HOMEBREW Digest #722 Thu 12 September 1991

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


Contents:
  Re: Fast Fermentation (Darryl Okahata)
  Re:  Liquid Yeast Starter (John DeCarlo)
  Re: liquid yeast (ingr!b11!mspe5!guy)
  Cat's Meow (William R Tschantz)
  Re: Homebrew Digest #718 (Richard Stueven)
  Brewpubs in Rochester NY (Will Allen)
  Addr: Adios (for now) (RJS153)
  Re: liquid yeast cultures (Ken Giles)
  Bottling technique (Al Richer)
  Honey Ales ("MR. DAVID HABERMAN")
  zip city:cloves? ("KATMAN.WNETS385")
  Yeast starters (Ted Manahan)
  Chico Ale Yeast????? (klm)
  starter, O2 (Russ Gelinas)
  Corn vs. Cane (Ed Kesicki)
  Nomenclature (Conn Copas)
  Cat's Meow translator (David Suda)
  Address change (Laura Lawson - UE/WST Operations)
  Mead, Dry-Hop, Wort Chiller (Chad Epifanio)
  Nitrosamines in Beer (Jeff Frane)
  Hot Break (Norm Pyle)
  Loose hops, Wort chiller (Carl West)
  Decompressing mthvax.miami.edu Archive Files (MIKE LIGAS)
  Re: liquid yeast cultures (Darryl Okahata)
  Trouble-shooting. (Dave Rose)
  New England Beer Club (bob)
  Re: translate German label (Fritz Keinert)
  Re: Beer categories (korz)
  Re: Cooling (korz)
  Klages malt (Dave Rose)
  Re: Homebrew Digest #721 (September 11, 1991) (DeMello)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 00:16:31 PDT From: Darryl Okahata <darrylo at hpnmxx.sr.hp.com> Subject: Re: Fast Fermentation Kent Dinkel <dinkel at hpmtaa.lvld.hp.com> talks about a recipe of his: > On Saturday (9/7) I started brewing my 4th batch. It's an attempt to brew > a bitter consisting of: > > 6.6 lbs Munton Fison Amber Malt Extract > 13.2 bittering units (bu) worth of hops (bu = alpa content * ounces) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > .5 ounces Cascade hops (finishing) > 2 pkgs Munton Fison Ale Yeast I'd like to point out that there are more than one "bittering unit" definition/"standard". The one that is mentioned here is really "AAU"s (Alpha-Acid Units). I don't know how widespread this is, but I've only seen "bu" and "bittering units" (as in "40 bittering units") used only in conjunction with "IBU"s (Internation Bittering Units), which is quite different from AAUs. For more information, see the article "Calculating Hop Bitterness in Beer" by Jackie Rager, in the special 1990 issue of Zymurgy. -- Darryl Okahata Internet: darrylo at sr.hp.com DISCLAIMER: this message is the author's personal opinion and does not constitute the support, opinion or policy of Hewlett-Packard or of the little green men that have been following him all day. Return to table of contents
Date: Wednesday, 11 Sep 1991 09:40:46 EDT From: m14051 at mwvm.mitre.org (John DeCarlo) Subject: Re: Liquid Yeast Starter >From: Norm Pyle <pyle at intellistor.com> >I ruptured the packet in the morning, figuring on brewing the >following evening. I just left it out on the counter since the >air temperature was around 70 F. Well, within 8 - 10 hours the >package was swelling to alarming proportions and I decided that >I should brew as soon as possible to prevent an exploded yeast >package and a contaminated culture (a friend had this happen to >him). I am also wary of overswelling, though I believe that previous explosions were due to a problem with packaging that has since been fixed. >To make a long story long, I pitched the following morning and >didn't get any activity for about 30 hours. Now it seems to be >fine, but I'm concerned (not worried, mind you) that the long >lag time may have allowed other beasties to work on my wort. I now (from experience) advise people to *always* make a starter. Pitching straight in from the packet is a sure way to make one worry. :-) Here is how I make my starter culture. I use an old orange juice bottle that fits the stopper I use on my primary--that way I just transfer the airlock and stopper from the starter to the primary. I boil some water in and around the starter bottle, letting it boil away. During this time I boil up about a quart of 1.020 wort (no hops). (Calculating the 1.020 is slightly unsettling to me, since I invariably do it in my head at the last moment. It usually comes out to be a couple of ounces of dry malt extract. One quart is 1/20 of a 5 gallon batch, etc.) When the wort has boiled ten minutes or so, I pour out the boiling water from the starter bottle and pour in the boiling wort. This sits on a trivet in the air for awhile until it is just hot to the touch. Then I cool it in a cold water bath in the sink (trying to avoid temperature shock that would break the glass). Then I flame the outside of the yeast package, cut open, flame again, and pour into the starter wort. Put the airlock on, and use it in the next day or three, making sure it gets a krauesen on it first. This inevitably leads to a fast start, within hours, of fermentation. Really makes it easy for me to relax and enjoy the fermentation process. Internet: jdecarlo at mitre.org (or John.DeCarlo at f131.n109.z1.fidonet.org) Fidonet: 1:109/131 Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 9:04:19 CDT From: ingr!ingr!b11!mspe5!guy at uunet.UU.NET Subject: Re: liquid yeast In Digest #721, Norm Pyle writes: [ Majority of swollen yeast tale deleted ] > To make a long story long, I pitched the following morning and didn't get any > activity for about 30 hours. Now it seems to be fine, but I'm concerned (not > worried, mind you) that the long lag time may have allowed other beasties to > work on my wort. > > Should I have left the yeast package out of the fridge overnight and risked > explosion? Should I have made a starter wort instead and just brewed the > following night when I would have been more prepared? What are some of the > methods that you HBD'ers have used to make starter worts? Do you leave them > in a small pot, put it in a jar, or ...? > > It seems to me that the pure yeast strains are a better way to go but I hate > spending an extra almost $4 for something that leaves my wort (and work) > hanging out in the wind for a day and a half. The dry yeasts I've used in > the past have been very active in 8 hours or less. I had a similar thing happen to me this past weekend. I received my order from Alternative Beverage containing the supplies for my Christmas beer. I had intended to wait a couple of days to brew it because there are a couple of guys at work who are interested in brewing and they wanted to come over and sit in. Well, UPS had performed their famous drop-test on the package with sufficient force to rupture the bubble in the yeast packet (WYeast Irish Stout #1084) and it was threatening to explode when I opened the box. I made a starter solution with 1/2 cup DME and 1 cup water and put it into a beer bottle with an airlock. I then set off to buy the spices and planned to brew the next day (Saturday). I brewed the beer on Saturday evening and the whole house smelled Christmasy. At about 11:30 p.m. I pitched the yeast into the carboy, put on an air lock, and went to bed. When I got up Sunday morning, the foam was threatening to blow the stopper out so I put on a blowoff tube (5 gallons of beer in a 6.5 gallon carboy). Now, I have used this same yeast in a stout and I did not make a starter for it that time. It took 12 - 14 hours before *any* signs of fermentation occurred. The stout turned out fine but I like the fact that, with a starter, fermentation takes off much more quickly. Making a starter would have allowed you to wait until the next day to brew and also not have such a long lag time after pitching. Your beer will probably be alright but you may want to consider a starter in the future. You'll then get the yeast to take off more like the dry yeast to which you are accustomed. By the way, I racked the Christmas brew into the secondary last night and it smells wonderful!! - -- ============================================================================== Guy D. McConnell, Systems Engineer | |"All that is gold does not Intergraph Corp. Mail Stop CR1105 | My | glitter, not all those who Huntsville, AL. 35894-0001 | opinions | wander are lost, the old Computer and Storage Technology | are just | that is strong does not Evaluation Group | exactly | wither, and deep roots are uunet!ingr.com!b11!mspe5!guy | that. | not touched by the frost." (205)730-6289 FAX (205)730-6011 | | J.R.R.T. ============================================================================== Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 10:10:22 EDT From: William R Tschantz <wtschant at magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> Subject: Cat's Meow Hi, Could anyone E-mail me the ftp address and other info needed to get access to the Cat's Meow via ftp suitable for downloading to a Mac. If possible make it easy as I am a movice at using the net and unix. Thanks in advance. Bill - -- Bill Tschantz | Homebrew Better living through Chemistry Department | or a ===> Chemistry and Microbiology Ohio State University | Good Beer (chemicals and bugs) (614) 292-7451 | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 07:51:42 PDT From: Richard.Stueven at Corp.Sun.COM (Richard Stueven) Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #718 If you haven't received HBD #718 (or any other issue), don't despair. There have been a number of issues gone missing in the past, and they always appeared in the monthly archive. Relax, don't worry, and wait for the end of the month. gak TOOMUCHPRESSURETOOMUCHPRESSURETOOMUCHPRESSURETOOMUCHPRESSURETOOMUCHPRESSURETOO Richard Stueven AHA# 22584 gak at Corp.Sun.COM ...!attmail!gak ITMUSTSTOPITMUSTSTOPITMUSTSTOPITMUSTSTOPITMUSTSTOPITMUSTSTOPITMUSTSTOPITMUSTST Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 08:20:11 -0700 From: Will Allen <willa at hpvclwa.vcd.hp.com> Subject: Brewpubs in Rochester NY Greetings all: I'll be in Rochester NY soon on business. Where should I go for a good local brew? Please e-mail me directly. I'll forward a summary to anyone who is interested. THANKS! . . .Will Will Allen HP Vancouver Division willa at vcd.hp.com or ...!hplabs!vcd!willa Return to table of contents
Date: 11 Sep 91 11:25:30 EDT From: RJS153%SYSU at ISS1.AF.MIL Subject: Addr: Adios (for now) I'm leaving the Air Force and will no longer have access to the computer through which I received the Homebrew Digest. I'll try to get back in once I settle down in my new job. I'd like to thank everyone for the advice they gave when I needed and the good info in the Digest in general. I learned a lesson in my present batch. Watch out that leftover hops (from pellets) does not plug your blowoff hose! Kinda makes a mess on the floor, the walls, and the ceiling...... Adios, - --Randy-- Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 08:52:05 PDT From: keng at ic.MENTORG.COM (Ken Giles) Subject: Re: liquid yeast cultures Regarding making yeast starter cultures: Wyeast yeast is manufactured in my area, so I never have a packet more than a month old. I break the inner seal 12 hours before preparing the starter. This equates to 36 hours before I expect the brewing to be finished, because I let the starter do its thing for 24 hours before pitching. When preparing to pitch in 5 gallons, I boil 3 cups of water with 3/4 cups of dry malt extract. I boil for 20-30 minutes. I then pour this into a 750 ml champagne bottle which I then cool in a sink full of cold water (sometimes using ice to hasten the process). The champagne bottle was previously sanitized and pre-heated with hot tap water. When the temp of the starter wort reaches 70F, I pitch the Wyeast packet and put on an airlock. Actually, I keep the airlock on while it's cooling, too. I have an airlock stopper that fits the champagne bottle. When preparing to pitch in 10 gallons, I use a 1 gallon apple juice jug instead of the champagne bottle. I boil 1/2 gallon (plus 1 cup for evaporation) of water with 2 cups of DME, using the same procedures as above. My carboy stopper fits nicely into the 1 gallon jug. Sometimes I add hops in arbitrary amounts if the mood strikes me. kg. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 10:45:33 EDT From: richer at ionic.HQ.Ileaf.COM (Al Richer) Subject: Bottling technique On the advice of Carl West, I've decided to send out a short missive on my bottling technique. May this help you avoid too much trouble with a non-drinking spouse, as it has with me. This technique involves the use of the family dishwasher as a bottling table, thereby avoiding spills and drips all over the kitchen. It also allows you to go directly into dishwasher-sterilized bottles without having to unload them, avoiding potential source of contamination. First, the bottles. I load the dishwasher with the quantity of containers I'm going to need for a run (usually two cases. I also add the proper number of caps in a mesh bag, so that they will also be sterilized. I then run the dish- washer without soap and with heat dry on, producing sterile glass as an end product. While all of this is happening, I am racking my beer into my primary and priming it. The primary is then carries from the cellar into the kitchen and placed directly above the dishwasher, with the capper on the counter next to the sink. On the other side of the sink is a clear counter area,reserved for the bottled brew, covered with an old towel whose purpose will become evident. After the bottles are done the dishwasher cycle, I open the dishwasher door. It then becomes my bottle holder for racking. With the siphon ready to go, I line up 12 bottles on the dishwasher door. I then run down the row, filling each bottle with the racking tube. The dishwasher door catches all of the runoff, avoiding unnecessary later cleanup. The bottles are then capped, passed through a stream of water to rinse of overspill, and arranged on the old towel to dry off. In this method, cleanup becomes a breeze, as all I have to do is close the dish- washer door and turn it on! In this way, I can usually get 2 cases of beer racked, primed and capped in a total time of ~ 1.5 hours, counting the cleanup before and after. Thought you'd be interested, ajr N.B.: To our moderator: Keep up the great work!! Thanks!! _________________________________________________________ Alan J. Richer Mail: richer at hq.ileaf.com Interleaf, Inc. All std. disclaimers apply 9 Hillside Ave. Your mileage may vary Waltham,MA. 02154 " It's a nitwit idea. Nitwit ideas are for emergencies. The rest of the time you go by the Book, which is a collection of nitwit ideas that worked at least once." from "The Mote in God's Eye" , Niven and Pournelle _________________________________________________________ Return to table of contents
Date: 11 Sep 91 09:29:00 PDT From: "MR. DAVID HABERMAN" <habermand at afal-edwards.af.mil> Subject: Honey Ales I have finally caught up on all the digests that I received while on vacation for 3 weeks in Germany, Belgium, and Denmark. There was some discussion and requests for honey ale recipes. Here are 2 that I have brewed that came out very well. HONEY ALE for 5 US.gallons 4 lbs. Buckwheat honey 4 oz. Styrian Goldings hops 7 grams Red Star Ale yeast 1 tsp. acid blend 1 tsp. yeast nutrient 1 cup corn sugar SG: 1.031 FG: 0.997 Boil honey and 3 gal. water with 3 oz. hops for 47 min., add 1 oz. last 7 min. Before adding hops, skim off the skum that rises to the top. Cool and pour into fermenter and top to 5 gallons. Add acid blend, nutrients and re-hydrated yeast. When fermentation completes, mix with 1 cup sugar, a little yeast and bottle. This was the very first beer I ever made and 7 years ago most people I knew didn't worry about the bittering units of the hops. I would guess that they were around 3% AAU's. Red star was the main yeast used at the time. Yeast nutrient is necessary since the honey does not have the required food for the beasties. I used buckwheat honey because I like the flavor. Do not drink this beer until at least 1 month after bottling. Since it is made from honey the ale improves with age. A bottle that I saved for 4 and a half years tasted so good that I wish I had saved more! I plan on trying to reproduce this beer again. The beer had a very nice honey aroma and flavor. The hops were enough to balance the sweetness. I don't think that I would change anything except try to make more and keep it a while before drinking. ROCKET J. SQUIRREL HONEY WHEAT ALE for 5 US.gallons 3 lbs. Bavarian dry wheat extract 2 lbs. Clover honey 1/2 lb. Buckwheat honey 1/2 lb. light Crystal malt (20 lovibond?) 1 oz. Centennial hops 11.1% AAU's 24 oz. Wyeast 1056 slurry from a batch 3 months previous and stored in 'fridge SG: 1.050 FG: 1.005 Bring 1 and a half qts. water to 170 deg. F and turn off heat. Add crystal malt and steep for 40 min. Tempurature was 155 deg. after adding malt and stirring. In another pot, start 3 gallons water boiling. When it cames to a boil, strain in liquid from crystal malt and also pour another quart of hot water through the grains. Add the wheat extract and honey. Skim the skum off and then add 3/4 oz. hops for 1 hour. Turn off heat and add the last 1/4 oz. hops. Whirlpool and let stand to let the trub collect. Siphon into carbouy and top to 5 gallons. Add yeast and shake vigorously. Used the "wet t-shirt" method to keep it cool during the Southern California summer. Bottle with 4 oz. corn sugar. Has a very nice floral honey/clove aroma. Nice clear golden color. My beers have been much clearer since using the whirlpool technique to get rid of most of the trub before fermenting. Has a clove/wheat beer flavor not much honey flavor, I didn't want to use too much buckwheat honey in order to let the wheat flavor come through. I haven't had this very long, so I don't know what it will do with age. I was on the way to a Maltose Falcons meeting with some friends and we were trying to decide on the next beer to make. I saw the Rocky Raccoon Honey Lager recipe and thought it looked interesting. It called for Cascade hops, but I knew I had Centennials at home which are high alpha cascades (called CFJ90 last year). I don't have any lagering facility yet, but I did have some ale yeast. The resipe also calls for malt extract and as I was walking around the store, I saw a new product, the dry Bavarian Wheat extract. I used that instead. I also put in a half pound buckwheat honey instead of all clover. Since only the proportions resembled the original recipe, I decided to keep the Rocky part and change the rest of the name. Rocket J. Squirrel is the full name of the squirrel in the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon. - David A. Haberman Email: habermand at afal-edwards.af.mil Benny's Bait Shop and Sushi Bar - "Today's Bait is Tomorrow's Plate!" Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 16:21 GMT From: "KATMAN.WNETS385" <6790753%356_WEST_58TH_5TH_FL%NEW_YORK_NY%WNET_6790753 at mcimail.com> Subject: zip city:cloves? Date: 11-Sep-91 Time: 12:21 PM Msg: EXT01900 Hi there, I just called the Zip City brew pub (3 W. 18th St. Manhattan 212-366-6333) and they said that it looked like they'd be opening sometime in the first few weeks of October. They are sending out a mailing in a week or so, you can call and get onto their mailing list. About this clove taste... Over the weekend I had Anchor's wheat beer. I liked it a lot, but I'm not sure if it was all that clovey. It tasted less of cloves (or what Joe Germani called a clove taste) than my brown ale did. Now I hadn't noticed this flavor (aftertaste?) in my beer as a clove taste. Until Joe brought it to my attention as something I might want to try to get rid of, I thought my beer tasted fine :( (pout) Can someone suggest a beer that tends to taste strongly of cloves so I can experience this for real? Or is the Anchor wheat strongly cloved (cleaved?) and I just have a high clove tolerance? Lee Katman == Thirteen/WNET == New York, NY =Do not= use REPLY or ANSWERBACK, I can not receive mail in that fashion. Please send all mail to INTERNET katman.wnets385%wnet_6790753 at mcimail.com OR MCIMAIL EMS: wnet 6790753 MBX: katman.wnets385 Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 09:55:10 pdt From: Ted Manahan <tedm at hpcvcbp.cv.hp.com> Subject: Yeast starters Full-Name: Ted Manahan This note is to thank the participants of this digest for helping me improve my brews immensely. Following advice given in the digest, I have changed my procedure for pitching yeast. I now have very strong fermentations with short lag times, using liquid yeast cultures. Here's how I do it: I now always use a starter of about 3/4 quart. I give the starter a good shake to aerate it before adding the liquid yeast. Before pitching, I also aerate the wort by stirring vigorously with a spoon. These two changes alone have decreased the lag time to about six hours or less. I purchased a "yeast bank" from William's brewing. This allows you to freeze yeast cultures for up to a year. I get six or seven batches from a single package of liquid yeast. To restore these cultures, you have to do a two or three step process, using only about two tablespoons of weak wort at first, then about 1/3 cup, then about 3/4 quart. Each of these steps will take a day. There will be a beer judge certification exam on September 21st in Grants Pass, Oregon. Is anybody else reading this digest going to be there? Ted Manahan tedm at hp-pcd.cv.hp.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 10 Sep 91 7:53:46 EDT From: gozer!klm at uunet.UU.NET Subject: Chico Ale Yeast????? First a question: ================= Is Wyeast #1056 "American" the same as the "Chico Ale Yeast" that I've heard everyone talking about? Is the "Chico Ale Yeast" really the same stuff that Sierra Nevada uses? Now some comments: ================== I used the Wyeast #1056 in my most recent batch (an IPA.) THIS WAS MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH A LIQUID YEAST. Boy was that stuff slow to start! The date on the package indicated that it was slightly less than a month old, yet it still took two days for the package to puff up. It took another day and a half for the one quart starter-in-a-wine-bottle to reach full krausen. It took about 10 hours in the fermenter before there were really visible signs of fermentation. The fermentation was even somewhat different than I am accustomed to. The krausen never got really tall, but what was there was pretty dense. Fermentation proceeded at a moderate and steady pace of about 80 bubbles per minute for about 3 days. Aside from the spiciness of the Cascade hops, there was very little else in the way of "aroma" emanating from my airlock. I particularly did not notice a lot of the diacetyl or ester aromas that usually come out with an ale yeast. The keg is soaking as I type this. I will keg the beer this morning and BFDers who are curious can try it at the October meeting (if there is any left.) Thanks to Mike Sharp for the enormous bag of Cascade hops that he sold to me for dirt cheap. I'm glad you got tired of Cascade, Mike, cause I love 'em. If you've got any more, I'll take 'em cause I've almost used that whole bag already. - -- Kevin Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1991 9:51:48 -0400 (EDT) From: R_GELINAS at UNHH.UNH.EDU (Russ Gelinas) Subject: starter, O2 To Norm who is starting to use liquid yeast: Learn how to make a yeast starter. Liquid yeast is well worth the effort, but the unpredictability of the swelling of the package, and the low yeast count even after it has swelled, makes the use of starters almost required. They're easy. Relax. Check the HBD archives for howto. Ken sez: O2 introduced after ferment can increase diacetyl. News to me. May not be a bad thing (I like Sam Adams a lot too). Seems weird though, since you can duplicate the diacetyl buttery flavor of Sam Smith by pitching into O2 *deficient* wort. I do remember reading an article about some research where adding O2 to the wort 12-18 hours after pitching helps out the yeast, but they made no mention of diacetyl. Someone also pointed out that I actually added O2 deficient water (boiled/cooled), so I might not have added all the much O2 to the wort, even with the splashing. Fortunately, the yeast is neutral (Wyeast Chico ~ Sierra Nevada), so any diacetyl should be noticeable. Just have to wait and see. Russ Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 11:35:48 PDT From: ek at chem.UCSD.EDU (Ed Kesicki) Subject: Corn vs. Cane Does anyone have first hand knowledge of what happens to the taste of beer that has been primed with cane sugar instead of corn sugar? I'm afraid my partner and I might have done this (the oldest mistake in the book-- storing things in unmarked containers). The resulting beers have an unpleasant bitter aftertaste. I read somewhere that fermenting cane sugar gives a "cidery" taste, but I don't really know what that means. Any feedback would be appreciated. Another question--a survey question: I would like to see some postings by people who have experience using liquid and dry yeast on similar beers under similar conditions. How do the tastes compare? How much of a difference was there? Our beers done with liquid yeasts had less off-flavors (harsh bitterness) than those done with dry yeast. However, they were different types of beers, so it's hard to compare, and there is the added variable of the cane sugar that we might or might not have used. Specifically, the dry yeast we used was English dry yeast from William's Brewing (used on 3 IPA's: one all-extract and 2 partial mashes as per Dave Miller); the liquid yeasts were included in the kits we bought from William's (dry stout and wheat beer). All were done in coastal San Diego, temp's in the 70's, but may have gotten above 80 many times. One of the IPA's, in particular, was very strange: after racking from primary (at 3 days, after most activity had stopped), the beer started to clear up and not much fermentation was evident. After one week, the fermentation kicked in again, producing one glug every 30 sec in the airlock, and continued 2 weeks like this. We finally bottled it but the beer is raunchy--harsh clinging bitter aftertaste--almost completely undrinkable (except maybe at the end of a party). Anyway, the other IPA's were better behaved, but still have that slight harsh off-flavor, not what we would expect just from the hops. Different hops were used to bitter each batch, but that off-flavor is still there. We'd like to blame the dry yeast, but I'm not sure if that's fair. Anyone? Ed Kesicki Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1991 17:23:52 +0000 From: Conn Copas <C.V.Copas at loughborough.ac.uk> Subject: Nomenclature >As promised when I first notified HD readers about the upcoming Canadian >Amateur Brewers Association (CABA) "All About Ales Contest", here are the >recently released details of what, where, when and how to enter. > >3. Beer must be classified as one of the classes listed (see CLASS > DESCRIPTIONS below). >4. Beer must be bottled in brown or green 284-355 ml glass beer bottles clean > and free from any identifying marks. > >Class 3: English Bitter > - gold to copper coloured. Low carbonation. Medium bitterness. May or may not > have hop flavour and/or aroma. Low to medium maltiness. Light to medium body. > Original gravity less than 1.050. Hate to stir the pot :-), but a traditionalist might wish to argue that if it comes in a bottle, it ain't Bitter and is probably more like Pale Ale! I am fully aware of all the British recipe books which suggest otherwise, and of the possibility of buying so-called 'bitters' in bottled form here. But, IMHO, they are all abusing the term ... To the person who was eagerly looking forward to his friend bringing back some 'genuine' English beer - hope he can fit a mini-cask in his luggage! Conn V Copas tel : (0509)263171 ext 4164 Loughborough University of Technology fax : (0509)610815 Computer-Human Interaction Research Centre Leicestershire LE11 3TU e-mail - G Britain (Janet):C.V.Copas at uk.ac.lut (Internet):C.V.Copas%lut.ac.uk at nsfnet-relay.ac.uk Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 13:26:47 -0600 From: David Suda <suda at barley.Colorado.EDU> Subject: Cat's Meow translator Here's a short C program for translating the Cat's Meow into a form that can be printed on a postscript printer from unix. Compile the program (for example: cc -o trans trans.c) and then translate each chapter: trans < recipes_pt1.ps > new_recipes_pt1.ps Source code: #include <stdio.h> main() { unsigned char c,tst; tst='\200'; c=getchar(); while (c!=EOF) { if (c>=tst) { putchar('\134'); printf("%o",c); } else putchar(c); c=getchar(); } } Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 12:48:47 PDT From: donthave at cowman.Eng.Sun.COM (Laura Lawson - UE/WST Operations) Subject: Address change Please repond if this is the correct location for an address change. Laura Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 13:46:41 PDT From: chad at mpl.UCSD.EDU (Chad Epifanio) Subject: Mead, Dry-Hop, Wort Chiller Hola senors: I thank the fellow who slapped me around and told me to chill about my mead. Just as he predicted, it became violently active within 4-6 days. My problem was that I use a plastic primary, and the only way to judge fermentation is by a bubbling airlock. The odor definitly has sulfur overtones, which I regard as good, since that means the fermentation is scrubbing the mead clean of the metabisulfite used for sterilization(I hope!). In times past, I regarded dry-hopping as dangerous and nonproductive. I always just let the finishing hops steep in the pot for awhile. A month ago, I noticed several discussions on the merits of dry- hopping, and, well, curiosity got the best of me. I made a batch of India Pale Ale; or a close facsimile 8>) After racking to the secondary, I threw in an ounce of Mt.Hood pellets and 8oz of oak chips. This I let sit for a week, and bottled. I chose Mt.Hood because it is described as spicy and flavorful. I poped open a two- week old bottle yesterday to test the carbonation. Holy hops, Batman! The smell was like a flowering wild bush, and the taste I reckon was similar to sucking on a handful of hop cones. I'm not sure that I liked it. Aging will probably improve it dramatically, but if I ever dry hop again, I'm damn sure not going to put in a full ounce. Just one man's opinion. I disagree with some of whats been said about immersion wort chilers. I presently have 30' of tubing, and granted, that just won't so the job in under 30 min. However, simply increasing the total length of the wort chiller may Not increase your efficiency appreciably. My reason is thus: The wort chiller is a heat exchanger, transferring the heat of the wort to the running cold water in the chiller(basically). The temperature gradient is what causes the heat to transfer. Basic. Now, by increasing the length of the tube, you increase the total surface area. However, the effective surface area of transfer will remain the same after a certain length. Say the tap water temp is 50F. At the start of the chiller, the temp diff will be from wort temp(say 200F) to chiller temp(50F). The water picks up heat, and say 15' into the pipe the water temp is 125F. The temp gradient is getting smaller. Say 30' into the pipe the water has heated to 200F. The temp gradient is zero past this point. No more heat can be removed. By only increasing the chiller length, the efficiency is not increased. Hold those flame guns, boys. This is just an illustration and not an equation. The transfer rate is also effected by the water volume flow and the temperture of the water. Obvious solutions to the problem are to increase the water flow or make the water colder. For most occasions, these options are either a pain or impossible. I propose that making the effective surface area of transfer larger will speed up the process considerably. Instead of one coil of tube, make two. Have a T-joint at the start of the chiller. Make one section into an inside coil, and the other side into an outside coil. Connect them at the ends with another T-joint, and you're in business. In fact, this is exactly the strategy employed by an ingenous inventer in the Gadgets special issue of Zymurgy(Can't remember his name). I am in the process of constructing one of these, and after the first trial, I'll report on the effectiveness. Chad Epifanio--> chad at mpl.ucsd.edu | "There are no bad brews. Scripps Institution of Oceanography | However, some are better Marine Physics Laboratory | than others." ================================================================ "All words and ideas are my own, etc., etc..." Return to table of contents
Date: 11 Sep 91 16:46:08 EDT From: Jeff Frane <70670.2067 at compuserve.com> Subject: Nitrosamines in Beer I've been eavesdropping on your Homebrew Digest from the Compuserve network; are you all on Unix networks? Anyway, to the point: Nitrosamines in beer. I remembered this vaguely from a tour of Great Western Malting in Vancouver, Washington years ago. I just spoke with one of their lab people, John Cutie (sp?) who explained the following. There is a natural precursor, dimethylamine (sp?) in *germinating* barley. It is easily nitrosated in Nitrosadimethylmine, which is carcinogenic particularly in the presence of oxides or nitrogen. If the malt comes in direct contact with these combustion biproducts, nitrosadimethyline will result. Great Western no longer has any direct gas-fired malting kilns; theirs are either indirect hot water or air to air. There *are* malting houses which use direct-fired kilns and they subjsequently purge the malt with SO2. If this is at all garbled, or the terminology is imprecise, please put the blame on me where it belongs, not on John. I'm pretty sure this is where the question of nitrosamines in beer originated, and it seems pretty clear that there should be none in commercial beers *or* in homebrew. CAVEAT: there are some homebrewers making their own malt, and they would do well to pay attention to this problems. I'm not sure what they use for heat, but a gas oven sounds like a BAD idea. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 15:16:32 -0600 From: Norm Pyle <pyle at intellistor.com> Subject: Hot Break Since this question seems to have been lost in the mysterious missing HBD's, I'll try again: What is this business called "hot break"? I assume from my reading that it has to do with quickly chilling the wort in order to pull trub out of solution. If this is true, I also assume one would then rack the wort off of this trub before fermentation. Am I in the ballpark? Is it worthwhile (taste-wise) to risk contaminating your (my) wort for this? After all, it is a cooled vat of microorganism food just waiting to be eaten... I may be in left field for all I know. Anyone like to set me straight? Thanks. Norm Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 17:04:42 EDT From: eisen at kopf.HQ.Ileaf.COM (Carl West) Subject: Loose hops, Wort chiller Loose hops: Last night I used loose hops for the first time. I think I'm interested in a hop sock. Any reason I can't use a portion of a pair of panty hose? Also, there were a whole bunch of what looked like seeds floating around in there, I was under the impression that hops aren't generally allowed to go to seed. I never noticed any seed-like objects while using hops plugs. I saved a few of them to see if they'll sprout. I don't know what I'll get but I'll know that their mother was a Fuggles. Wort chiller: Last night was also the first use of my new immersion wort chiller. It consists of: a 5' long 3/8"id utility sink hose hooked to the faucet and clamped onto 25' of 3/8"copper refrigeration coil with 5' of 5/16" vinyl tubing stuck on the other end and leading back to the sink It took 2 1/2gal (yeah, extract) from a slow boil to 80F in about 20 min. Seemed quick enough to me. The problem with the vinyl tubing was, when it got hot, it got really soft, and when it got really soft it fell over and kinked, and when that happened, it blew right off the copper tubing which then shot hot water all over the ceiling. Now the vinyl is twist-tied to the input hose so it won't kink. I'm learnin'. When I stop, bury me. Carl Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1991 18:59:00 -0400 From: MIKE LIGAS <LIGAS at SSCvax.CIS.McMaster.CA> Subject: Decompressing mthvax.miami.edu Archive Files Just downloaded the index for Papazian's "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing" (joyindex.Z) from the homebrew directory in the mthvax.miami.edu archives. Problem is it wouldn't decompress using a standard decompresing program. The index said I needed the 'compress.shar' program available in ~ftp/pub so I downloaded it to my hard drive. How does one get this program to run??!! :-{ Any HDers out there who can help me? Do I need to run it from my E-mail account or can I decompress files from the homebrew archives on my hard drive? Eagerley anticipating expert advice, Mike ligas at sscvax.cis.mcmaster.ca Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 16:03:29 PDT From: Darryl Okahata <darrylo at hpnmxx.sr.hp.com> Subject: Re: liquid yeast cultures > From: Norm Pyle <pyle at intellistor.com> > > My latest brew - a English bitter recipe - was my first try with a liquid yeast > culture. [ ... ] > I ruptured the packet in the morning, figuring on brewing the following evening. > I just left it out on the counter since the air temperature was around 70 F. > Well, within 8 - 10 hours the package was swelling to alarming proportions and So far, I've brewed using only liquid yeast (Wyeast), and I've noticed the following: if the date on the package is less than ~2 weeks old, the packet will usually swell to "alarming proportions" within 12 hours. If the date is a month or so old, the package will take from 18-24 hours on up to reach that stage. All this assumes that I haven't thrown the unruptured package in my ~40 deg.F refrigerator for awhile (note that the package was kept refrigerated at my local supply shop, but warmed up while I took it home). If I have thrown the package in my refrigerator, the packet can take 48 hours or more to reach that stage. I'm not sure what is going on. I have heard that yeast do not like going from a high temp to a low temp (they weaken or die?). If this is true, it does help to explain what I am seeing. > Since I was ill-prepared to brew that evening, I had not pre-boiled and cooled > my water. So I ended up with hot wort and hot water in my fermenter, with no > hope of cooling it that night (I don't have a chiller and it was 11 pm). I > threw the yeast package in the fridge to prevent further swelling until I > could pitch in the morning. You might want to consider making a yeast starter. Advantages: * Once the package has swelled, you just use it to make a starter, which is very easy. You don't have to put the package in the refrigerator and risk killing or weakening any yeast. * When pitching, you have a larger yeast population, which will decrease the lag time and make it more difficult for other beasties to contaminate your wort. For me, this is a *BIG* plus. I use liquid yeast to reduce the chances of contamination, and so I want to avoid long lag times. Disadvantages: * You need a little extra equipment (a jug, perhaps an extra airlock, etc.). * It's a little extra work. Some people don't use yeast starters, and they are quite happy with the results. Other people, who are perhaps used to dry yeast, do not like long lag times, and so they use yeast starters. You'll have to decide if using a yeast starter is right for you. Making a yeast starter is easy. Just boil and cool: * A quart or so of water (I try to use about 600 ml, which is about 2/3rds of a quart). * 6-8 heaping tablespoons of DME. * A pinch of yeast nutrient. Pour this into a sanitized jug (don't forget to aerate the "wort"), add the liquid yeast (after letting the package swell very large), and fit an airlock to the jug. After a couple of days, just pitch into your primary fermenter. I use a 1-liter Erlenmeyer flask to make my yeast starter. I just dump everything (but the yeast) into the flask, boil for several minutes (I just place the flask directly on my gas stove), cool, add the yeast, and stick a sanitized rubber stopper with an airlock on top. This is very easy, as I don't have to sanitize a jug, or worry about how to pour the wort into the jug. -- Darryl Okahata Internet: darrylo at sr.hp.com DISCLAIMER: this message is the author's personal opinion and does not constitute the support, opinion or policy of Hewlett-Packard or of the little green men that have been following him all day. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1991 14:06 EDT From: Dave Rose <CHOLM at HUBIO2.HARVARD.EDU> Subject: Trouble-shooting. I am a new subscriber to the digest and thought I would start off by asking three questions that have bothered me for some time. I am an all-grain brewer and am generally satisfied with the results, but I have some chronic trouble. First: Many of my beers have a subtle but noticable off taste which I would describe as "plastic-y." This plastic taste is not evident when tasting the beer but rather (if you'll excuse me) when burping after drinking it. Some- times I can detect a hint of this taste/smell if I smell the CO2 coming out of the airlock during fermentation. Does this sound familiar? Second: I have a pretty constant problem with hazes. Sometimes these are chill hazes and I figure that is because I do a one-step infusion mash so there is sometimes residual protein, although I am using only pale ale malt. But other times the haze is even at room temp. Any hints? Finally, my head retention is usually ok but doesn't compare to that of good commercial brews. I am careful about cleanliness so I don't think it is grease or detergent related. Short of using artificial heading agents, does anyone have any ideas? These questions paint a pretty dismal picture of my brewing, but actually these problems are rather minor. But I won't be truly happy until I can solve them. Any input is appreciated. thanks. d. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue Sep 10 22:19:41 1991 From: semantic!bob at uunet.UU.NET Subject: New England Beer Club PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT I would like to publicly announce the creation of a new electronic mailing list. This new list was created for the promotion of beer related activities in the North East. This is not a competitive list to the _Home_Brew_Digest_ and is not for discussions of homebrewing issues. The charter of this list is to promote homebrew clubs, homebrew competitions, tasting, picnics, pub crawls, brewpubs, breweries, homebrew suppliers and any other organization, news or activity related to beer in the New England area. So it is with great pleasure that I announce: THE NEW ENGLAND BEER CLUB This list is an un-moderated public forum and may be joined by anyone. It is expected to be a low volume mailing list. If the number of mailings per day gets large then it will be digested. To subscribe: beer-request@ rsi.com -or- uunet!semantic!beer-request To post: beer at rsi.com -or- uunet!semantic!beer On subscription please include your Full Name and Email Address in the message text. Brought to you by: The Wort Processors Boston's Oldest Brewing Club Cheers, -- Bob Gorman bob at rsi.com uunet!semantic!bob -- Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 09 Sep 91 08:07:25 CDT From: Fritz Keinert <keinert at iastate.edu> Subject: Re: translate German label In HD 719, "Ihor W. Slabicky" <iws at sgfb.ssd.ray.com> writes >> I am wondering whether someone can translate some of this >> German language text that I found on two German beer labels: >> Kulmbacher from the town of Kulmbach. I think that's in northern Bavaria, between Nu"rnberg and Hof, but I am not sure. It is quite famous in Germany for its beer. >> Kapuziner Schwarze Kapuziner is a type of monk, probably the type they have at the monastery that started the brewery. Kapuze = hood (on clothing). Schwarze is a form of schwarz = black, but I can't figure out how the ending fits in here. It is either a feminine or plural ending, but I see no feminine words or plurals here. >> Dunkles, Hefetrubes Weizenbier Dark wheat beer, murky from yeast. (Murky doesn't sound very good, but I can't think of a better word right now). >> Gebraut nach dem deutschen Reinheitsgebot brewed according to the German Purity Law >> e 0,5 l standardized half liter bottle. >> Hersteller: Monchshofbrau Kulmbach Producer: Mo"nchshofbra"u in the town of Kulmbach. Don't forget the umlauts; they are important in German. Same for tru"b, above. Anyway, Mo"nch = monk Hof = court or estate Bra"u = brew >> Mindestens haltbar bis 22.11.89 can be preserved until at least November 22, 1989. >> Kulmbacher >> Kapuziner Weizen >> Kristallklares Weizenbier Kapuziner Wheat from Kulmbach; crystal-clear wheat beer >> I assume that here so many overprints because the beer was imported. >> The 'e' by the 0,5 l proabably means it is an 'export' bottle of >> 0.5 liters (which it is). Nope. e = Einheitsflasche = standardized bottle (I think, anyway; you find that on a lot of glasses, too.) >> The dates are either when the beer was >> bottled, or when it should be drunk by - but which? When it should be drunk. See above. >> I bought both of these in the Spring of 1991, and drank them >> this week. Obviously, this beer doesn't sell too fast at that store. - -------- Fritz Keinert phone: (515) 294-5128 Department of Mathematics fax: (515) 294-5454 Iowa State University e-mail: keinert at iastate.edu Ames, IA 50011 Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 10:46 CDT From: ihlpl!korz at att.att.com Subject: Re: Beer categories jeanne writes: >overwhelming urge to try new, "real" beers. so last night i had a sierra >nevada big foot ale. and let me tell you, michelob is like water compared >to it. >face with the taste. my question is, to you connoisseurs, how would this beer >be described? is it considered hoppy, fruity, or what? SN Big Foot Ale is a Barleywine, which means it is brewed to be very high in alcohol. Personally, I dislike an "alcohol-taste" in my beer, which distracted me from all the other flavors in the SNBFA, so I'm afraid I cannot provide more commentary on it. I suggest you try SN Pale Ale (one of my favorite beers) for what *I* would consider a more "conventional" tasting beer. SNPA is flavorful and has a wonderful hop nose. Al. korz at ihlpl.att.com Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 11:03 CDT From: ihlpl!korz at att.att.com Subject: Re: Cooling Jah writes: >I used to use an AC in a small room. This was much too inefficient though. >Now I have a spare fridge with a Hunter Air Stat Energy Monitor (+- 2 degree >control :-). You can get the Air Stat for $20-25 and it will work much better >than a timer could to keep an accurate temperature. Oh yeah you gotta punch a >hole in the side of the fridge, cut the temp probe wire, run it through the >hole, and wire it back together, but that's pretty minor... I recommend against punching any holes in the walls of refridgerators. I was going to do this to mount my four faucets, but was talked out of it by my dad. He pointed out that, between the inner and outer walls of your fridge is a layer of insulation (usually fiberglass). Since the inner wall is cold, it would attract moisture which would condense on it and soak into the insulation. Wet insulation (besides being a home for mold) simply does not insulate. If the temp probe does not reach around to the door of the fridge with the Hunter Airstat plugged into the wall, I recommend that you mount the Airstat on the side of the fridge with double stick tape, run the temp probe in through the fridge door (mine is on the hinge-side so it doesn't get in the way) and use an extension cord to bring power to the Airstat. Al. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 1991 21:22 EDT From: Dave Rose <CHOLM at HUBIO2.HARVARD.EDU> Subject: Klages malt What is the deal with Klages malt? Is it more like Pale Ale malt or Lager malt or is it another thing entirely? I have always used pale ale malt in my all-grain beers. Some things I've read in the homebrew archives suggest that Klages has a higher enzyme content and might thus be easier to deal with. But does that mean that I need to do a step mash? What sort of beers can be brewed with this stuff? I have a number of books including Papazian and Miller (two of the latter, in fact) and I don't remember reading any Klages info there. Help? -d. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 91 22:16 EDT From: DeMello at DOCKMASTER.NCSC.MIL Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #721 (September 11, 1991) Please update my e-mail address from: DeMello at Dockmaster.NCSC.Mil to: Jeff_DeMello at smtp.ESL.com Thanks! Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #722, 09/12/91 ************************************* -------
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