HOMEBREW Digest #4756 Wed 06 April 2005


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Contents:
  What could be better? (Scott and Cherie Stihler)
  RE: Making highly fermentable wort ("Flannery, Phil")
  re: Round two - Enzymes Next question ("Dennis Collins")

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 21:32:55 -0800 From: Scott and Cherie Stihler <stihlerunits at mosquitonet.com> Subject: What could be better? I posted this elsewhere so I apologize to those people that have already seen this. - -------------------------------------- What could be better than coming to Alaska? Coming to Alaska AND judging beer! The E.T. Barnette Homebrew Competition will take place in Fox, Alaska (a small mining community ~11 miles north of Fairbanks) on July 16, 2005. The overall quality of the entries in the competition is exceptional. The somewhat higher shipping costs and a $500 prize for Best of Show tend to bring out only the best beers. We would love to have folks come up to visit and help with the judging. Information about this competition may be found at the following URL: http://www.mosquitonet.com/~stihlerunits/ScottsDen/Beer/Events/Events.html We offer E.T. Barnette judges the option of preregisering their own entries andthan dropping off the entries the day of the competition. This allows them to save some money on shipping costs. Of course, one may not wish to travel across country with their entries but that is at least an option. Also in Fairbanks, on July 23 there will be the Alaska Craft Beer Festival. This isn't a huge event but it is a good way to sample a number of beers from throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. What could be better than visting Alaska and judging in one sanctioned homebrew competition? Visting Alaska and judging in TWO sanctioned competitions, of course! There will be another homebrew competition in Seward, Alaska on either the weekend before (July 9) or the weekend following (July 23) the E.T. Barnette Homebrew Competition. The date of this compettion has yet to be set. Although this is the first such competition in Seward things should run smoothly since they have enlisted the Great Northern Brewers Club in Anchorage to handle the logistics and judging of this event. Seward is a great place visit. It is an even better place to visit and drink beer. With the U.S dollar has been taking quite a beating from the Euro this year perhaps one should consider going to Alaska this summer instead of Europe. The Alaskan exchange rate is always quite good. ;-) You'd surprised that some tourist actually to ask about the non-existant U.S.-Alaska currency exchange rate. Of course, these are probably the same people that ask about taking a tram to the top of Denali. Coming to Alaska can be an adventure. However, despite all the horror stories you've probably heard about the Alcan Highway it is really not all that bad. You can also save a lot of driving by taking the Alaska Marine Highway (http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/) at least part of the way. The Alaska Marine Highway allows you to bring your car or RV along and it is, at least compared to the cost of an airline ticket, not all that expensive. Should you decide to drive the Alcan or drive anywhere in Alaska I would recommend purchasing "The Milepost" (http://www.themilepost.com). This book is very useful when traveling in Alaska and the Yukon Territory. "The Milepost" is a a great resource. In fact, we buy a new copy pretty much every other year and we live here. Alaska during the summer is great. It is such a beautiful place. There are some very good brewers here was well . What could be better than visiting Alaska and enjoying the wonderful beers we have to offer? If you have any questions about Alaska or are interested in coming up and judging in the E.T. Barnette Homebrew Competition please feel free to contact me. My wife and I love Alaska and we like to share it with people. Cheers, Scott Stihler Fairbanks, Alaska [2874, 324.9] Apparent Rennerian Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 12:04:36 +0200 From: "Flannery, Phil" <phil.flannery at eds.com> Subject: RE: Making highly fermentable wort > -S writes....... > > **For pure-infusion brewing(insulated coolers) perhaps this would work > well > enough > 1/ mash-in very thick(0.5qt/lb) at 50C/122F (hydration) 0-5 minutes. > 2/ infusion step to 67C for full gelatinization rest for 10 minutes. > 3/ downward infusion step to 63C for long BA rest - 45+ min. > 4/ slow series of infusions to 68-72C over a 45min period.** > > I'm having problems getting my beer to attenuate down. > I'm using vienner malt as my base malt. > I have been doing 100% vienner beers lately. > I think part of my problem is that when I mash in, in my cooler, > I'm shooting for 65 to 67c. > I have to infuse 78c water to attain this. > So I'm probably doing damage before the temp levels out at 65. > I like your idea of wetting the grains at a lower temp first, but don't > want to go from 50 to 67 > and then back down to 63. > What would be a good compromise? 45 to 65? > It would be easy to mash in at 40 and > just wait for the rest of the mash in water to heat up > so that I could do the next infusion to attain 65 or so. > > What do you think? > > Greetings from Germany. > > Phil > Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 6 Apr 2005 11:08:45 -0400 From: "Dennis Collins" <dcollins at drain-all.com> Subject: re: Round two - Enzymes Next question I'd like to give -S kudos for pointing out, what I consider, to be a fundamental flaw in many RIMS/HERMS designs. That is, the systematic over-heating of the recirculated wort, on purpose, beyond the desired mash temperature. I built my HERMS system for temperature control primarily (the wort clarity is a great benefit as well). I think step mashes are over-rated, and for the most part, unnecessary. If you can't make a good beer with a single step infusion, you have bigger problems on your hands and shouldn't be fooling with step mashes anyway. For styles and ingredients that necessitate a step mash, a recirculating system is not the best way to get there. But that's another post and I digress...... For a single step infusion mash, it is entirely possible, using proper temperature probe placement and a well designed heat exchanger, to maintain a constant (non-fluctuating) mash temperature for any length of time, without ever over-heating the wort (limits of equipment precision notwithstanding). Putting the control thermocouple within the mash, and/or using bypass loops do exactly what -S says: they intentionally over-heat the wort cyclically and tend to do all the things mentioned in -S's post related to over-heating. What's the point of a target mash temp of 150 if, over the course of an hour's time, you systematically heat all the wort to say, 155, even briefly? This puts cyclical temperature fluctuations into the mash. Constant recirculation assures that 100% of the wort will eventually go through the heater and potentially get over heated. Yes, the average temperature over the hour is 150 because the equipment will compensate for over-heating by allowing the wort to "over-cool". Therefore, at any particular time, different layers of the mash are at anywhere from say, 145 - 155. I've had multiple discussions with folks regarding probe placement, so I won't bring it up again (even though I'm right) : ) My point here is this: If over heating the wort (or even over-cooling) beyond your target temperature, by any means, gives you a result that is not desirable, why would you intentionally design an over-heating mechanism into your brewery? As I said before, you can eliminate these temp swings in a recirculating system through probe placement and a good heat exchanger. There is more info at my website. Dennis Collins Knoxville, TN http://sdcollins.home.mindspring.com "In theory, theory and practice are the same. But not in practice." Return to table of contents
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