HOMEBREW Digest #1149 Wed 26 May 1993

Digest #1148 Digest #1150


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


Contents:
  Hops, Fruits/Racking off thee trub/London bottle shops (Conn Copas)
  Funky, Break and Dew Point ("Spencer W. Thomas")
  NOTE 05/25/93 09:05:50 (WAUTS)
  3rd Annual Southport Beer Festival (     Thomas L. Stolfi    wauts)
  The rise of Bud in Ireland (Bud and European drinkers  25-May-1993 1011 -0400)
  South East Suppliers (Elaine Boris)
  Manhatten Brewing Company (Daniel Roman)
  Sparge efficiency relative to flow rate (man)
  _Brewing Techniques_ ("Spencer W. Thomas")
  Cold break separation (Raymond M. Yurick)
  Starter? (ROB WILSON)
  Christmas Beers ("Tom Stolfi")
  Christmas Beers (Tom Stolfi                                   Tom Stolfi - CWE1IIN)
  Re: efficiency and sparge rate (larryba)
  Re: Galanga (Jeff Frane)
  RE: soot on Stainless steel pot problem (davidr)
  Bud in Ireland (Ulick Stafford)
  SS reactivity (korz)
  Beer in europe (jason)
  Death of Rumor--There is NO Bud in Germany (Richard Akerboom)
  Solution to Soot and a Thank You (weissborn)
  Fermenter Geometry/Sierra Nevada (John Cotterill)
  Soot on stainless (Keith A. MacNeal HLO1-1/T09 DTN 225-6171  25-May-1993 1644)
  kegs in fridges (Paul Boor)
  Sparging efficiency (Josh Grosse)
  Beer Bread with Machine (Mark Garetz)
  soot on pots (Bill Fuhrmann)
  GABF Ad Claims (thomas ciccateri)
  Sweetport recipe and Hoegaa ("Steve Lovett")
  Porter recipe (Tom Kaltenbach)
  secondary fermentations and fruit ("Tom Childers")

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 25 May 93 12:01:07 BST From: Conn Copas <C.V.Copas at lut.ac.uk> Subject: Hops, Fruits/Racking off thee trub/London bottle shops Spencer writes: "I've noticed that dry-hopping often results in a "grassy" or "herbal" taste that diminishes quickly with time. Sort of like chewing on raw hops." I actually find this more with large amounts of certain bittering hops; Hallertauer in particular. My best guess is that this could be due to chlorophyl content, which is responsible for the green colour. My home dried hops (at room temperature) go brown without seeming to lose their aroma, presumably because I use neither forced drying nor sulphur dusting. Lee writes: "My current understanding of racking off the trub is that one should pitch into the chilled wort and rack a few hours later. This gives the yeast the opportunity to use some component of the trub which it needs in the beginning stage of fermentation and not provide the materials that the yeast uses later in fermentation to produce fusel alcohols." This is a perennial issue and I don't have the definitive answer either. However, my understanding of the chemistry is that many fermentation byproducts, such as fusel oil and esters, are produced during the yeast _respiration_ phase. At this point, the yeast requires oxygen to reproduce, most homebrewed worts contain suboptimal levels of dissolved oxygen, so it's a reasonable bet that the yeast will attempt to extract oxygen from the trub, and produce fusel oil in the process. Whether it will show more or less preference for the trub is one of HBD's great controversies. For the yeast to metabolise trub during the secondary requires it to switch from anaerobic to aerobic fermentation (yes?), which strikes me as unlikely under normal conditions. Does anyone know of any decent bottle shops in London, specialising in imported beers? E-mail responses might be best. - -- Conn V Copas Loughborough University of Technology tel : +44 509 263171 ext 4164 Computer-Human Interaction Research Centre fax : +44 509 610815 Leicestershire LE11 3TU e-mail - (Janet):C.V.Copas at uk.ac.lut G Britain (Internet):C.V.Copas at lut.ac.uk Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 10:05:42 EDT From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <Spencer.W.Thomas at med.umich.edu> Subject: Funky, Break and Dew Point Jack Schmidling writes: > However, I would suggest that if you have air conditioning, it > would be far more effective and simple just to place your > fermenter in front of the A/C or air duct. I'm not sure about this. Putting the fermenter in front of the A/C, you get a blast of cold, followed by warming, followed by a blast of cold, .... Sitting in the corner with a wet T-shirt on, you get continual gentle cooling. (Of course, the difference may be irrelevant, given the thermal mass of 5 gallons of beer.) =S Return to table of contents
Date: 25 May 1993 09:05:09 GMT From: WAUTS at CWEMAIL.ceco.com Subject: NOTE 05/25/93 09:05:50 From: Thomas L. Stolfi wauts at cwemail.ceco.com Subject: 3rd Annual Southport Beer Festival Brewmasters Pub proudly announces the 3rd Annual Southport Beer Festival. The festival is to be held in the Bier Garten at Brewmasters Pub on June 19th between 2:00pm and 9:00pm. Brewmasters is located at 4017 80th St in Kenosha, WI (Phone: 414-694-9050), for directions send private email. The purchase price is $14/advance or $16/door (advance purchase guarantees commemorative mug)and includes unlimited beer tasting. For those requiring solid nutrition you will be happy to know that a pig will be roasted. The following list of breweries are to participate (there may be some last minute changes): Adlerbrau ------------- Appleton, WI Boston Beer Co.(tm) --- Boston, Mass Brewmasters' ---------- Kenosha, WI Broadripple ----------- Indianapolis, IN Calumet Brewery ------- Chilton, WI Capital --------------- Middleton, WI Cherryland Brewing ---- Sturgeon Bay, WI Chicago Brewing ------- Chicago, IL Lakefront ------------- Milwaukee, WI Sprecher Brewing ------ Milwaukee, WI Water Street Brewery -- Milwaukee, WI Weinkeller ------------ Chicago, IL For anybody wishing to stay overnight a list of hotels is available, send request via private email. Tom Stolfi wauts at cwemail.ceco.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 07:16:10 PDT From: Bud and European drinkers 25-May-1993 1011 -0400 <ferguson at zendia.enet.dec.com> Subject: The rise of Bud in Ireland There has been a lot of talk about the rise of the popularity Budwieser beer in Ireland and europe in general. I've been to Ireland twice recently and Germany/Austria recently as well and this is the way my Irish friends have put it. When the warmer weather comes, the Irish look for brew that is lighter, and Bud has that appeal. Many Guinness drinkers switch to Bud for the summer, and when the cooler weather returns, back to the Guinness. When the Irish workers get home at 5:30pm, they still have 5 hours of day light left! The sun finally sets around 10:30pm or so. On the other hand, in the winter it is light by 9am and dark by 4pm (November anyways). Perhaps this extended light period during the summer has an effect on the choice of brew too. JC Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 10:06:02 EDT From: Elaine Boris <EBORIS at UGA.CC.UGA.EDU> Subject: South East Suppliers My local homebrew supplier is actually a natural foods grocery and their selection is VERY limited. I would like know if anyone can suggest a good mail order supplier in my area. TIA ( Thanks in advance ), E. Elaine Boris Student Information Systems Computer Services Specialist University of Georgia 706 542-0484 Athens Georgia Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 1993 10:26:55 -0400 (EDT) From: roman at tix.timeplex.com (Daniel Roman) Subject: Manhatten Brewing Company I've recently been made aware by a friend that the Manhattan Brewing Company has reopened (last week?) under entirely new management (it closed in 91). They produce up to six different types of beers and ales on premises and the theme there is beer. Even the food makes extensive use of beer in the recipes and/or is used to compliment the different beer styles. The address is 23 Watts St., between Thompson and Broadway I believe. I have not been there yet but I know someone who knows the Manager so this info is 2nd or 3rd hand. I hope to get there soon, anyone work in the Canal St. area of NYC willing to do a scouting mission? Also, does anyone have the address of the fellow who keeps the publist file on sierra? I seem to have misplaced it. I'd like to make sure he gets this updated info. - -- _________ Dan Roman GEnie: D.ROMAN1 Internet: roman at tix.timeplex.com // American Homebrewers Association member Only AMIGA! \X/ Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 10:15:35 EDT From: man at lcwdw1.att.com Subject: Sparge efficiency relative to flow rate Subject: Re: efficiency and sparge rate This past weekend I experimented with my sparge rate to see if speeding it up would result in reduced yield. I normally make 12 to 13 gallon batches in a converted keg mash tun with stainless false bottom. I always have to control the flow with a valve or I would sparge 15 gallons in 20 minutes. I usually restrict the flow to force the time to 2.5 to 3 hours. At this rate, my yields were generally 27-30 pts/lb/gal. I used a tried and true recipe for a session beer - Neshanic Bitter (1.039). This time the sparge lasted only one hour to claim 15 gallons. I boiled it down to 13+ with a OG of 1.040. My yield was 29.7 which I am quite pleased with. I will continue to experiment with this sparge rate. For the recipe hungry: Neshanic Bitter (Recipe for 13 gallons) 16.0 lbs DeWolf-Cosyns Pale Ale .9 lbs DeWolf-Cosyns Cara Munich .6 lbs DeWolf-Cosyns Wheat 8.5 gal mash water at 175 F (a little to hot for this much grain, try 5 F less) 1 Tbsp gypsum in mash. Mash for 1 hour. Recycle 1 quart. 8.5 gal sparge water at 180 F. Acidified with 10cc 88% lactic acid. 75 min boil 22.4 AAU Northern Brewer Whole Hops (60 minutes) Counter-flow chilled Wyeast Chico (second generation) Fermenting at 65 F. Misc: Grains weighed on Hobart deli scale. Grains cracked in roller mill. SG derived from refractometer, confirmed with hydrometer. Mark Nevar Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 10:53:02 EDT From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <Spencer.W.Thomas at med.umich.edu> Subject: _Brewing Techniques_ My issue of Brewing Techniques came yesterday. Looks pretty good, I think I'll spring the $24 to help keep it in business. In this issue: "Factors affecting hop production, hop quality, and brewer preference," A. Haunold and G. Nickerson I haven't finished this one, but it includes some gas chromatograms showing "hop oils" in a few varieties. "Belgian malts: some practical observations," G. Fix George does test batches. Includes charts with color, diastatic power, etc. Conclusion: the specialty malts are unique, the regular malts are very good, with slight flaws. "Reinheitsgebot and the fifth ingredient," M. Schiller Bacteria and how to keep 'em out. "Thinking about Beer Recipe Formulation," D. Richman Darryl describes how he put together his award-winning "Bock Aasswards" recipe. (Side note: it claims here he has a Bock book coming out soon.) I would like it if this became a (semi-)regular feature, probably with various contributors. (Hint: send in your contributions. I've seen some HBD postings that would do nicely in this slot.) "Spreadsheet for Recipe Design," K. King Haven't read it yet. Articles are classified as "Feature" (cover story, 1st above), "Technical Articles" (2 & 3 above), and "Brewers' Forum" (4 & 5 above). Columns (and therefore regular features, I assume): "The troubleshooter," D. Miller The obvious thing, but more in depth than the "prof" in Zymurgy. "Brewing in Styles," R. Bergen (This column will feature "guest brewers".) This month is American Wheat Beers. Talks about mashing & sparging techniques, as well as stylistic points. Some points aimed specifically at the professional (microbrewer) audience, e.g., reference to lauter tuns with rakes. The letters section, "Technical communications," looks very much like some of the better articles in the HBD (and includes a couple of HBD regulars in this issue). All in all, a good effort. This single issue has almost more information content than a whole year of Zymurgy! Well, maybe I exaggerate. And Zymurgy has its points, too: a profusion of recipes, a chatty style, and lots more ads. (I assume this will change.) Brewing Techniques has a much sparer, cleaner, more professional "look" to it, which is appropriate to a publication of this sort. It's very readable, and shows good attention to look as well as content. Of course, there were a few typos, but not nearly as many as some other brewing magazines I could mention. [Imagine standard disclaimer here.] =Spencer W. Thomas | Info Tech and Networking, B1911 CFOB, 0704 "Genome Informatician" | Univ of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Spencer.W.Thomas at med.umich.edu | 313-764-8065, FAX 313-764-4133 Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 10:58:55 -0400 From: br035 at cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Raymond M. Yurick) Subject: Cold break separation js writes (on cold break separation) >I also suspect the whole discussion is irrelevant to those of us using > imersion chillers as the hot/cold break is conveniently left behind in the > kettle when the chilled wort is drawn off. Actually, immersion chillers do not give a well-defined cold break due to the more gradual temperature drop. Ray Yurick Return to table of contents
Date: 25 May 1993 09:59:34 -0500 (CDT) From: ROB WILSON <WILSONRS at VAX1.Winona.MSUS.EDU> Subject: Starter? I want to make a yeast starter for my next batch, the problem is that I dont have any DME to make it with. Can I just use a corn sugar/water solution. If so who much water and corn sugar. Also is it true the more sugar the higher the yeast count. I use dry yeast, does this take longer to start? How long do you leave the starter before pitching? Thanks to every one who helped me with the equipment question. I got some from from Glenwood spring water for only $8.(carboys) The bottles I will just have to look for. E-mail me.. Thanks in Advance Rob Wilson wilsonrs at vax2.winona.msus.edu Return to table of contents
Date: 25 May 1993 09:21:09 GMT From: "Tom Stolfi" <WAUTS at CWEMAIL.ceco.com> Subject: Christmas Beers From: Tom Stolfi Tom Stolfi - CWE1IIN Subject: Christmas Beers Hello All, I am going to make a BIG Christmas beer this year and I am starting to compile my recipes. If you have a recipe you are willing to share (Ho Ho Ho, tis the season of giving) or any advice on spices and such a response would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Tom Stolfi wauts at cwemail.ceco.com p.s. If I get a lot of response I will compile a list and post to the HBD. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 11:57:03 -0400 From: polstra!larryba at uunet.UU.NET Subject: Re: efficiency and sparge rate Inm HBD #3321 you write: >Is there a relationship between extraction efficiency and >sparge rate. I seem to remember some previous >dialog on this but don't remember what the concensus was. Chuck: I have sparged a 5 gallon batch (collected 6.5 gal) from less than 20 minutes to over 90 minutes. I have not noticed much difference in the efficiency. Now, however, with a poor crush or poor lauter geometry I have seen wide variations in my sparge efficiency. Actually, I don't know much about geometry other than I typically get 100% of the expected extract with my two rigs (false bottom plastic bucket with drum tap, and a 1/2 bbl keg and a 8" slotted copper ring for the filter - that is my new, fancy, 10 gal brewery). I do have experience with poor crushes: ones done by a coffee grinder (lots of whole grains and flour) lauter middling ok, but poor extract, ones done by a roller mill set too close: lots of flour, incredible slow sparge and excellent extract. A proper crush with a roller mill (or corona) lauters very fast and I still get 100% extract. BTW, the corona will give you more flour and a slower sparge, but other than that does a very credible job of crushing grain when set properly. If you have poor extract rates and suspect your geometry you can try the technique (I can't remember who tried this first, I think maybe Martin Lodahl) where you drain the first runnings, add all the sparge water, stir, let settle and drain again. that should remove any geometrical considerations (channeling, etc.) Cheers! - -- Larry Barello uunet!polstra!larryba Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 1993 09:10:43 -0700 (PDT) From: gummitch at techbook.com (Jeff Frane) Subject: Re: Galanga Lord knows why anyone would put Galanga into a brew, but... As has been pointed out, galanga is used in southeast Asian cooking, primarily Thai and Vietnamese. It is a relative of ginger (so it is NOT a root, but a rhyzome), but it is MUCH MUCH more expensive. It is available fresh in any Vietnamese grocery store, but the odds are a beverage recipe really requires dried, powdered galanga. In this form, it's more likely to be called "laos" (like the country). Although related to ginger, it doesn't taste at all like it, and ginger really wouldn't be a substitute. And, come to think of it, dried galanga/laos isn't all that expensive, just the fresh stuff. And while you're in there rooting around, try to find me a supply of kaffir lime peel (dried). - --Jeff Frane Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 09:38:28 PDT From: davidr at ursula.ee.pdx.edu Subject: RE: soot on Stainless steel pot problem >My problem is that after the wort boils and I turn the cooker down to maintain >a nice rolling boil, the flame is very yellow (presumably because the gas/air >mix is off) and soot forms on the bottom of my expensive new Stainless steel >pot. > >Have any others experienced this problem and is there a good solution? I learned this trick in boyscouts while backpacking. Cooking on an open fire seems to ALWAYS accumulate soot on the bottoms of your pans. The solution? Place a thin film of dish detergent on the pan bottom. Although, the soot still accumulates, it washes off easily with water. (Of course you are going to have to scrub real well with steel wool or something similar to remove the soot that has already accumulated... but after that, if you use this method, its easy street.) -David Robinson davidr at ee.pdx.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 12:13:34 EST From: Ulick Stafford <ulick at davinci.helios.nd.edu> Subject: Bud in Ireland In hbd1147 Tim Murray mentioned seeing lots of empty Bud cans on a train being drunk by Irish Football fans. There is much that should be known about this. Firstly, anyone who has travelled by train anywhere knows that the selection of beers can leave a little to be desired (it is interesting to note that the selection improves alot when crossing the Canadian border at Port Huron/Sarnia, but that is another story). Secondly, Budweiser produced in Ireland (by Guinness at the Smithwicks plant in Kilkenny) has been acclaimed by Americans who have drank it as tasting like a beer (as agianst how it tastes here). It is produced to normal Irish strength (4.3% - a bit weker than here), which probably improves its balance. Thirdly. It is normally priced (in cans anyway) the same or cheaper than other lagers, and it is possible it was being drunk because it was cheap. Ulick Stafford Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 12:59 CDT From: korz at iepubj.att.com Subject: SS reactivity Don writes: >the best and most complete source of info on the reactivity of various >acids, salts, bases and whatever with various metals, plastics, rubbers >is in the back of the Granger catalog. `Fraid not Don... a more complete source of reactivity is in the back of the Cole-Palmer catalog, but I won't go so far as to say that it is the most complete source. >for example, household bleach does not react with 304 and 316 stainless. >however, no info is available on 302 and 440 although its very unlikely >you will find pots or kegs made with these. According to the Cole-Palmer reactivity chart, both "Chlorine Water" and "Sodium Hypochlorite (<20%)" are listed as "Moderate Effect" for 316 and 304 Stainless Steel and "Severe Effect" for 440 Stainless Steel. While we're at it, it also says that there is a "Severe Effect" with "Cast Bronze," "Cast iron," "Aluminum" and "Carbon/Ceramic". Copper is not listed, but I strongly suspect that it, too, is reactive with both "Chlorine Water" and "Sodium Hypochlorite (<20%)." >there are many other interesting items. e.g,. BEER doesn't react with >much of anything (thank god) except a little with brass and polyethylene, >a little more with silicon and quite severely with cast iron and poly- >propylene. Strange, in the Cole-Palmer chart, "Beer" has "No Effect" on Polyethylene, Silicon or Polypropylene. >honestly, the table is an array about 400x30. Honestly, the Cole-Palmer table is about 550X40, but it still is not the most complete I've seen -- just the most complete I have here at arm's length. Al. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 10:38:36 -0700 From: jason at beamlab.ps.uci.edu Subject: Beer in europe Sorry about this request (I know these things bug the crapola out of some of you), but I tried to retrieve the information from the archives via ftp and my computer (or I) couldn't hack it. Where is great beer to be found and what no way to be missed beer sites are there in: Brussels Munich Amsterdam and possibly other parts of Germany? please respond via private e-mail by today thank you very much, and have a glorious day. Jason Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 09:21:09 EST From: boomer at sylsoft.com (Richard Akerboom) Subject: Death of Rumor--There is NO Bud in Germany There is NO Anheuser-Busch Budweiser in Germany. A message a few weeks ago started this rumor, but the author was confusing the original, Czech Budvar (called Budweiser in German because of the German name for the city) with the cheap imitation we get here in the states. I emailed the author to find out, and he now realizes his mistake. This also explains the high price he quoted. If Anheuser-Busch were to import US Bud, they would have to change the name, as the Czechs have the rights to the name in Europe. At least until A-B buys them out, which I hope never happens. Rich - ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Richard Akerboom Domain: boomer at sylsoft.com or akerboom at dartmouth.edu Sylvan Software uucp: dartvax!sylsoft!boomer Mechanic St. Phone: 802-649-2231 P. O. Box 566 FAX: 802-649-2238 Norwich, VT 05055 USA Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 18:58:15 GMT From: weissborn at dfwdsr.SINet.SLB.COM Subject: Solution to Soot and a Thank You > Subject: soot on Stainless steel pot problem > > > I just got a "King Kooker" propane burner. As many of you have also found out, > a home gas stove makes it difficult to get 7 gallons of wort to a boil. > My problem is that after the wort boils and I turn the cooker down to maintain > a nice rolling boil, the flame is very yellow (presumably because the gas/air > mix is off) and soot forms on the bottom of my expensive new Stainless steel > pot. > > Have any others experienced this problem and is there a good solution? > > - --Tony Verhulst Looks like you were never in the Scouts, Tony 8-) The soot problem can be solved by dampening a bar of soap and then rubbing it over the bottom and sides. When you cleanup 95-100% of the soot will come off since it is "stuck" to the soap and not to the pot. Thanks to all who replied about my 1st batch problems. At the suggestion of several folks I took another gravity reading. The O.G. ( at 90f) was .1112 the reading I got a few days ago was .1042( at 74f) (I wish I could find my temperature adjustment chart). The feeling at the local brew shop is that it is close to finished although it still tastes a little sweet. I am planning to take another reading tonight and will probably bottle tomorrow. Thanks again for the advice. Bill Weissborn weissborn at dfwvx1.dallas.geoquest.slb.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 13:40:49 PDT From: John Cotterill <johnc at hprpcd.rose.hp.com> Subject: Fermenter Geometry/Sierra Nevada 1) I have been doing some experiments fermenting in 5 gal glass carboys and 5 gal SS soda kegs. I have found that the beers in the soda kegs all take much longer to ferment out. I think it is do to the geometry. Has anyone else noticed this? I have heard of some people fermenting in Sankey (sp?) kegs. I dont know what a Sankey keg is, but I am guessing that is is a regular beer keg. If so, how in the heck do you make sure they are clean? I want to use SS especially since I can use pressure to transfer the beer instead of syphons. And a standard beer keg has a geometry similar to a carboyu. Anyone have any experience fermenting in Sankey/beer kegs? 2) I have spent the last year trying to make a Sierra Nevada PA clone. I really have not even come close although the attempts have resulted in some mighty tasty beers. I have a pretty poor sense of taste which is complicating my efforts. It seems to me that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale uses lots of flavoring hops with low bittering hops - just an un-educated guess. Can anyone shed some light on the hop profile for SNPA and perhaps even suggest a recipe. Thanks! JC johnc at hprpcd.rose.hp.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 16:46:32 EDT From: Keith A. MacNeal HLO1-1/T09 DTN 225-6171 25-May-1993 1644 <macneal at pate.enet.dec.com> Subject: Soot on stainless Here's a little trick I picked up in Boy Scouts many years ago. To make soot easy to remove from the outside of pans that have been used over a campfire (or a yellow flamed Cajun Cooker), coat the outside of the pan with soap. You can either coat it in liquid dish detergent or rub a bar of soap all over the outside. The soot will simply rinse off with the soap at cleaning time. Keith MacNeal Digital Equipment Corp. Hudson, MA Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 1993 14:22:53 -0600 From: Paul Boor <PBOOR at beach.utmb.edu> Subject: kegs in fridges In reference to fridges or freezers and the cold air falling out when you open the door, I finally broke down and installed a stem tap through the door of the keg fridge. It is the thrill of a lifetime, drilling a hole through the fridge door! It was so much fun (and the tap looked so much more professional than fumbling inside with the hoses) that I sprung for two more. I justify the cost by the electric I will save during the 10 month Galveston summer, not opening the door to draw a beer. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 1993 17:34:26 -0400 (EDT) From: jdg at cyberspace.org (Josh Grosse) Subject: Sparging efficiency In HBD 1148, chuckm at pbn73.cv.com asked about the relationship between sparge time and extract efficiency. My answer using English 2-row pale malt: 45 minute sparge = 27 pts / gallon. 2.5 hour sparge = 34 pts / gallon. I've been using a grain bag in a BruHeat as a combined mash/lauter tun. I have found that I get the clearest run-off and slowest drain rate by lowering the level of wort until the grain bed compacts. Recirculating before this happens has no effect. Once the grain bed has compacted, it clears the runoff almost instantly. Then, I recirculate. With a compact grain bed, it takes a long time for the sparge to complete. I pre-acidify to 5.5-5.7 with 88% lactic acid. Last fall, Spencer Thomas and I got 33 pts / gallon using a recirculating mash system. I don't have the money for such a system myself right now, so I'll read a book (or catch up on a week's worth of HBDs) while sparging. - ----------------------------------------------------------------- Josh Grosse jdg at grex.cyberspace.org Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 1993 10:26:29 From: garetz at brahms.amd.com (Mark Garetz) Subject: Beer Bread with Machine Kim Kiesow asks if anyone has made beer bread with a bread machine: Yes. My wife makes it all the time. She just substitutes some of my homebrew for the water in the recipe, but she microwaves it first. This is mainly to warm it up because the machine wants warm water (although I have yet to figure out why because you can delay the bread start for 12 hours or more). The type of beer to use depends a lot on the type of bread you want. But very bitter beers will make the bread a bit bitter. My favorite has been a dark rye made with Porter. To make the rye dark, she adds cocoa powder. Mark from HopTech Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 17:13:32 CDT From: fiero at pnet51.orb.mn.org (Bill Fuhrmann) Subject: soot on pots |My problem is that after the wort boils and I turn the cooker down to maintain |a nice rolling boil, the flame is very yellow (presumably because the gas/air |mix is off) and soot forms on the bottom of my expensive new Stainless steel |pot. The standard camping solution to this is to smear dish washing liquid on the bottoms and sides of the pot. Then all the soot just washes off. Bill Fuhrmann, aka fiero at pnet51.orb.mn.org "You don't know what you've got till it's gone." - Joni Mitchell Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 18:53:13 MDT From: thomas ciccateri <tciccate at carina.unm.edu> Subject: GABF Ad Claims In the Jan/Feb '93 issue of The New Brewer, Charlie Papazian states that beginning July 1,1993 the Association of Brewers will enforce the following rules on participants: Brewers promoting their awards must mention the category in which the medal was awarded, they must mention the medal won, and they must tell for which year the medal was won. Tom Ciccateri University of New Mexico Training and Learning Technologies Return to table of contents
Date: 25 May 1993 19:20:12 U From: "Steve Lovett" <Steve_Lovett at qm.symantec.com> Subject: Sweetport recipe and Hoegaa Subject: Sweetport recipe and Hoegaarden recipe help. Hi fellow brewors! A couple of quick questions for you all. Has anyone brewed up Mike Ligas's recipe "Sweetport Porter" from The Cat's meow II, 5-45? The recipe says it is for six gallons, but the comments state that the author generally is an all grain dude. So... does this mean mix up six for a full wort boil that boils down to apx. five, or does it mean the actual volume of wort after the boil is six gallons?? Also... I have grown quite enamored of the coriander-orange peel flavor of Hoegaarden "White" from Belgium. The current fruit beer thread has me really itching to brew up something very similar. I have seen Papazian's recipe in TNCJOHB but it is all barley malt based, and my memory is not what it used to be, but I'm sure that Hoegaarden is a wheat beer. I have seen "Grand Cru" kits from Brewferm, but the kit thing makes me a little sceptical so any advice on reproducing this lovely brew would be most appreciated. Thanks... Steve Lovett Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 18:24 EDT From: tom at kalten.bach1.sai.com (Tom Kaltenbach) Subject: Porter recipe As a result of a private request by Keith Schwols, I am submitting the recipe for a beer that won first place in the Porter category in last month's AHA-sanctioned competetion held by the Upstate New York Homebrewers Association (Rochester, New York). I've included my brewing notes, just for kicks. "Independence Porter" by Tom Kaltenbach (5-gallon recipe) 6.6 lbs Munton & Fison amber malt extract 0.5 lbs Munton & Fison light dry malt extract 0.5 lbs chocolate malt, crushed 2.5 oz Cascade hops pellets, boiling (55 min) (note: for 2 oz, alpha = 5.4; for 0.5 oz, alpha = 4.7) 0.5 oz Hallertauer hops pellets, finishing (steep during chilling) 2 tsp gypsum 1 pkg Whitbread dry ale yeast Brewing notes: The chocolate malt grains were crushed and added to approximately one gallon of water and slowly heated. Before a boil was reached, grains were removed and sparged through two strainers, (one coarse and one medium). The malt extract, gypsum, and boiling hops were added and boiled for 55 minutes. About 15 minutes from end of boil, yeast was rehydrated by standard method [note: standard method consists of removing 1 ladleful (approx. 1/4 cup) of boiling wort and diluting to 1 cup with cold water in a sanitized 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup. It is then cool enough to add the yeast immediately. The Pyrex cup is covered with plastic wrap, sealed with a rubber band.] At end of boil, immersion wort chiller was placed into brewpot, the finishing hops was added, and the brewpot was removed from the heat. The pot was immediately transferred to the sink and the chilling begun. The brewpot lid was placed over the chiller and the gap between pot and lid was sealed with plastic wrap. After chilling for approximately ten minutes, the wort was transferred to the primary, straining out the hops pulp in the process. Wort was diluted to five gallons with jug-aerated water. [Note: jug-aerated water refers to the following: cold tap water is added to the fermenter 1/2 gallon at a time to make 5 gallons. Each 1/2 gallon is shaken vigorously for 30 - 60 seconds in a sanitized plastic gallon jug to aerate. This may also help dechlorinate the tap water.] Some cold tap water was blended with warm to produce a final temperature between 65 and 70 degrees in the fermenter. The yeast was pitched immediately. The original gravity was measured to be 1.060 at approx. 67 degrees --> 1.061 corrected. Fermentation was carried out at approximately 62 degrees. Primary fermentation continued to 18-Nov-92, when beer was racked to the secondary fermenter. Batch was kegged on 7-Dec-92; final gravity: 1.015 at 60 degrees --> 1.015 corrected. Alcohol content was computed to be 6.0375% by volume, 4.83% by weight. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 25 May 93 19:41:55 PDT From: "Tom Childers" <TCHILDER at us.oracle.com> Subject: secondary fermentations and fruit In HBD 1146, Bryan Kornreich asks > How on Earth do you press your fruity wort (to get the juice out of the pulp) > with any hint of sterility. I keep my (large wooden) spoon and strainer in the pot during the end of the boil to sterilize them. Since the Wheat Berry recipe used a partial boil, you can just take the implements out, set the strainer on the funnel, and start pouring the wort. When the strainer fills with hops and fruit, I press it with the spoon to extract the last bit of fruit juice, then toss the strainer contents and repeat the process until all of the wort is in the carboy. Then I slap a clean cork in, let it sit for a few hours to get to pitching temperature, and add about a quart of yeast starter. By the way, I find that sterility is not a huge issue when I use big yeast starters. You can never maintain sterility in your cool wort - bacteria are falling into the stuff at the rate of hundreds or thousands per minute. Eventually, the yeast will crowd the bacteria out. However, if you pitch a small yeast culture, then the bacteria have enough time to create off- flavors before losing the race. I build up a very active starter, and primary fermentation is generally in full swing within a few hours. (Of course, I do keep things very clean, and sanitize the fermenter, siphons, bottles and caps before using them. I haven't had a pedococcus infection yet, knock on wood. Remember, people have been making beer for thousands of years...) > would it be a good idea to puree the rasperries and blackberries before > adding them in order to avoid the pressing step? Pureeing the fruit should work fine, although you may get a cloudier beer from all of the little pieces of fruit skin in suspension. You might want to thaw the frozen berries first :-) Tom Childers Mill Valley, CA Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1149, 05/26/93