HOMEBREW Digest #4895 Tue 22 November 2005


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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Re: Odd final gravity ("Greg 'groggy' Lehey")
  Re: Odd final gravity (Pete Limosani)
  HBD: Odd final gravity (Randy Ricchi)
  Low final gravity ("Spencer W. Thomas")
  Re: Lager darkened  in keg ("Doug Moyer")
  Split Rock Competition Results ("Houseman, David L")
  re: Hop Storage (Mark Beck)
  RE: Hop Storage (Dennis Lewis)
  Hop storage ("Peed, John")
  Oxidized lager ("Steve Park")

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 11:28:52 +0100 From: "Greg 'groggy' Lehey" <grog at lemis.com> Subject: Re: Odd final gravity On Monday, 21 November 2005 at 11:52:05 -0900, Alex MacGillivray wrote: > I don't want to call this a problem because it's really not. I'd just like > a little feedback from the community. > The last several batches of beer I've made, including an oatmeal stout, > have fermented all the way down to 1.010. I've been sticking to Wyeast > 2112 and 1056 mostly, although other yeasts have produced the same effect. > Five years ago I did a Trappist with an OG of 1.084 and it also > fermented out to 1.010. > > Anyone else have this experience? I don't think that it makes sense to mention attenuation without some idea of the grain (and cane) bill. I'd guess that you're using a fair amount of sugar, right? Greg - -- Finger grog at lemis.com for PGP public key See complete headers for address and phone numbers Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 06:44:50 -0500 From: Pete Limosani <peteLimo at comcast.net> Subject: Re: Odd final gravity Alex MacGillivray writes, "The last several batches of beer I've made, including an oatmeal stout, have fermented all the way down to 1.010...Anyone else have this experience?" Alex, I've been having a similar experience--but worse by the numbers. 8/21-Brewed Brown Ale O.G. = 1.050, T.G = 1.009 Notes show no significant issues during brew session. Used 1056. One week primary and one week secondary at 70* in kitchen. Tastes good. 9/18 - Brewed Vienna O.G. = 1.055 T.G. = 1.006 (2 weeks later when racking and 2 months later at bottling) Got the mash to a steady 152.5 quickly, then let it mash for 2 hours 20 minutes (family issue took me away). Used 2263 Oktoberfest Yeast from 2L starter. Two weeks primary at 50*. 7 weeks secondary at 35*. I just bottled this Sunday and it tastes good. Even my wife likes it. But a Vienna should not be this low. 9/25 - Brewed American Pale Ale O.G. = 1.050 T.G. = 1.005 Used new mash tun from Mini Brew. Holes in the false bottom are bigger than old Phil's false bottom and some grain got through. Also holds more water under false bottom, so it took some effort getting temp stable at about 152*. Performed something of a decoction to raise temperature. Removed some. Heated it close to boil. Returned it. Used 1056. One week primary and one week secondary at 70* in kitchen. This beer had a slight apple taste to it that is dissipating with age, but otherwise tastes good. 10/2 - Brewed Bohemian Pilsner O.G. =1.048 T.G = 1.008. I make this recipe a lot and usually get T.G. = 1.012. Used new mash tun again and ground grain larger to accommodate larger holes. Had to do a little decoction routine again to get temp stable at 152*. Used 2278 from 2L starter. Two weeks primary at 50*. 5 weeks secondary at 35*. I just bottled this Sunday and it tastes good. All four of these are 3-10 points lower than expected. Different yeasts and fermentation temperatures. Same base malt for all of them and I've used that base malt for two other Pilsners and a Pale Ale that all ended at 1.012. The latter three brews had some mashing issues--mostly temperature control-- could this be the culprit? Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 08:20:29 -0500 From: Randy Ricchi <rricchi at houghton.k12.mi.us> Subject: HBD: Odd final gravity Alex, Two reasons for low final gravities in beer (assuming no infection, and since you mention there are no off-flavors we can probably rule that out): Low saccharification temperature, and yeast strain. Wyeast 1056 tends to be quite attenuative. It will take a 1.050 to 1.055 gravity beer down to 1.010 or even as low as 1.008 every time, unless you have a ton of crystal malts or other relatively unfermentable malts in your grist. Many Trappist ale yeasts are even more attenuative. This tendency to ferment to low final gravity is compounded by the fact that in many high gravity trappist styles a portion of the grist is sugar which is pretty much 100% fermentable. I've had 1.075 gravity tripels ferment down to 1.010, and I recall an article in either Zymurgy or Brewing Techniques a few years back where they compared several different belgian ale yeasts by splitting a batch several ways and fermenting with each strain. Some of the strains fermented out to very low f.g's, something like 1.003 or 1.004! I can't comment on the Wyeast 2112 since I don't recall which strain that is. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 08:37:25 -0500 From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <hbd at spencerwthomas.com> Subject: Low final gravity Nobody has (yet) mentioned one obvious possibility: Your hydrometer calibration has shifted, and your FGs are not actually low. Have you verified the hydrometer with water? Water at the calibration temp (usually either 60F or 68F) should read 1.000. =Spencer in Ann Arbor Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 09:11:28 -0500 From: "Doug Moyer" <shyzaboy at yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Lager darkened in keg My memory doesn't always serve me well, but it seems that the once prolific Dr. Pivo claimed that adding a small batch (10%?) of new beer in high krausen would "rescue" an oxidized beer. Wouldn't take much to try it out.... Brew on! Doug Moyer Troutville, VA Star City Brewers Guild: http://www.starcitybrewers.org Shyzabrau Homebrewery: http://users.adelphia.net/~shyzaboy/homebrewery.html Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 09:58:37 -0500 From: "Houseman, David L" <David.Houseman at unisys.com> Subject: Split Rock Competition Results The Great Brews of America Home Brew Competition sponsored by the Split Rock Resort and to the benefit of the Make-A-Wish Foundation was held on Saturday, November 19th. We had 140 entries, so thanks to all that entered. The results are posted at: http://www.splitrockresort.com/beerfest/homebrew-competition.php. Embarrassingly I have to congratulate myself for BOS :-)). To show how well laagering works to improve beers, my entries were recovered by the back of my beer fridge, forgotten after almost a year of unintentional laagering. I want to thank all the judges and stewards who showed up to participate. David Houseman Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 09:43:28 -0800 From: Mark Beck <beckmk at whitman.edu> Subject: re: Hop Storage Breweries store their hops in vacuum sealed bags, under refrigeration. They typically have vacuum sealers that they use to reseal their hops after they've been opened. Your unopened hops should keep just fine as you describe. The timing of this post is interesting. A week ago a friend had a 13 lb bale of hops that we split up, and stored in vacuum sealed bags. I bagged mine in 4 oz increments, as that's a typical amount I'll use for a batch. After a week I noticed that two of my bags didn't seal properly. To remedy this, just yesterday I went to the store and got a 2 1/2 quart vacuum storage container--it cost about $12 new. This container will hold about 8 oz of dry, flower hops. It's essentially one of these: http://www.bimart.com/itemdetail.aspx?itemno=600789 I took a piece of 1/4" tubing, sealed it into the end of my vacuum cleaner with a rag, and used it to evacuate the canister. Works great! Granted, I've only had this thing for a day, but it stayed sealed quite tightly overnight in my freezer. Mark Beck Walla Walla, WA __________________________________________________ Fred Johnson Writes: Considering that hops are generally harvested only at one time of the year--please correct me where I'm wrong--and considering that commercial breweries use lots of hops, I assume these breweries, especially the best ones that take care to obtain the best ingredients and maintain consistency, have a standard method of storing their year's supply of hops to maintain their freshness until the hops from the next season come in. Do they package their hops in small amounts? Do they purge the storage container with an inert gas? Do they simply freeze them? (I always find myself ordering at this time of year and often buy more than I'l actually use until next season. I keep them in a -15-20 C freezer in their original oxygen barrier bags, but it is really impossible for me to keep air out of the bags after they've been opened.) Fred L Johnson Apex, North Carolina, USA Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 13:29:51 -0800 (PST) From: Dennis Lewis <admin at dblewis.com> Subject: RE: Hop Storage Fred Johnson asks about hop storage in a large brewing facility..... One anecdotal, but first hand data point was an in-depth tour of the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Houston in the early 90's. We got to walk through the hop room, which was a large, semi-cooled room that was wall-to-wall hop bales of about dozen different varieties. What a great smell! There were lots of varieties that most of our group had never heard of before. The bales were just broken open and they would weigh out the whole flower hops in large plastic buckets, like 30 gal trashcans, but food-grade. There were no provisions for repackaging or storage of open bales since, at 10 million barrels a year, they were going through a lot of them, even at their meager hopping rates. I suppose that truckloads of bales were stored in refrigerated rooms, but we didn't see those. As an aside, we guessed (having not asked at the time) that they use that many varieties to mitigate seasonal crop differences. I took the Siebel Microbrewery Operations course way back in 1995 (before kids, like brewers fantasy camp) and worked at the (now defunct?) Chicago Brewing Co. It was like a large homebrew op where they used pellets exclusively and had to shovel out the 50 bbl mashtun by hand (the motor that turned grain rakes was broken). They kept these in the freezer, just like you'd expect, but they only used several pounds a day. I think the pellets came in 8 lb bags, but that seems like an odd number now. Reminiscing, Dennis Lewis Warren, OH Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 13:51:38 -0800 From: "Peed, John" <jpeed at elotouch.com> Subject: Hop storage Fred asks about hop storage. I suspect that a lot of micros order 11 lb. bricks from Hop Union, probably along the lines of just-in-time. As far as I know, Hop Union keeps the vacuum-packed or nitrogen-flushed packs in a cold warehouse. As far as I can tell, you can't beat a Seal-A-Meal or its equivalent, the food vacuum packer, for storing hops once you get them. It allows nicely condensed packing, particularly with whole hops, and you can re-vacuum and re-seal them any time you remove some. I highly recommend it. Obviously, you want to store them in the freezer (not the fridge; the colder the better). The whole hop thing is irritatingly mysterious to me. I'm convinced that hop quality is crucial, particularly with American hops used in large doses for aroma and flavor, but it's nearly impossible to find out who has the best ones, where they come from, how old they are, how they're stored, or anything. Every source claims theirs are the best, but most won't give any specifics to back that up. I'm reluctant to say on-line who I think has the best hops, because I have no justification for saying so, other than my nose and taste buds. Does anyone know how to get real "inside information" on quality hops, or does anyone care to venture their opinion on where to get them? John Peed Oak Ridge, TN Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 22 Nov 2005 16:12:36 -0600 From: "Steve Park" <parkwebonly at austin.rr.com> Subject: Oxidized lager Sorry for the pseudonym on last post - didn't realize I hadn't set up my name in my Outlook e-mail account. Now that I know my lager was likely a victim of oxidation, I guess I need to start eliminating potential future sources. I'm starting by switching from siphon to CO2 for transferring from fermenter to fermenter to keg. Any good setups/tips for moving beer around like this? Will carboy caps seal well enough? If I use carboy caps, what's the best way to hook up the CO2 to the cap? Any other good gadgets for doing this? Steve Park Return to table of contents
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