---

	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)

Send submissions to homebrew%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com
Send requests to homebrew-request%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com


----------------------------------------------------------------------

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

---