HOMEBREW Digest #1440 Fri 03 June 1994

Digest #1439 Digest #1441


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


Contents:
  New Brewer (fischer)
  I need a favorite recipe (Paul Beard)
  Mashout- (rprice)
  More on the Party Pig (via RadioMail) <jhorzepa at radiomail.net>
  RE: dunkelweizen all-grain recipe (Jim Dipalma)
  Re: archives (Jeff Frane)
  Digest Browser (Ron Hart)
  hops in "LA" (Montgomery_John)
  Re: Words of caution (Brew Free Or Die  02-Jun-1994 0958)
  A Couple Comments (MS08653)
  Water chemistry for wheat beers (GRAFTONG)
  Bad address resend ("MACA")
  Mash Stirrer et al. (Don Put)
  Sanitizing Siphon Tubing (John DeCarlo              x7116          )
  Which Hop is best for Flavor Only? ( LARRY KELLY)
  Help with Clearing Agent Use ( LARRY KELLY)
  spruce/1098/buggy bines/calling Jack/bine id (RONALD DWELLE)
  Optimum amount of brew water ( LARRY KELLY)
  Broken Glass ("Scott Perfect")
  Pig Foaming, Mailing Beer (mike.keller)
  Malting oats/mildew ("Glenace L. Melton")
  Brew Pubs in Miami Beach (Roger Stelk)
  Re: Motorized Mash Tun Revisited (and RIMS) (Dion Hollenbeck)
  RE:force carbonation bad for head? (Erik Speckman)
  unable to contact Manning Martin <manning#m#_martin_p at mcst.ae.ge.com> (Robert Schultz)
  Help on hops... (Robert Schultz)
  Bottles for homebrew (Philip Proefrock)
  Re: DunkelWeizens (Jim Busch)
  Boston Brew-In's/HSA. (braddw)
  Re: Pickle Buckets (Dave Coombs)

Send articles for __publication_only__ to homebrew at hpfcmi.fc.hp.com (Articles are published in the order they are received.) Send UNSUBSCRIBE and all other requests, ie, address change, etc., to homebrew-request@ hpfcmi.fc.hp.com, BUT PLEASE NOTE that if you subscribed via the BITNET listserver (BEER-L at UA1VM.UA.EDU), then you MUST unsubscribe the same way! If your account is being deleted, please be courteous and unsubscribe first. FAQs, archives and other files are available via anonymous ftp from sierra.stanford.edu. (Those without ftp access may retrieve files via mail from listserv at sierra.stanford.edu. Send HELP as the body of a message to that address to receive listserver instructions.) Please don't send me requests for back issues - you will be silently ignored. For "Cat's Meow" information, send mail to lutzen at novell.physics.umr.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 2 Jun 1994 03:22:31 -0700 From: fischer <kfischer at ucssun1.sdsu.edu> Subject: New Brewer Howdy Everyone, Where is the best place to begin my foray into homebrewing. Any quintessential books I should get?? Thanks for any help Keith Fischer kfischer at ucssun1.sdsu.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 1994 07:52:28 -0400 From: paul.beard at gatekeeper.mis.tridom.com (Paul Beard) Subject: I need a favorite recipe I am looking for a summer brew to make, something with a good flavor (I'm a fan of Fuller's ESB and brews of that ilk) but with a low octane for our steamy summer months here in the Deep South. To put it simply, I'd like an alternative to iced tea, but I don't want to find myself in the hammock when I should be rebuilding the pleasure grounds. I'm not a lager fan (too many bad commercial gassy beers, I expect), but if someone can offer an extraordinary recipe, try me. Any suggestions? - -- Paul Beard, MIS Support, AT&T Tridom, 840 Franklin Court, Marietta, GA 30067 404 514-3798 * FAX: 404 514-3678 * Pager: 890-3557 * tridom!paul.beard/beardp at tridom.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 02 Jun 1994 09:27:24 -0500 From: rprice at cbmse.nrl.navy.mil Subject: Mashout- In Dominick Venezias post on Mashout he mentioned a three step sparge process that I use. A few years back I visited a couple of small breweries and several of the highland Scotch distilleries. In each they produced their beer (distillers just forget the hops), in a large lauter tun which had folding arms to stir the mash and a couple of very large water heaters on an upper level (all looked very similar so I assumed were produced by the same outfit). Following the mash schedule they would run in 170F water for the first sparge run, then pump this off through a chiller to the fermentation tanks, the second sparge was at a slightly higher temperature of 180F, and the gravity was dropping rapidly (like about 1.010 as I remember), then they did a very rapid final sparge at about 190 to get every last bit of sugar out of the mash. This was about 1.005 or so and was retained by pumping up to the holding tank, and while the next batch was mashed the water in the bulk tank cooled to about 170F where the process started again. I adopted the same three step system for my homebrewing setup, and I mash out by adding a small amount of simmering water to the mash to raise the temperature to 170F or so, then blend more of the simmering water with cold to make a 180F batch, which I sparge through, followed by another shot of the simmering water. I use a very short mash schedule (50-60 min.), and recirculate the first gallon or so of mash water, until the mash sets and the wort runs clear. Then I let the water level reach the grain bed, and begin adding the 180F water at that point. When the flow reduces and the bed begins to settle I add the 190F water and often I find that the gravity of the run off will take a jump. Tannins and silicates so far haven't been a problem with this technique, and I get excellent extraction rates. I am not sure if it is a Scottish thing to get every last gram of sugar from the mash, I was told that it aided in extracting all of the sugars from the mash and increasing the final gravity without over dillution of the wort. The owner and distiller at Glengoyne used this method and spent a long time covering his methods with me, he convinced me, and I have stuck with it. The microbrewery I visited was run by a couple of former distillery employees who may simply have used the same equipment and techniques by habit. But who is to argue with good booze and beer. As a final note, on that same trip at a brewery somewhere in the UK one bit of advice I remembered was that the pH and mash temps were critical to maintaining the malt character and mouth feel of the finished beer. Seems that they used higher temps (like about 155-158F) for short periods of time, at a pH of about 5.8. This they explained was to enhance the activity of the enzymes good at eating smaller sugars while leaving the longer chain sugars for your beer. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 02 Jun 1994 06:39:28 PDT From: John Horzepa (via RadioMail) <jhorzepa at radiomail.net> Subject: More on the Party Pig Well, I'm certainly impressed by what the HBD can do, my mailbox has been overflowing with suggestions on how to get good results with the pig, not to mention several posts in the last digest. The overwhelming advice I've gotten is to prime less than you normally do for bottles. The directions that came with my pig were somewhat ambivelant on this, they said to prime normally, and then said to use 1/3 cup sugar. They did not specify if that was 1/3 cup for the whole batch (5 gallons) or just for the pig beer. Of course, I use dry malt extract rather than sugar for priming, they made no mention of priming ratios for that. I've got a pale ale that I just racked to the secondary, I'm planning on using the pig for half of it when it's ready. I will use 1/4 cup of extract to prime the pig, I'll prime the beer for bottles as I normally do. I'll let people know how it turns out. Thanks to everyone who responded to my first post, I know where to go next time I've got a question. john - --- Original Message --- Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 94 09:45:23 EDT From: dipalma at sky.com (Jim Dipalma) Subject: RE: dunkelweizen all-grain recipe Hi All, Spencer Thomas asks about all grain dunkelweizen recipes. >1. Does anyone have a great all-grain dunkelweizen recipe? (That you > will share !accurately! with me?) Well, this one took a first in a competition last year: 5# DWC Pilsner 5# DWC Wheat 1 cup chocolate malt Two of the three judges scored the beer in the low 40s, all three commented that it was too dark, and had a dark roasted malt character that was a little too pronounced. I agreed with their comments. The malt character in a dunkelweizen should be soft and subtle, not sharp and distinctive. Also, "dunkel" in this case is a relative term, this style should be somewhat darker than a pale hefe-weizen, but not as dark as a porter or stout. For both those reasons, I'm going to reduce the chocolate to 1/3 to 1/2 cup, and leave it at that. >My tentative recipe is looking something like this: >* 30-70 Pilsener (DW-C) - Wheat (DW-C or Ireks) Forget the Ireks. I've tried it, as well as domestic wheat malts. IMHO, the DWC wheat is a superior choice. Plumper, with a higher yield and ~30% lower protein content, the DWC wheat was easier to mash and lauter and produced a clearer, cleaner finished product than any other type I have tried. >* Some amount (5%?) of dark crystal (Ireks 90L) to darken and add body Addition of high lovibond crystal will also contribute rounded, caramel-like tones, and likely some residual sweetness as well. Dunkelweizen, like the pale version, should be light, crisp, and tart. >* Double decoction mash. >* 12 IBUs of hops, 60 min. Yep. Your target of 12 IBUs is about right, you want to avoid excessive bitterness. The combination of high hop bitterness and clove character is quite unpleasant, it will detract from the drinkability. Use a noble type hop such as Tettnang or Hallertau, do a single addition, and boil for 60 minutes. Avoid late additions for flavor or aroma. One other thing, most of the flavor of this style should come from the yeast. Use an authentic weizen yeast, I use the Weihenstephan(sp?) #68. I believe Wyeast now distributes this as #3068. Hope this helps, Jim Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 1994 06:56:44 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Frane <gummitch at teleport.com> Subject: Re: archives Gregg Tennefoss wrote: > > Just a thought !! Would it be possible/plausable to invite vendors and > suppliers to post product information, price lists and catelogs in the > archives? Disclaimer: I AM a vendor, supplier... and would be happy to up-load our catalog. Or not. Depending on the will of the HBD. From my perspective, it's a great solution. > > > From: Don Rudolph <76076.612 at CompuServe.COM> > Subject: Seattle Homebrew Club > > I live in Seattle and would like to start a Homebrew Club. My house > is on the north side of Queen Anne, near the Redhook Brewery. Let's > get together, talk and drink beer, and learn to improve our brews. > There is already a really good club in Seattle, and I suspect some of them (where's Larry Barello?) are active here. Lots of experience in that lot: the Brews Brothers. - --Jeff > > > Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 1994 09:52:56 -0500 From: Hart at actin.rutgers.edu (Ron Hart) Subject: Digest Browser For all you Mac users out there--try Digest Browser as described in yesterday's HBD. It's great. You don't need to use Eudora, as was mentioned. Digest Browser can handle any kind of text file from any program. I'm finally caught up! Ron Hart Biological Sciences, Rutgers University Newark hart at actin.rutgers.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 94 09:09:00 CST From: Montgomery_John at lanmail.ncsc.navy.mil Subject: hops in "LA" Has anyone ever tried growing hops in the "LA" area - Lower Alabama. Since the main growing regions tend to be the Pacific Northwest it would seem an exercise in futility. Any green thumbs out there that can lend advice? Thanks. john montgomery montgomery_john at lanmail.ncsc.navy.mil Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 94 10:00:36 EDT From: Brew Free Or Die 02-Jun-1994 0958 <hall at buffa.enet.dec.com> Subject: Re: Words of caution In HBD #1438, Richard Nantel wrote: >All 24 crashed to the floor. Five exploded sending glass everywhere. After the >noise subsided, I realized my left knee was badly gashed. The wound was to the >bone and required 16 stitches to close. This could, however, have been much >worse. I could have been more seriously injured, or worse yet, my daughter or >wife could have been struck. This reminded me of a similar albeit much less tragic experience that happened to me. I was getting something out of my beer fridge when I accidentally knocked a bottle of beer out of it. The bottle fell to the floor and exploded. I immed- iately felt something spraying and, looking down, saw three bloody gashes on my leg. My first thought was that I had a severed artery. I composed myself enough to look down again, and then around. That's when I noticed that the flying glass had also punctured a hole in a can of pub draught Guinness that had been next to the fridge. It was Guinness that was spraying on my leg, not my blood spraying out of it. Phew! In no way am I making light of Richard's accident or of the danger of working with bottles and carboys. But the above incident did have me chuckling, especially after I determined that the three gashes were superficial. Be careful out there. And don't lose your sense of humor. - -- Dan Hall Digital Equipment Corporation MKO1-2/H10 Merrimack, NH 03054 hall at buffa.enet.dec.com ....!decwrl!buffa.dec.com!hall "Adhere to Schweinheitsgebot Don't put anything in your beer that a pig wouldn't eat" --David Geary Return to table of contents
Date: 02 Jun 94 09:15:09 From: MS08653 at MSBG.med.ge.com Subject: A Couple Comments FROM: "MICHAEL L. TEED"<MS08653 at MSBG> Dist: INTERNET int homebrew at hpfcmi.fc.hp.com After reading the thread regarding siphoning, I thought I would add my .02 worth. The easiest thing I have found is to sanitize the siphon apparatus and while rinsing, leave the hose filled with water. Cap the end with your fing er ( I wear rubber gloves while I do this ) insert hose into beer, let it flow draining the water and first bit of beer. Second best is to buy an item I have seen called a ' Battery Filler ', it is a rubber squeeze bulbwith a nozzle attached, similar to a baster, but with considerably more suction power. I found mine in the auto section of my local dept store. This one even works on my 4.5' length of 3/8 siphon tube, which is difficult to start a siphon with when you are using a 36" cane. Being plastic, it is easily sanitizable. Another item I have seen recently, and considerable discussion on is the party pig. Good idea with some rough edges. Biggest one seems to be the pouring difficulties. I have not looked at one to see if you could do this, but the theory goes as such. Your beer line has a certain loss of pressure per foot, which is part of the reason that a pig will not perform the same as a tap system. The pressure at the end of the hose is not nearly as high as the CO2 pressure in the tank. If you tried to pour your beer with 8 psi at the outlet of your spigot, you would have much the same result as the pig. The same theory applies to your 'beer king' kegs and tappers ( which I have had one of for many years, even before I started brewing ). So the answer is to add a 4' or so length of beer line to the device. How? Dont know offhand, but I am sure someone out there can offer suggestions. Cheers, Michael Teed Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 94 15:17 From: GRAFTONG at vms1.bham.ac.uk Subject: Water chemistry for wheat beers I'm planning on brewing a wheat beer soon and have a question for the collective wisdom regarding the correct water composition. My home tap water is very hard - it has more than a passing resemblance to Burton-on- Trent water (well I only live a few miles away). The question is, is this OK for brewing wheat beer, or do I need to do any treatments? As a last resort I have access to distilled water and the necessary chemicals at work. I recently posted this to r.c.b. and didn't get any takers - please help! TIA Gillian Grafton (GraftonG at vms1.bham.ac.uk) Return to table of contents
Date: 2 Jun 1994 04:17:52 U From: "MACA" <maca at maca.sarnoff.com> Subject: Bad address resend Mail*Link(r) SMTP Homebrew Digest #1439 (June !!!! Original Message >= 24K; See following enclosure. Preview follows !!!! HOMEBREW Digest #1439 Thu 02 June 1994 FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES Rob Gardner, Digest Janitor Contents: Nuts (Jim_Merrill) BUZZ-Off Homebrew Competition (Robert Mattie) Deodorizing pickle buckets etc. (Ed Westemeier) broken glass (Tom Lyons) Bitter taste (Terri Terfinko) Radical Commercial Concept (Gregg Tennefoss) Bugs on the Hops! (George Kavanagh O/o) Re: #2(7) Homebrew Digest #1438 (June 01, 1994) (RSaletta) Help? Homebrewing in France? (John Oberpriller x7937) Party Pig ("Rich Scotty") Food Grade Buckets (Arthur McGregor 614-0205) Mailing your homebrewed beer ("Justin J. Lam") Mash Extract (Randy M. Davis) A NEED FOR MEAD (Robert Pulliam) Party Pig (Homebrew Digest #1438) (Pierre Jelenc) RE: Pickel Buckets (AndrewB6) Re: Party Pig Carbonation (Michael Froehlich) dunkelweizen all-grain recipe (Spencer.W.Thomas) Party Pig (Montanoa) Infusion nit/unfermentables (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583) Re: Motorized Mash Tun Revisited (and RIMS) (Jeff Berton) Post (HOTOPP) question about yeast starter (tfirey) Ayinger maltiness (Spencer.W.Thomas) Seattle Homebrew Club (Don Rudolph) PARTY PIG FOAMING (david.jacobson) Mashout Necessary? revisited yet again (Domenick Venezia) RE:force carbonation bad for head? (Domenick Venezia) Power Stirring (Glen Hathaway) Color/Carbonation/David_Fisher (David Draper) Re: Spruce Use (Brian Thorn) Bentonite, Kitty Litter and other fine things (Tom Clifton) AHA first round results (Ulick Stafford) Send articles for __publication_only__ to homebrew at hpfcmi.fc.hp.com (Articles are published in the order they are received.) Send UNSUBSCRIBE and all other requests, ie, address change, etc., to homebrew-request@ hpfcmi.fc.hp.com, BUT PLEASE NOTE that if you subscribed via the BITNET listserver (BEER-L at UA1VM.UA.EDU), then you MUST unsubscribe the same way! If your account is being deleted, please be courteous and unsubscribe first. FAQs, archives and other files are available via anonymous ftp from sierra.stanford.edu. (Those without ftp access may retrieve files via mail from listserv at sierra.stanford.edu. Send HELP as the body of a message to that address to receive listserver instructions.) Please don't send me requests for back issues - you will be silently ignored. For "Cat's Meow" information, send mail to lutzen at novell.physics.umr.edu - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 1 Jun 94 7:42 EDT From: Jim_Merrill at vos.stratus.com Subject: Nuts Does anyone know of a mail order source for stainless steel flare nuts and other assorted plumbing / tubing connectors ? McMaster Carr doesn't carry them. TIA Jim Merrill Jim_Merrill at vos.stratus.com - ------------------------------ Date: 31 May 94 21:31:43 ES From: Robert Mattie <Robert_Mattie%notes at sb.com> Subject: BUZZ-Off Homebrew Competition First Annual BUZZ-Off American Homebrewers Association Sanctioned Competition WHO Beer Unlimited Zany Zymurgists Philadelphia Area Homebrew Supply Shops WHERE Judging will take place at Pisadeli's, Lincoln Court Center, Malvern PA. Judging sessions are not open to the public. HOW Entries will be accepted between June 7 and June 19, 1994. Some regional homebrew supply shops will accept entries during this period. Send completed AHA registration form, 3 bottles of beer with an AHA bottle label attached to each bottle, and $5.00 per entry to: 1994 BUZZ-Off c/o Beer Unlimited Rts 30 & 401 Malvern, PA 19355 For further information contact: rmattie at ccantares.wcupa.edu Beer Unlimited (610) 889-0905 or (610) 397-0666 Dave Houseman (610) 458-0743 Renee or Robert Mattie (610) 873-6607 - ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Jun 94 08:36:42 EDT From: ed.westemeier at sdrc.com (Ed Westemeier) Subject: Deodorizing pickle buckets etc. Francisco Jones asks how to deodorize the white 5-gallon food grade buckets that formerly contained smelly pickles. Actually, it's easier than you may have th - ------------------ RFC822 Header Follows ------------------ Received: by maca.sarnoff.com with SMTP;2 Jun 1994 04:17:37 U Received: from vaxserv.sarnoff.com by peanut.sarnoff.com (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA14339; Thu, 2 Jun 94 04:15:50 EDT Errors-To: homebrew-request@ hpfcmi.fc.hp.com Received: from hpfcla.fc.hp.com by vaxserv.sarnoff.com (4.1/SMI-4.0) id AA03187; Thu, 2 Jun 94 04:15:41 EDT Errors-To: homebrew-request@ hpfcmi.fc.hp.com Received: from hpfcrdg.fc.hp.com by hpfcla.fc.hp.com with SMTP (1.37.109.4/15.5+IOS 3.20) id AA06328; Thu, 2 Jun 94 01:51:19 -0600 Received: by hpfcmi.fc.hp.com (1.36.108.4/15.5+IOS 3.22) id AA07906; Thu, 2 Jun 1994 01:00:59 -0600 Date: Thu, 2 Jun 1994 01:00:59 -0600 Message-Id: <9406020700.AA07906 at hpfcmi.fc.hp.com> To: homebrew at hpfcmi.fc.hp.com From: homebrew-request@ hpfcmi.fc.hp.com (Request Address Only - No Articles) Reply-To: homebrew at hpfcmi.fc.hp.com (Posting Address Only - No Requests) Errors-To: homebrew-request@ hpfcmi.fc.hp.com Precedence: bulk Subject: Homebrew Digest #1439 (June 02, 1994) Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 1994 08:38:49 -0700 From: Don Put <dput at csulb.edu> Subject: Mash Stirrer et al. >From: jeff344 at voodoo.lerc.nasa.gov (Jeff Berton) <Motorized Mash Tun stuff snipped> >Sounds like a nice setup. One comment, though: the automatic stirrer's >purpose is to achieve better repeatability and to eliminate temperature >stratification and stirring. A RIMS will do these things as well as improve >runoff turbidity. With the way I have my RIMS designed, it doesn't sound >much more difficult to build than an automatic stirrer. I can email a file >that describes my RIMS to anyone who is interested. I would like a copy of your file, Jeff. The RIMS schematics I have seen, and the resultant fabrication of motor/heater hardware, seem like a LOT more work than the few hours I put in on the motor and paddle for the stirrer. Also, I've read articles/reviews (the one by George Fix comes immediately to mind) where he said that Rodney's version did not translate well to batch sizes larger than 5 gallons. It seems that the tun geometry is dependent on batch size (I think the system from SABCO eliminates this, does anyone out there use one?). However, I also know that many people have put a lot of effort into making their RIMS systems work, and I imagine there are many fine designs available now (compared to the original). Thanks for the input, and I look forward to receiving your file. >And a RIMS is a tinkerer's dream. Well, I don't have much spare time yet as I am a full-time father to my 10 month old, but after finishing the paddle assembly, I find myself getting the itch to build something else ;-) It's a hell of a disease, isn't it? >From: glenh at iceonline.com (Glen Hathaway) >Hi guys... I've been reading the posts by Don Put and Jack Schmidling >regarding motorized mash stirring. I'm in the construction business (I'm >a plumber/gasfitter) and noticed that drywallers use a device for stirring >their filler mud that would probably be perfect for mash stirring. They >use it chucked in a 1/2" drill. If you've seen 'mudders' at work, you'll >know what I mean. Otherwise, check out your local building supply place. >Might save a lot of fabrication (I noticed that Don put a lot of work >into his stirrer). Just a thought... Thanks, Glen. I am well aware of the drywallers type of stirrer as my father was a plastering/drywall contractor for 35 years. Actually, it's what killed him (he died from mesothelioma, caused from the exposure to asbestos). He also had a few paddles fabricated LONG before they were on the market; these were made of stainless and they are sitting in my garage. I used them on jobs numerous times. Most of them are designed to spin at a higher rpm than my motor/pulley arrangement spins at. However, I think if you just want to stir the mash intermittently, they would work fine attached to a drill. Maybe I just have a mental block about them because of the negative association I have. BTW, he had all of them made to fit different size buckets. I have fond memories of mixing plaster in 5 gallon pails and having it fly all over until I figured out the trigger technique! >From: ulick at slip20.rad.nd.edu (Ulick Stafford) >Subject: AHA first round results >Does anyone have any idea when the AHA first round scores from Chicago >will be mailed? It is a month now. According to the info in Zymurgy, if your beer has made it past the first round, you will be notified between May 30th and June 6th. At that point, you should send three (3) more bottles to Denver between June 13th and 17th. I'm not sure if all of the first round score sheets will be returned during this time, or just the ones that made it past the first round. As usual, the writing/editing in Zymurgy (Gad, some of the sentences need a LOT of help in this magazine) leaves some empty space for the reader to interpret. don dput at csulb.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 94 11:40:46 EST From: John DeCarlo x7116 <jdecarlo at homebrew.mitre.org> Subject: Sanitizing Siphon Tubing I have found it next to impossible to dump my tubing into the sink or carboy or bucket and get the inside full of sanitizer while everything else is soaking. So, I go to the next best thing, IMHO, and siphon all the sanitizer out of the primary, which takes ten minutes or so and hopefully sanitizes the inside of the tubing. Anyone else have a favorite method they want to share? John DeCarlo, MITRE Corporation, McLean, VA--My views are my own Fidonet: 1:109/131 Internet: jdecarlo at mitre.org Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 02 Jun 1994 11:43:01 EDT From: KMYH09A at prodigy.com ( LARRY KELLY) Subject: Which Hop is best for Flavor Only? Can someone enlighten me as to which Hop type is best for flavor only? Also does the AAU matter if the hop is used for only flavor adding at end of boil. Larry KMYH09A at prodigy.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 02 Jun 1994 11:43:10 EDT From: KMYH09A at prodigy.com ( LARRY KELLY) Subject: Help with Clearing Agent Use I was wondering If I was to use some type of clearing agent in my brew to help clearing during second staging, would I end up removing to must of the still suspended yeast, which would in turn lesson my bottle carbination? What would be a good clearing agent to use? Should I even use one? I await all replies, positive or negative. Larry KMYH09A at prodigy.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 02 Jun 94 11:56:08 EST From: dweller at GVSU.EDU (RONALD DWELLE) Subject: spruce/1098/buggy bines/calling Jack/bine id As a previous spruce basher, I'll mention that I used "Black Hills Spruce" (bought as a live Xmas tree & then planted several years back) in the boil. I'm right now re-trying a small half batch, using a different Xmas tree, a Blue Spruce, and using the spruce tips as a "dry hop" in the fermenter and not in the boil at all. (I luuuuuuuuv the smell, pant, pant, and will keep trying til I get the taste!) I had four responses to my "rapid ferment" query--all saying that Wyeast 1098 is a true speed demon and a 48-hour ferment was maybe even "common." Guess I'll go back for another try. (Now if I could just cut my mashing time in half!) On buggy hop bines, I planted garlic cloves around my bines (an old Organic Gardening trick). It supposedly repels (not eliminates) the bugs. Another organic trick is to spray with soapy water; then rinse. Not sure how effective these are on various bug types. I've seen no critters so far, and the goddam rabbits which eat everything else I plant don't seem to be hop heads. To Jack Schmidling: Like many on HBD, I'm a kettle masher, thanks to your write up. One item, you tell us to sparge with boiling water (you say something like, "trust me on this one.") I have (and I do), but I'd like to know why. Speak? Speak? Now for the me-stupid question. When I planted my hop rhizomes, I wrote the variety name--Cascade, Nugget, Perle, and Willamette--on plastic tags with waterproof ink. Except the ink didn't turn out to be waterproof, and my beer-soaked brain couldn't remember which I planted where. Any good way to tell them apart by looks, now that they're half way up my house? They all smell pretty similar to me. Cheers all... Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 02 Jun 1994 12:05:15 EDT From: KMYH09A at prodigy.com ( LARRY KELLY) Subject: Optimum amount of brew water If I was brewing a batch of beer and was not going to do a full batch boil, what would be the optimum amount of water to brew with. Like if I'm making a 5 gallon batch, would I boil 1 or 2 or 3 gallons? Then of course the remainder would be cold water in the carboy. Larry KMYH09A at prodigy.com Return to table of contents
Date: 2 Jun 1994 09:12:07 -0800 From: "Scott Perfect" <scott.perfect at quickmail.llnl.gov> Subject: Broken Glass Subject: Time:8:03 AM OFFICE MEMO Broken Glass Date:6/2/94 rnantel at cam.org writes: >All 24 crashed to the floor. Five exploded sending glass everywhere. This episode reminds me of my only near-disaster with glass, and this is a good opportunity to offer some more safety suggestions. When capping bottles, you are putting appreciable stresses on the glass. A bottle with some non-obvious weakness can explode during the capping process. This happened to me ONE time but I have taken precautions ever since. When the bottle failed, shards of glass went flying every-which-way. I had a very minor cut on my left hand which was steadying the bottle in the bench capper. Whenever I bottle now, I wear a glove on my left hand and I wear safety glasses. Scott Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 94 15:43:00 UTC From: mike.keller at genie.geis.com Subject: Pig Foaming, Mailing Beer RE: Pig foam... I use the 5 liter minikegs, and one of the most important rules is to CUT your normal priming sugar/malt/whatever in HALF. I kegged one part of a batch of dopple, and I primed that part (almost a gallon and a half) with one tablespoon of corn sugar. The head is fine, although I must note that the minikeg uses a CO2 cart to force out the brew (not for priming). RE: Mailing Beer... Some of us on the Zymurgy RoundTable on GEnie periodically swap homebrew, and we always just ship UPS. You cannot ship beer via US Postal Service. Just wrap your individual bottles in newspaper or bubble wrap, then pack them in a box that allows at least one inch of space around each bottle (including in between them). Fill the space with crushed newspaper or peanuts (peanuts allow shifting, so this makes the individual wrapping very important). Use good packing tape. Some UPS clerks think that you're not supposed to ship either glass or beer via UPS, so it's best just to label the package "brewing supplies" or "yeast samples" or something, although I did ship some to Canada last winter, and since I had to be honest for Customs, I put "Brewing Samples for Judging." No problem. I've never had a broken bottle. mike keller zymurgy roundtable genie "You know that you're over the hill When your mind makes a promise that your body can't fill." Little Feat Return to table of contents
Date: 02 Jun 94 12:08:20 EDT From: "Glenace L. Melton" <71242.2275 at CompuServe.COM> Subject: Malting oats/mildew Previously I have malted barley and wheat (3-5 lbs at a time) and have just finished malting 5 lbs of oats, the first batch I've tried. I can't keep the temperature below about 70^F so there is always a danger of mildew. In the case of barley, I have obtained a satisfactory degree of development in about 3 days at which point I dry, smoke, or roast the grain depending on what sort of malt I wish to make. However, the oats took longer to sprout and developed more slowly. In 5 days I only had a germination rate of about 66%, but I also noticed a distinct musty smell. I decided not to risk ruining the whole batch so dried it in my oven at 125-130^F over night. The musty smell is almost entirely gone now, but I am not certain whether the mildew is actually killed or is still lurking in there to come out and ruin my prospective oatmeal stout. Does anyone have experience malting oats, or know what temperature is needed to definitively kill mildew? [END] Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 1994 11:31:01 -0500 (CDT) From: Roger Stelk <rogers at unllib.unl.edu> Subject: Brew Pubs in Miami Beach I will be attending a conference in Miami Beach at the end of the month. I anticipate that it will be hotter than a King Cooker on high. To offset this I would like to spend as much time as possible in some pubs, preferably in the Art Deco area. Does anyone know of any establishments? Roger Email: rogers at unllib.unl.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 94 07:49:21 PDT From: hollen at megatek.com (Dion Hollenbeck) Subject: Re: Motorized Mash Tun Revisited (and RIMS) >>>>> "Jeff" == Jeff Berton <jeff344 at voodoo.lerc.nasa.gov> writes: Jeff> With the way I have my RIMS designed, it doesn't sound much more Jeff> difficult to build than an automatic stirrer. I can email a Jeff> file that describes my RIMS to anyone who is interested. Jeff> Jeff Berton, Aeropropulsion Analysis Office, NASA Lewis Research Center Jeff> jeff344 at voodoo.lerc.nasa.gov Jeff - Please mail it to me. I am interested for several reasons. First, I built and use a RIMS and can always make improvemenmts (tinkerer's delight - you are right). Second, people are always asking me questions about RIMS and I have not yet put together a descriptive file. And lastly, I like to archive good info about subjects I am interested in. Thanks, dion Dion Hollenbeck (619)675-4000x2814 Email: hollen at megatek.com Staff Software Engineer Megatek Corporation, San Diego, California Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 1994 09:35:19 -0800 From: especkma at reed.edu (Erik Speckman) Subject: RE:force carbonation bad for head? In response to a suggestion that agitation could break down heading agents, Domenick Venezia said: >I could not let this go by. Where did you read this? I would really like >the reference, because the inference is that you can break peptide chains >by agitation and if that is the case WE ALL BETTER WATCH OUT! [much sillyness deleted] It took someone posting from a biotech firm to put things in a proper context and jog my memory. One of the things they teach you in undergraduate biolabs is that the thin surface of bubbles is a hostile environment for proteins, nucleic acids, and other long polymers. In the thin film of the bubble such molecules are stretched and may become denatured or sheared. ( I guess that Reed education was good for something ). Cells in suspension can suffer the same fate. Jusk keep bubbles out of your blood and brain and you should be Ok. I haven't seen inside a keg of beer undergoing rapid force carbonation but a quick shake of one of my bottles of homebrew shows that a foam forms. Given enough enthusiasm, I imagine a significant fraction of the heading peptides could be damaged. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 02 Jun 1994 09:20:32 -0600 (CST) From: Robert Schultz <Robert.Schultz at usask.ca> Subject: unable to contact Manning Martin <manning#m#_martin_p at mcst.ae.ge.com> Sorry to use bandwidth, but private email bounced several times.... "Manning Martin MP" <manning#m#_martin_p at mcst.ae.ge.com> would you please send a copy of your Mac Excel ss for recipe formulation? In binhex4.0 please. Thanks. Rob. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 02 Jun 1994 09:06:28 -0600 (CST) From: Robert Schultz <Robert.Schultz at usask.ca> Subject: Help on hops... Asking for the netwisdom.... What is the difference in T45 and T90 hop pellets? I vaguely remember reading that the utilization of T90 is twice that of T45, but what is typically available? How do you tell the difference? What do you use in your brews? If one must add 10% more when using plug and an additional 10% for leaf, would this info be based on T90 or T45? Help? Rob. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ Robert.Schultz at usask.ca, Senior Research Analyst, University of Saskatchewan ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ "I'm going off half-cocked? I'm going off half-cocked? ... ~ ~ Well, Mother was right - You can't argue with a shotgun." - Gary Larson ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 02 Jun 94 12:22:31 EST From: Philip Proefrock <PSPROEFR at MIAMIU.ACS.MUOHIO.EDU> Subject: Bottles for homebrew We recently were bottling our latest batch (10 gal of Obscure IPA) of homebrew, and discovered to our dismay that our capper would not cap Caledonian Brewing Co.'s bottles, since they have a recessed ring around the neck and the capper can't get a grip. This got us to wondering about whose bottles are good for homebrew bottling (New Amsterdams worked just fine, and a lot of our IPA ended up in those) and whose bottles don't work as well. I don't know if this is FAQ-bait, or just a topic of potential interest, but I'd be interested in other people's experiences and responses. If you prefer to mail responses to me, I'll summarize them and post it. I don't think this information will seriously affect my commercial beer drinking habits (yes, I must admit that I still do drink some non-homebrews), but it may change what bottles I keep and which ones I recycle. BTW, we're keeping the Caledonian bottles with an eye to eventually getting a bench capper. Philip Proefrock Weasel Bros. Brewing Labels & Graphics Design psproefr at miamiu.acs.muohio.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 2 Jun 1994 13:31:35 -0400 (EDT) From: Jim Busch <busch at daacdev1.stx.com> Subject: Re: DunkelWeizens > ****NOTE: DO NOT "REPLY" TO MY MAIL, FORWARD OR WRITE NEW MAIL**** > **** **** > **** john Oberpriller **** > **** Internet: l375bbk%s12int.dnet at alcbel.be **** > **** l375bbk%s12int.dnet at alcatel.be **** Uhh, like maybe you should remove your .sig if this is a problem! Spencer asks about Dunkelweizens. > > Subject: dunkelweizen all-grain recipe > > But before I start, I thought I'd get the "wisdom" :-) of the HBD on > my side. Questions: > 1. Does anyone have a great all-grain dunkelweizen recipe? (That you > will share !accurately! with me?) > 2. What's the best way, in your opinion, to darken a dunkelweizen: > a. Dark crystal malt > b. Chocolate malt > c. Other "color malt" (Aromatic? Munich?) > d. Other? > > My tentative recipe is looking something like this: > * 30-70 Pilsener (DW-C) - Wheat (DW-C or Ireks) > * Some amount (5%?) of dark crystal (Ireks 90L) to darken and add body > * A small amount (2%?) of chocolate malt to darken and add a touch of > roast flavor. > * Double decoction mash. > * 12 IBUs of hops, 60 min. > > This gives OG 1.052, Color 20L, which is about on target for the AHA > style sheet. THis is a tough one. The dark malts that would be a natural choice are not available here, and I doubt many homebrewers have dark malt coloring that most Germans use. You want to limit the caramel sweetness, and limit the chocolate taste but get the color contributions. The beer need not be real dark, so I would use under 5% dark crystal and maybe 1% chocolate. If its domestic chocolate, I would leave it out all together. I hate the use of Black Patent in any beer, so Im not about to suggest this. If you can get a dark Munich malt, this may be a good bet, or maybe do some experiments with Belgian malts, but the maltiness may be too much. Good luck, Jim Busch Return to table of contents
Date: Thu Jun 2 14:17:55 1994 From: braddw at rounder.rounder.com Subject: Boston Brew-In's/HSA. I was just thumbing through the brew club listings in my latest Zymurgy and noticed that the Boston Brew-In's are located at right across thee street from me! I plan on stopping over but in the meantime I thought I'd see if any of you are on the net. Well? Private e-mail is cool. And now for the question of the day. What is HSA and how will stirring the mash cause it? A new all-grainer with 4 batches under his belt wonders..... **** ---- "There's always time for a Homebrew!" ---- **** C|~~| ----------------------------------------------- C|~~| `--' --------------braddw at rounder.com------------- `--' ------------------------------------------- Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 02 Jun 94 15:24:13 -0400 From: Dave Coombs <coombs at cme.nist.gov> Subject: Re: Pickle Buckets >> Incidentally, I assume you're going to make a zap-zap type lauter >> tun. I started out with this, but found there was too much dead >> space at the bottom. You could slice off the rings around the outside of the bucket that prevent it from sliding down inside the outer bucket. Mine has foundation space 3 or 4 cm deep (about a gallon). It's comparable to the foundation left by the adjustable vegetable steamer basket I used a few times, and it's about right for the spigot on my outer bucket. dave Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1440, 06/03/94