Homebrew Digest Friday, 19 July 1996 Number 2113
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FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Shawn Steele, Digest Janitor
Thanks to Rob Gardner for making the digest happen!
Contents:
Travelling (Michael Caprara)
The ultimate float ((Ed Westemeier))
Beer Fridge (())
Message-ID: <9607181047.aa27532 at bacchus.aob.org> ((Jeremy D. Pike))
Concrete Fermenters (Bill Rust)
Infusion only wor all grain wheat? (Brian S Kuhl)
gelatin (Douglas Thomas)
Gelatin as a clarifier, kegging question ((George De Piro))
substitute for invert sugar (Gregory King)
Re: microbreweries in Atlanta (Neil Oakden)
large fermenters/Heart of the Hop/open fermenters/fill level (korz at pubs.ih.lucent.com)
RE: "Large" Fermenters (Steve Alexander)
Just Miller (Tom Lombardo)
Miller Address (BR Rolya)
Mail Order Supplies?? (Jesse)
Thermometer for Homebrewing (Jay Cheng)
bottle fill level (M257876 at sl1001.mdc.com (bayerospace at mac))
Ground Ivy instead of Hops (Vincent A Voelz (Vincent Voelz))
fridge vs. freezer ("Bryan L. Gros")
BIGGER Fermenters ((Mike Urseth))
more fill level & carb. (BJFABB at ccmail.monsanto.com)
Bay Area BJCP exam (Jeremy Bergsman)
Brewpubs or Breweries in Atlanta ((biohazrd))
S/S keg uses (Jurie Dekter)
Re:Gelatin ((Denis Barsalo))
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael Caprara <mcaprara at awwarf.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 10:11:52 -0600
Subject: Travelling
Jeff
There are "roadmaps" available that show different micros around the
country. I think they are called Coops Guides or something. You chould
be able to find a northeast edition.
Based on personal travels, try the Vermont Pub and Brewery in
Burlington. There are also a couple of micros in Amherst, Mass. I have
never been , but I hear the Catamount Brewery in VT is nice. Of course
you have Sam Adams in Bean Town.
If you contact the AHA, they will fax you a list of micros for a particular
state. I think (but am not totally positive) that they have that info on their
homepage (I don't know their URL, but you can access the AHA from my
homebrew clubs page at
http://www.dimensional.com/~godbey/louthan.html
I was in Ottowa last month, and don't recall any breweries there, but I
was only there for a day and a half.
Good luck!
Michael
Return to table of contents
From: ed.westemeier at sdrc.com (Ed Westemeier)
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 12:39:54 -0400
Subject: The ultimate float
Yes, Guinness and vanilla ice cream work very well together,
but there's an even better way. Try it with Mackeson's stout.
Fred Eckhardt used this at the beer & chocolate tasting he
conducted at the AHA conference in Manchester NH a number of
years ago:
A chocolate brownie at the bottom of a tall glass.
A scoop of vanilla ice cream on the brownie.
Fill the glass with Mackeson's, then use a long spoon.
I've used this at tastings I've conducted several times (thanks, Fred!)
and it has always been met with wild acclaim.
Ed
=====================================================
Ed Westemeier E-mail: hopfen at iac.net
In wine, there is truth.
In beer, there is strength.
In water, there is bacteria.
=====================================================
Return to table of contents
From: rhampo at ford.com ()
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 12:43:09 -0400
Subject: Beer Fridge
Hi All,
With all the talk of beer fridge making, I thought I'd pipe in my
$0.02. When I got into kegging, I perused the restaurant salvage
stores for stuff. I happened upon a guy who had 2 beer fridges. These
are roughly 30 wide by 30 deep by 36 high and fit 4 cornys perfectly.
Being made for serving beer, it already had a tap column on it.
Works great, and I am saving up for a multi-tap column. They list
for over $700 new from a place like RAPIDS, but mine was used and
a little dirty, but only cost $225. Best money I ever spent.
In Detroit, there are a number of used restaurant supply places
on Gratiot Ave, near the Eastern Market.
Scour those salvage places!
Richard Hampo
H&H Brewing Ltd.
Return to table of contents
From: jpike at moose.uvm.edu (Jeremy D. Pike)
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 96 16:48:00 GMT
Subject: Message-ID: <9607181047.aa27532 at bacchus.aob.org>
Hello all, I have two questions:
1) I'm a graduate student and beginning (all extract/specialty grain ....so
far!!) homebrewer. My degree will be in Cell Biology but I'm working in
yeast genetics (that's how I got interested in homebrewing, I'll be trying
some lab strains in my brews!!) :=). I would love to try and find a job in
the microbrew industry when I graduate and was wondering if anyone in this
forum had any ideas how I could find some info on this. I'm going to tour
the various microbreweries in my state (Vermont, GREAT beers here IMO), and
will try to talk to the people who run them and work there. I'm also
reading up on the industry as much as I can. If there's anything else I can
be doing, I'll do it!!
2) here's a homebrewing question: I've got a maple wine in the secondary
right now ( 1.5 qt grade B medium amber syrup per gallon OG 1.12, SG on
racking 1.005) which I fermented with champagne yeast (2months primary, 2.5
months secondary so far and I haven't taken a FG yet). It has in the past 3
weeks stopped fermenting and the liquid in my airlock has stabilized. It's
crystal clear and not too much sediment, tastes good but pretty harsh yet.
I know I have to age this but I can't decide whether to bottle now (I want
it sparkling so I'll add priming sugar and fresh yeast), or to leave it in
the secondary for a few more weeks/months and then bottling. Are there any
opinions on this or should I flip a coin???
Thanks!!
=============================================================================
Jeremy Pike | I'D
220 Stafford BLDG | RATHER
University of Vermont | BE
Ph: (802) 656-8023 | HOMEBREWING!!!!!
E-mail: jpike at zoo.uvm.edu |
=============================================================================
Return to table of contents
From: Bill Rust <wrust at csc.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 96 11:53 EDT
Subject: Concrete Fermenters
Greetings Brewmeisters,
Father Barleywine writes:
>I strongly suspect that raw concrete would be a poor surface for
fermentation, carrying the high risk of culturing contaminants in crevices
and leaching various non-food-grade substances into the acidic beer.
Wasn't there a post quite a while back about not storing beer in the
basements of new houses for a period of time (5 years?)? It was due of a
chemical either in the concrete of the basement walls, or something they
used to treat it. I had a friend brew for the first time in a new house
(before I read the post), and his beer had a distinct 'off' flavor. Also,
it was different from any of the usual beer beasties. Does this have any
bearing on what Father Barleywine wants to do?
A concerned possible new-homeowner...
Skol.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
| Without question, the greatest invention
Bill Rust | in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I
Master Brewer | grant you that the wheel was also a fine
Jack Pine Savage Brewery | invention, but the wheel does not go
Established 1985 (NACE) | nearly as well with pizza. - DAVE BARRY
-------------------------------------------------------------------
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From: Brian S Kuhl <Brian_S_Kuhl at ccm.fm.intel.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 96 10:16:00 PDT
Subject: Infusion only wor all grain wheat?
All,
I plan on doing an all grain wheat brew. I am concerned if a single
infusion at ~155 degrees for 1 hour will work with all that wheat. I am
new to all-grain brewing (one batch). Here is the grain bill.
5# Gambrinus Premium 2-Row Malt
1# Gambrinus "Light" Munich
6# Great Western Winter Wheat Malt
I will be adding some freshly picked blackberries to the secondary.
Would ~2# be enough to give this a light (not heavy or overpowering) but
perceivable taste?
Any advice is welcome. email if fine.
CU
Brian
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From: Douglas Thomas <thomasd at uchastings.edu>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 10:47:02 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: gelatin
Hello there!
In winemaking, gelatin (about 3 grams dissolved in 1 cup water per 5
gallons to be cleared) does great. The only thing is that it
reacts/bonds/clings to tannin, which is desirable in reds. As far a beer
goes, I would guess it does the same thing. Bonding with tannin from the
husks, and then getting heavier than the surrounding liquid and falling
out of suspension. If you try this, stir the gelatin in well and then
let it sit for a week.
hope this helps
Return to table of contents
From: George_De_Piro at berlex.com (George De Piro)
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 14:16:28 -0700
Subject: Gelatin as a clarifier, kegging question
Daniel wrote in asking about using gelatin to clarify a stout. He
says that he boiled it. DON'T DO THIS! Just heat it to ~160F and
hold a few minutes, than add it to the beer.
Also, you really don't have to bother clarifying a stout (or any other
dark, opaque styles). As you observed, you can't tell anyway!
Next, a question: Does anybody dispense beer from kegs at "proper"
temperatures (50-55F)? I've read all about
pressure-drop-per-length-of-tubing, etc., and calculated that I needed
31 FEET of hose to dispense ale at 55F and 28-30 psi.
I tried it, and STILL had foaming problems. Thinking that the
formulas from "Zymurgy" made some assumptions that didn't fit my
equipment, I reduced the pressure a bit and was able to eliminate the
foam, but there were no visible bubbles in the beer (one or two
glasses were OK, which confused me more!).
My friends were quite amused by the 31' of tubing, and laughed harder
when it didn't help (until they realized it would take them 5 min. to
pour a beer!).
I ran the line (1/4" vinyl tubing) through a cooler filled with ice
water so that it wouldn't warm up on its voyage to the glass.
I've noticed that draft beer at many bars is devoid of visible
bubbles, too. Am I chasing windmills here? Can you pour a bubbly
glass from a keg, or should I just be happy there's no foam?
When I counter-pressure bottle these beers at the same pressure, the
carbonation is perfect, but I really would like to drink straight from
the keg once in a while!
George De Piro (Nyack, NY)
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From: Gregory King <GKING at ARSERRC.Gov>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 14:17:58 -0500 (EST)
Subject: substitute for invert sugar
Hello HBDers,
The following will be of interest to those of you who brew recipes that
call for invert sugar.
400 g of honey may be used as a substitute for each 300 g of invert sugar.
Invert sugar is sucrose (also known as cane sugar, beet sugar, or table
sugar) which has been chemically broken down into its two component simple
sugars glucose and fructose. When I learned this recently, it made me
remember that honey contains glucose and fructose. I was able to find a
book that lists the chemical composition of honey. The book was old, but
I'd bet that the percentages listed below haven't changed much over the last
100 million years or so. The following is an excerpt from the book "Honey
and Health" by B.F. Beck (Robert M. McBride and Company, New York, 1938).
"The main chemical components of honey (in percentages) are:
Invert sugars .............. 73.31 (dextrose, 36.20)
(levulose, 37.11)
Sucrose (cane-sugar) ....... 2.63
Dextrin .................... 2.89
Nitrogen substances ........ 1.08
Water ...................... 18.96
Ash ........................ 0.24
These component parts vary in different honeys."
Dextrose and levulose are commonly used names for glucose and fructose,
respectively. The term "ash" refers to residual inorganic matter (e.g.
salts, minerals), and I would guess that "nitrogen substances" are primarily
proteins.
Luckily, honey contains glucose and fructose in roughly equal proportions
(as is the case in invert sugar), so for our purposes as homebrewers, honey
is essentially invert sugar diluted with water. Use 4 parts of honey (by
weight) for each 3 parts of invert sugar called for in your recipes.
Oh, the disclaimer: I think honeybees are cute, but I have no personal
affiliation with the honey-producing industry. Just a satisfied customer,
etc. ;^)
Greg King
gking at arserrc.gov
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From: Neil Oakden <npoakden at cpis.net>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 14:30:56 -0700
Subject: Re: microbreweries in Atlanta
There's a web page called the "Real Beer Page" that has the ability to do
a nationwide brew pub search. Choose the "Brew Tour" option from the
main page, enter some info, and you should get a fairly decent list of
breweries in Atlanta.
URL is:
http://www.realbeer.com
Hope this helps!
Regards-
Neil Oakden
Shaw AFB, SC
Return to table of contents
From: korz at pubs.ih.lucent.com
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 96 13:49:20 CDT
Subject: large fermenters/Heart of the Hop/open fermenters/fill level
Michael writes:
>Does anyone out there know where one can locate large, food grade,
>plastic containers that could be used as a fermenter? By large I mean
>10-20 gallons or so.
Yes. The White Rubbermaid "Brute" trash bins are FDA approved for food.
I foolishly ordered two from Cole-Parmer for about $25 each and when they
came, I realized that they were exactly the same as the white trash bins
at the local hardware store. I don't know about the coloured ones or square
ones, but the round, white, HDPE "Brute" bins are FDA-approved for food
and it's probably stamped on the bottom somewhere. It may alternatively
say NSF-approved... I'm not sure... I'm here and my bins are at home.
Michael continues:
>5 gallons at a time just doesn't cut it anymore -
>especially for wine, which ties up a fermenter for 6 weeks or so.
Hmmm... 6 weeks... I don't know if I would want to use these bins for
any fermentable that long (although I kept my pLambic in one of my 20-gal
Brutes for 3-months, but what works for pLambic usually doesn't work for
any other beverage). The lid seals very poorly (even with the weather-
stripping I affixed inside the lid) and I'm quite certain the alcohols
will oxidize quite readily. There is also the issue of oxygen-permiability,
which is quite high in HDPE (but these containers are nearly 1/4" thick,
so the lid leaks are really the issue).
Incidentally, you can forget about drilling a hole for an airlock. Even
with the self-adhesive weatherstripping there was so much leakage that
15 gallons of fermenting beer didn't move the airlock.
***
I've been holding off posting about this "Heart of the Hops" thing
expecting that the person who told me about it would post, but perhaps
he's too busy or doesn't want to continue the thread. There has been
a lot of speculation about what this "Heart of the Hops" is and I can
assure you that this information is almost as accurate as it gets (it is
second hand from a person who toured the Miller Brewery).
The "Heart of the Hops" is what's left of whole Galena flowers once most
of the bitter resins have been removed for use in Miller's other beers.
The reason they use this hop extract in stead of whole hops is because
it must be first processed so that the resulting beer doesn't skunk
(remember... they use clear bottles for several of their beers). Try it.
You can't skunk Miller High Life using light of any kind.
What's left of the hops after extracting most of the bitterness is used
in the new Miller Beer (with the red label). They have to use 4 times
the hops because there's only a fraction of the bitterness left.
***
Roger writes:
>Al, you forgot an obvious one:
>
>ANCHOR. (Flash-pasteurized only AFTER long lagering,) Note that, like
>Altbier, California Common is a mixed style, with a warm primary and
>cold secondary fermentation. The warm primary fermentors at Anchor are
>open, and rather shallow.
Didn't forget it... I wrote only about the breweries that I've *been* to.
I faintly recall something about Anchor using positive pressure with
filtered air in their fermentation room which probably makes a difference
wrt sanitation worries. It would be good if someone could confirm this
just for compleatness.
Also, Spencer told me via private email that Bell's has cleaned up their
act. If it's in your budget, perhaps you could even visit Bell's and
find out how they solved their problems.
***
Steve writes:
>That overfilled bottles can undercarbonate and carbonate slowly *may*
>be attributable to poor yeast growth at higher pressures. A known
>effect. Need more experiments here guys. Perhaps the yeast strain
>used has an effect. I used Wyeast 2308.. Al ? Brad ?
I used Wyeast American Ale #1056.
Al.
Al Korzonas, Palos Hills, IL
korzonas at lucent.com
Copyright 1996 Al Korzonas
Return to table of contents
From: Steve Alexander <stevea at clv.mcd.mot.com>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 15:01:21 -0400
Subject: RE: "Large" Fermenters
>I got a 20 gallon food grade Rubbermaid (tm) 'garbage' can from a
Food grade garbage can ? I doubt it. Your beer may end up tasting of
plasticiser.
A local 'junk' store sells used plastic barrels (~31gal I believe)
used to ship fruit juice, mostly apple for about $10. Typically they
have 2 - 2" plastic screw-on bungs on the top (and they throw in
some juice and wild yeast for free ;^) . Be certain they're from a
food application, since the same type barrels are also used for
shipping chemicals and fertlizer.
Some farm/shop supply places also sell plastic containers meant to
hold potable water. Northern Hydraulics and Grainger come to mind as
likely sources.
I'd look for one of these.
Steve Alexander
Return to table of contents
From: Tom Lombardo <favt3tl at rvcux1.RVC.CC.IL.US>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 14:13:00 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Just Miller
Listening to their commercial about "new" Miller, they said,
"We decided to call it exactly what it was: 'Just Miller'"
How appropriate.
"Oh no, I spilled a beer!"
"Who cares? It's just Miller."
Homebrew - It's good for what ALES you!
Tom Lombardo (favt3tl at rvcux1.rvc.cc.il.us)
Return to table of contents
From: BR Rolya <brrolya at cs.columbia.edu>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 15:25:00 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Miller Address
George De Piro writes:
<A few issues ago somebody posted that they E-mailed Miller's
<brewmaster. Could you please post the address again?
Here it is: David Ryder <miller at execpc.com>
I would encouage people to write to him, not because I
really care about Miller's products, or would ever be induced
to try their new beer, but because I resent the fact that they
are trying to capitalize on the burgeoning interest in craft
beers while at the same time targeting people who don't know
that the concept of the "heart of the hops" is a crock of
*** and that the reduction of bitterness is antithetical to
real beer.
- -BR Rolya
brrolya at cs.columbia.edu
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From: Jesse <souki at hawaii.edu>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 09:26:15 -1000
Subject: Mail Order Supplies??
Fellow Brew People,
I have been brewing beer here in Hawaii for a year now. Up till now the
local brew supply store was fine, but now that I want to get more
creative, I find them lacking. Can anyone suggest a good mail order
homebrew supply. Mainly concerned with quality, selection, and service.
Thanks,
(\_/) _
/oo | I |
o_) / I | ________________________________
| _+__<__/__\_>____I | | JESSE K. SOUKI |
| _( + /___| souki at uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu |
|-|_ + \-----\ __-- |University of Hawaii Economics|
| (_+____\ \___/ --------------------------------
| \ \
\__\
Return to table of contents
From: Jay Cheng <jcheng at hk.linkage.net>
Date: Fri, 19 Jul 1996 08:29:11 +0800
Subject: Thermometer for Homebrewing
If you are interested in measuring temperature of your homebrewing, please
check our Meat Thermometer in http://www.hk.linkage.net/~thermo.
Jay/
Thermometer Expert
3736 NE Cleveland
Portland, OR 97212-1001
E-Mail: jcheng at hk.linkage.net
Homepage: http://www.hk.linkage.net/~thermo
=A91996 Thermometer Expert
Return to table of contents
From: M257876 at sl1001.mdc.com (bayerospace at mac)
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 15:25 -0600
Subject: bottle fill level
collective homebrew conscience:
just my contribution on the discussion regarding bottle fill levels and
rate of/lack of/ carbonation.
i have experienced slow and low carbonation from fill levels that could be
considered high, probably about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch from the top.
i purposely started leaving about an inch of headspace in my homebrews, and
voila! - no more problems.
i should point out that none of the high fill level hb's were flat, just
lower carbonation/ lower rate of carbonation. the bottles that sat for
4 or 5 months eventually came around, but i'm still debating whether they've
come around to the same degree as the beers that were filled lower.
i brewed 21 5 gallon batches between oct. and may, so there was plenty of
"test material" so to speak. or write. whatever.
i should also point out that none of any of these beers have ever exhibited
problems with oxidation. all are bottle conditioned.
brew hard, men.
mark bayer
stl mo
Return to table of contents
From: Vincent A Voelz <voel0009 at gold.tc.umn.edu> (Vincent Voelz)
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 96 15:28:57 -0500
Subject: Ground Ivy instead of Hops
Last summer a friend of mine was involved in a research study of the common
weed known as Creeping Charlie, or Ground Ivy. He stumbled upon several
references claimimg that this herb can be used to brew beer.
So I did a little research.
It turns out that before hops were introduced to England, ales were being
bittered by various wild herbs, including ground ivy, also known as gill-
over-the-ground, cat's foot, robin-in-the-hedge, alehoof, alecost, field balm.
The plant grows low to the ground, with fan-like leaves, and "creeps" along
by sending out stolons, quickly populating your lawn. Its taste
has been described as very bitter, somewhat minty, and has been used
traditionally to make a bitter tea, as well as having uses as a folk medicinal
herb and in beer.
MY goal is to try and brew up a batch of a traditional English ale bittered
with ground ivy, in hopes of reproducing a beer with some historical
accuracy.
According to _Wines and Beers of Old New England_ by Sanborn C. Brown: "It
takes one half peck of fresh plants to make an ounce of dried
leaves. Gathering them is easy, since you can usually find a lush
patch where you can reach down and pull up the plants by the
handful. They break off easily from their roots so that what you get
is clean. Separating the dried leaves from the runners is much more
time consuming (and boring). Allow yourself several hours to pick
over your dried weeds to get the one ounce of leaves you need for a
ground ivy substitute for hops in the standard [5 gal.?] beer recipe (p.66)."
Has anyone out there made beer with ground ivy?? How did it turn out? Please
let me know any suggestions, etc. How different were ales in, say, the
fourteenth centuury? Hopefully not TOO different, because soon I plan to
brew an extract batch of some standard English "Bitter" (probably Papazian's
Righteous Real Ale) replacing hops with Minnesota-grown ground ivy from my
back yard!
I'll keep you all posted as to the results....
Vincent Voelz
<voel0009 at gold.tc.umn.edu>
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From: "Bryan L. Gros" <grosbl at ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 16:26:12 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: fridge vs. freezer
Jay Williams <jayw7 at airmail.net> reported on the pros and cons of
a converted refridgerator vs. a freezer.
First, realize that it is difficult to use the same device for fermenting
in and for serving from. Fermentation temperature can often be
too warm or too cold for serving beer, even if you have the room
for cornys and carboys.
That said, Jay remarks:
>The pros of a refrigerator:
>
>Almost all of the used ones left on the used market, are are frost free.
>Unless you wish to lager below say 40 F, extended temperature range is not a
>problem.
Below 40 is usually easy to get with the refridgerator's own thermostat. Use
a thermometer in a jar of water and some experimentation.
Another pro is that, if you're planning to run a CO2 line into the fridge,
you can often pull off the peg from the inside wall which held the shelves
up. You don't need the shelves anymore, so pull off that peg and drill
a small hole in the outer wall with a drill. Put a piece of 1/4" OD copper
tubing through the hole you drilled. Now you can run a line from the
regulator to the copper tubing, and then from the copper tubing to a
manifold inside the fridge. Then run lines to each keg. Just check
all those hose clamps well.
>The cons of a refrigerator:
>
>The freezer space is wasted.
Unless you're serving real ales, you can generally keep the fridge cold
enough to keep the freezer compartment below freezing. Good for
storing hops and even that extra chicken that won't fit in the kitchen
freezer.
One con may be that, if you're planning to install tap handles on the
door, you have to put them rather low on the door. Otherwise, when
you open the freezer door, you'll hit the handles and douse your
shoes with your prized IPA.
******
One other thing. I was at McDonalds the other day for a drink
and the people were refilling the shake machine. They opened
the doors at the bottom of the machine and low and behold but
there appeared little kegs! They looked to be about a gallon or
two, with two ball-lock fittings. McDs uses these kegs to hold
the shake flavorings. They had a wide opening at the top like
Corny kegs. It would be great if there was a way to get one or
two of these things.
- Bryan
grosbl at ctrvax.vanderbilt.edu
Music City Brewers: http://www.theporch.com/~homebrew1/
Return to table of contents
From: beernote at realbeer.com (Mike Urseth)
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 17:01:54 -0600
Subject: BIGGER Fermenters
>Aesoph, Michael asks:
>Does anyone out there know where one can locate large, food grade,
>plastic containers that could be used as a fermenter? By large I mean
>10-20 gallons or so.. 5 gallons at a time just doesn't cut it anymore -
>especially for wine, which ties up a fermenter for 6 weeks or so.
Another solution may be demijohns (sp?) available at some homebrew stores.
They are big (approx 15 gallon) glass carboys that once held something
else. Most come with a plastic basket arrangement to make it possible to
move them around. The last place I saw some was at Highlanders homebrew in
Littleton CO, but I've seen them other places in the past.
Cheers!
Mike Urseth
Editor & Publisher
Midwest Beer Notes
339 Sixth Avenue
Clayton, WI 54004
715-948-2990 ph.
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From: BJFABB at ccmail.monsanto.com
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 17:58:33 -0500
Subject: more fill level & carb.
Steve wrote (in response to my post, a snippet of which is given first):
>>No significant difference was observed (via mouthfeel) in any of the
>>more 'normal' fill levels (1.5 inch to nearly zero head space),
>>either in carbonation time, or amount.
>This doesn't correspond w/ my lager experiment posted here around the
>beginning of the year. I, and later AlK, found that very full bottles
>carbonate much more slowly than normal or underfilled bottles. Note
>that I'm NOT saying your wrong, just that we have three experiments w/
>>different results. Al determined that overfilled bottles
>undercarbonate. I strongly suspect that my final carbonation was a bit
>low in overfilled bottles, but not by a very obvious amount.
Interesting disagreement. I wonder WHY our observations are different? And,
what
do you mean by "much slower" carbonation? Twice as long? More?
>That overfilled bottles can undercarbonate and carbonate slowly *may*
>be attributable to poor yeast growth at higher pressures. A known
>effect. Need more experiments here guys. Perhaps the yeast strain
>used has an effect. I used Wyeast 2308.. Al ? Brad ?
I used WY-1007 for the experiment I reported, but use a variety of WY lager and
ale yeasts for my 'high fill' beers, and have never noted a problem in
carbonation. Steve (or others), do you think the pressure is going to vary
between bottles with head space differences in the 'normal' range, say between
two and 1/4 inches (data anywhere)? My intuition (read, no data) says no. If
pressure is not the factor which caused your (but not my) observed correlation
between fill level and carbonation, do you have any other ideas to explain your
observations? Time to drink a beer and think about this.
- -Brad (in a very hot St. Louis)
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From: Jeremy Bergsman <jeremybb at leland.stanford.edu>
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 16:03:39 -0800
Subject: Bay Area BJCP exam
Attention people interested in becoming beer judges who
live in Northern California:
I have started the process of scheduling a BJCP exam for mid
January 1997. If anyone is interested in taking it then,
please drop me a line. If you don't think you are ready
please contact me anyway, my club (Worts of Wisdom) will be
doing some prep classes. There should be no problem getting
ready by then.
- --
Jeremy Bergsman
jeremybb at leland.stanford.edu
http://www-leland.stanford.edu/~jeremybb
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From: biohazrd at graceba.net (biohazrd)
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 18:49:13 -0500
Subject: Brewpubs or Breweries in Atlanta
>Portland, Oregon, we're use to having lots of brew pubs around, and would
>like to try out some of the more interesting ones in Atlanta. If anyone
has
>any suggestions, please e-mail me if you would be so kind. Thanks
everybody,
You've got to look into the Atlanta Brewing Company, makers of Red Brick
Ale. Located in downtown Atlanta they give personal tours on request and
samples in the sample room. Their flagship product Red Brick Ale is
definately on of my most favorite micorbrews (even if it is filtered.)
My wife and I visited there last summer with a few friends and they
treated us like royalty. I called the day before and asked for a tour,
really just on a whim, and they were more than glad to set us up the next
day.
I can't say enough about their Red Brick (no financial connections just a
staisfied, blah, blah) Ale, it has a flavor that I have yet to come close
to duplicating in my homebrews, and I have tried.
If anybody out there in the collective knows of a recipe approximating Red
Brick please post me a note.
Ron Montefusco
Biohazrd Brewery
(Drink to Your Health)
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From: Jurie Dekter <juried at ozemail.com.au>
Date: Tue, 16 Jul 1996 20:40:32 +1000
Subject: S/S keg uses
I recently *acquired* a 50l stainless steel keg. I'm convinced I can use it for
something, but before I wreck it, are there any specific suggestions for uses?
How to remove the ball valve? Private e-mail responses welcome.
To Braam Greyling:
Get into contact with Moritz Kallmeyer at the Firkin Brewpub in Centurion. (He
is also
listed in the Pretoria directory.) He brews superb beers on the premises and
chairs a
great homebrewers guild/club. He also sells a variety of stuff for homebrewing.
Jurie Dekter <juried at ozemail.com.au
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From: denisb at CAM.ORG (Denis Barsalo)
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 1996 20:49:51 -0500
Subject: Re:Gelatin
>Daniel Louis Lanicek <dll0001 at jove.acs.unt.edu>
>Date: Wed, 17 Jul 1996 19:45:43 -0500 (CDT)
>Subject: Gelatin
>
>Homebrewers,
> I recently read in BYOB that by adding gelatin to secondary
>fermentation you can increase the clarity of the beer. The directions say
>to boil 1/2 to 3/4 of a packet of unflavored gelatin in a cup of water,
>then add it to the carboy. Does this work? Is it worth it?
I have had very sucessful results with gelatine in my secondary,
but I don't boil it! I've been told that boiling it will ruin the
properties that it has as far as a clearing agent. I boil water, take the
pot off the element, put in the gelatine, and dissolve it completely. I
then add it to my filled carboy.
I tried this on a all-grain wheat beer that had about 55% malted
wheat, and 10% flaked wheat. The beer was so clear, it looked like a
Bohemian Pils!
My usual clearing technique involves using irish moss at the end of the
boil, gelatine in the carboy if I think it will need it, a long stay in the
secondary, and then a long stay in the beer fridge to let the chill haze
drop out. I never have a problem with "unclear" beer.
If I do, I close my eyes and drink it faster. :-P
Denis
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