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

Contents:
  Re: Aging in wood (Jerry Burch)
  cider (long) (florianb)
  Plastic Seltzer Bottles ("MR. DAVID HABERMAN")

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Date: Mon, 24 Jul 89 10:06:16  19
From: ibmsupt!ibmpa!jburch at uunet.UU.NET (Jerry Burch)
Subject: Re: Aging in wood

>From: bbuck at East.Sun.COM (Bruce Buck)
>Subject: Aging in wood

>Is it possible to use wooden kegs, such as oak, to age the beer after secondary
>fermentation is complete?  
 ...
>If so, where can one get, say, 5 gallon oak casks that are suitable?

I don't know anything about it but you might be able to get casks from:

Beer Makers of America
1040 North 4th St.
San Jose, Ca
1-800-874-8200

I noticed in their catalog (free including the phone call) that they
had oak casks, although I seem to remember that they were 55 gallon ones.
They do also sell wine makeing supplies so maybe they stock them for
that use.

Jerry

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Date: 24 Jul 89 16:19:08 PDT (Mon)
From: florianb at tekred.cna.tek.com
Subject: cider (long)

IN HB DIG #207, /Don asks:

>as if it was beer" isn't quite clear to me, however. If two stage
>fermentation is used, how clear will the resulting beverage be? My
>experience with wine and cyser is that you need to rack several times
>before you'll get a nice, clear beverage. I'd also like some more info
>about when to bottle the result (when fermentation is finished? or when the
>cider is clear?) and how much priming sugar to use (3/4 C per five
>gallons?).

Perhaps I can help.  I make cider about every 2-3 months using a technique
similar to the one mentioned.  I use one gallon of pure apple juice from
the grocery store, saving the gallon jug as the secondary fermenter.  I 
boil for 10 minutes, add 1 tsp citric acid, and, when cool, 1/4 tsp
ascorbic acid.  I usually add 1 lb or so corn sugar to get the sg up to
about 1.080.  I pitch with champagne yeast and ferment at room temp
in the primary fermenter.  After about three days, I transfer to the 
secondary, and there it stays until the sg drops to 0.995.  I then prime
with 1/2 tsp corn sugar per Grolsch bottle.  The secondary fermentation
requires about a month, and the bottle aging about 2-3 months.  The result
is "somewhat less than clear."  It is very dry.

I have also used a technique where I added about 2 lbs corn sugar to obtain
an og of 110 or so.  This does not ferment to completion as the yeast
cannot tolerate such high alcoholic content.  In this method, I had to
catch the cider when I figured the yeast had about enough life to give
sparkle without breaking the bottles (DANGEROUS!).  The sg at bottling
in those cases was about 1.000, and there was visible activity at 
bottling.  This produced the finest cider, but I cannot recommend this
procedure, and I have stopped using it, due to the innacuracy of the 
method.

I do not believe in the necessity of clarity in cider.  The German
"most" (spelling?) is not a clear beverage, and is a beautiful example
of traditional cidering.  Therefore, I do not practice several racking
stages in the cider process.  I have done this in the past, however,
and 3 rackings will improve the clarity to an almost imperceptible
level.

[Florian Bell, Boonesborough, Oregon]

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Date: 24 Jul 89 15:53:00 PDT
From: "MR. DAVID HABERMAN" <habermand at afal-edwards.af.mil>
Subject: Plastic Seltzer Bottles

Since the use of plastic 2 liter bottles has come up, has anyone tried using 
those new Sparklett's Seltzer bottles for beer yet?  It looks like a good idea
since it has its own dispensing system.  The difficult part is figuring out 
how to remove the valve at the top so that it can be used again.  Beer has 
less pressure than seltzer, so I'm not relly sure it's a good idea.  As more 
beer is dispensed, the pressure in the bottle decreases due to the increased 
volume of the air.  The last bit would be hard to get out.

In Digest #201, Paul Close writes:

>from carmelization, since it is a light extract).  The problem is, apart from a
>"raw" taste I assume is due to (lack of) age, the beer tastes like wine!  My
>wife commented that it smelled like a good, hearty red wine! :-(  (My sense of

According to the ZYMURGY trouble shooters guide, a sherry like winey smell and 
taste can come from oxidation of the beer.  I'm not sure at what stage it 
would come from, but most likely it would be during siphoning during racking 
or bottling

David

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End of HOMEBREW Digest #210, 07/25/89

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