HOMEBREW Digest #169 Tue 06 June 1989

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

Contents:
  homebrew tuning (Dave Sheehy)
  Smelly Beer (Russ Pencin)
  Vitamin B's in Homebrew (florianb)
  Mega stout eruption (man)
  Request addition to homebrew list (Ken Kron)
  AHA Convention (Edward C. Bronson)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 5 Jun 89 11:06:24 PDT From: Dave Sheehy <dbs at hprnd> Subject: homebrew tuning Full-Name: Dave Sheehy Types of Yeast I have been brewing for about a year and have been noticing a funny kind of musty underlying flavor to my homebrew that I do not find entirely pleasant. It's been a constant over the varieties of beer I've been making (from pilseners to Doppelbocks) so I know that it's not a function of the extracts, grains, and hops I've been using. So it's either my brewing process or another alternative is the type of yeast I've been using. I read with interest a previous posting that said that Red Star was not a very good yeast in that author's opinion. Well as it turns out I've been using Red Star in nearly all the 10 - 12 batches I've made so far. I have used Edme a couple of times but I didn't have the presence of mind to write down the brand of yeast I used for some of my earlier attempts. Coincidentally, I've been thinking of experimenting with different types of yeasts to see how they affect the final product. To get to the point of all this, what are people's preferences in types of yeast? At this point I'm mostly interested in ale yeasts although I am interested in lagers too (mostly as used in making Doppelbocks). Lagering Experimentation I made a couple of pilseners and doppelbocks just by fermenting at room temperature (whatever that happens to be at the time) and would like to experiment with lagering to see how the flavor is affected. I don't have a second refrigerator to use for the lagering step however. I have thought that I could experiment next fall and winter by lagering the wort in my garage. Where I live it doesn't get below freezing at night until January. Is this a valid experiment? The garage temperature is going to vary somewhat during the day. How important is it to maintain a constant temperature? Sweeter Beers My taste in beer runs towards the sweeter varieties. I have been unable to duplicate the sweetness of the beer at the microbreweries I've frequented. I talked to one of the brewers at the Triple Rock microbrewery in Berkeley and he said that they interrupt primary fermentation prematurely in order to retain a sweetness in the flavor of their beer. I've now realized that they must also either pastuerize the wort to kill the yeast of filter the yeast out to avoid additional fermentation. I suppose that their beer might be consumed quickly enough for the above steps to be ignored and not matter much. David Line states in one of his books that homebrew tends to be drier than commercial breweries. He therefore includes saccharin in recipes where he is trying to duplicate the sweetness of the brew he is trying to copy (since saccharin doesn't ferment). I haven't actually tried any of his recipes that include saccharin yet. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to control the sweetness of the final brew? Good Book Past "Papazian". I have bought and read Papazian's book on home brewing. I also have David Line's book, Brewing_Beers_Like_Those_You_Buy (mainly because it has a recipe for John Courage). The question is what is a good book that takes up where Papazian's book left off? David Sheehy Return to table of contents
Date: 5 June 1989 10:56:59 am From: parcplace!pencin at Sun.COM (Russ Pencin) Subject: Smelly Beer I have brewed a few batches of beer, and I have noticed a strange thing: the Ales smell like beer while they are fermenting, and the Lagers smell like cat s--- while they ferment. The lagers I have made all have been fermented with some hops left in the wort. Could this be the cause of the smell, or is it the type of yeast? By the way, the lagers tasted OK when they were done, its just the smell while they are working... Thanks for a great forum... Russ Return to table of contents
Date: 05 Jun 89 13:42:15 PDT (Mon) From: florianb%tekred.cna.tek.com at RELAY.CS.NET Subject: Vitamin B's in Homebrew Greg Crawford's note: >the vitamin B as you are using it up. American brewers remove most >(if not all) of the yeast. Try taking some vitamin B complex the next >time you over indulge with american beer and see if this is true. Now that I brew my own and now that I'm not in college anymore, I will probably never over indulge with American beer again. Thanks for the suggestion, though. The crazy thing is, I've gotten head- aches from the Belgian ales which have yeast in the bottle. I've also gotten headaches from US commercial ales which are naturally Krausened. ?? Thanks to BROWN for the Ginger beer recipe. This looks like a good fall drink to me. It's on the "to make" list. Return to table of contents
Date: 5 Jun 1989 10:00 EDT From: man at granjon.att.com Subject: Mega stout eruption I had been intrigued by the Mega Stout recipe in the winter issue of Zymurgy, so I decided to brew up a batch last thursday. The recipe comes with a warning that initial fermentation tends to be EXTREMELY vigorous and a lot of brew could be blown off. They ain't kidding !! First of all, I don't employ a blow-off tube. I just ferment in the standard 7 1/2 gallon plastic bucket with lid and airlock. I pitched a packet of M&F ale yeast on Friday morning (71 degrees) and went to work. When I got home, I went to see if fermentation had started. Well, the foam was rising out of the airlock (it had just started). I cracked the lid open to let pressure out and took off the airlock to clean, refill and sanitize. When I got back (5 minutes) the volcano was spewing out lava over the side at an good clip with the lava messing up the counter pretty good. I decided to seal it up and let the stuff come through the airlock. That way I could lay paper towels all around on the lid and pick up the excess. I came back to check on it about an hour later and just as I approached it, the lid blew off the container, traveling (no exaggeration, here) 2 feet in the air before landing behind the cabinet. After I cleaned the lid, I left it cracked a bit and let the lava spew out. This continued to at least 1:00 AM (I went to bed). At 7:00 AM it had stopped and I quickly sanitized my carboy and racked. It's bubbling slowly now. I'm not worried. Just thought I'd let you know he meant it when he said extremely vigorous. I'll let you know how it turned out, though it won't last long: I'm bringing the entire batch camping in the middle of July. Should make an interesting substitute for beans around the campfire!! Mark N. Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 89 15:17:50 PDT From: kron at Sun.COM (Ken Kron) Subject: Request addition to homebrew list Also I am interested in any homebrew group in the area that gets together regularly. Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 5 Jun 89 23:51:04 -0500 From: bronson at ee.ecn.purdue.edu (Edward C. Bronson) Subject: AHA Convention For information and as an invitation, I thought I'd mention an upcoming Beer Trek. In a few days I will be heading to Fort Mitchell, KY to attend the Eleventh Annual American Homebrewers Association (AHA) National Conference on Quality Beer and Brewing. This is the first year that the conference is being held outside of Colorado. The conference site is the Drawbridge Inn at the Oldenberg Brewery located just south of Cincinnati, OH. Along with a large beer hall called the Great Hall of Oldenberg, the conference location features health facilities, five restaurants, six bars, and the world's largest breweriana collection. The conference will consist of four days of presentations and demonstrations on such topics as brewing techniques, microbreweries and brewpubs, quality control, and beer judging certification. The activities get rolling on Wednesday, June 7th, with a Hudepohl-Schoenling Brewery tour, an Oldenberg Brewery tour, and a Kickoff Beer Reception. The days of the conference are filled with special luncheons, homebrew club activities, national homebrew judging, an awards banquet, beer tasting, beer drinking, beer discussions, beer drinking, ... On Saturday, a special luncheon will be prepared by Micheal Jackson, renowned beer authority. Each course of this extraordinary eating experience will be prepared with beer and served with selected beers. The conference ends with an International Beer Tasting on Saturday evening. Unlike previous years, the AHA has separated the conference from the Great American Beer Festival (October). This should permit beer tasting and beer discussions in a pleasant atmosphere devoid of the 3-ring circus advertising gimics that have marred the festival in recent years. I know that this sounds like an advertisement, but having attended this conference in the past, I am very excited about getting together again with the AHA. (This is the only conference that I attend on a regular basis that serves beer DURING the presentations!) I am certain that other readers of this FORUM will also be attending the conference and I invite you to contact me, have a beer, and discuss homebrewing. I will certainly be at the Homebrew Club Night activities representing our local homebrew club, the Tippecanoe Hombrewers' Circle. On the way to the conference from Lafayette, IN, I will be stopping at the NapTown Brewing Company in Indianapolis, IN. This is Indiana's FIRST microbrewery. Their first product is a full-bodied all-malt hoppy beer called Main Street Lager. They have been brewing for about four months and bottling for about six weeks. I will also be visiting Wallaby Bob's Australian Restaurant and Brewery in Fairfield, OH for a tour and a beer. This brewpub is located just north of Cincinnati, OH. On my return, I will be attending the monthly meeting of the St. Gambrinas Benevolence Society. This is the homebrew club of Bloomington, IN. Well, that's the Beer Trek Plan. Hopefully I will meet some of you at the conference. Cheers and Beers, Ed Bronson bronson at ecn.purdue.edu Return to table of contents
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