HOMEBREW Digest #787 Mon 23 December 1991

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


Contents:
  Baderbrau Bottling Fining (Jack Schmidling)
  Anchor Date Code ("Rad Equipment")
  Anchor Date Code                      Time:4:03 PM     Date:12/19/91
  Scrubber + Pellets = Trubble, Cold Break (John Hartman)
  King Gambrinus? (Bob Devine  19-Dec-1991 1730)
  fillers (chip upsal)
  Pre-crushed grain (Walter H. Gude)
  Re: distilled water and beer (Walter H. Gude)
  Immersion Chiller... (Walter H. Gude)
  RE: Homebrew Digest #786 (December 20, 1991) (GFT_JAMES)
  bitter brew (Russ Gelinas)
  BORNEO (Paul Yatrou)
  burst Wyeast (Frank Tutzauer)
  chicago-area homebrewers monthly get together (Tony Babinec)
  Re: Russ Pencin's mash procedure (Aaron Birenboim)
  Phil's Philler
  Austin, Texas homebrew supply (Donald Oconnor)
  Santa Fe?? (BAUGHMANKR)
  Pasta machines, wet milling (Mark J. Easter)
  Re: bottling wands (korz)
  Percise bottling, Xmas beers. ("DRCV06::GRAHAM")
  umlauts, bottle fillers, dried malt and SS pots (Arthur Delano)
  Berghoff (Michael Benveniste)
  Conveyor mill (korz)
  STUFF and undercarbonation (Brian Bliss)
  SS POT ON ELECTRIC STOVE (ALTENBACH)
  amylase (Brian Bliss)
  How Did You Know, Stephen? (Martin A. Lodahl)
  Winning Blue Ribbons  ( bad beer of old) (Robb Holmes)
  Lager temps? ("N. Zentena")

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 19 Dec 91 12:06 CST From: arf at ddsw1.mcs.com (Jack Schmidling) Subject: Baderbrau Bottling Fining mailx -s "Baderbraw Bottling Conditioning" homebrew at hpfcmi.fc.hp.com arf To: Homebrew Digest Fm: Jack Schmidling From: bradley at adx.adelphi.edu (Robert Bradley) Subject: Chicago beers >Baderbrau [umlaut over the second 'a'], to my limited knowledge, was the first micro in the Chicago area..... Probably better than Sam Adams, IMHO, when it's fresh. Full-bodied, all grain, penty of hallertuaer hops. For what it is worth, Ken Pavechevich, founder and CEO makes a big issue out of claiming the use of only Saaz hops. Also for what it is worth, I added 1/2 oz of Saaz to my last batch at the end of the boil. This is addition to the "standard" 1 oz of Chinook. It will be interesting to see I can tell the difference. From: zentner at ecn.purdue.edu (Michael Zentner) Subject: bottling wands > There is as much, if not more aeration with the use of the wand by the initial rush into the bottle than there is with my siphoning technique. After the drubbing I got over aeration and oxidation, I noticed this immediately. The simple cure is to lift the bottle to reduce the "head" and tilt it till the end is covered. You can then put it back down and continue the process in the normal fashion. It's a little extra work, but if one is an oxidation freak, it beats the other tricks I have seen so far. ........ Fining. I gave up on waiting for my beer to clear and have fined 4 batches with gelatin. The speed with which this stuff works is mind boggling. After 30 days, my all grain generic beer, is still so hazy that about all I can see through it is a flash light. Three days after fining, it is sparklingly clear. This was even true on one batch, only a week after pitching. I rationalize that my beer is still Reinheightgbot because the gelatin is only a temporary resident. According to Noonan, gelatin will only work at temperatures below 55 degs. It happens to be almost that cold in my basement these days but can anyone refute this seeming momily? I would also be interested in any comments on taste/flavor or other effects of fining with gelatin. Yeh, I know, it ain't Kosher. Or is it if you leave it behind by racking? js ZZ Return to table of contents
Date: 19 Dec 91 16:05:32 U From: "Rad Equipment" <rad_equipment at rad-mac1.ucsf.EDU> Subject: Anchor Date Code Subject: Anchor Date Code Time:4:03 PM Date:12/19/91 New Anchor Bottling Date Code Jim Homer requested I investigate this for you all... I spoke with Mark Carpenter, brewmaster at Anchor Brewing Company, about the new date code that they are using since they changed their label to a dual design, putting the government warning on the back of the bottle. If you are still getting bottles with single labels, the beer is older than October, 1991. The new date code replaces the clock-face which used to show the bottling month as one of 12 small notches around the main label. A three character code is now included on the new back label of the bottle. The code works like this: The first character is always numeric and represents the last digit of the year. Currently you are seeing a "1" in this spot. The second character is always alpha and represents the month by using the first letter in a month which has not previously been used. So: January = J February = F March = M April = A May = Y June = U July = L August = G September = S October = 0 November = N December = D The third character in the code is either alpha or numeric and tells the day of the month. The first 26 days are represented by the alphabet with the remaining days listed as: 27th thru 29th = 7 thru 9 30th = 3 31st = 1 They didn't use 0 (zero) for the 30th because the labeler makes it's "O's" (letter O) the same way it makes it's "0's" (zeros). So today's (12/19/91) bottling reads: 1DS This code was originally created by Fritz Maytag for use on his PC to identify file dates with 3 characters. Happy Holidays to all! 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: Thu, 19 Dec 91 11:11:43 -0500 From: hartman at varian.varian.com (John Hartman) Subject: Scrubber + Pellets = Trubble, Cold Break - --Copper Scrubbers revisited-- This is a follow-up to a post regarding the use of copper scrubbers in HBD #776. In that post I pointed out that the use of cheese cloth over a copper pot scrubber at the end of my siphon had caused severe blockages. I have since learned that the real problem is not the cheese cloth but the combination of the pot scrubber and pellet hops. The last batch I made I used up some old pellet hops for the boil. I usually use whole hops from Freshops. I experienced blockage once again but without any cheese cloth. I conclude that using pellet hops is incompatible with the use of the scrubber as a filter. On the other hand, using the scrubber with whole hops does work quite well. - --Whither Coldbreak-- I'd like to solicit opinions on cold break. I've never really seen the phenonmenon in over 20 batches. Mind you I always see the dramatic formation of hot break as the brew approaches boiling. Upon cooling though I see no precipitation. When I switched to a counter-flow chiller, part of the movitation was to improve my beers by producing the alleged cold break. While the chiller has improved my beers, I only see the slightest clouding of the once hot, clear wort as it exits the chiller. Originally I was racking into a temporary container so that I could rack off this 'cold break' before fermentation. But there was no cold break, so I now counter-flow/siphon directly into the fermenter, which is actually a lot less work. The output of the chiller is typically 60F. So what gives? Where is the cold break I hear so much about? Any insight here would be greatly appreciated. By the way, for the longest time I would siphon into my fermenter in the Brewing Room (read kitchen) and then carry it to the Fermentation Room ( read Basement). One day after a few home brews I finally decided to just go ahead a drill a hole right through the floor and on into the basement. I installed a racking tube and have since been siphoning directly to the basement. Well fellow brewers, this technique has worked quite well. It has had the added benefits of improving the strength/speed of the siphon and of allowing me to brew up to 15 gallons conveniently. I would recommend this to others with the caveat that one should be prepared to explain to non-brewers just why one would do such a thing. My girlfriend seems to enjoy pointing it out to her friends as if to confirm her suspicions of what I'm not sure. Well I guess I've wasted too much bandwidth already, so I'll close by simply wishing all happy holidays. John Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 91 16:49:39 PST From: Bob Devine 19-Dec-1991 1730 <devine at cookie.enet.dec.com> Subject: King Gambrinus? Who was King Gambrinus? There have been many beer-related pictures of a person wearing a crown. Somehow Gambrinus has become a sort of "patron saint" of brewers. Many breweries have taken their name from him or put up statues claiming to be in his likeness. I've heard/read several proported explanations about who this, possibly mythical, person was. The stories say King Gambrinus was one of: 1) a real {English, Dutch} king 2) a mythical {English, Dutch} king 3) a corruption of a Dutch brewer's name (Jan Primus) 4) a distant relative of Charlie Papazian ;-) Does anyone have a better/truer story? Who was this guy?!? Bob "not a king" Devine Return to table of contents
Date: 19 Dec 91 21:26:10 EST From: chip upsal <70731.3556 at compuserve.com> Subject: fillers John Decarlo writes: >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. Try Phils Filler. It is a simple filler made of brass and is easly sanatized. Best of all when you lift the filler, the beer level in the bottle stays constant. I got mine from the Home Brewery in Ozark MO Chip Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 91 16:29:19 CST From: whg at tellab5.tellabs.com (Walter H. Gude) Subject: Pre-crushed grain With all the talk about grain mills and the many references to grain not keeping well after crushing, I've been wondering how you can tell when pre-crushed grain has been around too long? What tastes will "stale grain" impart to my beer. For instance, I have a half of a pound of crystal that I milled at the brew store about a month ago. It's been in a closed (hopefully sealed) zip-lock bag in my vegtable crisper since I used the first half. How can I tell if its "bad"? It still tatses ok. Will crushed grain get moldy? Inquiring minds want to know. Walter Gude Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 91 17:52:11 CST From: whg at tellab5.tellabs.com (Walter H. Gude) Subject: Re: distilled water and beer Chances are that most 5 gallon carboys come filled with "drinking" water and not distilled water. The difference being the drinking water has minerals added back in or never completely flushed out. When I used to get well water from the tap I'd just pop the $3 for 6gallons of drinking water to brew with. Walter Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 91 17:33:15 CST From: whg at tellab5.tellabs.com (Walter H. Gude) Subject: Immersion Chiller... Someone asked about the Immersion Chiller from the Home Brewery, whether it was big enough to do the job. I just bought it for $29.95. The first thing I'll is its much bigger than it looked in the ad. From the picture, it looked to be about six inches in diameter. As it came it was about 8 loops each about 10" in diameter. That works out to about 50 feet of tubing. This just barely fit in my brewpot so I play around with it to make it 10 coils of 9" diameter. I boiled three gallons of water just to test it. It took the water from 100C to about 32C in five minutes at a very slow flow rate from the faucet before I got bored and put it away. For the tinkers among you you may be able to get the 50' of tubing and the connectors for less. But if your like me and your time budget has more constraints than your monetary one, I'd say this is a deal. I'm in no way connected with the Home Brewery, just a satisfied customer. Walter Gude Tellabs, Chicago Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1991 4:54:11 -0600 (CST) From: GFT_JAMES at gsbvxb.uchicago.edu Subject: RE: Homebrew Digest #786 (December 20, 1991) Please remove me from this list. Thanks. -James- Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1991 9:47:38 -0500 (EST) From: R_GELINAS at UNHH.UNH.EDU (Russ Gelinas) Subject: bitter brew I guess I wasn't exactly clear wrt. my undrinkable bitter brew. I said it had a can of hopped extract and 15 AAU of hops, which by itself, would make for too bitter a brew. But it also had 4+ lbs. of amber dried malt, and a lb. of crystal. So that's 7.3+ lbs of malt and 1 lb of crystal, with 15 AAU plus whatever was in the extract worth of hops. The extract was an amber, so I doubt it had more than 10 AAU in it, more likely closer to 5. Still a hoppy batch, but I've made them that hoppy before, and they were fine. This one is lousy, if I do say so myself. It doesn't taste like hops, that's what's confusing my. Centennial hops, fwiw. I'm starting to wonder if that can of extract was bad......it seemed ok. I'm stumped. Russ Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1991 9:55:49 -0500 (EST) From: YATROU at INRS-TELECOM.UQUEBEC.CA (Paul Yatrou) Subject: BORNEO (This post is not really beer related) Richard Childers writes (to JS): >Don't you think it's about time you quit pretending you were >a brain surgeon amongst natives from farthest Borneo ? I object. There are many things natives from Borneo could teach us about living off the land without destroying it at the same time. My wife and I lived for a week with a native tribe on Siberut, an island off the W. coast of Sumatra. These people are very similar to the native tribes of Borneo (they are both proto-Malay people). They have managed to survive on a tiny island for thousands of years by cultivating sago (a tropical root) and hunting tiny tree monkeys for food. They have *NOT* hunted these animals to extinction as our ancestors have on occasion - just enough to survive. The sad thing is that both the Mentawais people of Siberut and the people of Borneo are threatened by Indonesia's indescriminate logging and transmigration policies. It won't be long before the lifestyle of these people change forever (for the worse). BTW, they also happen to ferment some pretty wild fluids too ;-) My last day at work, so I won't be readin' HBD until 92. So, Merry Xmas, Hoppy New Year, and enjoy those Christmas batches... PY Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1991 10:55 EST From: Frank Tutzauer <COMFRANK at ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu> Subject: burst Wyeast In HBD 786, Steve Russell bemoans his burst Wyeast package. Moments before I read his post, UPS delivered my latest batch of ingredients from Alternative Beverages. Moments after I read his post, I called Alt. Bev. because they had left out a package of hops. The guy on the other end of the phone noticed that I had ordered Wyeast and told me a few things about burst outer seals. The beer gods must read the HBD because I didn't bring up the subject, he did. Anyway, he told me the following tidbits: First, he's had a lot of complaints about just this problem. Second, he spoke to Wyeast, and they told him that they are redesigning the package and rewriting the directions. Finally, he said that the reason they break is because when you slap the package your hand puts too much force on too big an area. He suggests using the bottom of a beer bottle to break the inner seal. The beer bottle is about the same size as the inner packet, so force is applied at just the right points. Also, the concavity of the bottle helps. Now this guy's not a physicist, but he does work for a homebrew supplier, and his advice seems reasonable. I'll try it on my next batch. - --frank  Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 91 10:23:35 CST From: tony at spss.com (Tony Babinec) Subject: chicago-area homebrewers monthly get together Next year, we continue the tradition of getting together on the first Thursday of the month at the Goose Island Brewery at 1800 N Clybourn (north of North Ave., west of Halsted, easily accessible from downtown or expressway system). We meet in the secondary barroom, which is midway between the main bar you enter and the restaurant in the back. We're there from 7-ish to 11-ish. Bring homebrew or commercial beers. The great thing about Goose Island is that its own beers are good to excellent, and it has no objection to us bringing in our own as well as commercial beers. If my calendar is correct, upcoming first Thursdays are: January 2 February 6 March 5 April 2 etc. Bring your homebrew. All experience levels welcome. Meet the original "free beer" guys. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 91 10:14:26 MST From: abirenbo at rigel.hac.com (Aaron Birenboim) Subject: Re: Russ Pencin's mash procedure >Date: 18 December 1991 1:14:14 pm >From: pencin at parcplace.com (Russ Pencin) >Subject: Infusion, Mash-out, Sparge Efficiency in this post Russ describes a single step mash procedure produced after listening to lectures by Dr. Lewis at UCDavis. He now uses a 1-step mash at 153F. I believe that this may be a very good procedure, but I'd like more detail about how to deal with adjuncts/specialty grains. Here is Russ's mash-out specialty grain procedure: > What I now do is mash my base grains to conversion. At conversion >I add the Crystal and any other specialty grains ( all finely ground) >to the mash and start my mash-out temperature rise ( 1 degree a minute to 170 >degrees ), allowing the mash to mash-out at 170 for 10 minutes. I the ladle >the grains into my picnic cooler/ slotted pipe sparger and take ALL of the >initial run-off after recycling about two quarts to get clarity. Once the >initial run-off is collected I add ~4 gallons of 170 degree water to the tun >and stir the H--- out of it for three minutes. Let is settle for 5 mins, >recycle about two quarts to set the bed again and take the run-off to the >boiler. Can I use this single step infusion with fermentable adjunct like barley flakes, wheat flakes, cracked wheat or oats (cooked) ? If so... how much adjunct might i get away with? How about roasted barley.... I do not even know if it is really fermentable. I can see that unfermentable specialty grains like crystal or choclate malt would be better added before mash out. aaron Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 19 Dec 91 17:37 PST From: alm at brewery.intel.com (Al Marshall) To: homebrew at hpfcmi.fc.hp.com Subject: Phil's Philler A follow up to Arthur Delano's review of Phil's Philler: The sticking of the shutoff mechanism is a *big* problem. This sticking has a lot to do with putting a little bit of horizontal force on the lower brass tube (the one that bottoms out in the bottle). If you could carefully suspend the filler in space without hitting the lip of the bottle as you pulled up, the problem would be less acute. In the heat and mess of bottling, this is not a very practical suggestion... but it does explain why the user thinks the filler works great when he "plays" with it, and then has trouble using it on real bottles. A problem not mentioned by A.D.: BY THE VERY NATURE OF ITS DESIGN THE DEVICE APPEARS TO AERATE THE *&#$ OUT OF THE FINISHED BEER. I cannot accuse Phil of false advertising, because all he claims is that the filler fills bottles right up to the lip and shuts off by pulling it out of the bottle. The downsides are "in between the lines". I tried Phil's as an alternative to the red-tipped plastic bottling wand. The wands are prone to leaking due to seating problems between the spring-loaded rod enclosed by the tip and the tip. Phil gives you a different kind of leakage problem and aerates the beer more in the bargain. I am back to kegging when I can and bottling with the wand when I must. ================================================================ | R. Al Marshall | Insert clever aphorism here. Intel Corporation | alm at brewery.intel.com | | ================================================================ Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 91 10:06:43 PST From: Donald Oconnor <oconnor at chemistry.UCSC.EDU> Subject: Austin, Texas homebrew supply There will be a new brewers supply opening in Austin, Texas around January 3 or 4. St. Patrick's of Texas Brewers Supply 12911 Staton Drive Austin, Texas 78727 512-832-9045 The owner is Lynne O'Connor and she'd be happy to send a catalog to people in that area of the country upon request. She's a very nice lady who promised to sleep with me if I posted this. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1991 13:11 EDT From: BAUGHMANKR at CONRAD.APPSTATE.EDU Subject: Santa Fe?? Is anyone reading the Digest from Santa Fe, NM? Please email me if you are. I have a question. Kinney Baughman | Beer is my business and baughmankr at conrad.appstate.edu | I'm late for work. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 91 10:22:55 PDT From: Mark J. Easter <easterm at ccmail.orst.edu> Subject: Pasta machines, wet milling Feliz Navidad, Ya'll; In HBD #785 (Dec 19, 1991), on the subject of "wet milling" malted grains in a pasta machine prior to mashing, Ken Weiss writes: >I don't think you could still use the pasta machine for >pasta if you did this. You'd have to clean up with water. >Apparently, if you get a pasta machine wet the noodle >dough will stick to it for years after. I dunno why, but >you're supposed to clean those things by just waiting for >the bits of dough to harden, and brushing them clean. This has been my experience with pasta machines. The first time I used mine I did not read the directions thoroughly...and washed the thing off with hot water and detergent. The problem I had was *rust* on some of the visible mechanisms (I'm afraid of what happened to the internal, invisible parts of the machine). Anyway, we dried the machine thoroughly by setting it near the woodstove and then cranked it liberally. The machine works fine, now, however we had real problems with pasta sticking to the rollers for the first several batches after that experience. After reading the instruction manual (who would have thought of this?), we found that one should *never* wash the machine in water, just let the leftover pasta dry out and brush it loose. One is supposed to heat the machine (with rubber feet removed) to temperatures above 140 dF if one is concerned about bacterial contamination. I tried my machine on *dry* malted barley and wheat. It worked relatively well on the barley- it seemed to provide a good "crush" while leaving the hulls intact, however the wheat kernals just tended to break into two pieces. I suppose a second grind at finer setting might help crush the pieces. Quite a lot of flour was evident in the grind. I'm a real amateur when it comes to evaluating a quality grind, so I'm not a good final authority on the subject. The grind was also extremely slow. One might need to "rough up" the rollers (I recall somebody else mentioning this in the HBD) to facilitate passage of the malt through the rollers, a procedure that would probably render the machine useless for pasta. As somebody who loves homemade pasta as much as homebrewed beer, this would be a heartbreaking exercise. Joyeux Noel- I'll be enjoying "Cherry Fever Stout" ala Papazian this season and I'll raise a glass to my fellow homebrewers. Mark Easter Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 91 13:43 CST From: korz at ihlpl.att.com Subject: Re: bottling wands Mike writes: >The topic is back, and I'd thought I'd cast one opinion of dissent. >I don't think these are a miracle tool. I don't like using a >spigoted bucket for bottling because of sanitation hassles incurred >by always having to take the spigot off. I don't even like using >a plastic bucket for bottling because of sanitation worries. My >bottling wand does not form a perfect seal when it's supposed to >be "off". There is as much, if not more aeration with the use of >the wand by the initial rush into the bottle than there is with my >siphoning technique. I used to (and soon again will for my (late) Christmas Ale) use a bottling wand attached to the end of my siphon hose. After very few batches, my orange plastic gizmo also had leakage in the "off" position, but it was a drop every few seconds and I would normally put the wand in the next bottle while capping the current one. The initial rush can be reduced by raising the bottle and wand closer (not above!) the level of the beer in the priming vessel. As I'm sure you're aware, the rate of the transfer is dependent on the difference in the height of the liquid levels. One the end of the wand is submerged in beer, I lowered it to fill faster. > >I simply like to have a spare carboy around where I can combine the >wort and priming solution and siphon from there into the bottles. Agreed. I used a spare carboy for a priming vessel also. > >That said, I'm not saying that because you use a wand your're doing >anything wrong. I'm just saying that not everyone thinks it's such >a great idea, and bottling by both methods can be equally as efficient. Agreed again. It's not so much that I strongly disagree with you Mike, it's just an opportunity for me to mention the "level differential vs. flow rate" hint and to mention that I had the same leakage problem. Maybe a better wand is the answer. "Phil's Philler" mentioned recently sounds like a step in the right direction, but I think I would like it better if they put a return spring into it (currently "off" is a result of gravity as I understand it). I'll probably buy one anyway. Al. Return to table of contents
Date: 20 Dec 91 14:38:00 EDT From: "DRCV06::GRAHAM" <graham%drcv06.decnet at drcvax.af.mil> Subject: Percise bottling, Xmas beers. Many thanks to Ms. Katman for her reproducing that NY times article on Christmas brews. The Catamount Christmas Ale is certainly a delicious brew, as is the Sam Adams Winter Lager and, dare I say it, the Coors Winterfest. Sure wish the Red Hook stuff was available on the East coast. On Bottling, Since I can't see, I have been constantly plagued with the problem of how to tell when the bottle is full enough. Usually, I just fill until overflowing, (on the dishwasher front, in its down position), and then pour a little out. Not especially precise, you will admit. If my wife is so inclided, (one in ten batches), shw helps me and the bottles are all filled just right. I got an idea today and called Cole-Parmer. I spoke with a product specialist and found that they have just what I need. I can connect a batch controller to a peristoltic pump. It will measure to within a quarter milliliter or so. I can tell it to put exactly 282.5 mills in a bottle, touch a foot pedal, and the pump will do just that. No spilling, no guessing, no hassle ... except for the price. (Damn, did he have to mention THAT!) The setup would cost $1750. That's right, no decimal point after the 7, or even the 5. But what the heck. Hobbies are money sinks anyway. Just another thing to save for. Now, does anyone have an idea for the same basic thing that might cost just a little less? I know, I could keg, but that's not possible now. The price isn't bad, but the space for the extra icebox is. I wonder if I could find a used, repairable commercial bottle filler? Thanks for any thoughts. Dan Graham Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 91 14:03:12 EST From: Arthur Delano <ajd at itl.itd.umich.edu> Subject: umlauts, bottle fillers, dried malt and SS pots Re: "Baderbrau [umlaut over the second 'a']" German typographic convention allows one to type an "e" next to a letter that normally has an umlaut over it: "Fuehrer" for example. On the other hand, American typographic convention allows one to drip all diacriticals entirely with no apologies. I don't know from German myself, but learned how to type in German this summer when working with a visiting German professor. This is entirely FYI, of course. Re: Richard.Stueven at Corp.Sun.COM > I bottle right out of the spigot. You're not the first person to point out that this can be done. I got so used to using Papazian at his word that I never thought beer could simply be poured in very carefully. (P, by the way, prescribes a pinched-hose technique which I reported worked poorly). Re: otten at cs.wm.edu (John Otten) > [About using a thin-walled pot] We've had little problem with scorched wort, but have had some, using a thin- bottomed steel pot. I may use a metal spacer (available in some kitchen stores) between the electric burner and the pot next time. When I was shopping for a pot, I found that the stores often had no markings on the pots, indicating that they were steel or aluminum. Had I planned ahead, I would've brought a magnet with me. I settled for tapping on the pot; if it rang well, it was probably steel; if it thudded or rang mutely, it was probably aluminum. "Probably" is important; has anybody else had this problem when they were bargain-pot-shopping? > ALSO... I noticed 1 lb bags of dried malt for $1.95. My brewing supply store > charges $12.00 for a 3 lb bag. Is this the same sort of malt!??!!?! Where do you live? (!?) AjD ajd at itl.itd.umich.edu Return to table of contents
Date: 20 Dec 91 16:47:07 EST From: JPJ at B30.Prime.COM To Bruce Buck, Jim Koch's name is pronounced "Cook". Jim Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 91 11:56:56 PST From: mcallist at netcom.com (Ron Mc Allister) Greetings, and Happy holidays! I am in the process of designing an automated masher, using a PC for process control, statistical and recipes. This is a very exciting project, as it allows me to roll my electronic,programming and beer making into a REAL worthwile system. Here's my latest plan: 1.) 55Gal Steel drum, cut along its axis, kinda like those BBQ's folks make for BIG picnics, but not to be cut in the center, more twoards one side. 2.) This will make foom for: A SS 15Gal Keg , straight sided type to be suspended in the drum (a keg within a drum). 3.) The SS keg sits on 4 wheels, and is slowly rotated by a motor arrangement on top driving a rubber wheel bearing down on the Keg 4.) The Drum is filled with enough water to cover the keg 3/4. 5.) Water heater elements on either end of the drum, controlled by the computer. Why this plan ? After looking at Zymurgy and ads for the "Auto-Masher", and reading Miller's excellent book (The complete handbook of home brewing) to find out that he recommends 1.33 qt of water /# malt, I realized that a system like auto-mash would have a hard time stirring the mash. I will be doing step mashing, making many mashes and varying very exactly time, temperature, ph etc.. to provide optimum control. Someday, it will be incoroprated into my "mini-micro-pilot-brewer" wherein total automation will be employed. The Q (finally) The rotating barrel idea is a bit more work, but AM I ON THE RIGHT TRACK ? Any suggestions would be helpful. Thankyou. Merry Xmas! Ronan (The Barbarian) "Barbaric Brew".  Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 91 14:57:17 EST From: michael at intdata.com (Michael Benveniste) Subject: Berghoff I was at the Berghoff for lunch the day after Thanksgiving. While they were selling the Wisconsin brewed beer you mentioned, they were also selling brewpub like products, presumably from their newly opened brewpub. I had the weizen, which appeared to be unfiltered. Others at my table had an Alt and a Winter Warmer type beer. They were also offering a porter. While an ale brew-pub combined with German food is a little odd, the beers were certainly of better quality than the contract brewed (Huber?) lagers you mention. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 91 13:07 CST From: korz at ihlpl.att.com Subject: Conveyor mill I just spoke with my friend who works for a company that engineers custom conveyors for industry. It seems that, yes, they do use off-the-shelf parts and then piece them together. I asked if there's any possiblity that we (brewers) could use parts from his company's suppliers for making a grain mill. It turns out that he has had some experience in this area also (he worked for a company that made coal crushing equipment). He said that there's no way the parts they use could build a mill for the $100-200 I suggested -- often just the bearings they use are $100 each. Oh, well... back to the old drawing board.:^( Al. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 91 16:04:31 CST From: bliss at csrd.uiuc.edu (Brian Bliss) Subject: STUFF and undercarbonation I finally got around to reading a weeks worth of hbd's (the week before last's - I've still got a week's worth to read an need the disk space)... > my mailer only allows a one word subject hey - it used to be that fortran identifiers were limited to 6 characters, and that didn't stop the the early NA hacker from giving their library routines meaningful names (sarcasm intended). Take, for instance dmxv(), which translates to double-precision, matrix times vector. Now if you adopt the convention that R stands for response, G is for all-grain, T is for temperature, and Y for yeast, then "RG>TY1007" could be construed as "response concerning a batch of all-grain ale fermented at a high temperature with wyeast 1007 german ale..." > Three weeks after bottling, there is still ver little > carbonation in the beer... At the risk of oxidizing it somewhat, try shaking the whole case of bottles. It should carbonate in another week. bb Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 20 Dec 1991 14:31 PDT From: ALTENBACH at CHERRY.llnl.gov Subject: SS POT ON ELECTRIC STOVE In HBD 786 John Otten is considering brewing with a stainless steel pot on his electric stove. I have a thin cheap SS pot and a heavy duty restuarant grade pot (Volrath) and recommend the latter if you can afford it. The cheapo works ok, but is easily dented and will scorch somewhat. The heavy duty pot is a fine piece of equipment that should last as long as you still like beer (lifetime). But BEWARE: using a shiny SS pot for extended boiling on a conventional electric stove can easily damage the stove. The heat reflected off the pot and back to the stove is so great as to warp the burners and rings, especially if you use two burners simultaneously. You can also scorch the stove surface very easily. I had to replace the main burner on my electric stove and my wife will never forget how I violated her domain. Fortunately she kicked me out of the kitchen into a dedicated brewing area (formerly laundry room). When upgrading your equipment to stainless steel, leave the stove behind and also get yourself a blast furnace (or at least a propane burner). TOM ALTENBACH Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 21 Dec 91 11:24:41 PST From: mcallist at netcom.com (Ron Mc Allister) Greetings. Has anyone ever devised a hydrometer that floats in the secondary vessel continuously - mabye with a DC voltage proportional to the SG? Any Ideas would be appreciated. Also, can one accurately measure the weight of a wort with a triple-beam scale to determine SG? I left a posting yesterday giving sketchy details of an automated mash project I am working on. This hydrometer will eventually be interfaced to the sparger to obtain "real-time" readings of degrees of extract, etc. Also, anyone have any experiences with a PH sensor that is rugged, low-cost, accurate? only a transducer is nessecary.... I will also integrate this into the control loop. Cheerio, Ronan (The Barbarian) Barbaric Brews "Electronic-Compu Nut and automation tinkerer" Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 21 Dec 91 14:53:50 CST From: bliss at csrd.uiuc.edu (Brian Bliss) Subject: amylase For the last few mashes I've been adding a tablespoon or two of amylase enzyme to my mashes, half at the start, and the rest halfway through. Will this make a difference, or is it just a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of amylase already in the barley malt? How much of it is alpha-amylase, and how much is beta-amylase, and is this proportion different from that in the barley malt? Dad told me that he is now raising specialy corn (for which he gets a premium) from which they make this stuff. How many bushels were sacrificed for this little 1 oz. bottle? is $1.95 way too expensive for it? Someone recommended adding a little to the wort after picthing to get a drier beer. well, I found out that this works. In fact, it works too well for my taste. My guinea-pig batch of extract stout is way to dry, overcarbonated for the amount of primiing sugar used (I guess becase some extra sugars were formed after bottling), and gives me a slight stomach ache when I drink it. bb Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 21 Dec 91 19:46:39 PST From: Martin A. Lodahl <malodah%pbmoss%PacBell.COM at hplb.hpl.hp.com> Subject: How Did You Know, Stephen? In HOMEBREW Digest #786, Stephen (Darryl?) Russell was caught wort-handed: >I just popped a package of WYeast (#2308 -- Munich Lager -- dated 4/91) and >at the same time that the inner seal popped, the *outer* seal ruptured as well, >shooting out some of the precious yeastily fluids ... > Anyone ever have this happen to them before (I would suspect the ever- >luckless Martin Lodahl :-) ?? OUCH! Direct hit ... 8-0 Yeast everywhere ... Yes, as a matter of fact, I did have this happen, about a year and a half or so ago. Quite a few people had the same experience at the same time, and after noting a couple of postings to that effect, Pete Soper (from whom we haven't heard in too long; Pete, you're greatly missed!) began collecting stats and contacted WYeast. They responded very quickly, immediately dumping the packaging that was the source of the trouble. My retailer unhesitatingly replaced my burst packet, and while I was there making the exchange, another patron told how he'd started a packet and left for work, finding yeast sprayed all over his kitchen when he returned. When my packet burst, I didn't handle it with as much aplomb as Steve did. Fearing contamination, I just dumped the stuff and resorted to the packet of dry yeast I keep on hand for such exigencies. Then it was Edme, now it's Whitbread. And the beer turned out fine, but not as tasty as it would have been, I'd like to think ... - -- = Martin A. Lodahl Pacific*Bell Systems Analyst = = malodah at pbmoss.Pacbell.COM Sacramento, CA 916.972.4821 = = If it's good for ancient Druids, runnin' nekkid through the wuids, = = Drinkin' strange fermented fluids, it's good enough for me! 8-) = Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 22 Dec 91 11:01:51 PST From: mcallist at netcom.com (Ron Mc Allister) A possible water saving idea: An effective wort chiller may be constructed for those who are concerned about water conservation. For those "do-it-yer selfers". This is a forced air system and might be overkill, but we are on our 6th yr. of drought here (sheesh) and trying to minimize waste. I used what I had available. Improvise, Improvise, Improve ! 1. Coil 15' of copper tubing around a section of 6" stovepipe used as a form, then slip a piece of 8" stovepipe around the whole arrangement and wrap another 20 or so feet of tubing back up the other direction twoards the start of the tube. 2. Remove the stovepipe forms. 3. Obtain a length of 10" galvanized stovepipe 1' longer than the coils and slide the coils inside. 4. Secure the coils to the inside of the 8" stovepipe with straps and rivets or screws. (Plumbers tape works fine). 5. Mount a circular piece of 1/2" plywood to the end opposite tubing connections to act as a mounting plate for the blower. Use 4 little "L" brackets. 6. Find a powerfull fan or impeller type blower and mount on plywood. An ideal type is one of those 110VAC leaf blowers, or something with that kind of force. (Use ear plugs when using). 7. Add connections to complete. Store filled with sanitizing solution. 8. Use only food-safe solder for connections if solder used. Ronan McAllister (The Barbarian) 131 Norvin Wy Grass Valley, Ca. 95949 Barbaric Brews - --- "Hey! ... Where did the leaf blower go ? " -- (Ronans wife, Trish)  Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 22 Dec 91 01:20:20 EST From: Robb Holmes <RHOLMES at uga.cc.uga.edu> Subject: Winning Blue Ribbons ( bad beer of old) Back in the mid-70's, I drank a lot of --uh-- beer, I suppose, since it tasted too bad to be water. It cost about seven cents a bottle, using one can (2.2 lb.) of Blue Ribbon malt syrup and, if memory serves, about four pounds of sugar, stretching the wort to about seven gallons. Of course, it was awful, but I drank it anyway. I got back into brewing last March, and I'm still not a great brewer, but I've been amazed to discover that, using good ingredients and reasonable attention to sanitation, it's possible to brew a very tasty ale or stout. I recently found one grocery store that still carries Premier Malt Syrup, which appears to be the same as the old Blue Ribbon. I immediately whipped a batch for old times' sake: three cans of Premier hopped light and no sugar (except one cup Dextrose for priming). I noticed this batch fermented faster than any other I've seen, and this in November, with reasonably cool weathr. This batch does not taste infected, and it's not overly cidery, so it's a big improvement over the crimes I used to commit with Blue Ribbon. Still, there's a certain flavor about the beer that I don't like (although my wife prefers it to the very hoppy ales I usually brew). Sorry, I don't know how to describe the flavor, other than to say it was what was left when you took away the cideriness and infection that were typical of beer made with Blue Ribbon way back them. Has anyone ever undertaken a study of Blue Ribbon/Premier? I'm curious how others describe the flavor of beer made with this malt syrup, and if anyone knows why it produces the same, consistent off flavors. Any replies/opinions on this subject will be appreciaed. - ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Robb Holmes | WUGA, the Classic 91.7 FM bitnet: rholmes at uga | Georgia Center for Continuing Ed. internet: rholmes at uga.cc.uga.edu | The University of Georgia - --------------------------Is this thing on?---------------------------- Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 22 Dec 1991 19:53:36 -0500 From: "N. Zentena" <zen at utcs.utoronto.ca> Subject: Lager temps? Hi, With the cold temps we have been having I'd like to make a lager. I'll be able to maintain about 50F for fermention that should be fine right? But I'll only be able to drop it down to about 40F for lagering is this a problem? Thanks Nick Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #787, 12/23/91 ************************************* -------
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