HOMEBREW Digest #219 Thu 03 August 1989

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

Contents:
  yeast culturing
  re:Pitching Rates (Darryl Richman)
  Stout (Marc San Soucie)


---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 2 Aug 89 08:33:00 EST From: henchal at wrair-emh1.army.mil Subject: yeast culturing I thought that I might share my yeast cultivation methods with you. I am a microbiologist by training and have been culturing my own yeast for about 1 year. There is no question that liquid yeasts improve the quality of your homebrew. To use use liquid yeast properly, you should first prepare the starter medium. By far the easiest thing to do is to set aside one or two quarts of wort every time you brew. While the wort is still very hot, transfer to a suitable sanitized container and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. I usually make and can wort for this purpose. I boil 1 can (3.3 lb) of M/F light extract in 4 gallons of water with 0.5 oz of hops for 30 minutes. I then transfer the wort to clean 1 quart canning jars, put on canning lids, and can in boiling water for 15 minutes. Now I have yeast starter medium whenever I need it. To begin a yeast culture, transfer 1 qt of starter to a sanitized 1 gallon jug (the kind that cider comes in) and put a stopper on it with a fermentation lock. (The common jug takes a #6 or 8 stopper, I think). Transfer aseptically 30-40 mls of the yeast stock culture (this is one Wyeast liquid culture that has been previously started in the manner described by the manufacturer) to the 1 quart of wort. Place the jug in a warm dark place. These cultures are usually ready to use 18-24 hours later. With regard to pitching rates, professional brewers pitch enough yeast to reach a final concentration of about 10 million cells per ml. The relationship is about 1:10 (1 part of starter for 10 parts of wort). You will need 1 qt of starter/5 gallons of ale wort or 2 quarts of starter/5 gallons of lager wort. I always get a nice cover on my fermentations within 18-24 hours (not days) using this method. If you want to prepare a number of stock cultures for future use, pour about 1/4 cup of yeast into sanitized 1 pt containers (with lids, not locks). Add about 10 ml (this is about 2-3 tablespoons I think) of sanitized glycerin or glycerol USP grade. To sanitize the glcerine before use, put the glycerine in a heat- resistent (pyrex) jar or container (canning jar?) and put in a boiling water bath for 20 minutes. Let cool before use (Put the lid on loosely or you will never get it off). Freeze the yeast culture quickly. Concentrations (v/v) of glycerine 10-20% will preserve your yeast cultures frozen for 6 months to 2 years depending upon your conditions. To use frozen cultures, thaw quickly and set in a warm place for a couple of hours. If you you do not sense that the culture is completely active (by the release of gas when you crack the lid), you can activate the culture by puting in an equal volume of wort, mixing and continuing the incubation until you detect yeast activity. Do not use any yeast culture that has a sour smell. An active yeast culture should smell fruity (like green apples). To Florian Bell: Hey Flo...Did I hear you correctly when you said that the temperature in your neighborhood is in the high sixties MOST of the year. Are you talking daytime temperatures? How cold at night? Any folks that have any questions concerning yeast culturing can contact me at 1-202-576-3012 (0730-1630 Eastern) or 1-301-869-0894 (1730-2100 Eastern), or send me an E-mail. Erik A. Henchal Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 2 Aug 89 07:19:06 PDT From: Darryl Richman <darryl at ism780c.isc.com> Subject: re:Pitching Rates From: "Allen J. Hainer" " What is the recommended pitching concentration? How fast does a liquid "yeast package reach this concentration? I always thought that yeast reached "a particular concentration and leveled off, can only a few ounces of "starter solution reach a high enough yeast concentration so that it results "in the "recommended" concentration when added to 5 gallons of wort? Yeast does grow to about 10 million cells/ml and then levels off. The liquid yeast pouches are too small to provide enough yeast to reach this level without a significant lag period. Professional brewers grow yeast in volumes that increase about 20 fold at each step. So for a 5 gallon batch, you ought to be pitching about a quart starter. For this to be the correct rate, your quart needs to have reached the 10^7 level, which is at high krausen. The right way to handle the foil pouches is to make a starter. It isn't very difficult and you need only plan your brew a few days ahead. Here are two methods: --- Quick and Dirty --- If you are going to brew on the weekend, pop the pouch on Thursday morning before going to work. That evening, boil 2 cups of dry extract in half a gallon of water with a couple pellets of hops. Treat it as if you were making a full batch of beer--boil it an hour or so. Add water if it gets too low. Turn off the heat and let it settled for a few minutes. Get a wine jug and run hot water over and in it, so that it won't be shocked and break. Slowly pour your still hot wort into the bottle, leaving behind as much of the trub and hops as you can. Put some foil over the top and put it in your freezer. In about 2 hours it'll be cold enough to pitch your ballooned foil pouch. At that point, put an airlock on it and leave it until you brew. On Saturday you'll have a quart of beer in high krausen and a very short lag period. --- The Right Way --- At your next brew session, make 6 gallons of wort instead of 5. Put the remainder into 4 quart mason jars and go through a normal boiling water canning. Do this by putting the tops on the jars and gently tightening the bands. Put the jars into a pot of boiling water with a rack on the bottom--don't put the jars directly on the pot--with enough water to cover them. Wait 15 minutes after the pot comes back to a boil. Remove the jars and let them cool. The bands will be loose and the tops sealed. If you can press the lid down, it didn't seal. Once you have prepared this, you are ready to start 4 batches of beer: open a jar of wort and pour it into a sanitzed bottle. Add the yeast and close with an airlock. As with any other brewing procedure, it always seems to take more effort to describe it than to do it. --Darryl Richman Return to table of contents
Date: 2 Aug 89 10:59:54 EDT (Wed) From: mds at wang.WANG.COM (Marc San Soucie) Subject: Stout James Kolasa writes: > Also, I'm whipping up my first stout in about a week. Any tips? And for > that matter, any recipes? I haven't exactly committed myself to any method > yet. I am a devout stout drinker, the more so since most of my beer-drinking friends prefer amber and golden ales to stouts, leaving me to drink all of my homebrewed stout. Fine by me. This leaves me free to concoct stouts to my own tastes exclusively. As a result I have experimented quite a bit with different kinds of ingredients and combinations, and have come up with the following general observations. Bear in mind that I use only malt extracts because I haven't had the time to pick up all-grain brewing yet. You can make a quite acceptable "stout" from dark malt and hops. Some of the unique character of an "interesting" stout will be missing, though. It is best to include one or more of the following adjuncts to give the stout more flavor and effect. Roasted Barley is the classic stout ingredient, providing a nice roasted flavor, creaminess, rich head, and some tartness. Quantities can range from 1/4 - 1 pound, depending on the amount of malt and other ingredients. A full pound can be intimidating in a thin stout. Roasted barley grains should be at least cracked before steeping. I have ground them finely on occasion, with corresponding increase in oomph. Black Malt is another important adjunct, imparting dark color, a tangy, burnt flavor, considerable tartness, and a bracing first impact on the tongue. I have made very nice "stout" from dark malt, black malt, and hops. Without the roasted barley it is perhaps presumptuous to call it a stout, but not many people are willing to taste a "Black Ale". I have used anywhere from 1/4 - 1 pound of this also, prepared like the roasted barley. Only grind this stuff if you know you like its effect. Chocolate Malt is a nice brown malt adjunct, which has a less aggressive effect on beer than black malt. Though I have used it occasionally, I find it a bit too mild-mannered for my stouts, preferring the cha-cha of black. Crystal Malt, the homebrewer's friend, adds a touch of body and sweetness even to a stout, though the effect is more subtle than in an amber ale. I have found myself adding this to a stout in apologetic response to having ground the tar out of a pound of black malt, though it may have had only symbolic value in that stout. It can help with the head, as well. Wheat Malt is another helper adjunct in a stout, adding creaminess and supporting the head. It can also provide a touch of tartness, of a different kind than the black malt and roasted barley offer. It makes the stout behave better for your friends and family. My very basic stout recipe, from which I always deviate, is: 6-8 pounds of dark malt extract (usually unhopped, but not always) 1/2 - 1 pound roasted barley 1/2 - 1 pound black malt 3-4 ounces strong bittering hops (love that Bullion!) Some good aromatic hops, or none if you love Bullion Ale yeast of good pedigree To this skeleton I add other adjuncts, or remove things if the wind blows from the south. I think it is worth every stout drinker's while to make one batch of stout with dark malt and black malt only, just to see how nice a beer this is. Roasted barley is lovely, but not essential for my taste. A good strong bittering hops is key, though. Bullion is lovely, as are Nugget or Chinook. But heck, you can make a great stout with just hopped malt extract. There are no appreciable differences in brewing technique between stouts and other ales, save that there are larger quantities of grain adjuncts involved, so larger grain bags or more care must be used when worting. Also, beware the 9-pound batches (3-can), as these tend to blow the covers off plastic fermenters from time to time. As others will no doubt tell, there are literally scads (at least two) of other additives and adjuncts which can be lobbed into a stout without damaging it, and many provide interesting variations of flavor. The basic conclusion is that almost (almost) anything works when making a stout, but matching your own taste preferences is a matter of experimentation. Be prepared, though, to give up drinking commercial bottled stouts, because frankly, nothing can match the taste of a homemade. Marc San Soucie The John Smallbrewers Massachusetts mds at wang.wang.com -or- uunet!wang!mds Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #219, 08/03/89
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