HOMEBREW Digest #3582 Fri 16 March 2001

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Contents:
  GFI/Color (AJ)
  Philly competition! (Joseph Uknalis)
  Beer in OBX ("Peed, John")
  Re: Looking for some Hops info. (Jeff Renner)
  Expanded Dorm Fridge (Sean Fitzgerald)
  ring around the collar ("elvira toews")
  Yeast Harvesting Question ("Marty Milewski")
  Timing Oxygenation (Ant Hayes)
  Re: Super V All-Copper CF Chiller (Part 2) ("Braam Greyling")
  Yeast Cakes ("Gustave Rappold")
  Weisse ("Brad McMahon")
  reusing yeast (leavitdg)
  The Flaked Barley Influence ("Phil & Jill Yates")
  Victory IPA in ProMash (Jeffrey Donovan)
  CIP'ing a Zwickel ("Larry Maxwell")
  Brewpub and Micro reviews (was Re: checking in) (Tim  Burkhart)
  beer drinking travellers ("Jim Hagey")
  Re: conicals and better brewing ("Kurt Schweter")
  My Travels begin ("Jeff Beinhaur")
  Pelletized hops plugging manifolds ("Jay Wirsig")
  Whitelabs Saison Yeast Data (David Harsh)
  RE: Super V All-Copper CF Chiller (LaBorde, Ronald)
  star-san duration ("Joseph Marsh")
  Primary vs Secondary (picking nits) ("Alan Meeker")
  Ayinger yeast (Mark Garthwaite)
  RE: Pub & Micro Review; Rennerian Coordinates Calculator (I/T)" <stjones at eastman.com>
  pitching pint of yeast, and mashout question, beaverpelt response ("Czerpak, Pete")
  Super V All-Copper CF Chiller (cmmundt)
  The Year Of The CAP ("John Zeller")
  Re: cheap SS boil pots (stencil)
  GFI Receptacles and Brewing Beer in Basements ("Andrew Moore")
  Secondary Fermentation ("Paul Campbell")
  Hops: How, What and Why ("Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies")
  StarSan ("Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies")
  Re: Shopping for a Refractometer ("Angie and Reif Hammond")
  next question ("elvira toews")

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 14:21:50 -0400 From: AJ <ajdel at mindspring.com> Subject: GFI/Color A tripping GFI means that some current is returning to ground through a path other than the phase or neutral wires - a potential hazzard if that path involves you or some other living (for the moment) thing. That's what a GFI is intended to do. Since it works OK with a different load (the toaster) plugged in the fault must lie in the refrig. Look for frayed/rubbed/cracked insulation. If you can find such a problem it can easily be repaired. Inappropropriate paths through blowers/ comperssors etc are detected if the GFI holds when the fridge is plugged in with these internally disconnected. As GFI's are generally set for small (milliampere) imbalances (to protect life) it doesn't take much leakage to set one off. The fridge might work just fine on a non-GFI circuit but remember that the GFI is telling you that there is an inapproriate path. I am hereby puttin myself on record as advising against plugging into a non GFI outlet. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Heat + sugar = caramel which is dark. It's as simple as that. In order to get very pale beer you must do what the pro's do. Brew a wimpy beer using lots of adjunct (rice, corn, wheat) which has not been malted and hence kilned. Getting a good percentage of fermentables from cane sugar added close to the end of the boil also helps. If you want a richly malty, flavorful homebrew you are going to get a dark beer. There really isn't much that can be done about this except to use the palest malts you can find and use high kilned malts very sparingly if at all. Extracts tend to darken beer because they have been boiled at the factory and then are boiled again by you. A.J. - -- A.J. deLange CT Project Manager Zeta Associates 10302 Eaton Place Fairfax, VA 22030 (703) 359 8696 855 0905 ajdel at mindspring.com Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 13:41:06 -0500 (EST) From: Joseph Uknalis <birman at netaxs.com> Subject: Philly competition! Announcing the 18th Best of Philly & Suburbs Homebrew Competition April 21, 2001 Entries due 4/6-4/13/2001 Contact the competition organizer (Joe) for any questions or judging/stewarding info. (birman at netaxs.com) For additional details see : http://www.netaxs.com/~shady/hops/archives/hops-bops_2001/index.html Mail in location- Home Sweet Homebrew 2008 Sansom Street Philadelphia, PA 19103 Phone: (215) 569-9469 Contact: George or Nancy Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 13:43:55 -0500 From: "Peed, John" <jpeed at elotouch.com> Subject: Beer in OBX Sorry for the late response on Outer Banks beer, hope it's still useful. There is a surprisingly well-stocked Exxon gas station on Beach Road somewhere in the vicinity of the 2 mile or 3 mile post. That's quite a ways up the road from Avon, but might well be worth a trip. Good wine selection too. The trip to Howard's Pub on Ocracoke from the Kittty Hawk area is a very long day, generally stretching into the night on the way back. While it's true that it's only a 30 minute ferry ride, you typically have to wait an hour or two to get on the ferry (make damn sure you get there before the last ferry leaves on the return trip!). A trip to Howard's is worth it though. Great place. And if the return trip does stretch into the night, stop at a beach access in the middle of nowhere, walk out to the beach and take a gander at that sky. It'll knock your socks off. John Peed Knoxville, TN Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 14:18:23 -0500 From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu> Subject: Re: Looking for some Hops info. daniel.angela at ns.sympatico.ca of Nova Scotia asks >if anyone could point me to a >website that has some info on the uses for different styles of Hops. Glenn Tinseth's Hop Page http://realbeer.com/hops/ HopTech's Website http://www.hoptech.com/ Freshops page on varieties http://www.freshops.com/hvariety.html These and the many links from them should get you started. Jeff - -- Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, c/o nerenner at umich.edu "One never knows, do one?" Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943 Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 12:48:01 -0800 From: Sean Fitzgerald <seanf at downstream.com> Subject: Expanded Dorm Fridge Hey, Based largely on advice from this list, I recently finished building an insulated plywood extension to my dorm-size fridge to accommodate my growing corny keg collection. I have a Johnson Controls thermostat hooked up and running, and it is maintaining temperature wonderfully. The cherry on top would be to put an external tap (a la the Kegerator) in there and have the co2 canister outside the fridge. Would it be enough to drill a couple holes through the plywood and just run the gas line in and the beer line out? I would caulk the gaps of course. I'm just not sure if this hole in the insulation would "let the cold out", so to speak. Has anyone done something like this before that could offer some encouragement/advice? Thanks, Sean Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 18:28:19 -0600 From: "elvira toews" <etoews1 at home.com> Subject: ring around the collar If your neck ring is just trub from priming with DME, then age your bottles upside-down. No, seriously. I've done this with "sham pagne" - white or rose wine kits from which I divert a gallon for bottle priming. I let the bottles rest upside-down, then to open them I do a little flip trick with the opener which leaves the yeast on the ground (outdoors) and clear fizzy wine in the bottle. Sean Richens Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2001 23:40:54 -0600 From: "Marty Milewski" <mmilewski at mlpusa.com> Subject: Yeast Harvesting Question Help... I apologize if this topic has been posted in the past, however, I am a "newbie" in the hobby of home brewing and haven't seen anything posted on this topic. I'm finally taking the plunge into the process of harvesting yeast for repitching. I have done some initial research on this process and have come across some conflicting information. Some sources recommend harvesting and washing the yeast slurry from the primary fermenter and others recommend harvesting yeast slurry from the secondary fermenter. My guess is either method is sufficient, but I was hoping to get some feedback (advantages/disadvantages) from anyone who may have experience with either method, the process, how many re-pitchings you can get out of it, how to store it, and how long can you store it. Thanks in advance. Prost, Marty (rookie) Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 08:59:15 +0200 From: Ant Hayes <Ant.Hayes at FifthQuadrant.co.za> Subject: Timing Oxygenation I was at an IGB conference last week. During the yeast session, one of the speakers had a bullet point on his overhead stating that 4 - 6 hours post pitching is the ideal time to add oxygen. Has anyone else heard this? Ant Hayes Gauteng; South Africa Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 10:38:08 +0200 From: "Braam Greyling" <braam.greyling at azoteq.com> Subject: Re: Super V All-Copper CF Chiller (Part 2) Bill, Thanks for the nice description of the Super V All-Copper CF Chiller. I also want to build me one as the garden hose pipe on my current chiller gets melted regularly. It would be very nice if you could provide some photo's Will this be possible ? Best regards Braam Greyling Snr. Design Engineer Azoteq(Pty)Ltd Tel +27 21 8711730 Fax +27 21 8729973 braam.greyling at azoteq.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 4:26:19 -0500 From: "Gustave Rappold" <grappold at earthlink.net> Subject: Yeast Cakes Beaverpelt asks, 3. There's a lot of discussion about harvesting yeast. Is it really worth the effort when a smack pack or dry yeast costs so little? I'm not knocking it, I've just wondered and never asked. My thoughts at this point are that unless you brew often it's better to buy than harvest. When I brew a 10 or twenty gallon batch, I need a huge yeast cake to ferment the wort. The best place to get it from is a previous batch. I just doesn't make sense to build up a big enough starter every time I brew. Smack packs are great for those of us who don't have a microbiology lab in our home! As another poster suggested, I make a small batch of beer off a quart starter, then repitch larger batches with the same yeast. For example, I'm currently working with a London Ale strain that has given me 15 gallons of stout so far and will ferment a 5 gallon Imperial Stout and 10 gallons of some kind of English Brown or Mild Ale from the same mash. If it's nice and clean, I'll get another 5 gallons of barleywine and 10 gallons of pale ale from the next mash. At that time, I'll figure out which yeast or two or three I'll culture up next for repeated use. Gus P.S. Yes, it's a lot of beer but my hockey team is mostly cops and my coworkers and I are truck drivers! - --- Gustave Rappold - --- grappold at earthlink.net - --- EarthLink: It's your Internet. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 21:13:29 +1030 From: "Brad McMahon" <brad at sa.apana.org.au> Subject: Weisse I love Kindl Weisse and I drink it straight with out a "Schuss" of syrup. It must be one of those things to get those without a developed taste for beer to drink the stuff, because I think it is great without the additives. Each to their own! Berliner Weisse is not the only style in which this is done. In Muenster, at the Pinkus Mueller brewery & restaurant, they do what is called Altbier Bowle. This is where they add homemade fruit syrup (fruit of the season) and a slice of fruit to their altbier which has a lactic tang to it. Guys, don't get too upset if someone calls something bitter that really is sour. I understand some people cannot tell the difference. Strange but true.... Jeff, great to see you reading the weather in Washington State. Is that a hairpiece? I guess it is time to cease subjecting you to another one of our periodical "inane ramblings". Slainte (for tomorrow) Brad McMahon Aldgate, South Australia Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 06:38:49 -0500 (EST) From: leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu Subject: reusing yeast Jerry; I will weigh in on this one...in that I brew once a week, all-grain, and do reuse.,..finally. I generally find that the 2nd or third use of a liquid yeast produces much better beer: quicker to start, better taste, etc...BUT, if you brew just 6 times a year, then I personally don't think that it makes sense...ie unless you become more adept than most of us are at storing it...most yeast shouldn't sit around that long... Happy Brewing! ..Darrell Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 22:37:13 +1100 From: "Phil & Jill Yates" <yates at acenet.com.au> Subject: The Flaked Barley Influence I have to be honest and admit that I haven't even read probably the last ten digests. I haven't been home long enough to do so. But I will catch up when I can. I've been away from home for the best part of every week but when I do get home, the homebrew is always waiting for me. And what a special treat that is at the end of a week of high density meetings. The Yates/Pivo pilsner seems to get better and better and the issue I want to report on relates to the addition of flaked barley which we threw in (just for good measure, as the Doc suggested). I would have thought that flaked barley in a Czech style pils was an idiot suggestion but I wasn't game to say so and did as the Doc ordered. Well!! This beer holds the best head I have ever seen in anything that I have made. It hangs in there right to the bottom of the glass. Clarity is not as "first class" (though not far short of it) as I would normally achieve in a pilsner but who cares? There is no substitute for good head! The total grain bill was 9.7 kg and included in this was 500 gms of flaked barley. I am attributing this brilliant head retention to the flaked barley unless someone else can suggest otherwise. Not that I am going to believe whatever scientific theory they might come up with. I've got good head and I reckon I know why. Thanks Doc for the suggestion and thanks for a great beer. My concern is just when I might find enough time to make some more. Cheers Phil Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 05:49:06 -0800 From: Jeffrey Donovan <jeffrey at promash.com> Subject: Victory IPA in ProMash In response to Darrell's question: >Promash's Victory IPA calls for a rest at 124F for 5 minutes. Is this >due to the 1/2 lb of "soft white wheat malt" that is called for in >their recipe? ie, is this raw wheat? If not, then I'd say that there >is no need to rest here...and in fact it may hut head retention, no? No, and you are correct regarding the rest (or no need for one). The mash schedule is only listed this way to demonstrate the mash schedule functionality (software wise) and nothing more. When I actually brew this recipe myself I usually do a single infusion at 156 or so. Cheers! Jeffrey Donovan Beer Engineer The Sausalito Brewing Co. jeffrey at promash.com jeffrey at beerengineer.com http://www.promash.com http://www.beerengineer.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 09:03:07 -0500 From: "Larry Maxwell" <larrymax at bellsouth.net> Subject: CIP'ing a Zwickel Will too much CIP'ing one's Zwickel make them go blind? Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 08:03:56 -0600 From: Tim Burkhart <tburkhart at dridesign.com> Subject: Brewpub and Micro reviews (was Re: checking in) I'm sure others will respond the same... http://pubcrawler.com I have had good luck with pubcrawler over the past few years. Most of the reviews have led me to good pubs in NYC, St. Louis, and Las Vegas. I check up on my home town spots every once and awhile as well. The KC reviews have become a little stale with only one out of 5 possible brew spots having a 2001 review... this will help me explain to SWMBO why I am going on a pub crawl this weekend. This is not to say an HBD pub review source would not be appreciated... the quality of reviews would most likely tower over the general writing on pubcrawler. It would be refreshing to read something other than... "beer is good, food is good, atmosphere is good, service is good..." Tim Burkhart Kansas City Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 09:23:14 -0500 From: "Jim Hagey" <hagey at attglobal.net> Subject: beer drinking travellers Greetings all! In HBD #3581 beverplt queried: > 6. Has anyone thought of starting a list of brew pubs >to visit when traveling? There's always questions >about it? There is a wonderful website that does just this www.pubcrawler.com. It is set up so that you can leave your own personal review of the brewpubs listed. It even includes a link for you to add one that they hadn't previously listed. I have taken advantage of this site on numerous occaisions while travelling and would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the people responsible for this service. Jim Hagey Beer and Loafing in Kalamazoo (about 100 miles due west of the center of the homebrewing universe). Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2001 18:31:16 -0500 From: "Kurt Schweter" <KSchweter at smgfoodlb.com> Subject: Re: conicals and better brewing I switched from 6.5 gallon conicals to 10 gallon cornie kegs for fermenters ----- more brewing = experience = better beer = don't over stress what your fermenting in it's what goes in the fermenter and what temp. it's fermented at that makes the bigger difference of course, that's only my opinion ! lost in Long Beach Ca. soon to be smelling a lot like methanol the cart boys are on the way !!! Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 10:08:44 -0500 From: "Jeff Beinhaur" <beinhaur at email.msn.com> Subject: My Travels begin Thanks to all who have made suggestions of places to stop on our vacation. Todays HBD is the last I'll get to read until I get back from vacation on the 27th. We're definately stopping at C.H. Evans Friday night and planning on lunch on Monday at Vermont Pub and Brewery while passing through Burlington. Who knows where else we'll end up but I'll be sure to report back. Thanks again....... Jeff Beinhaur, Camp Hill, PA Home of the Yellow Breeches Brewery Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 10:05:47 -0500 From: "Jay Wirsig" <Jay.Wirsig at can.dupont.com> Subject: Pelletized hops plugging manifolds Someone posted a question about pelletized hops plugging their boiler's manifold. Below is an inexpensive solution that worked well for me both for hops with seeds and pelletized hops. I use homegrown leaf hops and my slotted ring manifold was getting plugged up with hop seeds. I thought about several designs from false bottoms to Stainless steel braided sheath. I ended up buying a couple of grain bags and fitted them with a draw string at the neck. The grain bags are huge and there is only 1 layer of hops so I'm not too concerned about hop utilization (I haven't noticed any effect but I have not done any serious side by side stuff). The bags have worked very well. I still have my ring manifold so the trub still stays in the middle. I'm tempted to go to a side take off dip tube which would leave an open tube which makes the cleaning easier (with a tube brush). Hope this helps. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 10:21:50 -0500 From: David Harsh <dharsh at fuse.net> Subject: Whitelabs Saison Yeast Data On WhiteLabs Saison yeast- I realize you may be sick of me pulling out my notes from the Spirit of Belgium III, held in Washington D.C. in January 2001, but Chris White provided the following on WLP565: Attenuation: Low-Medium (Low is <70%, Medium is 70-80%) A footnote indicates that warm conditioning is required to obtain medium attenuation. Also, RAISE the TEMP if you really want that spicy saison character. The original poster said he fermented at 70 F - this is not "high" for Belgian yeasts, it is "medium". Dave Harsh Bloatarian Brewing League Cincinnati, OH Arthur-"What's wrong with being drunk?" Ford-"Ask a glass of water." Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 09:21:25 -0600 From: rlabor at lsuhsc.edu (LaBorde, Ronald) Subject: RE: Super V All-Copper CF Chiller >From: Ken & Bennett Johnson <fearless1 at abac.com> > >.... A lot of water, moving slowly past the inner (hot wort >filled) tube, will perform the best. It will also use the least amount of >chill water!..... Hmm, glad you brought this up as I have been told by a refrigeration mechanic that if the fan motor in the condenser unit is replaced by a higher speed motor, that the air moves through the coils too fast and less not more cooling efficiency will occur (we were discussing an outside condenser unit for air conditioning). He said the air moves through so fast, that it cannot absorb the heat as well. I do not understand the physics of this and have always wondered about this. Your statement seems similar, only involving a moving liquid heat transfer. What is the scoop here, anyone to elaborate? Please, Ron La Borde Ronald La Borde - Metairie, Louisiana - rlabor at lsuhsc.edu http://hbd.org/rlaborde Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 11:06:51 -0500 From: "Joseph Marsh" <josephmarsh62 at hotmail.com> Subject: star-san duration Denis Bekaert asks about how long you can keep star san. I don't use it myself so this won't be directly applicable but here is what I do use. Teatwash. I got a gallon of it from a farm supply store that was going out of business. It is almost the same thing as iodophor but cost $6.00 per gallon. I can keep it for a couple weeks as long as it's covered airtight. Always looking for cheaper & better. Joe Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 11:09:55 -0500 From: "Alan Meeker" <ameeker at mail.jhmi.edu> Subject: Primary vs Secondary (picking nits) On differences betw/ primary and secondary fermentations D. Burley wrote: "Chemically there can be a difference also as during this secondary fermentation a different set of sugars and even some dextrins will be getting fermented as the major source of carbohydrate, although they were getting fermented during the primary also. This explains one aspect of the slower fermentation besides the lower concentration of sugars and the flocculation of the yeast." Unless your batch is contaminated with certain wild yeast strains that secrete hydrolytic enzymes /none/ of the dextrins will be metabolized by the brewer's yeast, neither in the primary nor the secondary phase. cerevisiae do not transport in anything much larger than maltotriose. /Maybe/ some of the maltotetraose will get utilized but beyond this limit (4 glucose residues) the longer carbohydrates will be left untouched. The slower fermentation rate is due to nutrient depletion and concomitant flocculation. -Alan Meeker Baltimore, MD Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 11:50:53 -0600 (CST) From: Mark Garthwaite <mgarth at primate.wisc.edu> Subject: Ayinger yeast Marc Sedam asks about obtaining the Ayinger yeast strain. I too have tried to get this strain from Yeast Culture Kit Company. I sent a check in mid December. I'm a pretty patient guy but when my February bank statement shows that the check was cashed in January and it is now March, my patience wears thin. I sent a polite email in early February, one in late February, and one a couple of days ago. No response. I presume Dan to be a nice guy but since he has my money and I have nothing to show for it, I'm airing this on HBD. Sorry if I offend anyone here by doing so. On another note, I appreciate the discussion of Helles recipes since I just brewed one. Has anyone seen the Classic Beer Style Series book on Helles that I believe has just been published? Any reviewers out there who could comment on the book? -Mark Garthwaite Madison, WI Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 13:07:20 -0500 From: "Jones, Steve (I/T)" <stjones at eastman.com> Subject: RE: Pub & Micro Review; Rennerian Coordinates Calculator Jerry (& others): Although I'm mostly a lurker, reading the HBD daily during lunch, I do occasionally post. This is one of those rare times, and for the next week I'll bet I see a jump in the number of hits on my website. Strange coincidence, don't you think ;^) To find breweries, pubs and beer bars to visit when traveling, I use http://www.pubcrawler.com. I first learned of it a few years back right here on the good ol HBD. You can even set up a profile, select specific cities or states, and get regular updates on additions to their database. This isn't a promise, but I might attempt to write a Rennerian Coordinates calculator. Rather than sell it, I think it belongs on the HBD site, which is, of course, the 'cyber'center of the brewing universe. Of course, I will also put it on my website along with the other calculators I've done. Steve Jones Johnson City, TN 5:47:38.9 S, 1:17:37.5 E Rennerian http://users.chartertn.net/franklinbrew Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 13:06:03 -0500 From: "Czerpak, Pete" <Pete.Czerpak at siigroup.com> Subject: pitching pint of yeast, and mashout question, beaverpelt response Steven Parfitt asks about pitching a pint of yeast for a brew. This tends to refer to a pint of yeast including the starter mixture liquid. I tend to not pitch the starter mixture unless I've been lazy and pitch about 1/4" deep of yeast from the bottom of a 1/2 gallon growler. Strong starts in about 6-8 hours are typical. These starters are usually made by the smack pack route with waiting for full inflation, then pitching to a beer bottle with appropriate extract and water, and then pitching this to a 1/2 gallon growler that is maybe 3/4 full of starter solution. Total time is usually a day or 2 to inflate, maybe a day in the bottle, and maybe 2 days in the growler. i usually start them a week or so before brewing since my brew schedule is fairy free with no children.... MASHOUT QUESTION: Quick question for mashout. I batch sparge. mash-in is with about 1.4 to 1.5 qts/lb with mash temp at about 152-154degF. After mashing I drain first runnings and then sparge in one big dump at about 0.4-0.5 qts/lb of 172F water. This doesn't bring my grain bed temp to mash out temp. In fact, maybe to about 160F or so. I let this rest for 15-30 minutes and then drain and combine to boil. Does anyone suggest that I add water at hotter than 172F to bring the temp closer to mashout at 168+F? I was always worried about this due to tannin extraction but haven't tried it with triangle testing or anything else. Any batch spargers want to comment. yes, I purposely cut extraction low for better flavor - about 62% yield (22 pts/lb gallon). Here is my Beaverpelt response. Yes I brew fairly regularly (perhaps "quasi pro" as you say). Lets say over 30 batches (5 gal) a year. I bring kegs to parties, maybe a competition or 3,deliver growlers to friends, send brews as seasonal gifts to old friends, ...... Not to mention I enjoy a pint as well most of the time. I enjoy the tinkering with recipes and find that I'm always looking to try something new as well as make a few old favorites. It is a fairly large quantity and time commitment but is a hobby and not just a means to make beer or save money. I still buy beer when I want to try something new or see what is marketted. Yes, you should answer questions you feel you might have some experience or understanding of. Often times you see a question sit unanswered for days..... feel free to chime in either way. You don't have to be correct or even completely correct. Others will comment as well. Discussion is good and may help you become more knowledgeable and a better brewer with things you thought were right or wrong and are in fact the other way around. As for repitching a slurry, I do and its as much for economic reasons as yeast health and time reasons. I found that repitches start quicker, ferment better, have less offtastes due to long lags than do direct from smack pack pitches. It also enables you to only buy say 8-15 yeasts a year since there are a few that I only use once and a bunch that I reuse and like the taste of in many styles. I tend to reuse 1028 and 1056 quite a bunch - 3 to 4 times and just reused 1968 three times since new years. I tend to keep old slurry in the fridge for up to a month and have no problem repitching. Use at up to 2 weeks with no starter required and perhaps start the ones that are a month old the night before you brew with some extract/water mix. For those of us that buy grain in bulk, if you bought yeast every time, it is practically the largest part of your recipe spending.... Thanks. Pete czerpak albany, NY Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 13:33:01 -0500 From: cmmundt at AircraftBraking.com Subject: Super V All-Copper CF Chiller Hello all, Though I typically stay out of any technical discussion, I felt I needed to comment on the all copper counterflow chiller (heat exchanger). In HBD #3581, Ken Johnson wrote >>Also, this chiller only has 1/16 clearance between the two tubes. Volume is very important to these chillers. More volume of chill water will absorb more heat. You can't solve this dilemma by simply forcing more chill water through faster. Higher velocity will reduce the ability of the chill water to absorb heat. A lot of water, moving slowly past the inner (hot wort filled) tube, will perform the best. It will also use the least amount of chill water!<< Volumetric flow of the cooling liquid is very important in designing a heat exchanger. The more cooling water that is flowing the larger the "cold sink" to take the heat. There are typically two methods that can increase the volume 1) increase the area of contact between the hot liquid and the cooling liquid (i.e. have more than 1/16 clearance) or 2) increasing the flow of the cooling liquid. Heat transfer in a heat exchanger can be calculated using q = U*A* (delta Tm) where q = the heat transferred from the hot liquid to the cold liquid, U = the overall heat transfer coefficient, A = the surface area of contact, and delta Tm = the log mean difference between the inlet and outlet temperatures of the hot and cold liquids. U = 1 / ((1/ hiAi) + ln (Ro/Ri)/(2 pi Kc L) + (1/hoAo)) where h = convective heat transfer coefficient of the liquid to the metal wall, i = inner diameter, o = outer diameter, R = diameter of the inside pipe, Kc = thermal conductivity of copper, and L = length of the inner pipe (length of contact). The convective heat transfer coefficient (h) is directly proportional to the flow of the fluid (if you want I can give that equation). The faster the fluid flows through the pipe the better the heat transfer. As the velocity of the cooling water increases the heat transfer from the hot liquid to the cold liquid increases. However, there are practical limits on the maximum achievable velocity of the system as well as diminishing returns at higher velocities. There is one exception to these design parameters, when both liquids are laminar. Laminar flow of fluids, though possible, is not likely unless under special circumstances. Laminar flow of liquids eliminates the convective heat transfer coefficient and all heat transfer is conductive. Conductive heat transfer is almost always greater than convective heat transfer. The higher the velocity, the better the heat transfer between the liquids and the lower the exit temperature of the cooling liquid. This allows the hot liquid to cool faster and to a lower exit temperature because the cold liquid temperatures do not increase as much as with a slower flowing liquid. Chad Mundt cmmundt at aircraftbraking.com Wadsworth, OH Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 11:22:21 -0800 From: "John Zeller" <jwz_sd at hotmail.com> Subject: The Year Of The CAP Last fall I picked up the September/October issue of Zymurgy magazine at my local homebrew shop. The thought of brewing a true lager had always intrigued me. Jeff Renner's article showcasing the classic American pilsner inspired me to give it a go. I knew from the start that a good pilsner lager would be difficult to create, especially for a novice brewer like myself. With little more than a year of homebrewing experience and only about half of that with all grain, I took the plunge. Jeff's article included a very detailed recipe for "Your Father's Mustache". This classic American pilsner promised an historical re-creation of the beer my grandfather enjoyed at the local taverns in downtown Cincinnati very early in the last century. A beer that the large German immigrant population of Cincinnati savored with as much enthusiasm as the old world beer they remembered so fondly. The recipe seemed straight forward. A fun double mash method using only American six row lager malt, cornmeal, hops, water and a clean lager yeast. Seemed simple enough until I tried to find the right cornmeal. Cornmeal was easy enough to locate, but most were fortified. Fortified with what and how I could not determine. The supposedly "organic" cornmeal I could find was not degermed. Jeff warned that this could cause problems. At last I located degermed unfortified cornmeal at an upscale market. No problem at all gathering the rest of the ingredients. Brew day arrived and the mashing proceeded like clockwork. No glitches at all. The O.G. matched the recipe prediction precisely. I was a little surprised that my efficiency was that good. This lager was beginning to look promising, but I was very aware that it would be months before I could know for certain. Following Jeff's fermenting and lagering schedule to the letter, I took her down to 32 F. for the long cold sleep. Bottling day finally arrived. I sampled this beautiful, clear golden nectar with eyes wide. With the first sip I knew my efforts had paid off. This was certain to be one of my best beers to date. After a few weeks of conditioning I began proudly sharing this wonderful lager with my close friends. The stock began to diminish at a very rapid pace. I reserved a few bottles to see if they would improve even more with some aging. I got wind of an upcoming local home brewing competition here in San Diego. I had never entertained thoughts of competition before. I did have these few bottles of my precious lager remaining. I entered my CAP knowing that it was definitely very good beer. I really wanted to know what the experienced competition judges would think of it. The official results were in. You could have knocked me over with a feather. My CAP won the first place award in the American Lager style category! Shocked to say the least, but there was even more amazement to come. This lager scored a 43.5 of a possible 50 points for the highest score out of all 327 entries! Not too bad for a small town boy with little brewing experience. So, if you have been hesitant about entering a competition in the past, let my experience help you overcome any reservations. Give it a try. You may find yourself as surprised as I was. Many thanks to Jeff Renner for providing the recipe and the inspiration to create a great Classic American Pilsner. John Zeller San Diego, CA Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 15:12:17 -0500 From: stencil <stencil at bcn.net> Subject: Re: cheap SS boil pots On Tue, 13 Mar 2001 00:10:59 -0500, "Czerpak, Pete" <Pete.Czerpak at siigroup.com> wrote in Homebrew Digest #3579: >http://www.stratfordimports.com/f_outdoor.html > >SS boil pots...... > >> >No comments on the quality of these boil pots but the price seems right. I >may order one just to try it out. > Lots of other good stuff, including cast iron and aluminum, and $8.00 thermometers. As Pete indicated, it's worth it just to experiment: I bought a 32-qt tall aluminum turkey cooker to try as a mashtun, for $30.00. They're in Macon, GA and charge percent-of-price shipping, so the Southrons will subsidize the Yankees and webfeet. Thanks, Pete. stencil sends RKBA! Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 16:22:27 -0500 From: "Andrew Moore" <abmjunk at hotmail.com> Subject: GFI Receptacles and Brewing Beer in Basements In response to Bob Sutton's Fridge woes: As a licensed architect, I feel compelled to toss in my two cents worth in the name of promoting public safety and welfare. Why is this pertinent to a homebrew discussion? Because many of you (like me) brew in basements where GFI outlets are required by code and some of you (unlike me) utilize electrical appliances in the brewing process. The combination of standing on wet floors (common when brewing, yes?) and touching electrical applicance is where GFI protected cicuits come into their own. Previous messages have addressed the technical troubleshooting aspect of the problem. It should be noted, however, that a GFI outlet provides a redundant safety mechanism to a properly grounded electrical circuit (and, incidentally, the only safety mechanism for a non-grounded circuit). As mentioned before, the GFI senses a difference between the hot and neutral legs of a circuit and "interrupts" the circuit very quickly. Assuming a cicuit without a GFI is properly grounded, a ground "leak" is usually safely conducted by the ground wire back to the panel and to the house ground. All three-prong appliances have the metal case wired directly to the ground to account for the possibility that a bare live wire comes in contact with the case. Without a GFI, a person would receive a mild but probably non-lethal shock. However, if the person had wet hands (brewing?) and was standing in a puddle (brewing?) the shock could be substantial. This is where the GFI comes in (and why it is required in basements, where dampness is common). In summary, the GFI provides an important function and if the possibility of dampness exists, then the objective should be to restore the refrigerator to its prior condition, i.e. plugged into a GFI outlet, by either replacing the GFI (if malfunctioning) or replacing the refrigerator (if there is ground fault). Here's to safe brewing, Andrew Moore Richmond, Virginia Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2001 14:51:52 +0800 From: "Paul Campbell" <p.r.campbell at tesco.net> Subject: Secondary Fermentation Back in HBD#3581 Dave (good to have you back btw) quite rightly picks me up on my sloppy terminology when I tried to talk about the use of multiple fermenters (i.e. a primary and a secondary) but used the word fermentation instead; although it's good to know I can be as sloppy as the brewing texts. I must be in good company ;-) I think what I was trying to say was, that the racking of the beer into a new "container" did not magically cause a new process to commence, hence there is no chemical reason to do it. It does have advantages however in some circumstances. Better? In this vein, can anyone come up with other proven/observed advantages to racking to a secondary i.e. other than avoiding rubber beer/other flavour impact from the yeast and trub lurking at the bottom? I'm pretty well talking about ales here, of course lagerers (sp?) have their own reasons... I think it may yield some interesting info for all levels of brewer. Paul. Glen Esk, Scotland. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 16:46:24 -0600 From: "Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies" <orders at paddockwood.com> Subject: Hops: How, What and Why Daniel from Nova Scotia asks about how and when to use different types of hops. We have a Guide to Hop Varieties at http://www.paddockwood.com/guide_hop_varieties.html and a Guide to Hop Usage at http://www.paddockwood.com/guide_hop_usage.html that may be of some use. cheers, Stephen Ross -- "Vitae sine cerevisiae sugant." Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies, Saskatoon, SK orders at paddockwood.com www.paddockwood.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 16:47:07 -0600 From: "Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies" <orders at paddockwood.com> Subject: StarSan Denis asks about the shelf life of mixed Star San solution. It's not affected by heat, light or exposure to air, so it should last indefinitely. We recommend making the solution with a neutral water like reverse osmosis or distilled. As long as the pH is below 3 it should be effective. A rough guide is the clarity: if the solution is not cloudy it is still effective. cheers, Stephen Ross -- "Vitae sine cerevisiae sugant." Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies, Saskatoon, SK orders at paddockwood.com www.paddockwood.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 18:10:18 -0500 From: "Angie and Reif Hammond" <arhammond at mediaone.net> Subject: Re: Shopping for a Refractometer I picked up a AO Refractometer #10430 on e-bay last summer for $50 plus shipping. I am really satisfied with it. 2 drops of wort to check gravity during runoff! Reif Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2001 20:01:57 -0600 From: "elvira toews" <etoews1 at home.com> Subject: next question Daniel: (Canada-specific answer) As far as canned kits go, the Glenbrew and a couple of the ones made in Belgium seem a touch better. I found that more than a 5-10 minute boil makes them really bitter. For truly decent beer, Wort Works (NAJASCYY) from Vancouver are pretty close to what I make myself, if you spend even more money and buy a smack pack of liquid yeast. They aren't so expensive if you compare the price to buying two kits per batch to avoid the corn sugar. Someone posted a comment about avoiding bag-in-box kits. Well, I wouldn't avoid Wort Works, at least based on the last time I used one. Sean Richens srichens at sprint.ca Return to table of contents
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