HOMEBREW Digest #1678 Mon 13 March 1995
Digest #1677
Digest #1679
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Janitor
Contents:
simple methods ("Daniel S McConnell")
refrigerator repair/pumps (DONBREW)
mills & dry hop ("Frederick L. Pauly")
free water analysis (Chuck E. Mryglot)
Re; free carboys from photo processing shops (EKTSR)
Wort Chilling (GRMarkel)
Re: sugar vs. DME ("derek a. zelmer")
Spring Street Brewing Company of New York City - Public Stock Offering (Steven W. Schultz )
Re: Sugar allergy ("Jeff M. Michalski, MD")
HBD Stats? (Jeff Hewit)
DME vs. Syrup - what's the diff? (Tim Fields)
canning wort ... (Tom Fitzpatrick)
Beer in Jacksonhole (barber eric stephen)
Beer Competition ("THOMAS STOLFI")
Beer bread (Henson W.C.(Bill))
Portland Beer Attractions (MatthewX G Stickler)
Public Apology Due to HBD Readers ("Fleming, Kirk R., Capt")
Maple Sap Beer (RWaterfall)
SUDS 4 (TPuskar)
Grolsch Gaskets (Brian Pickerill)
MEAD (traverse)
IBU Calculation - summary (Frank Longmore)
The Carbonater Evaluation (Bob Christopher)
old LME, was Re: Canning wort & botulism (Greg Owen {gowen})
competition liability (Jennifer Crum)
Good beer addresses in Berlin? (Ilkka Sysil{)
cider (HOMEBRE973)
Automatic sparge control (Bob Jones)
Re: Sugar allergy (Dave Coombs)
Pure-Seal Caps (SMKRANZ)
wheat in RIMS (DONBREW)
Priming/Acid Blend (A. J. deLange)
Brew recipes (TPuskar)
Product Information (Gregory J Egle)
Re: Getting off hot break (Doug Mewhort)
Acid in your mash (Yeastbud)
Portland (the one out west that wasn't named Boston) (uswlsrap)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 10 Mar 1995 00:23:06 -0500
From: "Daniel S McConnell" <Daniel.S.McConnell at med.umich.edu>
Subject: simple methods
Subject: simple methods
Andy Kligerman asks:
>Dan McC posted a method for using a spectrophotometer for estimating hop
>bitterness using isooctane and octyl alcohol. Is it really as simple as it
>sounds,
These methods require some degree of skill to achieve
reproducible results, but just like yeast culturing, once
you've done it a time or two you realize that it really is
simple. The trick is obtaining ultrapure (low UV) isooctane.
The spec methods are less accurate and precise than the HPLC
methods, but quite acceptable for most needs.
>and is it reproducible with worts of different colr and densities?
I have started a little side project measuring BU in various
beers, dark, light, big and little to explore this question. My
gut feeling is that color and density should not matter. The
assay method was validated for use in beer and no limitations
regarding the type of beer are specified in the documentation.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Tom Puskar writes:
>I've just been given a yeast sample that has been described as
>"irreplaceable" and would like to store it for posterity.
[snip]
>Can anyone tell me if normal household
>glycerol is acceptable. Does it have to be treated, read sanitized, in any
>way before adding the yeasties? Should I just scrape as much off a slant or
>plate as I can and mix real well or can I take some slurry from the bottom of
>a starter and mix it about 2:1 (in favor glycerol) and freeze that.
Your best bet is to plate it then grow it in some sterile media
(yes, sterile not merely sanitized). Wort is ok, but YM broth is
better. Add an equal volume of sterile 30% glycerol (normal
drugstore variety that has been diluted then sterilized). If this
is frozen and kept as cold as possible you should be ok. Avoid
frost-free freezers, or bury it deep between the frozen waffles so
the temperature fluctuations are minimized. Some folks have good
luck surrounding the vials with ice-in-a-bag products.
Sterility is also simple. All you need is a pressure cooker.
You might be able to strike a deal with one of the friendly
yeast ranchers that has access to LN2 or a -80 freezer to
bank this "irreplaceable" stock for you.
DanMcC/Ann Arbor, MI
_____________________________________________________
O o .
yeast at 1600x yeast at 1000x yeast at 100x
_____________________________________________________
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Date: Thu, 9 Mar 1995 21:59:29 -0500
From: DONBREW at aol.com
Subject: refrigerator repair/pumps
John sez:>Our used refrigerator, circa 1975, finally died. I would like
to have a
>spare refrigerator for lagering and storage of my brew.
Are you at all handy? I have found that the most common fault in a frost
free ref. is the defrost timer ( about $5 + $50 labor) it lives down in the
bottom by the compressor. Either on the back panel or somewhere under a panel
in the back you should find a schematic. Most people don't know that a
frost-free ref. actually turns off for an hour or so each day, this is done
with this timer.
That said, find it, bypass it, listen for (good) sounds indicating
compressor and fan operation. If the compressor is dead, forget the thing.
If it needs freon, it can be recharged at a (high) cost until 1996 (thanx to
the ozone hole people).
Basically, armed with a VOM (or a continuity checker), some jumper wires,
a few TOOLs (if you have a wife beware here), and the schematic (and the
ability to read it, no HB needed) you can probably fix it for $20. Also you
might check the t-stat(s) and the circulation fans. You didn't define
"broken" so that's my he'p. They rarely leak freon!
In regard to wort pumps RIMS or otherwise my advice is get the TEEL not
the Little Giant, I got the L.G. only because I had a time limited
dispensation to spend (I do have a wife) and they would not have the TEEL for
2 days.
Brew Onward,
Don
donbrew at aol.com
Falls Church, Va.
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 07:33:06 -0500
From: "Frederick L. Pauly" <flp2m at galen.med.virginia.edu>
Subject: mills & dry hop
I am an extract brewer preparing for the jump to all grain space.
I currently get the grains I use pre-crushed from Williams Brewing.
These grains appeared to me to be crushed very well, no shreaded
husks. I called them and asked what grain mill they use and was
told they use a large version of the corona grain mill.
Any comments on this ?
Also on dry hopping. Whenever I try ths in the secondary I never
get the wonderful aroma ,I get a grassy or herbal flavor.
Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong ?
Rick Pauly
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 95 07:41:46 EST
From: cem at cadre.com (Chuck E. Mryglot)
Subject: free water analysis
Thought I'd pass this along.
As I was browsing thru the water filter section of Sears
the other day I found that they have a free water
analysis service. They provide a few vials (2 for free
analysis and a third for extra, chargable tests for things
like lead content) and an envelope (postage paid)
to mail it off to a lab (in the Chicago area if I remember).
So I filled the two vials with my tap water and mailed it
off. They said I should receive results in about 3 or 4 weeks.
I'm not sure what to expect, but the price was right. I'll
post results when I get them..... perhaps someone has
already done this?
Cheers
ChuckM
ps. I only sent in the 2 free vials and kept the third...
The vials look perfect for yeast samples.
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 07:47:31 -0500
From: EKTSR at aol.com
Subject: Re; free carboys from photo processing shops
In HBD #1675 Tim writes:
>Somewhere over the past week or so I read that both photo processing shops
and metal finishing shops get various chemicals and reagents in glass carboys
and often pitch them out after using the chemicals. I can't find the
original post/article to respond to the poster. Does anyone have any info on
this? Can we really get "free" carboys? I don't know what chemicals might
be delivered in these things but would be concerned about cleaning. Anything
that phjot developers use probably won't do a homebrew much good. Frugal
Brewer are you out there? Any comments?
I am a technical sales rep for Kodak (yup, the great Yellow Father himself)
and I can't think of any conventional photo chemical that is packaged in
glass bottles any longer. Most of our chemicals are now delivered in plastic
sacks inside of carboard boxes (known as cubicontainers). Some fairly strong
acids/bases that are used in very exotic applications MIGHT be in glass, but
typically in one gallon brown jugs--never heard or seen of us delivering any
chemical product in anything resembling a 3,5,7 gallon carboy. Don't know
about the metal finishing business.
Stan White, ektsr at aol.com
Bloomfield, CT
"The way to BE is to DO"--Lau Tzu
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 08:01:36 -0500
From: GRMarkel at aol.com
Subject: Wort Chilling
In Digest #1673 I noticed two references to recirculating immersion chiller.
Because my cesspool is old and cranky, I had a real problem with the amount
of water used with a counterflow chiller. So I started playing with a
recirculating system. Here is the system I have been using successfully for
several months.
I started with the standard 3/8" dia. 25' coil of soft copper tubing, bend it
into a coil to fit in your brewing vessel and use tygon and hose clamps on
the two ends. The cooling source is a 5 gal plastic bucket with a spigot
(bottling bucket) filling with 6 - 1 qt ice cubes. (I use Tupperware).. Put
the ice in the bucket and fill half-way with water. For a pump I'm using an
old heating system circulating pump. Hook the spigot of the bucket to the
input of the pump, the pump discharge to one end of the coil and stick the
other end of the coil in the top of the bucket. Start the pump and 15 minutes
later, ice gone, wort chilled, all with less than 5 gal. of water.
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 08:46:21 -0500 (EST)
From: "derek a. zelmer" <zelmeda4 at wfu.edu>
Subject: Re: sugar vs. DME
When I made my very first batch of homebrew, with a friend of mine, we
primed half of it with corn sugar and half of it with dried malt extract.
The beer was made with only a can of syrup, with no additional
ingredients, and was therefore relatively weak by itself. In this
instance the difference between the sugar and DME primed beer was very
noticable, with the sugar primed beer having a watery taste, and the DME
primed beer having more body and flavor. For beer with more body there
probably will be no real difference in what you use to prime, but based
on my initial experiment (and my natural German tendency towards anal
adherence to such things as the Reinheitsgebot) I have never gone back to
corn sugar. I have primed with gyle on occasion and was very impressed
with the results, but the priming took almost twice as long (in fact I
thought that the beer would be forever flat).
Derek Zelmer
"insert clever message here"
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 95 9:09:45 EST
From: Steven W. Schultz <swschult at cbda9.apgea.army.mil>
Subject: Spring Street Brewing Company of New York City - Public Stock Offering
A recent newspaper announcement stated that the Spring Street
Brewing Company of New York City is offering 2.7 million shares of its
common stock directly to the public, minimum purchase 150 shares at $1.85
per share ($277.50 investment).
Founder Andrew Klein, former corporate lawyer, plans to raise up
to $5 million to expand the microbrewery's marketing efforts and finance
the development of new beers. "We aim to become a leading producer of
specialty beers," he says.
The company introduced Belgian Wit beer in 1993, and has recently
introduced Belgian "Amber Wit" -- whatever that is.
Future plans include developing an abbey style ale, a black lager,
and a peach wheat beer.
I don't have stock in this company, nor am I an agent or broker
representing it. In fact, I had never heard of this company, until I saw
this newspaper announcement.
I can contact the company and read their prospectus and/or annual
report myself, but what I am asking is for knowledgeable HBD readers to
tell me about this company's *beer*. How it tastes, its reputation, who
makes it, etc. Without informed opinions regarding the product, I'd be
reluctant to invest.
Steve Schultz
Abingdon, MD
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 95 08:40:55 -0500
From: "Jeff M. Michalski, MD" <michalski_jm at rophys.wustl.edu>
Subject: Re: Sugar allergy
coombs at cme.nist.gov
Dave writes that he is reluctant to use sugars to prime
because of food allergies.
Most commercially available sugars are thoroughly refined.
These include table sugar (sucrose) and "corn" sugar
(dextrose or glucose). Sucrose comes from sugar cane and
other vegetables (eg sugar beets). Corn is just one source
for the highly refined form of glucose. It is impossible
for anyone to be allergic to pure glucose. Glucose is the
primary energy source for all aerobic animals, including
humans. Some of the glucose we buy from homebrew shops
under the label of "corn" sugar may have come from other
vegetable or fruit sources. Check with your supplier about
the purity and source for your priming sugar.
The use of flaked maize in a homebrew (or commercial brew
for that matter) should raise concern about allergies. I
would definitely avoid serving a beer made with this to a
person with a corn allergy.
Last year someone described a friend who had a "hop"
allergy. I can't imagine omitting this ingredient in any of
my beers. Even Zima is made with hops. A fine homemade
mead or cider may be this poor soul's only hope.
JEFF M. MICHALSKI
michalski_jm at rophys.wustl.edu
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 09:29:25 -0500
From: jhewit at freenet.vcu.edu (Jeff Hewit)
Subject: HBD Stats?
How many of us are out there? When I post to HBD, am I sending
a message to 500, 5,000, or 50,000 homebrewers? Just curious.
- --
Jeff Hewit
******************************************************************************
Eat a live toad first thing in the morning and nothing worse
will happen to you the rest of the day.
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 95 09:32:53 EST
From: TIMF at RELAY.RELAY.COM (Tim Fields)
Subject: DME vs. Syrup - what's the diff?
I would appreciate any insights into the differences, if any, between
Dried Malt Extract and Syrup. Seems to me that everything I have seen
says to use either - that they are "interchangeable" if you will.
However, most of the recipes i have seen use both - usually more syrup
than DME. I am assuming that each brings a different character to
the wort, and I'd like to get a better handle on this.
Tim Fields
Timf at relay.relay.com
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 95 09:46:42 CST
From: fitz at fasicsv.fnal.gov (Tom Fitzpatrick)
Subject: canning wort ...
>In HBD #1674, "Harralson, Kirk" <kwh at news.roadnet.ups.com> writes,
>regarding canning wort:
>> Some people brought up very good points,
>> seemingly contradictary to the arguments for pressure canning. For
>> example, wort preparation prior to fermentation is brought only to
>> boiling, not 240F, without botulism risk. Does the alcohol level
>> prevent this? If it does, then either method for canning wort
>> would seem to be acceptable.
>
>This argument doesn't really make sense. The wort prepared for brewing
>is fermented almost immediately, unlike the canned wort. During
>fermentation, several things happen to make the environment inhospitable
>to botulism: alcohol is produced, the amount of sugar decreases, and
>the pH drops. Since these things start happening almost immediately,
>there's no opportunity for botulism to take hold. In a can of
>unfermented wort, none of these things happen, so botulism can survive
>and grow. I wouldn't risk it.
> -Allan Rubinoff <rubinoff at bbn.com>
A missing point in this discussion is :
What do you do with your canned wort? Do you open it up and drink it??
No, you pitch yeast into it and ferment it into "beer", at which time
there will no longer be ANY human pathogens alive. An infected starter wort
will make a bad beer but nobody is going to DIE. I taste my starters after
they're fermented and BEFORE brewing.
I prefer to pressure can starter wort but have used regular canning methods
before I had a pressure cooker. Use what you've got ...
-Tom Fitzpatrick
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 11:16:14 -0500 (EST)
From: barber eric stephen <barber_e at einstein.eng.ohio-state.edu>
Subject: Beer in Jacksonhole
I have planned a ski vacation to Jackson Hole Wyoming. Since this
is my springbreak I plan on enjoying quite a few beers, along with
the slopes. Does anyone have information on brew pubs, or the
availabilty of good beer in Jackson Hole. Should I haul a case of
homebrew across the country? Privte mail fine.
> Thanks in advance,
> Eric
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Date: 10 Mar 1995 10:54:10 GMT
From: "THOMAS STOLFI" <OBCTS at CWEMAIL.ceco.com>
Subject: Beer Competition
To all Homebrewers:
The Bidal Society of Kenosha Homebrew Club is holding it's 9th Annual
Regional Homebrew Competition on April 22, 1995. This years Best of
Show beer from the competition will be brewed as a specialty beer at
Brewmaster's Pub in Kenosha. We are always looking for additional
Judges/Stewards so if you are interested in entering homebrews or
Judging/Stewarding email me directly for more information. Also, this
competition will earn points toward the Midwest Homebrewer of the Year
award.
Tom Stolfi
obcts at cwemail.ceco.com
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 12:30:32 -0500
From: awchrd2 at peabody.sct.ucarb.com (Henson W.C.(Bill))
Subject: Beer bread
HBD'ers,
A correction on the beer bread recipe. The flour should (must?) be
self-rising and the sugar should be teaspoons insted of tablespoons, unless
you want to make a sweet bread. We make it sweet and eat it for breakfast.
Thanks
awchrd2 at peabody.sct.ucarb.com (Henson W.C.(Bill))
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 95 08:43:02 PST
From: MatthewX G Stickler <MatthewX_G_Stickler at ccm2.hf.intel.com>
Subject: Portland Beer Attractions
On March 8th Steve from Kalamazoo writes:
>Where does one go in or around Portland, OR for "beer" related
>entertainment?
The city streets are divided by the Willamette river (East/West)
and Burnside Ave (North/South).
The Bridgeport BrewPub is nice. They always have a couple of cask-
conditioned ales on tap and most of the regular product line on
CO2 (Blue Heron, Pintail, Coho). Pretty good wort-crust pizza by
the slice as well. Location: 1313 NW Marshall. Its an old converted
warehouse.
The Portland Brewing co has a real fancy place with lots of copper
in the NW industrial area. Their McTarnihans' Scottish Ale took first
place one year at the GABF. The address is: 2730 NW 31st Street.
Widmer Brewing serves their beers at the Heathman's B.Molch Bakery on
SW Salmon Street (Behind the Heathman Hotel and across Park Ave).
The Horse Brass is an English-style Pub with good pub grub and many
micros on tap. Location: 4534 SE Belmont.
Produce row is another interesting place. 204 SE Oak.
If you want to watch a "B" run movie while you drink Beer try either
the Mission Theater and Pub (1634 NW Glisan) or the Bagdad
theater (3702 SE Hawthorn).
The Pilsner Room serves food and Full-Sail ales are brewed on the
premises. Its down next to the river on the west side.
Enjoy
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 95 10:42:00 MST
From: "Fleming, Kirk R., Capt" <FLEMINGKR at afmcfafb.fafb.af.mil>
Subject: Public Apology Due to HBD Readers
Okay. After the publik thrashing I do owe a public apology for
"wasting" precious HBD space. Of course Kinney's question was valid--*all*
questions are valid, and I never meant to suggest
otherwise. I felt there was a growing misunderstanding and took
it upon myself to butt-in where no such 'help' was needed.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
My Pledge: Should the HBD community ever be blessed again with my Great
Wisdom, it will be civil, brief, and HBD Mom-approved :)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
If someone transgresses in the future to the extent I did maybe a private
correction would be appropriate, rather than a half-page of public
humiliation. I'm not that thin-skinned, but why "waste" the bandwidth?
Kirk R Fleming (Mouth Shut in Lurkerdom)
fleming at usa.net
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 14:05:17 -0500
From: RWaterfall at aol.com
Subject: Maple Sap Beer
Timothy Laatsch asked: "'Tis the season in Michigan for collecting the sweet
runnings....from the Maple trees. My questions are: 1. How should the
direct sap be
processed
for use in brewing (I've never made maple syrup) and 2. How much should be
used?"
Last year I brewed some Pale Maple Ale from 5 or so gallons of maple sap
instead of water. I got the syrup for free from a guy at work who makes
Maple Syrup as a hobby. 2 other HBers made brews using some (free) low
quality syrup that didn't meet Dan's quality specs. As I remember it, the lat
e runnings of sap are less pure, containing more minerals and bacteria and
less sugar. This makes for darker, more mapley-tasting syrup.(It's a strange
thing about the maple syrup industry that the higher grades taste less like
maple and more like sugar and water.) This also means more boiling, more
chopping wood, and more filtering losses.
Anyways I'm pretty sure I adapted my ale from a CatsMeow extract recipe that
used a quart of syrup. If anyone is interested, private email me for the
recipe. Since it takes between 30 and 50 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of
syrup, I figure I was using the equiv of a pint of syrup. This provided just
a hint of maple flavor and aroma. If you didn't know it was there you might
miss it. It tasted a little harsh at first, but it was a somewhat strong
brew that aged well. I just had the last one last week and it had a nice
rich mouthfeel and a creamy head.
The sap should be stored cold and used ASAP so the resident bacteria don't
spoil it. I don't know what would happen if you mashed with sap, but I have
a bad feeling about using something with sg around 1.010 as sparge liquor.
All this talk about maple makes me think it's time to make another batch.
Bob Waterfall,
Troy, NY, USA
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 14:47:13 -0500
From: TPuskar at aol.com
Subject: SUDS 4
There's a rumor floating around on AOL beer & wine forum that Version 4 of
SUDS is now availaible. ANyone know where? I hate to bother MIke.
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 15:42:36 -0600
From: 00bkpickeril at bsuvc.bsu.edu (Brian Pickerill)
Subject: Grolsch Gaskets
Hello all,
How many times do you reuse Grolsch gaskets? Is it best to replace them
each time, or is that overkill? I reused some of the original ones about
half a dozen times before I started having any carbonation problems. TIA!
- --Brian Pickerill <00bkpickeril at bsuvc.bsu.edu> Muncie, Indiana
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 95 16:58:28 PST
From: traverse at CERF.NET
Subject: MEAD
HELP MEAD
RECIPES
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 15:47:17 -0600 (CST)
From: Frank Longmore <longmore at tyrell.net>
Subject: IBU Calculation - summary
Greetings!
In the process of un-confusing myself about calculating IBU's,
I re-stated the formula, and summarized what I've read. Here 'tis:
- --------------------------------cut here------------------------------------
CALCULATING INTERNATIONAL BITTERING UNITS (IBU'S)
(%Utilization) x (%Alpha Acid) x (Weight of Hops in Ounces) x .75
IBU = -----------------------------------------------------------------
(Volume of Wort in gallons) x (Gravity Adjustment) )
example:
(30 percent util.) x (5.5 percent alpha) x (1 ounce) x .75
---------------------------------------------------------- = 24.75 IBU
(5 gallons) x (1.0)
Percent Utilization comes from one of the following tables (your choice):
Length of Boil Hop Utilization (percent) Hop Utilization (percent)
(in minutes) from Jackie Rager's table from Mark Garetz's table
< 5 - - - - - - 5.0 - - - - - - - - - - 0.0
6 - 10 - - - - - - 6.0 - - - - - - - - - - 0.0
11 - 15 - - - - - - 8.0 - - - - - - - - - - 1.0
16 - 20 - - - - - - 10.1 - - - - - - - - - - 4.0
21 - 25 - - - - - - 12.1 - - - - - - - - - - 6.0
26 - 30 - - - - - - 15.3 - - - - - - - - - - 11.0
31 - 35 - - - - - - 18.8 - - - - - - - - - - 13.0
36 - 40 - - - - - - 22.8 - - - - - - - - - - 19.0
41 - 45 - - - - - - 26.0 - - - - - - - - - - 23.0
46 - 50 - - - - - - 28.1 - - - - - - - - - - 24.0
51 - 60 - - - - - - 30.0 - - - - - - - - - - 25.0
Gravity Adjustment = 1 + ((gravity of boiling wort - 1.050) / 0.2)
For example, a gravity of 1.080 would give an Gravity Adjustment of 1.15
However, if the gravity is less than 1.050, then Gravity Adjustment = 1.0
Notes:
1. The value for 41-45 minutes was 26.9 in Rager's table, but I reduced
it to 26.0 to better fit the curve calculated by Alan Edwards, as
described in the notes for his program "IBU".
2. This formula was originally stated using the Mass of Hops in Grams,
and the Volume of Wort in Liters. Since one ounce = 28.4 grams, and
1 gallon = 3.78 liters, I re-stated the formula in ounces and
gallons, using the .75 factor.
3. In a message dated 7 Jul 94, Algis R. Korzonas recommends:
"As for calculating approximate IBUs, I use Rager's formulas,
but add 10% if I use a hop bag (which is always) and 10% more
if I'm using whole hops or plugs in place of pellets."
4. There is some belief that boiling for longer than 60 minutes
will actually decrease the hop bitterness.
- Frank Longmore 3/6/95
>>>>>>>>>> Frank Longmore Internet: longmore at tyrell.net <<<<<<<<<<<
>>>>>>>>>> Olathe, Kansas Compuserve: 70036,1546 <<<<<<<<<<<
>>>>>>> I feel more like I do now than I did when I started... <<<<<<<
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 14:08:13 -0800 (PST)
From: Bob Christopher <oldfogy at svpal.org>
Subject: The Carbonater Evaluation
Yo! Everyone...
Have I got a piece of equipment for you!
I think it would be safe to say that there is a little bit of gadgeteer in
most homebrewers. That's the first thing that came to mind when I saw "THE
CARBONATER" Oh Boy! I thought sarcastically, I really need another gadget!
That was until I started to use it in my mini brewery. This is no gadget,
THIS... is a piece of equipment!
Since getting this little marvel of homebrewing genius, I have forced
carbonated everything from grape juice to chocolate milk... Did I mention
you can also force carbonate your homebrew?
This little piece of equipment will expand your whole liquid horizon even
if your not a homebrewer. With "THE CARBONATER", your CO2 equipment
and a clean 2 liter plastic PETE bottle, you can force carbonate any liquid.
You can carbonate a bottle at room temperature or chill one down to
42F. It still comes out the same... Your favorite liquid refreshment with
that little bit of sparkling bite, most of us all want in our homebrew and
yet... none of the uncertainty of priming. It solves the problem of "Did I
use too much sugar or what?"
Since my accident, I have switched everything... from my fermenter to my
method of storing... to plastic. Normally, with Ales, I go from primary
fermenter to storage and seed the bottle with an once of sugar solution in
a 2 liter PETE bottle.. With "THE CARBONATER" it's just one more step
eliminated. Using "THE CARBONATER," I can go from fermenter to tummy
in less than an hour.
If you are a kegger, you can fill a few 2 liter bottles from your keg...
re-charge them with "THE CARBONATER"... and bring a couple of gallons to
a party or picnic without lugging all your CO2 equipment along. It will be
as fresh at the party or picnic as it was when you poured from your keg!
I wish I had an 800 number for you to call, but all there is on the package
is the name "LIQUID BREAD, INC. 2450 Absher Road, Narcoossee, FL - 34771.
The phone # is (407) 957-4472. Their Fax is (407) 273-0137.
Using "THE CARBONATER" makes forced carbonation, in a 2 liter plastic PETE
bottle, as pleasant as slipping a cold one on a hot summer day.
It Works For Me!
The usual disclaimer... I have no financial interest in the company, just
a satisfied user of their product.
If you have CO2 gear... Or know someone who does... You'll want to try
"THE CARBONATER"
Bob (oldfogy at svpal.org)
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 20:10:16 PST
From: gowen at xis.xerox.com (Greg Owen {gowen})
Subject: old LME, was Re: Canning wort & botulism
Jeff Benjamin <benji at hpfcbug.fc.hp.com> writes:
> 5. _C. botulinum_ cannot grow, develop, or multiply
> in food with a water content of less than 35%.
Every now and then the thread comes up about the safety of
old and/or puffed cans of liquid malt extract. Since the water % in
LME is under 35% (as I remember, correct me if I'm wrong!) wouldn't
this factoid imply that cans of LME are not at risk for C. botulinum
infection?
Or are people worried about a different beastie in cans?
In any case, Jeff, thanks for the informative article.
Greg Owen { gowen at cs.tufts.edu, at xis.xerox.com } http://www.cs.tufts.edu/~gowen/
1.01 GCS/GO d++ p+ c++ l++ u++ e+ -m+ s++/- n- h !(f)? g+ -w+ t+ r-- y?
"For when you're alone/When you're alone like he was alone/You're either or
neither/I tell you again it dont apply/Death or life or life or death." TSE
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 1995 23:11:58 -0800 (PST)
From: Jennifer Crum <crumj at ava.BCC.ORST.EDU>
Subject: competition liability
Apologies in advance for a not-quite-brewing related question...
WHat I'm looking for is some input from homebrew competition organizers out
there. Did you (or do you) purchase any kind of liability insurance when
you host a festival? If a judge were to get in a car and hit a telephone
pole after 2 rounds of American Pale Ale and a BOS judging...I know this
isn't going to happen, but if it did, the festival organizers would be
the responsible party and could easily find themselves being sued for
life, liberty, and the pursuit of hoppiness. We've been looking into it
for a competition coming up soon and one day insurance coverage is around
$500 bucks! We'd have to charge $20 an entry to cover that! I'm curious
as to what other fest organizers have done in the past, if anything.
TIA and private email response please.
Jennifer
crumj at bcc.orst.edu
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Date: Sat, 11 Mar 1995 12:31:13 +0000 (EET)
From: Ilkka Sysil{ <isysila at clinet.fi>
Subject: Good beer addresses in Berlin?
Going to Berlin soon. I would highly appreciate all recommendations &
info about good beer addresses in Berlin and immediate vicinity
(restaurant-breweries in particular).
Malty brewing
is
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Date: Sat, 11 Mar 1995 09:24:27 -0500
From: HOMEBRE973 at aol.com
Subject: cider
A cider question. My first batch of cider last year was wonderful-- tasted
like a clear yellow dry white wine. Five months ago a made a new batch with
basically the same recipe (fresh pressed raw apple juice, cane sugar, yeast
nutrient) but I heated the cider to about 170 to pasterize it.
The cider has not cleared yet. I've tried geletin, more sugar, pectinase,
and refrigeration down to 32 F. Nothing seems to help. Does anyone have
suggestions or should I just bottle it. I've transferred it to secondary
carboys at least twice already.
TIA
Andy Kligerman
homebre973 at aol.com
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Date: Sat, 11 Mar 1995 07:36:46 +0800
From: bjones at bdt.com (Bob Jones)
Subject: Automatic sparge control
Kirk R Fleming says....
> I have a hard time keeping the grain cover constant when trying
>to fiddle with two ball valves (the worst possible valve to use for
>controlling anything, BTW). Stepper motor driven valves connected thru
>flow-rate sensors to a single flow knob would be cool.
Kirk, go search the HBD archives for the auto sparge gadget I have been
using for about 4 years. Totally simple, cheap and works great. Look for
hits on "autosparge" or "Uncle Bob's autosparge" or something like that.
Spencer's beer page has the search tool. As mechanically inclined as you
guys sound, you should be able to build one of these things in a couple of
hours.
Good luck,
Bob Jones
bjones at bdt.com
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Date: Sat, 11 Mar 95 12:56:45 -0500
From: Dave Coombs <coombs at cme.nist.gov>
Subject: Re: Sugar allergy
I forwarded Jeff M. Michalski's comments on sugar allergies to my
friend. Here's what she says.
dave
- ------- Forwarded Message
Yea I know. I was a biologist in another reincarnation and I asked
the biochemists how I could possibly be allergic to corn sugar.
They said I couldn't -- but if you gave me a blind test (pls don't!)
I can usually tell. Makes no sense, I agree. I even was reacting
to gum made w/ sorbitol -- made my mouth swell and blister.
Turns out sorbitol is also a corn derivative but way down there
chemically speaking. I have no scientific answer... it just
means we don't understand enough about allergies. Living proof.
- ------- End of Forwarded Message
Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 1995 15:25:33 -0500
From: SMKRANZ at aol.com
Subject: Pure-Seal Caps
>Smartcaps (PureSeal) bottlecaps lose their ability to absorb oxygen >if you
boil them...
I thought I had read somewhere that boiling PureSeal caps "activated" their
ability to absorb oxygen. Not so? If they shouldn't be boiled, is
sanitizing with chlorine solution ok?
Steve Kranz
smkranz at aol.com
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Date: Sat, 11 Mar 1995 17:23:05 -0500
From: DONBREW at aol.com
Subject: wheat in RIMS
>On the topic of RIMS (sorry Will), do people get stuck sparges very often
>using these things? I like wheat beers, and even after a 45 min protein rest
>my bucket with a zillion holes in the bottom lauter tun requires a very
>slow runoff. Sucking wort out with a pump at 6 gal/min or faster sounds
>like a recipe for disaster. I take it that a vent tube would be a necessity
>here?
> Looking forward to "March in Montreal",
> Eamonn McKernan
I don't have any prolems in this regard, and I don't bother with a vent
tube at all. BTW 6 gpm is awfully darn fast for 5 gallons brewlength, more
like 2 gpm or as fast as you can go without sticking. I usually have to blow
into the return once to unstick the mash, after 145F or so everything loosens
up remarkably. I have never experienced a stuck sparge in my RIMS, I reroute
the output to my boiler and run the pump at the minimum it usually takes
45-60 min. to sparge out 8-9 galllons. I have also found that more like 1.5
qt./lb. water works better than Morris's 1.3qt/lb (stickingwise anyway), I
usually use 3.75 gal. water to 8-9 lb. grain
Don
donbrew at aol.com
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Date: Sat, 11 Mar 1995 16:01:33 -0500
From: ajdel at interramp.com (A. J. deLange)
Subject: Priming/Acid Blend
"Timothy P. Laatsch <LAATSCH at kbs.msu.edu>" <LAATSCH at kbs.msu.edu> asks
about priming for his lager
>My
>personal debate is priming vs. force carbonation---force carbonation would
>circumvent the necessity to add DME to my "all-grain" brew, but I have a
>couple problems. Because I rent, I'm hesitant to cut a hole in my fridge for
>the CO2 line. Can I just put the tank and regulator in the fridge with the
>keg?
Certainly, as long as you have the room to spare.
>If so, what special considerations need attention?
None really. Just bear in mind that the tank side pressure gauge will
read fairly low (around 600 lbs) because the liquid CO2 is cold.
>What pressure will
>give adequate carbonation for this type of beer at 45 F?
10 - 12 psig will give 2 - 2.25 volumes which should be OK.
>How long will it take to carbonate?
A few days.
>Alternately, if I decide to prime, should the brew be
>brought back up to a higher temperature briefly to kick-start my lager
>yeast?
No.
Another way to prime, and one that is commonly used in lager brewing, is to
add some kraeusen beer to the finished beer. This not only provides fermen-
tables but an actively fermenting culture.
Yet another way to prime is to keg the beer as the fermentation approaches
terminal gravity, seal the keg and place it in the refrigerator thus
carbonating with the naturally produced gas. This has lots of appeal to
the purists. Be sure to check the pressure from time to time and/or use
an automatic pressure relief device to keep the pressure around 10 psig.
From: flemingk at usa.net (Kirk R Fleming) wrote:
>During our last brew we used a product called Acid Blend (packaged
>by HD Carlson) to lower the pH of our sparge water. It's a citric
>and tartaric acid mix. We were surprised that 1/2 tsp in nearly
>4 gal of water lowered pH from about 7.8 to about 4.
>I don't have a local water analysis but the water is very soft.
Softness implies that the water is low in ions which means it behaves
pretty much like pure water so that the dissociation products of added
acids make a major change in the pH. I'm guessing that your half
teaspoonful of the blend amounted to about a gram of each acid. In
4 gallons of distilled water that would bring the pH to about 3. You
got 4 because while your water is reasonably low in calcium/magnesium
you must have some alkalinity. This resultts in some buffering (see below).
>For brewing pale beers could we use this acid to lower the pH of
>our *mash* as well vs using gypsum?
Yes, with caution concerning perceptible flavors from the citrate
and tartarate. They can be tasted in high enough concentrations. Some
use phosphoric and lactic acids for this purpose. These also can be
tasted in the final product if enough is used.
>During our last brew we added
>1 1/2 tsp of gypsum to about 7 1/2 gallons of mash liquor, with a
>resulting pH change from 5.63 to only 5.58. This was dissapointing,
>and the difference could've been due to differences in sample
>temperature alone.
Bear in mind that the a pH in the range 5.2 - 5.6 AT THE MASH TEMPERATURE
is quite acceptable. This translates to 5.4 - 5.8 in samples cooled before
measuring. I gather that the comparative pH measurements were not made at
the same temperature?
>We didn't want to add more, thinking our grain
>bill was not providing the needed ions to lower the pH.
You were adding Calcium in the hopes that it would react with phytate
to produce acid. The mash, in distinction to the water, is a stiff buffer
system which will try to hold its pH at a particular value dependent on
many factors. What is probable is that you had enough calcium in your
water to convert all the phytate that was going to convert and the
additional, therefore, had no effect (assuming that you really got no
pH change).
I'm personally leary of gypsum because it adds sulphate as well as calcium
and sulphate renders hop bitterness harsh. This is fine in a Burton ale
but a disaster in a Pils.
AJ
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Date: Sat, 11 Mar 1995 19:45:24 -0500
From: TPuskar at aol.com
Subject: Brew recipes
Courtesy of a friend who wanted to watch me brew (got another one hooked! :-)
) I tried two dark beers this weekend and wonder if anyone has any
information regarding their recipes. The first was Rogue Shakespeare Stout
from the Oregon Brewing Company. I really liked this beer and would be
interested in trying to duplicate it. I recently made an ouatmeal stout
which was close to this one but mine has a bit of a bight to it which was lack
ing in the Shakespeare Stout.
The other was Iron Horse Aew from Lone Tree Brewery. While it wasn't as full
bodied as the Stout, it was quite enjoyable.
I'm just starting to appreciate the impact of yeasts on various beer styles
and wonder what yeasts are used for these stouts and dark ales. I've been
using Wyeast American for mine. Is there a better one?
TIA
Tom Puskar
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Date: Sat, 11 Mar 1995 20:36:31 -0800
From: Gregory J Egle <DSGJE at acad2.alaska.edu>
Subject: Product Information
Can anyone out there tell me where I could get a good hazelnut
extract for brewing a nut brown ale. If anyone can help with this,
please drop me a line at dsgje at acad2.alaska.edu
Thanks, Gregory Egle
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Date: Sun, 12 Mar 1995 00:23:51 -0700
From: lmewhort at gpu.srv.ualberta.ca (Doug Mewhort)
Subject: Re: Getting off hot break
> I am an extract/infusion mash brewer.
<Snip>
>Obviously throwing aroma hops in during the short second
boil would defeat the whole process.
I don't understand why using hops in the second boil would be "anti hotbreak
removal". If hops are left in the boilpot after sending the wort to the
fermenter ther will be no problems.
<Snip>
>Does anybody simply (concentrated worts only) siphon hot wort into cool
>water in fermenter using a copper cane and scrub pad to keep the hot break
>out? Wouldn't this minimize HSA and be the simplest thing?
>
>James Manfull
As long as the cool water has been deoxified (i.e. by boiling and then
cooling) then this is not a bad idea. On the other hand, on my brew kettle I
use an Easymasher (tm) which filters the hot break and spent hops and routes
the wort directly into my wort chiller. Once the wort is below 80 degrees F
or so, adding O2 (in the extra water) to the wort only helps the fermentation.
It's been a long beer filled night and this may make no sense, I hope that
this is not the case.
Doug.
Expert chef and a happy homebrewer.
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Date: Sun, 12 Mar 1995 03:25:20 -0500
From: Yeastbud at aol.com
Subject: Acid in your mash
Kirk R Fleming recently posted questions about ph adjustments using acid or
gypsum to mash adjust mash water ph. He commented about the strong change in
ph reading from the use of "acid blend" versus the small change caused by
gypsum. This is an easy one. An acid will change the ph of any solution,
regardless of it's contents...however gypsum will only lower ph when it's
combined in solution with grain. Why ? The phytase enzyme which is a
component of malted barley reacts with gypsum to acidify the mash by
creating phytic acid.
Recently my water supply was changed and it caused me no end of problems. My
lovely, handcrafted, and coddled wort would not fully ferment. Temperature?
Not a problem. Everything pointed to ph.
Solution: Lactic Acid ... Mash water adjusted to 7.0 ph -- Sparge water
adjusted to 6.0 ph.
Results: Complete fermentation, clear finished beer
Lactic acid is not cheap-24.00 per pint, but I only use ~50 drops per 10
gallon brew length.
I hope this helps,
Matt Wyss
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Date: Sun, 12 Mar 1995 14:20:35 EST
From: uswlsrap at ibmmail.com
Subject: Portland (the one out west that wasn't named Boston)
When someone in K'zoo posted a request for information on beer in Oregon, I
was going to keep quiet, figuring that enough people would send private email.
But (no flame please) having seen Matthew Stickler's post, I thought I'd add a
few comments.
Bridgeport: yeah, picky, picky, but I think it's a converted cordage factory
rather than a warehouse. Yes, get the pizza. Skip the Coho Pacific. Drink
the Pintail, Stout, and "Traditional"
Portland Brewing: I haven't been to the new one, but don't forget the original
(NW Flanders sounds familiar, but look it up) Smaller place, music on weekends
and, yes, that wonderful "Mac's."
Widmer/B.Moldoch: fun place, house beers vary considerably in quality and
"trueness" to style, but they also serve other micros. Widmer's Kolsch and
Hefeweizen are probably your best bets for the house beers, at least among
those I've tried.
Pilsener Room: Gets real crowded at night, so I stayed away, but would like
to try during the day. Looks like a yuppie place rather than a serious beer
place, but many have recommended it. Some day....
Nor'wester brew pub. Just over the bridge from SW. Not bad. Not much food,
so eat first.
Good pubs not to miss--both in Northeast: Laurelthirst Tavern (low 3000's on
NE Glisan) and Captain Coyote's (high 2000's of Sandy--just a couple blocks
from the Laurelthirst)
Beer to look for: Hair of the Dog! High gravity beer from small micro,
brewed by a couple of Oregon Brew Crew types
You'll have plenty of these _and more_ just in Portland, but if you want to
wander slightly farther, try Mount Hood brewpub in Government Camp, then
continue on to the mountain.... Kalama, WA (Hey, K'zoo dude, I don't think
they have an animal park in Kalama :-) ) is home to Pyramid, and only about 30
minutes from Portland.
Seek and you will find!
Now go have a beer,
Bob Paolino / Disoriented in Badgerspace / uswlsrap at ibmmail.com
- ------------THIS SPACE UNDERGOING RENOVATION-------------------
(I was getting tired of the Crash Test Dummies quote)
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #1678, 03/13/95