HOMEBREW Digest #3966 Tue 18 June 2002


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Contents:
  San Diego brewpubs. (Marc Donnelly)
  Free Kegging Equipment & Fridge ("Thomas Barnett")
  sparge water (Marc Sedam)
  Re: Spoiled Results - Argh! (Jeff Renner)
  Re: Spoiled Results - Argh! (Demonick)
  Re:propane tank xchg ("Goll, Christopher M [SFAE-GCS-CR]")
  Re: mash tun design/propane thanks (Martin_Brungard)
  Alt Bier ("Partner")
  Malted Oat Stout (Darrell_Leavitt/SUNY)
  Re: Spoiled Results - Argh! ("Chad Gould")

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 00:02:30 -0500 From: Marc Donnelly <marc at targetadv.com> Subject: San Diego brewpubs. I'm going to be in San Diego for a week and would like some recommendations of brew pubs in the downtown area (no car - mass transit and foot). thanks - -- Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 07:19:27 -0400 From: "Thomas Barnett" <tbarnet at us.ibm.com> Subject: Free Kegging Equipment & Fridge All, I have recently relocated and have decided to leave behind some kegging equipment. I have 5 Pepsi kegs, two 5 lb. CO2 tanks and a refrigerator with 2 taps attached. All in good condition. The catch is you'll have to pick them up in Auburn, Alabama this weekend, either Saturday 6/22/02 or Sunday 6/23/02. Those interested should send me email at barnets at eng.auburn.edu. Thanks, Tom Barnett Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 07:53:52 -0400 From: Marc Sedam <marc_sedam at unc.edu> Subject: sparge water Martin asks about adjusting sparge water, and is it required... For a few years, I was pretty anal about checking pH and adjusting the mineral content of my waters to match the style of whatever I was brewing. I used two separate methods, both of which will work but one of which is far easier: 1) Measure out all required water and make the mineral adjustment to all brewing liquor. Requires a very large container, but adding mineral salts and acid to adjust the pH is easier in a larger volume of water. Problem is that adding carbonates is tough--AJ suggests bubbling CO2 through the treated water to get them to dissolve. 2) Add all mineral salts to the mash. This is much easier, quicker, and solves the problem of some mineral salts not dissolving in water. The low pH of the mash will help here. Use untreated sparge water and most/all of the salts will come through into the kettle. Your call. I still add a few tablespoons of gypsum to my IPAs. Cheers! Marc - -- Marc Sedam Chapel Hill, NC Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 09:28:02 -0400 From: Jeff Renner <JeffRenner at comcast.net> Subject: Re: Spoiled Results - Argh! "Greg Smith" <barnbrew at ix.netcom.com> of "BarnBrew Brewing Co." has a problem with infected beers. Hope you aren't brewing in the barn. That would be a considerable challenge to keep clean. I assume that off flavors are indeed of a biological origin, but you might want to have someone else taste it for confirmation. I think we are orten blind to the precise problems in our own beers. I've know brewers who have the opposite problem you are describing - their beer was bad (infected or badly oxidized) and they didn't know it. Several hints in your post: >my last two fermentations started rather slowly ... I used a brand new yeast >(Wyeast pitchable tube) ... 10-gallon batch A pitchable tube is underpitching for ten gallons, which would lead to a slow start, but if sanitation is good enough, it shouldn't be a problem. However, it would appear that you do have some piece of equipment or some process that is introducing contamination into your wort. Are there any crevices or hard to reach spots in your equipment that might not be clean? Corney poppets were the culprit for one of our club members. I would be suspicious of your oxygenation system. Is it a sterile filter? You call it "a sanitary filter." Is your airstone sterile, or at least close enough too sterile? A starter certainly would help, as long as it isn't infected by the same problem. A good test of you brewing techniques is to do a wort stability test (I think that's what it's called), You remove a cup or so of your chilled wort just before pitching and put in a sterile jar for several days. Nothing should grow and it should remain fresh smelling. Probably not a good idea to taste it, though. Hope you can figure out what's wrong. Jeff - -- Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner at comcast.net "One never knows, do one?" Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943 Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 07:38:00 -0700 From: Demonick <demonick at zgi.com> Subject: Re: Spoiled Results - Argh! Greg, we need a few more details. All-grain, partial, or extract brews? Plastic or glass or metal fermenters? How do you sanitize? Replaced your plastic tubing lately? Do full boils? How long? Are you not using a starter with 10 gallon batches? How many successful batches have you done? Is your equipment clean? Meticulous sanitation is only effective on equipment that is clean - no dried gunk - no gurge lurking in the corners or cracks or crevices. How do you aerate? When you say O2, do you really mean a tank of oxygen? Domenick Venezia Venezia & Company, LLC Maker of PrimeTab (206) 782-1152 phone (206) 782-6766 fax Seattle, WA demonick at zgi dot com http://www.primetab.com Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 16:10:01 -0400 From: "Goll, Christopher M [SFAE-GCS-CR]" <chris-goll at us.army.mil> Subject: Re:propane tank xchg 'Laura in NC' writes: "...Wal-Mart. It was only $12.96 for a full tank with the new overfill device. I couldn't believe they took my four old rusty, out-dated tanks, but they did." Six weeks ago this was the case. Unfortunately, around here Wal-Mart is onto this now. They now levy a $4 surcharge for exchanging non-OPD-valved tanks (still no limit on rust or certification date). It's still a great deal though! Chris Budd Lake, NJ Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 17:42:24 -0400 From: Martin_Brungard at URSCorp.com Subject: Re: mash tun design/propane thanks The minimum spacing of a false bottom above the tun bottom is easily calculated. By setting the annular area at the critical inlet section equal to the cross-section area of the outlet tube, the fluid velocity in each area will be similar. The end result of that analysis is that the required spacing between the false bottom and tun bottom is 1/4 the outlet tube diameter. Because there are other friction losses in the system and the false bottom may sag, I would plan on increasing the spacing to 1/2 to 1 times the tube diameter for safety. That's all you need. So, for a regular tun with a 1/4 inch ID outlet tube, the spacing between the false bottom and tun bottom is about 1/4 inch. Anything more than that is just wasted space. Many tuns have the false bottom set up higher than necessary because there are outlets or fittings that interfere with lowering the false bottom any lower. Hopefully Laura's installation won't have that limitation. Martin Brungard Tallahassee, FL Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 17:11:53 -0500 From: "Partner" <Partner at Netdirect.net> Subject: Alt Bier Greetings: I'm trying to find a recipe for an Alt. that is made in Germany. It's Called Kutcher Alt and made at the Bending Brewery. This is all the information I know. Any Feedback is most appreciated Thanks aforehand. Byron Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 20:10:38 -0400 From: Darrell_Leavitt/SUNY%SUNY at esc.edu Subject: Malted Oat Stout I am ususally not one to brag (wait....that itself is a brag), but I just tasted a Malted Oat Stout that was so wonderful that I had to share it with other brewers. I think that in my 5 (+) years of brewing this is the best stout that I have ever made. This was brewed on 5/27/2002, secondary on 6/9/02, and bottled today (6/17/020. The grain bill was : 5.5 lb Fawcett's Maris Otter Pale malt 2 lb Carapils 2 lb Fawcett'sMalted Oats 1 lb Special B .5 lb Roasted Barley (in the sparge) .25 lb Wheat malt .6 lb Fawcett's Brown Malt 2 oz Black Patent One rest at 165F for 60 minutes. First runings were 1.068 Boil gravity was 1.044 Original gravity was 1.051 Gravity into secondary was 1.015 Final gravity was 1.102 % abv was 5.1% 120 minute boil (I have a low btu burner...and collect 7 gallons of wort, so need the longer boil, I believe) hops were 1 oz EK Goldings at start of last 60 .5 oz Tetnanger at 30 [ 31.4 ibu] Yeast was 1084 Wyeast Tube (Irish Ale), and WLP 565 Belgian Saison.. I tasted this out of the hydrometer sample as it went into the bottling bucket, and it really was good...a sweeter stout,...not real dry,...but to me wonderful. I have been experimenting with the mixing of yeasts,...and this one seems good. I know that the malted oats are higher in oil than one would wish...but boy do they add a fantastic flavor, and we shall see how the foam is effected... Happy Brewing! ...Darrell Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2002 22:27:32 -0400 From: "Chad Gould" <cgould11 at tampabay.rr.com> Subject: Re: Spoiled Results - Argh! > At first I thought it was the city water, so I even buy spring water from > the grocery store now. For my latest batch, I used a brand new yeast > (Wyeast pitchable tube), thinking the earlier batches got a yeast that was > too old. I'm meticulous with sanitation and I even boil some of my > equipment to make sure it's super clean. I aerate the wort with O2 (through > a sanitary filter) to give the yeast a head start. Just about the only > thing I haven't done for a faster starting fermentation is to prepare a > starter the day before brewing (although the yeast starter set is on my > shopping list). I had two batches that unfortunately got spoiled by a sour bacteria. In my case it was the acetic acid bacteria, and just from smelling my plastic bucket from those batches, I knew where it came from. (Lactic bacteria I believe is the other common souring bacteria.) Something you didn't mention is how long it took to drop from boil temperature to pitching temperature. This is a critical time for beer, when wort-spoiling bacteria can enter. Therefore it is important to get the temperature down as quick as possible. Originally, I was pitching 1 and 1/2 gallons of warm beer into a plastic bucket, filled with chilled water. It still took roughly four-six hours to get to pitching temperature. I switched to using a "bathtub wort chiller" this batch (using bath water to emulate what a wort chiller does). This cut the time down to about 40 minutes for 1 and 1/2 gallons (Florida water isn't very cold). For 10-gallon batches, a full scale wort chiller probably is recommended. Most molds require air to live; once fermentation starts, mold can't grow on the beer until it finishes. So getting quick fermentation is a good idea. A yeast starter will help in that regard. Finally, you mentioned you fermented in stainless steel. When I smelt the plastic, I immediately switched to glass for all stages - it's much easier to *notice* if nasties are growing at the bottom of your fermenter. I don't know much about stainless steel - it shouldn't have the problem plastic has of microscratches hiding bacteria, but it is probably more difficult to know when its clean. Perhaps others can help. Return to table of contents
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