Homebrew Digest Friday, 24 May 1996 Number 2046

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   FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
        Shawn Steele, Digest Janitor
        Thanks to Rob Gardner for making the digest happen!

Contents:
  pub etiquette (stupid beer-quaffing tricks) (charles epp)
  Question about heat and fermenting (Jeff Tapper)
  Attenuation or Mass Loss? (mhiguchi at ix.netcom.com (Michael Higuchi))
  Re: Hose length/carbonation (Dave Beedle)
  Sparge water temps... (Dave Beedle)
  FWH Weizen (Russell Mast)
  Ireland, etc... (Ulick Stafford)
  Glass carboy Vs. Plastic Tub (Billy_Cole at dgii.com (Billy Cole))
  Long Beer Lines/ CP Fillers/ Coopers (Rob Moline)
  Chicago Beer spots, HBD "lateness" (Russell Mast)
  100% fruit beers (korz at pubs.ih.att.com (Algis R Korzonas))
  This is a t**t (shawn at aob.org (Shawn Steele))

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: charles epp <cepp at indiana.edu> Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 15:01:49 -0500 (EST) Subject: pub etiquette (stupid beer-quaffing tricks) How about this for stupid beer-quaffing tricks? (And this is a question regarding pub etiquette.) Several days ago at my favorite local pub, I got a pint that wasn't filled to the rim. It was significantly under. Maybe I was tired, maybe I had a bad day (but I don't remember having a bad day until then). In any case, I politely asked to have the pint topped off, which the bartender amicably did, and for which I thanked him. But my waitress then proceeded to lecture me on the cost of the brewpub's brewing equipment and on the fact that they'd done market research and had determined that $3 for a pint was perfectly acceptable, and that I shouldn't be so cheap. Suddenly my enjoyable ale went stale, and I was left second-guessing my tact. My question is: at a pub, is it acceptable to ask that a less than full pint be topped up? How many of you have been so principled/daring/rude/selfish/whatever? Chuck Return to table of contents
From: Jeff Tapper <jeff.tpr at review.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 16:52:27 -0400 Subject: Question about heat and fermenting Hi, I have a batch of what I hope will be a "Belgian Ale" fermenting in a 6 gal plastic bucket in my kitchen, and I'm wondering what (if any) impediments to the brewing process will have been caused by the heat wave of the past two days. The beer had been in the fermenter since Sunday, May 12, and had been at apprx 72 degrees for most of the fermenting process. However, from Sunday May 19th through Tuesday May 21st, New York suffered a heat wave, and the fermenter temp was above 76 degrees (I have one of those stick on thermometers that only shows as high as 76 degrees, so I don't know exactly how high it really went). However, the specific gravity continued to fall through the heat wave. On monday it was 1.14, and on tuesday it was 1.12, and on wednesday it was 1.10. My question is: Will there be adverse effects on my brew? Jeff Tapper Lighting Designer, Web Developer, Home Brewer jstaps at echonyc.com "A mob is a mob, whether made up of government officials acting under instructions from the Department of Justice, or of criminals and loafers and the vicious classes" - - Judge George W. Anderson Return to table of contents
From: mhiguchi at ix.netcom.com (Michael Higuchi) Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 21:16:33 GMT Subject: Attenuation or Mass Loss? Here's a technical (and probably useless) question for you yeast gurus (cross-posted to r.c.b and the h.b.d) How much of the apparent attenuation in a fermenting wort is actually due to alcohol production, and how much can be attributed to production of bio-mass (dead yeast) (and also mass loss through CO2 evolution)? Based upon the amount of yeast I find on the bottom of my primaries, I would imagine that this represents a significant proportion. And as we're all aware ;) , CO2 production from a vigorous ferment is not exactly trivial, although I wouldn't imagine that a lot of _mass_ gets lost. Who knows ??? Michael Higuchi Costa Mesa, California Michael Higuchi Costa Mesa, California Return to table of contents
From: Dave Beedle <dbeedle at bacchus.net.ilstu.edu> Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 16:21:42 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Re: Hose length/carbonation In a recent message Bob Waterfall wrote: > > Jay Reeves <jay at ro.com> asks: > >Can anyone tell me if this is true reguarding psi drop > >for line length/diameter: > > > >size psi drop per foot > > > >3/8" ID 0.25 > >1/4" ID 0.85 > >3/16" ID 2.2 - 3 > > > >My problem is that I use the 3/16" and am experiencing no > >where near the 2.2 -3 psi drop per foot. I have had the same problem. I attribute it to the tubing I use. It's a soft vinal (sp?) tubing, milk tubing actually. I figure that the tubing stretches as pressure is applied and so, I get results that don't correspond to the table above. I assume that if I used the rigid beverage tubing like you see on soda fountains things would change. TTFN - -- Dave Beedle - Unix Support Manager - dbeedle at ilstu.edu - Network Services "Ignorance | http://www.ilstu.edu/~dbeedle/ | Illinois State University being bliss is just great until you get run over by a bus 136A Julian Hall because you never bothered to learn how to cross the road" Normal, IL 61761 Return to table of contents
From: Dave Beedle <dbeedle at bacchus.net.ilstu.edu> Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 16:25:20 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Sparge water temps... A question that has bugged me for some time...I have noted that while sparging, using water at about 170 F, that the temperature in the mash/lauter tun is typically a bit lower, say about 140 or so. iS this a conscern? Should the temperature in the tun be higher? TTFN - -- Dave Beedle - Unix Support Manager - dbeedle at ilstu.edu - Network Services "Ignorance | http://www.ilstu.edu/~dbeedle/ | Illinois State University being bliss is just great until you get run over by a bus 136A Julian Hall because you never bothered to learn how to cross the road" Normal, IL 61761 Return to table of contents
From: Russell Mast <rmast at fnbc.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 17:11:56 -0500 Subject: FWH Weizen Jake and Beef and I brewed a Weizen recently. We used First-Wort Hopping. Just a wee bit, I think about .5 oz. per 5 gallons, but Beef has the notes. The stuff is great. The hop tones are mostly only in the aftertase and subtle. Maybe more than most folks expect in a Weizen, but it seems to harmonize with the rest of the flavors well enough. Has anyone gotten a digest since Monday? I haven't. I decided to try the undigested version to see if that works. Or is this turning into a weekly forum? Nyuk nyuk. - -R Return to table of contents
From: Ulick Stafford <ulick at indigo.ie> Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 23:12:50 +0100 Subject: Ireland, etc... I have just ploughed through over a week's hbds including that monster inaugural HBD 2042 from aob (PLEASE LIMIT SIZE - 50 K PER DAY IS ALREADY A STRUGGLE) and have some comments ... >On a different note, I am looking for info on pubs and small breweries in Ireland. I'll be there for most of June, up in & around Cavan and down in the Ring of Kerry area. But I would certainly travel a couple of hours in any direction for a good brewery. BTW, we already plan to see Murphy & Beamish Breweries in Cork; I was hoping to find some smaller operations, and maybe pick up a used beer engine along the way. I heard there is a micro in Dublin - anyone know the name and address? I've seen pub guides for London, but none for areas of Eire. I know most of the towns I'll be near are one-pub towns, but it would be nice to know where some good free house pubs are since I sus- pect many pubs are Guinness-owned. Dave Hinkle Phoenix AZ Best of luck with Murphy's and Beamish. Guinness don't have tours at any of their breweries anymore (I didn't think those two did either). The only brewpub south of the border is in Inagh, County Clare (on Ennis-Enistymon road) and produces its Biddy Early stout. The micro in Dublin in not open yet. Please do not call our country Eire. It offends. Eire is the Irish (Gaelic) for Ireland but is often misused by the Brits for the unoccupied portion of the country. Pubs are so numerous and good in Ireland you don't need a guide. I am off to the Centenary Stores in a few minutes. There are very few one pub towns in Ireland. Towns with a population of around 2,500 with in excess of 20 pubs are common. All pubs are privately owned. The range of beers may be limited, but this is not due to Guinness. Al as usual... >I recommend you first let satisfied customers point out errors in your critics' assertions. Unsolicited, unbiased testimonials are worth a hundred of your posts and are much less taxing on the HBD. As I said in my post which apparently did not get to you in time, advertisements are really bad form in the HBD. >Even if a brewer is not anal retentive, sanitizing anything that comes in contact with the wort is highly recommended. >>1,500 bottles, and have experienced no problems with contamination. Do >>try this at home. >I agree... don't try this at home. That you have experienced no problems with contamination either means that: >Sorry that this was not beer related, but two ads like this in one week is two too many. I hope you all emailed "Steve" and informed him of his grave mistake like I did. Al (copyright) Korzanos is always good for a laugh! HuskerRed at aol.com says... I thought a pint was 16 oz. or are the *bloody Brit* different? and Dave Hinkle <Dave.Hinkle at aexp.com> >Let's set the record straight on British imperial measures. A British imperial pint is 4 gills, one gill is 5 oz (imperial), and one imperial oz. is 28.41 cc. A US fluid oz is 29.57 cc; from this you determine that an Imperial pint is 568.2 cc, and a US fluid pint is 473.1 cc, or that an Imperial pint is equivalent to 19.2 US fluid oz. >Note that British imperial measures are for both fluid and dry measure; US measures for fluid vs. dry differ (ie. US fluid pint is 473.1 cc, while US dry pint is 551 cc). Note that the US dry pint is very close to the British imperial fluid/dry pint. US dry measures are all quite close to British imperial measures. Guess we Yanks just had to be different and invent a separate fluid measurement system. Think about that next time you buy a pint of blueberries. Actually the American system is the old British Queen Anne system and doesn't suffer the creeping metricisation of British measures (e.g. 1 gallon = 10 lb of water). But on the other hand Michael Higuchi of Costa Mesa, California uses percentage extraction for yield. I would love to see this norm adapted as the traditional points of sg per US gallon per pound of malt is a horribly parochial unit, while percentage extraction applies to any unit system. Can someone post a conversion formula? _____________________________________________________________________________ Wexford Brewing Company | Ulick Stafford, Proprietor Purveyor of Advanced Homebrewing Supplies | ulick at indigo.ie Ballyhurst, Taghmon, Co. Wexford | Phone/Fax: +353-53-47957 Return to table of contents
From: Billy_Cole at dgii.com (Billy Cole) Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 15:39:32 -0700 Subject: Glass carboy Vs. Plastic Tub Hello fellow brewers, I have done about 5 or 6 partial grain batches and am thinking about a glass carboy for my fermentation in my next batch. I enjoy the plastic tub because after I cool my wort in my boil pot, I can pour the cooled wort into the plastic tub and get some aeration while the wort is splashing around. I'm wondering if I decided to use a glass carboy, how to I get my beer from the boiling pot to the glass carboy (most likely bottle filler), and when do I aerate in this case? I would like to avoid using the aquarium pump method. Any help/suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks. P.S. - any good recipes for a 5 gallon, partial grain batch of a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone? I would be very grateful. Thanks. ================================================================================ - -Billy billyc at dgii.com Return to table of contents
From: Rob Moline <brewer at kansas.net> Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 17:56:50 -0500 Subject: Long Beer Lines/ CP Fillers/ Coopers Darrin Pertschi in HBD 2043 asks about a long draft line from kegs in the basement up to a faucet located elsewhere. Possible, but unless the entire length of the line is cooled, you will get a LOT of foam. This is one area that plagues bars and the like that must run long lines from a coolroom to a remote bar. The standard solution for short runs is to run the line thru ducting or flexible tubing of sufficient inner diameter to allow a blower in the coolroom to blow cold air thru the ducting and back thru a return duct. Long lines are usually equipped with a dedicated glycol chiller that runs glycol thru an insulated hose that has a bundled set of lines within, including two for chilled glycol, both to and from the remote location. This is to prevent the dreaded 'hot-spots' that will make your life a foamy hell! Bryan Gros and others talking 'bout CP bottle fillers. I have built a few in my time, but they were always a PITA to use and I usually wore more beer than I bottled. In retrospect, I was working too hard on the problem, with two or more valves and all that. Kinney Baughman turned me on to what has become my favored player when small quantities are needed for competition or sending a few bottles to friends. Start with one standard black plastic 'cobra' head faucet(cheap!), shove a length of 3/8 ID copper tube up the spout, it fits like a glove (not O.J.'s), then place a drilled stopper along it's length (don't know which #, but the top is approx. 3/4 and the bottom is approx. 5/8) such that the copper tube sits immediately above the bottle bottom with the stopper wedged into the bottle top. Take a sanitized bottle, and blow co2 into it from another cobra head on a co2 line at low pressure to try to get as much atmospheric gas out and co2 in as possible, then place the filler in the bottle and hold the stopper in tightly with one hand, and open the faucet up so it STAYS OPEN. Observe as the beer fills the bottle about 1/4 -1/3 full and watch the foam subside. Then carefully wiggle the stopper out, just a wee bit to allow gas to escape, and the beer to fill the bottle to the top. Hold the stopper for a few seconds to allow pressure equalization. Flip the black valve closed and swiftly pass the bottle to your capper (works best withat least 2 people, I like 3, one to drain Iodophor and gas it up, 1 to fill, 1 to cap.) I find I must run the gas pressure to the keg at about 2psi above standard pressure to allow for losses before capping. The nice thing is it's cheap, and you don't need 3 hands to operate the valves and the stopper. Simplicity rules, just like a boxer pushrod engine! Andy Walsh defends Coopers. Having made over 125 extract batches with Coopers kits in my younger days, I give them my praise. Very high quality and tasty kits! Is any body distributing Aussie brewed Coopers in the US? Haven't seen them for some years, now. Rob Moline Little Apple Brewing Company Manhattan, Kansas "The more I know about beer, the more I realize I need to know more about beer!" Return to table of contents
From: Russell Mast <rmast at fnbc.com> Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 18:02:01 -0500 Subject: Chicago Beer spots, HBD "lateness" > From: "Roger Deschner " <U52983te: Thu, 23 May 1996 12:15:01 CDT Subject: Re: > Beer In Chicago (so nobody else has to ask) > CLARK STREET ALE HOUSE, Clark icago. I think that's "Clark just south of Chicago". The 800 N Block. They do have a few hors d'ouvres on Fridays, but nothing for a meal. They also sell cigars, as does the homeopathic pharmacy around the corner. Too much bar seating and not enough tables, but a great place. Also, a wide selection of single malt scotch, and a favorite spot of geeks of many stripes. > ROCK BOTTOM BREWERY, State and. Hmmm... Maybe the guy that forwarded this to me accidentally deleted some bits. That's "State and Grand". Take the Grand stop from the Red Line L. > BERGHOFF, Adams ate. Adams and State. Great place, great beer, great people. Also, a great place for a stand up "pub lunch", they have a deli counter with decent prices (great for downtown) and great food (rare in downtown). They close at 9pm. Big hit with after-work crowds, including the folks from my office. See you there. There are a number of places in Wrigleyville with great beer selection, Rog mentioned a couple I think. There's also the Wrigleyville tap, and I've heard good things about "Quenchers" but I've never been there. There is also the HopLeaf, further norh on Clark, just south of Foster. (5100 block) Just around the corner on Ashland is the Neo-Futurarium, source of the best live theatre stuff anywhere at all ever. Trust me. Call their hotline for showtimes. I don't have the number with me right now, it's in the phonebook. The HopLeaf has a good tap selection and a great selection of bottled imports, including some Belgian stuff that's not that easy to find. The Map Room was serving Boon Gueze for $4 a bottle, not sure if they're still doing that, I don't remember where it was, but they say I had a great time. There's also the Augenblick, which I've never been to and I'm not sure where it is, that is supposed to have great selection. There's a little German joint at Addison and St. Louis called Mirabell, which has some hard to find German brands on tap. (It's 2-3 blocks east of the Dan Ryan, just across from the giant K-Mart.) The Duke of Perth on the 2900 Block of North Clark has a fair selection of beer and a peerless selection of single malt scotches, and is in a good area for book, record, antique, and other shopping, as well as a good spot for theatre and restaurants. Oh, and John Barleycorn's at 658 W. Belden, corner of Lincoln and Belden. (That's the 2200 block of north Lincoln.) They have a very good selection of beers on tap, decent food at a decent price, and an interesting interior. Plenty of room, too. It gets sort of a youngish crowd on the weekends. > From: shawnob.org (Shawn Steele) Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 13:03:43 -0600 Subject: > Digest Lateness > > The digest is being slow, but you should still receive it eventually. The last one I got was #2042. I resubscribed a few times. Several other people have reported this same problem in private e-mail to me, and have double-checked to make sure they were subscribed. Something is not working! > If the transmission time cannot be brought under control by > Friday's digest, Rob & I have an alternate plan to improve timelyness. Good. Can you try to make sure everyone gets theirs at all? A good buddy of mine forwarded me the last couple copies, and I got those. Oh, now I got a good one. Apparently it's from root at aob.org. Interesting. (I just subscribed to the piecemeal version, which works, uh, sort of.) Good luck! - -R Return to table of contents
From: korz at pubs.ih.att.com (Algis R Korzonas) Date: Thu, 23 May 96 13:24:15 CDT Subject: 100% fruit beers Tracy writes: >I entered two different fruit beers in a recent competition. One was made >with fresh ripe raspberries, the other with apricot extract. The apricot ale >took first in the fruit beer category. The judges seemed to think it was >made with fresh fruit. Brewers Resource apricot 'essence' fooled 'em! Mind you, there is always the issue of differences in palates. I may just be more sensitive to something in these extracts than most tasters. Also, judges are not infallible, myself included. I've heard of a lot of people who have said that they get great fruit beers with these extracts, but I haven't tasted one personally. Finally, I cannot honestly say that I've tasted every brand of fruit extract (I have tried well over a dozen). The Pyramid Apricot is perhaps the closest thing to what I would call a good fruit beer made with extract. I'll have to try the Brewer's Resource apricot essence and see for myself. Thanks for the pointer. Al. Return to table of contents
From: shawn at aob.org (Shawn Steele) Date: Thu, 23 May 1996 19:15:53 -0600 Subject: This is a t**t I have corrected the local computer error, so this message & digest is part of a check to see if it is now behaving correctly. My apologies for the irregularities of the digest. - - shawn Digest Janitor Return to table of contents