HOMEBREW Digest #618 Thu 18 April 1991

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


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


Contents:
  microbrewery suppliers (Joe Uknalis)
  Re: Rare Trappiste Ale (mailhost!b11!mspe5!guy)
  Astringent Beer, Pressure Barrels (hersh)
  Root Beer, Jackson, Database (BAUGHMANKR)
  Water, water everywhere; and all the drops did stink. ("DRCV06::GRAHAM")
  Home brewed pop (Ted Manahan)
  Returned mail: Service unavailable (Mail Delivery Subsystem)
  add to mail list - please
  RE: Homebrew Digest #617 (April 17, 1991) (Eric Pepke)
  Root Beer (Paul Bigelow)
  SIGNOFF HOMEBREW (x7340)" <JEFF4320%SYBIL at rti.rti.org>
  Soda Pop, Weizen yeast, Grainy beer (Mike Charlton)
  WANTED: Good brew in Boston and/or Denver (STAFINIAK)
  Re:  Homebrew Digest #617 (April 17, 1991) (Raymond Degennaro)
  Re: Homebrew Digest #616 (April 16, 1991) (Dennis Hurlbut)
  mead (Brian Bliss)
  Invasion of the Yeast People??? (Bob Devine  17-Apr-1991 1328)
  Cider Making (Eric Rose)
  Sending email from US to UK (Carol Botteron)
  More on Florida Brewpubs (C.R. Saikley)

Send submissions to homebrew%hpfcmi at hplabs.hp.com Send requests to homebrew-request%hpfcmi at hplabs.hp.com [Please do not send me requests for back issues] Archives are available from netlib at mthvax.cs.miami.edu
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 07:31:52 EDT From: Joe Uknalis <UKNALIS at VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU> Subject: microbrewery suppliers does anyone know of any microbrewery suppliers that are publicly traded companies? Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 9:10:34 CDT From: mailhost!mailhost!b11!mspe5!guy at uunet.UU.NET Subject: Re: Rare Trappiste Ale In Homebrew Digest #615, Craig Flowers writes: > ... As luck would have it, I have had the opportunity to taste one of the > rarer Trappiste Ales. > > A recent aquaintance travels to Belgium a few times a year for work. He > brought back a Trappiste Ale and said the only place you could get it was > at the Abbey. It came in a brown bottle and had no label. The cap is > marked: Trappistenbier Westvleteren ABT. I looked it up in Jackson's book > (the first edition) and found it was made by one of the 6 Abbeys that can > lawfully call their beers Trappist. The abbey is run by the St. Sixtus > Brothers and is refered to as the Westvleteren Abbey. They brew beer > mainly for the brothers and will sell to visiters. The beer is not > available away from the Abbey, although a local brewery brews another beer > under the Brother's direction. This was about all Jackson had. Could > someone look this up in Jackson's latest edition to see if there is any > other information? > > For the truly curious, the side of the cap reads: ST. SIXTUSABDIJ V.Z.W. > B-8983 Vleteren. I don't know if Vleteren is town but that's what I would > guess. I don't understand the ABDIJ connected to St. Sixtus nor whether > B-8983 is in any way significant. I talked to a friend who is a Belgian national to see what he knew about this beer/place. He did not know the beer but he did know of Vleteren. It is not a town but rather an area of the Flemish part of Belgium. His guess as to the significance of the other letters and numbers on the top was that it is the address of the abbey. His parents, who still live in Belgium, are coming over for three months in October and his father has offered to bring me up to six beers of my choice (that he can obtain relatively easily) from over there. He is also going to try and bring several glasses and/or mugs including a Chimay one if he can get it. He will also be bringing a somewhat larger quantity of Jupiler for his son as it is his favorite beer. Unfortunately, Jupiler is not the best example of the finer Belgian beers. I have another Belgian friend who is a rabid fan of the Trappist ales and he probably would know more about this particular one as he hails from the Flemish section of Belgium. I have been unable to contact him as of yet. -- ============================================================================== Guy D. McConnell | |"All that is gold does not Intergraph Corp. Huntsville, AL. | These | glitter, not all those who Mass Storage Peripheral Evaluation | opinions | wander are lost, the old Tape Products | are mine | that is strong does not Mail Stop CR1105 | and mine | wither, and deep roots are uunet!ingr!b11!mspe5!guy | alone. | not touched by the frost." (205)730-6289 FAX (205)730-6011 | | J.R.R.T. ============================================================================== Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 10:56:02 EDT From: hersh at expo.lcs.mit.edu Subject: Astringent Beer, Pressure Barrels >I have been attempting all-grain brewing and have run into a problem. In three >attempts I have ended up with extremely husky tasting brew. It is so bad that >the beer is undrinkable How much sparge water do you use?? How far do you sparge (ie till the liquid runs completely clear)?? Perhaps you are oversparging, thus taking extra astringency otherwise left in the grain bed along into the wort. This is a typical problem. Grain/Water ratios vary with brewing technique, grain used and recipe, though the number I'm familiar with is 1qt. per pound of grain. I used to have an Edme pressure Barrel, I spent $40 on the thing and it never really carbonated properly, even when using CO2 capsules to inject extra pressure. Today I wish I had just gone all the way and gotten the Cornelius System like I have now and not wasted the $40. IMHO the 3 or 5 gallon Cornelius System is much more reliable and durable and produces much better results, and the extra cost was well worth it for what I consider a permanent piece of equipment. Jay H Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 1991 11:06 EST From: BAUGHMANKR at CONRAD.APPSTATE.EDU Subject: Root Beer, Jackson, Database Ken Flowers asked why root beer doesn't turn into soda bombs: Yeast need not only sugar but also nutrients in order to proceed with their fermentation duties. Since cane sugar has hardly any nutrients, the yeast quit working even though there is plenty of sugar left to munch on. Thus a sweet soda pop that is naturally carbonated. Rob Caton, the Jackson book referred to is _The World Guide to Beer_, by 'Sir' Michael his rotund self. Available at a Walden's or B.Dalton's near you. A manificent resource. Pictures and descriptions of damn near every beer in the world. Highly recommended to all homebrewers and a must for those preparing for the BJCP exam. John Melby's idea of putting together a database of pubs, breweries, and homebrew shops is a great idea. I'd suggest sticking it in the archives. Beer travelers of the world could search there first before departure. We could get the information we want directly and immediately and save our fellow brew-buddies the task of writing the rather lengthy exposes of such and such a place, many times repeating a discussion from a few months past. -KRB Return to table of contents
Date: 17 Apr 91 11:06:00 EDT From: "DRCV06::GRAHAM" <graham%drcv06.decnet at drcvax.af.mil> Subject: Water, water everywhere; and all the drops did stink. Brewing with the Derry air is fine, but the Derry water is the pits! First off, much thanks to all who put up with my novice questions. The first couple of batches of homebrew turned out very good. The problem is that our city water has a rather strong chlorint taste, plus some other off tastes and odors. I can identify these impurities in the beer, so I want to get a water purifier. I'd rather start with very pure water and add back the minerals necessary for a good brew than continue using this city hydrobilge. I am confronted with three basic types of water purification units: Distillation, UV/carbon block and reverse osmosis with pre and post filters. I've ruled out distillation because they are more expensive and use a lot of electricity. Between the other two I can't decide. Each claims that the other type is no good, or not so good. What are thoughts on these devices? The carbon block with UV sterilization seems very good to me, but the reverse osmosis people claim that the carbon won't remove the metallic ions from the water. The carbon folks claim that reverse osmosis is wasteful and no better than the carbon blocks. I want the water to be as pure as possible. What do various of y'all think? If you email to me directly, I'll post a summary to the net. Dan Graham, WA6CNN Beer made with the Derry aire, and unfortunately, with the Derry water. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 08:34:26 pdt From: Ted Manahan <tedm at hpcvcbp.cv.hp.com> Subject: Home brewed pop > As I was bottling it, I started to wonder, > what stops the yeasti-beasties from eating all that > unfermented sugar, and blowing bottles all over my > kitchen. The explanation given to me is that the soda mix doesn't have enough nutrients for the yeast to do much. Unfortunately, this is _wrong_, and I ended up with some very highly carbonated ginger ale when I tried it. Though there may not be enough nutrient for a good fermentation, your soda will slowly but surely gain pressure. You must put your soda pop in the refrigerator when it reaches a good level of carbonation, or it will (really) pop! Ted Manahan tedm at hp-pcd.cv.hp.com Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 08:54:52 PDT From: Mailer-Daemon at Eng.Sun.COM (Mail Delivery Subsystem) Subject: Returned mail: Service unavailable ----- Transcript of session follows ----- Connected to snail: >>> RCPT To:<arjuna at niklas egreen> <<< 554 <arjuna at niklas egreen>... Unknown host : niklas egreen 554 <arjuna at niklas egreen at Eng>... Service unavailable ----- Unsent message follows ----- Received: from novel.Eng.Sun.COM by Eng.Sun.COM (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA14986; Wed, 17 Apr 91 08:54:52 PDT Received: by novel.Eng.Sun.COM (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA02445; Wed, 17 Apr 91 09:08:39 PDT Return-Path: <gerry.comeau at sunesc.East> Received: from snail.Sun.COM by novel.Eng.Sun.COM (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA02441; Wed, 17 Apr 91 09:08:38 PDT Received: from East.Sun.COM by snail.Sun.COM (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA08025; Wed, 17 Apr 91 08:54:45 PDT Received: from sunesc.East.Sun.COM (sunesc-gw.East.Sun.COM) by East.Sun.COM (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA15771; Wed, 17 Apr 91 11:54:43 EDT Received: from musicman.East.Sun.COM by sunesc.East.Sun.COM (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA21673; Wed, 17 Apr 91 11:54:38 EDT Received: by musicman.East.Sun.COM (4.1/SMI-4.1) id AA01744; Wed, 17 Apr 91 08:03:48 EDT Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 08:03:48 EDT From: gerry.comeau at sunesc.East (GERRY COMEAU) Message-Id: <9104171203.AA01744 at musicman.East.Sun.COM> To: homebrew at Sun.COM Subject: add to mail list - please Hello out there, If this is the right mail list can you add me to the homebrew digest mailing? thanks! Gerry Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 1991 12:22:29 EDT From: PEPKE at SCRI1.SCRI.FSU.EDU (Eric Pepke) Subject: RE: Homebrew Digest #617 (April 17, 1991) Ken Flowers asks about root beer. The yeast in root beer will have a harder time growing than the yeast in regular beer, due to the lack of yeast nutrients. However, root beer still has copious bomb-making potential. I made one batch of ginger beer in Pepsi bottles and came home one day to find a sticky slush of ginger beer and glass, and splinters of glass embedded in the wall at eye height. After your root beer has gone the minimum amount of time needed to carbonate it, put it in the fridge. I've found that at Florida temperatures, 12 hours is sufficient to carbonate. Drink it within a week or so. Eric Pepke INTERNET: pepke at gw.scri.fsu.edu Supercomputer Computations Research Institute MFENET: pepke at fsu Florida State University SPAN: scri::pepke Tallahassee, FL 32306-4052 BITNET: pepke at fsu Disclaimer: My employers seldom even LISTEN to my opinions. Meta-disclaimer: Any society that needs disclaimers has too many lawyers. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 13:35:59 EDT From: Paul Bigelow <bigelow at waterloo.hp.com> Subject: Root Beer Ken Flowers says: > I just finished mixing up a batch of Root Beer Thanks, you goaded me into finally posting something I've been meaning to write for a long time. > As I was bottling it, I started to wonder, > what stops the yeasti-beasties from eating all that > unfermented sugar, and blowing bottles all over my kitchen. Precisely the question I asked myself, and of course the answer is "Nothing". Unless of course, you have a spare fridge to house all your bottles at near freezing temperatures or dump something in to kill off the yeast after you magically devine that the bottles are sufficiently carbonated.. > I just gotta believe that my brew supply store wouldn't sell me > a home bomb making kit. Unfortunately they have. I always follow recipes religiously the first time before modifying them. So when I mixed up a batch of root beer from a Hires extract, I somehow forgot everything I had ever learned about brewing. I did get a bit suspicious of the mumbo jumbo in the recipe about adding more or less yeast depending on the temperature. Adding yeast is essentially a binary process. Either the yeast grows or it doesn't. And it doesn't stop until it runs out of sugar. The recipe calls for over NINE cups of sugar. Just think what your beer would turn out like if you primed it with that much sugar. I spent every evening for a couple of weeks opening bottles to release the pressure. Then I had to add more sugar before serving for sweetening. My kids didn't get to the point of staggering around, but they did swear it was the best root beer they ever had :-) The recipe I came up with (and works well for me) is: Use one cup of sugar at bottling time (5+ gallon batch). Before serving, put 1/4 to 1/3 cup sugar per 750 ml of liquid (depending on your sweet tooth) in a clean bottle, pour in one bottle of root beer, shake. Adding the sugar directly to the root beer doesn't work well because it foams all over the place. Paul Bigelow bigelow at waterloo.hp.com Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 14:02:33 EDT From: "Jeff McCartney (x7340)" <JEFF4320%SYBIL at rti.rti.org> Subject: SIGNOFF HOMEBREW signoff homebrew Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 13:15:30 CDT From: Mike Charlton <umcharl3 at ccu.UManitoba.CA> Subject: Soda Pop, Weizen yeast, Grainy beer Ken Flowers talks about rootbeer: > what stops the yeasti-beasties from eating all that > unfermented sugar, and blowing bottles all over my > kitchen. NOTHING!!! This is very important. I have exploded more than one batch of rootbeer in my time. I have, however devised a fairly safe way to make soda pop (using yeast to carbonate it). First, use only plastic bottles (and only new ones to boot). Plastic bottles will make a mess when they explode, but won't usually kill people. Secondly use a yeast that is fairly temperature dependent (an ale yeast is good -- bread yeast, lager yeast, champagne or wine yeast are all out). After you bottle, squeeze the bottles periodically until they are hard. Put them in the freezer. When they get cold enough (almost frozen), take them out and decant the liquid off of the yeast. rebottle and store the bottles in the fridge. I have found that this method gets rid of most of the yeasty taste and will give you much more control over the carbonation level. It's well worth the extra work. Marty Albini asks about a pure Weizen beer yeast: MeV sells one. I can't rememer the number, but it is mentioned in the Zymurgy sepcial issue on yeast. Greg asks about husky tasting yeast: Your method basically looks OK, but I can see a few places where you might be going wrong. When you are applying heat (and adding hot water) to the mash, make sure you stir like crazy. As long as you get no hot spots above 168 degrees F, you will be OK as far as huskiness goes. Also, I reommend a mash out as this will make your sparge go a little easier. The next possibility is that you are oversparging. A final pH of 6.0 is a bit high. Fix mentions that the industry standard is around 5.8 (Warning: possible faulty memory on this point :-)). The two batches I have tested have a final pH of around 5.5 (I usually get very good extraction). Finally, you may be getting grains in the boil. I recommend recirculating your sparge until it starts to come clear (although, watch that final pH, you don't want it to get too high). You also have to watch out for leaching stuff out of the grains that will adversly affect head retention. As long as you keep the recirculation below 2 gallons, this should be no problem. Mike Charlton Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 14:22 EST From: STAFINIAK at hermes.psycha.upenn.edu Subject: WANTED: Good brew in Boston and/or Denver I'm relatively new to this and apologize in advance if this has been requested and answered already. I'm traveling soon to Boston and Denver and would like info on good brewpubs, micros, etc. Any suggestions? STAFINIAK at HERMES.PSYCHA.UPENN.EDU Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 11:24:38 PDT From: degennar%bmsr9.usc.edu at usc.edu (Raymond Degennaro) Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #617 (April 17, 1991) please remove me from the list Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 11:23:16 MST From: Dennis Hurlbut <ASDJH%ASUACAD.BITNET at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU> Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #616 (April 16, 1991) IN RESPONSE TO BILL CRICK"S REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON REMOVING OXIDATION FROM COPPER, TRY ACETIC ACID (VINEGAR). IF YOU LET THE COPPER SOAK, IT SHOULD REMOV E THE OXIDATION.I"M TRYING TO SEND THIS MESSAGE,BUT WITH DIFFICULTY. IF THERE ARE MULTIPLE COPIES COMING THROUGH, TELL ME. Dennis Hurlbut Department of Anthropology Arizona State University Tempe, AZ 85287 Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 14:13:01 CDT From: bliss at csrd.uiuc.edu (Brian Bliss) Subject: mead I just made a 6 gallon batch of orange ginger mead: 15 lb clover honey juice from 1 orange (because I had no citric acid) 6 oz grated ginger 1 oz halletauer hops combined above ingredients, brought to a boil. took out a little wort, cooled down, added champagne yeast and shook. boiled the remaining wort 30 min. added another .5 oz halletauer hops. boiled 30 min. turned off heat. cut 4-5 lbs of oranges in half, and squeezed into the wort. Threw the hallves right in after squeezing. let sit 15 min. sparged into cold water, while removing the oragne halves and squeezing the last bit out (with clean hands - very hot - ouch!). added yeast starter when cool. I got a S.G. of 1.088 at 85F. It's been fermenting like a mad dog for almost a week now. I'm not going to rack it to a secondary until I slows down a little - Nothing's settled out (except for a little bit of yeast) with the rapid fermentation constantly stirring it up. Anyway, hope this helps anybody who wants to try making mead get the S.G right. btw, I practically had an orgasm eating the last bit of fruit out of the hot, honey-soaked orange halves after I was done. brian Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 12:27:30 PDT From: Bob Devine 17-Apr-1991 1328 <devine at cookie.enet.dec.com> Subject: Invasion of the Yeast People??? For the second time recently, after I gave a beer novice a bottle of my homebrew, they became very interested in brewing for themselves. Now that got me thinking. If anyone ever read "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins, it may explain the reason for a sudden desire to be a homebrewer. In the book, Dawkins posits that it is really the genes that control everything and human beings are nothing more than a gene's way of making more genes. Therefore it seems entirely reasonable that the yeasts used in homebrewing have mutated to control our very thoughts. Right now there are millions, nay, trillions! of yeasts inside your body telling you to MAKE MORE BEER! On the other hand, maybe they just liked my beer.... Bob ;-) Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 15:36:39 EDT From: Eric Rose <rose at aecom.yu.edu> Subject: Cider Making Howdy everyone. I'm new both to this list and to homebrewing. When I was in England a while back, I tried several different brands of hard sparkling cider, and loved them all. The only brand name I remember was "Strongbow." They were all very very dry, and really tasty. I'm writing to inquire whether anyone has a recipe for such stuff, or, even better, has made it themselves. Around September here in the Northeast, you can get excellent freshly-pressed apple cider from local orchards, so I thought I might try making some then. Peace, Eric Rose. - -- Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 18:13:04 -0400 From: botteron at bu-it.bu.edu (Carol Botteron) Subject: Sending email from US to UK This is for anyone who is trying to send email between the US and the UK, especially those who have tried to reach Morgiana P. Halley [Ye Olde Batte] at EG2MH at primea.sheffield.ac.uk She asked me to forward the following message: If this gets through to you, I have a suggestion for your other British mail, in fact, two suggestions. 1] Reverse all commands to the right of the at sign. The Brits like to use the opposite side from the rest of the world. (Like driving, you know). So, if it's given to you as ABC at XYZ.ZXY.ZXY send to ABC at ZXY.ZXY.XYZ 2] If the above doesn't work, look for a relay or link path to send it through. EAN is the one I use from here, but I can't remember the ones I used while in North America. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 17 Apr 91 19:08:32 PDT From: grumpy!cr at uunet.UU.NET (C.R. Saikley) Subject: More on Florida Brewpubs From: aem at mthvax.cs.miami.edu (a.e.mossberg) <Miami has two brewpubs - Zum Alten Fritz, in downtown Miami near the <Omni, and another whose name I cannot remember, in Ft. Lauderdale right <on New River. There is nothing in the phone book listed for "Florida <Brewing Co." The pub in Ft. Lautertun is probably : River Walk Brewery 132 Isle of Venice Ft. Lautertun, FL 33301 305-463-2337 The records we have at the Celebrator Beer News indicate that there is a Florida Brewing Co/Garlic Grill & Brewpub at : 1840 NE 4th Ave Miami, FL 33132 305-358-5731 I spoke with these folks today (4/17), it turns out that this place and Zum Alten Fritz are the same. Directory assistance has both the Florida Brewing Co, and Garlic Grill & Brewpub listed at the above number. ZAF's number is 305-374-7610. I don't know why they maintain three distinct names, and two phone numbers - -- From: jmellby at skvax1.csc.ti.com (JRM at 214/575-6774) <So what I want to do is create a more formal database that I can query <asking things like <what pubs are in San Jose <what microbrewerys are in San Francisco or in the 808 area code <what beer stores are near Tulsa <and so on. <I already have a large amount of semi-formatted data (around a 100K <annotated list of pubs including notes and comments from the net). <Has anyone else already got such a program? Would anyone else be <willing to contribute their list of pubs for such an effort? Sounds like a great idea, John. I'd be happy to give you access to the Celebrator's records. We've talked about creating such a database, but thusfar it's only talk. But alas, we stray from the topic of homebrew. So I pose a question : Does S. Delbruckii have oxygen requirements similar to standard brewing strains, like S. Cerevisiae and S. Uvarum ?? I'll be making a wheat beer soon, and would like to learn more about the metabolism of S. Delbruckiiiii. If I use a mixed strain, will lots of O2 favor one strain over the others?? Can a pure strain of S. Delbruckii be used satisfactorily?? Any input would be appreciated. A friend recently returned from Munich with a bottle of Amertaller Weizen which is unequivocally the finest libation in the Universe (beats a Pan-Galactic-Gargle-Blaster hands down!!). So I plan to culture the dregs.The brewery is very tiny, so I doubt they filter out the Delbruckii and then add a different strain to bottle condition. This is how the large German breweries make HefeWeizen (according to Dave Miller - me thinks). Cheers, CR Saikley Associate Editor - Celebrator Beer News Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #618, 04/18/91 ************************************* -------
[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