Homebrew Digest Friday, 26 July 1996 Number 2126
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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:
Brewbecue!! (Richard R Gontarek)
Extract Brewing (vee12 at juno.com)
Re: Hop Pellets ("Pat Babcock")
RE: Decocting, wyeast to blame for bananas, iodine on fruit ((George De Piro))
Fruit Beers and Insulated Freeze (eric fouch)
Brewing Techinque's article's (Guy Mason)
Broken Blanched Berries / Banana Belgian Bitter Beer / Blasting Brew Bubbles (KennyEddy at aol.com)
Malty Vienna (Jim Busch)
HBRCP (RUSt1d?)
RE:Propane Indoors ((Gary Clark))
RE Fruit Flavorings ("Richard Scotty")
Blue Whale Ale (Maxwell McDaniel)
Why Not Aluminum? (Eric Schoville)
RE: Iodophor for fruit sanitization (John Wilkinson)
Noonan on Gelatin ("Michael R. Swan")
Phone number for BBC (Don Trotter)
Rogue American Ale Recipe Request (Mark Strasburg)
Re: decoctions, esters abound ("Tracy Aquilla")
Wedding Beer Recap (Bill Rust)
NG brewers unite! (joseph.fleming at gsa.gov)
Lambic article in Sci Amer ("Ed J. Basgall")
Fruit Fresh ("David R. Burley")
Protein size and filtration ((John W. Carpenter))
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Richard R Gontarek
Date: 26 Jul 96 6:53:36 EDT
Subject: Brewbecue!!
Hello All,
The following is not *strictly* brewing related, but since it is
Summertime and we are in the midst of grilling season, I thought
that I would share with you all a fabulous recipe that I came up
with for barbecued (excuse me, *Brew-becued) ribs. I made these last
year at a brewbecue party, where everyone brought a sixpack of their
favorite microbrew, and all of the food was prepared with beer as an
essential ingredient. Let me know if you try these.
BREWBECUED RIBS
Purchase 4 lbs. of babyback ribs (a local butcher or a place like
Sam's or Price Club will have these at a decent price). Prepare the
following braising liquid:
4 quarts of beer (or beefstock or a mixture of the two...I used up
the last of a batch of light ale).
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1 TBSP paprika
1 TBSP cayenne pepper
1 1/2 TBSP ground cumin
3 TBSP tabasco sauce
several cloves of garlic
1 TBSP ground ginger
1 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup honey
1 TBSP salt
several bay leaves
Bring the braising liquid to a boil in a large pot. Reduce the heat
to a simmer and add the ribs. Simmer the ribs until tender, but not
falling apart (~1 hr 45 min). When they are done, carefully remove
the ribs to a baking sheet.
Rub the following paste all over the ribs (slather it on!!):
1/4 cup garlic salt
1 TBSP ground white pepper
1/2 cup paprika
1/4 cup dry mustard
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup beer (something nice n' hearty)
Wrap the slathered ribs in foil and refrigerate (can prepare up to 3
or 4 days in advance).
When you are preparing for the feast (and oh, it will be a feast),
get yer grill ready. NOTE: I have a Weber kettle grill, which I can
clamp the lid on and allow the food to be cooked over indirect heat.
Also, I have found that lump hardwood charcoal works the best. Give
it a try if you can find it (a local hardware store or a lawn and
garden shop will carry it), and I'm certain that you'll never go
back to Kingsford Briquettes again!
Anyway, while the coals are getting ready, soak several handfulls of
hickory or mesquite chips in *beer* (again, something big and bold).
**THIS IS A KEY STEP***You will be amazed at the flavor that beer
soaked hickory chips will add. Let 'em soak for about a half hour.
When the coals are ready, drain the beer-soaked hickory chips and
place them on the fire. Put the ribs on the grill, slather them
generously and frequently with the following brewbecue sauce, close
down the lid, and let them go for 15-20 minutes or so, turning them
and slathering them with sauce often until they get tender and a tad bit
charred. Serve ribs with lots of napkins, and of course, plenty of homebrew.
BREWBECUE SAUCE
3 TBSP canola oil
1 med onion
1 cup chili sauce
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup steak sauce
1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
several cloves freshly pressed garlic
1/4 cup prepared horseradish
3 TBSP dry mustard
Cayenne pepper to taste
2 TBSP tabasco sauce
1 TBSP molasses
1 TBSP cider vinegar
2 16 oz. beers (something big again)
Heat oil in a large pot and add garlic and chopped onion. Let
cook for about 10 min or so, until onion becomes soft and transluscent.
Add remaining ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat for 30
minutes or so until it gets nice n' thick, stirring often.
Sorry for the bandwidth, but I've been dying to share this recipe,
and I know that there are a lot of you out there that will love to
try this.
Bon apetit!!
Rick Gontarek
Owner/Brewmaster of The Major Groove Picobrewery
Trappe, PA
Email: Richard_R_Gontarek at sbphrd.com
or gontarek at voicemail.com
Return to table of contents
From: vee12 at juno.com
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 05:26:36 PST
Subject: Extract Brewing
I wanted to thank everyone for the recipes sent. We are in the process of
building a
new home and our apartment is a little too small for brewing. As soon as
the new
place is finished I can get busy brewing. Thanks again...Butch V.
P.S. If you have any more favorites, send 'em my way.
Return to table of contents
From: "Pat Babcock" <pbabcock at ford.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 08:36:54 -0400
Subject: Re: Hop Pellets
Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager...
In HBD 2124, George De Piro comments on the good Dr. Fix's comment in Vienna
et al regarding hop pellets...
I think what was meant by the comment, is that since lll the lupulin glands
are already pulverized, pellets do not need a long boil to get full
utilization; therefor, you can make due with a single addition later in the
boil to gain the benefits of both bittering and aroma hopping.
As with George's (De Piro) experience, this is not congruent with mine.
(Congruent! What a woody sound! Not tinny like "like"...)
See ya!
Pat Babcock pbabcock at oeonline.com
http://oeonline.com/~pbabcock/brew.html
Did you know that there is a home brewing section on America Online?
Return to table of contents
From: George_De_Piro at berlex.com (George De Piro)
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 09:08:22 -0700
Subject: RE: Decocting, wyeast to blame for bananas, iodine on fruit
Tom asks several decoction questions. First, I am no wizard (as
he states), but I have decocted a lot. He says that his Vienna
malt beer was not as malty as expected after a triple decoction.
His extract efficiency seemed pretty low, too.
Perhaps your pH was off, causing inefficient conversion. Perhaps
the quality of the Vienna malt was low. Was it made from 2-row
pilsner-quality grain, or a lesser barley?
I've noticed a tremendous increase in the maltiness of ALL my
beers (even single-step infusion batches) when I started caring
more about my malt source. I have found Ireks and Munton & Fison
to be of good quality. I'm sure there are many others, but those
are two that I like.
As for the idea of not sparging to increase maltiness, I don't
quite get it. I don't have full net access, and therefore can't
see your reference, but it seems wasteful (even at the level of a
homebrewer). Also, my current system couldn't handle the amount
of grain it would take to make a 1.060 beer without sparging.
What does it matter if you sparge, as long as you hit your target
gravity?
As for what happens to the main mash during rests, it's just what
you think. Enzymes continue to do what they do so well! Perhaps
in the days of poorly modified malt enough starch was tied up in
the grain so that a significant amount of conversion would take
place after adding the decoct back to the main mash. I have
found (just in my kitchen, mind you) that while the decoct does
yield a positive iodine test once it approaches boiling, that
starch is NOT concentrated enough to make my iodine test any more
than weakly positive once it's added back to the main mash.
My point is that if you want a less attenuated beer, keep the
rest mash at a higher temp because you're not going to add back
enough unconverted starch after the decoction to make a big
difference in wort's fermentability, even if the post-decoction
rest is 158-160F.
As for triple decoctions, I don't think they're really necessary
these days (heck, I've been questioning the necessity of
decocting at all!). In Eric Warner's and Darryl Richman's books
on specific styles (Weizen & Bock), they point out that few
German breweries still use triple decoctions. It costs $$$ in
time and energy, and malts today are well modified enough that it
is not necessary for increasing conversion efficiency. In my
kitchen, I get no appreciable difference in efficiency whether I
decoct or do an infusion.
-------------------
Greg asks if Wyeast is to blame for his banana beer. While it is
possible, I would first examine your own procedures more closely.
At the risk of rekindling the aeration thread, did you aerate
adequately? I have posted that some strains (Wyeast 1028, for
one) produce a plantation of bananas if not adequately aerated.
Also, how warm was your fermentation? Did you underpitch? Were
you blasting "Single Finger Salute" while fermenting (sorry, Greg
should get it!)?
As an aside, I it's not necessary for you to "mash" your crystal
malt; the maltster did that for you! Just steep it at less than
boiling temp. and your all set (there aren't any active enzymes
left in crystal malt).
----------------------
Al K. asks about sanitizing his fruit. While I'm not up on my
basic chemistry (yeah, even though I'm a science-type. Ask me
about chromatography, or dealing with the FDA...), I believe that
15 minutes in iodine would render the fruit inedible. At the
very least it would taste awful. Chemistry aside, you'll never
be able to rinse off all the iodine that has permeated the fruit!
Just accept the sourness that comes with most fruit beers. You
can take sanitizing too far...(besides, the instructions say that
ONE minute contact with the iodophor is adequate). Just because
the stuff is rated "drip dry" doesn't mean you should eat it!
When you let iodophor air dry, the iodine is evaporating! It
doesn't end up in your product!
Have fun!
George De Piro (Nyack, NY)
Return to table of contents
From: eric fouch <S=eric_fouch%S=fouch%G=eric%DDA=ID=STC021+pefouch%Steelcase-Inc at mcimail.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 96 08:24 EST
Subject: Fruit Beers and Insulated Freeze
Date: Friday, 26 July 1996 9:21am ET
To: STC012.HONLY at STC010.SNADS
From: Eric.Fouch at STC001
Subject: Fruit Beers and Insulated Freezers
In-Reply-To: The letter of Thursday, 25 July 1996 1:34pm ET
Sorry if my posting from a Casemail system where I work clutters the bandwidth
with cumbersome headings, but I hadda try posting from work (for the lack of
anything better to do :->
Anyway, on the subject of fruit beers, I've had good luck using frozen
concentrated juices (100% pure) for fruit flavorings.
I made a 50/50 Wheat brew (Apple Wiezenheimer) by throwing 12oz of FCAJ into
the cooling wort. It was quite pleasant, and didn't last as long as I thought
it would. After reading Papazians advice in _Homebrewers Companion_, and
desiring to make a lighter colored brew, I'm going to add the uFCAJ to the
secondary, and use an extra pale ME, a short boiltime, and add a "tea" of
preboiled hops (I've been brewing ~1 year, and am just now considering
moving up to partial mashes). Any comments? All flames welcomed at
fouches at mail.iserv.com
I feel compelled to offer a suggestion to Mike Caprara in referance to his
condensation problem. Ahhh, now were getting into my specialty- retrofitting
and jerry-rigging, especially on a budget: Thaw out your Hall-'o-Famer
Fridge,warm it up, and glue 1/2" expanded polystyrene insulation panels to the
inside and outside of the freezer compartment. No cold surfaces = no
condensation.
If, for some bizarre reason that doesn't work, get some new friends, 'cause
turning up your nose at homebrew, FOR ANY REASON is even more bizarre. That's
just sick and wrong.
I think it was Benjamin Franklin who said "Beer is proof of God's existance,
and that He loves us, and wants us to be happy"
That is all
E-man
Return to table of contents
From: Guy Mason <guy at qq.matrixnet.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 09:46:11 -0400
Subject: Brewing Techinque's article's
Greeting Fellow HBDer's,
After an interesting discussion with a far more experienced and learned
brewer, I have become very interested in having more precise control
over my mashing temperatures. Does anyone know of an online source for
back issue articles from Brewing Techinque's? Robert McIlvaine (sic)
had a 3-part series on mashing temperature monitoring and computers in
the early part of 1995 maybe Vol. 1,2,3 or 1,2,4. Also any opinions
from anyone who put the info from the articles into practice would be
greatly appreciated.
Thanks all, brew on...
- --
Guy Mason Cheshire,CT guy at matrixNet.com
Return to table of contents
From: KennyEddy at aol.com
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 10:16:04 -0400
Subject: Broken Blanched Berries / Banana Belgian Bitter Beer / Blasting Brew Bubbles
AlK writes:
<<
Primarily I'm thinking of blueberries and raspberries because I've had
trouble blanching these (they fall apart when you dip frozen berries in
boiling water for few
seconds -- I ended up having to put the blanching water right into the
secondary too).
>>
Have you tried blanching the berries in a strainer dipped into the hot water?
Should keep the little buggers where you want'em.
*************
Greg Thompson's Belgian Bitter:
<<
i just bottled what was supposed to be a northwest style somewhat
bitter ale, and boy does it taste like a belgian.
>>
What was your fermentation temperature? If it was much over 75F or so that
could be the culprit.
***********
Mike Spinelli asks:
<<
Would an air compressor like one used for paint spraying do the same thing as
an aquarium pump?>>
Like a Formula racer does the same thing as a Yugo. Keep the pressure down
to just a couple psig and you should be OK; don't know how easy/hard this
might be and probably depends on your particular compressor. Also be sure to
add a filter to clean up the air as much as possible.
************
Ken Schwartz
KennyEddy at aol.com
http://users.aol.com/kennyeddy
Return to table of contents
From: Jim Busch <busch at eosdev2.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 10:20:49 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Malty Vienna
Tom writes:
<I have conducted a triple decoction on 100% Vienna malt and not
<gotten the intense maltiness that I wanted.
First thing to ask is whay kind of Vienna malt did you use? Briess
is a very different malt than Durst or Weyermann, 6 row vs. 2 row.
Secondly, how much hops and what type did you use. I feel a major
factor in intensly malty beers is the absense of hops, keep the
IBUs below 20 if its malt you are after.
Ive been drinking a lot of double decocted Festbiers made with
Vienna malts and the malt foundation is amazing.
Good luck!
Jim Busch
PS: Briess Vienna malt does make a nice malty beer but it is just
different in the malt character from the European malts.
Return to table of contents
From: RUSt1d? <rust1d at li.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 10:32:54 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: HBRCP
TWIMC,
If you had trouble accessing the Ftp server at Netaxs trying to get a copy of
the Homebrew Recipe Calculator (HBRCP11), try again. They were in the process
of upgrading and ftp was not available for a few days. Also, if you have a
copy and have troubles with fonts, you probably need to install the two fonts
that came with it to windows. I would love to hear some comments from people
that are using it...
Return to table of contents
From: Gary.Clark at server1.DO.uintah.k12.ut.us (Gary Clark)
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 08:36:11 -0700
Subject: RE:Propane Indoors
>>>
All household uses of propane, leave the tank outside, and all housing codes
INSIST that all apliances be above ground level. (propane sinks in air).
If you, Mike, are setting up in your basement, for the cost of the propane
cylinder and a couple of refills, just have your plumber add a gas line over
to your brewing bench. ( I assume the heat & hot water are just behind you)
MUCH safer and up to code. If you know how to use gasline pipe dope,
you can do it yourself for the cost of the pipe and end fitting ( a lab type
valve)
hope this helps, NOBODY should use propane in the basement! Just a small
leak could pool in a depression and migrate over to the hot water heater
pilot.
Can you say BOOM !!! ;-)
richard scholz
bkyln ny
<<<<<<
The reason for the codes keeping propane appliances out of the basement,
is because a resort in Park City UT was blown all to hell. The leak was
not inside the building but rather at the propane tank which sat on a
hillside above the building. The leaking gas flowed down the hill, through
a leak in the basement wall and was ignited by a pilot inside the building.
As I recall several people were killed in the accident.
Since then, I have been careful to keep propane away from any area where it
can flow down and then build up in a depression.
Gary W. Clark
- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Gary W. Clark NB7B
Computer Technician AFA5GC
Uintah School District 801-781-3100
635 W 200 S 801-781-3107 FAX
VERNAL UT 84078 Gary.Clark at server1.DO.uintah.k12.ut.us
The opinons expressed here may or may not be my own or anyone else's.
I love Northern Spotted Owls (they taste like chicken)
- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Return to table of contents
From: "Richard Scotty" <rscotty at uswest.com>
Date: 26 Jul 1996 08:36:02 -0600
Subject: RE Fruit Flavorings
A quick data point here. I've brewed a raspberry ale several times and
originally used the raspberry extract that was available from several berw
shops. The resulting beer was serviceable, but lacked the fruit character
that I was after.
I finally bit the bullet and used real raspberries, and the difference was
substantial. A brilliant ruby hue was added to the beer as well as
substantial raspberry aroma and flavor. I found these characteristics to be
lacking in the extract version of the same beer.
Real fruit can be a PITA, is messy and can result in violent and erruptive
fermentations (can you sense a story here ;-{> ), but is well worth the
effort IMHO. I'll never go back to the extracts again - I'd like to try the
real fruit concentrates but have been unable to find them locally. Does
anyone have a source for these extracts? Does anyone know if the company in
Oregon (sorry can't recall the name) that sells extracts will sell in
homebrewer quantities?
Good Brewing,
Rich Scotty
Director of Fruit Squishing and Pasturization - The Crapshoot Brewery.
Return to table of contents
From: Maxwell McDaniel <maxwellm at microsoft.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 08:39:15 -0700
Subject: Blue Whale Ale
Let me issue a STRONG word of caution when making this brew...
HopTech sells this in kit form and I was one of the (suckers) customers
who thought it sounded like a neat beer to try. Now, I consider myself
a hop head, but this, this, is WAY too much! It's the first beer that I
have made where no one has been able to finish a whole one (except me, I
can barely make it thru one).
The beer is extremely bitter and has a strong citrus/grapefruit taste to
it. The only thing good I can say (and this is kinda gross) is that I
like the way it tastes after a good belch.
A while back I also got mail from someone else who made it and they said
the same thing, so it's not just me...
So if you brew it, go easy and leave out the hops that produce the
grapefruit sensation. Not sure which one it is, I saw it mentioned here
recently though...
Happy brewing!
Return to table of contents
From: Eric Schoville <eschovil at us.oracle.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 11:44:17 -0500
Subject: Why Not Aluminum?
I have heard that it is best to not use Aluminum to boil your wort. I
only recently found this out, and I have to say that I boiled my last
batch in a coated aluminum stock pot that I had handy. Could somebody
please clear this up for me? Do I need to purchase a stainless steel
stockpot?
Note: My stockpot is not raw aluminum, it is coated with a black
material.
Any info will be greatly appreciated,
Eric de Scoville <--- Please don't flame my French ancestry!
eschovil at us.oracle.com
#include <std.disclaimer> - My company and I don't necessarily express
the same opinions.
Return to table of contents
From: John Wilkinson <jwilkins at imtn.tpd.dsccc.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 12:32:34 -0500
Subject: RE: Iodophor for fruit sanitization
In HBD #2125 Al K. asked about using Iodophor for sanitizing fruit.
Several years ago when I was in Lima, Peru, several restaurants touted
their salad bars as having vegetables which had been washed in iodine.
I was told this was to prevent typhoid due to polluted irrigation water.
Indeed, one of the people I worked with told me that a friend's maid had
died from eating contaminated strawberries.
I don't know if the source of the iodine for food treatment was Iodophor,
but it sounds like a good idea.
John Wilkinson
Return to table of contents
From: "Michael R. Swan" <mswan at fdic.gov>
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 96 13:58:54 EDT
Subject: Noonan on Gelatin
AlK comments on my question:
>>Noonan writes that gelatin is not effective *unless* the beer temperature
>>is dropped below 50 degrees F
>Not in my experience. I fined half of a split batch with gelatin
>at 70F and there was considerable improvement in the settling of
>the yeast. Perhaps it would have been even more effective at 50F
>or 40F, but it was not ineffective as suggested by Noonan.
Glad to see I'm not alone in my experience. Because I tend to
get a little fanatical about clear beer but am not equipped to
either lager or filter, here is what I do:
After about seven days in the primary, I add a half cup of
bentonite slurry mixed with polyclar to the *primary*. The
polyclar brings enough CO2 out of suspension to purge any oxygen in
the headspace. After a few hours, I agitate the primary to allow
the slurry to mix well with the beer. Within a day or two, a lot
of gunk settles out to the bottom.
I then rack to my secondary (a five gallon carboy) on top of
a solution of gelatin (heated not boiled) and polyclar. After
that, I add a fermentation lock filled with cheap vodka (since
there tends to be some suck back due to the change in temp), and
place the carboy in my bottling bucket filled with a mixture of
about 8 pounds of ice and water. This gets the temperature of the
beer down into the 40's and seems to settle out a good deal more
yeast and other gunk.
After a day or so, I remove the carboy from the bucket and
let it continue to ferment at room temperature (about 70 degrees F)
for another week.
The beers I have bottled after this treatment are very clear--
- -even only one week after bottling. Much better than I brewed when I used
gelatin at bottling or didn't use the force chilling. My final gravities
have been below 1.010 too.
Mike Swan
Dallas, Texas
goldswan at cyberramp.net
Return to table of contents
From: Don Trotter <dtrotter at imtn.tpd.dsccc.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 13:07:01 -0500
Subject: Phone number for BBC
Does anyone have a order phone number for the Boston Beer Company. I
heard they are selling Hops this year.
don
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From: Mark Strasburg <strasmd at voicenet.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 14:06:37 -0400
Subject: Rogue American Ale Recipe Request
I am looking an extract recipe similar the Rogue American Ale. If any one
has one or can direct me to a resource, it would be most appreciated.
Mark
<strasmd at voicenet.com>
Return to table of contents
From: "Tracy Aquilla" <aquilla at salus.med.uvm.edu>
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 96 14:34:29 CDT
Subject: Re: decoctions, esters abound
In Digest #2125:
tgaskell at syr.lmco.com wrote:
>Now for my deccotion questions (attn: George, Tracy, Mark, etal.):
>I have conducted a triple decoction on 100% Vienna malt and not
>gotten the intense maltiness that I wanted.
I've noticed that the addition of certain dark and/or crystal malts can help
immensely in this regard. Furthermore, as others have noted, with certain
malt combinations it is possible to come "damn close" even without a
decoction. A touch of Munich, caravienne, and/or caramunich works wonders in
my experience. Using pale ale malt with these crystal malts and a single
infusion I've made at least one beer that smells and tastes like it was
obviously decoction mashed. When a decoction mash is combined with these
crystal malts in my brewery, the beer produced is consistently quite malty.
>Did I oversparge? I have read George Fix's "Yummy Malt Flavor" article
>at the Brewery and was curious if you decoction wizards agree with
>him (use 33% more grain, and no or minimal sparging).
I don't know, I've never tried this myself.
and Greg Thompson <gregt at visix.com> wrote:
>i just bottled what was supposed to be a northwest style somewhat
>bitter ale, and boy does it taste like a belgian. what the hell
>happened? i used wyeast's 1098 british ale yeast, which i've used
>before with great success, and it tastes like i used the 1214 belgian
>abbey ale yeast, which i've also used with even greater success.
Hmmm, Brit Ale yeast, eh? What was your pitching rate and how did long you
aerate/oxygenate the wort? Also, what was the fermentation temp? Was it fast
and furious or long and slow? Low pitch rate and no aeration will usually
produce esters with most yeast strains. Over-aeration may also increase
esters, particularly when under-pitched. High temp is another potential source.
Tracy
Return to table of contents
From: Bill Rust <wrust at csc.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 96 14:32 EDT
Subject: Wedding Beer Recap
Top of the afternoon, Brewmeisters,
Thanks for all the splendid responses to my question regarding how much
homebrew to make for a large party (ie. wedding reception). Most people
that responded seemed to confirm my plan of 6 corny kegs with an AB-type
half-barrel backup for 175 people. Many responders noted that there are
several variables to consider when planning for a large party:
1) # of people who choose not to drink (including children, elderly, and
designated drivers)
2) ratio of homebrew challenged/polite tasters/serious home-brew afficionados
3) length of party
4) will the beer be dispensed via air or CO2? (if air, it must all be
consumed with in a couple of days, or be wasted)
I think that most weddings (at least the Midwestern ones I've been to) are
affected by a similar 'mix' of the above variables. The consensus of
opinions was that 24-30 oz. per person would be consumed per person at a
wedding reception of around 4-5 hours. Thanks for all the responses and
kind comments.
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: joseph.fleming at gsa.gov
Date: 26 Jul 96 16:15:00 (-0400)
Subject: NG brewers unite!
Can anyone recommend a good NG burner?
I ran a gas line in my basement and set up a burner from the
Northern catalog designed for propane with the oriface drilled out to
the proper NG size. However the combustion is *poor* resulting in a
mostly yellow flame with lots of soot. I have a fan blowing across
the top of the boiler out a nearby window and this setup only elicits
two or three chirps from the CO detector (indicating a warning but not
an alarm) during the session. However I'd like something cleaner,
with better flame control and (of course) with less CO.
Can any other NG basement brewers give me a hand?
Thanks - Joe
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From: "Ed J. Basgall" <edb at chem.psu.edu>
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 96 16:29:51 EDT
Subject: Lambic article in Sci Amer
FYI all Lambic lovers. There is a nice 6 page article on lambics in the
August, 1996 issue of Scientific American entitled "The Mystery of Lambic
Beer".
Check it out.
Ed Basgall
Penn State Univ
Dept of Chemistry
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From: "David R. Burley" <103164.3202 at CompuServe.COM>
Date: 26 Jul 96 16:33:46 EDT
Subject: Fruit Fresh
Brewsters:
Jim Layton calls me to task regarding the contents of Fruit Fresh. I'll take
your word for it, I haven't bought FF in years. My recollection is that it did
contain sulfites and maybe that's why they now put "contains no Sulfites" on
their label. My point was, however, ( do I write so poorly that people
misunderstand me?) that bisulfite does two jobs it sterilizes the fruit AND
slows down the browning (which is where the FF reference came in) until the
yeast can get to producing a protective layer of CO2 it. I NEVER said I used FF
to sterilize my fruit. If that is the way it looks I apologize.
- ----------------------------------------------------------
As far as when to put fruit into a fermentation I agree with an HBDer (lost the
reference, sorry) it should go in after the majority of the beer ferment has
subsided. I recommend putting it in as a wine type extract using beer yeast to
ferment it and remove most of the pulp before adding it. I'm sorry, but being
a chemist, and an industrial one at that, I don't trust "fruit" extracts,as
healthy as they might be and as delicious as they are. I drink cherry soda pop
that never saw a cherry and root beer that never saw a root. So I don't have a
fear of the artificial. Even if the extracts are from 100% pure fruit, how can
they be as good as the fruit itself? Real fruit flavors are so much more
complex than those cooked up in a vessel that I prefer to use them. Taste
pineapple flavoring and Hawaii pineapple vs Mexican or Phillipine pineapple and
you will understand my point. Go to the store and buy three different kinds of
apples and taste them side by side, the difference may astound you. My point
isn't that good beers can't be made with fruit extracts it is, given this
marvelous availability of fresh fruit with complex tastes, why would you use an
extract?
- ------------------------------------------------------------
Steve A. I thought we agreed to pursue this issue via e-mail until we gain a
mutual understanding, rather than you publishing and me sitting quiet. What is
your real purpose here?
- ------------------------------------------------------------
Keep on brewin'
Dave Burley
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From: jwc at med.unc.edu (John W. Carpenter)
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 96 17:25:39 EDT
Subject: Protein size and filtration
In another post I wrote:
> In HBD 2119, George_De_Piro at berlex.com (George De Piro) writes:
>
> > The June 27, 1996 issue of NATURE (p.738) reports that the "largest
> > proteins in nature occur in wheat flower...these wheat gluten polymers
> > [have] relative molecular masses ranging up into the tens of
> > millions."
>
> Fascinatig! Does anyone know what the size of a protein with this molecular
> weight might be? 0.5, 1, 5, 10 microns? On the same subject, does anyone
> know what the molecular weight cutoff would be for the different pore
> sizes? In other words, what is the larges size protein that could pass
> through a 5 micron filter? (Assuming the protein are globular.)
I only got one response (thanks Adam) so... when all else fails, find out
for yourself. I called Amicon Tech. support and picked their brains.
Amicon makes all types of ultrafiltration membranes for science applications.
Here's what I found out. Their 10,000 MWCO(molecular weight cutoff)
membrane is 10 Angstroms, the 100,000 MWCO is 100 Angstroms....she said
1 million = 1000 Angstroms or 0.1 microns, and she thought the
relationship was linear. So.... 10 million MWCO is 1 micron. A 5 micron
filter would only filter out globular proteins with molecular weights of
greater than 50 million. That's a pretty big protein, IMHO. I had a look
at the article above and they mentioned using a relatively new method known
as field-flow fractionation to characterize the glutenin proteins, and
came up with molecular masses in the 20 million range. That should still
pass through a 5 micron filter. I think I saw somewhere that yeast are
about 7-10 microns. So my conclusion is you can filter your beer through a
5 micron filter and remove the yeast and any remaining trub and not have
to worry about filtering out any of the other "flavor" proteins.
Cheers,
John Carpenter
Chapel Hill, NC
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