HOMEBREW Digest #994 Tue 20 October 1992

Digest #993 Digest #995


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


Contents:
  Czech malt e. (Theodore B. Samsel)
  Pilot batch, unhopped (Rob Bradley)
  Reynolds Tapper - info? (The Ice-9-man Cometh)
  8-to-10 gallon boiling kettle ... ("C. Lyons")
  Priming with molasses (David_O'Neill.Wbst129)
  "sweet gale" (Chip Hitchcock)
  Re: Red Mtn Ale (Guy D. McConnell)
  Pressure cookers (G.A.Cooper)
  Oops! -Lager yeast goof.. (Michael Howe)
  sake recipies? (Will Leavitt)
  Brewpubs in Vancouver/Portland? ("John Cotterill")
  Snobbery, Pretension, and American Wheats (Jon Binkley)
  RE: Santa Cruz brewpubs... (wolfgang)
  will california lager yeast handle a ferment at RT? (Paul Matulonis)
  Stuck fermentation? (GREG PYLE)
  Extract Astringency (SynCAccT)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Monday, October 19, 1992 08:01:03 From: TBSAMSEL at qvarsa.er.usgs.gov (Theodore B. Samsel) Subject: Czech malt e. Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 08:54:55 -0400 From: bradley at adx.adelphi.edu (Rob Bradley) Subject: Pilot batch, unhopped Just before the Yarrow thread began, I got a notion I'd like to brew some unhopped ale. I made a half-gallon pilot batch yesterday while brewing up a regular (5 gallon) batch of porter. My experience may illuminate Chris Cook's question in HBD992 about brewing 5 x 1 gal batches and the responses by Brian Schuth and Al Korz. With 8-10 lb. of grist, UK malt and a hanging bag sparger I get a pretty consistent 30-33 pt/lb. I mashed 1 lb. Munton & Fison pale ale malt and sparged in a large strainer (arranging the grains to follow the shape of the strainer -- a flattened hemisphere -- with uniform thickness) with the usual amounts of mash and sparge water scaled down to 1 pound. The result was 1/2 gallon at 1048, a miserable 24 pt/lb :-( In a few weeks I'lll let the list know how this unhopped ale tastes. Is the lack of hops likely to affect the fermentation in any way? Cheers, Rob (bradley at adx.adelphi.edu) Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1992 8:32:37 -0500 (CDT) From: SMITH at EPVAX.MSFC.NASA.GOV (The Ice-9-man Cometh) Subject: Reynolds Tapper - info? hey folks. This past weekend I acquired a 2 1/2 gallon mini-keg called a "Reynolds Tapper." It has a built-in tap (labeled "Falstaff" which I assume is some cheap Yankee beer :) and is barrel-shaped, meant to lie on its side, cask- style. It is filled from one end, and the sealing cap has some funky valves and a gas cylinder in it. It looks like the idea is, you fill this with beer, stopper it, and charge the cylinder with enough CO2 to dispense the brew. Neato. So, the question: does anyone know where to get specs, info, replacement parts etc. for this thing? Are they still in use north of Mason-Dixon somewhere? Can anyone tell me what sort of tools/fittings are necessary to open and close the stopper, and fill the cylinder? The valves are truly weird looking and the HUGE snapring holding on the stopper is a real pain. This little keg would be great to keep in the fridge with half-a-batch of HB, or to take to parties sans CO2 setup, if I could just get it refurbished. | James W. Smith, NASA MSFC EP-53 | SMITH at epvax.msfc.nasa.gov | | "Come with us, we'll sail the Seas of Cheese!" -- Les.Claypool at Primus | | Neither NASA nor (!James) is responsible for what I say. Mea culpa. | Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 09:21 EDT From: "C. Lyons" <LYONS at adc1.adc.ray.com> Subject: 8-to-10 gallon boiling kettle ... I have now made three all-grain batches and it has become clear to me that a larger kettle would be helpful. I currently have a 5 gallon kettle and find myself having to evaporate the wort down to add more of the runoff. Does anyone have any recommendations on a place which sells 8 to 10 gallon kettles at a reasonable price. I do have one restriction ... my stove has a flat heating element and the bottom of the kettle needs to be flat to contact the heating element. I was able to find a 33 quart kettle, but it had a concave bottom and would not contact my heating element. I would like to get past this problem and try out several recipes in mind. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! Christopher Lyons LYONS at ADC1.ADC.RAY.COM Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1992 07:31:22 PDT From: David_O'Neill.Wbst129 at xerox.com Subject: Priming with molasses Hi- I'd like to prime with molasses. Papazian suggests 1 cup/5 gallon batch. Unfortunately, he doesn't specify the type of molasses. As many of you have guessed, the beer is Yorkshire's Old Peculiar and the list of fermentables includes 2#s dark brown sugar. I have 12oz. of Brer Rabbit dark `full flavor' molasses I'd like to use. The question is, how much? Dave O'Neill Xerox Corp. 716-422-1224 Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 09:47:52 EDT From: cjh at diaspar.HQ.Ileaf.COM (Chip Hitchcock) Subject: "sweet gale" Summary of info from a cooking fan with a large library: myrica gale, known as sweet gale, bog myrtle (cf HULTINP at QUCDN.QueensU.CA in #993) or meadow fern; deciduous aromatic shrub, grows throughout northern hemisphere, leaves and branches are used in England to season ale. No indication of any additional names the prepared leaves or bark would be sold under. Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 9:58:26 CDT From: guy at mspe5.b11.ingr.com (Guy D. McConnell) Subject: Re: Red Mtn Ale Douglas Behm asks: > What happened in the fight for control of this company ? When I read the post > that control had changed so did the taste of the beer. I must be highly > susceptable to suggestion or did the beer change ? I tried all last week to contact Lee Nicholson, co-founder and original Brewmaster at Birmingham Brewing, but was unable to reach him. I called the brewery and talked to John Zanteson, who is the current brewmaster. Lee had hired John, who came from Mendocino in Hopland, when he was still with the brewery. Anyway, John said that Lee had been in arbitration hearings all last week over his status with the brewery and his lawyer partner. No decision has been returned by the arbitrator yet. Lee may be reinstated in the end but I think that John is more than capable of brewing a quality beer, as long as the lawyer will let him. As for the taste changing, I'm not sure. The Red Mountain Red Ale was first brewed for the City Stages festival in Birmingham. Lee said that they tweaked the recipe for that brew after the first run but I don't think it has been changed since. The Gold Ale and Golden Lager were both shipped on the first brewing run, one of Lee's major complaints against his partner. Lee felt that they should brew a test batch of each before putting it into the mass market in order to fine-tune them and get them right. The lawyer won out and the gold lager we got briefly here in Huntsville (on draught) was cloudy. They may have been fine-tuning these brews in the field so to speak. We just got the Red Mountain Red in bottles here last week and it tastes quite good. It is still better on tap at Dugan's in Birmingham but I'm glad to have the bottled version in town. I don't think they've shipped the Gold Ale or Golden Lager up here in bottles yet. They also brewed a wheat beer but they only brewed a single run and it is almost gone according to John. They have not yet decided whether to brew it again. I also asked about the possibility of them brewing a Christmas beer but John said that the packaging costs for a special brew were prohibitive at this time. He said they plan to "do some specialty brews" starting in the spring. I'll post more after I talk to Lee. - -- Guy McConnell guy at mspe5.b11.ingr.com "All I need is a pint a day" Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1992 16:38:52 +0000 From: G.A.Cooper at qmw.ac.uk Subject: Pressure cookers >> First a question: My neighbor just got hold of a 5-gallon pressure cooker. >> We wanted to use it for brewing (extracts and specialty grains). Has anyone >> out there in network land ever brewed this way? Do you reduce boiling time >> due to higher temperatures? What about adding hops, etc. Will the higher Carl J. Appellof replied >I wouldn't do it. Pressure cookers come with instructions that tell >you never to cook stuff that will foam up a lot. The foam can block >the pressure valve and cause a big boom if things get overheated. As >we all know, the initial stage of boiling wort is about the foamiest >thing known to mankind. If you think stories of exploding carboys are >bad, just wait until that aluminum grenade goes off on your stove. In practice, however, it doesn't happen. I know a few people who use pressure cookers all the time without ay problems. The biggest hazard is getting a hop seed stuck in the valve (they fit quite nicely) which results in the safety valve blowing (and the ceiling of your brewery gets re-decorated). Construct a gauze filter around the pressure valve inside the lid to prevent that happening (Another use for that window screen stuff you have over there?). With pressure cooking, boiling time can be reduced (15 mins at 10lb might be enough for some beers). However, you don't get as much reduction in volume so you cannot sparge as long and then rely on the boil to get the volume back down. Sparge efficiency is therfore more important, but that might not be a bad thing. Also you don't get as much DMS boiled off, so it might be best if you stick to normal kettles for beers where DMS is a problem. Otherwise, try it and let us know how you get on. Meanwhile I shall relax ... Geoff Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1992 09:12:23 -0600 From: Michael Howe <howe at gp_sparc45.gwl.com> Subject: Oops! -Lager yeast goof.. Hello, My roommate and I have a concern and thought this might be a legitimate forum to ask about it. We are relatively new to all grain brewing. Yesterday, we were happily brewing up our Christmas/Holiday offering. We were brewing a brownish ale with all of the obligatory holiday spicings (including nutmeg,cloves,cinnamon,etc). Everything was going find until it was time to add the yeast. As I was about to pour it in, I noticed that it was lager yeast instead of ale yeast. Being the wild and crazy guys that we are (not to mention, the stores were closed and we couldn't get more yeast), we decided to go ahead and put it in anyway. Now the problem, as I see it, is that we should allow fermentation to take place in a cooler environment for the yeast to be able to do it's thing( is this correct?). We do not have an environment to do so. Are we wasting our time allowing it to ferment at room temperature (about 68 F.) or not. Does anyone see any problems that are going to arise from this situation. If so, is there anything we can/should do at this point to save our beloved holiday beer. Thank you very much in advance, Michael Howe howe at gwl.com Englewood, Colorado Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 12:44:10 EDT From: leavitt at mordor.hw.stratus.com (Will Leavitt) Subject: sake recipies? I just started up a batch of Amer Ale yesterday. Mmmmm!!! Now for something completely different. Does anyone have a recipe for sake, or a good source for ingredients? I've read the recipe in Cat's Meow, 2ed., but it seems questionable. Will Leavitt Stratus Computer leavitt at mordor.hw.stratus.com Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 10:00:41 PDT From: "John Cotterill" <johnc at hprpcd.rose.hp.com> Subject: Brewpubs in Vancouver/Portland? Full-Name: "John Cotterill" I will be in the Vancouver/Portland area on business next week. Would someone be so kind as to pass along a list of brewpubs in the area. When I'm not working you can guess where I'll be! Thanks, JC johnc at hprpcd.rose.hp.com Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 11:05:28 -0600 From: Jon Binkley <binkley at beagle.Colorado.EDU> Subject: Snobbery, Pretension, and American Wheats Darryl Richman sez: >But to denigrate a brewery for attempting find competitive niches is >counterproductive. After all, it's not as if Anchor or Red Hook >stopped producing some of their other, more distinctive products in >order to make room for these. Such an attitude can also smack of >snobbishness, which can turn off a lot people who might otherwise be >interested enough to try "different" styles of beer. Well, I've never attempted to defend myself against charges of being a beer snob, and I'm not going to start now ;-)! But what bothers me more than either snobbery or bland taste is unwarrented pretension. I consider Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout a snob's beer. It's WAY overpriced, and I refuse to buy it for that reason, but it is definitely great beer and the snobbery is justified. At the other end of the spectrum is the bland mega-brewery products we all love to bash. Sure they're tasteless, but they're also cheap and rarely pretend to be anything they aren't; I tend to avoid them, but their existance doesn't bother me. In between are the pretentious beers- little better in quality than the tasteless stuff, but priced like a snob beer- and this stuff bugs me. Into this category I lump Carona, most mass market Euro imports, most mass market Canadian beers, and, getting back to the subject, American Wheat Ale (of course there are a few exceptions to the rule, like Grant's and Schell's; the stereotype I'm bashing is exemplified by Anchor Wheat or Wheat Hook). Hey, if Anchor and Red Hook charged $3.50 a six pack for their wheat beers I'd have no complaint, and would even buy some for lawn mowing purposes. Lowering their prices they'd also sell more to the masses, supporting the production of their good beers and introducing more people to their well made beers. Charging the same price as they do for Liberty Ale or Ballard Bitter is down right offensive, and reeks of UNWARRENTED snobbery to this accused and confessed beer snob. Jon Binkley Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 10:36:08 -0700 From: wolfgang at cats.UCSC.EDU Subject: RE: Santa Cruz brewpubs... Sorry for spreading misinformation. In my last post about efficient wort chilling, I mentioned that Santa Cruz has 3 brewpubs. There are only 2 brewpubs in Santa Cruz - Seabright Brewery and Santa Cruz Brewery/Front St. Pub. The third I was thinking of is Boulder Creek Brewing Co. Boulder Creek is a little town just outside of Santa Cruz. Many people sent me e-mail about this, so I figured I'd better post something before my mailbox fills up. :-) Sorry! Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 14:12:27 -0400 From: Paul Matulonis <paulm at sci.ccny.cuny.edu> Subject: will california lager yeast handle a ferment at RT? I'm about to brew up a steam beer and was wondering....does any one have any experience with this yeast at room temp? I'd like to get a little more mileage and was thinking of doing up one of my generic ales and use some of the cal. lager stuff (wyeast 2112) after I cook up the steam beer. I've got room in the cool box for only a single carboy at a time and the second batch would have to ferment at room temps (around 70-77 F depending upon how the building screws around with the heating system). (If no one gets around to responding by tomorrow night I'll just have to wing it and let all _you_ know.) Thanks. pm paulm at sci.ccny.cuny.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1992 17:45 EST From: GREG PYLE <S1400067 at NICKEL.LAURENTIAN.CA> Subject: Stuck fermentation? I have acquired 2 15 gallon carboys for brewing beer. I have used them for three batches now and I have had problems with each one. Each time I have brewed in them, I simply took a 5 gal recipe and multiplied all of the ingredients by 3. After the secondary fermentation, the specific gravity would be about 1.020. This would normally mean stuck fermentation. I can usually get the fermentation going again if I stir up the bottom vigorously. I have been told that if you multiply a recipe by more than two, stuck fermentation is unavoidable because the centre of the carboy has a much higher temperature than the sides of the carboy thereby damaging active yeast. Is there anyone who knows how to avoid these problems for brewing batches over 5 gallons? Greg Pyle Laurentian University Sudbury, Ont. Return to table of contents
Date: 20 Oct 92 03:35:59 GMT From: SynCAccT at slims.attmail.com Subject: Extract Astringency I'm halfway through the starch conversion on a batch a Kolsch and have some time to kill so I flip open Miller's TCHoHB into the "MASH" section. Reading the steps for the 400th time I note that he mentions that mash out in a picknick cooler requires removing a portion of the mash and boiling it, then return to the mashtun to raise to mashout temps. This seems to me to be a sort of pseudo decoction mash, and got me wondering about the whole thing. I use the stove pot - insulated box nethod for mashing and I've never done a decoction mash, always infusions. I assume that sparging above 168F is not good because of tannins creating astringincy and other negative effects will result. My question for the decocters in the crowd is; why does boiling a portion of the grist not extract tannins during a decoction? ....Glenn Anderson Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #994, 10/20/92