HOMEBREW Digest #1445 Thu 09 June 1994

Digest #1444 Digest #1446


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


Contents:
  Vienna & Munich malts, HSA and shaking, Reinheitsgebot and salts (Nancy.Renner)
  A few stainless steel questions... (Teddy Winstead)
  Re: Pale ale? (Stephen Hansen)
  "Checker" pH Meter (TAyres)
  Temperature Controllers? (TAyres)
  EURO-BEERS (David S Calonico)
  Autolysis Correction (John Robinson)
  hot sparging and hot side oxidisation (ANDY WALSH)
  3rd Annual Central Illinois HBC (Tony McCauley)
  DOS Digest Browser (Art Steinmetz)
  Root Beer Yeast (PNEUMAND)
  rice malt (ANDY WALSH)
  Kegs and such (fischer)
  Autolysis/steinlids/info request ("Dana S. Cummings")
  Re: Autolysis (John Robinson)
  Hunter thermometer (Rob Poitras)
  Using Ales Yeast in a Larger Recipe ( LARRY KELLY)
  Advice Needed (Steve Scampini)
  BT Index ("Dennis Lewis")
  Lids on Steins (Jack St Clair)
  Using Polyclar ( LARRY KELLY)
  British Lager Malt? (Steve Zabarnick)
  Re:  Lids on German Steins (Karl Elvis MacRae)
  Homebrew Digest #1444 (June 08, 1994) ("WSZ551")
  Homebrew Digest #1444 (June 08, 1994) ("WSZ551")
  Homebrew digest subscription (WDPROWC)
  Using Polyclar ( LARRY KELLY)
  ORACLE SPEAKS (Jack Schmidling)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 7 Jun 94 16:22:40 EDT From: Nancy.Renner at um.cc.umich.edu Subject: Vienna & Munich malts, HSA and shaking, Reinheitsgebot and salts >From *Jeff* Renner Several related thoughts. Davin Lim asks about the quality of Munich and Vienna malts as compared to when George & Laurie Fix reported in their book on Vienna beers. George reported favorably on the Belgian versions in a recent Brewing Techniques, and I have seen the protein analyses of the German Durst malts, and they are the same as for their Pils malts, under 10% as I recall, but at any rate, very good. I have brewed with both, and was very happy with a low gravity (1.040) American red lager that was all Munich with a little crystal. However, that is the one that I recently reported self-destructed after 2 months on tap from oxidation. An identical brew last year showed no problems, but it was gone in a month. A 1.050 Vienna made with all Vienna and a little crystal never quite pleased me as it had a bit of harshness and hotness to it, in spite of being fermented at 48^F. I entered it in the nationals for feedback, and it scored 31.5 in Chicago, about right, I think, and one judge thought there was a fruitiness indicating high fermentation temperature. I think the slight harshness may be incipient oxidation like the all Munich beer. Here's where I think the problems may lie. First, I shook carbonated both of these beers, something I only started doing this past year. In 15 years of kegging with either priming or slow force carbonation, I've never had oxidation before. The Munich was in a Cornelius, which was easier to shake hard than the Vienna, which was in a Sankey (someday I'll post how to easily seal a Sankey). In view of the recent postings here on shaken beers, I think I'll stop doing that. I haven't noticed a head retention problem, but this oxidation is new. Second, even though I have filtered out trub and hop pellet particles from the cool last wort for years and reboiled them, as I reported in HBD 1443, perhaps I only got away with this because I didn't mistreat the beer afterwards. It seems possible that the cool wort would harmlessly pick up O2, which would then be driven off during heating and be available for HSA. Any ideas? I'll be more careful when filtering to avoid unnecessary aeration. I think the Munich and Vienna malts hold promise. After all, they were originally the malts developed for use with the waters of those cities and I believe were used for the entire grain bill. Recent comment here about the cost and sanitation problems of Polyclar notwithstanding, it removes the oxidized polymerized polyphenols that Miller says are often present in high levels in homebrew (see Miller, CHHB, Ch. 28). Bob Jones asks how water salts fit in with Dennis Lewis's report of their use by Spaten Brewery and the Reinheitsgebot that should tickle the spell check). Even though a recent article (Brewing Techniques I think, but maybe Zymurgy) said that salts were forbidden, a subsequent correction said that a few were permitted - gypsum, CaCl2 and maybe a few others, but not acids like phosphoric and lactic. Jeff Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 7 Jun 1994 15:42:13 -0500 (CDT) From: winstead%brauerei.uucp at cs.tulane.edu (Teddy Winstead) Subject: A few stainless steel questions... OK, here's a question (or ten) for the assembled knowledge of the HBD -- I have been building a 3-vessel all-grain setup for the last month or so. It will look something like this: | | | | | | | | | A | | B | | |====| |====== ----- ------- | =======================| | | | | | | | | | | C | | | | | | | ------- | | ==||== OK, as you can see, two vessels are going to sit on a table, and one on the ground. (Flames to alt.ascii-art) A is the sparge water tank with an electric element inside. B is the mash tun, and C is the boiler. I do infusion mashes, so there's no heat for B. OK, so I have (or will have) 1/2" ID Stainless pipes fitted into both tank A, B, and C. A and B will have a pump connecting them. So, I will fit ball valves to each of these beasts. Now for the real questions -- 1. What comes after the ball valve? I want to use some kind of flexible tubing (like the braided PVC stuff that's resistant to 200 F). How should I connect the ball valve to the tube? Can I use plastic fittings? 2. I haven't purchased the ball valves yet, and some guys in my homebrew club swear by the brass ones that they get at Home Depot (no affiliation, etc. etc.). Are these kosher? What, if anything, should I specifically look out for when buying one of these things? I realize that the stainless ones are great and all, but this is a matter of $25 a piece versus $25 for all three. _BIG_ difference in my book. 3. Is anyone else using a comparable setup (ie with a pump between sparge and mash vessels)? Want to trade notes? 4. How do I clean the blackened areas of my vessels? Ie once they've been used on the burner, what do I do to clean them up? As always, thanks in advance, my apologies if anyone thinks that this is a waste of space, and happy brewing! P.S. I plan to do some tests with my mash-tun. First, I'm going to use an Easy(tm)Mash(tm)er(tm) style setup, then I'm going to try a window-screen false-bottom, then I'm going to try a perforated, SS sheet stock false bottom, then I'm going to try a "refined" Easy(tm)Mash(tm)er(tm) setup. I'll be posting some empirical results sometime in August or September after I've made some serious beer... - -- Teddy Winstead winstead%brauerei at cs.tulane.edu winstead at cs.tulane.edu Fanatical Homebrewer Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 07 Jun 94 14:51:16 -0700 From: Stephen Hansen <hansen at gloworm.Stanford.EDU> Subject: Re: Pale ale? In HBD #1443 Derek Sikes <ueymids at trex.oscs.montana.edu> writes: > > I'm on my 8th or 9th batch of homebrew and have made only darker beers > so far. I've enjoyed, browns, porters, some splendid stouts and bitters, > a dark steam etc. But I finally got the urge for a pale. I attempted an > IPA using Charlie P.'s recipee but I used amber malt and so missed the > piss-yellow color I was hoping for. So I have tried again... > > My problem is that this batch, currently sitting quietly in a carboy, > waiting for me to get around to bottling, was supposed to be an IPA--- > But it looks like a nice dark brown. I brew from extract and used > Ironmaster's IPA beer kit. I added 3 lbs of light Steinhart Co. > malt extract to get 7lbs total. The shock came when I poured the > Ironmaster malt into the boil, I thought it didn't look pale.. oh well. > It still doesn't look pale. Is it possible that they mislabeled their > malt? Has anyone had this problem, should I write to Ironmaster? Also, > perhaps once I bottle it the beer will magically transform into a > piss-yellow pale... Three thoughts: 1. The pale in Pale Ale was used relative to the dark brown ales and porters that were common in England. The new "pale" ales at about 8 - 10 degL were not particularly light in color especially when compared to a modern lager (approx. 2 - 5 degL) but then there were no lagers in England at that time. An IPA, because of it's usually longer boil times will be even a bit darker because of the additional caramelization. 2. It always looks MUCH darker in the carboy than it does in the glass! I kegged an IPA last night and in the carboy it looked a lot like my last porter. In the hydrometer cylinder it had a medium bronze color. A bit dark, but expected, as I overdid the crystal, but not excessive for the style. 3. When boiling the wort, partiularly a high gravity wort, you have to careful not to scorch the wort at the bottom of the pot. To a certain extent this is unavoidable with our direct fired kettles, but if you make sure that your wort is well mixed before applying heat and keep stirring you can minimize it. Partial boils will If you want a "piss-yellow", high gravity, pale ale (probably too light to be called an IPA) I would skip the IPA extract and just use more of the pale malt extract. Stephen Hansen =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Stephen E. Hansen - hansen at sierra.Stanford.EDU | "The church is near, Electrical Engineering Computer Facility | but the road is icy. Applied Electronics Laboratory, Room 218 | The bar is far away, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-4055 | but I will walk carefully." Phone: +1-415-723-1058 Fax: +1-415-723-1294 | -- Russian Proverb =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 07 Jun 94 18:52:47 EDT From: TAyres at aol.com Subject: "Checker" pH Meter Has anyone had any experience with the "Checker" pH meter that American Brewmaster sells via Zymurgy? The price seems remarkably low compared to other meters on the market, which tend to run in the $60-80 range. What's the buzz? Tom Ayres tayres at aol.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 07 Jun 94 19:04:21 EDT From: TAyres at aol.com Subject: Temperature Controllers? I'm sorry to see the Hunter Fan digital temperature controller has been discontinued by the manufacturer. It was a nifty little digital unit. Does anyone know of a comparable product? Or any temperature controller of similar cost, quality and ease-of-use? If so, what's the source? Please post or E-Mail me at tayres at aol.com Thanks! Tom Ayres Return to table of contents
Date: Tuesday, 7 June 94 18:20:21 CST From: David S Calonico <lldsc at utxdp.dp.utexas.edu> Subject: EURO-BEERS Just returned from my whirlwind tour of Eastern europe. (had 65 e-mail messages waiting for me). Stopped off in Nuremburg, then Prague, then Rocklaw (Poland), then Warsaw, down to Vienna, over to Salzburg and back to Frankfurt. My they sure do make those beers different over there. Of course had the Pilsner Urquell, stopped in at U Flecku in Prague and sampled the two Polish beers that were supossed to be half decent (Okecim was one, I can't remember the other). Suprising thing is that most places didn't have a lot of different beers on tap. Mostly it was either light or dark (not that I'm complaining or anything.) Traveled with an Irishman. We managed to find a British pub, a Scottish pub and, low and behold, an Irish pub in Wrocklaw in Poland. Maybe it was just me, but the Guiness there sure tasted a lot better. Held a really good head, too. Lost my phrasebook. Good thing that the word for beer is the same in Polish as it is in Czech. LLDSC at utxdp.dp.utexas.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 7 Jun 1994 21:22:19 -0300 (ADT) From: robinson at orbit.acrso.ns.ca (John Robinson) Subject: Autolysis Correction My appologies folks. When I posted previously about autolysis you should read Eric Warner for Terry Foster and Weizen for Porter. :) ] Werner states (on page 80) "Top fermenting yeast also tends to autolyze quicker than bottom fermenting yeast, and so affects the flavor stability of Weissbiers that are distributed over a large area or stored for long periods of time." So much for quoting from memory! :) I'm not sure I know how to interpret this passage. First of all, my experience would seem to contradict this on the surface. That is, in my experience, at room temperature (20C), lager yeast is more prone to autolysis than ale yeast. If one were to compare them both at their respective 'optimal' temperatures, I would expect, intuitively, that the tendancy would be about the same for both strains. Miller warns of autolysis (repeatedly) in general, but only talks about lagers specifically. On page 166 he says: "A final point about repitching is that you need to be especially wary of autolysis. Because of the greater accumultion of yeast on the bottom of the fermenter, I rack my repitched lagers as soon as the bubbling interval reaches 30 seconds, rather than the usual 60." So what does the collective wisdom say? Did Eric Warner err in his statement? I know many Weizen's are bottled with a bottom fermenting yeast, but I had always thought this was to prevent the continued slow development of those compounds (like 4 vinyl guiacol) which make a Weizen a Weizen so that they did not completely overwhelm the flavor of the beer. Admitedly, I drew this conclusion on my own, as I could think of no other reasonable explanations. Miller does have one additional passage that may be apropos here from page 157: "The danger at this stage is *autolysis*. This is a last-ditch measure in which the yeast cells excrete proteolytic enzymes and feed on one another in an attempt to survive. The result is often a rotten, rubber stench in the beer. Of course, autolysis does not begin immediately, or all at once. Much depends on the strain of yheast, its health and stability and the temperature: as with all metabolic processes, the warmer the medium, the faster autolysis sets in." >From this I draw two conclusions: 1) Perhaps typical Weizen yeasts are of a strain that is more prone to autolysis and 2) in general, given the temperature dependent nature of autolysis, I would intuitively think that lager yeasts would be more prone to it, as they have a higher metabolism at a lower temperature than their ale counterparts. Comments? - -- John Robinson Internet: robinson at orbit.acrso.ns.ca Systems Manager Atlantic Centre for Remote If it is worth doing, it is worth Sensing of the Oceans doing wrong until you get it right. DOD #0069 Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 94 10:42:36 +1000 From: ANDY WALSH <awalsh at ozemail.com.au> Subject: hot sparging and hot side oxidisation - ------------------------------------------------------------- Text File Attachment: BEER.TXT - ------------------------------------------------------------- >Ron writes: >> Subject: spruce/1098/buggy bines/calling Jack/bine id >> >> To Jack Schmidling: Like many on HBD, I'm a kettle masher, >> thanks to your write up. One item, you tell us to sparge with >> boiling water (you say something like, "trust me on this one.") I >> have (and I do), but I'd like to know why. Speak? Speak? > >I just got done skimming this misinformation as printed in the latest >issue of Brewing Techniques. I got pretty peeved for two reasons, one >is that "tips" like these have no basis in brewing science and are >contrary to accepted practice, especially with regard to increased >leaching of tannins from the lauter tun. FYI, tips like this *do* have a basis in brewing science. If you are like many HBers your lautertun may not be well insulated (zap-zap or Phil's for instance). If you sparge with 170F H2O your grain-bed (what's it called again?) will be lower in temperature, say as low as 150F (I have measured this - who else has?). This can occur over a long sparge, even with mashout. This affects extraction efficiency. If I want high extraction I sometimes sparge with 200F+ H2O, making sure the very top of the bed does not exceed 175F. This ensures the rest of the grist (is that what it's called?) will also be below this figure. Most heat loss occurs from the top, but you can easily monitor the internal temperature. This temperature is easily achieved by controlling flow rates. Heat is lost by your sparge water in the sparge plumbing. If you use this technique the grain does not rise above the magic 175F mark and tannins will not be overly noticable in your beer. (I say overly because some are always present no matter how you do it!) This technique is also useful if you want to minimise HSA. You can infusion mash and sparge in the same vessel thus avoiding the transfer process. The hot sparge water raises your mash temp (eg 151F) to mash out temp. Why is this inferior to infusing boiling water for mash out or even heating with an element? It is certainly easier, and preferable to transferring hot grain around the place. A variation on this technique is not to sparge at all (as recommended by George Fix in Zymurgy Winter 1992)! Think about it. Why sparge? Commercial breweries sparge for economic reasons. The HBer generally brews to make good beer. Eliminating sparging produces cleaner beer, via a simpler process for marginal extra cost. Here's how. What I describe is really a "batch sparge". Using your boiling "sparge water", infuse into your mash at 151F to mashout (170F) (be careful to avoid hot spots). This is necessary to avoid a stuck runoff (especially when adjuncts are used such as wheat, oats etc.). You need to calculate how much water to add using basic thermodynamics, or Papazian's tables. Alternatively boil more water than you could possibly need and infuse it until the desired temperature is reached. Then drain the whole lot into your boiler (slowly) and forget about sparging. I think this requires a large, insulated cooler. I use a 10 gallon Igloo with Phil's false bottom and it works fine. It saves a lot of work (sparging) and produces cleaner beer (10 to 100 times less phenols according to Dr. Fix).My efficiency has dropped from 82% to 68%. Therefore I need about 14% more grain for the same beer. This works out at about 1.5lbs for my average beer (<$1 at my prices). Australian malt is 2 row lager type and well modified, thus very suitable for infusion mashes. I sometimes combine this with a protein rest in the same vessel when using adjuncts. I really only revert to the hot sparge when brewing 10 gallon batches. The 10 gallon bucket is then not large enough to cope with all the extra grain, making sparging essential. The "batch sparge" (really just mashout infusion) should be used with an insulated lautertun, but the hot sparge can be used with any type. Just watch the top-of-the-bed temperature! This may be why the books do not mention this, as it is possible to stuff-up if you let the water run too quickly. Flames encouraged! __________________________________________ Andy Walsh Homebrewmeister _,-_|\ Legless Brewery. / \ Sydney. AUSTRALIA. \_,.-._/ voice 61 2 3695711 v email awalsh at ozemail.com.au * When you're thirsty get Legless * ___________________________________________ Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 7 Jun 1994 21:13:51 -0500 (CDT) From: afmccaul at rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu (Tony McCauley) Subject: 3rd Annual Central Illinois HBC The 3rd Annual Central Illinois Homebrew Competition will take place in Normal, IL on August 6, 1994. Entry cutoff is July 31. Complete information is available via private e-mail (don't want to waste bandwidth for those uninterested parties now do we) or by snail mail. If you want to receive the information contact me at: afmccaul at rs6000.cmp.ilstu.edu or Tony McCauley 404 Tilden Place Normal, IL 61761-1432 (309)452-1084 between 3:30 and 9:00pm CDT Let me know if you want to receive hardcopy or e-mail. If you're interested in judging, I'll be glad to put you to work. Just let me know. Hoppy brewing, Tony. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 7 Jun 1994 22:26:17 -0400 From: Art Steinmetz <asteinm at pipeline.com> Subject: DOS Digest Browser I've seen the posts on the Mac Digest Browser. Can someone post a source for an os2, dos or windows (in that order of preference) digest browser. Thanks. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 07 Jun 1994 23:15:55 -0400 (EDT) From: PNEUMAND at delphi.com Subject: Root Beer Yeast I had the same problem as 'Fizzled out'. Adding Champagne Yeast to Root Beer makes something other than Root Beer. Like Yeasty root Beer. My solution was to take a 1.5 Liter Warsteiner Keg and adding a chrome tire valve to the top. I then adapt a tire chuck to my CO2 tank. After putting the root beer in the keg, I carbonate with CO2 through the tire valve. Shaking like a madman. Dispense with either a pump or CO2 dispenser. Now on to Guava/Mango/Pinapple/ ????? carbonated drinks. Partial fermentations, too.... ???????? Dave Pneuman Siemens/Nixdorf Boca Raton, Florida Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 94 14:54:34 +1000 From: ANDY WALSH <awalsh at ozemail.com.au> Subject: rice malt Is liquid rice malt extract available in the USA? If so, has anyone tried using it in place of rice in light beers? I have seen the stuff in health food shops over here (when buying other brewing ingredients of course (8^]) - they're a great source for all kinds of stuff and cheaper than homebrew shops) and often wondered what it is like. It looks just like very pale liquid malt extract. Andy. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 1994 02:19:11 -0700 From: fischer <kfischer at ucssun1.sdsu.edu> Subject: Kegs and such Hiya, Well, I'm in the process of gearing up for my first brewing attempt. I have been reading Papazian's book and it sounds pretty straight forward. The question I have is: Would it be a bad idea to keg your first brew attempt. Because I have a qtr. keg (7.75 gal) and it seems as if it would be much easier to keg than bottle. The only problem is that in papazian's book, He shows a keg with a plug on the side. But my keg only has only opening for the tap and no other holes. So how would I clean it, and how would I fill it??? Any comments, suggestions, and the like would be appreciated....Also thanks to those who gave me book recomendations. Later Keith <kfischer at ucssun1.sdsu.edu> Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 1994 08:25:13 -0400 (EDT) From: "Dana S. Cummings" <dcumming at moose.uvm.edu> Subject: Autolysis/steinlids/info request > Subject: Re: Autolysis > > Ale yeasts find cold temperatures more hostile than lager strains. So, when > placed in this condition, they try to kill others for the sake of living > themselves. When I say 'this condition' I mean cold conditioning. Diacetyl > rests as a warm condition is only for max 5 days, at cool temperatures also. Out of curiosity; if ale yeasts tend to off each other at cold temperatures, how do Kolsch ales ever ferment? > Subject: Lids on German Steins > I was asked the other day "Why are there lids on German Beer Steins?" > I thought it might have been an inovation for farmers and the like to keep > dirt and straw and such out of their beer while working in the fields. Does > anyone know the real reason/history of it. Once upon a time I was told it was to keep flies out of the beer. And now for something completely different... A couple of years ago I brewed a batch of Papazian's Holiday Cheer and was quite happy with it. I intend to brew another batch soon but I want to get the body and alcohol content to an appropriate Christmas/winter level. When I detailed my intentions to use 9.9 # of extract and 1-2 # of specialty grains in a 6 1/2-7 g. batch to a fellow brewer his comment was "oh, up there in the barley wine range". So here's the dilemma: I've read (Miller maybe?) that barley wines and other high gravity beers require at least one year of conditioning to be appreciated. Will the 10#/7g. ratio put me in the barley wine neighborhood and will I get away with 5 1/2 months of aging? Final ?: what might be an appropriate yeast for (what I hope will be) a high alcohol beer like this. Many TIA. Cheers & Beers Dana Cummings dcumming at moose.uvm.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 1994 09:39:08 -0300 (ADT) From: robinson at orbit.acrso.ns.ca (John Robinson) Subject: Re: Autolysis In HOMEBREW Digest #1444 Rich Fortnum <rich at beerich.demon.co.uk> writes: > Ale yeasts find cold temperatures more hostile than lager strains. So, when > placed in this condition, they try to kill others for the sake of living > themselves. When I say 'this condition' I mean cold conditioning. Diacetyl > rests as a warm condition is only for max 5 days, at cool temperatures also. I find this very difficult to swallow. When the temperature is dropped below normal, in my understanding, ale yeast go dormant. That is to say, their metabolism slows down. While they may autolyse eventually, it would seem to me that it would take much longer to occur than for a lager strain which would have a higher metabolic rate at the same temperature. I would be interested in any references you might have to back up this assertion that ale yeasts autolyse more rapidly at lower temperatures. > Chill your lager. That's what lagering is - cold aging/conditioning. Not sure what the purpose of this remark is. I know what lagering is. The lagers I tried to brew at around room temperature were not chilled precisely because I didn't have any way to chill them. Had I owned a fridge for brewing at that time it would have been a simple matter but alas such was not the case. - -- John Robinson Internet: robinson at orbit.acrso.ns.ca Systems Manager Atlantic Centre for Remote If it is worth doing, it is worth Sensing of the Oceans doing wrong until you get it right. DOD #0069 Return to table of contents
Date: 07 Jun 94 21:48:00 -0500 From: Rob.Poitras at f1.n249.z1.fidonet.org (Rob Poitras) Subject: Hunter thermometer From: rob.poitras at f1.n249.z1.fidonet.org Someone was asking about Hunter thermometers. Brewers Resource in Camarillo, CA was carrying them, but have been out of stock for about six months and will not be getting any more. The good news is, they will be offering another brand which should be available in a month. Just got off the phone with them. Rob - --- * OFFLINE 1.58 Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 08 Jun 1994 10:52:28 EDT From: KMYH09A at prodigy.com ( LARRY KELLY) Subject: Using Ales Yeast in a Larger Recipe I have a question I hope some of you more advanced Brew Meisters can answer. I have seem some All Grain beer recipes that really interest me, the only problem is that they call for Larger yeasts. I do not have the facilities to larger a brew. Is there a problem it I use all the recipes ingredients expect substitue an ale type yeast instead of the larger yeast? What ale type yeast should I use? Also, If I was to use the larger yeast, but at ale yeast temps (65 or so degress) what would be the down side? Larry KMYH09A at prodigy.com Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 94 10:59:59 EDT From: Steve Scampini <scampini at hp-and.an.hp.com> Subject: Advice Needed Thanks to several people who sent info on Duvel. A question to the digesters - Apparently, Duvel uses "two-row summer barley malted in France and Belgium to a color of between 2.5 and 5.5 EBC with a finished beer color of 7 to 9. Given that I am a barbarian extract brewer (and a brewcap blower not a siphon sucker) what is the closest extract that I could use to grossly approximate the above? TIA, Steve Scampini Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 1994 10:09:51 CDT From: "Dennis Lewis" <DLEWIS%jscdo6 at jesnic.jsc.nasa.gov> Subject: BT Index This past weekend I decided to put together an index of Brewing Techniques. (A wonderful mag even if they did have a brain-fart and published an ad, loaded with bad info, in the wrong place. Contact them at BTcirc at aol.com or BTeditor at aol.com for subscription info. Standard disclaimer, blah, blah.) I have already found this index very useful. I got very distracted while typing it in because I realized that I had skipped an article or two. :-) The descriptions are taken directly from the table of contents in each issue. I listed the cover art because I found it easier to locate an issue if I knew what the cover looked like. Since I haven't seen this anywhere before, I guess I'll consider myself the keeper of this index. If anyone has any comments regarding format, detail level, etc. please e-mail them to me at either of these two addresses: aw405 at yfn.ysu.edu dlewis%jscdo6 at jesnic.jsc.nasa.gov (until 24 June) Brewing Techniques - Index The Art and Science of Small-scale Brewing Vol.1 No.1: May June 1993 (Cover art: Thermometer, hops, and grain) Factors Affecting Hop Production, Hop Quality, and Brewer Preference. Alfred Haunold and Gail B. Nickerson Belgian Malts: Some Practical Observations George J. Fix Reinheitsgebot and the Fifth Ingredient Martin Schiller The Troubleshooter: Hung Fermentations, Water Analysis Tables, and Eggs in Beer Dave Miller Brewing in Styles: American Wheat Beers Roger Bergen Thinking about Beer Recipe Formulation Darryl Richman Spreadsheet for Recipe Design Karl King Technical Communications: Dispensing from Kegs, Dry Hopping Recommendations Book Review: Lambic Vol. 1 No. 2: July/August 1993 (Cover art: Airlock, test tube, glass baster) Diacetyl: Formation, Reduction, and Control George J. Fix Malt Extracts: Cause for Concern Martin Lodahl Methods of Sanitization and Sterilization Maribeth Raines Quick Results for Quality Assurance: Simple Laboratory Methods for Microbrewers Frank Commanday The Troubleshooter: Cultured Dregs, Challenging Infections, and Home-Kilning Malt Dave Miller Brewing in Styles: Oktoberfest Alternatives Roger Bergen Blending and the Art of Salvage Chris Studach Technical Communications: Aquarium aerators revisited Information for Authors Vol. 1 No. 3: September/October 1993 (Cover art: barley heads) Brewing with Rye Rosannah Hayden Ale's Well in England Christopher Nemeth Understanding Specific Gravity and Extract Martin P. Manning Water Treatment: Philosophy, Approach, and Calculations Karl King The Troubleshooter: Exposing Beer to Air, Selecting Brewpub Filter Systems, and the Low-Down on Copper Pennies Dave Miller Brewing In Styles: Porters--Then and Now Roger Bergen On-Line Connections to Far-Flung Fellow Brewers Tim Tillman Technical Communications: Spreadsheet for Recipe Design Revisited Information for Authors Vol. 1 No. 4: November/December 1993 (Cover art: SS cask on cross bucks) Beer from the Stainless: Producing Traditional British Cask Beers in America Dick Cantwell, Fal Allen, and Kevin Forhan Brewers' Wish Lists Rosannah Hayden Hot Trub: Formation and Removal Ron Barchet The Troubleshooter: Rice as an Adjunct, Hot-Side Aeration, Sparge Water pH, Aluminum Kettles, and Malting Methods Dave Miller Brewing in Styles: A Stout Comparison Roger Bergen Great Commercial Beer from Malt Extract Donald R. Outterson The In-Laws' Refrigerator Kieran O'Connor Technical Communications: Correction: Water treatment calculations table update BrewsBriefs: Brew on premises: Canada's alternative, Great American Beer Festival takes America to a mile-high high Book Review: Sake (USA) Vol. 2 No. 1: January/February 1994 (Cover art: Basket full of hops) Hop Storage: How to Get--and Keep--Your Hops' Optimum Value Mark Garetz The Essential Oil of Hops: Aroma and Flavor in Hops and Beer Glenn Tinseth The Bushwick Pilsners: A Look at Hoppier Days Ben Jankowski Recipe Formulation Calculations for Brewers Martin Manning Ask the Troubleshooter: Hop Utilization, Keg Carbonation, and Diacetyl Rests in Lager Fermentations Dave Miller Brewing in Styles: California Steaming Roger Bergen BrewsBriefs: Neither Rain, Nor Sleet, Nor Even Snow... (Beer of the month clubs) Vol. 2 No. 2: March/April 1994 (Cover art: multicolor map of Europe/Africa/India) Online Information Sources for Brewers Stephen Mallery and Julie Mansisidor Cold Trub: Implications for Finished Beer, and Methods of Removal Ron Barchet Parti-Gyle Brewing Randy Mosher Modifying Half-Barrel Kegs for Use as Brewing Vessels Martin Manning A Three-Tiered Gravity-Flow Brewing System Bob Caplan Beer Tree: A Three-Tiered System with Roots in Simplicity David O'Neil High-Tech Home Brewing Robert McIlvane Ask the Troubleshooter: Wort Recirculation, Kegging Mead, Gelatinization, and Other Questions Dave Miller Brewing in Styles: India Pale Ale, Part I: IPA and Empire--Necessity and Enterprise Give Birth to a Style Thom Tomlinson Technical Communications: Recipe Design Color Correction Factor, Hop Bitterness Estimation, Priming Methods Compared, Hops Question Vol. 2 No. 3: May/June 1994 (Cover art: Manway on a unitank) Explorations in Pre-Prohibition American Lagers George J. Fix Hops in the Backyard: From Planting to Harvest and the Hazards in Between Stephanie Montell Yeast Culturing Practices for Small-Scale Brewers Karl King Simple Detection of Wild Yeast and Yeast Stability Rodney L. Morris Ask the Troubleshooter: Water Hardness, Dextrin Malt, Malt Shelf Life, and Careers in Brewing Dave Miller Brewing in Styles: India Pale Ale, Part II--The Sun Never Sets Thom Tomlinson Mashing Made Easy Jack Schmidling Letter to the Editor about stealing/misusing kegs (brewery property) Technical Communications: Warning: Kegs Under Pressure, Planispiral Wort Chiller, BruProbe Accuracy Misstated, More on Recipe Formulation Calculations BrewsBriefs: Home Brew U: A New Institution Book Review: The Brewer's Companion Dennis Lewis * <dlewis%jscdo6 at jesnic.jsc.nasa.gov> Homebrew, The Final Frontier * After June 24th, <aw405 at yfn.ysu.edu> Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 94 08:26:56 PST From: Jack St Clair <Jack_St_Clair at ccm.co.intel.com> Subject: Lids on Steins Text item: Text_1 In HBD#1444, Jim Cave asked "Why are there Lids on German beer steins?" Well, the story I heard many years ago was that they were there to make it more difficult for someone to tamper (ie. poison) your beer, a practice that was quite common in medieval days. I'm sure there are lots of other stories about the origin of the lids, let's hear them. Jack St.Clair Portland, Oregon Jack_st_clair at ccm.co.intel.com Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 08 Jun 1994 11:17:36 EDT From: KMYH09A at prodigy.com ( LARRY KELLY) Subject: Using Polyclar I have read through many back issues of HBD on the use of Polyclar to help reduce chill haze. I have a couple of question I could not find in the back issues. Can Polyclar be used in any type of brew? Most messages I saw in HBD mentions people largering their brew, can Polyclar be used in Ales too? Also since Polyclar is supposed to help bring suspended yeast to the bottom on the fermenter, does this lower yeast content, when bottling, affect the conditioning of the bottle beer? Does it take longer to carbonate, using corn sugar, because of the lower yeast content? Also should the amount of corn sugar, 3/4 cup to 5 gallons, remain the same or should one increase the amount of sugar? Larry KMYH09A at prodigy.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 7 Jun 1994 09:38:20 -0500 From: steve at snake.appl.wpafb.af.mil (Steve Zabarnick) Subject: British Lager Malt? Our local homebrew supply store carries British Lager Malt (Munton & Fison, I believe). Does anyone out there have experience with this malt? I am looking to brew a lager with good malt taste and aroma (perhaps an Oktoberfest). I know that a German malt, such as Ireks, is recommmended but I don't have local access to German malts. Will this British malt give a better malt profile than Klages? Steve Zabarnick Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 94 10:44:00 PDT From: Karl Elvis MacRae <batman at cisco.com> Subject: Re: Lids on German Steins >From: Jim Cave <CAVE at PSC.ORG> >Subject: Lids on German Steins > > I was asked the other day "Why are there e: s on German Beer Steins?" >I thought it might have been an inovation for farmers and the like to keep >dirt and straw and such out of their beer while working in the fields. Does >anyone know the real reason/history of it. Flies. At one point in Europe (And I forget the date on this; the 1700's? Something like that; I read this a couple of years ago so it slips my mind), there was a tremendous plague of flies; the lids were to keep them out of your beer while you sat in the beer garden.... Or so goes the story *I* heard..... -Karl -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Karl Elvis MacRae Software Release Support Cisco Systems batman at cisco.com 415-688-8231 DoD#1999 1993 Vulcan Eighty-Eight -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- "Hi, you look different! Are you a puppet?" -Barb Return to table of contents
Date: 08 Jun 1994 12:55:12 GMT From: "WSZ551" <INFORMM.WSZ551 at UIAMVS.WEEG.UIOWA.EDU> Subject: Homebrew Digest #1444 (June 08, 1994) Hello everyone]]] This is my first week on the system and I have been thoroughly impressed with the content and quality of the Digest. If it is not asking too much, could someone please send me their favorite wheat, nut brown ale, and/or pale ale recipes. Please send via internet to: william-zimmer at uiowa.edu THANKS IN ADVANCE] Return to table of contents
Date: 08 Jun 1994 13:16:13 GMT From: "WSZ551" <INFORMM.WSZ551 at UIAMVS.WEEG.UIOWA.EDU> Subject: Homebrew Digest #1444 (June 08, 1994) Hello everyone]]] This is my first week on the system and I have been thoroughly impressed with the content and quality of the Digest. If it is not asking too much, could someone please send me their favorite wheat, nut brown ale, and/or pale ale EXTRACT recipes. Please send via internet to: william-zimmer at uiowa.edu THANKS IN ADVANCE] Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 08 Jun 94 14:38:28 EDT From: WDPROWC at aol.com Subject: Homebrew digest subscription Please cancel my on-line subscription Thank you Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 08 Jun 1994 14:33:18 EDT From: KMYH09A at prodigy.com ( LARRY KELLY) Subject: Using Polyclar Antoher question concerning Polyclar. How do you use it? DO you have to sterlize it first (ie. boiling)? How much do you add? Larry KMYH09A at prodigy.com Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 94 13:56 CDT From: arf at mcs.com (Jack Schmidling) Subject: ORACLE SPEAKS >From: Jim Busch <busch at daacdev1.stx.com> >What do you know, I expect the Oracle to respond directly, but instead I get flamed by a Don Put <dput at csulb.edu>: It was clear from your remarks that it wasn't the article that bothered you quite as much as the name of the author. As Don pointed out, you obviously "responded" without even taking the time to read it. There is not much more I need say but now that you have awakened the sleeping tiger by tweeking his tounge with you finger, I might as well bite it off. <I just got done skimming this misinformation as printed in the latest issue of Brewing Techniques. I got pretty peeved for two reasons, one is that "tips" like these have no basis in brewing science... Who called it "science"? I was simply describing a simple process to make an all grain batch with the least amount of equipment, hassle and science. > and are contrary to accepted practice.... So, all magazine articles should be re-runs of everything considered "accepted parctice". No creativity, novel ideas; just what has already been published by the experts and accepted. Who the hell needs a magazine for that? Like the HBD, BT is an idea exchange. If you don't like the idea, don't use it. If you can prove it is a bad idea, feel free. < especially with regard to increased leaching of tannins from the lauter tun. I didn't say anything about "increased leaching of tannins", but you are free to expound as you wish. <Im sure the "Oracle" has something silly to say about all of this. I think most will agree that you took care of the "something silly", I will respond to the original question which I seem to have missed on the first round. I know nothing about excessively hot sparge water other than what has been stated repeatedly and I "accept" the caveat that it should not exceed 170F with a major qualification. It has been my experience with kettle mashing and sparging that the rate of heat loss through the surface and the kettle far exceeds the heat added by sparging with boiling water. The net result is that if you use boillng water and sparge at a rate consistant with "accepted" practices, the actual mash temperature will not even be 170F, let alone anything excessively higher. If you follow the "accepted" practice of using 170F water, the actual mash temp will be on the order of 150F. I don't claim this to be a universal truth and it certainly does not apply to insulated mash tuns but I was writing about a particular type of system and what I said is how it works. Furthermore, the objective reader will recognize that I made no statement that contradicts anything in the way of "accepted practices". I simply pointed out that one needs to make some temp measurements before blindly using numbers that are "accepted" without understanding the basis for the numbers. The important consideration is mash temperature and not sparge water temperature. Continued.............. Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1445, 06/09/94