HOMEBREW Digest #1981 Mon 11 March 1996

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


Contents:
  Re: Channeling (Algis R Korzonas)
  re:repitching trub (Shawn Bleet)
  Help! Is My Beer Infected? ("Wayne A. White")
  Channeling Momily (Jack Schmidling)
  RIMS pumps (Btalk)
  Copper/Beers of Egypt (A. J. deLange)
  Signatures, A Recipe, etc. (Marty Tippin)
  Quaternary sanitizers (Jim Busch)
  Large Wort Stirring Paddle (Mike White)
  Brewmeister S/W for PCs (James A Kinley/DELCO)
  Stupid homebrewer trick #462 (Spencer W Thomas)
  Tempering of Malt (Kathy Booth)
  Books and the Genesis of Homebrewing (Jim Herter)
  Alt recipe (Jeff Renner)
  Easy Masher? ("Kenneth D. Joseph")
  UNspent grain in bread (FLATTER)
  Propane vs. Nat. Gas Oriface (Chuck Volle)
  Ready to rack to secondary? ("FINLEY, BARRY CURTIS")
  Thickness of filter bed (Bourdouxhe Jacques)
  Uses for 1 gallon carboys (Gary A. Meier)
  Canadian Beer (cisco)
  long protein rest during decoction mash (Michael Mendenhall)
  Brewing Lagers ("Palmer.John")
  Re: 1 gallon glass carboys. (J. Matthew Saunders)
  OOPS -- It wasn't Glenn who hates recipes! (KennyEddy)
  Uses for 1 gallon carboys (PWhite)
  What would you do and call it? ("Rev. Edward Blonski")
  1 Gallon Glass Jugs (Bill Rust)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 7 Mar 96 13:17:26 CST From: korz at pubs.ih.att.com (Algis R Korzonas) Subject: Re: Channeling Rob writes: >I think that you could either increase or decrease channelling according to >exactly what you did. When I've been impatient with gummy slow wheat >lauters, I've cut the bed with a knife praying that more liquid would go >through, *any* liquid --- extract, schmextract. > >OTOH, with a 6 to 8 inch grain bed, I often stir up the top couple of inches >of grain when there's only about a half inch of water on top. I stir the >*complete* area of the top of the mash with the result is that the top looks >like a rather thick porridge, like the original mash. <snip> And Jeff writes: >If you look at a good brewing text, you should find some information >explaining why people use rakes in mashing systems, and although your >theory may be intuitive, it's not how it works, either in the flower pot >or the mash tun. > >I suppose if you only drew a rake through the mash once, that you would >simply create a new channel, but in a proper system, the rakes move slowly >through the grain bed -- and usually deepen over the course of the mash/ >lauter/ process. This makes is impossible for the water to find fractures >in the bed and form channels, as the fractures are continually broken up. In my initial post, I was commenting on, I believe, Rob's saying that stirring reduced channeling. What I had envisioned was either the occasional stir once around the laeuter tun with a spoon, or cutting the bed as Rob said above. I'm sure that you will all agree (including, amazingly enough, Jack Schmidling) that this will, indeed, increase channeling. I agree that a thorough stirring of the entire top of the grain bed (I, personally, would stop taking runnings into the kettle and recirculate till the runnings were reasonably clear) would improve extraction and, indeed, reduce channeling. Constantly running rakes, would do something similar. None of the rakes that I've seen move slowly down. They are usually a big set of vertical metal flat bars with small "wings" on them. On some, I belive that the angle of the "wings" is adjustable. On all of them, they can be shifted into a different position to shovel out spent grain. I have several good brewing texts, Jeff, and you may recall that I was the one who posted (perhaps two years ago) that I read in The Biotechnology of Malting and Brewing by Hough (one of the authors of Malting and Brewing Science), that decoction-mashed mashes require the use of rakes during the laeuter because the boiling of the grain has made the grain less boyant (something about entrained air or something like that -- this I don't remember clearly) than with infusion mashes which do not require to be raked. There was some discussion in the HBD at that time regarding whether or not any infusion-mashed mashes were being raked. I found out that despite them doing infusion mashes, Chicago Brewing Company runs their rakes on and off (5min on 25min off, I believe) for all but their wheat beer on which they must keep the rakes running during the whole laeuter. I did ask all the brewmasters I spoke with in the UK two summers ago about whether they run the rakes during the sparge and the answer was "absolutely not" -- the rakes are used just to remove spent grain. So there you have it. The bottom line is: a constant and thorough stirring of the mash (at the risk of cloudy wort if done too deeply) will reduce channeling (and give you slightly better extraction), but probably is not needed for infusion mashes made with properly-crushed grain. Cutting the grain bed or occasional stirring will increase channeling and reduce the efficiency of the extraction. Another long-running topic put to bed for a year or two at which time I will again misinterpret and jump to conclusions and, in the end, a couple dozen more readers will have learned a few things. Then again, it's probably a better use of bandwidth than some of our frequent, recurring threads that have nothing to do with brewing or beer. Al. Al Korzonas, Palos Hills, IL korz at pubs.att.com Copyright 1996 Al Korzonas Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 1996 17:26:51 -0800 (PST) From: Shawn Bleet <bleet at unixg.ubc.ca> Subject: re:repitching trub I was recently reading Pierre Rajotte's, First Steps in Yeast Culture and he briefly discusses the cons of repitching sediment from the secondary. He figures that most uninvited life forms such as wild yeast and assorted bacteria tend to settle out much more slowly than most strains of brewer's yeast and that secondary sediment is more likely to have a higher count of such above mentioned critters. Sounds like a question of crud vs critters. Conrad Gmoser For anyone who wants info about this book, write to the author(a homebrewer). Pierre Rajotte P.O. Box 734 Mont Royal, Quebec H3P 3G4 Canada (514)739-9424 fx(514)739-2717 Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 07 Mar 1996 22:43:30 -0500 From: "Wayne A. White" <wwhite at csc.com> Subject: Help! Is My Beer Infected? I'm having a beer crisis! This is my sixth batch or so, and I'm afraid it might be lost to infection. I'm grasping at straws here, but I'm looking for hope that the batch is not doomed. The batch is a Nut Brown Ale taken (roughly) from a recipe in Papazian's "bible". It's an extract recipe, and nothing too dramatic occured during the brewing/racking processes. Well, the brew has been in secondary fermentation for about 3-4 weeks, and when I went to take a look at it, I noticed a whole slew of small white blobs scattered over the surface. These were not there about a week ago, and they look to me to be mold or something similarly nasty. The dots are about 1/4" in diameter, and there's about one dot per square inch or so. So, what do I do now? Dump the precious liquid down the commode? Bottle it anyway and see what happens? Is it possible this is *not* an infection? I'm trying to relax, really I am, but I was pretty excited about this particular batch, and I would hate to see it go down the drain. Advice/condolences welcome! - ---------------------------------------------------- Wayne White, Beer Drinker, Homebrewer, Computer Geek Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 96 22:40 CST From: arf at mcs.com (Jack Schmidling) Subject: Channeling Momily >Return-Path: <jlee at esd.ray.com> >Never had a stuck sparge or lower than expected gravity? Ever brew to style where too much is as bad as too little or do you just add water? No. >Says you...to some it might lead to a whole new experience... Would it have any thing to do with the subject at hand? >I would say both your comments are open for debate. (Not that I personally disagree about the slapping). Everything I say is open to debate but just declaring it so is a rather boring debate. > If an inch or so of water is maintained above the mash during lautering, > channeling is a non issue <snip> <Hmmmm, is that so? Just jumped in here with that fact/opinion? Both. > and stirring will only disturb the filter bed <Read again about bed dynamics...and stirring -vs- cutting (home version of raking), the two are not the same. One aggitates the entire bed, the other does not. You are the one who brought up cutting. I said stirring and it serves no purpose after the mash. My original instructions that were provided with the EM included the advice to stir the whole batch just before the end and let it settle out again to increase the yield. I also routinely cut the mash for the same reason. After dozens of such batches I decided to try neither and the yield did not change by any measureable amount. I have done neither for dozens of batches since and conclude that it is just another one of the things that may work for megabrewers but is a senseless waste of time in homebrew sized batches. You weren't paying attention were you..... >p.s. To save a lot of spurious responses, please note that the above applies to homebrew sized batches and what megabrewers do with megabarrel mash tuns is not relevant. jjs > and cause my phone to ring with folks complaining about "stuck sparges" with their EASYMASHERS (R). <More hearsay...I doubt it's ever happened. :-) Not sure how to deal with your smiley but how can what I say about my own experience be heresay? I would venture to say that I get a call like that just about every day and several on Saturday. js Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 08:08:16 -0500 From: Btalk at aol.com Subject: RIMS pumps I'd like some suggestions regarding pumps for RIMS use. Recently I've seen these two makes/models mentioned: Little Giant TE-3 MD-HD pump and March Manufacturing MDX-1/2. I'd like to hear what else has been used Other ideas are welcome, as are do's and don'ts, etc. I'm more interested in what is readily available commercially than the occasional find through surplus channels...unless there are enough available that there will still be one left for me in a month or so ;) Private email or post here is fine. I'll summarize and post the results here. Later, Bob Talkiewicz, Binghamton, NY <btalk at aol.com> Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 09:47:58 -0500 From: ajdel at interramp.com (A. J. deLange) Subject: Copper/Beers of Egypt Kelly Jones wondered how neutralized and softened water could pick up 1.25 mg/L copper in going through the copper pipes in my house. I wonder too! The answer has to lie in the fact that softened water is very "aggressive". There is an "aggressivity index" which is the pH of the water minus pCalcium minus pAlkalinity where calcium and alkalinity are both expressed as ppm as calcium carbonate. "p" means -log10. Post softener the calcium is down to a couple of ppm, say 2, and the alkalinity is up to about 100 ppm for an AI = 7 + 0.3 + 2 = 9.3 which puts the water in the "very aggressive" range (< 10.). Although we don't think of water as going after metals like copper very readily in fact it does. Ordinarily the pipe gets protected by the formation of a thin layer of calcium carbonate which precipitates from the water. Softened water is very unlikely to deposit calcium carbonate as it has none to deposit. There is another index called the "saturation index" which compares the saturation pH to the pH of the water. For this water the saturation pH is about 9 and the pH of the water about 7 so that it is way undersaturated (SI = pH - pHs = -2) and no CaCO3 is expected to form. Note that distilled water or RO water are even worse in this regard. They are extrememly corrosive and are not, therefore, distributed in metal pipes. With wort there are two factors in our favor. The first is the length of time of contact. I ran the test which found 1.25 mg/L copper after noticing that the water in the bathroom tasted metallic. Puzzled, I decided to repeat the test the next day which was a weekend. After a leisurely shower I collected a sample and analyzed it to find the copper at 0.09 mg/L (the level out of the well is about 0.02) and so it is clear that the high level seen the previous day was due to the water sitting stagnant in the pipe all day long. Running the water flushed out this slug and the equilibrium level is much lower. So the short exposure time of wort would probably limit the amount of copper picked up. Clearly this is the case in the copper chiller situation. I believe the 0.2 mg/L seen in my beer comes from the malt as grains are a rich source of copper. The wort is going to contain a fair amount of calcium caronate which may protect the piping in the RIMS. On the other hand the wort is more acidic both in terms of lower pH and reduced alkalinity. A pH of 5.2, calcium hardness at 100 ppm as CaCO3 and alkalinity of 50 ppm would give an agressive index of 8.9 which is also extremely aggressive but please note that applying the aggressive index to wort is probably not good science. Even though it is commonly used to predict the effects of water on metal piping it was developed to predict the effects of water on asbestos pipes. If someone would like to send me a sample of RIMS wort (or beer made with a RIMS system) I can check it for copper content. I guess I would also need a sample of the water from which the beer was made so that we can determine how much copper was picked up in the brewing process. The determination is done photometrically so I won't have much luck with dark beers. I need at least 50 ml of sample. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Glenn Raudins asks about the beers of Egypt. Try the Stella. When you get sick of that, ask you waiter for a Stella. For a change of pace, try Stella. In other words, unless things have changes since I was there, there is only one beer available in Egypt: Stella. You'll get used to it. (The situation with wines is different. They have two: white and red.) A.J. deLange Numquam in dubio, saepe in errore! ajdel at interramp.com Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 08 Mar 1996 07:55:01 -0600 From: Marty Tippin <martyt at sky.net> Subject: Signatures, A Recipe, etc. Am I the only one who finds the 10+ line signatures from many HDB contributors annoying and a waste of bandwidth? Unless there's something useful in the signature, I'd rather not see it. I get enough witty sayings in the newsgroups, etc. I know my own signature is something like 7 lines and rather than appear hippocritical, I plan to turn it off when posting to HBD and just put my name and e-mail address at the end. I think most of us who read here would appreciate the same thing from everybody... =-=-=-=-=- Here's a nice Munich Helles lager recipe I've been using for the last year or so - makes a very drinkable beer. It's based on a recipe in Miller's _Complete Handbook of Home Brewing_ with adjustments for my extraction efficiency (about 28 pts/lb/gal). When I originally brewed this batch, it was my first ever lager and second ever all-grain batch, and was the best beer I've ever made. Subesquent batches have been very good as well, but you always remember your first... ;-) "Hurricane Helles" For 5.0 US gallons: 7# two-row lager malt 1# vienna malt 1# carapils ~6-8 HBU Tettnang, 1 addition at 45 minutes Wyeast 2308 Munich Lager, from 1/2 gallon starter Mash schedule: 30 minutes at 122F, 30 minutes at 140F, 30-60 minutes at 155F, 10 minutes at 165F, sparge 5 gallons at 168F Chill to 48F and pitch yeast. Ferment 2 weeks at 48F, rack to secondary and let temperature rise to mid 50's for diacetyl rest for 2-3 days. Then back to 32F for lagering 4-6 weeks. OG 1.049 FG 1.008 =-=-=-=-=-=- Jerry Lee asks about filtering his carbonated homebrew. While I haven't done it (yet - the filters are "in the mail" - maybe I'll get to try it this weekend...), I suspect your problem is similar to the problems one has when trying to bottle some kegged homebrew without a counterpressure filler of some sort - the beer is foaming because it's going from being under pressure in the keg to being under no pressure (or greatly reduced pressure) in the filter. What I would do is pressurize the receiving keg to about the same pressure as the sending keg before attaching the filter - then keep the pressure in place until the filter gets full and beer is running into the other keg, at which time you can bleed off a little pressure at a time to let beer flow. Just like a counterpressure filler. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Art McGregor asks about kegging systems Ball lock vs. pin lock: Not much difference - use whatever you can get parts for locally. Ball lock is probably more common and easier to come by. Sources: Heart's Homebrew in Florida advertises a cheap system (see a recent Zymurgy); St. Patricks also seems inexpensive. Your local homebrew shop may be able to come up with something for you. In any case, if you pay more than about $35 for a reconditioned keg, you're getting robbed. Two-gauge regulators vs. single-gauge: The two gauge type allows you to see what the pressure is inside the cylinder and thus get an idea of when it's running low - the gauges usually have a section in red that says "order gas" But other than that feature, I'm not sure what good a two-gauge regulator is. Local welding supply shops should have them (and CO2 cylinders) for much cheaper than your homebrew store or mailorder - since they're not associated with an expensive hobby at the welding shop, the price isn't instantly inflated... Check Valves: No, I don't think they do come with check valves by default. It should never be a problem if you don't do anything boneheaded like carbonate the keg and then turn it upside down so the beer can flow back into the gas lines. I wouldn't worry about it if it's not easy to get a check valve.Do all regulators come with check valves? -Marty martyt at sky.net - http://www.sky.net/~martyt/2tier.html Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 09:00:00 -0500 (EST) From: Jim Busch <busch at eosdev2.gsfc.nasa.gov> Subject: Quaternary sanitizers Todd asks about quats: <While browsing through a local salvage store I recently came across a <sanitizer for use in restaurants and bars. It's in the quaternary ammonium <class of compounds, and comes in tablet form (1 tablet per gallon water). <The directions indicated that equipment was to be dipped for two minutes <and then allowed to air dry (similar to iodophor). These sanitizers do work very well and some health boards like to see em in the final rinse of hand washed glassware. I know of some traditional lager brewers who use it with success. Ive used it but really dont like it a lot due to its aroma, which can persist and is really better to rinse off. Secondly, quats are well known to destroy beer foam, so a final "clean" rinse is best. Jim Busch Colesville, Md Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 07:54:04 -0600 From: mike at datasync.com (Mike White) Subject: Large Wort Stirring Paddle To the collective: I found this information at the request of another home brewer but I thought others might be interested in it. I was asked to find information on a wooden stirring paddle that is sold inexpensively in my area. This paddle looks like a miniature boat oar. What follows is the reply I sent to the other brewer: Well, here's the scoop on the wooden paddles I mentioned. The size of the paddle is as follows: Length (overall): 35.5 inches. Handle Width: 1.5 inches. Handle Thickness: 1 inch. Blade length: 9 inches. Blade Width: 3.5 inches. The handle, which is not exactly round, ends in a thicker section that includes a hole drilled with a string looped through it. The paddle is made of cypress wood. The paddles are manufactured by: Max's Cajun Products 911 Paola St. Baker, LA 70714 The proper name of this paddle is the Cajun Crawfish & Crab Stirring Paddle. It retails in our local Wal-Mart for $7.97. - ------------------------------------------------------------ Thought for the day: There's a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning.-J. Buffett - ------------------------------------------------------------ \\\|/// \\ - - // ( at at ) \ (_) / \ o / +----------------------oOOo-----oOOo-----+ | Mike White mike at datasync.com | | | +---------------------+--------Oooo------+ oooO ( ) ( ) ) / \ ( (_/ \_) Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 08 Mar 1996 08:57:31 +0000 From: James A Kinley/DELCO <JAKINLEY at mail.delcoelect.com> Subject: Brewmeister S/W for PCs A friend of mine was showing me a software package called Brewmeister, Ver 1.0 he pulled off InfoMac, an archive for Mac users. It is a recipe formulator package that looks pretty interesting and I was wondering if there was a PC version out there. If so, where can I find it? Jim Kinley JAKinley at mail.delcoelect.com Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 08 Mar 1996 09:30:16 -0500 From: Spencer W Thomas <spencer at engin.umich.edu> Subject: Stupid homebrewer trick #462 I'm growing a gallon lager starter in the basement. The lagering fridge hasn't quite warmed up to 50, so it's still out in the ambient 60F of the basement. This morning I went down and there was a nice little "pillow" of foam on top, and a growing layer of nice, creamy yeast on the bottom. So, I decided to "swirl up" the yeast. Of course, this released some carbonation, and a layer of foam started to grow. And grow. And grow! Bubbles were roaring through the fermentation lock. As it reached the top of the gallon jug, I realized it wasn't going to stop, so I grabbed the jug to put it in the sink. POP! The stopper blew off, and sticky beer-wort splashed all around! I whipped the jug over to the sink, and watched the foam run down the sides. =Spencer Thomas in Ann Arbor, MI (spencer at umich.edu) Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 10:10:48 -0500 (EST) From: Kathy Booth <kbooth at isd.ingham.k12.mi.us> Subject: Tempering of Malt In the days of yore when I was a student in flour milling classes at Kansas State U, tempering of grain before milling to toughen the bran was a standard part of flour milling. Small amounts of water was added to the grain and allowed to rest for several hours (overnight) to equalize. This toughened bran reduced the bits of bran that resulted in too high of ash content in the flour. Would tempering of our home brewer malt reduce some of the tannins in our home brew? Tempering is different then wet milling which I understand some of the big boys use but it might accomplish much the same. Has someone out there tempered malt? What does wet milling accomplish? Jim Booth Lansing Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 08 Mar 1996 10:15:39 -0500 From: james.m.herter.1 at nd.edu (Jim Herter) Subject: Books and the Genesis of Homebrewing I've heard many a seasoned homebrewer complain about the montessori approach that Papazian takes in his books. One thing that can be said for this approach is that it does generally have a calming effect on the new brewer. I've sinced moved to Dave Miller's "Homebrewing Guide". Charlie's zen-like approach just grew tiresome for me. I found that it satisfied my need for more detailed information as I moved to all grain brewing. I'm already finding this text limited with technical details in the more advanced areas of kegging, equipment fabrication, etc. The point I'm making is, just as with brewing and beer, their will be styles that satisfy brewers with different tastes and levels of expertise. On a final note, I would like to make a motion that the AHA drops "Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Homebrew" off its logo. Any seconds? Thanks. Jim Herter - Business Manager Notre Dame Food Services 219.631.0113 Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 96 10:28:10 -0500 From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu> Subject: Alt recipe In HBD 1979, Jim Busch opened with an alt recipe: > Ive never brewed an Alt but heres some suggestions (I > really should brew this!) <snip> Jerry Cunningham saw Jim's "never brewed" recipe and raised him a "it was great;" Al K saw this with "VERY close to Zum Uerige'" I'll see and call with my "incredibly Germanic." ;-) (Unfortunately, I have never had an alt in Dusseldorf, although I have had a few that were hand carried back by several AABG members.) My recipe was based on my interpretation of general recipe descriptions in Norm Hardy's article in BT on alts (Jan/Feb, 95). I notice that hardly anyone uses a base of Munich malt, but I've had great success with it in this and dark continental lagers, even at 100%. Grain bill for 7.5g gal: 10# Durst Munich (83%) 1# Durst 50L crystal (8%) 1# US wheat malt (8%) Water - well water with fairly high levels of temp. hardness, untreated for mash, boiled/decanted plus CaCl2 for sparge. Mash: Modified 50/60/70 - 1/2 hr. at 55C, heated (5 min.) to 60C for 1/2 hr rest, heated (20 min.) to 70C for 1/2 hour rest. Hops (37 IBU per Glenn Tinseth's on line calculator: 45 g. N. Brewer plugs at 9.3% 70 min. 30 g. German Hallertauer plugs at 2.6% 25 minutes 30 g. German Hallertauer plugs at 2.6% at heat off, began chilling immed. Yeast: 1/2 c. thick slurry of NCYC 1187 (I know, this is not an alt yeast, but I was testing it for Dan McConnell and it worked great), pitched at 68F, 1 hour aeration after pitching by continuing recirculation of chiled wort in boiler with hops and break on false bottom, and spraying hose outlet, then ran out into fermenter. Fermentation - Fermented in Sankey, ambient temperature and beginning wort temp. of 64F, rose to upper 60's, very rapid fermentation. Three day primary, then two weeks "lagering" at 48F, kegged and served at 48F w/ 6 psi. OG 1.049, FG 1.014. Tasting notes (mine): "This is great beer! Spicy Hallertauer hops very evident on nose. Rich chocolate maltiness - very German. Fairly fruity, very creamy. Has that elusive German "beeriness," whatever that is (noble hops?). Nice bitterness, not "in your face." Fruitiness perhaps a little high for style. Make again with alt yeast!" I have done just that with YeastLab A06, and it is lagering at 40F. Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan c/o nerenner at umich.edu Return to table of contents
Date: 08 Mar 96 10:22:42 EST From: "Kenneth D. Joseph" <74651.305 at compuserve.com> Subject: Easy Masher? I have been using a plastic bucket and Phil's Phalse Bottom lauter tun system with about 71% efficiency. My boil/mash kettle is a 8.5 gal ceramic on steel behemoth. I'd like to increase my efficiency and wonder if there is any experience with the Easy Masher system and ceramic on steel kettles out there. Of course I will have to buy a new kettle for the boil. Private e-mail would be great. kj Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 08 Mar 1996 10:28:31 -0500 (EST) From: FLATTER at RoseVC.Rose-Hulman.Edu Subject: UNspent grain in bread First of all, don't do it. I bought a roller mill just after Christmas. The instructions suggested crushing a pound or so of grain just to remove the oil from rollers. Not wanting to be wasteful, I threw it in the bread machine just like it was spent grain from the lauter tun. When the timer went off, it was still doughy so we put the warm loaf in the oven to bake a while longer. The otuside burnt and the inside was still sticky. I had been planning my first decoction mash with a nice bock. Now I understanD how the water magically appears to keep the grain from scorching as water evaporates on heating. It may be great for this type of brewing, but it makes horrid bread. Next time I'll use spent grain for my bread. "Wouldn't it be nice if we could have a money back guarentee on our taxes?" Neil.Flatter at Rose-Hulman.Edu Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 10:43:24 -0500 From: cvolle at alpha.che.uc.edu (Chuck Volle) Subject: Propane vs. Nat. Gas Oriface I'm trying to resurrect a double burner cast iron stove left over from my grandparent's days. I want to try to use this 'outdoors' for boiling my wort. To convert from Nat. Gas to Propane, I've got to change the oriface diameter. I know that the existing orifaces on the valves are too big. I know that Propane needs a smaller size. I know this info is out there amongst my brew buddies. Can someone provide me with the proper oriface diameter to be used for Propane. Your aid and assistance is greatly welcome. Thanks in advance! Chuck Volle cvolle at alpha.che.uc.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 08 Mar 1996 10:50:47 EST From: "FINLEY, BARRY CURTIS" <BFINLEY at MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU> Subject: Ready to rack to secondary? I brewed my first batch of pale ale just six days ago. Since this is also my first time to even brew, I have a few questions. The owner at the supply store where I bought all that I needed to get started suggest that I try a Brew Master Pale Ale Kit. So, I took his advice. Now I've read several articles that said fermentation would begin to take place in 24-48 hours, but I noticed bubbles spewing from the air lock less than two hours after I pitched the yeast. For that whole first day and part of the second, the bubbles continued at a fairly moderate, steady pace. By the end of the second day, however, the bubbling decreased at a fairly rapid pace, and by the third day, I only observed bubbles about once every 3-4 minutes. Yesterday was the fifth day since pitching the yeast, and I didn't have a chance to observe the progress of the fermentation for a long period of time, but I did notice that it bubbled only once in about a 7-8 minute time frame. So, my first concern is; Is the ale ready to be transfered to my secondary? Also, since I am a poor college student, I had to settle for plastic fermenters, instead of the carboys that I could not afford. Since I can't see what is going on inside, I have no idea what exactly is happening. Will it hurt the fermentation process if I pull the lid off of the fermenter to check things out? I would also like to get a gravity reading at this time, will this reading be the final gravity, or is that reading taken at a different stage of the process? Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Barry Finley Biological Sciences University of Georgia Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 11:11:44 -0500 (EST) From: Bourdouxhe Jacques <bourdouj at ERE.UMontreal.CA> Subject: Thickness of filter bed Hi everyone Jean de Clerck ( A textbook of brewing, volume one, page 298 ) " ...whereas the thickness of the filter bed in a lauter tub can be varied quite readily from 25 to 50 cm. and even to 60 cm. with a fully modified malt. " I hope this answer the various questions about the subject. By the way, it seems that the depth of the filte bed is independent of the diameter of the sparging vessel. Jacques Bourdouxhe Montreal(Quebec) Any email is welcome. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 11:38:27 -0500 From: gameier at fmc.com (Gary A. Meier) Subject: Uses for 1 gallon carboys Peter Naus asked for ideas on how to use 1 gallon carboys in homebrewing. I find that I use them frequently (gallon juice jugs in my case, not real carboys) to make small batches of specialty beers. I don't have time to brew as many batches as I'd like, but I still feel that chemist's urge to experiment. I brew and (primary) ferment 5 gallon batches of whatever strikes my fancy, but when I rack to secondary I usually siphon a gallon or two into 1 gallon jugs before transferring the bulk of the beer to my main (3 or 5 gallon) secondary fermenter. The main batch remains "unadulterated" and is bottled when secondary fermentation is complete. To the smaller batches I'll add fruit, chili peppers, dry hops, spices or spice tea, whatever. Think in terms of what the beer you brewed would make a good "base" for. I bottle the small batches at the same time I bottle the main batch, so I only have to sanitize bottles, bottle filler, etc one time. The small batches only yield 8 or 9 bottles, but if you like the beer you can scale up the recipe next time. At bottling time, be careful to accurately divide your priming solution between the various secondary fermentors based on the volume of beer in each one. Also allow plenty of headspace if you do a small batch of fruit or dry hopped beer--there isn't much room for expansion in a one gallon jug. Gary ************************************************************************** Gary Meier, Ph.D. Senior Research Computational Chemist FMC Corporation Agricultural Products Group phone: (609) 951-3448 Box 8 fax: (609) 951-3835 Princeton, NJ 08543 email: gameier at fmc.com Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 09:40:32 -0600 (CST) From: cisco at tabasco.ccit.arizona.edu Subject: Canadian Beer > ------------------------------ > > Date: Tue, 05 Mar 1996 19:24:49 -0800 > From: "Clark D. Ritchie" <ritchie at ups.edu> > Subject: Canadian beer (ugh!) > > Jim, > > You say that "in Canada we don't have that problem. We already make better > beer." My response to you is: where in the $%# at ! do you keep it? I am a > frequent visitor to your country and, while I am admittedly enamored by both > Canada's landscape and its citizens, find it damn near impossible to find a > decent beer anywhere! Well, last summer I toured Washington and Oregon hitting all the brewpubs and the last place we hit was a place called Swans in Vancouver B.C.. This place is a brewpub and serves only cask conditioned ales dispensed with English hand pumps. Their beer was very good and they make a killer Scottish Ale. I was very impressed with the place. However, that was the only place in Canada we stopped at. At least there is one good brewpub! John 'Cisco' Francisco Senior Applications Systems Analyst University of Arizona Office: (520) 621-6727 Pager: (520) 218-0925 http://aruba.ccit.arizona.edu/~cisco/ Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 08 Mar 1996 09:44:39 -0700 From: Michael Mendenhall <brmain.mmendenh at state.ut.us> Subject: long protein rest during decoction mash Jim Busch writes (in his submission of an Alt recipe in HBD#1979): >Dough in at 104F, rest 15-20 mins. Raise to 122F for 20 >mins, pull decoction. Hold decoction at 148F for 30 mins, >then boil for 20 mins. Combine mashes and rest at >148-150F for 30-45 mins, raise to 158 for 10 mins, then >170F and lauter. It appears the "rest" mash is at protein rest temperatures for at least 70 minutes in this schedule. What effect will this lengthy protein degradation have on the beer? Would a better option be to boost the rest mash temperatures up to the lower end of the saccharification range after the decoction is pulled? I know this would probably require cooling the decoction (after boiling) to hit the right temperature when it's added back to the main mash, but I doubt the extra step would scare off the dedicated decoction masochis..., er, masher (if such a brewer exists). Anyone? Michael Mendenhall mmendenh at state.ut.us Return to table of contents
Date: 8 Mar 1996 09:09:24 U From: "Palmer.John" <palmer at ssdgwy.mdc.com> Subject: Brewing Lagers Steve asked about nominal brewing temperatures for Lagers. I have done several tasty lagers and offer the following guidelines: Starters - Begin your starter at room temperature and build it up 2 or 3 times with additional wort, but lower the temperature 5 degrees each time you do so. This will acclimate the yeast to the proper lager pitching temperature (~45F) and reduce lag time. Building the Starter in this manner is the best method for achieving a strong lager primary fermentation. Of course, if you can get harvested lager yeast from a nearby micro, that would be even better. Primary Temp - Depends on the yeast strain. My favorite is Wyeast Bohemian and I have good results at 45F. Wyeast California lager likes about 55F. Primary proceeds for a week to 10 days until I observe the activity winding down and then I rack to the Secondary for lagering. Diacetyl Rest - Depending on your yeast strain and your lag time. You may or may not need a Diacetyl Rest. I have not needed one using Bohemian and building my Starters the way I do. Taste the beer at racking and if it is buttery, then allow it to rest at 60F for a day or two before cooling it down for lagering. The higher temp revs up the yeast and they will dispose of more diacetyl at this stage than they would if maintained at the cooler temperatures. Cool the beer for lagering over a few days. No more than 5 degrees per day. You dont want to shock the yeast into dropping out of suspension. Secondary - A colder, longer lagering is said to produce a smoother beer. My rules of thumb are that the temperature difference between the primary phase and the lager phase should be roughly 10#161#F. Gearing down as it were. The nominal lagering times can be estimated at 3 - 4 weeks at 45#161#F, 5 - 6 weeks at 40#161#F, or 7 - 8 weeks at 35#161#F. (Sources: Noonan and Warner) Stronger, darker, beers need to be lagered longer. (ie >1060) Bottling - Providing you havent shocked the yeast along the way, there should be plenty of yeast left for carbonating. Prime and carbonate as usual at room temperature and allow to carbonate for 2 weeks before consuming. After the beer has carbonated, then you can store them at room temperature or chill them, it doesnt really matter. the small amount of fermentation from priming will not significantly affect the flavor. Storing at celler temperatures would be wise. Note - I tend to keg my lagers and keep them in the fridge at 45F serving temperature so its been a while since I have bottle conditioned any. But I recently opened a bottle of Vienna that had been cellered for a year after being counterpressure filled from a keg and it was excellent. John J. Palmer - Metallurgist for MDA-SSD M&P johnj at primenet.com Huntington Beach, California Palmer House Brewery and Smithy - www.primenet.com/~johnj/ Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 12:15:26 -0500 From: saunderm at vt.edu (J. Matthew Saunders) Subject: Re: 1 gallon glass carboys. Peter writes: >I was walking home yesterday when I spotted several 1 gallon glass carboys >in a recycling bin. Well, I knew I needed them so I grabbed them. Now that >I have them, what did I need them for again?? Anybody have any great uses >for these? o Yeast starters o Breaking a batch into a variety of containers to experiment with adjuncts in your secondary. (You have the marvelous idea of making a pork rind beer, only to find its undrinkable....well, if you only pork rinded one gallon then its only one gallon lost) o Putting a message in, if you are stranded on a deserted island. Anybody else? Cheers! Matthew ============================================================================ "Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change." J. Matthew Saunders saunderm at vt.edu http://fbox.vt.edu:10021/S/saunderm/index.html/page_1.html ============================================================================ Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 12:45:26 -0500 From: KennyEddy at aol.com Subject: OOPS -- It wasn't Glenn who hates recipes! I must sheepishly retract a ribbing I mindlessly tossed into the Digest aimed at Glenn Raudins. I mistakenly remembered him as the "no recipes" poster of few days prior, so when he posted a "recipe outline", I jumped on him. Glenn actually started it all off suggesting *more* recipes be posted, so this was a double-slammy boo-boo. Eric W. Miller (ac051 at osfn.rhilinet.gov) was the one who originally dissented with the "more recipes" concept. Eric has posted no recipes. All slams are due me. The Bluff Canyon Plastic Electric Brewery and its idiotic staff regret the error. Ken Schwartz KennyEddy at aol.com Return to table of contents
Date: 8 MAR 96 12:57:02 EST From: PWhite at os.dhhs.gov Subject: Uses for 1 gallon carboys Peter Naus asks about how to use the glass apple juice jugs he found. Since we have an 8 month old at home we go through a lot of these and diapers too. (I've considered just pouring the juice into the diapers to save time ;-) I use them (the jugs that is) for making starters. Instead of pouring the starter into ever increasing size vessels, I just start the yeast in the gallon jug and add wort as needed by the yeast. I also used them for making mead when I was brewing exclusively in plastic buckets. This has the added benefit of letting you experiment with different spices and flavorings. Phil White If I could put time in a bottle pwhite at os.dhhs.gov I would drink all of the time! Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 13:07:13 -0500 From: "Rev. Edward Blonski" <reved at ncats.newaygo.mi.us> Subject: What would you do and call it? Greetings fellow brewers! After a somewhat extended layoff from homebrewing, I'm back in the game = again. I've just received some supplies from Adirondack Brewing Supply = (I'm not affiliated at all - just heard of them on the internet) and I = wanted to poll you all about what I've got. I'd like to know what you = would do with what I have (in detail) and maybe you could tell me what I = kind of beer I'm making with said ingredients. Here's what I got: 3 lbs. of Laaglander Light malt extract (dry) 7 lbs. Glenbrew Plain Light (can) 2 oz. Hallertau Hops (plugs) 4 oz. Tetnang Hops (pellets) 1 package Superior Lager yeast (dry) What would you do with this (boiling times, when to add hops, etc) and = what kind of beer am I making? What I did was just order some supplies that "sounded" good just to get = some to brew. I have been very satisfied with my experiments in brewing = so don't be afraid to take this and run! Thanks! RevEd reved at ncats.newaygo.mi.us Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 1996 13:36:48 -0500 From: Bill Rust <wrust at csc.com> Subject: 1 Gallon Glass Jugs Peter J. Naus writes... >I was walking home yesterday when I spotted several 1 gallon glass carboys >in a recycling bin. Well, I knew I needed them so I grabbed them. Now that >I have them, what did I need them for again?? Anybody have any great uses >for these? Yes, mead, wine, cider, etc. There is a whole method for wine making that uses 1 gal. cider jugs. The easiest descirption I ever saw of the method was in _Country Wines_, a green book, but I can't remember the name of the author at the moment. I know several folks that use them to make very tasty stuff!! ------------------------------------------------------- Bill Rust, Master Brewer | Jack Pine Savage Brewery | Im Himmel es gibt kein bier, Shiloh, IL (NACE) | War es wir trinken hier! ------------------------------------------------------- Return to table of contents