HOMEBREW Digest #798 Thu 09 January 1992
Digest #797
Digest #799
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Att brygga i Sverige (Brewing in Sweden) (Kurt Swanson)
New (in several ways) WYeast!!! (Kurt Swanson)
Cleaning copper, sparging (BAUGHMANKR)
Striketemp,Camra, Klages, Diacytl (Bill Crick)
Specific heat of Grain (hplabs!uunet!bnr-vpa!golka)
Mead, Nutrients, Germany (Sgt John "iceberg" Bergmann)
Boiling water (wbt)
RE: Homebrew Digest #797 (January 08, 1992) (DAVID)
Re: Boiling tap water (Desmond Mottram)
Re: boil-over preventer (man)
sour mash (Aaron Birenboim)
RE: Grain analysis from UC Davis class ("Don Sharp, DIM&T/AD, MSO2-2/A1, DTN 223-8547 08-Jan-1992 1027")
Grain analysis from UC Davis class (Russ Pencin)
Grant (homer)
RE: Boiling Tap Water (ASMITH)
RE: Boiling Tap Water (Albert Smith on Wed, Jan 8, 1992 10:16 AM)
pittsburgh (Houck)
boilin' and blowin' (BAUGHMANKR)
Re: Homebrew Digest #796 (January 07, 1992) (Robert Millette)
Re: Explosion at Oz Brewery (korz)
Re: boil-over preventer (Dave Coombs)
Re: Metal brew (korz)
Samuel Smith's CORRECTION (korz)
boil-over preventer (response to Dave Ballard) (Eric Mintz)
Re: boil-over preventer (Bob Muller)
Re: Homebrew Digest #797 (January 08, 1992) (Janet Christian)
Blowoff and Bombs (Norm Pyle)
Applause for Travels with Barley (Chuck Coronella)
help REALLY getting started (Jeanne Sova ASQNC-TAB-IS 5320)
Re: Homebrew Digest #797 (Ja ("Jeff DeMello")
Re: Homebrew Digest #797 (January 08, 1992) (Mike Sharp)
Moribund Metheglin (JW Smith)
Send submissions to homebrew at hpfcmi.fc.hp.com
Send requests to homebrew-request@ hpfcmi.fc.hp.com
[Please do not send me requests for back issues!]
Archives are available from netlib at mthvax.cs.miami.edu
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 7 Jan 92 19:31:40 CST
From: kswanson at casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Kurt Swanson)
Subject: Att brygga i Sverige (Brewing in Sweden)
>From what I have gathered from soc.culture.nordic (in the evil Usenet world),
brewing is completely legal in Sweden, and quite popular because of:
1 - Cost - Beer is so heavily taxed (a morality and socialism thing) that one
beer in a bar can cost you US$7...
2 - Variety - Beer strength is limited (that morality thing again)...
I do not know of supply houses there, but according to Zymurgy, Vol. 14, N0. 5,
(Winter 1991), a club does exist. Contact:
Svante Ekelin
Humleg}rden
S-186 96 Vallentuna
Sverige
ph# (762) 35 515
Note: Vallentuna is a north-suburb of Stockholm, and "}" is a letter that looks
like an "a" but has a ring above it.
- --
Kurt Swanson, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science,
Northwestern University. kswanson at nwu.edu
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Date: Tue, 7 Jan 92 19:38:23 CST
From: kswanson at casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Kurt Swanson)
Subject: New (in several ways) WYeast!!!
I went this past saturday to Chicago INdoor Garden Supply, my vote for
Chicagoland's best homebrew store, and purchased some yeast. In the WYeast bin
they had several new looking packages. I picked up & later purchased the Pilsen
lager... The package is still gold foil, but there is no longer any sticker on
it, instead information is printed directly on the package on both sides... AS
I scrupulously studied the package, I noticed the packing date - Jan 1 1992!
Three days old! This thing'll probably explode in my hand when I crack the
inner seal this weekend...
Also, I notice a couple different Wyeasts I had never seen before, one was
champagne yeast, but I can't remember the other... how long have they marketed
the champagne?
- --
Kurt Swanson, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science,
Northwestern University. kswanson at nwu.edu
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Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1992 23:59 EDT
From: BAUGHMANKR at CONRAD.APPSTATE.EDU
Subject: Cleaning copper, sparging
Mike sez:
>Back when this came about, I think I was the main advocate of
>cleaning. My batch of tubing had a pretty bad case of "grease"
>inside, to the point where, when I let water (cold or hot) drain
>out of it, the leaving the last few drops to fall on the counter.
>Silvery specs appeared to be floating on these water drops, but
>this was really small pools of grease/oil.
I felt it worth pointing out that this is indeed an extreme case. I'm
not sure where Mike bought his copper but the tubing I buy from the
local plumbing supply never has anything remotely similar to the stuff
Mike describes.
>contortions related to cleaning the copper deleted<
..an admiral tale of perseverance, Mike!
>It's important to note that when you're done brewing for the night or
>day, you're not done until you run lots of hot water through the
>chiller to get out any remaining sugars, and then work it around in
>a circle to drain it and prevent mold.
I usually follow this procedure with a quick siphon of my clorox
solution and store dry. The little bit of clorox will help insure
sterilization but it's not enough to cause any appreciable corrosion.
In fact I used to store my chillers with a clorox solution inside them
from one brewing session to the next and the chiller held up fine.
When I pull out my chiller for the next session, I boil up about a
gallon of water and siphon it through the dry chiller to insure
sterilization prior to taking the wort through it.
Jim asks:
>Why not just drain the sweet liquid from the mashing vessel, through a
>couple layers of chessecloth, and into the boiler..... once. No re-cycling!
>Then run the necessary amount of 170-180 F water through the same grain bed
>and cheesecloth, (again just once), to make 6 gals.... and be done with it.
>It'd take minutes, rather then 1-2 hours.
I'm all with you on this one, Jim. I usually re-cycle once just to
set the grain bed. Then I drain the lauter tun completely to get the
thickest runnings out of there. After that, I run a normal sparge
until 6 gallons are collected. 45 minutes. No reason to take 1-2
hours.
Cheers!
Kinney Baughman | Beer is my business and
baughmankr at conrad.appstate.edu | I'm late for work.
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Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1992 11:29:30 -0500
From: hpfcmr.fc.hp.com!hplabs!uunet!bnr-vpa!bnr-rsc!crick (Bill Crick)
Subject: Striketemp,Camra, Klages, Diacytl
Someone posted calculations for the amount of water to get to
a specific strike temperature. YOu forgot to include the specific heat of
the malt, and water. Although I forget the exact formula, and values, it
is needed if you rare going to do this. A friend and I tried to set up
a spread sheet so we could do infusion mashes directly by calculations
This included measuring the specific heat of malt in a calorimeter (thermos).
Off we went brewing, and although the first step was OK, subsequent
steps always required corrections. After several experiments, and careful
checking of our caluculations and formulas, we concluded that the
specific heat of the malt must change as it is mashed. THis makes sense
given the dramatic change in the malt, but still makes us unsure on
where the heat goes as the specific heat changes. I'll see if I can dig
up our formula (out of the CRC handbook), and the values we measured
for specific heat of dry malt. If you are only going to do a single step,
it should work OK.
Joining CAMRA with Pounds Sterling? Why not join Camra Canada? Then you could
pay in Loonies Bronze? I don't know the address, I'll see if I can get it?
Also you can write a check in any currency. All you have to do is mark the
currency on the cheque. At least I can at my bank. NOTE: they do charge a
service charge for clearing a cheque in a foreign currency.
What is Klages Malt. I bought a kilo the other day, and can't find any
info on what it is?
Butterscotch flavor, and Diacytl: YOu can increase diacytl in you beer two ways
Low oxygen wort at pitching will tend to cause the yeast to produce more
diacytl. Boiling all your water will cause low low oxygen wort.
Most yeasts create diacytl as an intermediate fermentation product,and later
re-metabolize it, If you strip the yeast out early in the fermentation,
by cold shocking it, or adding finings before racking to secondary.
you will preserve this diacytl. Although the subsequent fermentations
will go a little slower, You won't have problems with carbonation.
At least I never have. I have been using these methods to
produce buttery english ales ala Samuel Smith for years.
Bill Crick Brewius, Ergo Nonum ThermoDynamics! I brew, Therefore I don't need no
stinking Thermodynamics!
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Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1992 17:13:22 -0500
From: hpfcmr.fc.hp.com!hplabs!uunet!bnr-vpa!golka%bnr.ca
Subject: Specific heat of Grain
Here is an example of the spread sheet for calculating infusion step
mash water additions.
For the first single step mash, the formula is
Mnw= (Tf-Ts)(SHg*Mg+HCtun)/(Tnw-Tf)*SHw
Where Mnw is mass of water to add kg (1 litre= 1 kg)
Tf is desired final temp C
Ts is original grain temp C
SHg is specific heat of grain joules/kg C
Mg is mass of grain kg
SHw is specific heat of waterJoules/kg C
Tnw is temp of water to be added C
HCtun is heat capacity of mash tun (ignore. Preheat tun)
NOTE:all are metric SI units. "what is that in real gallons?"
4183.33 Specific heat of water
2130.00 Specific heat of grain -3629.79
Protien Rest Step 3.93
26.67 Enter grain temperature 80.00 F
65.56 Enter Water temperature 150.00 F
Enter the desired protien rest temperature 122.00 F 50.00 C
Enter the weight of the grain in pounds 11.50 lb 5.22 kg
ADD 3.93 L of water to the grain for the protein rest
Conversion Process First conversion step
Mnw= (Tf-Ts)(SHg*Mg+SHwMow+HCtun)/(Tnw-Tf)*SHw
What is the new mash temperature? 122.00 F 50.00
Enter the desired conversion temperature 153.00 F 67.22
Enter the step water temperature 210.00 F 98.89
ADD 4.06 L of water to the grain for the protein rest
Second Conversion Step .... and so on.....
Kevin Golka, 613-763-3474
==============================================================
The opinions expressed are not necessarliy those of BNR or NT.
Please do not send EMAIL to me, as I can not receive it.
==============================================================
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 09:46:34 GMT
From: Sgt John "iceberg" Bergmann <iceberg at sctc.af.mil>
Subject: Mead, Nutrients, Germany
Greetings all,
Got some questions for ya's. First, I've tried to make a mead. I pretty
much followed Papazians new appendix on making mead. My 3 Gallon batch had:
5 kilos Imker honig (trans: 11 lbs beekeeper honey)
48 oz red Raspberries
1/2 tsp Irish Moss
Champagne Yeast in starter of
1/2 cup Corn Sugar
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient
1 cup H2O
I boiled the honey in 1 gallon H2O, turned off the heat, added the rasp-
berries, let steep for about 30 minutes, then dumped all into a plastic primary
and brought total volume to 3 gallons. OG was (eek!) 1.142!! So, I pitched
the yeast the next morning and let it go. Last night, (5 days later) I racked
to a glass secondary w/ an addition couple tsps. of nutrient dissolved in a cup
of H2O, grav = 1.080.
Now for the problem. This stuff smelled like baby larks bladders
boiled in ox bile. I mean it was downright NASTY smellin'. I couldn't bring
myself to even attempt tasting it. I asked my wife (who normally doesn't like
homebrews) to help describe the smell. Funny part is, she couldn't smell any-
thing but a slight raspberry odor. She promptly drank my sample and proclaimed
"Yum, Fruit Punch with a kick!!," and left. I was amazed. Has this ever
happened to anyone else? Am I having some sort of olefactory hallucination?
Second, the yeast nutrient I got is labeled DiAmmonium Phoshate, but
w/o any instructions. So how much should I use for, oh, say a mead? Would
this have some have any affect on my nasel imagination??
In HBD #796, Jim Grady ask about homebrew distributers in Germany:
Yeah Jim, I'm in Germany. I'm sorry to report that I haven't found any
distributers, nor have I confirmed the legality of homebrewing. I'll be taking a tour the the BBK (Bavarian Brewery of Kaiserslautern) on 29 Jan, so I may
have more info then. I'll be sure to post a review...
Auf Wiedersehen,
Johnny B.
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 8:52:22 EST
From: wbt at cbema.att.com
Subject: Boiling water
Jeff Rickel asked:
> I too am curious about the necessity of boiling tap water. Dave Miller
> treats it as a must, so as to kill any bacteria, drive off any chlorine
> (he claims that even small amounts of chlorine can lead to horrible
> phenolic (medicinal) flavors), and to precipitate ions. Yet other
> books treat it as optional if they consider it at all. Anybody have
> any good evidence that it does or doesn't matter?
How about good evidence that it does... to the tune of about 13 gallons of
beer and mead? We started brewing about this time last year, and made
three decent batches of beer in a couple of months. We never bothered
boiling all our water, using cold tap water to top off our extract
brews. No problem.
As spring set in, we brewed a pale ale. It was very nice when we bottled
it, by far our best effort, so we quickly followed it up with another batch
and, while we were cooking, a batch of mead. About 2 weeks later, we
noticed a slight plastic flavor and smell to our beer, which within a week
or two became so strong that the beer was undrinkable. Chlorophenols,
we figured. Had to toss about three gallons of that wonderful elixir.
Then when it came time to bottle the pale ale and mead we'd just brewed, we
found the same stench already developed. Scratch ten more gallons.
Our reasoning was that the spring had brought with it a bacteria bloom, and
the water treatment plant had countered by upping the chlorine levels. As
a result, our beers suddenly contained much more chlorine and, perhaps,
some new bacteria; a good recipe for chlorophenols. It's worth noting
that our second and third batches, brewed before our first plastic pale
ale, never developed this problem even after more than 9 months had passed
in the bottle.
We now religiously boil our water (we even have it blessed! 8-) and have
not had a recurrence of this tragedy.
> From: Dave Coombs <coombs at bashful.cup.hp.com>
> Subject: Re: cleaning copper tubing
>
> This is the same sort of copper tubing that's used in plumbing, right?
> And we drink the water that travels through it to the faucet. So what
> is commonly done when installing copper plumbing to ensure clean
> water?
To my knowledge, nothing... but then again, there's a lot of difference
between what's acceptable for household water and beer. Your water doesn't
require sanitized conditions, so little bacteria-harboring pockets of
grease wouldn't matter. Grease/oil that may be insoluble in tap water
might be more soluble in hot wort. You don't expect a glass of water to
maintain a nice head. You don't fuss with water for hours, store it for
weeks, then bottle it in individual 12-oz bottles and give it to friends.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bill Thacker AT&T Network Systems - Columbus cbema!wbt
Quality Engineer Network Wireless Systems wbt at cbnews.att.com
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1992 8:57:11 -0500 (EST)
From: POORE at SCRI1.SCRI.FSU.EDU (DAVID)
Subject: RE: Homebrew Digest #797 (January 08, 1992)
Please remove me from the digest.
David Poore
poore at gw.scri.fsu.edu
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 13:56:24 GMT
From: des at swindon.swindon.ingr.com (Desmond Mottram)
Subject: Re: Boiling tap water
I boil our local tap water because it is FULL of bicarbonate, which buffers
mash pH. I get a heaped teaspoonful of scum, sediment and precipitate after
a 15 minute boil. The amount of precipitate varies with the length of boil
and I have found it is possible to overdo it, resulting in a mash pH which
is too low. Now I just boil for 5 minutes and no more.
Incidentally, another interesting experiment worth trying is to taste a
series samples taken throught the brewing process. Taste a bit of wort
every half hour during mash and boil, and then each day for the first week
of fermentation. and weekly thereafter. It's instructive and fasinating to
discover just how the character of your brew shifts as it passes though its
various stages. It shows you just when and in what way the important changes
occur; where you are wasting time with an unncecessary wait; when you may be
spoiling the flavour by underdoing or overdoing something. Your tastebuds
will reveal things no amount of technical apparatus can show. It was a
surprise to me, for example, just how much sparging washes out the flavour
of the wort (one day I MUST try fermenting a full strength batch, WOW!!!).
Rgds, Desmond Mottram
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 09:29 EST
From: man at kato.att.com
Subject: Re: boil-over preventer
In HBD 797, Dave Ballard says:
<Hey now all you physicists- I got this thing in my stocking this year
<that is supposed to prevent boil-overs (all kinds, not just beer).
<It's a glass disk, about 4" in diameter, with about a 1" lip around
<it. It kinda looks like big coaster.
<I haven't used it yet but my mom put one in a pot of spuds on xmas. It
<didn't seem to work too well 'cause there was soon spud foam oozing
<all over the stove.
<My question is this: why should I expect this to work and if it did
<work, what does it do?
<iko-
<dab
I got one of these as a gift a few years ago and posted a question about
it back then. Mine didn't claim to prevent boil-overs, only that it would
automatically stir the contents. As such, it works on low viscosity liquids
like wort, but not heavy sauces. I used it when I made batches on my electric
stove and it prevented the wort from being scorched every time. It did not
produce enough of a stirring motion to prevent a boilover, but it was useful
for overcoming the effects of electric stove hot-spots.
Since I started brewing outside with a King Kooker rocket engine, the baffle
on the unit seems to prevent hot spots on the kettle and the pyrex ashtray is
no longer being used.
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 08:25:34 MST
From: abirenbo at rigel.hac.com (Aaron Birenboim)
Subject: sour mash
I'd like to share my sour mashing experiences with the list, so others
will not repeat my mistakes.
I used papazian's method of cooling the mash to 130F, and adding some
cracked malt.
My first attempt did not sour at all for about 12 hours. At that time,
i mucked about in it, and uncovered it. The next morning, it had a white
film, and smelled like rotting corn. I covered it with saran wrap,
and let it continue. It got really nasty, and rancid. the rotting corn
smell made you retch. I dumped it. In retrospect, it might have been
fine.
I have seen conflicting opinions on this question: ARE THE SOURING
BACTERIA AEROBIC? If not, cover the mash, if so, leave it uncovered.
BTW: I was using wheat malt from great fermentations, and pale
2-row from Minnesota malting. I think the mash was 2# wheat malt,
5# pale, 1# barley flakes.
with the same mash, i tried again. this time i added some
acidopholis capsules, and covered. the capsules were crom barley
malt culture (great for us lactose sensitive people) obtained
at the health food store. This time i covered the mash.
After two days the mash pH dropped to about 3.4, and it smelled
only slightly rancid. I boiled 90 min. The finished product
is sharply acidic, but with a hint of remaining rancid flavor.
I think that this Lactobacillus Acidopholis contributes this
rancid character which is not driven off in the boil.
How will sulpher levels effect the souring? How much sulpher
does Minnesota malting use? Not only did the first mash smell
sulphery, but the second mash gave me hints of sulpher too.
On the second mash, i goofed and charred a bit of malt. This
scorching produced not just your usual burning food smell,
but definite sulpher overtones. In fact, the sulpher smell
was stronger than the burnt food smell. Does all scorched
malt produce this smell? (this was the first time i schorched malt)
Bob Jones : could you ask Micah Millspaw how much of the mash he
soured, and how much he did regular? with that information i can try
M. Millspaw's technique outlined in HBD 796.
Aaron (I'm gonna emulate berliner weisse even if it kills me) Birenboim
P.S. Anybody know where I can get a buttermilk starter culture? Martin
Lohdal tasted a nice Berliner Weisse emulation made by pitching
buttermilk starter with the yeast. I's sure like to avoid that
stinky sour mash!
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 10:28:38 EST
From: "Don Sharp, DIM&T/AD, MSO2-2/A1, DTN 223-8547 08-Jan-1992 1027" <sharp at rumor.enet.dec.com>
Subject: RE: Grain analysis from UC Davis class
Russ Pencin posted this in HBD #797, but it seems his tab settings were
incompatible with mine. For others who encountered the same problem I'm posting
the edited version (<80 columns, 1 tab = 8 spaces starting in column 9)
Date: 7 January 1992 11:47:47 am
From: pencin at parcplace.com (Russ Pencin)
Subject: Grain analysis from UC Davis class
Here are some more tid-bits from the Brewing Science class at UC Davis -
You can draw your own conclusions - the discussion should be interesting...
=========================American/Canadian Malts=========================
Malt type Klages Piroline Canadian
(2 row) (2-row) (2-row)
Moisture(%) 3.9 3.9 3.8
Extract(% dry weight) 80-81 78-79 79-80
Fine/Course extract diff(%) 1.5-2.1 1.5-2.1 1.8-2.1
alpha-Amylase 35-40 33-38 30-40
Diastatic power (degrees) 110-120 100-110 90-120
Total protein(%) 11.5-12.5 11.3-12.3 11.0-12.0
Soluble N/total N (ratio) 39-43 38-42 38-42
Color (Lovibond) 1.45-1.75 1.55-1.85 1.2-1.4
Karl Midwestern Canadian
(6-row) Larker (6-row) (6-row)
Moisture(%) 4.0 4.1 3.8
Extract(% dry weight) 81.7 77 78-79
Fine/Course extract diff(%) 1.7 1.7 1.3-2.2
alpha-Amylase 33 40 35-45
Diastatic power (degrees) 102 156 120-145
Total protein 10.4 13.3 11.5-12.5
Soluble N/total N (ratio) 45 39 38-42
Color (Lovibond) 1.68 1.74 1.4-1.6
==========================German/European Malts==========================
Malt type Pale Pilsen Vienna
Lager Lager Lager
Moisture(%) 4.4 4.6 4.5
Extract(% dry weight) 79.1 78.9 79.3
Fine/Course extract diff(%) 1.6 1.8 1.6
alpha-Amylase 44 46 40
Diastatic power (degrees) 289 307 215
Total protein(%) 11.0 11.4 11.0
Conversion time(mins) 10 10 10
Color (Lovibond) 3.4 3.0 7.1
Malt type Dark Diastatic Wheat
Lager Malt Malt
Moisture(%) 3.8 7.6 5.7
Extract(% dry weight) 77.5 77.3 82.2
Fine/Course extract diff(%) 2.0 1.5 1.5
alpha-Amylase 30.5 64.0 47.0
Diastatic power (degrees) 145 433 317
Total protein 11.5 12.1 13.3
Conversion time(mins) 20 5 15
Color (Lovibond) 17 2.6 4.1
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 08:34 MST
From: homer at drutx.att.com
Subject: Grant
>>...many European Breweries, notably Pilsener Urquell among them,
>>use a system where the sweet wort that goes from the mash tun
>>into the boiling tank is drained from the mash tun via a number
>>of spigots.
>This arrangement of spigots is called a "grant". Anchor uses one in their
>system.
As I understand it the grant serves two purposes:
1 It provides a handy place to grab a sample during run-off to determine
clarity.
2 It allows the brewer to balance the flow of wort during run-off.
I think if the flow is uneven there is a risk of part of the mash compacting
and getting stuck, causing a loss in efficiency.
At Boulder Beer I recall that they have a series of pipes, each with a valve
and a gauge.
A friend of mine peeked behind the grant at Anchor and said that all
the taps were connected to the same pipe.
Jim Homer
att!drutx!homer
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1992 10:40:53 EST
From: ASMITH at vax.wi.edu
Subject: RE: Boiling Tap Water
- ---- Microsoft Mail "VMS Mail" message ----
From: Albert Smith on Wed, Jan 8, 1992 10:16 AM
Subject: RE: Boiling Tap Water
To: SMTP%"homebrew at hpfcmi.fc.hp.com"
Ok. If I do decide that I want to boil my tap water to rid it of chlorine,
bacteria, etc. how long should I boil it? I would suppose that it would be long
enough to rid the water of the nasty stuff, but not so long that any minerals in
the water become concentrated too much from the reduced volume. What would
therefore be the acceptable range?
-Albert
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 09:24:41 MST
From: jeorg at chs.com (Houck)
Subject: pittsburgh
would someone from (familiar with) pittsburgh mail me some suggestions
for brewpubs, bars with good beer, and/or brewery tours? thanks so much
jeorg houck
jeorg at chs.com
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1992 11:56 EDT
From: BAUGHMANKR at CONRAD.APPSTATE.EDU
Subject: boilin' and blowin'
John asks:
>Last night I brewed up a batch of pale ale. For the first time since the
>discussion several months ago on boil-overs, I remembered to skim off the
>pre boil scum on top of the wort. For the first time, I had no boil-overs!
>Not even a hint. Needless to say I was impressed. The scum has a great
>creamy character to it. Does anyone know if pulling this stuff off the
>wort causes any taste or head retension change?
I've been skimming the pre-boil scum for years and I've detected no
taste or head retention change. In fact, if you taste the stuff,
you'll find it to be quite astringent--another reason I'm happy to have
it out of there.
And Dave warns:
>When Oz arrived at the brewery downstairs he found that the shiny carboy,
>which had previously been holding his happy yeasties, was now in about a
>zillion pieces.
Looks like it's time to post my usual warning about blowing off
through siphon hose. ***DON'T DO IT*** It's dangerous. If you're
blowing off using a right-side up carboy, use the 1" ID siphon hose.
For those interested in the upside-down system, the BrewCap uses 1/2"
hose and we've found that to be as small as you can go and still be
safe. No one's ever blown a carboy with the BrewCap.
And lastly, some feedback for you guys who rely on word-wrap on your
terminals. All words past the first line just run right off the
screen here. I'd sure like to know what you're saying!!
Cheers and beers!
Kinney Baughman | Beer is my business and
baughmankr at conrad.appstate.edu | I'm late for work.
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 09:07:30 PST
From: millette at ohsu.EDU (Robert Millette)
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #796 (January 07, 1992)
I am looking for viable seeds for Humulus lupus. I know that root
division is a faster propagation technique, but I'm interested in making
polploidal hop vines. The seeds are soaked in a dilute solution colchicine
and then germinated normally. So, anyone got some Hop seeds? I would like
to try several cultivars from different regions. I will share my results
both intelectual and horticultural.
Thanks in advance,
JAY D. ALLEN
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 11:08 CST
From: korz at ihlpl.att.com
Subject: Re: Explosion at Oz Brewery
Dave--
>When Oz finally found his blow off tube, it was dirty and
>blocked with hop pellet residue. Oz was amazed how a little gunk
>could cause such a big boom. So were Mr. and Mrs. Oz.
By any chance, was Oz's blowoff tube a simple 3/8" siphon hose?
I haven't read Papazian's New CJoHB, but in the first issue he
recommended a regular siphon hose for a blowoff tube. I had a
similar misforture as Oz, but luckily only my stopper blew. There
was beer dripping from the ceiling in the aftermath and only 2 of 5
gallons left in the carboy. Since then I switched to a 5/8" OD --
1/2" ID hose and have had no problems. You can even use a 1.125"
hose right in the neck of the carboy (no stopper).
Al.
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Date: Wed, 08 Jan 92 12:26:19 -0500
From: Dave Coombs <coombs at bashful.cup.hp.com>
Subject: Re: boil-over preventer
I have one of those thingos. I am no phsycist, but it seems to
aggregate the little bubbles that form under it into larger ones that
slip periodically from under the lip of the thing.
dave
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 11:31 CST
From: korz at ihlpl.att.com
Subject: Re: Metal brew
Jim writes:
> I have a batch of nut brown ale bottled and aged a little more
>than a week, and it currently has a very metallic taste, and little
>or no body. I used a can of nut brown extract that I got as a Christmas
>present, no adjuncts, boiled with an ounce of Cascade hops, and finished with
>half an ounce of Northern Brewers (it's all I had at the time). The
>fermentation went well, and I bottled after 4 days (primed with corn
>sugar). The brew cleared up fairly rapidly (1-2 days), but has not developed
>much carbonation at all. What could have gone wrong here?
>
and then goes on to add:
> I used my trusty stainless steel stock pot,
>sanitized everything with a bleach solution and rinsed well, etc., etc., as
>usual.
I checked the Troubleshooting issue of Zymurgy and found nothing that
you could have done wrong in the table or the section on Metallic taste.
It could be your water, but as I wrote recently, if you're used to the
taste of the water, you shouldn't be that sensitive to that taste in the
beer. Get a water analysis and check the Iron content. The Troubleshooting
issue did, however, mention that two constituents (1-octen-3-One and
1,5-Octadien-2-one) have the source "Lipids from malt or brewing adjuncts
such as rice, corn, etc." This would be the fault of the extract manufacturer.
What brand was it? Maybe other Digesters have had problems with this
extract?
Al.
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 12:04 CST
From: korz at ihlpl.att.com
Subject: Samuel Smith's CORRECTION
Recently, I posted a discussion of fermenter dimensions in which I
said that the shape (actually, the shallowness) of the fermenters
used by Samuel Smith's Tadcaster Brewery causes an increase in the
production of diacetyl. I had read this somewhere a while ago and
I'm not sure if the dimensions of the fermenter have anything to do
with diacetyl production.
Yesterday, I received my copy of Terry Foster's "Pale Ale" from the
AHA. I immediately checked the fermenters used in Tadcaster and
sure enough, nothing is mentioned about dimensions. I hope Terry
forgives me for quoting one paragraph, but I'm certain that
any serious Pale Ale brewer will eventually buy this book anyway
- -- I love it! Here's what Terry writes on pp. 20-21:
" Yorkshire brewers in another important pale are brewing center,
Tadcaster, had a different type of yeast and developed their own technique
for handling it. This was the Yorkshire Stone Square System. It is a
circulating system like the Burton Union System, but with a very different
purpose. Circulation in the Unions is designed to acheive good separation
of a poor-settling yeast from the beer. The Yorkshire brewers had a highly
flocculent yeast which would rapidly settle out, giving poor attenuation
in traditional "rounds." So the Stone Square circulation system was
designed to continually rouse the fermenting wort, keeping the yeast
in suspension until full attenuationhad been achieved. A side effect of
using such yeasts is that the beer may have high levels of diacetyl; the
resulting "butterscotch" flavor is often an accepted characteristic of
beers brewed in this way. Incidently, in the British hombrewing revival
of the 1960's and 70's, such rousing was mistakenly assumed to be essential
for all yeasts and recipes often recommended rousing the wort twice daily.
Not only is this usually unnecessary, it is also an excellent way of starting
bacterial infections!"
In the associated picture of the "Slate tanks of the Yorkshire Stone Square
system," the tanks appear to be about 8' by 8' and (if the brewer in the
picture is not on a ladder) about 4' high.
Al.
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 10:39:24 MST
From: Eric Mintz <ericm at bach>
Subject: boil-over preventer (response to Dave Ballard)
Hey now all you physicists- I got this thing in my stocking this year
that is supposed to prevent boil-overs (all kinds, not just beer).
[...snip...]
It didn't seem to work too well 'cause there was soon spud foam
oozing all over the stove.
Dave, as I understand it, these disks don't *prevent* boilovers, they
just clank around on the bottom of the pan to warn the cook that a boil
is eminent.
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 09:14:27 PST
From: objy!sun19!bobm at Sun.COM (Bob Muller)
Subject: Re: boil-over preventer
> Hey now all you physicists- I got this thing in my stocking this year
> that is supposed to prevent boil-overs (all kinds, not just beer).
> It's a glass disk, about 4" in diameter, with about a 1" lip around
> it. It kinda looks like big coaster. The cardboard that it was
> attatched to claims that it can also be used as spoon rest (what will
> they think of next).
>
> I haven't used it yet but my mom put one in a pot of spuds on xmas. It
> didn't seem to work too well 'cause there was soon spud foam oozing
> all over the stove.
>
> My question is this: why should I expect this to work and if it did
> work, what does it do? Should I buy stock in the company that makes
> them? Could this change the face of the free world? Tell me, tell me....
I always understood these things "worked" by making a hellatious noise
that tells you when the pot is just starting to boil (clatter clatter).
Then you come running and turn down the heat or dump in cold water or
whatever. Do the instructions give any clue about this? I can't think
of any reason why a glass disk would inhibit foaming.
--Bob Muller
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 09:09 PST
From: janet at indetech.com (Janet Christian)
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #797 (January 08, 1992)
I'm not sure how I got on this email group, but could you please remove
me from it. I don't even drink!
Thanks,
Janet
janet at indetech.com
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 12:33:31 MST
From: pyle at intellistor.com (Norm Pyle)
Subject: Blowoff and Bombs
As I've stated in this forum before, I use a 7-gallon carboy and fermentation
lock as my primary fermenter. I don't worry about blowoff or blowoff hoses
or the associated problems with plugged hoses, because of the considerable
gap between my 5 gallons of wort and the top of the carboy.
Well, Dave Ballard's little fairy tale got me to thinking (sometimes I needs
a jump start). If, during high kraeusen, my wort scum did actually rise
enough to find its way into the f-lock (and somehow plugging it), I'd be in
deep doo-doo like our buddy Oz was.
Now, since deep doo-doo is not the desired effect, I have a question:
CO2 is heavier than O2 right? So, if I was to put my stopper (with f-lock,
or blowoff hose for that matter) on a bit loosely, and pressure did find a
way to build up, the stopper would simply fly off. In the normal case, where
this did not happen, O2 would not find its way into my carboy, would it?
(OK, I lied - two questions). Assuming all this is true, even if the stopper
took a trip toward the ceiling, CO2 would still blanket the brew and protect
it.
For safety sake, I'll use a very light touch on my next batch, unless
someone comes up with a good reason against. Comments?
Norm
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 14:59:18 EST
From: mmlai!gildner at uunet.UU.NET (Mike Gildner)
Hello,
Has anyone every tried Northwestern Brand malt extract? The syrup is packaged
in plastic bags inside a cardboard box. My local homebrew supply shop has
3.3lbs hopped bags for a reasonable $7.95. I was considering buying their
Weizen extract for my next batch.
Mike Gildner
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 13:56 MTS
From: Chuck Coronella <CORONELLRJDS at CHE.UTAH.EDU>
Subject: Applause for Travels with Barley
Bob Devine:
That was..., uh, divine!!!! Whew, you made my day with "Travels with
Barley". Good Show!! Congratulations!! Way to Go!
<Now> I can get back to work, giggling to myself like an idiot.
Chuck
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 15:11:21 EST
From: Jeanne Sova ASQNC-TAB-IS 5320 <jsova at APG-9.APG.ARMY.MIL>
Subject: help REALLY getting started
hey gang,
i need your help and wisdom! i gave my brother a copy of miller's
book for christmas, hoping to get him started and get me lots of
homebrew. but he can't seem to get past chapter 2, where it tells
him to go to the refrigerator and get a beer!! how do i get him
past this part and on to making me beer?? :-)
jeanne
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Date: 8 Jan 1992 13:23:09 -0800
From: "Jeff DeMello" <jeff_demello at smtp.ESL.COM>
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #797 (Ja
Reply to: RE>Homebrew Digest #797 (Janua
Please remove my name from your mailing list. Thank you!
- --------------------------------------
Date: 1/8/92 1:05 AM
To: Jeff DeMello
From: CHANGE THIS IF NECESSARY
See enclosed file of D.smtp.in.7515
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 18:28:35 EST
From: Mike Sharp <msharp at cs.ulowell.edu>
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #797 (January 08, 1992)
George Fix writes:
> Several years ago I used an ill-conceived horizontal mashing system where
> hot wort was transfered via a "pump" from the mash tun to the brew kettle,
since I'm considering making a recirculating infusion mash system with a
pump to transfer to the boiler: should I be concerned? How did you
redesign? Just a simple gravity feed or was there more to it than that?
The basic ideas of my design are below. Any comments are appreciated.
Vessels: 1/2 of a stainless steel drum, ~27.5 gallons with a false bottom
(perf. stainless 30% open, 1/8" holes) resting on a stainless
angle iron X. 1/2" stainless steel nipple mig welded 1"
up from the base of the vessel (affectionately known as
the mash-tun from hell -- currently sitting in my hallway)
(probably) two 15.5gal kegs welded one on top of the other.
(cut the top off one, the bottom off the other, step a lip
into one and weld. 1/2" nipple in the bottom from transfer
both in and out. I have yet to make this one.
The mash tun (1/2 drum) will have a pump attached to its nipple. This
will pump to a set of valves which either directs the flow through a tube
flash heater or to the boiler nipple. If the flow is through the heater
it is then directed to a set of nipples up the side of the drum. Only
one of these will be open. This will allow the recirculation to occur at
the highest level possible without going over the top of the mash. These
nipples will be on the opposite side of the vessel so flow must be across the
grain. I do plan to do a lot of stirring to distribute the heat. Heater
control will be via a little bit of techie wizardy -- a microcomputer
which will control both flow as well as clip the AC to the heater.
The boiler, two kegs welded together, will have at least one hot water
heater affixed to the bottom a la a *big* BrewHeat. Yes, I know some
people believe this will lead to scorching, but I havn't had such a problem
with the BrewHeat & I believe with care this will not really effect things
much, if at all. The input/output to/from the boiler will be through the
single nipple in the bottom. A valve will be attached to allow input from
the mash tun pump or output to a cooler and eventually an output keg
(gravity fed).
--Mike "Its nice to have your own MIG" Sharp
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Date: Wed, 8 Jan 92 19:09 CST
From: jws3 at engr.uark.edu (JW Smith)
Subject: Moribund Metheglin
Well, yet another screwed up batch from the Serious Live Rabbits Brewery....
Some friends and I attempted a 4-gallon version of "Quick Mead" from the
Cat's Meow recipe book, using 7 pounds of honey and increasing spices
and such accordingly. I boiled the honeywort for maybe 20 minutes to kill
anything that may have been living in the honey; the reason we did this
batch was to use up some old, crystallized honey that we had lying around.
I made a yeast started and pitched it when it started to foam. Nine days
later, there is NO activity. None. Nada. I haven't checked S.G., but
the stuff doesn't smell fermented, and there's no yeast sediment in the
bottom.
So, how did I screw up? Is Edme ale yeast not suitable for honey? Am I
just too impatient? Is crystallized honey chemically changed into
something unfermentable? Help save this poor carboy of sugar water,
pleeeeeeze....
oh, p.s.: 2 pounds of the honey used was fresh and normal, so you'd think
that SOMETHING would happen....
4-aminobiphenyl, hexachlorobenzene/Dimethyl sulfate, chloromethyl methylether/
2, 3, 7, 8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin, carbon disulfide/Dibromochloropane,
| James W. Smith, University of Arkansas | jws3 at engr.uark.edu |
chlorinated benzenes / 2-nitropropane, pentachlorophenol / Benzotrichloride,
strontium chromate/1,2-dibromo-3-chloropropane/Watch it run straight down.....
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #798, 01/09/92