HOMEBREW Digest #1669 Thu 02 March 1995

Digest #1668 Digest #1670


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


Contents:
  motorizing Coronas revisted (FLATTER)
  Re: A good scale (wegeng.XKeys)
  RE: hop storage, Irish moss (Jim Dipalma)
  Bock, Anchor (MATTD)
  Looking for San Diego Brew Pubs and Micros (Dave Shaver)
  Gott digest (R) & diacetyl rest (Q) (Mel E. Martinez)
  Fermenter Questions ("Fleming, Kirk R., Capt")
  Competition Announcement (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583)
  hop storage/homebrewed vs. commercial/volume in IBU formulas (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583)
  Re: Fermenter Questions (Eamonn McKernan)
  Used Wort Chiller wanted (Bread and Circus)
  Fiberglass fermenters (Kelly Jones)
  dropping and mutant yeast/hop storage: don't use polyethylene bags! (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583)
  Pitching rates for High Grav. Brews (Erik Speckman)
  aging beer (Tim Bennett)
  Hefe Weisen Yeast (JHojel)
  RE:Controlling RIMs Motor Speed (tboyce)
  RE:Controlling RIMs Motor Speed (tboyce)
  RE:Controlling RIMs Motor Speed (tboyce)
  RE:Controlling RIMs Motor Speed (tboyce)
  Mississippi (Karen Barela/AHA President)
  Petes Wicked Winter Brew / Aluminum (jack walter kennedy)
  Harpoon Beer & The Sam Adams Brewpub ("Craig Sonis")
  Is my S.G. too high? ("Shannon William Fleming")
  Celis Merger (Robert Heynen)

****************************************************************** * NEW POLICY NOTE: Due to the incredible volume of bouncing mail, * I am going to have to start removing addresses from the list * that cause ongoing problems. In particular, if your mailbox * is full or your account over quota, and this results in bounced * mail, your address will be removed from the list after a few days. * * If you use a 'vacation' program, please be sure that it only * sends a automated reply to homebrew-request *once*. If I get * more than one, then I'll delete your address from the list. ****************************************************************** 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. 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 ARCHIVES: An archive of previous issues of this digest, as well as other beer related information can be accessed via anonymous ftp at ftp.stanford.edu. Use ftp to log in as anonymous and give your full e-mail address as the password, look under the directory /pub/clubs/homebrew/beer directory. AFS users can find it under /afs/ir.stanford.edu/ftp/pub/clubs/homebrew/beer. If you do not have ftp capability you may access the files via e-mail using the ftpmail service at gatekeeper.dec.com. For information about this service, send an e-mail message to ftpmail at gatekeeper.dec.com with the word "help" (without the quotes) in the body of the message.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 07:48:38 -0820 From: FLATTER%MHS at mhs.rose-hulman.edu Subject: motorizing Coronas revisted A while back I read an article about motorizing a Corona grain mill. It suggested taking off the handle by replacing the screw that held it on. The author [whose name I don't recall; sorry about that] suggested cutting the head off a bolt and putting that in the chuck of a drill. Well, I tried that. After several unsuccessful attempts, I finally stripped the threads off enough to get a grip on the bolt. It required periodic tightening as I ground my grain, but it sure beat cranking it by hand. This would a happy ending if it weren't for a mishap this weekend. All that slippage eventually wore down the replacement bolt. Now I have a better solution. I put a 3/16 bolt with a hex head in that spot [WalMart-$0.78 for three plus 3 nuts]. Instead of cutting off the head, I use a 1/2" nut driver in my drill [WalMart-$4.57 for Black and Decker kit of 6-sided shank for drill to 1/4 drive male socket adapter plus 6 sockets w/ 1/4 drive holes]. This arrangement has several additional advantages. The drill can be removed from the mill when refilling the bin. The bolt doesn't wear, and it can be removed completely for storage. Best of all, I now have a versatile nut driver set, and my wife didn't complain about me getting a new tool set. - -------------- Neil Flatter Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Chemistry - Math (CMA) Department of Chemistry Stockroom Manager Novell Supervisor 5500 Wabash Avenue 73 (812) 877 - 8316 Terre Haute, IN 47803-3999 FAX: 877 - 3198 Flatter at Rose-Hulman.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 08:19:31 PST From: wegeng.XKeys at xerox.com Subject: Re: A good scale For small measurements (on the order of an ounce or two) I use a scale designed for gun owners who reload their own shells. These scales measure weight in grains rather than ounces, but converting from one unit to the other is easy, and they are very accurate. You can buy one for around $25 from any gun shop. /Don wegeng.xkeys at xerox.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 11:13:19 EST From: dipalma at sky.com (Jim Dipalma) Subject: RE: hop storage, Irish moss Hi All, Regarding the recent thread on hop storage, Charles S. Jackson writes: >I have taken to using brown jars (ovaltine >works nicely), purging w/co2 and freezing. Seemed to be a reasonable >alternative to the cost of buying a heat sealer, o2 impermeable bags and some >nitrogen. >Anyway it would be nice to see/hear how other keep their hops. A couple of years ago, I was given a large Ziploc bag stuffed with fresh Cascade cones that had been grown by a fellow homebrewer. There were about 8 ounces in the bag, far more than I would have been able to use in a short time. I stored most of them by stuffing them in mason jars, purging with CO2, and storing them in the freezer. When I used up the last of them some eight months later, they were still in very good condition. I've stored pellets in this manner for as long as a year with no problems. The key is to store them in the freezer in an oxygen impermeable container that's been purged with an inert gas. I already had the mason jars and CO2 tank because of my yeast culturing and kegging activities, and couldn't see the sense in buying a heat sealer, oxygen impermeable bags, etc., when I already had all the equipment needed to do the job. **************************************************************** Domenic Venezia asks about Irish moss: >Does anyone have a rule of thumb they use, or experience that says to >scale the amount of IM by heaviness of brew? Perhaps, (SG - 1.0)*10 >grams per gallon? Reality checks are welcome. In fact any checks are >welcome. FWIW, I use three level teaspoons in a 10 gallon batch, rehydrated for at least several hours before use, and added for the last 15 minutes of the boil. I don't adjust this amount for OG, brew everything from English milds at ~1.035 to Wee Heavys at over 1.080 OG, and get large amounts of break material and good clarity in the beers. IMHO, I think the key to successful use of Irish moss is rehydration several hours before use. I try to remember to rehydrate the night before brewing. After the flakes have been sitting in water for a few hours, they turn into a gooey, gelatinous mass. I've seen a lot of posts from brewers who simply toss the flakes in dry, then report that they didn't notice any difference using Irish moss. Cheers, Jim dipalma at sky.com Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 09:46:50 -0700 (MST) From: MATTD at UWYO.EDU Subject: Bock, Anchor I am interested in brewing an all grain, traditional, high gravity Bock. The recipes I have are either extract or variations of a traditional. Does anyone have the type of recipe that I am looking for. Also, I will be in San Francisco in April. Does anyone know the touring schedule for the Anchor Brewing company on a Friday or Saturday? Thanks. Private e-mail or HBD post is fine. Matt Mattd at uwyo.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 10:45:23 -0600 (CST) From: shaver at healthcare.com (Dave Shaver) Subject: Looking for San Diego Brew Pubs and Micros I'm looking for brewpubs and micros in the San Diego area---I'm willing to drive up to an hour if the place is great. In looking at the publist database, I've put together the list below. I'll be in the area for over a week, but I probably can't hit all of these places. Let me know which ones I should NOT miss. I would love to learn about additional places I should not miss. Please e-mail directly and I'll summarize to the list. Does anyone know about tours of micros in the area? Brewski's Gas Lamp Pub Callahan's Pub & Brewery Hops! Bistro and Brewery Kitayama Cafe Mission Brewery Old Columbia Brewery and Grill Old Pacific Beach Cafe Pacific Beach Brewhouse Pizza Port Prince of Wales San Diego Brewing Co Two Docks /\ Dave Shaver \\ Plano, TX \/ Internet: shaver at healthcare.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 11:48:41 -0500 From: mem at rowland.pha.jhu.edu (Mel E. Martinez) Subject: Gott digest (R) & diacetyl rest (Q) At 1:01 AM 2/27/95, homebrew-request@ hpfcmi.fc.hp.com (Request Address Only - No Ar wrote: >Subject: Gott digest confessions > >To all the people who requested the Gott digest that I put together, I >really screwed this job up. You probably noticed that the digest was an >attachement that was encoded with BinHex. This probably put you in a mild >panic and caused you to curse my name and so forth. I must apologize for >this. > >The digest got bigger than I thought and it wouldn't fit onto my e-mail >document. Therefore, I just sent it as an attachment as a text document. >However, my e-mail program (Eudora) automatically encodes attachments with >BinHex, which is a Mac program. People with Macs (either with BinHex or >Eudora) I guess had no problems. Everyone else on non-Mac machines was >left in the dark. In addition, America Online users (and other online >service users) probably just got a bunch of digital gook on their e-mail >which is no help. > Chris, You can turn off the automatic binhexing of Mac document attachments by Eudora by going to the Special:Settings... menu item, go to Attachments and turn off "always include Mac information". With this settings, Eudora should not binhex TEXT files that are attached. It will still encode binary documents. Also, make sure that your text document to be attached has Type "TEXT". That is, from whatever editor you use, make sure you SAVE as Plain Text. Note that some Mac apps use TEXT as their fyle type, but do include other info in the resource fork. If you attach and mail such a file as plain text without binhexing, the additional info will be stripped. This is not generally a problem unless you did want to send the whole of the file to say, another mac user. In that case, you can either turn the option above back on or use the pop-up menu in the Eudora button bar (not all versions though). Or you can pre-binhex files manually using any of several binhex tools available. If this does not work, let me know or simply send a message asking for help from Qualcomm - they should have an alias pre-installed in your nicknames list and are very responsive and helpful. You usually get a response directly from Steve Dorner himself. [I apologize for posting this decidedly non-brew info to HBD but I can't always get mail into panix accounts so I thought it would be useful to post the reply.] Ob Brew - I'll try to make up for it by just telling everyone how incredibly good my current batch of 'red' ale is comming out! Awesome. I doubt much of the batch will survive St. Pat's day... Also, I plan on cultivating my own hops this year (rhizomes from FreshHops in OR, 503-929-2736) and hopefully next year I'll be able to do some homegrown-homebrew! Next, a Question: I'm going to try my first attempt at a 'pilsner' style brew this weekend. I'm starting the yeast starter tonight because I like to pitch it big and will be saving some of the starter as well. I plan to let it ferment about a week in the primary at ~55-60 F and then move it to the secondary and let it sit between 40-55 F for several weeks (I mostly want this for summer so I won't be in a hurry with it). I can't control the temp much closer than that, but the basement is pretty damn cold well into spring. One question that I still haven't nailed down about making this style is the 'diacetyl rest' I've heard reference too. I've read Miller's book which is where I first heard of it but, typically, he is very unclear about just what it is and how/whether to do one. If I understand it correctly this 'rest' is performed by moving the primary, after the initial fermentation is over, to a warmer environment for a few days to increase diacetyl (buttery) character. I have seen this vaguely referenced in several pilsner discussions but have been unable to nail down the exact procedure. (What temp == warmer? How long?) So, have you pilsner experts out there got any tips/info/corrections? Cheers, Mel Martinez The Johns Hopkins University Dept. of Physics mem at pha.jhu.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 10:06:00 MST From: "Fleming, Kirk R., Capt" <FLEMINGKR at afmcfafb.fafb.af.mil> Subject: Fermenter Questions >In #1667 Will Self asks about fermenter design: Here's what we've done, Will. Cut the top out of a Sankey keg and had a 3/4" NPT pipe coupling (cut in half) welded thru the center bottom of the keg. From the outside, screwed in a 3/4" NPT to 3/4" copper coupling, a copper nipple, and a brass/stainless 3/4" ball valve. This design suffers exactly the problem of the carboy--slope at the bottom is insufficient. I sent away for a catalog from one of the Zymurgy advertisers selling 1/2 bbl cylindroconical fermenters, but did not get the info I needed (price). Based on the average price of $400 for a 20 gal stock pot in stainless, I'm confident a fermenter would be more. My thought was to cut the keg at the weld joint at the lower chine, then fabricate a cone from stainless sheet and have it Heli-arc'ed to the bottom of the keg. Sanitary welding is what's needed--it won't be a pressure vessel. For the top I now have a Pyrex lid from a Dutch oven, thru which I drilled a hole for an airlock. I'd now go go with a SS pan lid (the hole in my fermenter is 10" dia) which can be easily modified at will with flanges, etc., to accomodate airlocks, aeration plumbing and all that. Of course, there is a school which advocates simply leaving the lid on without worrying about seals and airlocks--a semi-open fermentation concept. I think this is a solid idea. Finally, the current unit (and any future one) is mounted on a painted wooden stand which supports the bottom of the keg at about 48" off the floor. The stand looks much like a giant four-legged barstool with a 4" hole in the middle of the seat to accomodate the drain valve. We pump from the tank we chilled the wort in directly into the fermenter, which has the benefit of high aeration. We can easily drop the brew from the fermenter into the keg when it's time. Can't speak to the chemistry of fiberglass resin--but whenever I've tried to acquire the materials for fairly substantial fiberglass projects, found the cost was prohibitive. Your sources/results may vary. For me, stainless is actually much less expensive--even with the cost of having the welding done. It would be *very* important to ensure the inside surface of the fiberglass tank was inclusion-free for sanitation. Not having built anything from 'glass, a smooth interior seems like a big obstacle. Your idea for a bottle under the tank drain valve sounds good--provided it's a completely closed system like the oil-jars you may have seen on ancient industrial equipment. OTOH, I would just open the airlock, then crank open the ball-valve on the bottom of the tank. A slug of yeast sediment should come out, followed by clear beer. A little training and one should be able to minimize losses yet still get the trub out of the unit. After closing the ball valve, the pocket of the valve exposed to the atmosphere should be spray-flushed with a sanitizer to prevent bacteria growth, preparatory to final racking. Anyone knowing commercial practice in this area should please contribute! Kirk R Fleming -flemingkr at afmcfafb.fafb.af.mil Return to table of contents
Date: 27 Feb 95 11:47:00 -0600 From: korz at iepubj.att.com (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583) Subject: Competition Announcement Ok, the last announcment: March 25, 1995 is the date for the 1995 Brewers of South Suburbia competition to be held in Lockport, IL (South-suburban Chicago). Entries are due between March 10th and 17th. Over $600 in prizes have been pledged for 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each category plus 1st, 2nd and 3rd BOS. For more information and/or entry/judge/steward registration packets, please send email or call me at 708-430-HOPS (evenings, Fridays, weekends or leave a message). Judges and Stewards needed! Al. korz at iepubj.att.com Return to table of contents
Date: 27 Feb 95 14:18:00 -0600 From: korz at iepubj.att.com (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583) Subject: hop storage/homebrewed vs. commercial/volume in IBU formulas Charles writes: > In a year of reading the digest I have not seen a discussion of the >proper/best way to store hops. I have taken to using brown jars (ovaltine >works nicely), purging w/co2 and freezing. Seemed to be a reasonable >alternative to the cost of buying a heat sealer, o2 impermeable bags and some >nitrogen. I have a heat sealer, so I just re-seal the O2-barrier bags the hops came in, but I've recommended to those who don't to fold the corner of the opened bag a couple of times and then keep it closed with a butterfly clip (one of those black, old-fashioned clips for big stacks of paper). You don't have to get Nitrogen to flush the package -- CO2 is inert and will purge the O2 out of the package just as well as N2. I think that your method seems good assuming the jar has a good seal. Even if the rubber/soft plastic seal of the jar is not made of O2-barrier plastic, remember that the permiability is a function of area (proportional) and thickness (inversely proportional). The seal of the jar will have a small area and a relatively large thickness. Incidentally, you can buy small heat sealers at a place called Service Merchandise around here for (I believe) $29.99. ******** Richard writes: >1) How does the "best" homebrew compare with the the "best" commercial beer? >"Best" is difficult to determine, but can any generalizations be made with >respect to the beer produced by homebrewers versus commercial brewers, once >a reasonably high level of competence is attained? Some of the best beer I've tasted was homebrewed. Once you get a handle on this hobby, you can really brew some very, very good beer. I've tasted beer from one homebrewer, who on her 10th batch or so, was making beer that would put most commercial breweries to shame. Perfect balance, wonderful flavours, complexity... excellent beer. >2) How do the raw materials used by commercial brewers differ from those >used by commercial (micro) brewers? I would imagine that the malt is quite >similar, the yeast more varied, and have no idea about the hops. It depends on your supplier. The raw ingredients that enter the wholesale homebrew supply stream are the same ones that are used by micros. How well the suppliers handle and package the ingredients has a lot to do with how good the supplies will be when you use them. Personally, I'd insist on Oxygen-barrier packaging for hops and, ideally, CO2- or Nitrogen-purged. Grain should be stored in sealed containers, like buckets or thick plastic bags. Grain stored in paper or open containers will go stale (as quickly as a few days if the humidity is high). There are literally hundreds of strains of yeast available to homebrewers now from Wyeast, The Yeast Culture Kit Company, Head Start, Brewer's Resource. The quality of these yeasts is as good as what the pros use (and, in many cases, ARE what the pros use). >3) Finally, how much of largescale brewing is art vs. engineering, or asked >another way, could many other micro breweries produce a copy of, say an >Anchor Liberty Ale or a SN Celebration Ale, if it were in their business >model to produce such a product? If money was no object, and a brewery wanted >to produce a five star beer, using the best ingredients and state of the art >equipment, could most brewers pull it off or are there still lots of >intangibles left which translate into a disparity of results. I would imagine that on a microbrewery scale, it might be a little more difficult to produce a clone of another beer, mostly because there are equipment limitation (either you are set up to do decoction or you aren't; either you have a grant or you don't; either you have a hopback or you don't), but for a skilled homebrewer it should not take more than three or four iterations to get quite close. The key is really the yeast. You can always get similar grain and similar hops, but the yeast has a far bigger effect on the final flavour than a slightly different hop variety or a different maltster's grain. ******* Mark O. writes: >Perhaps it is common sense, but none of the texts I have read has >made a distinction about the *proper* volume to use [for IBU calculations]. >Most of us would >be inclined to say *fermenter*, correct? I would argue that the final >kettle volume is the right one, since a gallon of unusable wort is still >one gallon of wort. Some brewers may not lose a gallon in the >process, as I do, but accurate calculations must have accurate measurements. I agree with you. The concentration of isomerized alpha acids will be dependent on the volume of the wort at the end of the boil *including* the break (and, as we read recently, perhaps a lot more dependent on the amount on the break than we had previously thought!). There is another factor (gravity) that needs to be taken into account. Let's say you start with 8 gallons of wort at 1050 and end with 5.5 gallons of wort at 1073. So what's the boil gravity? What I do is calculate the average gravity _during_the_time_that_the_hops_are_in_the_boil_. So, let's say, I first let the wort boil down to 7 gallons (which would be about 1057) and then add the hops till it boils down to 5.5 gallons (at 1073). The average boil gravity would be about 1065, which is what I would use in Rager's gravity adjustment formula. >Since I am a late comer to the IBU debate, I presume that the >disparaging of Garetz's approach to IBU calculation is with utilization >rates, not the formula itself. No, it's not just the utilization percentages that I feel are incorrect, but also the additional compensations (altitude, hop aging, high IBUs, etc.) that are suspect. I say this because I've compared the hop additions recommended by Garetz's formulas against beers that were brewed with the Rager formulas and then subsequently tested at the Siebel Institute. See my review of Using Hops in the latest issue of Zymurgy for all the data. Al. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 13:43:30 EST From: Eamonn McKernan <eamonn at rainbow.physics.utoronto.ca> Subject: Re: Fermenter Questions Will Self wants to re-design fermenters. I wish you the best of luck. Right now, most homebrewing equipment is primarily designed for other purposes, and we learn to build/apapt these things to our purposes. Though things are slowly changing for the better. And of course, anyone with enough money can get custom made parts. Some possible problems with your proposed design: Plastic is oxygen permeable, so in that sense it is not really "generally accepted". It might be closer to the truth to suggest that it is grudgingly accepted by some of us. Though I don't know the permeability of fibreglass. A sloping bottom on a fermentor will still have trub stick to it, so a collection jar at the very bottom won't catch all that precipitates. You'd do much better simply suspending the racking cane above the trub if you don't want to siphon it. If you're brewing in 12-15 gallon batches, then this does not represent any significant loss of precious beer. Or with your brewcap you similarly rig it to only collect beer above a certain height in the fermentor. If you don't mind using plastic, you could probably modify a bucket to have a sloping bottom by using some kind of filler (I can't think of what kind of material would be suitable for this. Maybe that fibreglass stuff). Then make sure that its lid is a tight fit, and you're set. Drill as many holes in it as you want, install a valve at the bottom, and a bit of racking cane sticking up from the bottom to above the level of the trub. If you don't want trub to fall into the cane, bend it so that it faces downwards. But realistically, you'd probably have to made things out of metal for an ideal setup. A question to people with buckets with lids: How tight a fit are the lids. I know alot of them are ok, but have never seen one with a true airtight seal. Any special modifications that someone's tried? Also, if you put a tap at the bottom to collect samples during fermentation, would it be sanitary? After taking one sample, the outside would get covered with wort, which airborne beasties would latch onto by the time you wanted to use it again. Or is this not true? In fact, even if it were sanitized when you started fermenting, a few days of contact with outside air would be enough to cover them with bacteria. Just some thoughts. Can't wait to hear what you eventually build. Eamonn McKernan eamonn at rainbow.physics.utoronto.ca Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 13:55:21 -0500 (EST) From: Bread and Circus <kfitzger at abacus.bates.edu> Subject: Used Wort Chiller wanted Hello, I'm prepairing to go all grain and trying to minimilize costs. I'm looking for a cheap wort chiller and/or grist mill. Please let me know if you can help me out. Thanks, Pat FitzGerald kfitzger at abacus.bates.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 12:18:03 -0700 From: k-jones at ee.utah.edu (Kelly Jones) Subject: Fiberglass fermenters Will self asks about fiberglass fermenters. This is an interesting idea. One criterion you left out was the ability to hold pressure. This way the beer could naturally condition itself in the fermenter. Could a fiberglass vessel be engineered to withstand a few atmospheres of pressure? Also, if Fiberglass is not a suitable beer-contact material, what about lining the vessel interior with a form-fitted "condom", made out of PE, PP, or some other safe material? This would only need be a few mils thick, like a garbage bag, and could be disposed of after one or more brews. Kelly Return to table of contents
Date: 28 Feb 95 14:03:00 -0600 From: korz at iepubj.att.com (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583) Subject: dropping and mutant yeast/hop storage: don't use polyethylene bags! Brian writes: >> This raises another question: shouldn't this be done prior to the yeast >> going anaerobic? > > I think the idea is that the yeast that is actively working in >suspension is the "master race" and that it is only when this yeast is >in full working order that you want to drop in order to discard the initial >head and whatever has sunk to the bottom of the fermenter. Well, perhaps. In any yeast population you will have healthy yeast and unhealthy yeast, even if all were from a single cell culture. From private correspondence with George Fix a few years ago, if I have this right, my understanding is that there are various types of mutants that can occur. Some of the typical mutations are: 1) the loss of the ability to ferment some kinds of sugars, 2) the loss of the ablility to respire (respiratory deficient or RD mutants), 3) the losss of the ability to reabsorb diacetyl, and, the most important to our discussion, 4) the loss of the ability to flocculate. The reason that so many British brewers harvest their yeast from the top of the ferment is because this tends to select the strong flocculators and leaves behind the poor flocculators. If you have a strong top flocculating yeast and you leave most of it behind during dropping (or, for that matter, if you use the blowoff method with this kind of yeast) you can be selecting the poor flocculators and leaving the strong flocculators behind. The same argument can be made for bottom cropping (harvesting yeast from the bottom of the fermentor) of yeasts that have a strong tendancy to flocculate at the bottom. So where does that leave us? Well, as I see it, it means that it is important when "dropping" to include a significant portion of the yeast on the top, no? Excluding *all* the kraeusen (ok, so it's a German word) will increase your chances of increasing the percentage of poor flocculators. Let's recall that it's the dirty head (that dark brown gunk) that we're trying to get rid of, NOT the creamy white yeast cake. ***** Gary writes: >Fred Waltman (or was it Norm Pyle?) brought up hop storage. I put >my hops in zip-lock freezer bags and suck the air out of them >before closing. I put all the backs together in a big "Tupperware" >tub, and freeze them. Does that sound like poor practice? The "tupperware" is probably what's saving your hops. As I posted yesterday, the permiability of a container is proportional to the area and inversely proportional to the thickness. Since the "tupperware" is quite thick, the permiabilty is quite a bit less than the plastic bags. All the plastic "tupperware" I've seen is either high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density PE (LDPE) or polypropylene (PP). All three of these are pretty permiable to oxygen, the enemy of hops. The "tupperware" *helps* preserve the hops, but is not ideal -- glass would be better. The zip-lock bags by themselves are not much protection from oxidation at all. One day in a polyethylene bag (your typical ziplock sandwich or freezer bag) allows as much oxygen to permiate into the bag as 250 days in the O2-barrier bags that I use for hop storage! If you bought your hops in oxygen-barrier bags to begin with, you would not have to worry about them -- just re-seal the corner of the bag as well as you can. Oxygen-barrier bags are available to all retailers, so your retailer should not have any excuse for not using them -- they cost more, but brewing predictable beer with variable quality hops is difficult if not impossible. And predictable bittering is not the only issue -- when exposed to oxygen hop aromas quickly go bad (Fuggles, for example, go "cheezy" -- Hallertauer go "piney.") Al. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 12:55:54 -0800 From: especkma at halcyon.com (Erik Speckman) Subject: Pitching rates for High Grav. Brews Capt. Kirk R. Fleming was wondering about the rational behind the reccomendation that pitching rate be perportional to wort gravity. I think it is because the soluability of O2 is perportional to wort gravity. More yeast cells must be provided to ensure a sufficient population peak because it is beleived that yeast reproduction depends on the availability of O2 for aerobic respiration. This is also the reasoning behind reccomendations that extra care be taken to aerate higher gravity brews. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 16:59:11 CST From: Tim.Bennett at amd.com (Tim Bennett) Subject: aging beer Any input as to the "proper" method of aging beer? That is, those styles of beer which improve with age, a la barleywine. Refrigeration? Cellar aging? Is it advisable to deactivate the yeast? Where do I get that much refrigerator space? I live in Austin, Texas...we don't have cellars. I've let beers (not barleywines) age for about three months at room temperature, and when opened they were like soda-water...no taste at all. We played a dirge as they were poured down the drain. On the other hand, I've let beers go a long time (6-12 months) in refrigeration, and they were SUPERB. Any thoughts? - -- regards Tim.Bennett at amd.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 18:56:08 -0500 From: JHojel at aol.com Subject: Hefe Weisen Yeast I'm in search of a yeast strain (other than the usual: Wyeast's Weihenstephan strain) to brew a fruity Hefe Weisen. Does anyone happen to have such a strain that they are willing to share? JHojel Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 16:37:16 -0700 From: tboyce at ibm.net Subject: RE:Controlling RIMs Motor Speed > THIS IS A MESSAGE IN 'MIME' FORMAT. Your mail reader does not support MIME. > You may not be able to read some parts of this message. - --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014 Content-ID: <14_57_1_794007439> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit Content-Description: <none> Thank you to: Bruce, Lance, Stuart, Evan, Dion, Tim, Louis,Don,John Whom replied to via e-mail to my motor-pump speed control question. To Sumarize; 1. Will a light dimmer work to control motor speed? Yes and no. Or more approprietly maybe. Zymurgy gadgets issue has a fix to a dimmer switch if your inclinded to try it, although your dimmer may not be like the unit in the article. 2. What works? A fan motor controller is compatible with most a/c motors and alot of the respondents where using them with great success. They do not handle low speed torque. Their inexpensive and available anywhere. 3. Home built circuits. Router speed controller. Something to satisfy all levels of electronics tinkerers. Seems theres a real intrest in RIMs in HBD lately. I can hardly wait for the steam injection Gott vs. RIMs debates. Special thanks to Lance. Bruce if you did'nt receive my e-mail, respond and I'll resend. Todd tboyce at bohemia.metronet.org tboyce at nyx.10.cs.du.edu - --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014 Content-ID: <14_57_1_794008955> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit Content-Description: <none> - --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014-- Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 16:37:16 -0700 From: tboyce at ibm.net Subject: RE:Controlling RIMs Motor Speed > THIS IS A MESSAGE IN 'MIME' FORMAT. Your mail reader does not support MIME. > You may not be able to read some parts of this message. - --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014 Content-ID: <14_57_1_794007439> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit Content-Description: <none> Thank you to: Bruce, Lance, Stuart, Evan, Dion, Tim, Louis,Don,John Whom replied to via e-mail to my motor-pump speed control question. To Sumarize; 1. Will a light dimmer work to control motor speed? Yes and no. Or more approprietly maybe. Zymurgy gadgets issue has a fix to a dimmer switch if your inclinded to try it, although your dimmer may not be like the unit in the article. 2. What works? A fan motor controller is compatible with most a/c motors and alot of the respondents where using them with great success. They do not handle low speed torque. Their inexpensive and available anywhere. 3. Home built circuits. Router speed controller. Something to satisfy all levels of electronics tinkerers. Seems theres a real intrest in RIMs in HBD lately. I can hardly wait for the steam injection Gott vs. RIMs debates. Special thanks to Lance. Bruce if you did'nt receive my e-mail, respond and I'll resend. Todd tboyce at bohemia.metronet.org tboyce at nyx.10.cs.du.edu - --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014 Content-ID: <14_57_1_794008955> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit Content-Description: <none> - --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014-- Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 16:37:16 -0700 From: tboyce at ibm.net Subject: RE:Controlling RIMs Motor Speed > THIS IS A MESSAGE IN 'MIME' FORMAT. Your mail reader does not support MIME. > You may not be able to read some parts of this message. - --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014 Content-ID: <14_57_1_794007439> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit Content-Description: <none> Thank you to: Bruce, Lance, Stuart, Evan, Dion, Tim, Louis,Don,John Whom replied to via e-mail to my motor-pump speed control question. To Sumarize; 1. Will a light dimmer work to control motor speed? Yes and no. Or more approprietly maybe. Zymurgy gadgets issue has a fix to a dimmer switch if your inclinded to try it, although your dimmer may not be like the unit in the article. 2. What works? A fan motor controller is compatible with most a/c motors and alot of the respondents where using them with great success. They do not handle low speed torque. Their inexpensive and available anywhere. 3. Home built circuits. Router speed controller. Something to satisfy all levels of electronics tinkerers. Seems theres a real intrest in RIMs in HBD lately. I can hardly wait for the steam injection Gott vs. RIMs debates. Special thanks to Lance. Bruce if you did'nt receive my e-mail, respond and I'll resend. Todd tboyce at bohemia.metronet.org tboyce at nyx.10.cs.du.edu - --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014 Content-ID: <14_57_1_794008955> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit Content-Description: <none> - --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014-- Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 16:37:16 -0700 From: tboyce at ibm.net Subject: RE:Controlling RIMs Motor Speed > THIS IS A MESSAGE IN 'MIME' FORMAT. Your mail reader does not support MIME. > You may not be able to read some parts of this message. - --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014 Content-ID: <14_57_1_794007439> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit Content-Description: <none> Thank you to: Bruce, Lance, Stuart, Evan, Dion, Tim, Louis,Don,John Whom replied to via e-mail to my motor-pump speed control question. To Sumarize; 1. Will a light dimmer work to control motor speed? Yes and no. Or more approprietly maybe. Zymurgy gadgets issue has a fix to a dimmer switch if your inclinded to try it, although your dimmer may not be like the unit in the article. 2. What works? A fan motor controller is compatible with most a/c motors and alot of the respondents where using them with great success. They do not handle low speed torque. Their inexpensive and available anywhere. 3. Home built circuits. Router speed controller. Something to satisfy all levels of electronics tinkerers. Seems theres a real intrest in RIMs in HBD lately. I can hardly wait for the steam injection Gott vs. RIMs debates. Special thanks to Lance. Bruce if you did'nt receive my e-mail, respond and I'll resend. Todd tboyce at bohemia.metronet.org tboyce at nyx.10.cs.du.edu - --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014 Content-ID: <14_57_1_794008955> Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit Content-Description: <none> - --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014-- Return to table of contents
Date: 28 Feb 95 19:05:59 EST From: Karen Barela/AHA President <75250.1350 at compuserve.com> Subject: Mississippi Here's an update to the situation in Mississippi. The bill has passed the House Ways and Means Committee and it now needs to pass the Full House. We would like to see it pass the Full House soon, before the group who opposes this bill has a chance to mobilize and gather support against the bill. We hope to see it pass within the next couple of days. Anyone who is interested in helping to pass this bill should call as soon as possible, Tim Ford, Speaker of the House and/or Glenn Endris, Representative and offer your support for Senate Bill #2097. If you live in Mississippi it would help if you stated the district you are in and direct your support to your districts representative. Written letters from interested individuals have a strong impact! The phone # is (601) 359-3770 The Fax # is (601) 359-3728 I'll update everyone with additional information when it becomes available. - Karen Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 19:39:14 -0500 (EST) From: jack walter kennedy <kennedyj at dekalb.DC.PeachNet.EDU> Subject: Petes Wicked Winter Brew / Aluminum Hi All, My wife absolutely adores Petes WWB. I obviously need the recipe. I find that a good way to maintain marital bliss is to supply what she wants %^) On another note, how about hard anodizing aluminum pots? Is it safe for food? I think it is the process used by Calphalon. TIA for any help. Jack Kennedy kennedyj at dekalb.DC.PeachNet.EDU Return to table of contents
Date: 28 Feb 1995 20:01:00 U From: "Craig Sonis" <craig_sonis at phcteam.com> Subject: Harpoon Beer & The Sam Adams Brewpub Greetings: This is my first post to the HBD so bear with me (I try not to waste valuable bandwidth). I currently do not brew, none the less know how to. But, I do find the HBD conversations quite interesting, educational and I guess that's what keeps me coming back. But, in a short time I think I'll be making the plunge into homebrewing and asking for tons of advice & questions in the end. Either way here's some local Boston, MA - Beer News that I've come across. =-=-=-=- Hot off the press from my Harpoon Beer Newsletter (the classic Boston Brew - And before everyone writes, "I Don't work for Harpoon"). 1) Harpoon Brewery "Harpoon's Annual St. Patrick's Day Bash" - --Where: At the Brewery, out on the docks near the World Trade Center of Boston. - --When: Saturday, March 11, 2-11pm - --Admission: $7 Admission includes a free Harpoon Party Pint Glass (sorry beer is extra) I believe $2.75/pint. - -- For more info call the Event Hotline at 617-574-9551 x22 This is one of the 5 Events that the brewery puts on during the year. It's a great time, speaking from experience. I went to the Octoberfest 1994, beer music and fun. The October event pulled in an attendance of 10,000 (Yes! Ten Thousand) over a 3 day weekend. The other events are as follows: Harpoon Mardi Gras Party - Mid February Harpoon St. Patrick Day Party - Saturday b/f St. Patrick's Day Harpoon Brewstock - Second weekend in June Harpoon Summer Bash - Mid August Harpoon Octoberfest - First weekend in October Harpoon Holiday Party - The first Saturday in December The colder temperature events are actually held in the brewery - band and all! I'll post when I remember as when the party's are =-=--=-= 2) Samuel Adam's Brewpub (We knew it had to happen sometime!) The pub will be opening on March 6 in the Lenox Hotel on Boylston Street (near the Boston City Library). Also, could someone please tell me I'm not hearing rumors, but I am being told by a buddy of mine told me SA now isn't even brewed in Massachusetts? What? Either way the ads running for the brew pub are great w/ the copy reading on the each of them: - "No Norm. No Cliff. No Carla. Just Sam" (ed.: I can hear the Cheers Lawyers talking now!) the other ad - "He drank to freedom. He drank to liberty. He drank to independence. Let's face it, the man would drink to anything!" Craig Sonis, beer enthusiast craig_sonis at phcteam.com Boston, MA "I drank what?" %-) Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 21:32:29 -7700 (EST) From: "Shannon William Fleming" <flemings at student.msu.edu> Subject: Is my S.G. too high? This is my third batch *newbie*. The first batch we followed the directions and put in 3.5 lbs. light malt extract + 1.0 lb corn sugar *cringe*... but we had an OG up near 40 and a final around 06. The last two batches... 1) 3.5 light malt extract + 1.0 DME OG=1.045 FG=1.018 (4 gallons water) 2) 4.0 DARK Irish Stout + (nothing) OG=1.056 our first hydrometer measure FG=1.024 (4 gallons water) it's back in the fermenter now. using Cooper's dry yeast pitched to starter temp around 70-75F first batch bubbled consistently for a week then stopped. two and three went like hell for 2 days and stopped (_real_ slow) Too little Oxy?...Need yeast nutrient?...More yeast?...Is this normal? thanx, flemings at student.msu.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 21:11:15 -0600 From: robert at i-link.net (Robert Heynen) Subject: Celis Merger After months of denying rumors about Miller buying out Celis, Pierre Celis announced today in Austin the merger between Miller Brewing and Celis Beers. Miller will have majority ownership of Celis Beers while Pierre will remain in control of the brewing process. They have plans for expanding production and distribution of Celis beers, although the brewery will remain at its present site. Lets hope Miller doesn't put too much pressure on Pierre to cut expenses and quality of his beer. Robert robert at i-link.net * * * Listen to the wind carefully. It beckons you to faraway places.* * * Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1669, 03/02/95