---

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

Contents:
  Almost Old Faithfull (Andre Petit/Hydro-Quebec/QC/Canada 514-652-8060)
  Lager vs Steam:an experiment (Jason Goldman)
  HB DIG#169 Yeasts, etc (florianb)
  Yeasts, Sweeter Beers, Bad Smells, Boom (pri=8 Marc San Soucie ms 019-890 x76723)
  Re: specific gravity measurement problem (John D. Polstra)

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


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

Date: Tue, 6 Jun 89 08:57:48 EDT
From: Andre Petit/Hydro-Quebec/QC/Canada 514-652-8060 <petit%ireqs3.uucp at RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: Almost Old Faithfull

I have experienced something similar to the Old Faithful of
Tom Hotchkiss, but not as severe as he described.  That was
with a pale ale using all grain.  I have left the second stage
of fermentation for 2 months at about 15 degres Celcius (59F).
The yeast was an ale variety from Edme.  Primary fermentation
has been quite active for 2 days then drop sharply.  Secondary
fermentation was always very slow.  A relative density of 1.010
seemed high but I decided to bottle anyway. Two weeks after bottling,
carbonation was already quite high, but seems to have stabilized
after 4 weeks. 

Later, I brew a similar batch (with flaked corn) that shows a 
similar fermentation pattern until the temperature in the
appartment rose to about 23 C (73F).  During the 2 months period
of stage 2 fermentation at 15 C, only 1 bubble every 2 minutes
was visible.  But when temperature rose to 23 C, bubbles began
to shows in great numbers.

I think that even after 2 months, my batch of "almost Old Faithfull"
has been bottled but has not yet finished fermentation because 
of chilly yeast. The second batch is not yet ready to bottle. 
A batch made with malt extract using exactly the same kind of 
yeast don't shows such a strange behavior.

Next time, I think I will try to change yeast brand or variety 
(lager yeast to make ale?).  I dont't think contamination is the
cause.

Return to table of contents

   Andre Petit,                         UUCP: petit at ireqs3.uucp
   Institut de Recherche d'Hydro-Quebec,      petit%ireqs3.uucp at uunet.uu.net
   1800 Montee Ste-Julie, Varennes,
   P. Quebec, Canada, J0L 2P0
   Tel: 514-652-8060 Fax: 514-652-8051

Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 6 Jun 89 08:36:17 mdt
From: Jason Goldman <hp-lsd!jdg>
Subject: Lager vs Steam:an experiment
Full-Name: Jason Goldman

I've just recently conducted an interesting experiment.  My most recent
batch of beer is a lager (J's Bock Cantata), the first I have tried.  My
basement, at the time of fermentation, stayed around 55 degrees, so that went
fine.  When it came time to bottle, things were warming up, so I fit a case
and a half into my bar refrigerator so I could lager the brew at 40 degrees.
The remainder I let age at room temperature (65 - 75 degrees).  This worked
out well for providing a comparison between lager and steam beers.  The lager
was significantly smoother than the steam (tho both are tasty).  The only
thing that I regret is that I underprimed the batch and it is not as
carbonated as I like (I don't want a geyser, but I like to get a little head
 ;-).

Jason Goldman

Return to table of contents


Date: 06 Jun 89 12:53:20 PDT (Tue)
From: florianb%tekred.cna.tek.com at RELAY.CS.NET
Subject: HB DIG#169 Yeasts, etc

David Sheehy asks:

>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 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

I have used Red Star in about 20 batches of ales and once in a steam
beer.  I have no complaints about it.  The brews have all had good
aroma (ie nothing moldy or wierd smelling).  Red Star gets going fast,
which I like.  I've read in a Steinbart's newsletter that Red Star ale
yeast has a relatively high concentration of bacteria and wild yeasts.
This apparently hasn't presented a problem for me.  I plan to continue
to use it for the convenience it affords me.

He goes on to inquire:

>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?

I highly recommend Miller's book "The Complete Handbook of Home Brewing".
I believe it is a more serious and scientific approach to homebrewing
than Papazain's book (although the recipes and tips in Papazain's book
are really great).      

David also asks:
>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?

A fellow at Steinbart's suggested I use lactose, which is supposed to
not ferment by yeast.  I bought some but haven't tried it yet. Saccharin
sounds like it would work because the bitterness could be masked by the
hops.  I will never use it, since I am a health nut.

[Florian Bell, Boonesborough, Oregon]

Return to table of contents


Date: 6 Jun 89 16:59:28 EDT (Tue)
From: hplabs!decvax!wang!mds (pri=8 Marc San Soucie ms 019-890 x76723)
Subject: Yeasts, Sweeter Beers, Bad Smells, Boom

David Sheehy writes:

> 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...
> ...Well as it turns out I've been using Red Star in nearly all
> the 10 - 12 batches I've made so far.

Certainly there could be other factors, but in my experience, yeast quality
is a very important flavor consideration. I have had universally good luck
with Doric, Leigh&Williams, and Edme. Wyeast liquid lager yeast has worked
marvellously the one time I used it (but watch out - see below...)
Some kits provide wickedly pleasant yeasts - Dogbolter in particularly has
one of the sweetest-smelling yeasts around. Try an A-B comparison,
substituting Doric for Red Star. When I did that I gave up Red Star forever.

David Sheehy also writes:

> 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 have found that adding healthy quantities of crystal malt can have a nice
sweetening effect on amber ales, though I haven't got a lot of scientific
evidence to back this up.

Russ Pencin writes:

> ...Ales smell like beer while they are fermenting, and the Lagers smell
> like cat s--- while they ferment.

The worst-smelling fermentation I ever achieved was with Wyeast liquid lager
yeast, which produced a beautiful-tasting lager. Go figure it.

man at granjon.att.com writes:

> ...just as I approached it, the lid blew off the container...

Sign of a true megastout. Mine did the same. Still does it to me every
time I drink one of the things...

    Marc San Soucie
    The John Smallbrewers
    Massachusetts

Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 6 Jun 89 18:06:12 PDT
From: polstra!jdp at hplabs.HP.COM (John D. Polstra)
Subject: Re: specific gravity measurement problem

In Digest #166, Martha Garske explained how to adjust an S.G. reading
to account for more water that has been added:

> Since  water has an S.G.
> of 1.000 ( it is, in fact, the reference for the specific gravity scale)
> multiplying the S.G. obtained for the 2 gallons by 0.4  is exactly the 
> correction needed for the S.G. of the 5 gallon batch.

I'd like to add a small clarification to this, just in case it's not
obvious to everybody.  You have to subtract out the 1.000 from the S.G.
reading first, then multiply by 0.4 (or whatever the ratio of volumes
is), then add the 1.000 back in.

So, for example, if the measured S.G. of the 2 gallons was 1.100, you
would multiply 0.100 by 0.4 to get 0.040, yielding a corrected S.G. of
1.040.

If any of you have doubts about this, consider the case where it's all
water:  the original and corrected S.G. readings should both be 1.000.

-- John Polstra               jdp at polstra.UUCP
   Polstra & Co., Inc.        ...{uunet,sun}!practic!polstra!jdp
   Seattle, WA                (206) 932-6482

Return to table of contents


End of HOMEBREW Digest #170, 06/07/89

---