HOMEBREW Digest #406 Wed 25 April 1990

[Prev HBD] [Index] [Next HBD] [Back]


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


Contents:
  Boston's Commonwealth Brewery...me too ("Gary F. Mason - Image Systems - MKO2-2/K03 - 603884[DTN264]-1503  24-Apr-1990 0743")
  high gravity readings for better brews? (Mark Stevens) <stevens at stsci.edu>
  Different O.G.'s (John Greene)
  Commonwealth Brewery (Steve Anthony)
  Butterscotch beer, or Diacetyl (Bill Crick)

Send submissions to homebrew%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com Send requests to homebrew-request%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com Archives available from netlib at mthvax.cs.miami.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 04:42:33 PDT From: "Gary F. Mason - Image Systems - MKO2-2/K03 - 603884[DTN264]-1503 24-Apr-1990 0743" <mason at habs11.enet.dec.com> Subject: Boston's Commonwealth Brewery...me too I too went to CB for the first time (Russ - did we see each other before game 1?). I actually went twice while the Habs were in town. Anyway... I tried only the Burton's Best Boston Bitter, the golden ale, and the amber ale. I found the bitter to be too much so - unlike what I experienced in England (which is what got me started on this whole homebrew thing in the first place 8'). I thought the other ales were rather thin, but the amber the better of the two. The bitter, by the way, is hopped with Talisman, and finished with Kent Goldings (I asked). The golden uses Goldings throughout, as I recall. All in all, a much better choice than the local taverns and their bottled stuff. Food wasn't bad, but we stuck to burgers, etc. Q: Does anyone know how consistent they are between batches? I would like to try the bitter from another batch, hoping for less bittering hops. Gary P.S. I didn't try the Stanley Cup Strong Ale (at almost twice the price of the others). The way I figure it, it's probably so strong because it has been aging since the last cup came to Boston - 20 years ago! Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 07:57:47 EDT From: (Mark Stevens) <stevens at stsci.edu> Subject: high gravity readings for better brews? In Homebrew Digest #405, Chip Hitchcock related his experiences with higher than expected gravity readings. I've had similar experiences with two of Papazian's betterbrew recipes. The Dark Sleep Stout came in with an original gravity of well over 1.07 I recently made another batch of Dark Sleep and had a similarly high reading. About 8 weeks ago I brewed a modified version of Palilia Ale. I brought the specialty grains up to a boil over about an hour, and used about 1/4 cup more toasted malt and an extra 1/4 cup of pale malt. I figured that I would get a slightly higher gravity because I used a little more grain and brought it up to a boil so slowly that some of the sugars may have converted (almost an infusion mash?). I was, however, unprepared for the O.G. reading which came in at about 1.076 when the book said it would be about 1.048. But the beer tasted great, so who's worrying? - --Mark Stevens stevens at ra.stsci.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 08:15:51 PDT From: greene at venice.sedd.trw.com (John Greene) Subject: Different O.G.'s > My latest attempt is "Dark Sleep Stout", which I picked because I could >get \exactly/ the ingredients specified (2 cans John Bull dark, 1# dried dark >extract, .5# each roasted barley, crystal malt, & black malt, hops & gypsum); Were the grains whole, lightly crushed, or finely ground?? I have found that there is a big difference in specialty grains from different brands. I once stumbled across a great recipe for a dark beer by simply combining all the leftover stuff I had from previous batches. It was by far the best dark I have brewed to date. I then tried to recreate that recipe using the exact same quantities and grains but from a different supplier and there was a big difference. Anyway, the only point I am trying to make here is that even though you used the same brandname extracts the specialty grains can have a major impact. Especially if you grind them more finely than the recipe. The easiest way to tell if this is the reason for the difference is to check the difference between the specific gravity before and after fermentation. If the difference is the same as the recipe then you are getting more out of your specialty grains than the recipe did. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 12:15:13 EDT From: Steve Anthony <steveo at Think.COM> Subject: Commonwealth Brewery In #405, RussG write about the Commonwealth Brewery in Boston. I was there a few weeks back while they were preparing a mash. I was rather shocked to see about 30-40 lbs of good ole' granulated refined cane sugar being added to the kettle. No wonder the beers taste a little thin! Didn't get a chance to find out what particular beer they were brewing though. Steveo Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 24 Apr 1990 16:38:59 -0400 From: bnr-vpa!bnr-rsc!crick at uunet.UU.NET (Bill Crick) Subject: Butterscotch beer, or Diacetyl Here is how I get a good amount of butterscotch flavor in ales: Boil all of your water, and try not to get too much oxygen in it when handling it. This will cause the yeast to be oxygen starved during its reproduction phase. the lag is longer, but I believe this causes it to produce a lot more Diacetyl. After 3-5 days in primary, add gelatin finings to strip out the yeast in suspension, and rack aftr a few days. Add finings again after a few more days. I use about 1/3 the recommended dose each time, and the last 1/3 when I bottle. Stripping out the yeast in suspension will stop it from reducing the diacetyl levelslater in the fermentation. Note:It will take longer to reach final gravity, because the yeast has taken a beating. Think of it as growing Bonsai Yeast ;-) Tis will give yo an ale similar to Samuel (? or john?) Smiths which is fermented in "yorksire stones" which are large slate boxes. Due to the temperature, and shape of the boxes, they have trouble getting the yeast to stay in suspension, causing a high diacetyl, or butterscotch flavor. A lot of people try for minimum diacetyl, because it can be a sign of contamination, but I've found an awful lot of people who like the "butterscotch" or "nutty" flavor it gives. I bet a lot of traditionally inn brewwed ales had wuite a lot of diacetyl in them back in previous centuries. Hence we are probably genetically screened to enjoy this;-) Brewius Ergo Sum Bill Crick Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #406, 04/25/90 ************************************* -------
[Prev HBD] [Index] [Next HBD] [Back]
HTML-ized on 06/29/00, by HBD2HTML version 1.2 by K.F.L.
webmaster at hbd.org, KFL, 10/9/96