HOMEBREW Digest #784 Wed 18 December 1991

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


Contents:
  Stainless Pots - Cheap (solo)
  Re-using Yeast (Marty Rowe)
  Re-using Yeast (Marty Rowe)
  Pilsen Mash (Jeff Frane)
  unsubcribe (going away) (DWEILL)
  Counterflow chiller size (Tom Dimock)
  Re: Liquid Starters (John DeCarlo)
  Re: bottle fillers (John DeCarlo)
  Cancel Me!!! (rdm5g)
  Sam Adams Breweries (JPJ)
  Truncated HBD #783 (S94TAYLO)
  Yeast herds, Berghoff Bock, Rambling (Norm Pyle)
  Clarification on rolling grain mill instructions (adietz)
  grain mills (Scott Bickham)
  Chillers & Wet Mills (BAUGHMANKR)
  RE: Best size for counterflow chiller (Bill Dyer)
  Trippel Corsendonk (David Pike)
  Re: On Mashing & The Menage (jonm)
  Re- Subject- Iodophor Anyon ("Rad Equipment")
  Re: Subject: Iodophor Anyone?         Time:9:18 AM     Date:12/17/91
  Phil's Philler -- review (Arthur Delano)
  Re: John A. Palkovic's de-arf program (larryba)
  Followup to my Erroneous Seattle Post (Katy T. Kislitzin)
  Be gyled (C.R. Saikley)
  smelly wort ("KATMAN.WNETS385")
  Grain Crushing ("Justin A. Aborn")
  Re: Bottle Fillers (korz)
  Boston Lager (C.R. Saikley)
  The Video Review! (RUBICON READY)
  Re: distilled water and beer (korz)
  Re: water quality (korz)
  klages and ale (florianb)
  Yeast bank (Ted Manahan)
  Re:  Homebrew Digest #783 (December 17, 1991) (John Pierce)
  re: Rolling Grain Mill, under $40

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 16 Dec 91 16:53:34 EST From: solo at thor.mlb.semi.harris.com (solo) Subject: Stainless Pots - Cheap I just received a sale flyer from Superior Products. They are a discount foodservice equipment supplier, and they have, among other things, Vollrath stainless steel 'stock pots' on sale (catalog says sale ends Feb 7, 1992). >From the catalog: Stainless Steel Stock Pots by Vollrath Made of 18.8 _stainless_ for greater resistance to pitting and corrosion, plus heat conductive base to save energy. Flat covers allow stacking to save space. *In Stock. $List $SPECIAL 7-L-100 7-1/2 qt. 4 lbs 77.00 43.00 7-L-103 11-1/2 qt. 6 lbs 83.00 46.00 7-L-105 16 qt. 6 lbs 108.00 59.00 7-L-107 20 qt. 8-1/2 lbs 121.00 65.00 7-L-129 24 qt. 9 lbs 130.00 70.00 7-L-130 38-1/2 qt. 13 lbs 172.00 90.00 7-L-492 60 qt. 15 lbs 255.00 130.00 Covers: 7-L-123 For 7-1/2 qt. 15.00 9.90 7-L-125 For 11-1/2 qt. 19.00 12.40 7-L-127 For 16,20,24 qt. 29.00 18.40 7-L-136 For 38-1/2 qt. 38.00 22.00 7-L-494 For 60 qt. 39.00 23.00 They also have other goodies like restaurant-quality beer glasses and mugs, and lots of draft beer equipment and plumbing. There is a 'stainless steel beer chiller' which is used to chill beer inline on its way to the draft arm which could be used as a wort chiller. They also have CO2 tanks and regulators, etc. Superior Products can be reached at (800)328-9800; their catalog is free. I am in no way affiliated with Superior Products, I am just a happy customer who thought he'd pass some info along. Bottoms up! s. Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 91 16:54:35 EST From: mar at dvinci.mitre.org (Marty Rowe) Subject: Re-using Yeast I need some expert opinion on re-using yeast. Approximately a month ago, I saved from my primary frementer two scoops of the dregs. The yeast for this batch was Wyeast American Ale. I put the dregs into a sanitized plastic container. I covered the dregs with a few inches of fremented homebrew and stored it in the fridge. The question is, will I be able to use this yeast for my next batch? Should I use a low gravity starter to get the yeast active or can I simply dump the contents into the chilled wort. Would it be worthwhile to seperate the trub from the yeast sediment? I recall reading a post in the HBD about this, but I was unsuccessful in attempt to find it. Does anyone remember the subject line or the issue number? What "things" should I look for, or smell, in able to determine if it is infected. Or has it been stored too long to reuse? BTW, the yeast was used for an IPA and is planned to be pitched into a brown ale. Thanks in advance for your help. - -- Martin A. Rowe MITRE Corporation Bedford, MA mar at dvinci.mitre.org Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 16 Dec 91 17:15:22 EST From: mar at dvinci.mitre.org (Marty Rowe) Subject: Re-using Yeast I need some expert opinion on re-using yeast. Approximately a month ago, I saved from my primary frementer two scoops of the dregs. The yeast for this batch was Wyeast American Ale. I put the dregs into a sanitized plastic container. I covered the dregs with a few inches of fremented homebrew and stored it in the fridge. The question is, will I be able to use this yeast for my next batch? Should I use a low gravity starter to get the yeast active or can I simply dump the contents into the chilled wort. Would it be worthwhile to seperate the trub from the yeast sediment? I recall reading a post in the HBD about this, but I was unsuccessful in attempt to find it. Does anyone remember the subject line or the issue number? What "things" should I look for, or smell, in able to determine if it is infected. Or has it been stored too long to reuse? BTW, the yeast was used for an IPA and is planned to be pitched into a brown ale. Thanks in advance for your help. - -- Martin A. Rowe MITRE Corporation Bedford, MA mar at dvinci.mitre.org Return to table of contents
Date: 16 Dec 91 19:29:05 EST From: Jeff Frane <70670.2067 at compuserve.com> Subject: Pilsen Mash On Decoction Mashing: The following is from H. Lloyd Hind's Brewing Science & Practice, Volume II, written in the 1930s, during a chapter on decoction mashing: "It is then heated to the boiling point, again at the rate of about 1-1/2^F a minute, and boiled for times which may vary from 1/4 hour for pale beers to 3/4 hour for dark, when it is pumped back to the mash tun." He specifically spells out the variant employed at Pilsen: "Only two vessels are used, a combined mash and lauter tun and a copper. The mash is made at the rate of 6 to 6.3 hectos per 100 kg. . . . to give a first wort of 12.5 or about 1.050. The initial rise of temperature given for each mash [below] is secured by pumping an appropriate proportion of the main mash from the mash tun to the copper, where sufficient boiling liquor or boiling mash, as the case may be, had been retained to give the required increase. The starred figures represent temperatures in the mash tun. The others are temperatures in the copper. Hydration cold 95^* By hot liquor pumped from mash copper 1st mash 126.5 By hot liquor retained in mash copper 144.5 Raise in 13 minutes 167 Raise in 20 minutes, sacc. 8 mins. boil Raise in 12 minutes. Boil 30 mins. 110.5* Return to main mash. 2nd mash 144.5 By hot wort retained in mash copper 167 Raise in 20 min. sacch. rest boil Raise rapidly. Boil 15 minutes 144.5* Return to main mash 3rd mash 190.5 By hot wort retained in mash copper boil Raise in 12 minutes. Boil 10 min. 162.5 Return to main mash. Confusing, ain't it? To Peter Gaspar: Gale's is available here in Oregon, for a good bit of money. It may be in a pint bottle; think it's with standard crown cap. Hmm, on reflection the bottle might be embossed. I will check if you want. I think it definitely needs time in the bottle. Your 12 year old may be optimum. One I tasted was definitely too young. Ooog. To George Fix: Thanks for answering the call on sour mashes. I know about the resilience of coliforms from working in a bacteriology lab in a food processing plant. Some of the spinach we were testing had gone through the dryers (very, very hot dryers) in clumps and the levels inside the clumps were astronomical. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 1991 02:07 EST From: DWEILL%MIDD.BITNET at mitvma.mit.edu Subject: unsubcribe (going away) Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 08:23:04 EST From: Tom Dimock <RGG at CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu> Subject: Counterflow chiller size Brian Capouch asks about sizes for the tubing in counterflow chillers... Everyone I know who has used 1/4" tubing has regretted it. They are just too slow. 3/8" is better. Now if you're into brewing fast, my counterflow chiller is made using 25' of 1/2" tubing, and it will take 5 gallons of boiling wort down to 80 F in under five minutes. My boiler drains from the bottom - it might be difficult to start 1/2" as a siphon. For general guidelines, I'd say about 16-18' of 3/8". Other opinions? Return to table of contents
Date: Tuesday, 17 Dec 1991 08:34:34 EST From: m14051 at mwvm.mitre.org (John DeCarlo) Subject: Re: Liquid Starters >From: "John Cotterill" <johnc at hprpcd.rose.hp.com> >My process is very inexact, I just add, "oh, about this much >malt to about this much water." My only real concern is not to >put so much malt in the the final alcohol content in the starter >kills the yeast. What do other people do? Do you boil hops >into the starter mixture? Are there any rules of thumb for how >much malt to use? Lots of good questions <grin>. The Wyeast liquid yeast packets recommend a starter of 1.020 SG wort. No mention is made of hops, though. I don't know of any good reason to put hops in your starter, but there might be some. If you use dry malt extract, such that 1 lb. in 1 gallon gives 1.040 SG, then a 1 pint starter would use: 1 lb. 1 -------------------- = ---- lb. = 1 oz. 8 pints/gal * 2 (reducing the 1.040 to 1.020) 16 Internet: jdecarlo at mitre.org (or John.DeCarlo at f131.n109.z1.fidonet.org) Fidonet: 1:109/131 Return to table of contents
Date: Tuesday, 17 Dec 1991 08:35:36 EST From: m14051 at mwvm.mitre.org (John DeCarlo) Subject: Re: bottle fillers >From: psrc at sewer.att.com (Paul S R Chisholm) >Siphoning was a thousand percent easier with the bottle filler! >To stop siphoning, all I needed to do was lift the "wand". Very >simple, very straightforward to control exactly how much beer >gets in the bottle. Well, I stopped using mine because there is no way to control exactly how much beer gets in the bottle. The volume taken up by the filler itself leaves *way too much* headspace in the bottle. So I have to top off each bottle separately from a small pitcher. Way too much work. Now if there was a bottle filler with a manual switch controlled from the top, so I could fill the bottle as much as I wanted, it would have the advantages of both systems. Internet: jdecarlo at mitre.org (or John.DeCarlo at f131.n109.z1.fidonet.org) Fidonet: 1:109/131 Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 09:29:25 EST From: rdm5g at hemlock.cs.Virginia.EDU Subject: Cancel Me!!! Please cancel my subscription to the homebrew digest. I am losing my net access at this sight. I will most likely rejoin the news letter when I get net access again. thanks Rod Return to table of contents
Date: 17 Dec 91 11:23:39 EST From: JPJ at B30.Prime.COM Subject: Sam Adams Breweries For anyone's information, The Boston Beer Co. produces Stock Ale in the Jamaica Plain, MA brewery, as well as all the specialty beers (Lambic, Wheat, etc). The remainder are brewed in Pittsburgh, New York (to a lesser extent) and, of course, Germany. They will brew Lager in the JP Brewery when the need arises, and, as I have been told, the need does arise often. +----------------------------------------------+ | Jim Jedrey (JPJ at B30.PRIME.COM) | | Portsmouth, NH +---------------------+ | Bud is Mud, Coors is Poor, and Schlitz is... well, you know... | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 10:22 EST From: <S94TAYLO%USUHSB.bitnet at VTVM2.CC.VT.EDU> Subject: Truncated HBD #783 Can someone forward me a copy of 783. Mine got truncated after the first article. It will be interesting to see how many copies I actually get... Thanks a bunch! Al Taylor Uniformed Services University School of Medicine Bethesda, Maryland s94taylor at usuhsb.bitnet Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 08:28:26 MST From: pyle at intellistor.com (Norm Pyle) Subject: Yeast herds, Berghoff Bock, Rambling Frank Tutzauer's yeast culturing discussion got me thinking about this concept of only using one or two "generations" of a particular strain to avoid promulgating a bad characteristic or two. Do this make sense? You actually have dozens, hundreds, thousands, of generations of the yeast in a single batch, no? I mean you start off with a small number of yeast cells and by the time your beer is at full-krausen, you've got lots and lots, right? I'm not disputing the claim that one shouldn't keep reusing a batch of yeast, I'm just curious about this. Is a generation considered to be a "herd" (MOO! :-) of yeast that hasn't gone dormant, therefore each time a "herd" of yeast runs out of food, that is considered to be a "generation"? Last night I picked up a six-pack of an American bock brewed by Berghoff. They claim to brew in the old-world German style, blah, blah, blah. The beer was good, not great. The only other beer I have to compare in that range is Paulaner Salvator, a double bock. The Salvator is clearly more alcoholic, as I would expect, but it is also much smoother tasting. The Berghoff has a slightly unpleasant edge to it that I can't really put my finger on, except to say that I've tasted other beers with it. I don't think it is skunky, although the beer is packaged in green bottles. Have others tried this brew? What was your impression? I'm looking for a detailed description because I'm trying to hone my beer evaluation skills a bit, and this is a bit of a stumper for me. Martin Lodahl's brewing woes amused me, but I can relate. Believe me, I can relate. Kinney Baughman's Jim Koch gripes amused me, but I like the beer. I hear you Kinney, but I let it roll off like water on a duck's back, 'cause I know its just marketing (something close to lawyering). I'd also be willing to pick up the digest on rec.crafts.brewing if that's what it takes. Good plan, Fritz. Happy Holidays!!! Norm Return to table of contents
Date: 17 Dec 1991 10:49 EST From: afd at hera.cc.bellcore.com (adietz) Subject: Clarification on rolling grain mill instructions In yesterdays posting regarding a pasta maker into grain mill, I wrote: >Put in some grain and try out your new rolling mill. Iterate on the grinding >as necessary. This should say: "Test the mill with some grain. Use a gap appropriate for your grain. If the grain fails to be forced between the rollers, go back and resurface the rollers until you have a rougher texture. Continue this process as necessary." You will have good cracking with only one pass (not iteratively as the first posting seemed to say). Accept no substitutes. Cheers, -A Dietz Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 11:10:44 -0500 From: bickham at msc2.msc.cornell.edu (Scott Bickham) Subject: grain mills While shopping for cookware gifts yesterday, I found a mill that grinds using three grooved rollers with an adjustable spacing. The rollers are about 4" in length and located at the vertices of an inverted triangle. The retail price ( which this establishment sells at ) was around $80. A bit pricey compared to a Corona, but much better than $200 for a homemade one. I think the manufacturer is Mikasa or something that sounds similar. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 1991 11:48 EDT From: BAUGHMANKR at CONRAD.APPSTATE.EDU Subject: Chillers & Wet Mills Brian asks: >So I need to make a "quick-and-dirty' counterflow chiller. My question >is this: would 1/4" or 3/8" tubing make the better mousetrap? Intuition >tells me that the 1/4" would allow a much greater wort-to-coolant >surface area, since there'd be more wort (relatively) on the outsides of >the tubing than in the center. That would be at the expense of >throughput, but I'd rather have cool wort exiting slowly than hot wort >exiting fast. All the above intuitions are correct. In fact I shared them when I designed the first version of the counter-flow chiller that I sell. I chose 5/16" OD tubing for that model. 95% of the time it works fine. It's a little slower on the siphon ( at 30 minutes) but very efficient. However, it's too efficient for big, high gravity brews and the cold- break is so pronounced that some people complained that it clogged the siphon. Two years ago I switched to using 3/8" tubing. With a strong water flow it works fine. From my kitchen sink, I found that on the average the water exiting the chiller was about 10 degrees warmer than the smaller pipe. If the wort coming out is too warm there are two things you can do. (1) Use a pinch clamp on the end of the exit hose to slow down the flow of wort. (2) Try to connect to an outside faucet. The outside faucet at my house generates about three times the flow of water than does my kitchen sink. No one has yet to complain of a clogged chiller with the larger tubing, BTW. The other thing to remember is to keep the water housing of the chiller as small as possible. Heat exchangers are more efficient the more the coolant turns over. Tom Dimock observes: >On roller mills - the reference in HBD 780 to building a roller >mill using the rollers from a grocery store checkout came from a >small book on building your own brewery. That's Bill Owens' book, _How to Build a Small Brewery_. It's still being published. Overall a good book. And at $5.00 or so, a good value for the info. >In doing some serious "wetware simulations" (i.e. kicking back with >a homebrew and thinking about it), I came up with several unknowns. Your allusion to 'wetware' caused me to think about the possibility of using the pasta machine as a wet-mill roller. Wet-mills are touted as the best possible solution to the mill problem. They crush the grains while generating absolutely no powder. Conjecture tells me that the wet grains would be 'tackier' and would pass through the smoother rollers of the pasta machine. That could save roughing up the rollers so that the machine could still serve that function. It's probably easier on the machine anyway. OK you kitchen tinkerers. Get to it and try it out. I don't have a pasta maker (yet). After some homemade lasagna at a friends house a month ago using her own pasta, I admit to thoughts of purchasing one. Now if it can double as a wet-mill roller....... Kinney Baughman | Beer is my business and baughmankr at conrad.appstate.edu | I'm late for work. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 10:49:49 CST From: dyer at marble.rtsg.mot.com (Bill Dyer) Subject: RE: Best size for counterflow chiller In HBD #783 Brian says: >So I need to make a "quick-and-dirty' counterflow chiller. My question >is this: would 1/4" or 3/8" tubing make the better mousetrap? Intuition >tells me that the 1/4" would allow a much greater wort-to-coolant >surface area, since there'd be more wort (relatively) on the outsides of >the tubing than in the center. That would be at the expense of >throughput, but I'd rather have cool wort exiting slowly than hot wort >exiting fast. >Is that logic good? Well, I thought it was good logic too but I was wrong. I made a wort chiller from 1/4" tubing immersed in ice water. It worked great as far as cooling the wort goes, but it had several other problems, namely the throughput was way too slow and on top of that it clogged. It took about an hour to cool the first 3 or so gallons of a 5 gallon batch. At that point the thing clogged and I had to run some boiling water through to clean the clog and finish the cooling. A slow throughput is one thing but over an hour is too long for me. I tried increasing the flow by raising the bucket (I sat it on top of the fridge) but that didn't help much. I am going to do one of two things to solve this problem, either shorten the length of my current copper coil or go out and buy some bigger stuff, I havn't decided yet which is better. From feeling the wort coller as it is now, the wort seemed to be cool about half way through the tubing so I can probably cut down the length by about 1/3 (it is about 30' now I think). This should increase the flow by 50% if I remember correctly. Of course to solve the clogging problem, I may keep the length and go to the 3/8 tube. Or as a third alternative I could cut the tube I have now in half a connect a Y to it. This should double the flow. Actually if I could remember all the fluid dynamics and thermodynamics I learned in college I could figure out exactly how long and how big my tube needs to be, but that is too much work so I will just guess. Later, Bill_____________________________________________________________________________ | you'll think I'm dead, but I sail away |Bill Dyer (708) 632-7081 | | on a wave of mutilation | dyer at motcid.rtsg.mot.com | | -Pixies | or uunet!motcid!dyer | Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 8:53:27 PST From: davep at cirrus.com (David Pike) Subject: Trippel Corsendonk I have just recently received a 'trippel Cosendonk' belgian ale 'Brewed and Bottled by Brewery du Bonq, for Brewery Consendonk, Oud-Turnout, Belgium.' I have not consumed this ale yet, intrigued by the idea of culturing the yeast visible in the bottom of the bottle. Does anyone know about either of these breweries or the beer itself? Do they practice the deception of using a different yeast to bottle with than to ferment with, like some.... Or is the yeast the original and makes a fantastic trippel?? Dave Return to table of contents
Date: Tue Dec 17 09:00:47 1991 From: jonm at microsoft.com Subject: Re: On Mashing & The Menage > How does one brew all-grain with out interruption and still have a > familial unit? Mash in at 10pm (or whenever it gets quiet). Caffeine is optional. Actually I have only tried this once, but it was a remarkable experience ... everything quiet and still and dark, except me and my brew, with its various sounds and smells. Recommended. Jonathan Mark jonm at microsoft.com Return to table of contents
Date: 17 Dec 91 09:30:45 U From: "Rad Equipment" <rad_equipment at rad-mac1.ucsf.EDU> Subject: Re- Subject- Iodophor Anyon Subject: Re: Subject: Iodophor Anyone? Time:9:18 AM Date:12/17/91 I believe that Byron Burch is now selling smaller bottles of Iodophor at Great Fermentations of Santa Rosa. Seems to me I read a bit about it in his last Beverage People News. Give him a call at 707-544-2520. RW... Russ Wigglesworth CI$: 72300,61 |~~| UCSF Medical Center Internet: Rad Equipment at RadMac1.ucsf.edu |HB|\ Dept. of Radiology, Rm. C-324 Voice: 415-476-3668 / 474-8126 (H) |__|/ San Francisco, CA 94143-0628 Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 12:50:14 EST From: Arthur Delano <ajd at itl.itd.umich.edu> Subject: Phil's Philler -- review Since there have been some questions about bottle fillers on the Digest, I thot' I'd throw in my two cents worth. I've always bottled with a bottling bucket, with a spigot attached (no stopped siphonings for me!) and a length of 3/8" dia. tubing leading to the bottles. After two batches of this setup, having to pinch the hose and dribble beer all over the floor between bottles was getting to me, and I wanted a filler. The brew store had a Phil's Philler, which is a brass mechanism about the twelve inches when collapsed, and an additional half inch when extended. The wide end (containing, I suspect, the valve) fits inside a 3/8" tube very snugly; no problems with slippage. The wide end is 3" long. The narrow part has a bevelled end and the tubing is thin. When the mechanism is fully extended, a pinhole can be seen in the narrow tube just before it meets the wide tube. After the bottling setup is prepared, the philler is inserted in a bottle and pressed against the bottom (there are about 2-3" of the filler over the height of a 12 oz. bottle; I've used it with 28 oz. bottles with no trouble, however). The bevelled edge keeps the beer from damming up; the beer swirls around and fills the bottle with very little bubbling. The philler can be held at various positions between fully open (compressed) and fully closed (extended) and regulate the flow of beer; helpful during the end of the fill when the beer is going up the neck. The niftiest part of the mechanism is as follows: when the fill is complete, you simply remove the philler, and the beer remains at the level it was while the philler was in. This is because the valve is above the fill line, and the pinhole is an air bleed, thus the beer inside the tube inside the bottle remains when the philler is removed; the only displacement is the volume of the metal and not its contents. Brilliant. Now for the downside. Despite claims that the mechanism is stickproof, I've overfilled my share of bottles when gravity could not overcome stiction. (a small spring would help immensely, but would probably increase the price a great deal). An interim solution I've found is to use two hands, one on the large tube and one on the small. This is less work than trying to pinch off a siphon tube and aim for the next bottle, but is hard on the knees if your bucket is on the table and your bottles are on the ground. A bit of practice is necessary to get a consistent fill level on all your bottles, and if the flow is stopped before the bottle is full, a surge of air will percolate through the bottle. (I've found this to be not much, tho' it is annoying). Lastly, this gadget retails for $9.00 or so. I wouldn't have paid that much for it, but I would pay $4.00. It has speeded up -- and even more importantly, made neater -- my bottling procedure by a great deal. I'm glad I have it. AjD ajd at itl.itd.umich.edu ps. It was gotten for $4.00 by introducing a friend to brewing and getting a $5 discount at Modern Brewer in Cambridge, MA. $9.00 minus $5.00 discount equals $4.00 paid. :-> Return to table of contents
Date: Tue Dec 17 10:05:34 1991 From: larryba at microsoft.com Subject: Re: John A. Palkovic's de-arf program Jack has improved his postings, how about you? In spite of Jack's various posting problems, he does have something useful to offer the home brewer. Do you? Everyone would be better served by trying to educate Jack on how to be a reasonable submitter rather than submitting inflamatory crap like the "de-arf" program. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 10:52:25 -0800 From: ktk at nas.nasa.gov (Katy T. Kislitzin) Subject: Followup to my Erroneous Seattle Post Well, having been out of the Seattle area for many years, i should have known better than to try and say anything about it, but I had such good times there drinking beer that i couldn't resist ;-) anyway, here are some corrections and additions: Murphy's is closed for further notice. The blue Moon is on N 45th St, on the same side of I-5 as the U of W campus. The Trolleyman/Red Hook Brewery is in Fremont, not Phinney Ridge. Next time on Phinney Ridge, try the 74th St. Ale House at 74th & Greenwood. They have numerous micros on tap and an occasional cider. It's a good fallback if the Trolleyman is full. The name of the homebrew supply store is: It is Libery Malt Supply Co. 1418 Western Ave. Seattle, Wa. 98101 (206)-622-1880 Some other places to try: The Red Door (in Fremont, at N 34th & Fremont Ave N, just north of the bridge) lots of micros; a good alternate to the Trolleyman Cooper's Ale House (Lake City Way at about 80th; once again lots of micros Thanks go to Paul Brownlow (paul at pilchuck.data-io.com) and Rick Noah Zucker (noah at cs.washington.edu) - --kt a former seattle-ite with a poor sense of geograpy and memories of great beer ;-) Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 10:52:38 PST From: grumpy!cr at uunet.UU.NET (C.R. Saikley) Subject: Be gyled >From: hays at voodoo.physics.ucsb.edu >I have a question regarding Kraeusening my medium to heavy bodied ales. I >tried this on my last batch using the formula outlined in Papazian. It >is only very slightly carbonated (but still very drinkable, of course!). >According to Burch, I should raise the S.G. by .005-.006 which I believe >makes Charlie's formula low by a factor of two. In any case, I need some >help from you Kraeuseners. >The Details: Extract/Mash recipe with I.G.=1.040 , Edme ale yeast, >two weeks in closed plastic fermenter, racked and bottled with 1.4 quarts >of gyle. I've been using this method for 4-5 years now, and have found that although CP's formula has its limitations, it's pretty good. As I recall (if brewing books were at here at work, I'd never get anything done!), the amount of gyle suggested is directly proportional to the amount of green beer, and inversely proportional to the OG of the gyle. It works out to 48oz of 1.040 gyle in 5 gallons. If the gravity goes up to 1.080, the quantity drops to 24oz. Now, what this formula fails to account for, is that not all 1.040 worts are created equal. The ratio of fermentables to nonfermentables varies considerably, and thus the amount of carbonation varies also. If one were so inclined, a formula could be developed based on both OG (original gravity) and TG (terminal gravity), which gets around this problem, but has some of its own. To determine the amount of gyle to hold back for priming, you'd have to be able to predict the TG beforehand (difficult, especially if it's a new recipe), or hold back extra and only use what's called for after measuring the TG (read wasted beer!). Based on all of that, I've been content to use CP's numbers with an adjustment to account for the fact that my worts are typically very rich in unfermentables (mash temps ~158F). Another consideration is that beers primed with gyle generally take longer to carbonate than those primed with sugar. Regarding Andy's problem, it could be that all that is required is a little more time. I've got some questions : 1. How long has the beer been in the bottle??? 2. What was the final yield??? 3. What proportion of the wort sugars came from the extract vs. the mash??? 4. What was the mash temp? All of these factors will influence the CO2 level. If I had to venture a guess, I'd suspect that time is the most likely. Perhaps waiting another week or two will solve the problem. Cheers, CR Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 18:40 GMT From: "KATMAN.WNETS385" <6790753%356_WEST_58TH_5TH_FL%NEW_YORK_NY%WNET_6790753 at mcimail.com> Subject: smelly wort Date: 17-Dec-91 Time: 01:38 PM Msg: EXT02402 Hi folks, My fiance loves the smell of making beer. I tend to do it on a weekend day when he has to work, because he invariably comes over (just when the pot is starting to boil over), unbraids my hair and plays with it (over the cooking proto-beer, and I shed lots :( ) and does nuzzly things while telling me how wonderful I am to make him beer. While this is going on, the pot boils over, and I smack him good. When he comes home and beer has been made in his absence, (my preferred course of action) he bounds across the room exclaiming my virtues to the skies, and says how great it is to come home to the smell of home cooked beer. When I lived in Williamsburg, VA, we could smell the Anheuser-Busch folks making beer, and after people figured out what it was they just said, "oh, Busch is making beer. Hey, maybe we should go over to Busch (gardens) tomorrow for the free tour. We can ride the monorail and see THE RUMBLE OF HOOFBEATS THE RATTLE OF CHAINS again." No one ever said it smelled bad. We always associated the smell with free beer. 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: Tue, 17 Dec 91 9:42:56 EST From: "Justin A. Aborn" <jaborn at BBN.COM> Subject: Grain Crushing Has anyone used the KitchenAid grain mill? I have never seen it and I wonder whether it cuts our mustard. Also, the diagrams I have seen of professional roller mills have three sets of rollers. Each successive set has a smaller gap between the rollers. My guess is that the three roller set design improves the throughput of the mill more than it defines final crush quality. Further, I guess is that if we homebrewers are willing to let crushing take a little longer per pound, a pasta maker with roughed up rollers could be just the ticket. Now to motorize it... Does anybody know differently? Justin Brewer and Patriot Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 13:35 CST From: korz at ihlpl.att.com Subject: Re: Bottle Fillers Paul asks: >Do people not talk about bottle fillers because there's a problem? Or >because they're so wonderful, no one would consider siphoning without >one? Bottling wands are discussed occasionally. Usually, however, not until someone has a problem with bottling. I would not bottle without one -- they are great. On the one that I have, the gizmo at the end is orange and contains a spring to shut off the flow. I intend to bottle (instead of kegging) the batch currently in the primary since it is a ginger/orange/cinnamon/nutmeg ale and not for everyday consumption. I want to save the kegs for the everyday beers. Al. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 11:51:45 PST From: grumpy!cr at uunet.UU.NET (C.R. Saikley) Subject: Boston Lager Regarding production of Sam Adams "Boston" Lager...... >From: R_GELINAS at UNHH.UNH.EDU (Russ Gelinas) >There *is* a >brewery in Boston, although some (most?) of the beer is contracted >out to Pittsburg. One of the Boston brewers will probably set this >straight. The SA that we get on the West Coast is brewed in Portland (That's Oregon, not Maine, silly), by the Blitz-Weinhard Brewery. When I toured that brewery in July, the generally uninformed tourguide claimed he knew nothing of this, which was consistent. When I mentioned it to the two guys serving in the hospitality room, their eyes got wide and they started whispering as if it were some well kept secret that I had just divulged. They eventually admitted that SA was made there, but said they had been instructed not to talk about it. Since Jim Koch admits that SA is contract brewed, I could only conclude that BW didn't want their loyal fans to know that they were making "Boston" Lager. CR Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 11:53:41 -0800 From: robertn at folsm3.intel.com (RUBICON READY) Subject: The Video Review! > Now that the dust seems to have settled on the commercial > issue, I would like to point out that what was gained or > lost is more than meets the eye. > > Sure I sold some v----- (at a bargain price) but I also gave > enough away to make it a net loss. > > What is sad is that the ones I gave away were to people who > offered to post objective reviewS of the v-----. > Unfortunately, not a single commment has been heard from all > the freebies I sent out and I can only conclude that the > flames, so intimidated the "reviewers", that they are > affraid to say boo. BOO! Ha! I'm not afraid! BOO! BOO BOO BOO :-) :-) :-) Ok Jackaroo! I'll tell you what I thought of "THE VIDEO". I'll even tell everyone on the net, so hold onto your shorts, cause here we go! While visiting a friend to whom you sent a sample, we drank some exceptional homebrew, and watched your video. So... The video as a whole to approach a first attempt at brewing is good. It in fact kinda parralleled my first expierience. I think it would be helpful to get a first time brewer off the ground. But now, syrup and sugar, yuck! The overall flow was good, as were the cute little light signs you used to tell times and ingredient measurements. However, here are a few things I noticed that you might want to change. Get rid of the fruit flies! The "By the way, those are fruit flies" sure didn't do much to reinforce the first rule, sanitation. I don't know about other brewers, but I stay away from wooden spoons, as is seen in the video. A stainless steel spoon, or even plastic would be better. Who knows what is hiding in the porous wood! Clean your stove. It looked like somebody had cooked a splattering hambuger before you decided to brew. You should make your kitchen look like one of those TV cooking shows. The only thing visible in the kitchen should be brewing stuff. Especially inside the refridgerator. Unless maybe you want to show some beer time munchies next to the beer... Lose the advertisement for that Baderbrau stuff. I've never seen the stuff before, and didn't care for the big advertising spot, even if everyone does have thier price. A quik tour was fun, but not the big ad. To sanitize the bottles, did I miss something? The only part I remember was in the rootbeer part, where Marilyn poured the solution from bottle to bottle. Isn't it better to soak those bottles to insure sanitation??? Did I miss something when I checked the barbeque??? So, are these flames? No, they're just a few minor recomendations. Were the flame wars justified? Yes and no. It is hard to visualize exactly what is going on across a keyboard. I think many flames would only have beed sparks, had the video been viewed. Jack, I'll give you a fairly solid "B". It was good, and would prove helpful to a new brewer. But, there are odds and ends that need tying up. Your working on citizenship now, so we'll give you a "Acceptable" in that catagory :-) RobertN robertn at folsm3.intel.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 14:18 CST From: korz at ihlpl.att.com Subject: Re: distilled water and beer Rick writes: >I can get a glass carboy from my local water distributer for $7. >The carboy comes filled with distilled water. Can I use this water >for making beer? I am an extract/specialty grain brewer (ales, stouts...). Yes. Plain and simple. Since you aren't mashing, you don't have to worry about pH, minerals, etc. Some might say: "Hey! If you're making a Burton Ale, don't you want to make your water have the same mineral profile as the wells in the Trent river valley?" Well, yes and no... it depends. It depends on your extract. If you have an extract that was made in Burton upon Trent, I suspect that they did not remove any of the minerals prior to making the wort that became the extract. When they evaporated away the water, they left behind the minerals. The minerals should still be in the extract. However, one of my favorite extracts, the one I use for my favorite Bitter, is Munton & Fison Old Ale Kit. But when I use a can of this extract and add 1.5 to 3 lbs of light dried extract, plus some boiling hops and dryhops, I add 1/3 oz Burton Water Salts from Wines Inc. to my 5 gal of relatively soft Chicago water. Oops... I forgot to mention the Brewer's Choice British Ale yeast from Wyeast Labs (#1028, I believe). I'm slowly approaching what I remember of the Ales I drank on tap in England, but my memory is fading and getting clouded by the bottled versions I get here. The bottom line is, you can use distilled water for extract brewing, but you may want to optionally add minerals to taste. Al. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 14:47 CST From: korz at ihlpl.att.com Subject: Re: water quality John writes: >What exactly should I ask my water dept.? Should I call or write? Is >there a law that says they have to supply this info at no cost? I called my water dept when I lived in Hickory Hills, IL and asked for "the latest water analysis report." They sent me one within a few days. It contained everything I had expected -- all the minerals, etc. When I moved to Palos Hills, IL (the next suburb south of Hickory Hills), I did the same, but got a different animal entirely. What they sent me was six or so bacterial counts. Not what I had expected. I haven't tried again, explaining that I want mineral concentrations. Hmmm... <dialing>... Hello? .... Well, I just got around to it. The lady at the water department wasn't sure, so she transferred me to the Palos Hills Commissioner of Public Works! Imagine that! As soon as I said "mineral content," he said "oh, yeah -- you want a Chicago water analysis." I asked if that will be just like the water out of the tap in Palos and he said yes. After a few minutes of discussion, I found out that Hickory Hills used to blend Chicago and well water. I had noticed that some months the water would stain the sink and on other months it would not. That explains that. So when you talk to your Water Dept rep, ask if your water is blended and if the ratio changes from month to month. The Commish said I should get the analysis in a day or two. Al. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 12:58:45 PST From: florianb at chip.cna.tek.com Subject: klages and ale Don McDaniel asks: >The matrix recently posted for Redhook ales reveals that they use >Klages as the base malt for all their products. They've got some >fine products. This led me to wonder about switching to Klages >for ales. Doing so would save me about $.20 per pound and more I don't know about Redhook, but I have been using Klages 2-row for ales for years. I always use a 30-minute protein rest, then go up to 155 for the saccarification. I make good ale, if I may be so forward. Of course, I can't make Redhook. I missed the matrix you speak of. Which HBD was it in, or can someone send me a cutout? Thanks, Florian Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 13:14:15 pst From: Ted Manahan <tedm at hpcvcbp.cv.hp.com> Subject: Yeast bank Full-Name: Ted Manahan Frank Tutzauer writes: > So...I'm considering two options. First, slants, agar, and petri dishes, as > detailed in several of the zymurgy articles; and, second, a yeast bank > involving glycerin (?) and sticking the yeastie boys in the deep freeze. I have used, and continue to use, the yeast bank. I find it pretty easy, and the thawed yeast can be built up into a viable culture. Be warned that the yeast seems somewhat weak upon thawing. I suspect that many cells are killed by this process. However, once you have built up a few of them they work just as well as the original batch. The process that seems to work best for me involves using three stages of starter - two tablespoons, 0.5 cup, and .75 quart. This takes four or five days from thawing the yeast until it is ready to pitch. I found that the original five test tubes were not enough - buy extras. I like to keep five tubes of each yeast type. I have a batch of lager going in my garage as I type this. The yeast is about six months old, Bavarian Lager. I expect it to turn out well! Ted Manahan tedm at hp-pcd.cv.hp.com 503/750-2856 Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 12:43:44 PST From: pierce at chips.com (John Pierce) Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #783 (December 17, 1991) Subject: re: Rolling Grain Mill, under $40 > afd at hera.cc.bellcore.com (adietz) Writes: > > 1. Buy a pasta maker, or sneak one out of a trendy friend's kitchen. > > 2. Modifying the pasta maker. No disassembly required. Ahh and if you are the complete ex-Yuppie ("Grumpy"?) <Grown-Up...> you might even have the "Pasta-EZE" motor drive for said pasta machine! These sell for about $35-40 too, just like the pasta maker itself. (You get the pasta maker for Xmas one year, use it once, put it away, get the motor for Xmas the next year, and actually use the thing about 10-20 times til you get bored!). Seriously, tho. The motor drive works great, and saves muchos sore shoulders if you are a wimp. john pierce, pierce at chips.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 17 Dec 91 16:25 CST From: jh317a at swuts (John Hosey) please add me to your mailing list thank you Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #784, 12/18/91 ************************************* -------
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