HOMEBREW Digest #4010 Thu 08 August 2002


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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Sellin' recipes ("Colby Fry")
  The Guru Reappears ("Phil Yates")
  Blonde Ale Question ("Berggren, Stefan")
  Fermentation restarted (Alan Meeker)
  Engine Block Fermentation, Potatoes ("Tracy P. Hamilton")
  FW: Split Rock 2002 HB Competition ("Houseman, David L")
  RE: Carboy size (I/T) - Eastman" <stjones at eastman.com>
  RE: American Amber Ale (I/T) - Eastman" <stjones at eastman.com>
  Oh Bubba,say it isn't so..... ("Jim")
  Carboy size (LJ Vitt)
  acetic acid in beer ("Steve Alexander")
  re: Unfamiliar with lager yeast? (Rama Roberts)
  re: Fermentation restarted after racking to secondary! (Rama Roberts)
  re: deactivation of enzymes (Rama Roberts)
  Rest at 122 deg F for Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone ("Menzl's")

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2002 08:10:16 -0400 From: "Colby Fry" <colbyfry at pa.net> Subject: Sellin' recipes I don't know if anyone else saw this or not, but this guy is selling homebrew recipes on ebay. Here is the # >> "Homemade Kentucky Beer Recipe - Homebrew!! Item # 2043210440 All of the ingredients for this recipes can be purchased from your local health food store. Follow directions and be careful - this is very potent. Makes 15 gallons Contains: hops, malt, sugar, molasses and yeast GOOD STUFF!" I think it is ridiculous..... I get thousands of recipes for free on the hbd.org ? The current bid was $1.25 any discussion on this? Colby Fry Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2002 22:19:56 +1000 From: "Phil Yates" <phil.yates at acenet.com.au> Subject: The Guru Reappears Graham asks the question: >By the way are you enter my you beaut comp??????????????. I'll have to do a bit of creative interpretation here. I think Graham is asking whether or not I'd like to enter a beer in his tropical beer competition. By all means ole son. The only beer though that I can offer is Jill's wheat special which is all I have had time to make of late. I've been so busy with Wes offering such a multitude of malts to Ozzie brewers, I can barely keep up with Jill's demands! And that's only talking about what she likes to drink!!! You know what? I should have given that flying game away a long time ago. I'm now doing something I enjoy so much more. Good to hear from you. Cheers Phil : Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2002 08:20:35 -0500 From: "Berggren, Stefan" <stefan_berggren at trekbike.com> Subject: Blonde Ale Question Hi All, I just brewed a simple extract blonde ale and have some quick questions. The recipe is as follows: One pound Laaglander Extra Light DME 3 lbs. Northwestern Golden DME 1 pound Northwestern Wheat DME .50 lbs of Victory Malt (steeped and removed at 160) 1oz. Hallertauer (60min) 1oz. Hallertauer (30min) 1oz. Saaz(5min) Wyeast 1007 German ale Primary fermented at 75-77deg (hot weather raised temp in basement) Secondary fermented again at 75-77deg for two weeks O.g. 1047 F.g. 1009-10 (laaglander malt?) My question is when I kegged it two nights ago, it had a very "green" taste and almost not quite right (reminded me sort of like warm Budweiser...blecchhh) I am wondering if cold conditioning the beer for two-three weeks will help. I am not sure if the German ale yeast produced some esters at its fermentation temps or not. I have never used this yeast before and am wondering if anyone else out there has used this yeast? Anyhow, I am wondering a bit as to how it will turn out. Could the Victory malt that was steeped created an off or astringent flavor? The hops are present in the mouthfeel perhaps causing that bitter green twang. It was a full 5.8gallon boil so I am pretty sure that the extract twang was not present. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Stefan Berggren Brewing in the stone cellar Madison, WI P.s. Getting Ready for The Great Taste of the Midwest !!!! Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 07 Aug 2002 09:49:47 -0400 From: Alan Meeker <ameeker at mail.jhmi.edu> Subject: Fermentation restarted Grant asked about fermentation re-start after racking to the secondary: "...About 6 hours later, fermentation restarted... My question is this -- is my beer infected? Why would it start re-fermenting?" Grant, I've seen this behavior several times myself. A beer that appears to have settled down in the primary shows renewed activity following transfer to the secondary. I'm not sure why this happens, but several possibilities spring to mind. Firstly, You may be resuspending yeast that, for whatever reason, flocculated and settled out before "finishing the job" at hand. Certain yeast strains are notorious for this kind of behavior, and some form of agitation is often employed with these yeasts to keep them in the game. Likewise, "rousing" the yeast is also sometimes recommended when fermenting strong beers, such as barleywines which may, due to the high gravities and eventual high ethanol production, finish prematurely. Another possibility is that your yeast were hitting a metabolic wall due to oxygen starvation. Oxygen is necessary for the building of sterols and unsaturated fatty acids required for yeast reproduction (plenty of details on this in the archives if your interested). If your yeast were limited by an oxygen-deficit, then exposure to room air during racking (and air in the new headspace) may have allowed them to pick up enough oxygen to kick-start them. It is also possible to have the yeast quit in the primary due to too low a temperature. If the transfer warms the beer up and/or the secondary is placed in a warmer location this may cause a resumption of activity. Sounds unlikely in your particular case though. Probably highly unlikely but, if there were some sort of stratification of fermentable sugars in the carboy you could have dispersed them during transfer. This could happen if, for instance, you tried to bump up the gravity during the primary fermentation by adding something dense like honey or a sugar syrup that would then settle to the bottom. Finally, you asked whether or not this means your beer is infected. The good news is - probably not. At least, not based on the behavior you described. If you introduced an infection, it would have had to have been one heck of a large inoculum for you to start seeing activity in just 6 hours! This, plus the fact that you say you see a decent layer of yeast now on top leads me to believe that it will turn out fine. All of this brings up an interesting possibility. If this is a not uncommon phenomenon, then for those who don't use a secondary it may occur while racking when bottling or kegging. If the yeast gets "re-activated" in the final storage container it could lead to some degree of over-carbonation because the beer wasn't really done fermenting in the first place. If you know the recipe well, then checking the FG should tell you whether or not it's truly done and ready for bottling. Hope this helps -Alan Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2002 09:34:27 -0500 From: "Tracy P. Hamilton" <chem013 at uabdpo.dpo.uab.edu> Subject: Engine Block Fermentation, Potatoes Since fermenting in an engine block is not recommended lately, and therefore some people have to do something with the potatoes they planned to make the beer with, consider: http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Humor/GoodEatsHumor.htm (fairly graphics intensive) Tracy P. Hamilton Birmingham Brewmasters Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2002 10:52:03 -0400 From: "Houseman, David L" <David.Houseman at unisys.com> Subject: FW: Split Rock 2002 HB Competition I am pleased to announce that there will be homebrew competition on November 23rd (9am; be there by 8:30am) at the Split Rock Resort in the Poconos in conjunction with their annual Micro Brew Festival. Entry fees, $5, will go to the Multiple Sclerosis charity. This is a sanctioned competition and will use the standard BJCP/AHA style guidelines judging all beer, mead and cider styles. Entries should be shipped for receipt by November 20th to The Resort at Split Rock c/o Stacey Gould Special Events One Lake Drive Lake Harmony, PA 18624 Two brown or green bottles with no markings are required. Any standard entry forms identifying the brewer and the appropriate entry category/subcategory are acceptable. Judges and Stewards will be needed and they should contact me to secure a position. Judges and Stewards can hand carry their entries if they pre-register with payment. Checks should be made out to "The Resort At Split Rock." Judges will receive an entry to the beer festival or entry to the beer dinner for their efforts and need to indicate which they wish when they commit to participate. The BOS winner will receive a complementary weekend for two at next year's Split Rock Beer Fest. But just entering makes you a winner for helping a very good cause. Plan now to brew for this competition. Judges/stewards plan to attend. And don't forget the Beer Festival itself; a great beer event of its own. More information will be made available at the Split Rock web site www.splitrockresort.com. David Houseman Competition Organizer housemanfam at earthlink.net Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2002 11:01:17 -0400 From: "Jones, Steve (I/T) - Eastman" <stjones at eastman.com> Subject: RE: Carboy size Drew, a standard 5 gallon will be fine for a primary for 2.5 gallon batches. If you choose to do secondary fermentations (storage in a carboy) then that is where I would use the 2.8. Try racking it over just before it is done with the primary so that you get a bit of CO2 generation in the secondary. Steve Jones Johnson City, TN [421.8 mi, 168.5 deg] Apparent Rennerian State of Franklin Homebrewers http://hbd.org/franklin Proud member of the American Homebrewers Association Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2002 11:12:48 -0400 From: "Jones, Steve (I/T) - Eastman" <stjones at eastman.com> Subject: RE: American Amber Ale Paul Kensler made some very good comments about the American Amber Ale style. It is an official BJCP/AHA category now (since 8-99), category 6B. Here are The BJCP Guidelines for this style, which have a slightly different view of the style than Paul relates: Category 6B, American Amber Ale Aroma: Often a mild to strong hop aroma from dry hopping or late kettle additions of American hop varieties. Some caramel aroma common. Esters vary from low to high. Diacetyl medium-high to none. Appearance: Light copper to light brown. Flavor: Moderate to high hop flavor from American hop varieties. Malt/bitterness balance can be on either side of even and is more likely to be on the malt side, but usually not too far from center. Caramel flavor is moderate to strong. Diacetyl medium-high to none Mouthfeel: Body is medium to medium-full. Carbonation typically moderate. Overall Impression: Caramel usually balances the bitterness. History: Called West Coast amber ales by some authors, this sub-category was spun-off from the American pale ale style. Comments: In the past, this category used to be part of American pale ale. American amber ales differ from American pale ales not only by being darker in color, but also in having more caramel flavor and usually being balanced more evenly even between malt and bitterness Ingredients: Pale ale malt, typically American two-row. Medium to dark crystal malts. American hops, such as Cascade, Centennial, Brewer's Gold, Columbus and Willamette, but others may also be used. Water can vary in sulfate and carbonate content Commercial Examples: Big Time Atlas Amber, Bell's Amber, Mendocino Red Tail Ale, Rhino Chaser's American Amber Ale, St. Rogue Red Ale, North Coast Red Seal Ale. Vital Statistics: OG: 1.045-1.056 FG: 1.010-1.015 IBU: 20-40 SRM: 11-18 ABV: 4.5-5.7% Steve Jones Johnson City, TN [421.8 mi, 168.5 deg] Apparent Rennerian State of Franklin Homebrewers http://hbd.org/franklin Proud member of the American Homebrewers Association Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2002 10:35:51 -0500 (Central Daylight Time) From: "Jim" <bermingham at antennaproducts.com> Subject: Oh Bubba,say it isn't so..... Mark, in Texas it's Oh Bubba, say it "ain't" so. Things are sort of busy here in Millsap. Especially around the ranch. Been purty busy preparing for Number 1 Bubba's visit to his spread in Crawford. Now contrary to most people's belief that No.1 has quit drinking beer it just ain't so. He has just quit buying that's all. Who could expect the Pres. to buy. I was contacted by some of his people and ask to furnish enough beer to last a month. The little Missus seems to prefer wheat beer like Jill and the ladies in the land of Oz. Rumor has it that "Big Bubba" will drink most anything even Lone Star like Clay Henry III the beer drinking Mayor of Lajitas, TX. does. I did have a special request to brew up a Dos Equis "XX" clone for President Fox when he visits. Speaking of Clay Henry III, the Mayor of Lajitas, Mark Tumarkin was wondering what the boys in the backroom of Bubba's "Millsap Small Engine and Chainsaw Repair" thought of the trial about to begin in Alpine. Well let me tell you, the news about the upcoming trial is just about you can hear on KBUBBA, "The Radio Ranch", and the local TV station "Channel 1 News" broadcast out of Paradise. The local thinking, in Bubba's back room, is that Jim Bob Hargrove castrated the wrong fellow. Seems as though Steve Smith, the guy from Houston running the Lajitas Resort, snatched a beer right out of Jim Bob's hand and gave it to Clay Henry. Jim Bob took offense of this and decided to get revenge by castrating old Clay Henry. Odds are if Jim Bob had castrated Steve instead, things would have blown over by now. It's sort of common practice to castrate Yankees and Big City Boys in that part of the country. Especially when they start messing with the locals. You would have thought that if Steve had any brains at all he would have changed his name to Billy Jack or some other good West Texas name before going to Lajitas to run their resort. Steve should be the name of someone living in Ohio, not Texas. I did mention that Clay Henry III is a goat didn't I? Seems as though be barely won the past election. His opponents were an wooden Indian and a dog named Clyde. That part of Texas knows how to do elections right. Florida needs to send someone there to see how it should be done. But only if they can remember to change their name to something good such as Billy Bob. Jim Bo Bermingham Millsap, TX. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2002 10:11:05 -0700 (PDT) From: LJ Vitt <lvitt4 at yahoo.com> Subject: Carboy size In HBD#4009, Drew Dunn asked about making small batches in his usual carboys: >From: "Dunn, Drew A." >Subject: Carboy Size >I am interesting in brewing batches smaller then the "standard" 5 gallon >size. I had considered using the same carboy I currently use for my 5 >gallon batches but a friend was concerned about headspace. He felt that if >I put 2.5 gallons into a 6.5 gallon carboy there might not be enough CO2 >produced to fill the head space and protect the brew. I found a 2.8 gallon >carboy on Beer, Beer & More Beer but was wondering if 3/10th of a gallon >would be enough headspace for a 2.5 gallon batch. Does anyone have any >opinions on this? For primary fermentation, I don't see any problem with the fermenter being twice the size of the batch. IMO, more than enough CO2 will be generated, and the CO2 is heavier than the air that is in the carboy, so the air will be displaced. Secondary fermentation is another matter. I suggest using a smaller secondary fermentater. CO2 production is low at this time. I have a few of the 2.8 and 3 gallon carboys. I find them useful for meads and wines for odd size batches. An example, I had 24 lbs of a specific honey I wanted to use. So, I made 8 gallons of mead from it. I have it in 5 gallon and 2.8 gallon carboys. Yes, it smaller than 8 gallons now - loss to sediment. However, I tend to make beer in 5, 6 or 10 gallon sizes. ===== Leo Vitt Rochester MN Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2002 13:43:26 -0400 From: "Steve Alexander" <steve-alexander at worldnet.att.net> Subject: acetic acid in beer Marc Heche asked about acetobacterial infections that seem to be plaguing his brewing. A lot of good advice re sanitation was posted but a major point was missed. Acetic acid in beer is not diagnostic of an infection !! Common brewing yeast will happily convert ethanol to acetic acid given free oxygen. I've recently been playing around with White's Irish ale yeast grown on ethanol as an oxidative carbon source, for example, and it's happy as a clam. Yeast and acetobacteria both require ethanol AND free oxygen to produce acetic acid. The immediate problem in a case of acetic acid in beer is that somehow oxygen has contacted the beer after alcohol has formed and after the actively fermenting yeast cease to sop up all the free O2. Until you solve the post fermentation oxygen problem there will be no cure for the acetic acid problem. Plastic ... I think there is a lot of fear mongering about plastic. My only gripe would be that PET bottles permit oxygen thru and so ... -S Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2002 14:18:23 -0700 (PDT) From: Rama Roberts <rama at eng.sun.com> Subject: re: Unfamiliar with lager yeast? Parker Dutro writes: It's been about 9 hours since I pitched, with absolutely no activity from the airlock. Being that I am unfamiliar with lager yeast behavior in general, I don't know what to expect. Does it help to keep temp? Could I have put too much O2 into the wort? I haven't used lager yeast before either, but it sounds to me like you've got a bum tube of yeast. You can't put too much 02 in (that's debatable from what I've read, but it shouldn't cause what you're seeing)- and keeping the wort warmer should speed things up too. Check the date on the tube if you still have it and make sure its not too old. Also, if you got it mail order, perhaps it was subject to hot temperatures at the post office which killed or cripled most of the cells. I would give it another day or so, depending on how sanitary your technique was, then dump it. - --rama roberts san francisco bay area Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2002 14:25:00 -0700 (PDT) From: Rama Roberts <rama at eng.sun.com> Subject: re: Fermentation restarted after racking to secondary! Grant Conrad wrote: My question is this -- is my beer infected? Why would it start re-fermenting? Lots of reasons, infection being one, but not the most likely in my experience. When you rack to the secondary, you're 'rousing' the yeast, which is going to cause some more fermentation if there's anything left for them to chow on. Also, its likely you've introduced some more oxygen to the wort, which may cause more carbon dioxide production when combined with more fermentables (not sure about that one though). I almost always see some signs of fermentation after racking to the secondary, especially if I did a quick fermentation in the primary with no rousing. - --rama roberts san francisco bay area Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2002 14:30:41 -0700 (PDT) From: Rama Roberts <rama at eng.sun.com> Subject: re: deactivation of enzymes Hans Aikema wrote: Does anybody know how fast enzymes deactivate? When I want to use the beta-amylase at say 1 hour 63 degr.C (145 F) and not so much alfa amylase and I heat up from 63 degr.C (145 F) to 85 degr. C (185 F) in 5 min., does that mean I used mainly beta amylase and both are ineffective at the time the mash reached 85 degr. C (185 F) ? Or is alfa amylase than stil working during sparging? Hans- Once you raise the mash to 175F or higher for 5 or more minutes, the enzymes should all be deactivated and not continue during sparging. One thing to be careful with- 185F is a bit too hot. Anything over 175F and you risk leaching tannings from the barley husks, which isn't a flavor you want. - --rama roberts san francisco bay area Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 2002 20:15:52 -0400 From: "Menzl's" <menzl at concentric.net> Subject: Rest at 122 deg F for Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone Greetings All! I am going to be brewing my first all grain batch this weekend and I am planning on using the recipe for cloning Sierra Nevada Pale Ale from Tess and Mark Szamatulski's "Clone Brews". The recipe calls for 10.33 lbs US 2-Row, 0.5 lbs dextrin malt, and 4 ounces of 60L Crystal Malt. The mash schedule is 30 minutes at 122 degrees F and then 60 minutes at 150 degrees F. I have been doing a lot of study and everything I read indicates that well modified malts do not need the 122 deg F rest and it may negatively effect "head". I am assuming the US 2 row is well modified and I am not sure about the dextrin malt. Is this rest at 122 deg F really needed or should I just do a 90 minute mash at 150 deg F? Thanks in advance for helping my brewing education! William Menzl Midland, Michigan Unknown Rennerian (not sure how to find out either) but I was at 0,0 for a short time at the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival last month. Great time and Great Beer! Return to table of contents
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