HOMEBREW Digest #1290 Mon 06 December 1993
Digest #1289
Digest #1291
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
immersion chiller plans?? (Peter OConnor)
Yeast FAQ, other docs, and a sake note (WEIX)
BBC and water chemistry (Chuck Wettergreen)
dilution (Steve Piatz)
Dry versus Liquid Yeast (r.wize)
Clarity and slow fermentation in first all-grain batch (Richard Nantel)
Re: Ice Beer (James Clark)
extract pouch extract extraction (mark.janello)
Wort boiler screen (Dion Hollenbeck)
Correction of Sierra Nevada Dry Hopping (Mark Garetz)
A Killians Recipe (Kevin Yager)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sat, 4 Dec 93 10:51:30 EST
From: poconnor at lager.tn.cornell.edu (Peter OConnor)
Subject: immersion chiller plans??
In HBD#1289, Mark Stewart gave plans for an immersion chiller. Thank you
Mark, but I have one question. What is the diameter of a Revereware 8 qt.
stockpot?
Pete
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Date: Sat, 04 Dec 1993 10:10:55 -0500 (CDT)
From: WEIX at swmed.edu
Subject: Yeast FAQ, other docs, and a sake note
Hi,
I am the author of the Yeast FAQ (actually chief editor is a better
description). It does indeed exist. I have noticed that many people post to
the digest asking for infomation on the retrieval of various FAQs or
documents. I say to them: *READ THE HEADER OF THE DIGEST!* Every day it is the
same, and every day it says:
->for archives, ftp to sierra.stanford.edu
->for archives without ftp access, email listserv at sierra.stanford.edu
with the body of your message reading HELP.
I am not a major techno, nor do I wish to start a flame, but I would
implore all to skim the instructions at least once.
That being said, I am going to update the yeast faq in a couple of weeks
and would encourage any and all to send any new strain descriptions or
techniques to me at weix at netcom.com.
Sake: Isn't that just warm Bud without the hops? Serve me up a glass now!
+-<:-) <-Pope smiley.
Patrick Weix
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Date: Sat, 4 Dec 93 07:28:00 -0600
From: chuck.wettergreen at aquila.com (Chuck Wettergreen)
Subject: BBC and water chemistry
I just received in the mail an unsolicited four-color bi-fold *I'm not
sure what this is* "advertisement" from The Boston Brewing Company. It
begins on the cover with a history of the Koch Brewing Family.
"James Koch - Brewer By Descent"
and on the next page
"Sam Adams - Brewer of Dissent"
a history of Samuel Adams and his revolutionary exploits.
Page three goes on to explain why James named his beer after Sam and why
Patriot James started the company - "I wanted Samuel Adams Boston Lager
to lead another kind of revolution - independence from imported beer."
Page four continues the Koch famly travails from Germany to the land of
opportunity, offers "Come for a tour" AND **offers a FREE Sam Adams T-
shirt and a FREE subscription to the Boston Beer Company Quarterly
Newsletter** !!! The last line on the FREE offer asks me to check *one*
of the following, "I am a: Beer Lover, Retailer, Distributor, Brewer."
I'm not quite sure what to make of this. Could all of Al's talk on
HBD of the "B" word have had an effect?
************************************
On another subject...
My water, according to the city water report, has 300 ppm of carbonates.
When I boil it to precipitate carbonates out, how many (ppm) could I
expect to remain in solution? Also, why does my Ph go UP after I boil
it? Shouldn't precipitating out the carbonates *reduce* hardness and
consequently Ph?
Chuck
* RM 1.2 00946 *
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Date: Sat, 4 Dec 93 11:16:26 CST
From: piatz at tamarack.cray.com (Steve Piatz)
Subject: dilution
In HBD 1289, Cushing Hamlen asks:
> Has anyone ever done a study of wort SG as a function of dilution?
> Papazian gives some guidelines for dilution, but I am looking for
> a curve, or better yet an analytical function fit to experimental data.
I posted this to the digest a long time ago (that means I don't
remember when). I think the analysis behind this was fairly
straightforward (and I don't remember that either). I think it is
correct for dilution prior to fermentation, I don't know about after
fermentation since the alcohol may throw my simplistic approach off. I
originally did this when I made an imperial stout that boiled off too
much water while getting the hop boil time. I wanted to get back to
the planned gravity and Papazian's tables didn't cover the range I
needed.
Example usage: assume 5 gallons of 1.100 wort diluted with 1 gallon of
water to get 6 gallons of 1.083 wort. We added 20% of the original
volume as additional water, intersection of 1.100 row and 20% column.
| Dilution By
O.G. | 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
- ------|----------------------------------------------------------------------
1.010 | 1.010 1.009 1.009 1.008 1.008 1.008 1.007 1.007 1.007 1.007
1.015 | 1.014 1.014 1.013 1.012 1.012 1.012 1.011 1.011 1.010 1.010
1.020 | 1.019 1.018 1.017 1.017 1.016 1.015 1.015 1.014 1.014 1.013
1.025 | 1.024 1.023 1.022 1.021 1.020 1.019 1.019 1.018 1.017 1.017
1.030 | 1.029 1.027 1.026 1.025 1.024 1.023 1.022 1.021 1.021 1.020
1.035 | 1.033 1.032 1.030 1.029 1.028 1.027 1.026 1.025 1.024 1.023
1.040 | 1.038 1.036 1.035 1.033 1.032 1.031 1.030 1.029 1.028 1.027
1.045 | 1.043 1.041 1.039 1.037 1.036 1.035 1.033 1.032 1.031 1.030
1.050 | 1.048 1.045 1.043 1.042 1.040 1.038 1.037 1.036 1.034 1.033
1.055 | 1.052 1.050 1.048 1.046 1.044 1.042 1.041 1.039 1.038 1.037
1.060 | 1.057 1.055 1.052 1.050 1.048 1.046 1.044 1.043 1.041 1.040
1.065 | 1.062 1.059 1.057 1.054 1.052 1.050 1.048 1.046 1.045 1.043
1.070 | 1.067 1.064 1.061 1.058 1.056 1.054 1.052 1.050 1.048 1.047
1.075 | 1.071 1.068 1.065 1.062 1.060 1.058 1.056 1.054 1.052 1.050
1.080 | 1.076 1.073 1.070 1.067 1.064 1.062 1.059 1.057 1.055 1.053
1.085 | 1.081 1.077 1.074 1.071 1.068 1.065 1.063 1.061 1.059 1.057
1.090 | 1.086 1.082 1.078 1.075 1.072 1.069 1.067 1.064 1.062 1.060
1.095 | 1.090 1.086 1.083 1.079 1.076 1.073 1.070 1.068 1.066 1.063
1.100 | 1.095 1.091 1.087 1.083 1.080 1.077 1.074 1.071 1.069 1.067
1.105 | 1.100 1.095 1.091 1.087 1.084 1.081 1.078 1.075 1.072 1.070
1.110 | 1.105 1.100 1.096 1.092 1.088 1.085 1.081 1.079 1.076 1.073
1.115 | 1.110 1.105 1.100 1.096 1.092 1.088 1.085 1.082 1.079 1.077
1.120 | 1.114 1.109 1.104 1.100 1.096 1.092 1.089 1.086 1.083 1.080
1.125 | 1.119 1.114 1.109 1.104 1.100 1.096 1.093 1.089 1.086 1.083
1.130 | 1.124 1.118 1.113 1.108 1.104 1.100 1.096 1.093 1.090 1.087
1.135 | 1.129 1.123 1.117 1.112 1.108 1.104 1.100 1.096 1.093 1.090
1.140 | 1.133 1.127 1.122 1.117 1.112 1.108 1.104 1.100 1.097 1.093
1.145 | 1.138 1.132 1.126 1.121 1.116 1.112 1.107 1.104 1.100 1.097
1.150 | 1.143 1.136 1.130 1.125 1.120 1.115 1.111 1.107 1.103 1.100
1.155 | 1.148 1.141 1.135 1.129 1.124 1.119 1.115 1.111 1.107 1.103
I suppose you could take the data and pass it to GNUplot if you want
curves.
The program to generate the table follows.
#include <stdio.h>
#define NUM_PERCENT 10 /* number of columns */
#define NUM_GRAVITY 30 /* number of rows */
#define PERCENT_STEP 0.05 /* percentage per column */
#define GRAVITY_STEP 0.005 /* gravity per row */
#define INITIAL_GRAVITY 1.010 /* gravity for first row */
#define INITIAL_PERCENT PERCENT_STEP /* percentage for first column */
main ()
{
int i;
int j;
float og, fg;
float dv;
float dvp;
printf (" | Dilution By\n");
printf (" O.G. | ");
for (j = 0; j < NUM_PERCENT; j++)
printf (" %3.0f%% ", 100.0 * PERCENT_STEP * (1 + j));
printf ("\n");
printf ("-------|-");
for (j = 0; j < NUM_PERCENT; j++) printf ("-------");
printf ("\n");
og = INITIAL_GRAVITY - GRAVITY_STEP;
for (i = 0; i < NUM_GRAVITY; i++) {
og += GRAVITY_STEP;
printf ("%6.3f | ", og);
dvp = INITIAL_PERCENT - PERCENT_STEP;
for (j = 0; j < NUM_PERCENT; j++) {
dvp += PERCENT_STEP;
fg = (og + dvp) / (1.0 + dvp);
printf ("%6.3f ", fg);
}
printf ("\n");
}
exit ();
}
Steve Piatz Cray Research, Inc.
steve.piatz at cray.com 655F Lone Oak Drive
612-683-5268 Eagan, MN 55121
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Date: Sat, 4 Dec 93 20:49:00 BST
From: r.wize at genie.geis.com
Subject: Dry versus Liquid Yeast
In recent HBD's there has been a number of comments concerning dry vs.
liquid yeast. I thought I would share what I tasted on a recent trip to a
couple of Brewpubs in Rochester, NY. I had the ocassion to eat dinner at a
brewpub called Rorhbachs. Their beer was verrrrrry good. They had a
terrific highly hopped lager called Gregory Street Lager. The beer was one
of the best I have tried to date. After discussing it with the bartender he
asked me if I would like a tour. Obviously I was overjoyed at the
opportunity! The brewmaster was on site and proceeded to show me the
facility. I found that they used Belgium Malt (all grain process) and
Wyeast to brew the beer.
The next day I had the chance to stop at the Rochester Brewpub and try a
couple of their brews. I was definitely not as thrilled with their beer
(however, overall it wasn't bad). As I was looking at the facility I once
again had the opportunity to discuss brewing with the brewmaster. To my
surprise I found the process to be Malt Extract and Whitbread dry yeast. The
difference between what I had tasted the day before was remarkable, the
liquid yeast was clean while the Whitbread had definitive tastes left in the
beer.
Now the kicker, I had brewed the day before Thanksgiving an all grain Pale
that I had planned on using a liquid lager yeast (I was attempting a steam).
However after 2 1/2 days of no activity (I had used a slant of yeast about
3 months old) I decided to attempt to rescue the beer with the only viable
option, a packet of Whitbread dry which had been in the fridge since the
summer. The brew took off in 3 hours and fermentation was very active.
Last night I racked to the secondary and as usual tried a small glass of
beer. The beer tasted exactly like the beer in the Rochester Brewpub!!
Although the beer is still drinkable, I definetely have converted myself to
liquid yeast from here on out.
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Date: 04 Dec 93 16:01:27 EST
From: Richard Nantel <72704.3003 at CompuServe.COM>
Subject: Clarity and slow fermentation in first all-grain batch
My first batch of all grain beer was racked two days ago. The recipe
followed was almost exactly Papazian's Amaizeing Pale Ale from The New
Complete Joy of Homebrewing. Two things worry me about this batch. I've
been brewing for nearly two years using malt extracts and have never before
encountered these quirks:
1. The fermentation with Edme's dried yeast, (no starter--too busy that
week) was strong for the first 48 hours and then continued at a slow rate
for another six days. I've never left beer in a primary longer than one
week and yet may have jumped the gun racking this after 8 days. At racking,
my airlock was bubbling about once a minute and the SG was 1.012 for two
consecutive days (down from 1.046), The temperature was a steady 73 degrees
F. Does all-grain brewing produce a slower but longer-fermenting wort?
2. Although I was very careful not to disturb the sediment during
siphoning, this beer is very cloudy. Of course I've assumed some of this
cloudiness is yeast from possibly premature racking. I suspect, though,
that there's a fair amount of particle matter from the grains washed off
during sparging. I sparged through a depth of about 7-8 inches of grain. Is
this cloudiness normal in all-grain brewing?
I'll sample a bottle in one week (if they haven't all exploded from
premature racking). A taste at bottling was promising, featuring a
wonderful hoppy nose yet encounterd brewing with extracts.
Richard Nantel
Montreal, Quebec
Canada
72704,3003 at compuserve.com
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Date: Sat, 4 Dec 1993 14:24:42 -0500
From: jeclark at ucdavis.edu (James Clark)
Subject: Re: Ice Beer
>Andy Pastuszak writes:
>I had the chance to taste Molson Ice a couple of days ago. Let me
>tell you, the beer has no aftertaste whatsoever, but IT HAS NO TASTE
>EITHER. This baby is made just for the American market where people
>liek their beers with as little taste as possible.
<snip>
>Anyone else had the chance to try any ice beer?
yea, i tried some budweiser ice draft (i was at a friends house and he was
swilling it. i didn't buy it, HONEST!). i think this is similar to the
molson ice. i have to agree with andy. STAY AWAY FROM THE STUFF. no tase
at all. i hear they use more corn to give it a smoother flavor.
this reminds me of something: five years ago i was involved in an exchange
program with german students. when they were over here king cobra was
still being advertised on t.v. the adds said, "goes down smooth with no
after taste."
i remember the german students rolling on the ground with laughter after
hearing this. i asked one what was so funny (at this time i had never
really tried any beer) and he said, "beer with no aftertaste? the after
taste is the most important part of the beer!"
three months later i was in germany. i tasted real beer for the first time
and found out that he was right.
- --james
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Date: Sat, 4 Dec 93 19:23:22 EST
From: mark.janello at um.cc.umich.edu
Subject: extract pouch extract extraction
Larry Richardson <richards at priacc.com> asked about
easy/efficient ways to get all the extract out of those pouches.
Just put them in the microwave. I do mine a minute, then squeeze
around awhile, then another minute, &c, until they are quite
warm and very soft and squishy (very fun). You could also put
them in a sink of hot water or even boil them; I think they
are made of the same stuff that Green Giant Niblets in Butter
Sauce pouches are made of. At least the pouches I've been
getting are claimed to be boil-proof. Ask your supplier.
When they are all soft cut a corner off and hold by the opposite
corner. Then you can stir at the same time to avoid scorching.
Some more squeezing will get most of the stuff out and a cup
or so of hot water put in and then shaken around will get the
rest.
Not much more irritating than cans, really
-mark
mark.janello at um.cc.umich.edu
University of Michigan School of Music
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Date: Sat, 4 Dec 93 20:35:04 PST
From: hollen at megatek.com (Dion Hollenbeck)
Subject: Wort boiler screen
I just had a disaster with the screen on my wort boiler plugging with
hops. I just started all grain 5 gal boils and this is my third
batch. The previous batches did not plug with hops. I have a Sankey
keg with the top cut out for a boiler. I have welded a nipple in the
side, about 2" from the bottom and right over the center is an elbow
and short nipple which dip down to within 1/2" of thte bottom. The
end of the nipple is covered with a coarse screen. I have no idea why
it did not plug up the first two times, but did this time.
Here are my questions. If you are using a Chore Girl or an
EasyMasher, since both of them are just screens, why do they not plug
up? If you have any other methods, please share them.
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Date: Sat, 4 Dec 93 22:10:12 PST
From: Mark Garetz <mgaretz at hoptech.com>
Subject: Correction of Sierra Nevada Dry Hopping
I was wrong in my post the other day when I said that Sierra Nevada was
now dry-hopping their pale ale instead of using the hop back. They are no
longer using the hop back, but they do not dry hop the pale ale. Martin
Wilde advised me of this via email, and I double-checked with others who
were on the tour. The only beers that they dry hop are the Bigfoot Barley
Wine and the Celebration Ale. The pale ale is bitter-hopped with a
combination of Perle and Nugget hops at the beginning of the boil, with
additions of Cascade at 30 minutes to go and at the end of the boil, which
they allow to steep for 20 minutes before chilling the wort.
Sorry for the misinformation.
Mark
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Date: Sun, 5 Dec 1993 07:37:34 -0500
From: ukcy at sunyit.edu (Kevin Yager)
Subject: A Killians Recipe
A friend of mine enjoys drinking Killians Red when he is not drinking his own
homebrew.
If anyone has a recipe which produces beer like Killians could you please
Email it to me.
Thank you in advance.
Kevin
ukcy at sunyit.edu
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #1290, 12/06/93