwyo.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 94 10:29:14 MST From: Earle M. Williams <earlew at drc.usbm.gov> Subject: Queen of Beer / Cream Stout I can see a major flame war *brewing* over whether or not the Queen of Beers competition is sexist. I'm sure my comments won't necessarily keep the peace, but here goes: To suggest that the competition is not sexist is to hide your head in the sand. An event that excludes individuals based on gender is sexist discrimination. Sure, you can put an innocuous (sp) sounding label on it, such as 'social event', but that's like calling beer a sparkling beverage derived from malted barley. Some people argue that the Queen of Beers competition is a GOOD THING, not something evil. I agree. I'm encouraging my wife to go solo and brew her own batch for the competition. Do I feel excluded? Hardly. But I think it's preposterous to belittle others' concerns over the exclusionary nature of the competition. Particularly annoying is the attitude that if you think it's sexist you're a woman-hating fascist neanderthal. Rather than assuming the guise of a politically correct attack dog, why not just look em in the eye (figuratively) and say 'Yeah, it's sexist. So what?' That much truth might be too uncomfortable for some... Flames to farleft.liberal.I_know_what's_best_for_you. For those still reading, I'm wondering how to brew a cream stout. The vision of perfection I want to emulate is Watney's Cream Stout. Anyone have any recipe suggestions? TIA, Earle - Earle M. Williams U.S. Bureau of Mines Denver, Colorado USA (Internet) earlew at drc.usbm.gov Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 94 13:28 CST From: korz at iepubj.att.com Subject: lined oak/saaz/decoction mashing Jack writes: > Perhaps the real answer is even simpler. It has been my understanding that > barrels used for beer were coated with tar to prevent evaporation. If this I believe that was "pitch" which although is related to tar somehow (according to Websters), I don't think we would want to encourage anyone to try putting roofing tar in their beer! I believe that modern "lined" barrels are lined with parafin, which don't think would impart a flavor to the beer. ***** Bob writes: >How do you say SAAZ. soft as in SOT or harder like in SAT? >How about FUGGLES . is it like the u in RUG, or u in USE? I too, am unsure about FUGGLES, I use a "u" as in RUG, but SAAZ is pronounced: ZOTS (rhymes with POTS). ***** James writes: >I would like a pointer to a good source of information on decoction mashing. "Brewing Lager Beer" by Greg Noonan, but there is a synopsis in the All-Grain special issue of Zymurgy and there may be some info in Eric Warner's "German Wheat" (it's on my pile of books to read, but I haven't gotten to it yet). >Some quetions I have about the process: Does it produce different flavors >that `temperature controlled' mashing? I've read yes, but I haven't tried batches side-by-side, personally. >Should I separate the grain from the liquid before boiling? Yes, but you boil the grains and leave the liquid in the mash tun. This is true except for the final decoction (the one that gets you to mash-out temps), according to Noonan, who says you should use the thinnest part of the mash (just the liquid) for the final decoction. >If not, then won't that extract lots of tannins? Darryl Richman has proposed the theory that the pH of the decoction (the part of the mash that you removed and boiled) is what keeps the tannins from being extracted. I must agree -- I've made some recent changes to my methods that have resulted in getting rid of a pesky astringency problem I was having and the solution was getting the pH down to the low 5's. >Also, won't boiling a fraction of the mash kill off the enzymes in that >portion of the mash? Does that matter? Yes, but there's very little there -- most of them are in the liquid. Al. Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1348, 02/12/94