HOMEBREW Digest #4526 Thu 22 April 2004


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Contents:
  Sunshine Challenge ("Dave Burley")
  Re: Low Alcohol Brewing (Kirk Harralson)
  Buckling false bottems and pseudo beer (Jim Bermingham)
  units (Fix and the 40C rest) (Joe Fasel)
  Re: Ping Jeff Renner: Ballantine IPA Clone recipe (Jeff Renner)
  Beer and Dinner Parties (Alexandre Enkerli)
  Re: false bottom buckling due to expansion ("Rob Dewhirst")
  Re;  Low or no alcohol beer ("William Frazier")
  [Fwd: Re: Ping Jeff Renner: Ballantine IPA Clone recipe] (Bob Girolamo)
  Vigorous aeration and finishing hops ("May, Jeff")
  Barley in beer, tri-sodium phosphate and copper chillers ("Dave Burley")

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 07:37:29 -0400 From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley at charter.net> Subject: Sunshine Challenge Brewsters: As Marc Sedam said, he and I and Jeff Renner were the guests of the Sunshine Challenge a few years ago and we WERE treated like princes. I too support this superbly run event. The contests were spirited ( and so were the contestants) with groups from all over the South. It was a great time and I got the chance to meet great people and drink some great beer. Is great the right word? Maybe WOW! nooo "great" is correct. I still think about the fun the three of us had. And to be at 0,0 Rennerian after all these years was also ...Great. Keep on Brewin' Dave Burley Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 05:48:51 -0700 (PDT) From: Kirk Harralson <kirk78h at yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Low Alcohol Brewing After reading the posts on low alcohol / low calorie beers, I looked through my box of old brewing books for the Classic Beer series on Belgian beers. Of course, when I need it, I can't find it. Anyway, the author includes a recipe called Belgian Driving (or Drivers ???) Beer -- presumably fit for designated drivers. I brewed this beer some years back, and was very pleasantly surprised at the flavor and character for such an extremely light beer. I've meant to follow up on this, and tinker with it to my liking; but my brewing is currently on hiatus. Regardless, I still recommend it as a good starting point. By the way, from time to time I find it necessary to restrict or limit carb intake (like a lot of Americans these days...). On those occasions, instead of drinking a beer or two at the end of the day, I'll have a glass or two of wine -- 1g carb per glass of white; 2g for red. Kirk Harralson Bel Air, MD Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 07:57:16 -0500 From: Jim Bermingham <JBHAM6843 at netscape.net> Subject: Buckling false bottems and pseudo beer Pat from River Bound Brewery has a problem with his sst false bottem buckling when hot. I too had this problem a few years ago when I first got my current system. Pat you may be able to solve your problem the same way I did. Head on down to the river and get some baseball size river washed stones. I place these around the edge of the false bottom. They have done the job for me for more than 5 years now. "Pseudo-beer" There are some places in the US that brew Molasses beer today. My Dad brewed it occasionally. One of his favorite pseudo-beers was "Persimmon Beer" He had a batch of this ferminting when he pased away in 1989. No malt in this beer either. You did however, add a cup of cornmeal for a 5 gallon batch. Jim Bermingham Millsap, TX Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 09:18:27 -0600 From: Joe Fasel <jhf at lanl.gov> Subject: units (Fix and the 40C rest) In HBD #4525, I wrote > I calculate the initial mass of water for that 20kg of malt > to be 42.5kg. In English units, this means an initial ratio > of 1.02 qt/lb, with an addition of 0.38 qt/lb. I meant "American units". Those are US quarts, not Imperial. - --Joe Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 11:29:42 -0400 From: Jeff Renner <jeffrenner at comcast.net> Subject: Re: Ping Jeff Renner: Ballantine IPA Clone recipe Bob Girolamo <bob-girolamo at sbcglobal.net> writes: >I've been researching this for a while and have noted your 1998 HBD >archive of the recipe but, have had no luck finding it. I was wondering >if you still had it somewhere and could post it. Larry O'Mahoney of New Orleans posed the question in 1998 to which I responded with a recipe based on some research in Brewing Techniques, New Brewer and Zymurgy, I think. He modified it and brewed a great clone - he sent me a 22 oz. bomber. I brewed a batch three years ago, slightly modifying the recipe(s), and lazily left it in the secondary too long, and it oxidized, I guess. Tasted bad, anyway, with a strong acetaldehyde flavor chief among the flaws. I dumped it - one of the few batches I've ever thrown out. I should brew it again. Larry's post is below. In rereading it, I am surprised at the amount of corn sugar I suggested. I used less in my brew, as did Larry. Mine was OG 1.066, FG 1.007. BTW, if you want to read about a really legendary Ballantine brew, google Ballantine Burton Ale. Please post the result if you brew it, and if anything isn't clear, let me know. Jeff: ============= From: "O'mahoney, Larry (LLOM)" <LLOM at chevron.com> Subject: Ballantine IPA Since many of you have been waxing nostalgic about "old" styles, CAPs and krausening, I think I'll add a little grist to your discussion mills. For quite some time, I'd been looking for a recipe to duplicate Ballantine IPA, an almost legendary beer (and sponsor of the N.Y. Yankees for many years) brewed in Newark, N.J. After some electronic poking around, I was fortunate enough to receive a recipe from Jeff Renner. I modified Jeff's recipe a little, mostly because I only had 6 lbs. of 6-row and 1.5 lbs. of corn sugar. Ingredients for 5 gallons Jeff My Brew 6 row pale ale malt 6.7 lb. 6.0 lb. Light crystal (50-60 L) 0.75 lb. 0.75 lb. (10 L) Flaked Maize 1.9 lb. 2.0 lb. Corn Sugar 2.6 lb. 1.5 lb. Hops Bittering: Bullion or Tettanger 1.4 oz. 1.4 oz. Flavor: Cluster 1.4 oz. 1.4 oz. Aroma: Saaz 0.5 oz. 0.5 oz. Dry hop:Saaz --- 0.25 oz. Bitter to 40-60 IBU. Hop additions were somewhat improvised. I didn't know how to partition the bullion and tettanger hops for the bittering, so I used 0.7 oz. of each. Using the Garetz method I ended up with 43 IBU calculated. I put a very hard crush on the 6 row, and mixed all the grains with 1.2 quarts/lb. in the mash. I added two tsp. gypsum to the mash, as I have extremely soft water. The step infusion was 126 degF/15 min. 153 degF/45 min. 158 degF/10 min. 165 degF/10 min. The sparge effluent was the most beautiful, deep golden color I've ever had. The effluent cleared after less than a cup (I use an Easymasher in a 5 gallon SS pot.) The sparge was incredibly easy. I don't know why so many people knock 6-row pale malt. It is great stuff. I boiled for 70 minutes adding the Bullion/Tettanger for 60 minutes, the Cluster with 20 minutes to go, Saaz with 5 minutes to go. OG = 1.069 at 60 degF. I used Wyeast 1098, figuring it would probably be closer to traditional British IPA yeasts than Wyeast 1056, although Jeff recommended 1056 as the proper yeast used by Ballantine's. I dry-hopped after seven days, as several references I have indicate Ballantine was "dramatically" dry hopped. After two weeks of single-stage fermenting at 65 degF (FG= 1.012 at 60 degF) I bottled using 5 PrimaTabs/22 oz. bottle (I calculated this to be equal to about 3 oz. priming sugar per 5 gallons). After a week in the bottle, I couldn't wait any longer. Excellent carbonation (maybe too much), clearing nicely, great white head, and a bead and Belgian lace that lasted over an hour. At this stage the taste could be described as raw, muscular. After only one week it was "green" as expected. After three weeks, it has mellowed well. It has a complex flavor profile. First, there is a good clean, strong bitterness, followed by a very strong Cluster flavor. Next, a pleasant but subdued Saaz flavor and aroma. All these are underlain by a mild caramel flavor, probably from the crystal. Normally, I don't care for caramel flavor in my beer, but this was good. If you don't like Cluster flavor, this is not the beer for you. It is very alcoholic (calculation ~ 7.1% ABV). Twelve oz. of this beer had me looped! It's been decades since I had a commercial Ballantine's, but the moment I tasted this IPA it struck a faint memory from somewhere deep in my mind, which makes me think that this is a very close rendition of the original Ballantine. I'm quite pleased with the results so far. If I were to make any changes, I'd increase the 6-row to the original 6.75 lbs., and drop the protein rest to 10 minutes. Fifteen minutes was too much for long-lasting head retention. I'd maybe decrease the amount of Cluster flavor hops by half. The bitterness was very clean, and did not display any of the black current flavors many have associated with Bullion hops. If there are any former Ballantine brewmasters lurking around out there, I'd enjoy your comments on this, to see if I've gotten close to what you used to brew. BTW, since making the Ballantine's, I've made a CAP again using 6-row malt. This really is great grain. Beautiful color, super easy sparge and the flavor is fine. Larry New Orleans - -- 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: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 14:37:06 -0300 From: Alexandre Enkerli <aenkerli at indiana.edu> Subject: Beer and Dinner Parties Been to a few dinner parties recently. Among French-speakers at least, it's common practice to bring a bottle of wine (or two) when you go to someone's place. Part of this does relate to the perceived sophistication of wine and people often comment on wine choices on those occasions. While I like to offer beer to guests at my place, I don't tend to bring beer instead of wine at dinner parties but it would seem to be a good way to get people interested in knowing more about beer, with the ensuing conversations about beer variety. Do some of you bring beer to dinner parties? If so, what types of beer do you bring? Do you try to pair styles with food? Is the beer usually well-received? We've talked about similar issues WRT etiquette in restaurants and such, but I'm asking more about casual dinner parties at someone's private home. And I do realize that it might be illegal to bring homebrew to someone else's place in some regions... Cheers! Ale-X in Moncton, New Brunswick (soon to be back in Montreal, Qc) Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 12:39:22 -0500 From: "Rob Dewhirst" <rob at hairydogbrewery.com> Subject: Re: false bottom buckling due to expansion Get a piece of 2" or 1.5" copper pipe the same length as the distance from the center of the bottom of the mash tun to the bottom of the false bottom (if that makes sense). Drill a bunch of holes in it. Place in center of tun bottom before putting in hinge screen. You can park a car on it. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 12:55:03 -0500 From: "William Frazier" <billfrazier at worldnet.att.net> Subject: Re; Low or no alcohol beer Look up my February 4th, 2000 HBD post about Malz Bier. I brewed a recipe using saccharomycodes ludwigii, which is probably Wyeast 0058...I talked with Wyeast at the time about acquiring the yeast but eventually got it form Jim Liddil who had access to a wide variety of yeasts. The beer had a 1048 OG. I split the batch into two parts. Part 1 used S. ludwigii yeast and part 2 used Wyeast 1728. After 5 days both parts appeared finished with primary fermentation. The result~part 1 SG 1045 and part 2 SG 1010. The part 1 beer that used S. ludwigii had about 0.5% alcohol while part 2 had about 5.0% alcohol. This yeast will result in very low alcohol beers. My notes say the S. ludwigii beer was still malty sweet after fermentation. If I made this type beer again I would shoot for a 1025 OG and expect the finished SG to be about 1020 to 1023. Bill Frazier Olathe, Kansas USA Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 12:08:49 -0700 From: Bob Girolamo <bob-girolamo at sbcglobal.net> Subject: [Fwd: Re: Ping Jeff Renner: Ballantine IPA Clone recipe] Subject: Re: Ping Jeff Renner: Ballantine IPA Clone recipe Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 11:49:29 -0700 From: Bob Girolamo <bob-girolamo at sbcglobal.net> To: Jeff Renner <jeffrenner at comcast.net> Jeff, Thanks for the plethora of info. I'll be working on this project in the next two weeks. I am also familiar with the history of Burton Ale, which I will attempt also by dialing up this recipe to Old Ale/Barleywine strength and let it age in stainless with French oak chips for 18 months at cellar temps. I will include you with info on all phases of this project and also post on HBD. You will also be provided with samples at various ages of both brews as we all head down the space time continuum. Thanks again, Bob Girolamo aka Brewer Bob > > Bob Girolamo <bob-girolamo at sbcglobal.net> writes: > > >I've been researching this for a while and have noted your 1998 HBD > >archive of the recipe but, have had no luck finding it. I was wondering > >if you still had it somewhere and could post it. > > Larry O'Mahoney of New Orleans posed the question in 1998 to which I > responded with a recipe based on some research in Brewing Techniques, > New Brewer and Zymurgy, I think. He modified it and brewed a great > clone - he sent me a 22 oz. bomber. > > I brewed a batch three years ago, slightly modifying the recipe(s), > and lazily left it in the secondary too long, and it oxidized, I > guess. Tasted bad, anyway, with a strong acetaldehyde flavor chief > among the flaws. I dumped it - one of the few batches I've ever > thrown out. I should brew it again. > > Larry's post is below. In rereading it, I am surprised at the amount > of corn sugar I suggested. I used less in my brew, as did Larry. > Mine was OG 1.066, FG 1.007. > > BTW, if you want to read about a really legendary Ballantine brew, > google Ballantine Burton Ale. > > Please post the result if you brew it, and if anything isn't clear, > let me know. > > Jeff: > > ============= > From: "O'mahoney, Larry (LLOM)" <LLOM at chevron.com> > Subject: Ballantine IPA > > Since many of you have been waxing nostalgic about "old" styles, CAPs and > krausening, I think I'll add a little grist to your discussion mills. For > quite some time, I'd been looking for a recipe to duplicate Ballantine IPA, > an almost legendary beer (and sponsor of the N.Y. Yankees for many years) > brewed in Newark, N.J. After some electronic poking around, I was fortunate > enough to receive a recipe from Jeff Renner. > > I modified Jeff's recipe a little, mostly because I only had 6 lbs. of 6-row > and 1.5 lbs. of corn sugar. > > Ingredients for 5 gallons Jeff My Brew > > 6 row pale ale malt 6.7 lb. 6.0 lb. > Light crystal (50-60 L) 0.75 lb. 0.75 lb. (10 L) > Flaked Maize 1.9 lb. 2.0 lb. > Corn Sugar 2.6 lb. 1.5 lb. > > Hops > Bittering: Bullion or Tettanger 1.4 oz. 1.4 oz. > Flavor: Cluster 1.4 oz. 1.4 oz. > Aroma: Saaz 0.5 oz. 0.5 oz. > Dry hop:Saaz --- 0.25 oz. > > Bitter to 40-60 IBU. Hop additions were somewhat improvised. I didn't know > how to partition the bullion and tettanger hops for the bittering, so I used > 0.7 oz. of each. Using the Garetz method I ended up with 43 IBU calculated. > I put a very hard crush on the 6 row, and mixed all the grains with 1.2 > quarts/lb. in the mash. I added two tsp. gypsum to the mash, as I have > extremely soft water. The step infusion was 126 degF/15 min. 153 degF/45 > min. 158 degF/10 min. 165 degF/10 min. The sparge effluent was the most > beautiful, deep golden color I've ever had. The effluent cleared after less > than a cup (I use an Easymasher in a 5 gallon SS pot.) The sparge was > incredibly easy. I don't know why so many people knock 6-row pale malt. It > is great stuff. > > I boiled for 70 minutes adding the Bullion/Tettanger for 60 minutes, the > Cluster with 20 minutes to go, Saaz with 5 minutes to go. OG = 1.069 at 60 > degF. I used Wyeast 1098, figuring it would probably be closer to > traditional British IPA yeasts than Wyeast 1056, although Jeff recommended > 1056 as the proper yeast used by Ballantine's. I dry-hopped after seven > days, as several references I have indicate Ballantine was "dramatically" > dry hopped. After two weeks of single-stage fermenting at 65 degF (FG= 1.012 > at 60 degF) I bottled using 5 PrimaTabs/22 oz. bottle (I calculated this to > be equal to about 3 oz. priming sugar per 5 gallons). > > After a week in the bottle, I couldn't wait any longer. Excellent > carbonation (maybe too much), clearing nicely, great white head, and a bead > and Belgian lace that lasted over an hour. At this stage the taste could be > described as raw, muscular. After only one week it was "green" as expected. > After three weeks, it has mellowed well. It has a complex flavor profile. > First, there is a good clean, strong bitterness, followed by a very strong > Cluster flavor. Next, a pleasant but subdued Saaz flavor and aroma. All > these are underlain by a mild caramel flavor, probably from the crystal. > Normally, I don't care for caramel flavor in my beer, but this was good. If > you don't like Cluster flavor, this is not the beer for you. It is very > alcoholic (calculation ~ 7.1% ABV). Twelve oz. of this beer had me looped! > > It's been decades since I had a commercial Ballantine's, but the moment I > tasted this IPA it struck a faint memory from somewhere deep in my mind, > which makes me think that this is a very close rendition of the original > Ballantine. I'm quite pleased with the results so far. If I were to make any > changes, I'd increase the 6-row to the original 6.75 lbs., and drop the > protein rest to 10 minutes. Fifteen minutes was too much for long-lasting > head retention. I'd maybe decrease the amount of Cluster flavor hops by > half. The bitterness was very clean, and did not display any of the black > current flavors many have associated with Bullion hops. > > If there are any former Ballantine brewmasters lurking around out there, I'd > enjoy your comments on this, to see if I've gotten close to what you used to > brew. > > BTW, since making the Ballantine's, I've made a CAP again using 6-row malt. > This really is great grain. Beautiful color, super easy sparge and the > flavor is fine. > > Larry > New Orleans > -- > 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: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 17:20:07 -0400 From: "May, Jeff" <Jeff.May at uscellular.com> Subject: Vigorous aeration and finishing hops I was wondering about something. I have recently started aerating my wort with a SS air stone during pitching. I am now achieving the lowest FG I have ever experienced! Needless to say, I'm hooked. However, I'm concerned that vigorous aeration could drive off most or all of the precious flavor and aroma from my finishing hops. Dave Miller talks about how aeration can be effective in floating off a large portion of the cold break material. The foamy scum is then skimmed off. [Miller,Dave:Dave Miller's Homebrewing Guide; Storey Books; 1995 Pg.181]. I just wonder if this action is scrubbing the hop compounds as well. Jeff May Mayzerbrau Nano Brewery Wilmington, NC AR [649.7, 148.6] Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 2004 09:02:12 -0400 From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley at charter.net> Subject: Barley in beer, tri-sodium phosphate and copper chillers Brewsters: Randy asks for some details on how much raw barley I include in my brews and how I prepare it. And I have to answer by saying it depends. I have used as much as 2 pounds for a 5 gallon batch using a total grist of 10 pounds if memory serves. More normal is a pound. I have included this latter amount with both two row and six row barley malt batches. Here's how I prepare it. I use feed grade barley from the animal feed store ( no fungicides, as in seed grade, please) wash it in three rinses of hot water and boil it for 30 minutes in twice the volume of water as the barley. Then allow it to stand and swell overnight ( or for a few hours). It will swell to absorb the majority of the water and you may have to add a little more water for the next step. A quick trip through the blender to "crush" into chunks ( not finely divided) the now softened and swollen barley - avoid excessive blending - and you are set to include this in your mash. Measure and include the water you used in your calculations. As I recall, the yield is about 80% or so of normal malt, but then feed grade barley is of lower quality than the malting grade and will likely vary with the source. This is different from a cooked cereal mash in that when I make one of these, I include some crushed barley malt ( about a pound for a typical adjunct load) to keep it from sticking to the pot and to lower the viscosity. In the case of the raw barley the husk and slow gelatinization keeps this from happening. Also, Randy, TSP should not attack copper so you can use it. I would rinse the chiller very carefully as TSP is a salt and is alkaline and may induce corrosion if there are any other metallic unions ( like solder) around . After using it to lift and disperse organics, I suggest a dilute vinegar rinse followed by water. Keep on Brewin' Dave Burley Return to table of contents
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