HOMEBREW Digest #1352 Fri 18 February 1994

Digest #1351 Digest #1353


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


Contents:
  atlantic brewpubs, straining wort (Mark Bunster)
  BAA & Valentine chocolate ("Valente Andrew ")
  Unsuscribe (Habeeb.Mohammad)
  MaltMillMotor ("Dan Z. Johnson")
  Ginger Beer ("Dan Z. Johnson")
  AA% (Glen Tinseth)
  beer tasting review (dan_fox)
  Re: Cheap airlocks (David M. Berman)
   (jowagar)
  Re: Brewing in barrels (Charles A. Anderson)
  My $0.02  at  the HBD (yeebot)
  Getting Good Head ;-) with Chili beer. (yeebot)
  Floating thermometer suggestion (Kelvin Kapteyn)
  Boil Off Rate (WKODAMA)
  Targeting OGs & FGs (lyons)
  denatured alcohol (EAJOHNS)
  Alpha Accuracy (Jeff Frane)
  Re: The sex gap in homebrewing? (Cathy Cullen (N3311))
  message (Jim Overstreet)
  Bass clone (LLDSC)
  Munich Helles & Decoction Q's (Mike Dix)
  BJCP exam studying (Martin Wilde)
  Wyeast Special London Yeast (Martin Wilde)
  Be Happy (jerryb7595)
  Less oxygen (gasp!)/Refrig. controls (Jack Skeels)
  re: Sweetening meads (Dick Dunn)
  Wheat Malt Extract question (cg0scs)
  Re: DMS - Correction (Bill Szymczak)
  Glatt malt mill (Jim Griggers)
  Liquid Yeast Cultures (GNT_TOX_)
  Rambling notes... (W. Mark Witherspoon)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 15 Feb 94 14:38:12 EST From: mbunster at hibbs.vcu.edu (Mark Bunster) Subject: atlantic brewpubs, straining wort * From: "Dana S. Cummings" <dcumming at moose.uvm.edu> * Subject: MICRO/PUB BREWS * * I am going to be traveling in March and would like to plan my route * around fine local brews. I intend to travel through central NY and PA, * Eastern VA/ DC, with my destination in NC. If there's a brewpub or craft * brewer in your area I'd appreciate hearing about them. Many thanks in * advance. * I hope this is of wide enough interest, but I thought I would post my mini-travelogue of 4 places on this route. Flames to irate at angry.bugged... * In DC proper, check out the brickskeller, which offers over 500 beers in bottles, and a few on tap (they may have more these days). Pricey, but very thorough. Just about any beer you wanted to try from around the world is at your disposal if it comes in bottles. (Not literally, I suppose.) In Arlington VA (city of the Nat'l Cemetary, Pentagon, and shopping mecca Crystal City), you will find the Bardo Rodeo, a huge beer-hall like place built in a barely renovated ford dealership service area. Over 100 taps (not all different though) and I believe some house brews (went there just as they'd opened and they were only selling others', but I think that's changed.) You can get stuff by the pitcher, which is nice, and they play a very 20something alternative mix of music. The choice of the WASP masses of the NoVa area, but worth the trouble. Wasteland exists until Richmond Va, where you will find Richbrau in Schockoe Slip. 4 ales at the moment (IPA, straight golden ale used as an introductory beer, thick porter, and right now a good strong barleywine.) and a small collection of other beers. the IPA is my favorite, but others dig the porter too. Don't know if anything new has developed in Norfolk--I doubt it. Sailors like Bud. Both Durham and Manteo (near Nags Head on the Outer Banks) have brewpub/bavarian restaurants called the Weeping Radish. Great atmosphere (at least at the Manteo one) and good beer available in full liter glasses ala any respectable bavarian bier garten. * The problem I encountered is that after the boil, the * finings (irish moss), hot and cold break didn't settle * after chilling, presumably due to the high gravity of the * boil (I used 6# of DME with about 2 1/4# of grain). After * chilling I tried straining but the strainer cloged so rather * than muck around with chilled wort I just dumped the whole * mess in the primary with the rest of the water. Diluting to * five gallons allwed the trub to settle and fermentation was * vigorous. Racking to secondary got rid of most of the crud. * We've done it two ways, both of which have pros: 1) Strain as best you can (with properly clean equipment of course) immediately after the boil. Don't sweat what remains, and after chilling quickly, splash the wort into your primary to infuse with oxygen before pitching. Rack to secondary after initial fermentation slows (minimizing splashing this time) and you should leave any appreciable trub in the primary. 2)Chill to pitching temperature with everything still in the wort. Clean a small saucepan and a strainer. With your first saucepanful, get a sizeable amount of hops and grain. Pour into the strainer (6 inch is the best size) so that maybe it's half full of grains and hops. subsequent panfuls can now be mostly liquid, and the dreck in the strainer will filter out most of what smaller particles are remaining. This way, the stuff that's too small to be blocked by the strainer holes is instead blocked by the stuff in the strainer. - -- Mark Bunster |I'm not an actor, but I play one on TV. Survey Research Lab--VCU | Richmond, VA 23284 | mbunster at hibbs.vcu.edu | (804) 367-8813/353-1731 | Return to table of contents
Date: 15 Feb 94 19:42:16 UT From: "Valente Andrew " Subject: BAA & Valentine chocolate Hi folks! I'm in a terrible quandry. My first month gift subscription to Beer Across America arrived the same day my Valentine's porter was ready. Relax, don't worry -- I had a homebrew! (incidentally - its Papazian's Sparrowhawk porter with 6 oz of Hershey's unsweetened baker's chocolate in the boil - a true Valentine's treat -- lots of sludge in the boil pot and primary, but easily cleaned and WELL worth the end result! Anyway - for those who care - BAA offers 2 6-packs of microbrew delivered to your doorstep each month for $23. My wife was under the impression that they made a specific attempt to bring you beer that was not available in your area. This is not true. My first shipment was Geary's Pale Ale, which is avalable everywhere in the Boston area (it was one of the beers I served at our wedding- the caterer's didn't want to deal with homebrew!!). I can get this beer for $6.50 or $7 a 6-pack, so I was a little annoyed. Good news - I called BAA and they said they were sorry, but it is unusual to hit a local on the first month (which is clearly not true - all beer, like all politics, is local to someone). They did say, however, that if you call before the 15th of the month, they can tell you what they are shipping on the 20th, and if its not interesting to you, you can defer until the next month. It is a great, albeit somewhat expensive, gift. BTW - Feb's beers are Columbus Ohio (1492 ale?) and something from Oregon - name escapes me. Insert your favorite usual clever disclaimer - a not-yet-but- hopefully-soon-to-be satisfied customer -- if it were my business it would be run differently... Sergio... Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 1994 12:58:59 -0700 From: Habeeb.Mohammad at m.cc.utah.edu Subject: Unsuscribe Please remove me from your mailing list. **************************************************************************** ** * "If I'm going to die, * -Yokoshima from * * at least let me die between your breasts!" * Ghost Sweeper Mikami * **************************************************************************** ** * "A life of debauchery, I was born for it!" * -Ataru from Urusei Yatsura * * * Movie 1: Only You * **************************************************************************** ** * "I Just beat the shit out of a seriously * -Bill Pullman from Malice * * disturbed serial rapist." * * **************************************************************************** ** Return to table of contents
Date: 15 Feb 94 15:17:58 EST From: "Dan Z. Johnson" <75430.3532 at CompuServe.COM> Subject: MaltMillMotor "Dave Suurballe" <suurb at farallon.com> continues the MaltMill discussion by saying that he altered the hopper on his motorized MM to widen the feed slot. Did you just cut the two side pieces out? Do you see a change in the grind? I'd assume that you may get an even better grind doing that. How is your MM motorized? Thanks! -Z Return to table of contents
Date: 15 Feb 94 15:17:53 EST From: "Dan Z. Johnson" <75430.3532 at CompuServe.COM> Subject: Ginger Beer bgros at sensitivity.berkeley.edu (Bryan L. Gros) asks about ginger amounts: I've been making ginger beers for about six years now, and the only gem of advice I can offer is this: The longer the boil, the less "heat" you get from ginger. When added at the very end of the brew (no boil, 30 min. steep) you get a good sharp, hot flavor. After a 60 min boil, the flavor is changed to that of a gingersnap cookie, deep, rich and rounded. So the thing to do is to balence out the timing of ginger additions to take advantage of both flavors. My last ginger beer read like this: Z's Back To The Garden Ginger Ale (to make 10 gal) 15# 2-row Pils malt 2# Caravienne 1# 40l Crystal Infusion mashed at 151f for 60 min. 2# Clover Honey (full boil) 300gr. Ginger root, fresh, grated. (100 gr. full boil, 200 gr last 5 min) 10gr. Nutmeg, fresh ground. Last 5 min. 10gr. Cinnamon, fresh ground. Last 5 min 1.5gr Vanilla bean, split open and crushed. Last 5 min. 4oz Saaz at 4.3 AA, 60 min 1oz. Saaz, 10 min 1oz. Saaz, steep 30 min, no boil OG: 1.051 To Make 5 gal extract: Use 6.6# light extract (Alexander's works best) Steep 1# Crystal malt, crushed, in clean water at 160f for 30-45 min, strain off grain. Cut all other amounts in half Use Wyeast American or German or whatever you have going. High attenuation and clean flavors are what I go for on this one, so as not to mask the spices. A dry finish on this beer is best for summer drinking. A real thirst quencher. -Z Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 1994 12:36:26 -0800 From: glent at falstaff.cache.tek.com (Glen Tinseth) Subject: AA% Just need to clarify Mark Garetz's post re: alpha acid% reliability. First of all, both Dave Wills (Freshops) and I (The Hop Source) moniter our alpha acid levels. We feel this is important for different reasons. Dave likes to check midseason because of inevitable drops in aa%, in order to ensure that the homebrewer gets accurate numbers. I agree. I also do not trust the numbers from the brokers very much. This is not because of dishonesty on anyone's part but because of "the way things are." In most cases, only 1 in 10, 20, or even 50 bales is sampled. Not only are the hops in each bale inconsistent but the bale to bale differences are not negligible. So there can be wide differences in the number you see on your bag of hops, and the actual aa% of your particular hop sample. There are two things you can do to account for this: 1) Don't worry about it since the bag number is probably within 10% of the correct value. 2) Test the hops to be certain. I like to keep an eye on my alphas just to make sure my customers are getting what they are paying for. In my own brewing I am more likely to be satisfied with plus or minus 10% accuracy than to insist on more. Anyway there are more than 10% uncertainties in the BU calculations, but that's another story. Just be suspicious of books that specifiy BUs to the hundredth of a unit (even if they are written by someone famous). I think Dave Miller's note on this subject in the latest Brewing Techniques is right on the money - taste is the final judge, or at least should be. Take home message: get your hops from a reliable source and add "plus or minus 10%" to the alpha acid rating and you'll be in the ballpark. Cheers, Glenn Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 94 15:39:33 EST From: dan_fox at ccmail.GSFC.NASA.GOV Subject: beer tasting review In HBD 1348, I wrote: >Last night (2/9) I attended the annual Strong Beer Tasting at the >Brickskellar in Washington DC. >On another list, I am in the habit of posting short, informal reviews >of concerts I attend, and thought y'all might appreciate some of the >same treatment here. Well, it's out and the offer still stands. >Since this is the _Homebrew Digest_ and not the _Beer Enjoyer's >Digest_ I thought I'd do it off line. If you want a copy, email me and >I'll return one to you. I would also appreciate quick messages along >the lines of "Post it, you fool!" or "Thanks for not wasting my >bandwidth." >If I get a lot of "Post-It Notes" (sorry) I will do so. If there are >more requests than I care to deal with I will also post it. I got 30+ requests for it, 3 in favor of posting, and 2 against. I was looking for something like 5-to-1 in favor, so bandwidth is conserved (except for this message, I suppose). :-) Is there a beer gourmet list or newsgroup somewhere? Does the world need one? I am _not_ volunteering. - --Dan Fox Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 1994 12:47:37 -0800 (PST) From: eyeball at netcom.com (David M. Berman) Subject: Re: Cheap airlocks I routinely use a blow-by setup instead of an airlock. Connect a hose to the air outlet of your carboy, and tie the other end of the hose to a rock submerged in a bucket full of dilute bleach. I have found no problems leaving the setup as is for several weeks. David Berman Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 94 15:54:01 EST From: jowagar at cosi.stockton.edu Subject: I am an aspiring homebrewer and am wondering how I can subscibe to this list or conference. If you have any other info about homebrewing please send it to me. Thank You Jon Wagar jowagar at cosi.stockton.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 14 Feb 1994 10:33:35 -0600 (CST) From: caa at vtdev.mn.org (Charles A. Anderson) Subject: Re: Brewing in barrels In HOMEBREW Digest #1347 Jack Schmidling writes: > > Date: Tue, 8 Feb 1994 16:14:34 -0600 (CST) > From: arf at mcs.com (Jack Schmidling) > > Perhaps the real answer is even simpler. It has been my understanding that > barrels used for beer were coated with tar to prevent evaporation. If this > is true, one could get the "charasteristic" by coating a glass carboy with > tar or even pouring some in the beer. Not as far fetched as it sounds. > Just ponder the Greek, retsina wine. > > js Not tar, brewers pitch. It looks an awful lot like tar though. I was trying to locate some a few years ago, but didn't have much luck. I have drank out of leather mugs that were lined with the stuff, and it doesn't seem to impart much taste to whatever beverage is in the mug, however I'm sure ageing in a cask coated with the stuff would have more time to pull out some sort of flavor. Without the pitch coating I doubt you could get a barrel to hold enough pressure to carbonate well, and would end up with a flat brew. -Charlie Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 94 16:28:48 EST From: yeebot at aol.com Subject: My $0.02 at the HBD I'm sorry I have to increase the Noise to Signal ratio on the digest but I figured I had to put in my $0.02. Several people, a few issues ago, wrote in complaining about the amount of non-Hombrewing, unprofessional noise that's in the HBD these days. While I can't completely disagree with this sentiment, I have to defend the right for members to write in posts like the "Cannabis in beer" thread. I'm not into it but it was interesting to read, nonetheless. I don't have any specific "guidelines" for posts, and I don't think there should be. But given the size of the digest these days and given that many members actually PAY for their Net access time I think that a few considerations are necessary. How 'bout a few: -Please use great care when writing in the Subject field. Many members only have time to scan the Table of Contents on their breaks from saving the universe. -Since there are no "editors" in the traditional sense, members should exercise restraint when writing their posts. Please keep it short and concise. -Beginners(All are welcome!) should at the least read Burch's "Brewing Quality Beers"($5) or Papazian's "Compete Joy of Homebrewing"($11) before posting to the HBD. No one wants to answer a post like "What is Malt?", anyway. Hey, isn't there a Beginner's FAQ? -And a Personal Pet Peeve: People who re-post entire letters (sometimes entire threads) when all they're doing is making a single useless witty comment. thankyouverymuch. It's rather unfortunate that we may have lost experienced, knowledgable people who were offended or turned off by a single post. But to those I say: Please remember that this is basically a DAILY digest that literally, THOUSANDS of people read and that one Dork's opinion is his own, NOT the HBD's. Also, while hard information and facts are what actually drives this Digest, I feel the anecdotes and jovial speculations are necessary to make the digest complete. Finally, when in doubt I think we should just keep those immortal words in mind: ****RELAX!****, and have a homebrew. Viva la HBD! Michael Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 94 16:29:01 EST From: yeebot at aol.com Subject: Getting Good Head ;-) with Chili beer. I recently read an article about Ed Chilleen's Cave Creek Chili beer. (Hot stuff!) The article states that Ed has developed a way to retain a foamy head even though the oil from the chili pepper would usually destroy any formation of a head. He states he uses no presevatives or additives. So, does anyone have any ideas on how he accomplishes this? (A pact with the devil?) TIA. Mike Yee Angst Brewing Co. yeebot at aol.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 1994 16:25:42 -0500 From: Kelvin Kapteyn <kelvink at mtu.edu> Subject: Floating thermometer suggestion Laura Conrad posted a nice design for a floating thermometer in hbd 1350. My immediate thought though was a possible improvement (IMHO). I would go to the hardware store and buy a rubber grommet that would just fit the thermometer. That way you could remove the thermometer and use it for other things without much hassle. It would also solve the problem Laura had with the putty getting too soft at high temperatures. Heck, even if the thing leaks a little, it isn't too much work to pour it back out. I would be careful to get a snug fit between the thermometer and the grommet so you could still adjust the height of the thermometer. Thanks for the nice idea in the first place. I have never liked my floating dairy thermometer because it reacts slow and doesn't seem to be as accurate as my dial thermometer. Some day I'll get one of those nice digital ones. -Kelvin (kelvink at mtu.edu) Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 1994 16:29:40 -0500 From: WKODAMA at aba.com Subject: Boil Off Rate Pardon me if this is a repeat request. Is there any kind of matrix out there that shows the rate of boil-off evaporation per quantity of wort per specific gravity of wort? In other words, if I start off with 10 gallons of water and my SG is 1.040, how much water will I boil off during a 60 minute boil, etc.? Much TIA, Wesman wkodama at aba.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 94 16:52:27 EST From: lyons at adc1 Subject: Targeting OGs & FGs I had a few responses to my last posting suggesting using Laaglander to help target OGs & FGs with extract recipes. Thought I'd post a replyt here for all to read. ... I'm not great at giving directions, so please do not get discouraged if what I write seems confusing. It's probably just me. Let's start with a typical recipe that's made with 6lbs of M&F. M&F has an extraction potential of 42(pts-gals/lb) and an apparent attenuation of 78% (i.e. 78% will be converted to alcohol, and 22% will not ferment) Therefore; Original Gravity = OG = 42(pts-gal/lb)*6(lb)/5(gal) = 50.4 pts. Final Gravity = FG = OG*(1-AA) = 50.4*(1-0.78) = 50.4*(0.22) = 11.09 % alcohol = (OG-FG)/7.5 (close approximation) = (50.4-11.09)/7.5 = 5.2% Now lets try to formulate a recipe that gives the same OG, FG, & %Alc using just Laaglander and corn sugar (the corn sugar will not contribute to the FG since it is 100% fermentable). First lets calculate the lbs of Laaglander needed to get an FG of 11.09: FG = 11.09 = OG*(1-AA) = [(46*X)/5]*(1-0.55) ==> X = 2.7lbs Laaglander. Now lets calculate how much sugar will be needed to bring the OG up to 50.4: OG = 50.4 = (46*2.7/5) + (45*X/5) ==> X = 2.8lbs corn sugar. Therefore 2.7lbs of Laaglander + 2.8lbs of corn sugar gives the same OG, FG, & %alc as 6lbs of M&F (guess which recipe is cheaper!). By the way, I'm not recommending using this much sugar. Personally I like to aim for an FG of 16 and a %alc of 4.2-to-4.8. Let's look at another example recipe (I like this one :-) ): OG FG %Alc ====== ====== ====== 2# Laaglander (EP=46/AA=55%): ==> 18.4 8.24 1.35 2# M&F (EP=42/AA=78%): ==> 16.8 3.70 1.75 2# Honey (EP=35/AA=100%): ==> 14.0 0.00 1.87 ----- ----- ----- OG=49.2 FG=11.98 %Alc=4.97 I formulated the recipe below to target for an OG of 16 (1.016). I also like this one. OG FG %Alc ====== ====== ====== 4# Laaglander (EP=46/AA=55%): ==> 36.8 16.56 2.7 1.5# Corn Sugar (EP=45/AA=100%): ==> 13.5 0.00 1.8 ----- ----- ----- OG=50.3 FG=16.56 %Alc=4.5 Breaking it down this way makes it easy to see how each component contributes to the final product. That's about all there is to it. As you can see, there is more than one way to create beers with particular OGs & FGs. Hope this helps, Chris Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 94 17:04:32 EST From: EAJOHNS at FLIC.erenj.com Subject: denatured alcohol From: Eric A. Johnson IOSD FP102/F08 (201)765-2519 Subject: denatured alcohol > A quick and handy technique to prevent unwanted infections during > racking, pitching etc. Fill a spray bottle (like a windex bottle) with 75% > ethanol (get 190 proof{95%} and dilute with water). Spray hands, tools > whatever. Won't affect beer, is mostly safe (but flammable) and keeps > surfaces clean. If you know a lab nerd, ask 'em to get you some denatured > absolute ethanol-it is real cheap. Denatured alcohol is cheap because it contains some additive, such as benzene, which makes it unfit for human consumption. This also exempts it from taxation. It's not a good idea to clean your equipment or your hands with this stuff.... Eric Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 1994 14:05:37 -0800 (PST) From: gummitch at teleport.com (Jeff Frane) Subject: Alpha Accuracy To Mark Garetz, Glenn Tinseth and all those Digesters enamored with long, complicated formulas for determining bittering additions (although Mark & Glenn may not be numbered among them): Do any of you know the exact sampling procedure used in the formulation of alpha acid content in hops? That is, have you seen it done and followed through to completion? In the commercial lab, that is, not in a hop research station. Can we assume that there is no variation of alpha acid content throughout a representative bale -- or batch -- of a given hop? Because if there is, then the sampling procedure will only result in an *average* alpha acid content. The average is perfectly fine for commercial breweries, because they will be using all or a significant portion of a bale when brewing -- averaging will not be a problem. However, if there is variation (and having worked in QC and Bacti labs for a food processor I have every reason to believe there is decided variation) then there is no way of determining the alpha acid content for a given 1-, 2-, or 16-ounce sample which itself has not been tested. And if there is variation, what happens to the formulae? - --Jeff Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 94 12:22:25 CST From: cullen at zeus1.issc.com (Cathy Cullen (N3311)) Subject: Re: The sex gap in homebrewing? Sorry ahead of time for the bandwidth and the flame but this one really got me. Content-Length: 2306 < Whatever reasons people use to justify having a women-only beer < competition, gender balance is a poor one. < < In other words, I can't see a damned thing in policy or practice that < discourages women from joining in the activities/deals/clubs open to < men. Therefore, when an event becomes closed to a group of people < based on their sex I see this as sexist in its own right. This would < not be sexist if it existed to right injustice, but there are no < injustices already present in the homebrewing world. < < Perhaps a better reason for having this event is to boost female < brewers' egos. If a number of women enter competitions now and don't < do well, then cutting off a significant percentage of the brewing < population gives them less competition. Winning something becomes < more likely. If this kind of artificial victory helps some woman < feel more confident in entering another competition (open < to all), then what's the harm done? Maybe I should come up with some < set of standards that makes me more likely to win through a restricted < competition? My hear goes out to you Greg. The fact that this competition is not open to you, who are probably a white male, and have never been denied anything before. It must be a shock, being left behind while the big girls go out and brew. This is a very sad commentary. So a group of women are getting together and having a competition, so what! Even if they were doing it to boost their egos, So What. In case you havent noticed, women are a minority in the world of brewing. Why? probably because in our society females are encouraged to do more feminine things. When I'm reading this newsgroup and see a womens name signed, I am usually suprised. It's kind of a male thing, so are most of the brewing get togethers. Yes maybe women could use some ego boosting in regards to brewing, as you said in your post 'whats the harm done?' well, you tell me. The best thing about this competition in my opinion is the knowing that yes there are other women out there brewing. Its not just a guy thing. Now why don't you just go off in the corner and come up with a competition open only to white men with brown hair and brown eyes or something and see if that makes you feel better. Cathy Cullen Chicago Return to table of contents
Date: 14 Feb 94 14:19:28 -0500 From: Jim.Overstreet at p5.f1.n396.z1.fidonet.org (Jim Overstreet) Subject: message Subj: Caramel malt I was wondering if anyone can suggest a mail order source for English Caramel Malt (no, not crystal, it's not the same). I have looked in all my catalogs with no luck. Would like to find both 20 and 120 degree lovibond, preferably malted by Archer, Arc-Royal or Maris Otter. Thanks. - --- Return to table of contents
Date: Tuesday, 15 February 94 16:52:11 CST From: LLDSC at utxdp.dp.utexas.edu Subject: Bass clone I had no idea that cannabis beer thing was going to start such a controversy. I was just trying to see if anyone remembered what someone else had posted about the subject. It's too bad the stuff is illegal, otherwise I sure would like to make a beer out of it ;-). Moving on to other things. I just finished a bitter. It's in the bottles right now. Thanks for the info. What I want to start on now is something along the lines of a Bass ale. Anybody have any (Help me!!I can't spell recipe! What is the plural?!--I'm an English major) experience with this? Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a batch of LSD brew that I'm going to go unload on some junior high kids. Keep on truckin in the free world, Scott LLDSC at utxdp.dp.utexas.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 94 17:22:48 "PST From: Mike Dix <mdix at dcssc.sj.hp.com> Subject: Munich Helles & Decoction Q's bwg/hc Feb 15, 1994 In the attempt to brew a Munich helles I have switched to all-grain brewing, but I still cannot get the malty flavor I want. It is tasty, and it is only mildly hopped, but I just cannot fool my tastebuds into thinking I am in a bierstube in Munich. I am following the recipe in Miller's "World's Great Beers" book. Here are some specifics: Base malt: Great Western two row Special malts: DeWolf-Cosyns Hops: San Jose backyard Hallertauer cones (assumed to be 4% AA) Mash: two-step stove-top infusion Yeast: Wyeast Bavarian Single stage fermentation: 13 days at 55-60F in a 25l carboy, then lagered in the bottle at 35F. One possibility is that only a German base malt will produce an authentic flavor. The other, which was brought up by Jeff Michalski, is that perhaps only decoction mashing will produce the authentic flavor. Comments? I too would like to hear from the net's decoction doctors what procedures they follow, and if relatively short mash times are possible. Noonan's 5-6 hour mash times seems excessive, but they correspond to those in Hennies' Brauerhandbuch, copyright 1967, that a friend picked up for me on a trip to Germany. Yet the fellow who wrote German Wheat Beers, a recent Weihenstephan graduate, quotes mash times of 180 minutes. An extra hour spent mashing would be tolerable if the flavor were right. A less-important effect I would also like to achieve is the creamy head that stands on its own. From browsing through the archives I note this may be related to dispense techniques. Mike Dix By the way, I think malted wheat meets the Reinheitsgebot because it is malt. Note that unmalted barley is still uncool. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 94 16:40:05 PST From: Martin Wilde <Martin_Wilde at ccm.hf.intel.com> Subject: BJCP exam studying Text item: Text_1 There is an upcoming BJCP exam in Portland, OR April 10th. In my preparation for the exam I was wondering if I need to memorize all of the gravities and IBU numbers for all of the beer styles. This is such a brain cramp. I noticed the recent AHA style guidelines for this years National competition does not list gravities and IBU numbers, just relative terms (ie. medium gravity, high bitterness). Does the BJCP exam still require you to memorize all of those (ridiculus) numbers or is it more of a compare and contrast like "this style is medium gravity and medium to high bitterness with residual diacetyl okay....". Thanks martin (a future judge (hopefully)) Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 94 16:45:16 PST From: Martin Wilde <Martin_Wilde at ccm.hf.intel.com> Subject: Wyeast Special London Yeast Text item: Text_1 Is anyone tried using the Wyeast New Special London yeast? What is the apparent attenuation of this yeast? Logsdon does not mention it in his flier. Does the rich malty flavor come from low attenuation (65%) or does it just accentuate malt and have a normal attenuation factor (75%). Thanks Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 94 20:14:48 EST From: jerryb7595 at aol.com Subject: Be Happy I was sitting here, reading my backlog of HBD, drinking a beer made of cannabis and Laaglander extract which was brewed by a woman for a contest, and I said to myself, "Life doesn't get any better than this." Let's all acquire a sense of humor. Jerry (jerryb7595 at aol.com) Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 15 Feb 94 17:27 EST From: Jack Skeels <0004310587 at mcimail.com> Subject: Less oxygen (gasp!)/Refrig. controls Thanks to Mark Garetz for the Red Tail yeast info. ** I'm a somewhat novice extract brewer, and am trying to reduce the oxidated flavor in my brews. Having read as much as I can in the FAQ's, Papzian (found zip), Miller (a bit better), and some back HBD's I am planning to do the following: 1) Cool my wort to room temp, rather than 120 before pouring through strainer into primary. I cool the pot in a sink with cold running water (approx 20 min.) 2) Put a bottling tap on one of my plastic buckets so that I don't get that spray from the plastic spring valve. 3) Oxygen-absorbing bottle caps. 4) Purge the headspace in my secondary with CO2. Am I doing the right things? Most important, is there something REALLY effective that I've left out? Any other ideas? Also, is my hot extract wort more immune to HSA than the thinner all-grain worts that you veterans use? Also, I'd like to do a PU-style lager, but lack the proper temperature control on my fridge. Several brewshops have told me that there was a controller on the market, but that it has been discontinued. Does anyone know of an alternate source?? Was there an HBD thread on this?? TIA and good brews to all! Jack Skeels (JSKEELS at MCIMAIL.COM) Return to table of contents
Date: 15 Feb 94 23:33:07 MST (Tue) From: rcd at raven.eklektix.com (Dick Dunn) Subject: re: Sweetening meads Tony Quinn offers some suggestions for sweet meads, to which I'll add my own notes... > Add boiled/pasteurized honey/water mixture on a recurring basis > until such time as the little yeastie beasties keel over and stop > fermenting - sort of liking madeira. This is the standard way to approach sweet meads. Start off with a normal must (somewhere in the 1.100- SG range) and as it ferments down, top it up with new honey. A good time to do this is each time you rack the mead... that way you top it up and keep the carboy headspace small. I would suggest that when you consider the mead finished, you still use potassium sorbate to stabilize it, against the possibility of the yeast waking up and fermenting some more. Yes, this suggestion is based on empirical results! I had a mead that I was *sure* had finished--it was sweet; it seemed still; it hadn't done anything in a couple months. I bottled it, and a couple months later, with some samples in the interim showing carbonation, I noticed some bulging bottlecaps. So...carefully open everything, back to the carboy, try to dissipate the CO2, stabilize, re-bottle. (If you like cleaning bottles twice for one batch, you'll like this approach. Otherwise, I don't recommend it:-) > Use a less alcohol tolerant yeast - i.e. a white wine vice a > champagne yeast. This works, but it (obviously) limits the alcohol content...which takes away some control. If you're aiming for a fairly sweet mead, you may want the alcohol content to balance it. > Treat with potassium sorbate and add sugar. Theoretically, at > least, if the potassium sorbate is added to a completed fermentation > and then additional sugar is added, no further fermemtations will > start. I suggest that any time you add sugar (or honey or xyzzy fermentable) you use potassium sorbate. The vexing problem is that you don't know when the yeast are *really* done...and it's an unpleasant surprise when they wake up and start fermenting again. > Add lactose? Based on what I've done with beers, this will add some body and a little sweetness, but it's the wrong sort of body and not enough sweetness. I'd like to hear from folks who feel otherwise, but my past experience isn't encouraging. > Start the fermentation in the ranges where no hydrometer has ever > gone before. <over 3lbs honey per gallon????> I don't recommend this. If you're going to push the SG way up, do it in the gradual way Tony suggested at the top. Yeast don't like going straight into a very-high-SG must...what happens is that (if all goes well) you get to the same end result as starting at a moderate SG and adding honey a bit at a time, but the fermentation takes *much* longer. Mead takes long enough as it is. To be sure we're on the same terms, I assume that when Tony says "3lbs honey per gallon" he means 3 lb per gallon of must (not 3 lb honey per gallon of water). That's well up there. I suggest starting with no more than a gallon of honey in a five-gallon batch. In US measure (oops), it works out thus: The SG of honey is slightly under 1.5, so a gallon is about 12 lb. That gives you 2.4 lb honey per gallon of must, which will put your starting gravity at about 1.090. That's comfortable to work with, even if you've got other fer- mentable material (such as fruit) in the must. Whenever you're pushing the yeast, be sure there's enough nutrient, and give a thought to pH of the must. - --- Dick Dunn rcd at eklektix.com -or- raven!rcd Boulder, Colorado USA ...Mr Natural says, "Get the right tool for the job!" Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 1994 10:40:03 +0000 (GMT) From: cg0scs <G.A.Cooper at greenwich.ac.uk> Subject: Wheat Malt Extract question Strange as it may seem, although wheat malt extract is produced in the UK it is not available over here. Munton & Fisons response was 'We only produce that for the US market - there is no demand for it in the UK'. Fortunately, I have a helpful homebrew shop nearby and she arranged for Muntons to send her 6 cans. To my surprise, the label tells me that it is a blend of 45% barley malt and 55% wheat malt. The question: when you publish recipes which contain wheat malt extract are you meaning 100% wheat malt extract, or this blend. I am assuming the former. TIA Geoff Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 94 08:31:44 EST From: bszymcz%ulysses at relay.nswc.navy.mil (Bill Szymczak) Subject: Re: DMS - Correction Recently, I wrote (in response to a comment Al Korzonas wrote about DMS production) >I remember hearing or reading somewhere that ales are less >suseptible to DMS primarily due to the higher kilning >temperatures of pale ale malt which ``drives off'' some of the >sulphur compounds which are precursors to DMS. Pilsener or lager >malts are generally kilned at lower temperatures and DMS is more >of a problem. Not quite. According to Miller, its the length of the kilning of English pale ale malt that leaves little s-methyl methionin (SMM) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DSMO)- two chemical compounds, which, upon heating are converted into DMS. German Pilsener malts are kilned at approximately the same temp (178F) as Pale ale malts. Of course, with respect to extract brews, it is often not known which type of malt was used, so some caution is well advised. Bill Szymczak bszymcz at ulysses.nswc.navy.mil Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 1994 08:48:04 -0500 (EST) From: Jim Griggers <brew at devine.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM> Subject: Glatt malt mill I would like to get in touch with people that have bought or used the Glatt malt mill. I am having trouble with grain feeding properly, and was wondering if this was a universal problem. The first mills shipped had wide horizontal grooves. Glatt changed this to a knurled pattern, which supposedly had a higher throughput. When my mill was new it worked great, but now grain will not feed unless I apply pressure on the grain in the feed hopper. __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ |\/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/| |Jim Griggers jdg at devine.columbiasc.ncr.com Columbia, SC| |______________________________________________________________| Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 94 09:17 EST From: <GNT_TOX_%ALLOY.BITNET at PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU> Subject: Liquid Yeast Cultures Further questions on liquid cultures. How good are Brewtek cultures? Are they available in a "smack pack" or do they have to have a starter? How about Yeast Labs? The YEAST.FAQ doesn't address this issue. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 1994 09:43:26 +0500 From: mwithers at hannibal.atl.ge.com (W. Mark Witherspoon) Subject: Rambling notes... Eugene Sonn <eugene at sccs.swarthmore.edu> asks about airlocks... Eugene, I hate to tell you this but even the most expensive airlock availiable will do the same thing. Use either a larger primary fermenter (mine is 7.5 gallons) or use a blowoff tube for the first couple of days. bjones at novax.llnl.gov (Bob Jones) asks about sterility... cocci and pediococcus are airborn, ususally setteling with dust on surfaces. Keeping the area as dust free as possible will eliminate most of those bugs. Streaking plates and pulling just the colonies off that you want and putting them into as sanitized as possible starter cultures will help in elimiating the bacteria that can infect your wort. Lessard_Michael/HP-Exeter_s2 at om2.ch.apollo.hp.com asks about B&T's Black and Tan is a term of a type of beer. It is actually 2 beers in one, a Light/Amber lager and a Stout/Porter. The two types that I have tried, Micheal Shea's and Sarnac's, are both excellent. Notes: Has anyone in the Rochester NY area found out if the Genesee Brewery extended it's license out the the Genesee Country Village?? To those who do not know, the Genesee Brewery setup an authentic late 1800 country brewery at that living museum. It has the capability of 600 gallons of brew (3 200 gallon vats) at a time. The people who run that building are either homebrewers themselves or are the brew-meisers for Genesee Brewery. They do go into quite a detail on how it was done: 1. Water was pumped either from the well at the bottom of the building or from the cistern, to the boiler near the top of the building (2 stories tall). 2. When the water reached near boiling it was laddled by the bucket full to the mash tun (300 gallon capciity), where it was mixed with the malted grain (crushed at the local flour mill, not ground to flour, just crushed). 3. After about 3-4 hours the plug at the bottom of the tun was removed and the screen held back the grain and the grain was sparged (they said rinsed) with more heated water. The wort was channed to another tun for holding (about 300 gallons again). 4. The boiler with its 50 gallon capacity was then filled with the wort from the holding tun and boiled for about an hour. 5. Then it was laddled down into a hop back filled with hop cones and clean(!!) hay to strain out the hops. 6. The wort was then channeled down to the first floor to the 200 gallon fermenters, yeast added and coverd with canvas (to keep out the dust). 7. After it had finished fermenting, the ale/lager was then put into casks in the basement and set there for aging. Once properly aged, it was sent to the local taverns for sale. The hop back was of interest to me, the design was this: a tray about 5-6 inches deep, set at about a 10 degree slant with a screen at the end. The hay was set at the end with the screen and the hops above that. The entire length was about 8 feet, with the hay taking up about 6 inches of space. The hopped wort was then channeled thru several trays set at about 15 to 20 degrees for about 30-50 feet. The brewer said that this was to help to cool the wort down. Thanks for your time.. ************************************************************************ |\ /| W. Mark Witherspoon | The opions expressed are of my | |\ /| mwithers at hannibal.ATL.GE.COM | own not of my employer... | | ATL (609)866-6676 | This sig will self destruct...* I wish there was a knob on the TV to turn up the intelligence. There's a knob called "brightness", but it doesn't work. -- Gallagher It is difficult to produce a television documentary that is both incisive and probing when every twelve minutes one is interrupted by twelve dancing rabbits singing about toilet paper. -- R. Serling (creator of the Twilight Zone) Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1352, 02/18/94