HOMEBREW Digest #3934 Tue 07 May 2002


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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  RE: Effect of sunlight on boiling wort ("Parker Dutro")
  re: HSA and Bud ("Steve Alexander")
  Re: Space Beer ("Steve Alexander")
  Bud's bad bubbles ("Bruce Garner")
  Re;  HSA and Bud ("Bill Frazier")
  RE: Competition Survey (Don Lake)
  HSA ("Dave Burley")
  Cold Sparging ("Dave Burley")
  Re: was HSA ("Larry Bristol")
  Final Reminder BUZZ OFF HB Competition ("Houseman, David L")
  RE:  homebrew competitions (Bill Tobler)
  Cold Sparging By Doc Pivo ("Phil Yates")
  Frustrated All Grain Newbie ("doug klon")
  Two-Hearted ("Philip J Wilcox")
  Re: Min Brewery Size ("the Ludwigs")
  Reminder: 2002 Bay Area Brew Off ("Bryan L. Gros")

* * 10th annual Spirit of Free Beer entry deadline is 5/11/02 * Details at http://www.burp.org/events/sofb/2002/ * * 2002 Bay Area Brew Off entry deadline is 5/20/2002 * Details: http://www.draughtboard.org/babopage.htm * * Show your HBD pride! Wear an HBD Badge! * http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/shopping * * Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! * Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!! To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE send an e-mail message with the word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" to request@hbd.org FROM THE E-MAIL ACCOUNT YOU WISH TO HAVE SUBSCRIBED OR UNSUBSCRIBED!!!** IF YOU HAVE SPAM-PROOFED your e-mail address, you cannot subscribe to the digest as we cannot reach you. We will not correct your address for the automation - that's your job. The HBD is a copyrighted document. The compilation is copyright HBD.ORG. Individual postings are copyright by their authors. ASK before reproducing and you'll rarely have trouble. Digest content cannot be reproduced by any means for sale or profit. More information is available by sending the word "info" to req at hbd.org. JANITOR on duty: Pat Babcock and Karl Lutzen (janitor@hbd.org)
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 5 May 2002 22:13:57 -0700 From: "Parker Dutro" <ezekiel128 at edwardwadsworth.com> Subject: RE: Effect of sunlight on boiling wort Brian Writes: >I set up my equipment for a dry run, and noticed sunlight striking the portion of my backyard I'll be brewing at. (snip) >I know that sunlight will skunk bottled beer. I have a feeling that it will skunk wort as well, but I don't know that for a fact. Sunlight will skunk wort because the exposed yeast cells are damaged by UV rays. Your boiling wort, however, will be just fine. I try to keep "thtings" from sailing into my kettle when I brew outside, though. Especially near the end of the boil. I pop the lid on about ten minutes before the end. Sounds like you've got yourself I jive little backyard kitchen. FUN! Keep brewing. Parker Dutro Portland, Oregon Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 6 May 2002 03:39:29 -0400 From: "Steve Alexander" <steve-alexander at worldnet.att.net> Subject: re: HSA and Bud Peter Garofalo reminds ... >practice of Anheuser-Busch of passing a stream of air through their hot >wort. >[...] >My guess as to how they get away with this little trick is this: the stream >of hot wort moves from the air column directly to a counterflow chiller. >While the oxidation reactions may be rapid, they are not instantaneous. >[....] Also the temp must drop pretty fast in the column, reducing the reaction rate ... but at the same time the availability of O2 is increased across the huge surface area. so .... it's not entirely convincing. Bud also has some unusual staling properties - the stuff is reportedly immortal on the store shelf, but when I've gotten spritzed from an incompetently opened can the stale aroma is extreme in a matter of hours(cardbard and other aldehydes). Overnight residues seem to obtain a very stale aroma too. I'm not sure what explains this but it's unlike most other beers. ======= Pivo says .... >Hey, WAIT JUST ONE MINUTE. We ALL know that we have to reach a >temperature [...] >Could it turn out that this is just a bunch of hooey? [...] >P.S. I can feel the great inertia of HBD staring to crank up that big >wheel of old, familiar, and worn out topics, and >.... so I thought I would submit >some "new" topics [...] It seems Pivo slept through the no-mashout cold sparge topics in their last go-round 'bout a year back ? It's been covered before. Specific mashout temps and high lauter temps are not required for decent extraction. > They do get just so "cheesed" when my observations seem to >state that they are spouting irrelevance It's not the observations Doc, it's the Pivo creed ... the old argument from innuendo and ad hominem that if a big brewery does then it's bad bad horribly bad, and if you read a research paper from a commercial source then your beer is ruined. A word on Pivo's earlier post .... I'm sure that the Czech beers that were once made with open air cooling were indeed quite good for a couple months if treated carefully. Many English ales have had similar treatment and have been local favorites for many decades. Unfortunately by the time they got shipped they are abysmally stale aldehydic messes. Had a Staropramen once that was not even clearly recognizable as beer and several other Czech beers that made their way down the sewer. Some English beers - whew - all sorts of stale and infections to boot. Tho' this has improved a lot in recent years it's hardly a thing of the past. If your idea of beer is something that is only made and drunk locally and quickly (and there is much to recommend this) - then by all means, oxidize it too to prevent storage&shipping. But don't bother to tell me about it if it can only be tasted properly while swimming upstream in a Moravian stream on the ides of March - it's just not relevant at that point. One town wonder beers might make an amusing anecdote, but what's the point ? Schneider & Ayinger & Spaten products travel well and don't suffer any lack flavor. If Czech beers are now trending toward blandness maybe it's not their newfound lack of oxidation but something else. ===== I seeded 2700sf of barley yesterday & today - whew - hot work - hope the crows don't get it all. Just read that modern barley developed in Tibet. If you wish to toast Tibet best hurry - before those crumbs who make your tennis shoes complete it's obliteration. -S Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 6 May 2002 04:11:35 -0400 From: "Steve Alexander" <steve-alexander at worldnet.att.net> Subject: Re: Space Beer Pivo wrote .... > P.S. I can feel the great inertia of HBD staring to crank up that big > wheel of old, familiar, and worn out topics, and a new generation of > submitters who may just encourage the vanguard to start shouting: "HSA! > Pitching rates! No trub! Oxygenate! Geometry! Clinitest! > BOTULIIIIIIIIIIIISM!" all over again..... Very prescient Doc, but you forgot to mention (hence ward off) the old 'beer in space' thread. Partner(Byron) writes ... > To the collective: > > Needless to say, i am making a proposal for a future science study in the > weightlessness of space. It's all in the archives Byron, you'll find it under 'beer in space' right next to 'NOKOMAREE'. Seriously - how to boil, collect, ferment in space was all discussed. As totally worthless topics go, beer in space is at least better than pepper and pumpkin beers - but not by much. >What is interesting to > me is yeast acclamation. For 10,000 years, it;'s been done with gravity, > time to adjust for the next 500 years. Yeast deserve a great deal of acclaim - with gravity or levity. -S Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 6 May 2002 07:17:48 -0500 From: "Bruce Garner" <bpgarner at mailbag.com> Subject: Bud's bad bubbles Dr. Pivo writes: Now, let's look at that in light of the fact that they PURPOSELY bubble air through the column of hot wort! Me: It may be a distinction without a difference but what AB does is to introduce the hot wort into an array of vertical tubes (like a steam locomotive boiler turned on end) in such away that the wort clings to the inside of the tubes as it spirals down. This is the way a vertical sewer pipe quietly carries gray water. As the wort spirals down the inside of the tubes hot air blasts up the center and carries away the DMS. The whole things is over in a moment. Bruce Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 3 May 2002 04:18:17 -0500 From: "Bill Frazier" <billfrazier at worldnet.att.net> Subject: Re; HSA and Bud Peter Garofalo<pgarofa1 at twcny.rr.com>wrote "Anheuser-Busch of pass(es) a stream of air through their hot wort. I actually saw this taking place on a tour of the pilot brewery in St. Louis at the MCAB a few years ago. My guess as to how they get away with this little trick is this: the stream of hot wort moves from the air column directly to a counterflow chiller." Peter...Does A-B take steps to remove cold break after wort leaves the counterflow chiller and prior to pitching yeast? Bill Frazier Olathe, Kansas Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 06 May 2002 10:28:42 -0400 From: Don Lake <dlake at amuni.com> Subject: RE: Competition Survey Marty Nachel asked: Why do you compete? I mainly do it for the glory, somewhat for the feedback. Oh yeah, and also for the groupies In general, are you satisfied with judges' scores and feedback? Overall I am satisfied. I hate those judges who can't express themselves in the English language. I once received an two-word response on a section of a score sheet that said, "needs malt." This neanderthal was no help to me. I'm not complaining about the score - it seemed to be accurate and consistent. For Christ's sake, some of these judges should enroll in a composition class at his local community college. In general beer judges should take a lesson from the wine people and work on being more expressive with the written word. How much is too much in entry fees? I hate writing a check for the entry fees as much as anyone. But compared to other hobbies, homebrewing is damn cheap (ie boating, golf etc). My biggest gripe with homebrew competitions is how long most of them take to send back your scoresheets. I just received some back the other day from a major competition that was held 5 weeks ago....five weeks! I won't mention the name but it rhymes with "Glue Sonnet". Unfortunately that seems to be the rule more than the exception. There is no excuse for hanging on the the score sheets for that long. We need a new standard here. Don Lake Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 6 May 2002 11:07:39 -0400 From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley at charter.net> Subject: HSA Brewsters: Well it's good to see not too much has changed that I can't follow the conversations. I have been scanning HBD sorta regularly but not always had the energy to jump in. As some of you know I bin sick and not too energetic, but getting better. We finally understand the origin of the fevers ( sometimes as high as 104.8F) and some of the other strange things going on in this body. Turns out the Arthritis medicine Enbrel in combination with Gold I was given for my Rheumatoid Arthritis gave me an even worse disease by screwing up my white blood cell and neutrophil production ( goes to zero two out of three weeks). Called Cyclic Neutropenia. I'm going to WA, Seattle where the world expert resides to see if we can fix this without screwing up anything else. If you have Rheumatoid Arthritis or know someone who does check out the fact that both Enbrel and Remicade ( two new blockbuster drugs) can cause severe infections ( I almost kicked the bucket last Summer) and Tuberculosis and have resulted in deaths. Vote is still out on cancer ( as these drugs attack the Tumor Necrosis Factor in the white cell). Ask your doctor. No one told me. Anyway, enough about me and warning you. Here is a rehash of a subject I have often commented on, ( and someone even remembered it!) but there may be a new reader or two. HSA - I agree a dumb term - maybe MBO or whatever is better but the fact that oxygen incorporation into beer/mash/wort is bad, especially while it is hot, and should be avoided. I still get chills about incorporation of oxygen into cold wort in the absence of yeast ( and wonder about its efficacy) , but that is a different subject. I discovered the bad effect of hot oxidation many years ago ( early 70s) and it represented the most major positive change in my ability to produce good beer of any single event in my home brewing career. In homebrewing, the surface to volume ratio is MUCH higher than in professional brewing. This provides a much better chance of oxidation, so we must be careful in different places in the process than they are. But even the professionals - esp brew pubs and microbreweries - are appreciating the fact that better beer is available to the careful brewer who avoids hot oxidation. Remember in those early 70s not much was around on homebrewing literature, so I used my knowledge of cooking and winemaking and my taster to detect a problem with all of my beers. I found out that I should avoid pouring hot wort through the air to filter out the hops ( as I had been doing) and I added metabisulfite as a result of my winemaking experience to knock out the oxidized taste I had detected in my beer. The results were remarkable and probably why I am still brewing after all these years. My beer became really good with no off tastes and a lighter color. The next step - going all grain on my own - was the finishing touch, but not nearly as important as avoiding hot oxidation.. Adding metabisulfite to beer is not new and the Brits even have a law of many decades ( maybe 6 or 7 decades) against adding it to beer. The pH of beer is not the same as wine and little of the free sulfite ( anti-oxidant ) is available above pH = 3.3. Sulfites will complex with carboxyl groups which occur in aldehydes and ketones ( generated as a result of oxidation due to sloppy handling) and may explain the effect of improved flavor in those beers which have been hot oxidised. I stopped adding meta some decades ago when I discovered that there was really no need if I took some simple precautions in handling the mash and hot wort. I always move the mash to the lauter tun with a large pot/scoop and avoid splashing, I always move the hot wort out of the boiler with a siphon directly through my chiller. Whenever I have to move wort out of the lauter tun to the boiler, I use a hose and submerge the exit point under the existing wort. And as pointed out the other day by another contributor, I always boil with the boiler partially covered ( maybe 6/7ths covered) using the steam generated by the boil as a steam jet to prevent oxygen from entering the boiler. As a another contributor pointed out it is a good idea to insulate the lid ( I use a towel) to speed up the boiloff and more importantly generate the rolling boil which is needed for efficient hop extraction. Put the lid on after the first boilup and protein precipitation is finished or you will have a mess. I usually have the lid on at the beginning of the heatup, move the lid off during the first boilup and then replace it. BUT you gotta be careful if you do it this way. There are always lots of nay-saying comments about oxygen solubility and such at the higher temperatures of the boil but it has little relevance as any oxygen quickly gets reacted at the wort surface in the boiler. To explain this, I use an analogy which means something to cooks. The next time you make spaghetti sauce cook it with the lid off and look to see where the darkening is. Always at the upper surface. This is due to oxidation. Same thing happens in your boiler to darken your wort and oxidize componentsproducing off tastes, but the low viscosity of the wort doesn't let you observe where the reaction takes place, especially at a rolling boil. As far as DMS and that creamed corn taste goes, boiling with the lid on or off doesn't make any difference as DMS boils at a temperature which is much lower than water's boiling point. What doesn't evaporate, you basically steam distill it off. Insulating the lid helps. Leaving the lid on after the boil and not cooling quickly will cause DMS to build up.Ala those of you who cool in a sink of cold water. If DMS is your problem, set up a chiller to chill 5 gallons in less than ten minutes and your DMS problems will go away. As much as I would love to, I can't promise I will be a regular until I get this other stuff straightened out and I get my vineyard sorted out for the summer and last years' wine bottled. Fermentation is a great hobby or is it a way of life?! Keep on Brewin' Dave Burley Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 6 May 2002 11:14:35 -0400 From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley at charter.net> Subject: Cold Sparging Brewsters: Dr. Pivo's observation that it's OK to use cold sparging water towards the At the beginning of the sparge, when the sugar content of the wort is high, having a high temperature is most likely necessary for perhaps sugar and dextrin solubility reasons ( as is often commented) but more likely for viscosity reasons. The viscosity of the wort in the grain particle controls the diffusion of the wort out of the grain particle. The lower the temperature, the slower the diffusion and presumably the less efficient the extraction. ( and perhaps the origin for the idea that solubility was the problem) Stuck sparges also occur at low sparge temperatures as water soluble proteins and various higher MW carbohydrates exhibit a strong inverse viscosity temperature dependence - as those who have made rye beers know. Once these water soluble higher molecular weight substances have been removed by a higher temperature sparge at the beginning, a lower temperature sparge water is satisfactory, if desirable for other reasons, as the concentration of the sugar is not likely to exceed its solubility. The heat input saved by such a profile will have to be input at the boiler rather than the sparge, so I don't see much of an advantage unless equipment limitations ( like available BTUs at the sparge tank), enter into the picture. I understand those bad equipment days or weeks Pivo had . This year it was my sprayer, which after much ado about non-siphoning and ordering parts and waiting and repairing, dragging it behind my John Deere I promptly rolled it over in the vineyard. Luckily more parts were available locally and repair was easy and it works fine now. Now, as of last night, my newish power washer leaks gasoline out the air cleaner. Worked fine last year. Figure that out. I have an idea, but as yet unsubstantiated. I guess we could go back to low tech but what fun is that? Keep on Brewin' Dave Burley Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 06 May 2002 10:16:37 -0500 From: "Larry Bristol" <Larry at DoubleLuck.com> Subject: Re: was HSA On Mon, 6 May 2002 00:18:52 -0400, "Steve Alexander" <steve-alexander at worldnet.att.net> wrote: >I did not mean to offend Alistair X or Larry Bristol OK. Let's move forward from here. >we are discussing matters of fact, not opinion . Actually, Steve, I think we have been discussing both. Yes, MBO is a fact. It exists. While it is impossible to completely prevent all oxidation, there are things a homebrewer can do to reduce it. I have no doubt that the flavor changes you have described occur over time, and that they are the direct result of MBO. [In case anyone missed it, I retracted my earlier comment that I was unaware of any relationship between MBO and staling, and I emphatically repeat that retraction now.] Naturally, the length of time before those changes manifest themselves will vary from one batch to the next. Matters having to do with taste, however, are opinion. Sure, we can measure scientifically the amounts of certain compounds that contribute certain flavors. And we can talk about their "flavor thresholds". But a flavor threshold is by necessity some sort of "average", because that threshold will be different from individual to individual. And while some flavors might universally be considered to be "good" or "bad", we are seldom confronted with such absolutes in our beer. Certain flavors (diacetyl jumps to mind) might be considered "bad" in one context yet "good" in another. "More" of a given flavor might be appropriate, but somewhere along the way, it becomes "too much". Taste is subjective, and (I hope you agree) has little to do with fact. Beer judges, of course, are not immune to this subjectivity. They must judge the beers placed in front of them relative both to the other entries and also to some accepted standard, which in some cases, does not even exist in the real world. That they can make any sense out of this at all is a tribute to their patience and perseverance. Having myself made the attempt to judge beers (a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away) before the BJCP existed makes me realize that I would rather be an umpire at a Little League baseball game! [And THAT says quite a MOUTHFUL!] I certainly agree with you that the beer judges' failure to note oxidation does not in any way prove or even imply that it is not present. >> Second, when one of the many people tells you that their beer does not >> show signs of oxidation <...snip...> >In matters of fact the opinion polls of "many people" don't count at all I most certainly agree! But as I explained above, I do not think that matters of taste are matters of fact. My comment was not to imply that someone might have found the magic bullet to avoid all oxidation, but rather that due to the multitude of uncontrolled variables in homebrewing, signs of oxidation will exist at vastly different levels, and may, perhaps, be well below the flavor threshold of the brewer for the entire life of the beer. There is nothing wrong with this. >Accelerated aging, ... Steve, I know that this is a technique used for test purposes. But every time I have seen a side-by-side data comparing accelerated aging versus natural aging, such as in the reference we have been discussing so much of late, there are marked differences between them. It really makes me question its validity, but I suppose that is beside the point. My point is that I do not make my beer for test purposes, so I am not willing to subject it to such a technique. I will allow it to age at the same rate I do (heaven knows that is fast enough), and if it shows signs of staling before it is fully consumed, then I can throw the rest out. [In reality, I would probably accelerate its rate of consumption at the first hint that its days are numbered. Problem solved! <smile>] >triangle test ... I have seen this term used a few times, and I have to confess that I am ignorant of its meaning. Perhaps someone will explain it to me. Private email is OK unless one thinks it would benefit others. You know what the bottom line is, Steve? In many ways, we have been saying the same thing. Of course, they are said from a different perspective and with different words. That is what makes such discussions like this so healthy, interesting, and even entertaining! Larry Bristol Bellville, TX AR=[1093.6,223.2] http://www.doubleluck.com Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 6 May 2002 16:08:10 -0400 From: "Houseman, David L" <David.Houseman at unisys.com> Subject: Final Reminder BUZZ OFF HB Competition > Final notice of 2002 Buzz Off Homebrew Competition > You should have your entries just about ready to mail or drop off for this year's Buzz Off will be held on Saturday, June 1st at Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant in West Chester, PA. Entries will be accepted from May 13th through May 29th at regional homebrew stores and at Victory Brewing Company in Downingtown, PA. Mail-in entries must go to Victory and be received no later than Wednesday May 29th. The Buzz Off is once again an MCAB Qualifying Event for the 2003 MCAB. For those of you did attend the MCAB this year in Cleveland, you are aware of the wonderful beers that were well represented there, a number of the winners coming from last year's Buzz Off. Judges please contact us to reserve your position at the judging tables. Further details and forms can be found at the Buzz web site at http://hbd.org/buzz/. > David Houseman > Competition Organizer > housemanfam at earthlink.net Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 06 May 2002 15:46:11 -0500 From: Bill Tobler <wctobler at sbcglobal.net> Subject: RE: homebrew competitions Marty I've been brewing for about 4 years, and just wanted to know how I was doing compared with my brewing peers. I've only entered one contest. I entered 3 beers and a mead, and got really mixed results. A wee heavy got 42 pts across the board, and didn't place. A good beer, but not as good as at least 3 others. That's ok. I had a mead that scored 35-40 pts with all judges except one, who said it was undrinkable, and scored a 20 or something. One had an infection and the other just did ok, mid 30's. I did not try to brew any of these beers to style, and did ok. I think I will just try to brew beer that I like, not worry about style and competitions, and have fun. At least I know my beers are in the slot of decent beer. I belong to a homebrew club, and we have a beer of the month contest, and if I happen to brew that style, I enter it. Everyone in my club brews good beer, and very few enter contests, except the local ones. The brewers who are judges, tend to enter more beers than the others. I may enter my local contest once in a while, but only if I happen to have a good beer on hand when the time comes. Bill Tobler Lake Jackson, TX (1129.7, 219.9) Apparent Rennerian Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 7 May 2002 07:00:07 +1000 From: "Phil Yates" <yates at acenet.com.au> Subject: Cold Sparging By Doc Pivo Now here is a subject I am interested in. I have long suspected that hot sparging really wasn't terribly important. Though I must admit that even my unscientific approach to matters kept me thinking that hot water would better dissolve sugars during the lauter process. I have had some interesting experiences "failing" to abide by the accepted norm in brewing practices. Most of these occurred through accident. Some years back, when I used an electric heated kettle, a failure in the electric supply caused a dramatic drop in voltage to our house. I was right in the middle of a brew day and the very best I could achieve from my kettle was a pathetic insipid simmer. I thought my beer would be ruined because I could not achieve a good rolling boil. In fact I could not achieve a boil at all! I was stunned to find the resulting beer was just as bitter as the previous identical one I had brewed. This went against everything I had come to believe was gospel in brewing. But I question any energy saving achieved by cold sparging. I sparge hot mainly to get hot wort into the kettle and well on its way to being boiled. Cold sparging for me would simply mean a longer heating process in my kettle. But I like where the Doc is coming from. When I look at some recent posts and all this concern about HSA (God help us, are we now going to spray CO2 over our mash tun and boil with a float on top?!!), I realise that some poor souls just haven't learnt much about brewing at all. My comments about filling the brew house with CO2 were of course facetious, but it seems some folk in here are well on the way to trying it. Just a tip here, you will need to boil with an electric element. If you are going to be that paranoid about brewing then I can only imagine the best you can hope to brew is paranoid beer, and I can only imagine that it must taste bloody awful! Your own attitude is reflected in the beer you make, Charlie Papazian touched on this all those years ago. But sadly, some brewers have lost touch completely. I don't at all discount the scientific knowledge gained in the search for better brewing. But some just haven't got a clue how to use this knowledge! Nor much of a clue about how to pass it on. Nor even to suggest that it may be totally theoretical! I don't want to be thought of as getting into bed with Doc Pivo (I've seen him in the flesh - well, with clothes on - and I'd sooner be in the bog with Marilyn any day) but at least he comes at things from a different angle. This can be a refreshing change because the HBD seems heavily weighted against such different angles. Or perhaps that is just my perception. Cheers Phil Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 06 May 2002 15:40:35 -0700 From: "doug klon" <klonyklon at hotmail.com> Subject: Frustrated All Grain Newbie Hi All - I have been brewing partial mash for a few years now, and recently decided to go whole hog. I mash & sparge in a Rubbermaid cooler with a false bottom and boil in a 9 gallon SS pot on a Camp Chef. I primarily use recipes from books like "Clonebrews" and the like. My problem is extremely low efficiency. Last weekend I made a Mirror Pond clone with an expected OG of 1044, and I ended up closer to 1034 or so. This has happened each time I have tried an all grain beer. What gives? I am mashing at the correct temperatures and with correct grain amounts and water volumes (1.33 qts/lb, right?). I check for conversion with iodine and sparge till the runoff is clear. How can I begin troubleshooting? Thanks, Doug Klon Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 6 May 2002 19:08:33 -0400 From: "Philip J Wilcox" <pjwilcox at cmsenergy.com> Subject: Two-Hearted Its almost summer, and while some thirst for Lawnmower Lager, I alway yearn for HOPS!!!!! Paging Kevin Kutskill!!!! How go the Clone wars?? Have you mastered the big two hearted? If so please let me know. Phil Wilcox Warden - Prison City Brewers ps. Did anyone else brewing Maibock this weekend get the funny feeling George Fix was laughing at them as they went through that torturous six stem mash program??? ...just kidding George!!! Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 6 May 2002 21:51:38 -0700 From: "the Ludwigs" <mwludwig at tqci.net> Subject: Re: Min Brewery Size Ted Major asks: >For those of you lucky enough to have a dedicated brewery, >how big is it? How big should it be? What is the smallest >usable brewery? I'm finishing off my basement and have a room set aside for the Flat Iron Brewery. The "room" doubles as a utility room with the heater, hot water tank, well tank, sump pump, etc. I'd say I have roughly a dedicated 8 ft X 9 ft area (doesn't include the utility room stuff). I'm going all-electric so there's a 220 volt / 30 amp receptacle, plumbing for a big double wash basin, a vent fan (not picked out or installed yet), extra 120 volt receptacles. Although I tiled the rest of the basement, I think I'm going with some sort of industrial paint finish on the concrete floor. Seems like that would be more sanitary and easier to clean than grouted tiles. Unfortunately, there is no floor drain so I'll have to be careful#:o. The brewery will open into the yet-to-be-built bar (for convenience). For those familiar with the SHMS (soft heat mash system), I'm going to try out the system with the hot water mash heating coil replaced by an electric heating element. Still with the same 5 gallon Gott cooler and Power Wheels gear motor powered mash mixer (what can I say? works great!). Maybe by 7/4, I'll have the basement complete and start doing some mash experimentation! Cheers! Dave Ludwig Flat Iron Brewery Southern MD - --- [This E-mail was scanned for viruses at tqci.net] Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 06 May 2002 19:58:16 -0700 From: "Bryan L. Gros" <bgros at aggienetwork.com> Subject: Reminder: 2002 Bay Area Brew Off Announcing the 15th annual National Bay Area Brew Off homebrew competition. This year held in conjunction with the Alameda County Fair. AHA Sanctioned. Judges and stewards needed. Details at http://www.draughtboard.org/babopage.htm Note that since we're working with the county fair, the entry process is a little different. * Entry fees and forms are due by May 20. * Actual bottles of beer are due by June 14th. Most AHA styles accepted. Entry fee $5/entry Open to ALL homebrewers in the US, Canada and beyond. Cash prizes and more. Judges and stewards can sign up on the web page as well. Hope to see you there. - Bryan Bryan Gros babo at draughtboard.org Oakland, CA Draught Board Homebrew Club http://www.draughtboard.org Return to table of contents
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