HOMEBREW Digest #1936 Tue 16 January 1996

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


Contents:
  Red Ale Recipe (John W. Braue, III)
  Metabolism Simplified (Tom Messenger)
  Re: Open Fermentation (Philip Hofstrand)
  To Saudi Brewers -- Why Not Mead? (KennyEddy)
  Crabtree Effect - amplified... (THE SHECKONATOR)
  Re:Metabolism Simplified (shelby & gary)
  Steeping grains - Thanks. Now how do you make a grain bag? (Gilad Barak)
  killing yeast (bean)
  Carbonation query ("David C. Rinker")
  Activated Carbon Filters ("David N. Pflanzer")
  O2 penetration of plastic carboys? (Lynn Ashley)
  Re: 5 liter mini kegs (Fredrik Stahl)
  Re: flat beer in mini-kegs (Fredrik Stahl)
  MISC COMMENTS (Wayne Hocking)
  MISC COMMENTS (Wayne Hocking)
  MISC COMMENTS (Wayne Hocking)
  MISC COMMENTS (Wayne Hocking)
  Should  I  get 5 or 6  gallon carboy? (Eugene Sonn)
  New Wyeast - 1272 American Ale (DEBOLT BRUCE)
  Low Alcohol Beer via Freeze and Drain Method (DEBOLT BRUCE)
  berries in fermenter & RIMS heater pipe (C.D. Pritchard)
  Spore formers (igelman)
  Re: Candied Camera, Great shop (hollen)
  Candy sugar (Pierre Jelenc)
  5 Liter Minikeg Sanitation (Steven Seaney)
  Re: Wyeast's Scottish Ale yeast temperature range? (Steven Seaney)
  Bees (THaby)
  Yeast/Distilled Water (Bob McCowan)
  how to GET diacetyl (SPEAKER.CURTIS)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 13 Jan 1996 12:28:17 From: braue at ratsnest.win.net (John W. Braue, III) Subject: Red Ale Recipe egans at cadvision.com writes: >I've made three or four batches of Red Ale, and most have been quite good, >but I know they could be better. Does anyone have a favorite recipe they >would like to share? High in carbonation would be a plus!!! Here is a simple extract-based recipe for a red ale: 6 lb amber syrup (I use Stome Brewery) 1 lb crystal malt 2 oz roasted barley 1 1/2 - 2 oz Cascade hops for bittering (depending on taste) 1/4 oz Cascade hops for flavor 1/4 oz Cascade hops for aroma 115 g dry ale yeast Steep the speciality malts in 1 1/2 gal water, remove grains, add syrup to liquor, and boil 60 minutes with bittering hops Add flavor hops 10 min before end of boil, add aroma hops end of boil and steep for 5 min Add 3 1/2 gal cold water and pitch at suitable temperature OG 1.050, FG 1.017 - 1.020 This is very lightly hopped; it was contrived to match my wife's tastes (she does not like bitter or hoppy beers). Fermentation time will be about one week; bottle aging time minimum of one month. I've got some left over from last August which I intend to check out this weekend. - -- John W. Braue, III braue at ratsnest.win.net I prefer both my beer and my coffee to be dark and bitter; that way, they fit in so well with the rest of my life. I've decided that I must be the Messiah; people expect me to work miracles, and when I don't, I get crucified. Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 1996 10:03:12 -0800 From: Tom Messenger <kmesseng at slonet.org> Subject: Metabolism Simplified A.J. deLange wrote about yeast metabolism. Although we don't need much of this sort of thing to make good beer, it is refreshing to see a simple down to earth explanation like this to get a feeling of what is going on in the fermentation tank. From one who enjoys discussions grounded in science as opposed to annecdotes and urban legends, thanks. - ---------------------------------------------------------------- Tom Messenger, Los Osos, California, USA *** kmesseng at slonet.org - ---------------------------------------------------------------- Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 1996 10:47:08 -0800 From: philiph at u.washington.edu (Philip Hofstrand) Subject: Re: Open Fermentation In HBD 1934, Jim Busch writes: >Commercially, most open fermenters are never covered. Some are housed >in positive pressure rooms, others are not. Ive never seen a positive >pressure room in Belgium but they probably exist somewhere. For homebrewing >I like to cover it at times when it is least active. Its just a good idea. I've been toying with the idea of fermenting my next batch in an open vessel, but as I currently have four fur-bearing, curious mammals residing in my house (not to mention the occasional curious guest), I'm a bit concerned about the brewing environment. There's also a fair amount of traffic, vacuuming, etc. through the room, which I assume doesn't occur commercially... One solution I've come up with, and IMHO a workable and simple one, is to take the aquarium pump + inline filter I use for wort aeration, and attach the exit hose to the lid of my fermentation vessel. I'm guessing I'll prop the lid open about 1/2" all around. This should provide good positive clean airflow out of the fermenter at a steady slow rate, and prevent any airborne particles from entering the vessel. Easy. If I find open fermentation works well with my system, I wouldn't mind moving away from a plastic primary to something more sophisticated. Has anyone tried or seen a ~7gal ceramic crock that would be usable, or are they prohibitively expensive? - -- Philip Hofstrand (philiph at u.washington.edu), Seattle, WA In taberna quando sumus, non curamus quid sit humus When we are in the tavern, we spare no thought for the grave --Carl Orff, "Carmina Burana" Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 1996 15:33:52 -0500 From: KennyEddy at aol.com Subject: To Saudi Brewers -- Why Not Mead? I've seen several articles now about people in Saudi (and I presume many "dry" countries) wishing to make beer discretely for personal use (or whatever). While mead and beer are certainly not the same thing, I would think it would be trivially easy to make a drinkable alcoholic concoction along the lines of mead, rather than going through all the gyrations associated with re-fermenting NA beer or using wierd grains. Kids -- don't try this at home. Perhaps a curious industrious alcoholic in Saudi might pioneer the trail along these lines (I haven't tested this so you're on your own). In an empty gallon glass jug, pour 1-1/2 pounds of honey, a splash of lemon juice, and water to fill about 3/4. Toss in some baker's yeast (or brewer's yeast if you can find it). If you're really lucky and can scrounge champagne yeast, double the honey and use the champagne yeast. Attach a blowoff tube, large balloon, or surgical glove as an airlock & ferement. When still, top off with clean water. Decant to serve or (better) rack to a new container. Should make an approximately 5% a.b.v. beverage. Refinements of this recipe include (recommended) 15-minute boiling of the honey-water to kill wild yeast & bacteria; also, use of champagne yeast (and more honey). If it's alcohol you're after this should be simple enough. If it's beer you're after, never mind. Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 1996 16:56:42 -0500 (EST) From: THE SHECKONATOR <BSHECK at NIMUE.HOOD.EDU> Subject: Crabtree Effect - amplified... I just know it. Homebrewers fooling around with yeast-cycles will make _the_ scientific break-through of the century: The ultimate power source! A carboy-sized wort powered fuel cell capable of generating massive (for it's size and weight) amounts of electricity, and have the side-benefit of being completely (aside from a modicum of trub) recyclable through direct ingestion in one pint measures! This device will completely change the socio-economic make-up of the world. The Transportation Industry will re-tool to take advantage of this new power-source: Hop in, we'll go for a spin in my _car_boy. I can get 34 miles per glug. She really has a _hopped_ up vehicle! Imagine all the hype advertising wonks will generate. Something along the lines of "850 draught-horse powered 1996 lager-mobile" - or some such drivel... Legal advocates will have to ponder new ways to describe the charge of 'driving with an open container'. Temperance folks will be relegated to the ranks of modern-day Luddites; imagine them trying to dis-assemble this new power source and still get their point across. Pretty sobering thought. The B.A.T.F. will have to take over the Department of Motor Vehicles. The Society of Automotive Engineers will have to include the Association of Brewers. Jim Koch's legal department will go into melt-down with the overload created by trying to copyright all the new applications. Anheuser-Busch and the other megabrewers will distribute in oil tankers made obsolete in this new development. Future headlines: "Environmental Damage significant in the Budweiser- Valdez Wreck" Animal Rights loonies will be writhing in pain over all the yeastie-abuse. Charlie Papazian will be Time Magazine's 'Man of the Year' Jack Schmidling's quitely retired living off the healthy residuals of his most excellent malt-mill. . . . . . Ok, I've been snowed in here in Germantown, MD since last Saturday night (got plenty of Home-brewed fermenteds around though, so I _will_ survive! Better go check my Carbon- monoxide detectors... Hats off to Craig Amundson, RE: Crabtree in HBD 1929 & A.J. deLange, Steve Alexander et al., for stimulating this zany bandwidth abuse... Feel free to add to this thread. It _may_ have great possibilities! Copyright waived! Relax, Don't Worry, Drive a Homebrew. - --> Nuclear Families _DO_ Glow in the Dark! BSHECK, ME-SHECK, abendigo! BSHECK at NIMUE.HOOD.EDU >>>-------==The Sheckinator==------<<< (301) 696-3928 I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.- Groucho Marx Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 14 Jan 1996 02:21:21 -0500 From: shelby & gary <gjgibson at ioa.com> Subject: Re:Metabolism Simplified Howdy folks. Yes, I am a newby to posting on HBD. A quick comment on A.J. deLange's discussion on metabolism in HBD#1934. = Good job. It takes some work to give explanation on metabolism in few = words and no diagrams, but this is a very complex subject, and to = simplify it would mean leaving out important details. This subject = cannot be discused by text alone, so my advice to those interested is to = find a friend with chemistry software tools to post the reactions of = glycolysis, kreb's cycle, pyruvate dehydrogenase complex, electron = tranport chain, etc. directly to the digest. A picture is worth a = thousand words, so find a biochem or microbiology book and look it up if = you have too. It really will help. Now on to a cultural question. That would be people culture. I am a = twenty-four year old just graduating from college about six months ago. = As a present, my parents sent me over to europe to soak up some culture, = sew my wild oats, and to sample many a great beer. In all the German = restuarants and pubs I visited, there was little variety in the beer = department. Only the local ( I should say somewhat local) pilsner and = maybe a brown. The waiters would get mad if you asked for anything else. = Why so little variety in the restuarants and pubs? Too much local pride = ( or monopoly) to allow any others, I guess. Lastly, Germany does have = its share of bad beer. Much to my surprise the beer served at the = octoberfest festival in Munich was about the quality of a draft = Budweiser. Of course, with the quantities being served were = immeasurable and most could care less because it was simply a drunkfest. = Good beer, bad beer. It did not really matter at the festival. I had = a blast, and I am making plans to go back within the next couple of = years. Shelby, Asheville NC gjgibson at ioa.com Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 14 Jan 1996 09:58:22 +0200 From: gilad at Orbotech.Co.IL (Gilad Barak) Subject: Steeping grains - Thanks. Now how do you make a grain bag? Hi, Thank you to all the people who responded by mail or on this forum to my question about steeping grains. To summarize - two methods appear to be popular. The one that appeared most - put the grains in a grain bag (nylon mesh bag or mouslin bag). put water in the brew pot (quantities vary - 1-2 galons). throw the bag in and heat the water. remove when water gets to 160-170 F (some suggested turning off the fire and letting this sit for 20 minutes). Most people said not to allow the grains remain in temperatures higher than 170F. Remove the grains and continue as usual with the extract. The second method - heat in a separate pot 2-3 quarts of water to 170F. Put in the grains. Leave for 20 minutes. Meanwhile heat more water to 170F. Drain the water through a sieve. rinse the grains with more heated water to extract as much as possible. Crushing is not so important in both methods. To me the first option seems simple and efficient. Since I have no grain bag (can't get one here in Israel), I went with the second method. What are the specs for a grain bag. is the nylon mesh used for windows good enough (I guess it can withstand the temperature, but is the size right?). I would like to get suggestion as to how I can make one myself (material, size etc.). Thanks, Gilad - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gilad Barak - Israel gilad at orbotech.co.il or gilad.barak at Orbotech.Co.Il - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 14 Jan 1996 10:25:00 PST From: bean at seattle.email.net Subject: killing yeast I have been brewing beer for a little while now and although this question is not exactly appropriate for here......here goes I recently started brewing mead and have run in to a problem when trying to brew sweet mead. How do I kill the yeast before all of the sugars are fermented away?? I don't have enough room in the refridgerator for the wole batch, but know no other way to stop the fermentation process. I tried just going ahead and bottling...and ended up with mead grenades.......and I tried waiting until all the sugars had been fermented and the concoction tasted more like moonshine than the light hioney flavor I was looking for....any suggestions TIA Sabine Grinstein Bean at seattle.email.net Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 14 Jan 1996 17:25:57 -0500 (EST) From: "David C. Rinker" <dcrink at widomaker.com> Subject: Carbonation query Hello all, What follows is a question which has been bugging me lately and which I have not seen addressed here or elsewhere. I have always bottled my beers, priming with either DMS, dextros, or wort. I have NEVER achieved the mythical "fine bead" carbonation of commercial beers. Furthermore (and perhaps related) I have never gotten the constant stream of bubbles typical of these commercial beers--while my carbonation levels feel perfect (occasionaly even too high) the CO2 does not appear to be leaving solution as readily (same glassware and washing procediures). Are my beers missing some sort of "seeding" material, about which the CO2 can form or have I just had four years of bad luck?? I brew ales, most clear and tranparent, from both extract and all grain recipies, and have allowed some of these beers to age for over one year. Any suggestions? Dave Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 14 Jan 1996 19:52:08 -0500 From: "David N. Pflanzer" <pflanzer at gate.net> Subject: Activated Carbon Filters >Brad Fabbri (bjfabbri at ccmail.monsanto.com) > I'm interested in purchasing an effective carbon filter to remove chlorine, > et.al. from my tap water. Anyone have good luck with inexpensive units? <snip> I went to my local Home Depot and found a granular activated carbon filter (model TC2) for $12 from a company called 'OmniFilter'. It is listed as a replacement filter cartridge for one of their under the sink models but has standard pipe thread fittings on each end. The filter is good for 500 gallons at .5/gal/min flow rate. I mounted it inline between the kitchen faucet and my sparge and mash tuns using 1/2" hose. David; Return to table of contents
Date: 14 Jan 96 22:18:35 EST From: Lynn Ashley <73744.3234 at compuserve.com> Subject: O2 penetration of plastic carboys? To: INTERNET:homebrew at hpfcmgw.fc.hp.com I've only been getting the HBD for about 2 months and I'm overwhelmed at the wealth of info here. Thanks to you all. I have a supply of plastic 5 gal carboys and recently used one for primary fermentation. The beer turned out fine. But I've been concerned as to whether they are sufficiently porous to O2 to cause oxidation problems if used for any length of time. I would like to use these carboys for lagering. A thread late last November indicated that thin-walled polyethylene bottles quickly allow O2 saturation of their liquid contents. I do not know of what kind of plastic these clear-blue-tinted-bottled-water carboys are made. Their wall thickness appears to be about 0.050". Can anyone shed light on the suitability of plastic carboys for brewing? Thanks Lynn. |-------------------------------------------------------------| | Lynn Ashley (lajiao ren) Arlington, Virginia, USA | | 73744.3234 at compuserve.com 38.904N 77.120W 105mAMSL | | -->> Third all-grain batch now in primary. <<-- | |-------------------------------------------------------------| Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 1996 10:57:45 +0100 From: fredriks at abel.math.umu.se (Fredrik Stahl) Subject: Re: 5 liter mini kegs Shane Lofland (sslofl at ccmail.monsanto.com) writes in HBD #1935 about carbonation problems with 5 liter mini-kegs. I've used mini-kegs for about a year with good results. (I have the metal "Party Star" tap.) I usually get a lot of foam in the first two or three pours but after that it works fine. Do you keep the pressure on from the start? In case you do, try shutting off the pressure except when the beer starts flowing slowly. Give it a burst to restore pressure and continue. What temperature do you keep the keg at? I brew mostly British ales and I find that I have to be a bit careful not to get _too much_ carbonation! (I.e. I have too take care keeping the temperature around 12 degC.) If you brew lager, for example, the temperature should be around 8 degC, allowing more CO2 to dissolve. Not opening the valve fully can also generate foam - almost like a sparkler on a beer engine. I sometimes use this when I want the beer served in that way. Try opening the valve completely (without overpouring), let the glass stand for a while and top up. You don't mention how much priming sugar you use. I use around 15 grams/keg of glucose for British ales. Maybe about 25 grams would be good for lager beers. Good luck! /Fredrik Stahl, fredriks at abel.math.umu.se Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 1996 11:11:23 +0100 From: fredriks at abel.math.umu.se (Fredrik Stahl) Subject: Re: flat beer in mini-kegs Daniel T. Hedberg (dhedberg at ix.netcom.com) writes in HBD #1935: .... (unlike the Mini kegs which I'm told beer gets flat if not consumed within a week or so) .... I've had no problem with that. Last summer I left a mini-keg with the tap connected for at least three months without losing any CO2. I've heard that some have had problems with leaky taps but I think that can be fixed. I use the metal "Party Star" tap but I don't know anything about the cheaper plastic ones. Maybe the Party Star is worth the extra cost - comments anyone? /Fredrik Stahl, fredriks at abel.math.umu.se Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 14 Jan 1996 15:01:36 +0200 From: ruwh at lockmtn.dom.EG.net (Wayne Hocking) Subject: MISC COMMENTS Over the past half year there has been allot of talk about what one would drink if they were to find themselves in BF Egypt. Well, as one who is almost always in BF Egypt, I can attest that almost any megabrewer product will be slurpped up pretty fast. The local beer is not quite up to U.S. standards on quality, but even that is better than nothing. I personally draw the line at Bud, which I don't like in BF Egypt any more than in New York. All sane people, of which I may still be one, are interested in Homebrewing. On another thread, I believe concerns about Bleach are not founded in fact. I use a solution of one TSP of bleach per gallon, as recommended in a Zymurgy article, to prepare all my bottles. They drain upside down for an hour, and have never had a contamination problem or left a noticable residue. Some books talk about much higher levels, which I found left residue, and had to be rinsed. I am interested in cutting down on bottle handling, as I suspect everyone is, so I was an easy convert. For new or dirty bottles, we soak them full of a solution of about 4 tbs per gallon of water, for a few days. Then refill with the lesser solution for a day. Works well. I use Idopor for everything else, as it can be reused and stored in PET bottles for a week if the caps are put on tight. I don't use Idopor for bottles as I don't want a brown ring in my tub. I use everything after draining for about 15 minutes. No off tastes, and the fermenters take off just fine thank you. Looking for a 10 gallon GOTT cooler, I decided to go to Rubbermaid directly for a source. As it turns out they have their own direct mail outfit called, Everything Rubbermaid. 216-264-7119. The price for a cooler is $44 and change, with delivery in a couple of weeks. Might be useful for some other products later. Thanks to everyone who responded to my request a few months ago for Scotch Ale recipes. Wayne Hocking El Nil Brewers, Cairo ruwh at lockmtn.dom.eg.net Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 14 Jan 1996 15:01:40 +0200 From: ruwh at lockmtn.dom.EG.net (Wayne Hocking) Subject: MISC COMMENTS Over the past half year there has been allot of talk about what one would drink if they were to find themselves in BF Egypt. Well, as one who is almost always in BF Egypt, I can attest that almost any megabrewer product will be slurpped up pretty fast. The local beer is not quite up to U.S. standards on quality, but even that is better than nothing. I personally draw the line at Bud, which I don't like in BF Egypt any more than in New York. All sane people, of which I may still be one, are interested in Homebrewing. On another thread, I believe concerns about Bleach are not founded in fact. I use a solution of one TSP of bleach per gallon, as recommended in a Zymurgy article, to prepare all my bottles. They drain upside down for an hour, and have never had a contamination problem or left a noticable residue. Some books talk about much higher levels, which I found left residue, and had to be rinsed. I am interested in cutting down on bottle handling, as I suspect everyone is, so I was an easy convert. For new or dirty bottles, we soak them full of a solution of about 4 tbs per gallon of water, for a few days. Then refill with the lesser solution for a day. Works well. I use Idopor for everything else, as it can be reused and stored in PET bottles for a week if the caps are put on tight. I don't use Idopor for bottles as I don't want a brown ring in my tub. I use everything after draining for about 15 minutes. No off tastes, and the fermenters take off just fine thank you. Looking for a 10 gallon GOTT cooler, I decided to go to Rubbermaid directly for a source. As it turns out they have their own direct mail outfit called, Everything Rubbermaid. 216-264-7119. The price for a cooler is $44 and change, with delivery in a couple of weeks. Might be useful for some other products later. Thanks to everyone who responded to my request a few months ago for Scotch Ale recipes. Wayne Hocking El Nil Brewers, Cairo ruwh at lockmtn.dom.eg.net Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 14 Jan 1996 15:01:44 +0200 From: ruwh at lockmtn.dom.EG.net (Wayne Hocking) Subject: MISC COMMENTS Over the past half year there has been allot of talk about what one would drink if they were to find themselves in BF Egypt. Well, as one who is almost always in BF Egypt, I can attest that almost any megabrewer product will be slurpped up pretty fast. The local beer is not quite up to U.S. standards on quality, but even that is better than nothing. I personally draw the line at Bud, which I don't like in BF Egypt any more than in New York. All sane people, of which I may still be one, are interested in Homebrewing. On another thread, I believe concerns about Bleach are not founded in fact. I use a solution of one TSP of bleach per gallon, as recommended in a Zymurgy article, to prepare all my bottles. They drain upside down for an hour, and have never had a contamination problem or left a noticable residue. Some books talk about much higher levels, which I found left residue, and had to be rinsed. I am interested in cutting down on bottle handling, as I suspect everyone is, so I was an easy convert. For new or dirty bottles, we soak them full of a solution of about 4 tbs per gallon of water, for a few days. Then refill with the lesser solution for a day. Works well. I use Idopor for everything else, as it can be reused and stored in PET bottles for a week if the caps are put on tight. I don't use Idopor for bottles as I don't want a brown ring in my tub. I use everything after draining for about 15 minutes. No off tastes, and the fermenters take off just fine thank you. Looking for a 10 gallon GOTT cooler, I decided to go to Rubbermaid directly for a source. As it turns out they have their own direct mail outfit called, Everything Rubbermaid. 216-264-7119. The price for a cooler is $44 and change, with delivery in a couple of weeks. Might be useful for some other products later. Thanks to everyone who responded to my request a few months ago for Scotch Ale recipes. Wayne Hocking El Nil Brewers, Cairo ruwh at lockmtn.dom.eg.net Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 14 Jan 1996 15:01:32 +0200 From: ruwh at lockmtn.dom.EG.net (Wayne Hocking) Subject: MISC COMMENTS Over the past half year there has been allot of talk about what one would drink if they were to find themselves in BF Egypt. Well, as one who is almost always in BF Egypt, I can attest that almost any megabrewer product will be slurpped up pretty fast. The local beer is not quite up to U.S. standards on quality, but even that is better than nothing. I personally draw the line at Bud, which I don't like in BF Egypt any more than in New York. All sane people, of which I may still be one, are interested in Homebrewing. On another thread, I believe concerns about Bleach are not founded in fact. I use a solution of one TSP of bleach per gallon, as recommended in a Zymurgy article, to prepare all my bottles. They drain upside down for an hour, and have never had a contamination problem or left a noticable residue. Some books talk about much higher levels, which I found left residue, and had to be rinsed. I am interested in cutting down on bottle handling, as I suspect everyone is, so I was an easy convert. For new or dirty bottles, we soak them full of a solution of about 4 tbs per gallon of water, for a few days. Then refill with the lesser solution for a day. Works well. I use Idopor for everything else, as it can be reused and stored in PET bottles for a week if the caps are put on tight. I don't use Idopor for bottles as I don't want a brown ring in my tub. I use everything after draining for about 15 minutes. No off tastes, and the fermenters take off just fine thank you. Looking for a 10 gallon GOTT cooler, I decided to go to Rubbermaid directly for a source. As it turns out they have their own direct mail outfit called, Everything Rubbermaid. 216-264-7119. The price for a cooler is $44 and change, with delivery in a couple of weeks. Might be useful for some other products later. Thanks to everyone who responded to my request a few months ago for Scotch Ale recipes. Wayne Hocking El Nil Brewers, Cairo ruwh at lockmtn.dom.eg.net Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 1996 09:20:27 -0500 (EST) From: Eugene Sonn <sonn at oswego.Oswego.EDU> Subject: Should I get 5 or 6 gallon carboy? This question may border on the metaphysical, but I'll ask the HBD anyway. I'm going to buy my first carboy. After four years of brewing, I'm finally ready to start 2-stage fermentations and am going to buy a carboy. I found a cheap source in my area, but wonder if a 5 or 6 gallon carboy would be better for 5 gallon beer batches. Other than price, what are the pro's and con's of the different sizes? Thanks in advance, Eugene Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 96 08:32:45 -0600 From: DEBOLT BRUCE <bdebolt at dow.com> Subject: New Wyeast - 1272 American Ale Subject: New Wyeast - 1272 American Ale There have been some inquiries about the new Wyeast strains. This post summarizes two recent cream ale batches made with #1272 American Ale. The only information I had prior to fermentation was a sentence which said it was more flocculant and fruity than their other American Ale yeast, #1056. I wanted to compare this directly to #1056 in a split batch but my #1056 starter didn't cooperate in time. Details: (Both batches used = Tb rehydrated Irish Moss with 15 min. left in the boil) Batch 44 - - Grain bill 8 lb pale 2-row, 0.5 lb 10 Lov. crystal, 0.5 lb British carapils, 0.5 lb malted wheat - - Mash - 156F for one hour. No salts, pH 5.5 - - Sparge, 4.5 gal 172-162F, 45 min., < 1/8 tsp lactic acid, pH 5.7 - - Hops 60 min - Cascade pellet 4.3a 1.2 oz. 2 min - Cascade pellet 4.3a 0.4 oz - - Temp - pitched at 70F, primary temperature 66-69 F for eight days in glass - - Starting/Final S.G. - 1.044 / 1.012 Batch 45 - pitched on top of dregs in primary from #44 - - Grain bill 8 lb pale 2-row, 1 lb Gambrinus Honey malt (25 Lov.), 0.5 lb British carapils, 0.5 lb malted wheat - - Mash - 156F for one hour. No salts - - Sparge, 4.5 gal 172-164F, 50 min., < 1/8 tsp lactic acid, pH 5.7 - - Hops 60 min - Cascade pellet 4.3a 1.2 oz. 3 min - Tettnanger whole 4.1a 0.7 oz - - Temp - pitched at 66F, primary temperature 69-72 F for 7 days in glass - - Starting/Final S.G. - 1.044 / 1.010 The fermentation in #45 (pitched on yeast cake of #44) was very vigorous the first two days. It bubbled into the airlock (but did not plug it) on the day 1 and 2. Beer characteristics: - - Flavor - both batches are clean and slightly fruity. - - Appearance - both have a chill haze, but are clear at room temperature. Since I wasn't able to compare this directly to 1056 I can't say for sure how it is different. It appeared to flocculate better, and shared the characteristic of a clean background flavor. Bruce DeBolt Lake Jackson, TX Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 96 08:34:49 -0600 From: DEBOLT BRUCE <bdebolt at dow.com> Subject: Low Alcohol Beer via Freeze and Drain Method Subject: Low/No Alcohol Beer via Freeze and Drain Method In late 1994 I did some experiments on making low alcohol beer by heating finished beer on the stove. Bottom line was you had to drive off a significant volume (>30%) of beer before the alcohol dropped below 0.5%. Heating beer isn't the best way to preserve its flavor and I wondered if there wasn't a better way to do this at home. Fortunately some kind brewer sent me a detailed message on making no alcohol beer by freezing and draining off the alcohol. I've lost the printout so can't give credit where it is due. I tried it recently but it didn't work as well as I hoped. The procedure: - - pour beer into a PET bottle - - freeze it upside down for at least 24 hours - - SLOWLY crack the cap open and drain it upside down for 20 minutes (most draining stopped after about 10 min.) - - thaw and take sample for ethanol analysis. - - to re-prime attach a Carbonator(TM) cap and pressurize with CO2, or add yeast and sugar The variables were two styles (stout and pale ale), different volumes in a PET bottle, and different sizes of PET bottle. I measured the weight of the full bottle before freezing and after draining. The ethanol was measured on a gas chromatograph using standards of 5.0, 2.0. and 1.0 wt.%. More points would have made a more accurate curve, but this was a quick experiment and it turns out I didn't need anything below 1.0% anyway. I used 500 ml PET bottles, except for PA 3, which was in a 2 liter bottle. Stout 1 and PA 1 were half full bottles, Stout 2 and PA 2 were full bottles. Note on PA 2 - it did not drain like the others. I cracked the cap open too far and a fair amount of frozen beer shot out in a solid tube. I included the results anyway. This beer also had the liquid layer on top (the bottom of an upside down bottle). I briefly ran hot water on the outside to allow this liquid to drain down, then placed back in the freezer for a day. It didn't seem to make much difference. EtOH = ethanol, %Wt. Loss = wt of beer lost during draining vs. original wt. Orig. Final Sample EtOH% %Wt. Loss Wt.% EtOH Stout 1 4.7 4.6 4.3 Stout 2 4.7 14.5 2.0 PA 1 4.8 7.5 3.1 PA 2 4.8 30 2.2 PA 3 4.8 15 1.7 Comments - - The technique works, but didn't get the alcohol below 0.5%, (whether you measure volume% or weight%) which is considered "no alcohol" by some. - - From the limited data I have it appears the freeze/drain method and the heating method both require a fair amount of volume loss before ethanol is significantly reduced. - - I used up some favors getting the GC work done so I won't be doing any follow-up work. Anyone else had better results? Bruce DeBolt Lake Jackson, TX Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 31 Dec 95 09:59 EST From: cdp at chattanooga.net (C.D. Pritchard) Subject: berries in fermenter & RIMS heater pipe uchima at fncrd8.fnal.gov (Mike Uchima) posted about a siphon tube clogging while doing a cranberry brew. I've never put fruit in my beers but I use a lot in my wines. For wines, the fruit pulp (called "must") goes into a nylon mesh bag so that it can be removed from the wine easily and the residual liquid can be easily extracted from the must. Making a tea with the fruit may be another alternative... Re: the brass sink drain tailpiece used as a RIMS heating element enclosure- I received a couple of nice responses (thanks DonBrew at aol.com and Dion Hollenbeck) cautioning about the possibility of metals from the tailpiece leaching into the brew. Don noted the that the frequency of corroded sink drains may be due to leechable metals in the brass alloy and said he used a CPVC tailpiece for an enclosure (ensure the heating element doesn't touch the plastic, do not run it dry and make sure it's CPVC and not plain PVC). Methinks corroded drains are due to the use of drano. The one I used had no plating on its interior and was definitely brass. OTHO, brass does contains zinc and can contain up to 3% lead (to increase machinability). Brass can also contain aluminum and nickel in lesser amounts. Dion opts for stainless steel ($100) or the old standby, copper and wouldn't recommend either brass or CPVC. I'll be kegging "brass tailpiece" ale today and drinking it tommorrow, so, if you see any crazy posts or no posts from me next year... Hoppy New Year! C.D. Pritchard cdp at chattanooga.net Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 96 10:21:02 EST From: igelman at smtplink.mssm.edu Subject: Spore formers Only 2 major species of bacteria form spores: Bacillus and Clostridia. Their spores are quite resistant to heat and alcohols, and thus, one of the reasons you boil your wort for at least an hour is to kill off these spores. Irwin H. Gelman, Ph.D. Dept. of Microbiology Mount Sinai School of Medicine igelman at smtplink.mssm.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 96 08:14:34 PST From: hollen at vigra.com Subject: Re: Candied Camera, Great shop >>>>> "Russell" == Russell Mast <rmast at fnbc.com> writes: Al> As for dark candi sugar, yes, just caramelize table sugar syrup Al> and use that. Russell> Any VOE? (Voice o' Experience) I'll definately try that in a Russell> batch soon. A friend of mine, made his own amber candi sugar for his Belgian Strong Ale. 30 pounds of it since he is a professional brewerand was making a 10 barrel batch. His Belgian Strong Ale got a Gold Medal at the 1994 GABF. Good enough for you? B-} Myself, I buy the amber from local homebrew shops. The trouble of making my own is not worth it. dion - -- Dion Hollenbeck (619)597-7080x119 Email: hollen at vigra.com Senior Software Engineer Vigra, Inc. San Diego, California Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 96 11:20:57 EST From: Pierre Jelenc <pcj1 at columbia.edu> Subject: Candy sugar In Homebrew Digest #1935 Russell Mast <rmast at fnbc.com> says: > > Okay, the reason I initially asked was that someone was saying it's special > because it's been crytallized, and that makes it super-pure. In fact, they > specifically said not to use regular table sugar because it wasn't pure > enough. This strikes me as, well, silly, now that I bother to think about it. Candy sugar _used_ to be the purest sucrose available, before the invention of modern white crystallized sugar. Today's crystallized sugar is essentially "microcandy" sugar with one extra washing step. In the 19th century, when most of the recipes/styles we are dealing with were developped, "table" sugar was the now-obsolete sugar loaf, which was not crystallized but instead cast into a mold; upon cooling the mass solidified into an amorphous solid, trapping whatever impurities were left from the processing. Pierre Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 1996 10:30:40 From: Steven Seaney <SSeaney at gnn.com> Subject: 5 Liter Minikeg Sanitation Hello, What's the recommended sanitation method for 5 liter minikegs? Thanks, Steve Steven P. Seaney Alternate Email: seaneys at asme.org Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 1996 10:30:41 From: Steven Seaney <SSeaney at gnn.com> Subject: Re: Wyeast's Scottish Ale yeast temperature range? > I'd like to know how cold is too cold for Wyeast's Scottish Ale yeast. > I have a batch of "wee heavy" Scottish Ale (O.G. 1.076) that's been 3 or 4 > weeks in the secondary. All visible signs of fermentation have stopped, > but I don't know if this is because it's done, or because the temperature > in the brewing cupboard has dropped to 12-13 deg. C (53-55 deg. F). It > fermented vigourously in the primary, but it was warmer in the cupboard > then, about 16 or 17 deg. C, from which the temperature has dropped > gradually. Over Christmas vacation I did an export Scottish ale using Wyeast Scottish Ale yeast. The fermentation temperature was limited by how cold my wife could stand it -- we kept it between 63F and 75F. It was close to 65F most of the time. I racked it to a secondary this weekend and took a gravity. The OG was 1.049 and the FG was 1.014. Before Christmas there was a brief discussion about Wyeast Scottish ale yeast. I'm wondering if you missed the references -- there should be three or four I think. I'll also append a text message from Marc Gaspard that included some excellent information. Oh yeah -- the scottish ale I made over Christmas tastes yummy! Good Luck! Steven P. Seaney Alternate Email: seaneys at asme.org Subj: Re: Scotch Ale yeast Date: 95-12-26 23:01:02 EST From: mgaspard at mailer.fsu.edu (Marc Gaspard) To: SSeaney at aol.com Steve, I've been using Wyeast 1728/Scotch Ale yeast. I talked to a yeast tech at Wyeast & he said it's really McEwan's Export Scotch Ale yeast, & should work up to 1.080 gravity. But I'll warn you, I've been having the damndest time with it; either it ferments out real fast & then doesn't carbonate, or like my most recent batch, it starts up again AFTER racking. I racked a batch 12/24 after 8 days in the primary & bubbles in the airlock 10 seconds apart, & now it's going like a bat out of hell! I had to put a blow off hose in. (SEE: recent homebrew-digest, 12/25.) But it's real tasty, very malty. Dr. Dave C. Harsh <dharsh at alpha.che.uc.edu> e-mailed me about his re- cipe, & he does the caramalization, taking about a gallon of his first run- ning & boiling it down to a pint or so. You might want to e-mail him re: your question. I just mash 12 lbs 2oz of grain w/ 2 sparges & collect about 7-7.5 gallons that I add 3 lbs of light extract to & boil down to 5+ gals. If you want the recipe, please let me know. I've trying to duplicate Tra- quaiar House Ale & have modified a recipe from the Cat's Meow. But the fermentations have all been real screwy. The yeast tech at Wyeast said 1728 is about 75-78% attenuated, & needs a large starter, about 1/2 gallon. Well, good luck, & if you do mail me some bottles, I'll mail you some of mine. Marc Gaspard - ----------------------- Headers -------------------------------- >From mgaspard at mailer.fsu.edu Tue Dec 26 23:00:54 1995 Return-Path: mgaspard at mailer.fsu.edu Received: from mailer.fsu.edu (mailer.fsu.edu [128.186.6.103]) by emin07.mail.aol.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with SMTP id XAA09657 for <SSeaney at aol.com>; Tue, 26 Dec 1995 23:00:52 -0500 Received: by mailer.fsu.edu id AA16483 (5.65c/IDA-1.4.4 for SSeaney at aol.com); Tue, 26 Dec 1995 23:00:50 -0500 Date: Tue, 26 Dec 1995 23:00:49 -0500 (EST) From: Marc Gaspard <mgaspard at mailer.fsu.edu> To: SSeaney at aol.com Subject: Re: Scotch Ale yeast In-Reply-To: <951226210420_24362151 at mail04.mail.aol.com> Message-Id: <Pine.SUN.3.91.951226224804.16050A-100000 at mailer.fsu.edu> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 96 8:29:14 CST From: THaby at swri.edu Subject: Bees Hello all, while brewing outdoors this weekend, the honey bees came out of the woodwork. Must have been the mid 70 degree weather here in South Texas. Anyway they found my runoff while sparging, and then my homebrew glass! Not bad though, they taste kinda like chicken. Tim. Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 1996 12:12:51 -0500 From: Bob McCowan <bob.mccowan at cfrp.varian.com> Subject: Yeast/Distilled Water For long-term yeast storage in sterile water, is it necessary that the water be distilled, or is sterile tap water OK. Seems like an electrolyte solution more matching the internal composition of the yeast might be better - That would reduce the osmotic pressure on the little guys. But I'm not a microbiologist. BTW a brewer friend mentioned to me that yeast could be stored for a long time in a 10% glucose solution. He says the yeast "go to sleep". Anyone heard of this? Bob Bob McCowan bob.mccowan at cfrp.varian.com Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 1996 11:20 EST From: CSS2 at OAS.PSU.EDU (SPEAKER.CURTIS) Subject: how to GET diacetyl No, I'm not crazy! I made a decent scotch ale a couple weeks back. A couple cans of M&F amber syrup, 1 pound of crystal, an ounce of Goldings for bittering, and Wyeasy #1084 (Irish ale - the Guiness strain). The beer started at 1.065 and finished at 1.016...acceptable for me. It has a nice malt profile, very little hop taste (okay so far), but it almost seems to "need" some of that diacetyl "butteriness" that I have tasted in MacEwans and other scotch ales. So, my question is, how does one go about increasing the level of diacetyl in beer on purpose? I know in most styles it is undesirable, but in this case I think the beer needs it to complete the taste. I'll have to suffer through this batch as it is, but in the future I'd like to try and boost the diacetyl taste a little...any suggestions from the collective beer wisdom out there??? Private email is fine; if there's enough interest I'll post what I learn. I do realize that this thread was kicked around a little while ago, but I wasn't paying attention...sorry! I'll drink a Bud as punishment (no, I won't ! I wasn't that bad! :-) :-) :-) Thanks Curt Speaker Penn State University - Environmental Health and Safety css2 at oas.psu.edu Return to table of contents