HOMEBREW Digest #338 Tue 16 January 1990

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


Contents:
  Homebrew Digest Back on the Air (Rob Gardner)
  RE: Grocery Store Grains (Mike Fertsch)
  a couple notes on hops (Dick Dunn)
  Re: Beer Bottle Bombs (revisited) (Andy Wilcox)
  Wort Chillers in the Summer (Chris Shenton)
  Wort chiller for hot days and finite water supply (Chris Shenton)
  Australian Lagers (techentin)
  Wort Chillers in the Summer (Wayne Allen)
  Pumps ("2645 RUTH, GUY R.")
  Float for keg?/Coors Party Ball (Bob Clark - ESS Engineering)
  Too Much Foam Revisited (Doug Roberts  at  Los Alamos National Laboratory)
  Re:  Rootbeer (Chuck Cox)
  Rotokegs (John Polstra)
  CO2 Sources ("MISVX1::HABERMAND")
  High alpha Hops (Brian Smithey)
  Quality of Rapids SS pots (report) (b11!conk!steve)
  New Brews in Town (Boston Beer Society) (Chuck Cox)
  Gusher anecdote ("FEINSTEIN")

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 15 Jan 90 11:00 MST From: rdg at hpfcmr.hp.com (Rob Gardner) Subject: Homebrew Digest Back on the Air Hi everyone! Sorry about the interruption in Digest delivery. We had a disk failure, and I was just leaving on a trip, so all I could do was shut everything down for a few days. Hopefully all should be well now. I don't think that any articles were lost. I have a large backlog, so I'll be sending them out in bunches. If you sent in an article, and it is not in this digest, please wait to see if it appears tomorrow before resending it. Thanks, Rob Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 90 09:03 EST From: Mike Fertsch <FERTSCH at adc1.adc.ray.com> Subject: RE: Grocery Store Grains GOPINATHRTAR at CHE.UTAH.EDU asks about Buying grain from local grocers - > The question I have is that is can we buy grain from local groceries >instead from the standard sources ( local brewing stores, mail order etc.) Yes and no. NO. When mashing grains, you need MALTED grain. Malted grain is grain which has germinated and then kiln dried. Germination makes the grain starches soluble and generates the enzymes necessary to convert these starches into fermentable sugar. Unmalted grain does not have enzymes. I have not seen MALTED grain in groceries. YES. When mashing, you can use small quantities of unmalted grain, mixed together with the malted grains. I sometimes use unmalted rice, wheat, or oatmeal in conjunction with my malted barley. These adjuncts must be cooked to make their starches soluble. Malted barley has enough enzymes to convert the barley starches as well as some of the adjunct grains. I've used grocery store adjuncts with no problems. One of our club members even made potato beer, using grocery store potatoes in small quantities. Mike Fertsch Return to table of contents
Date: 8 Jan 90 08:20:36 MST (Mon) From: hplabs!gatech!raven!rcd (Dick Dunn) Subject: a couple notes on hops Don's article covered all the important stuff on hops, but I thought I'd add a couple of nits. First, they *really* like to climb. Don't underestimate them. In the setup we have, ours can grow about twenty feet...and they'd really like more room than that. (They start from the ground each year, BTW.) Allow for them to climb, and be sure you've got a way to get to them! On ours, at least, the heaviest yield was about 3/4 of the way up the vines. I've seen a home-made arrangement with cords for them to climb, attached to a tall pole that would pivot down to the ground for harvest. Ours climb to a second-floor deck where we can reach them. Second, it may take a while for the hops to establish themselves...this may depend a lot on soil and climate, based on the conversations I've had with folks in other areas. Mine have increased in yield every year for five years now, although I think Don once said that it should take a couple of years. (Our climate is mild, although we do have real winter, but it's dry and the soil is heavy clay.) - --- Dick Dunn {ncar;ico;stcvax}!raven!rcd (303)494-0965 or rcd at raven.uucp Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 08 Jan 90 11:34:48 EST From: Andy Wilcox <andy at mosquito.cis.ufl.edu> Subject: Re: Beer Bottle Bombs (revisited) > From: hisata!doug at gatech.edu > I prefer bottles with a gently sloping > next--NOT like longnecks--because they're easier to pour and don't > "glug" so as to stir up sediment. I use ANYTHING close to this shape: > Guiness, Harp, Heineken Dark (brown bottles), IBC root beer, etc. In 16 > batches x ~50 bottles = 800 bottles, I've only had two break when being > capped. I try to use only Longnecks. In more than 1500 bottles now, I've only had one break during capping. This particular bottle, by the way, was how I discovered the "new" not returnable longneck offered by those nice folks at A.B. *Be sure* to stay away from these, folks. They are quite a bit thinner than the traditional bar bottle. The first (and only) one I tried to cap busted. Luckily, I wasn't hurt. Longnecks don't "glug" unless you pour too fast. Don't hurry! :-) By the way, does anyone know the inside scoop on why the bar bottles have been discontinued by A.B.? I've heard that Coke is phasing out 16 Oz. returnables as well. The fountain distributors in this area have almost discontinued the cornelius keg in favor of the the throw-away foil-lined boxes. What gives? I always used to brag that this was the greatest example of *reusability* (as opposed to recyclability) in this country, and now it's dead (or dying). Sad. Worrying a little, -Andy Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 90 10:15:27 est From: Chris Shenton <chris at asylum.gsfc.nasa.gov> Subject: Wort Chillers in the Summer Martin A. Lodahl writes: > I don't have quite this problem, but I do have an "iffy" well, and > seeing all that water go down the drain is more than I can stand. A > possible answer to both problems: an icewater bath, recirculated > through the chiller. That implies a pump, and therefore a possible > problem. Good thought -- that solves all the problems. You could do immersion, counter-flow, or a hybrid, anytime of the year with significantly less water. That's the way I'm gonna persue (I think). How about using a pump attachment for an electric drill? Since it's only water you'd be pumping, the pump can be as sleazy as you want. I think Black & Decker versions can be had for relatively few bucks... _______________________________________________________________________________ Internet: chris at asylum.gsfc.nasa.gov (128.183.10.155) NASA/GSFC: Code 735 UUCP: ...!uunet!asylum.gsfc.nasa.gov!chris Greenbelt, MD 20771 SPAN: PITCH::CHRIS 301-286-6093 Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 90 11:12:33 est From: Chris Shenton <chris at asylum.gsfc.nasa.gov> Subject: Wort chiller for hot days and finite water supply This is a follow-up on my previous posting. It attempts to remedy the situation where the water from the tap is not cold enough to chill wort efficiently, or where you don't want to dump mass quantities of perfectly good water down your drain. Martin A. Lodahl <pbmoss!mal at hplabs.HP.COM> suggested: ... an icewater bath, recirculated through the chiller. Martin thought finding a pump might be expensive, but pump attachments for electric drills are readily available and relatively cheap. Norm Hardy <polstra!norm at hplabs.HP.COM> suggested: Construct 2 immersion chillers with copper tubing. Have the water flow through the first as it sits in a water bath filled with ice water. Then the water moves on to your wort where the second chiller sits. Keep an eye on the ice water and add more ice as needed to keep it very cold. Hey, it's extra expense to have two chillers, but it will work for you, and if you do it yourself you'll save bucks over buying a counterflow chiller. Norm's idea pre-chills tap water by running it first through a heat exchanger, but that doubles the expense of the system (copper), and wastes lots of tap water (Martin's main problem). The cheesy diagram below illustrates one idea. It's pretty much a closed system, uses only one coil, and depends only on the availability of ice which can be made ahead of time for summer chilling. Sorry about the PC-style graphics... Any comments? <-- return //===================================================\\ || _____ || || supply / \ || || //==============| O |=====================\\ || || || --> \_____/ --> || || || || | | | || || | || || | | | | | || || | |------||--| |___| |-||--||---| | || | | ||====== | | || | Electric Drill | ||====== | | || | with | \\====== | |__________| Pump Attachment |__________| Ice Water Immersion Chiller in Wort _______________________________________________________________________________ Internet: chris at asylum.gsfc.nasa.gov (128.183.10.155) NASA/GSFC: Code 735 UUCP: ...!uunet!asylum.gsfc.nasa.gov!chris Greenbelt, MD 20771 SPAN: PITCH::CHRIS 301-286-6093 Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 90 11:55:39 CST From: techentin at Mayo.edu Subject: Australian Lagers I would like to brew something that resembles "Foster's" lager because that is the only brew of substance that my wife likes. Does anybody have a recipe? How does the Australian Lager in Papazian compare? On the subject of low-tech lagering ... I do not have special equipment to keep the beer cold, but mother nature supplies Minnesota with plenty of cold this time of year. Is it safe to lager a beer in an attached garage where the temperature can vary between zero and 35 degrees F? The temperature doesn't vary too much between day and night but I don't have much control over it. Will extremely cold (-10 F) or warm (40 F) temperatures damage a lager, or will the cold just slow things down? Thanks for your help. Please reply to me and I'll post to the digest. - ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Bob Techentin Internet: techentin at Mayo.edu Mayo Foundation, Rochester MN, 55905 USA (507) 284-2702 - ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 90 12:00:31 CST From: wa%cadillac.cad.mcc.com at mcc.com (Wayne Allen) Subject: Wort Chillers in the Summer Martin Lodahl writes: >Has anyone found a good, cheap, preferably self-contained electric pump? Bilge pumps (for boats!) are fairly in-expensive. They run off of 12 volts (need converter, I guess), and most are submersible. Found in any motor or sailboat dealer. wa Return to table of contents
Date: 8 Jan 90 12:52:00 MST From: "2645 RUTH, GUY R." <grruth at sandia.gov> Subject: Pumps Martin Lodahl indicated he was interested in pumps: I read in the 1988 special issue of Zymurgy about a device called a Sanipump which connected to a hand drill and cost ~$4. That fit my price range so I went searching for it at my local builder's supply store. I found the pump for the price that was quoted in the article. At the same time, I purchased a drill stand/clamp and a T bracket. The stand cost about $5 and the bracket was under a dollar. To assemble the pump, I first cut a 12" piece of 1 X 6. After attaching the pump and stand to the drill, I was able to position the drill so that the pump could be mounted close to the end of the 1 X 6. I mounted the stand, attached the bottom of the T bracket to the bottom screw on the face of the pump and then measured for a small block of wood that the T bracket would attach to. The block of wood was then attached to the 1 X 6 base and the pump and bracket was fastened to the block. For the inlet/outlet on the pump, I bought two Gilmore, male hose ends and connected them to two pieces of 1/2 inch clear plastic tubing. I made the inlet hose shorter than the outlet since this was recommended by the pump's manufacturer. Before using the drill, I had to remove the excess oil (recommended in the Zymurgy article) by dipping bot the inlet and outlet hoses into a sink filled with hot, soapy water. Afterwards, I rinsed the pump with hot, bleach water followed by a hot water flush (I also do this before each brewing session). I have found through use that the plastic tubing has a tendancy to collapse when I use the pump to recycle sparge water after the mash. You might try substituting food grade water hose (the kind used in RVs) for the plastic tubing. Good pumping, Guy Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 90 15:14:10 PST From: bobc at Sun.COM (Bob Clark - ESS Engineering) Subject: Float for keg?/Coors Party Ball ** Keg outlet line question ** I've been following the discussion on the use of a float system for the beer feed in a keg as a way of avoiding the sediment. I've just bought a system, and noted that the beer outlet tube goes all the way to the very bottom of the keg, so it will pick up any sediment at all. The shop's instructions for the keg suggest that the tube should be cut off 3/4"-1" above the bottom of the keg. This would allow that much space for the sediment, and hopefully draw the beer just above. Does anyone have any comments on doing this versus the use of a float system? ** Coors Party Ball report ** Last fall, my brewing buddies (Michael Eldredge, Steve Hansen) & I experimented with putting a batch of steam beer into a Coors Party Ball which we had saved. We primed the beer as usual (maybe we used less sugar than normal as some of you suggested for kegs), and put it into the ball, sealing it with a large rubber stopper. My initial attempt at wiring down the stopper failed, and we lost the first day's worth of carbonation. I rewired (using picture hanging wire), and this held OK. After about a total of two months, we decided to finally tap and drink the thing at the tailgater before the Big Game (where Stanford beat Cal!). I removed the rubber stopper, and replaced it with the original cap which had been saved from the party ball. This was convenient to use with the tap, but has the drawback that it is *not* a real seal, and air would leak when the tap was pumped. Bottom line: it turned out pretty well. It was under-carbonated due to the loss of the first day's carbonation, but if we had avoided that, it would have been a complete success. I would suggest it as a worthwhile approach for anyone without a keg, who intends to have the whole batch drunk at one sitting. Bob Clark Sun Microsystems bobc at sun.COM Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 90 17:05:32 MST From: roberts%studguppy at LANL.GOV (Doug Roberts at Los Alamos National Laboratory) Subject: Too Much Foam Revisited > Date: Tue, 2 Jan 90 15:27:43 EST > From: Pete Soper <soper at maxzilla.encore.com> > Pete relates a Three Stooges Keg Foaming Incident, & asks questions regarding CO2 keg pressure & foam... Well, I've been kegging for a bour 4 years now, and I think I've begun to get a feel for what causes the foaming: too much CO2! There have been three causes for excess CO2 that I have observed: 1. Not allowing the the wort to fully complete it's secondary fermentation, 2. Overpriming 3. Overpressuring the keg. At one time or another, I've committed each of these fulminating acts! However, I believe the most insidious cause of foaminess is over-pressuring the keg, because overpressuring can make its effects felt slowly over time, resulting in the end of your keg being much foamier than the beginning. There are several factors which will affect the CO2 content of the beer in your keg: temperature, pressure, and the time the CO2 head at the top of your keg is exposed to the beer. The lower the temperature, the higher the solubility of CO2 in your beer. The longer you maintain a high (45 psi) head, the more CO2 will enter the beer. After numerous hit & miss attempts, I've now found the (for me) ideal procedure for achieving the desired carbonation for my ales, stouts, & porters: 1. Let the secondary fermentation complete!! This is particularly difficult for me, being not the most patient person. 2. Prime with _not more than_ 3/4 cup dry malt extract or syrup. I've found that this will result in a keg pressure of 10 psi (+ or -) and the right carbonation for my tastes. 3. Maintain the head with a regulator setting of 10 psi. I believe you ended up with a foamy batch as a result of your 45 psi forced carbonation campaign, Pete. If you wish to force carbonate your kegged beer, I'd set the regulator at 10 psi, and hook the CO2 line up the dispensing side of the keg, as one other poster suggested. This will allow the CO2 to bubble up through your batch, carbonating it to the desired level. BTW: to get a feel for keg carbonation, fill a keg with tap water & play around with it. When you're done, you've got seltzer! - --Doug Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 90 11:30:04 EST From: bose!chuck at uunet.UU.NET (Chuck Cox) Subject: Re: Rootbeer A while back Mark Freeman asked for a rootbeer recipe. I recently made a half-barrel of rootbeer for my local beer bar, The Sunset Tap & Grille in Boston. It may be illegal to sell homebrew, but it is ok to sell homemade rootbeer (as far as I know). Chuck's Homemade Ozark Rootbeer (15 gal recipe) 2 oz Birch Beer Extract 10 oz Root Beer Extract 1 lb Honey 1 cup Blackstrap Molasses 1 cup Grade B Maple Syrup 1 gal Sugar (approx 8 lb) Approximate total cost of ingredients: $25.50 Mix all ingredients in a keg, add water to fill keg, carbonate, drink. Some comments regarding the recipe: I thought the molasses taste was a bit harsh, I will try regular molasses next time and perhaps use a little less as well. I will try substituting 2 oz of sasparilla extract for 2 oz of the rootbeer extract. In any case, you can mix the ingredients to your taste. This recipe produces a strong tasting rootbeer with about half the sweetness of most commercial rootbeers (warning: you will want to clean your draft lines after dispensing this root beer, it leaves a flavor behind). It was extremely popular with the underage college crowd because the rootbeer was served just like draft beer. You can obtain the extracts in 2 oz bottles at most homebrewing shops. In addition, you can buy bulk extracts through restaurant suppliers, the one brand I know of is 'Universal'. While I artifically carbonated my rootbeer (for both legal & practical reasons) you could ferment it to get carbonation. There was an alcoholic rootbeer at the Great American Beer Festival, I talked with the brewmaster who made it, and it is similar to my recipe, but with the addition of a substantial amount of malt extract to increase the fermentables. His rootbeer was in the 6% alcohol by weight range, and tasted very good on it's own, but didn't go well with drinking lots of regular beer. BTW: The Sunset sold out of my rootbeer in about a week, but I will make some more as soon as a tap becomes available. - Chuck Cox - america's fastest beer judge - Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 90 15:02:20 PST From: polstra!jdp at hplabs.HP.COM (John Polstra) Subject: Rotokegs In HBD #337, pms at Sun.COM (Patrick Stirling) asked about plastic kegs: > does anyone know of a supplier of RotoKegs here? Actually the real > difficulty is finding the CO2 cartridges - any ideas? The Cellar in Seattle carries Rotokegs as well as some other systems, and they take mail orders. They carry the CO2 cartridges too. The Cellar P.O. Box 33525 Seattle, WA 98133 (206) 365-7660 (voice) (206) 365-7677 (FAX) They publish a catalog which I am sure they'd be happy to send you. Having said that, I would like to point out that these plastic kegs do not enjoy a good reputation among the serious brewers that I know. The people I talk to all say that the plastic kegs are just toys, they don't hold pressure very well, they don't last very long, and they use up those little CO2 cartridges pretty quickly. In short, they are not low enough in cost to make them a good deal with respect to, say, a soda keg system. When I decided to start kegging, everybody that I asked told me to just bite the bullet and invest in a soda keg system. I did so, and have been very pleased. Just passing along what others have told me. I've never tried the plastic kegs myself. If any of you have used these systems and are pleased with the results, by all means please correct me on-line. - John Polstra jdp at polstra.UUCP Polstra & Co., Inc. ...{uunet,sun}!practic!polstra!jdp Seattle, WA (206) 932-6482 PS - I don't recommend The Cellar for soda keg systems, although they do carry them. I've seen better prices elsewhere. Return to table of contents
Date: 9 Jan 90 10:24:00 PDT From: "MISVX1::HABERMAND" <habermand%misvx1.decnet at afal-edwards.af.mil> Subject: CO2 Sources Now that we've explored the makeup of kegging systems, where do I go to get CO2? Is there such an animal as food grade CO2? What about industrial or medical grades? Can I go to the weld shop or do I need to find a beverage service to fill it? I actually haven't bought the stuff to keg myy beer yet, but I would like to do so in the near future. I am in the process of finding sources for the equipment using the suppliers refferenced in past issues of the digest and in Zymurgy adds. The systems I have seen put together by the mail order places run from $200-300, although some don't say if they come with guages for both CO2 and keg pressure. Which is more common, ball lock or pin lock connectors? I know that you should choose one and stick with it. I was also told by a friend, that you should get a three way adaptor so that you can pressurize more than 1 keg at a time and get the connections for commercial kegs while you're at it. Well, enough questions for now. David Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Jan 90 12:06:54 PST From: smithey at hulder.css.gov (Brian Smithey) Subject: High alpha Hops I recently picked up a few ounces of "experimental" 12% alpha Cascades for an upcoming Pale Ale at my local brew shop. Being relatively new to homebrewing, it wasn't until I got home that I realized that the experiment must have been a high alpha. The recipes I've been looking at for Pale Ale usually call for 2 to 3 oz. of a 5-6 alpha hop for boiling, a typical alpha content for Cascade. I was planning on going with 2.5 oz for boiling and 1 oz for finishing with the Cascade until I found out that I was dealing with "Super Hop." My questions are: 1. Since the alpha content of this hop is double what I was expecting, do I just cut back to half what I was planning to use for the boil? 2. What about the finishing hop? Do I still go with 1 oz, or should I cut back on that as well? I don't recall seeing any recipes that call for high alpha hops for bouquet, is there any reason that I wouldn't want to use these for finishing? I'd also be interested in hearing any pros/cons regarding dry-hopping. The proprietor of the brew shop told me that Sierra Nevada is using this hop to dry-hop their Pale Ale, a style that I'd like to imitate. Any hints on when to add the dry hops, how much, comments on high alpha hops for dry hopping, should I dry hop instead of or in addition to my usual aromatic steeping, etc. I couldn't find much about dry hopping in TCJOHB. Thanks, Brian - -- Brian Smithey / SAIC, Geophysics Division / San Diego CA uucp: uunet!seismo!esosun!smithey Internet: smithey%esosun.css.gov at seismo.css.gov Return to table of contents
Date: Tue Jan 9 10:18:14 1990 From: ingr!b11!conk!steve at uunet.uu.net Subject: Quality of Rapids SS pots (report) Chris Shenton writes: > A while ago, John Polstra (jdp at polstra.UUCP) wrote about good prices for > stainless pots from Rapids (Wholesale Bar & Restaurant Equipment, > 800-553-7906). I just got their catalog, and it looks like a winner. Most > interestingly, a 40 Qt for $80 (List $160); matching lid, $21.25. > > They're described as ``Heavy gauge stainless steel.'' Anyone have any > experience with them? I may break down and order one next week, and if I > do, will report on it in these pages. I got the Rapids 40 Qt SS pot for Christmas from my wife, and it's great! It's made of 20 Ga. SS, and the lid has a nice low spot in the center to keep condensation in the pot. Make sure you have a long spoon, though. The pot is 16 inches tall and 14 inches in diameter. I haven't had any scorching problems with the two batches I've brewed in it, but I always turn off the heat before adding extracts. The mash I did in it was the first one that I really had room to stir. My old pot was a 3.5 gallon Revereware, and I couldn't mash more than about 8.5 lbs of grain. One last thing that I learned is that the weight of 7 or 8 gallons of water is not really convenient to lift from the floor to the stove in the pot. It's much easier and safer to fill the pot on the stove. My wife said that the people at rapids were very nice to deal with, and that the order was delivered two days after it was placed. Steve Conklin uunet!ingr!b11!conk!steve Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Jan 90 17:57:32 EST From: chuck%bose at uunet.UU.NET (Chuck Cox) Subject: New Brews in Town (Boston Beer Society) New Brews in Town - A tasting conducted by the Boston Beer Society McEwan's Export Scottish & Newcastle Breweries, Plc., Edinburgh, Scotland $7.95 per 6-pack BBS RATING: 79 Brooklyn Brown Dark Ale The Brooklyn Brewery, contract brewed by Matt's, Utica, NY Not available in Boston. BBS RATING: 70 Aass Winter Beer Aass Bryggeri, Drammen, Norway Over $9 per 6-pack BBS RATING: 85 Tudor Pale Ale George Gale & Co., Ltd., Horndean, Hampshire, England $2.99 per 550 ml bottle BBS RATING: 89 HSB Bitter George Gale & Co., Ltd., Horndean, Hampshire, England About $5 per 4-pack of 440 ml cans BBS RATING: 91 Old Thumper Ringwood Brewery, Ringwood, Hampshire, England $1.89 per 275 ml bottle, $5.49 per 4-pack BBS RATING: 92 Geary's Hampshire Winter Ale 1989-1990 Geary's Brewery, Portland, ME $9.50 per 6-pack BBS RATING: 82 New Brews in Town is a semi-regular feature of the Boston Wort Processors newsletter. This column features beers that have come to the attention of the Boston Beer Society, most of which have recently appeared on the shelves of local liquor stores. The are rated on a 25-100 point scale. The ratings are intended merely as a guide. The numbers should only be used to assess beers against others from the same style. 25-59 points not worth going out of your way for 60-69 points fair 70-79 points good 80-89 points very good 90-100 points excellent This is a condensed version of the column from the latest BWP newsletter. You can read the full column as well as other exciting tidbits by joining the BWP. Membership, including a subscription to the newsletter is $10 for one year. Send to: The Boston Wort Processors c/o Tom Ayers 65 Langdon St. #6 Cambridge, MA 02138 - Chuck Cox - america's fastest beer judge Return to table of contents
Date: 10 Jan 90 12:13:00 EST From: "FEINSTEIN" <crf at pine.circa.ufl.edu> Subject: Gusher anecdote Hi there! The recent discussion about gushers put me in mind of an anecdote from a fellow brewer (the person who got me started in brewing, in fact). My friend Steve generally brews in 25 gal batches. Of necessity, he generally keeps things simple. So, he usually uses the type of hydrometer that isn't scaled to specific gravity readings. Rather, it just has a red line labeled "Bottle," and when the reading says "bottle" he does so. Steve, btw, bottles all his beer in champagne bottles. Now, the scales on hydrometers are printed on pieces of paper which are glued inside the hollow necks of the hydrometers. Well, once upon a time, the paper in Steve's hydrometer slipped just a little. Not enough to notice, but enough to matter. Some time after bottling the batch in question, Steve was standing near the storage area. He heard a funny sound. Glancing at the shelving the beer was sitting on, Steve discovered the source of the sound: the bottles of beer, which had inadvertently been filled too soon, were vibrating with accumlated pressure. The sound was the bottles rattling on the shelves and clinking against each other! Hollering for his wife's help, Steve quickly pulled out his priming and bottling equipment and cleaned it. He and his wife then emptied all the bottles into the priming bucket. Steve has described this operation to me as consisting of pointing the neck of a bottle against the side of the priming bucket, popping the cap off, and removing the now-empty bottle-- it emptied virtually instaneously, with a "BOOMP!" as the cap came off. Steve re-bottled the beer, with no further addition of sugar. After a normal aging period, the beer was consumed. I am told that while it wasn't as carbonated as was usual, the brew was by no means flat, either. Hope this amuses! Yours in Carbonation, Cher "The first cup of coffee recapitulates phylogeny." -- Anon. ============================================================================= Cheryl Feinstein INTERNET: CRF at PINE.CIRCA.UFL.EDU Univ. of Fla. BITNET: CRF at UFPINE Gainesville, FL Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1, 01/16/90 ************************************* -------
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