Homebrew Digest Friday, 23 August 1996 Number 2157
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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:
Malting, continued (Jim Busch)
Maryland Blue Barley ("Houseman, David L TR")
Fix on malts, 1992 (Jim Busch)
RE: Splitting Kegged Beer (Rick Seibt)
Where to buy kegs in Michigan (AJN)
Spiced Ales & Real Ales ("Randall, Mike")
Multiple (Redundant) Posts / Partial Decoction / Who pours (for) Ya (Randy Erickson)
RE:Victory Sunrise Weiss (Jim Busch)
water crystals/gypsum ("Kris A. Kauper")
Top ten water types / phenolics & yeast ((David C. Harsh))
Phenolic aromas - summer infections ? (Steve Alexander)
re: Recipes & Water (KennyEddy at aol.com)
Enzymes in grains (Steve Alexander)
Lactose (Lambert at tencor.com)
Free Hops & False Bottom Design (XKCHRISTIAN at ccvax.fullerton.edu)
North Carolina Beery Places? (Wseliger at aol.com)
None (Dan)
re: recipies normalized for water type (bob rogers)
Freezing yeast again. ("Braam Greyling")
Pumps for wort and RIMS ("Braam Greyling")
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jim Busch <busch at eosdev2.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 1996 14:05:11 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Malting, continued
Let me preface this post with a note that there exist many different
types of malting systems and methods. Also, while DeClerck is an
excellent reference, there have been great strides made in malting
technology since he lived and wrote. Malting is every bit as complex
and difficult as the most intensive all grain mash program.
Al writes about malting:
<As I said before, green malt (wet) is not put into the barrel roaster.
<All malt is dried in the kiln and then can optionally go into the roaster.
As I pointed out to Al in private email, this is factually incorrect.
Caramel malts are made in a roasting drum from Green Malt. Ill come
back to this later so we can all understand it for good.
<There are two parts to kilning: the "drying phase" and the "curing phase."
<The temperature of the curing phase is what distinguishes Aromatic
<(25 Lovibond) and Munich (usually about 8 Lovibond), but it's the drying
<phase that distinguishes pale malts from "high-kilned" malts like Vienna,
<Munich and Aromatic [DeClerk, p.182].
It is both phases of drying and curing that distinguish the various malts,
the temperatures do differ from each malt type desired (as do the ramps).
(I dont think we are disagree'ing here)
<Interestingly, the temperature profile of Vienna malt kilning looks more
<like Pilsner rather than Munich malt (from fig.79 on page 198 of DeClerck).
Except the Vienna is allowed to climb to about 100C during curing. This
makes sense as the coloring stage comes last.
<Aromatic malt is typically cured at 115F
[Busch, personal communication].
An obvious typo, 115C.
Caramel malt production:
I have a description sheet from DeWolf Cosyns Maltings. It has a nice
description of the process for different malts. For caramel malts,
and this includes the entire DC family, caraPils, caraVienne, caraMunich
and Special B, the barley is steeped, germinated and then sent directly
into the roasting drum:
"These malts are processed from greenmalt, in order to obtain amino-acids
and preformed sugars, to build melanoidins and reducing substances in
a natural way. Roasting in drums is the only method to liquefy and
saacharify the starch of the grain at 70C, using completely steam saturated
and recycled air. Only this process ensures a good cristalization and
caramelization."
"Although it is possible to produce certain specialty malts in a kiln,
it is generally agreed that this technology is limited because the kilning
temperature is maximum 120C. In fact, given that the humidity factor
cannot be completely controlled in a kiln and saccharification and
caramelization are difficult to steer, this is why the production of
caramel malts requires a roasting drum, in which the parameters
(temperature and water steam recycling) - necessary for liquefaction and
saccharification - are adjustable and homogenous."
"The process used to obtain caramel malts consists in collecting green
malt which has been specially malted and subjecting it, in an enclosed
environment (roasting drum) to the successive phases of liquefaction,
saccharification, caramelization, and cristalization."
They go on to note that the key difference is the lack of a saccharification
stage in other roasted malts.
part two to follow.
Jim Busch
Return to table of contents
From: "Houseman, David L TR" <DLH1 at trpo3.tr.unisys.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 96 15:37:00 EDT
Subject: Maryland Blue Barley
>Re: standard Cajun Cookers. The more I use one of these the more it
>seems to me they are fantastic for steaming Maryland bluecrabs or
>Maine lobsters. If only grains were more like shellfish.....
>
>Jim Busch
>Colesville, Md (where good bluecrabs are finally coming in!)
Yes, perhaps the mills would be simpler with the soft shelled barley or
maybe we wouldn't have to grind it at all. But is that the 2-claw or
6-claw variety? ;-))
Dave
Return to table of contents
From: Jim Busch <busch at eosdev2.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 1996 14:44:18 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Fix on malts, 1992
And this is an excellent description from Dr. Fix:
Date: Wed, 28 Oct 92 10:30:56 CST
From: (George J Fix)
Subject: Specialty malts
Terminology for speciality malts has not been uniform, and this has
lead to some inconsistencies in product names at various homebrew
outlets. Debating the appropriateness of the terms used strikes me
as neither interesting nor useful. I personally like the approach
taken by Victor Reijs, i.e., describe the grain by the way it is
actually made. In this regard, there appears to be two major categories:
Class 1 - Grains are roasted.
Class 2 - Grains are not roasted, but they are dried at a high
temperature in the kiln.
In Class 1 there are three important subcategories:
1a - Unmalted barley is roasted.
1b - "White malt" is roasted. ( White malt is fully
germinated, but either has not been dried in a kiln or
only slightly so.)
1c - "Green malt" is roasted. (Green malt consists of
germinating barley.)
During our visit to the UK this summer Laurie and I got to see several
malting companies, and in particular H&B. The latter classified grains
in category 1c as follows:
i - light carastan 13-17 L
ii - carastan 30-40 L
iii - crystal 70-80 L
iv - dark crystal 100-160 L
The traditional categories for Class 2 are the following:
2a - Vienna 5-10 L
2b - Munich 10-20 L
At the time Laurie and my book was written, the nonroasted malts (i.e.,
those in Class 2) that were available all came from high protein 6 row
barley (typically Glenn or Morex in the US and Sonja in Germany). Thus,
we were faced with a "garbage in, garbage out" syndrone. In particular,
the results from a large number of competitions showed that English and/or
German malts from Class 1c were preferred by a very wide margin. It is
important to note that these malts come from top 2 row barley (Maris Otter
and Archer in the UK, Triumph in Germany). Today the situation has
dramaticallychanged with the color malts from Belgium. We are currently playing
around
with versions of our recipies where 2/3 of the color malts are replaced
with the Belgium Cara-Vienna and 1/3 with Cara-Munich. This has given
a Lovibond value (which is the same as SRM or ASBC color) in the range 7-9 L.
Reversing the proportions is also of interest, and yields (at least for us)
a color in the range 10-12 L. As noted in an earlier post, the color of the
Cara-Munich from Belgium is well above the classical range cited above.
Return to table of contents
From: Rick Seibt <rseibt at apk.net>
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 1996 14:40:00 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: RE: Splitting Kegged Beer
IN HBD#2154 Gene asks about splitting keg beer into corny's.
Hi Gene,
Yes you can do it, and it's fairly easy. Its the same as bottling with a CP
filler. Of course it's easy for me because my keg setup uses 1/4" flare
fittings for all connections, making interchanging easy.
First fill your receiving keg with CO2, vent the oxygen out a few times, and
leave it with about 10-12 psi. You might want to go with 15.
Now you need to make a "faucet" that connects the standard beer fitting from
the
top of the tap, with hose to a black liquid fitting for your keg. Connect your
keg to the keg and then place the disconnect on the liquid connection on your
corny. You need to then vent the pressure as the corny fills up. I have a gauge
& valve that goes on my gas fitting, and as I let the beer go into the corny, I
vent off the excess CO2.
Couple of important things:
1. You may want to draw a few pints until the foaminess settles in the German
keg. Then transfer.
2. If you are not sure what PSI to use, try to measure what the German keg is
requiring, (i.e. if your regulator closes at 14 psi.) Then add 3-5 psi for good
measure and use that as your guage pressure in the recieving corny.
3. Since this particular set up has no shut off valve you have to be quick with
the disconnect, or plumb one into your transfer line.
4. Fill level is tough to determine. If you are using a room temp corny, you
should be able to see the sweat (or pour some hot water down the side of the
corny) and you can get a reading. That said, you'd definitely get better
results tranferring into a chilled empty corny.
This may not be the best or most professional way, but it has worked for me
many
times. I've also had a beer foam up like crazy on me, and had to drink it real
quick.
I used to fill 3 gal. kegs with Miller (my friends are not beer savvy, yet) for
our tailgates at Browns games. Everybody walking by thought it was the
greatest. Of course that's no longer a concern :(
Good luck! BTW what kind of beer?
Rick Seibt
Return to table of contents
From: AJN <neitzkea at frc.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 1996 14:19:30 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Where to buy kegs in Michigan
Michiganders
Does anybody have a good source to buy kegs, in the Detriot or Ann Arbor
area?
I'm toying with the idea of doing all-grain and would like to know the
cost of building a setup.
_________________________________________________________________________
Arnold J. Neitzke Internet Mail: neitzkea at frc.com
Return to table of contents
From: "Randall, Mike" <Mike.Randall at lexis-nexis.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 1996 15:12:28 -0400
Subject: Spiced Ales & Real Ales
In HBD #2153, Chris DiIorio asks for a recipe for Cinnamon beer for the
holidays...
While I've never made a cinnamon beer, per se, I have used cinnamon and
other spices in holiday and pumpkin ales. I usually start with a pale ale
leaning more toward malty than bitter, and at kegging or bottling time I add
a spice extract that has been steeping while the ale was fermenting.
The extract varies with what I'm making, but starts with 4 oz. of 80 proof
vodka and whatever spices that I feel are appropriate including cinnamon,
clove, nutmeg, coriander, ginger, orange zest, etc. I shake it once a day
for a couple of weeks and monitor its aroma, making adjustments as
necessary. When I'm happy with the balance, I filter out the solids by
passing the extract through a coffee filter in a funnel. The extract goes
into the refrigerator until I'm ready to use it.
The extract increases the alcoholic strength of the ale only slightly as you
can see (assuming 4.5 US gallons of ale at 4% alcohol by volume):
(576)(.04) + (4)(.40) = (576 + 4)(x)
23.04 + 1.6 = 580x
24.64 = 580x
.0425 = x
In this example, by a quarter of 1 percent. Another advantage of this
method is that you can experiment with small amounts of extract in a glass
or bottle of ale before committing the entire amount and possibly overdoing
it.
I don't remember how much of what spices I used for my first such extract,
but I do remember that I used the spices and amounts listed in my favorite
pumpkin pie recipe. The effect was exactly what I was looking for.
Hope this helps.
By the way, anyone else going to the Real Ale Festival in Chicago October
4/5? Check out http://www.mcs.net/~shamburg/cbs/raf.html for details. I
just returned from a couple of weeks in the UK. The Great British Beer
Festival was a blast. I'm forever hooked on real ale - I even brought back
a used beer engine that a Welsh pub owner bestowed upon me (that gurgle
gurgle sound you hear is my yeast starter for Saturday's christening batch).
Cheers!
Mike
Mike Randall
LEXIS-NEXIS
randall at lexis-nexis.com
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end
Return to table of contents
From: Randy Erickson <randye at mid.org>
Date:
Subject: Multiple (Redundant) Posts / Partial Decoction / Who pours (for) Ya
Hi all:
Is it just me or do we now get the luxury of seeing about 5% of the HBD
posts show up more than once? Could this be a quirk of the new list
owner, or just an itchy <send key> finger?
I've been wondering, as an extract plus specialty grain brewer who has
been playing with single-pound Munich malt partial mashes, if I could get
some of that oft-praised decoction flavors by doing a one-hour single
temp mash, then boiling the whole thing for a while before sparging?
Anyone tried this or know of a good reason why it won't work?
Finally, on the "who oughtta pour the beer for ya" thread: I seem to
have the opportunity to get a beer from a savvy (and often hairy) beer
aficionado all the time, what with clubs, brew buddys, etc. Given the
choice, I'll take the bimbo. Just my $0.02.
Randy in Modesto
Return to table of contents
From: Jim Busch <busch at eosdev2.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 1996 16:23:15 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: RE:Victory Sunrise Weiss
Mike writes:
<Just had a draft pint of Victory Brewing's Sunrise Wheat and boy oh boy
<it's good.
Thats magic to my ears!!! ;-)
<I was expecting a bland Americanized wheat but this is far from it.
Not from Victory Brewing, damn it!! Never never never never! Corporate
philosophy: Be the biggest most aggressive most stylistically true
a micro can be, always, regardless of ingredient cost or conditioning
time. The niche of the niche.
<Classic
<German all the way! Great job for fellow HBDer Jim Busch.
As much as Id like to take some credit (maybe just a little), Victory
is much more than I, day to day its Ron Barchet and Bill Covaleski. In
this case the recipe and open fermentation is all Ron and Bill. Next
up is a weizenbock.
Thanks for the pick up!
Jim Busch
--- ---
--- ---
--- ---
--- --- ICTORY BREWING CO.
----- Downingtown, Pa.
---
-
A Victory For Your Taste!
Victory Festbier, Brandywine Valley Lager, HopDevil IPA
Prima Pils, Milltown Mild, St. Victorious Doppelbock
St. Boisterous HellerBock, Sunrise Weiss
Return to table of contents
From: "Kris A. Kauper" <kkauper at draper.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 1996 16:29:52 -0400
Subject: water crystals/gypsum
I have what I think is a simple question. I recently got the ingredients for
a pale ale at a local brew supply store. The ingredients called for gypsum
amd the clerk gave me a bottle of what I assumed was gypsum, but I did not
look closely at the time. When I got home I noticed the bottle only said
"water crystals" on it. It is a fine white powder. Is this gypsum?
Thanks.
Kris Kauper
C.S. Draper Laboratory
Cambridge, MA
kkauper at draper.com
617-258-1590
Return to table of contents
From: dharsh at alpha.che.uc.edu (David C. Harsh)
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 1996 16:58:23 -0400
Subject: Top ten water types / phenolics & yeast
>John Girard <jungle at hollywood.cinenet.net> writes:
>...What I might propose
>is to devise a grouping system of 10 or so of most common water types...
>A conversion list ... for converting one water type to any of the others...
>when someone posts a recipe, they can indicate which (general) water type
>was used for making the brew,
This is a great idea, John and I nominate you to take care of it. ;)
I'm sure the collective will be all too eager to criticize it once you work
out the details and post them.
Al K. writes about Ken writing about Ian talking about phenolic aromas:
>the bulk of the yeast strains that we have available to us don't have
>this predisposition to phenolic character.
This seems like a over-generalization. Many yeasts show increased phenolic
production at high temps; without temperature control in a hot spell you
could easily make adhesive bandage ale without an infection. I would,
however, expect a strong fusel alcohol contingent to go along with it in
that case.
But as Ian stated in his original post:
"..the flavor dissipates after 10 minutes or so.."
Are we positive this is due to phenolics? I wouldn't expect the phenolic
aroma to dissipate. Could this be a citrusy character from the dry hopping
that is volatilizing? What hops did you use, Ian?
Dave
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
& Dave Harsh &
& DNRC Minister of Bloatarianism O- &
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
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From: Steve Alexander <stevea at clv.mcd.mot.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 1996 17:16:03 -0400
Subject: Phenolic aromas - summer infections ?
Al wrote ...
>Recall that I was quite adamant about having problems brewing in the summer?
...
>It smelled just like Band-Aids(tm). For me, the solution was switching to
>filtered air and an airstone and now, most recently, the Oxynater(tm).
...
If the air-filter cured the problem, then infection is undoubtedly the
source of the trouble. The band-aid odor sounds suspiciously like
extra chlorine or chlorine-based products added to your water system
(which is quite common in summer to keep down algae and bacterial
growth). I understand that some of the newer chlorine water system
additives cannot be effectively boiled out and must be filtered. Is
it possible ?
Steve Alexander
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From: KennyEddy at aol.com
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 1996 17:26:23 -0400
Subject: re: Recipes & Water
You just knew I'd have something to say about this, didn't you? ;-{)}
John Girard brought up a good point about recipes and water. For the benefit
of John and other folks who may have been absent from school when the topic
was discussed here a few months ago, I'll re-advertize my BreWater utility
program that can be used to experiment with water adjustments, and even has
some information in the help file on general brewing water chemistry. It
also includes a couple dozen "canned" Classic Brewing Waters of the World
profiles for reference. It's a freeware program that you can download from
my web page (URL below) or by direct ftp from:
ftp://users.aol.com/kennyeddy/water/brewater.zip
He goes on:
> And yet, in most recipes (posted
> on the net and found in your favorite brew mag alike) water types are not
> indicated, even when water adjustments are reccommended. This is no one's
> fault, but leads to problems, most notably that it becomes very difficult
> to duplicate with any accuracy the great brews that our fellow brewers
> have concocted.
How many times have you seen a recipe that includes "1 tsp gypsum" in the
ingredients? Hey, if my water already has 150 ppm sulfate (and my tap water
actually does!), I don't necessarily NEED or even WANT more! But as John
said, providing a complete analysis is a bit cumbersome as well.
In my brewing, I've taken to using RO water and adding salts to get the
profile I want. This is really quite easy (with BreWater's help anyway) and
I agree with John that the results speak for themselves. It wouldn't be a
bad thing to note on a recipe that "RO water with 2g CaCl2, 1.4g baking soda,
0.25g chalk, and 0.5g epsom salt per 5 gal" was used. For anyone interested
in the ppm analysis, it's relatively easy to figure, even without software;
for anyone who doesn't care, they can just ignore the extra line of the
recipe; for those who care but don't want to do the math, the "recipe" is
there in black and white, ppm's be damned. Posting the actual water recipe
is perhaps better than citing say "London Well" since interested brewers
would have to duplicate a lot of tedious effort to synthesize the profile.
A complication exists in that starting with tap water instead of "ion-free"
water means a whole different approach is required -- if you don't have a
reliable analysis of your tap water, you may as well forget it. Even a vague
idea of the relative "hardness" or "softness" or whether your water is "high
sodium" or "low alkalinity" is useful information.
Ken Schwartz
KennyEddy at aol.com
http://users.aol.com/kennyeddy
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From: Steve Alexander <stevea at clv.mcd.mot.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 1996 18:57:36 -0400
Subject: Enzymes in grains
Mike Yeatts writes ...
>I was wondering if anyone out there has run across some type of listing,
>article, etc. or has personal knowledge of enzyme potentials for
>grains/seeds other than barley and wheat? It stands to reason that all
>seeds, to some degree, need to be able to convert starch into sugars as they
>begin growing; hence the malting process. Being in the mood to experiment, I
>was curious to what degree other grains could be malted, mashed, and made
>into "beer" without either using barley malt or the chew and spit process as
>an enzyme source.
No concise article on grain varieties - but a lot of separate ones ...
There are a couple of numbers in M&B Science that I don't have on hand
at the moment. Wheat can be malted with a final diastatic (enzyme)
power a bit greater than malted barley. Rye malt is a bit lower than
barley, with plenty of enzyme power to convert itself. Al Korzonas,
via private email related recently to me that Breiss rye malt runs
around 95 degrees Lintner, while breiss 2-row pale barley malt was
around 140 Lintner. Triticale has been malted and has diastatic power
greater than rye, and less than wheat - basically comparable with
barley. Triticale has also been used for test brewing by a USDA
research center - in order to help promote the use of this grain in
3rd world, poor quality soil environments. It reportedly produces a
good beer - and I wouldn't mind trying this malt myself. Anyone have
a source for triticale ?
Sorghum(sp?) is widely used for brewing beer in tropical climates
such as parts of Africa - presumeably with good diastatic power. I
know that oats have been malted, but can't speak to the diastatic
power. Someone (David Burley?) commented on an attempt to malt oats
in HBD fairly recently. In colonial times (there is a brief reference
in M&B science) americans malted corn (maize) !!! I have reason to
suspect that malted corn has little alpha-amyase. Rice has been
experimentally malted, and has some unusual properties (can produce
alpha-amylase in non-aerobic conditions!). Again no diastatic power
on rice.
Farther afield - I've also seen references to malted peas (yes peas)
which have a quite high diastatic power. I can't imagine that they
would make good beer tho'. Sweet potatoes don't 'malt', but they are
a very rich source of beta-amylase and have been used in amylolysis
(mashing).
Something you should understand about the enzyme content of malted
grains. One paper I have estimates that the amount of alpha and beta
amylase enzyme in malted barley for brewing is about 500 times greater
than is needed for barley plant growth!! There are 'mutant' barley
varieties which have much much lower enzyme potential than brewer's
barley, but which have completely normal growth patterns. Most barley
varieties - even those not used for brewing have a large enzyme
potential - say 30% to 100% as much as brewing barley.
Why do some grain varieties have such high enzyme potential ? No one
knows for sure, but it is known that there are actually several
'iso-enzyme' forms of each beta- and alpha-amyase. At least 5 BA types
and 2 AA types appear in some brewing barleys, and it's not clear that
all the isoenzymes have been identified. It's also known that barley
and other grains are capable of producing inhibitors that are specific
to individual iso-enzymes.
It is thought that grains evolved the large numbers and quantities of
amylases and corresponding inhibitors in order to survive attacks from
bacteria and or fungus. It is suggested that when plants are attacked
by bacterial or fungal starch consuming organisms, that specific
inhibitors are released which block the amylases used by the attacking
organism. This inhibitor may also block one of the barley iso-enzymes
and slow the others, but the plant can grow while the infecting
organism dies. This theory is unproven as far as I have read - but
seems plausible.
The point is that any random grain variety may not have sufficient
enzyme potential to brew with; however a remarkably large number of
varieties do seem have brewing potential. It's quite likely that we
have fungal and bacterial infections to thank for the evolution of
grains for our highly enzymatic malts - so raise a glass to those
barley bugs, but keep 'em out of the brewhouse.
Steve Alexander
p.s. I'll be on vacation till 9/5 so can't respond to posts or email
till then.
p.p.s
Regarding the chew & spit method. Raw grains have some beta-amylase,
which can be substantially enhanced my mashing in papain proteolytic
enzyme at around 50C for a while. Barley and Wheat (and I suspect all
grains) develop alpha-amyase as the seeds start to grow. The release
and activation of both AA and BA (if I recall correctly) can be
enhanced by treating the seed with the plant hormone giberellin. This
is common practice in malting for brewing, except that traditional
scotch distillers reject the hormone treatment procedure in malting
their barley. If you don't want to wait for the seed to sprout one
traditional (and disgusting) practice uses alpha-amylase in human
saliva. Raw grain is chewed, the result is mashed over a long mash
period. Adds a whole new meaning to 'wet milling' eh ?
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From: Lambert at tencor.com
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 96 16:08:48 PDT
Subject: Lactose
Bill wrote:
>During the recent discussions on adding fruit it was mentioned that
>residual sweetness was desirable in a fruit beer to accentuate the
>fruit flavor, and that the addition of crystal malt would supply this
>sweetness. Could lactose also be used to increase sweetness, and thus
>improve the fruit character? If so, at what stage should it be added
>to the brewing process?
IMHO lactose (unless used very sparingly) could give a cloying character to the
sweetness of a fruit beer. Instead, I have dropped the mash temp to up the
dextrins, and be careful with the attenuation of the yeast. This, to me, has
provided the perfect sweetness and mouthfeel. The crystal would imply a certain
sweetness, but too much crystal character could in turn stand in the way of the
delicate fruit flavor(esp. peach,strawberry and blueberry), and not provide
mouthfeel. Certain fruits blend with darker malts, such as raspberry (which
makes excellent porter).I have added lactose when racking to secondary with
good results. Speaking of lactose, any yummy milk stout recipes out there?
Rick Lambert
Lambert at tencor.com
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From: XKCHRISTIAN at ccvax.fullerton.edu
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 1996 17:06:21 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Free Hops & False Bottom Design
Hey Brewers
RE Free Hops:
A few years ago, a very cool homebrewer invited me over to pick, dry and
take home some homegrown hops. This was a very cool experience. for
me.. I would like to extend a similar invitation to a fellow homebrewer. If
you are a homebrewer and would like to pick some killer hops, email me
soon.
I planted 2 Perle and 2 Cascade rhysomes 2 years ago. Last year I got a
pretty good crop, but this year it is enourmous! I have plenty to share. I
am thinking of taking out 2 mounds next year. Perhaps you would like a
cut of my rhysomes so you can grow your own. Perhaps you would like to
share some homebrew, recipes and yeast or what ever durring an awsome
day of
picking hops and drinking some really good pale ale.
A false bottom question:
Currently, I am using 3 converted 15 gallon kegs in my brewery. Each keg
has an Easy Masher type spigot installed on them and I am wanting to hook
up a pump to help keep stable temps in the mash. I would appreciate some
advice on false bottom design.
1. In using a recirculating type system (RIMS), is an Easy Masher setup able
to produce good results? Is a copper tube around the bottom (with hack
saw slits) better? Or is a false bottom the only real choice?
I really like my setup but I scorch the bottom when going from a protein
rest to sac rest, to mash out. I also scorch the bottom in my boiler--it is a
problem.
2. I am thinking that a false bottom is goint to be the best route to go.
What is the optimal size of the false bottom (9, 10, 12 inch) and what is the
optimal spacing/size of the wholes? the false bottom will be made of SS.
3. If I choose to go with a false bottom for both the boiler and the mash
tun, is scorching a problem when doughing in and boiling?
Thanks for any practical advice!. The HBD is the best resource for
homebrewers!!!
Keith
xkchristian at fullerton.edu
Blindness isn't better... It is just different!
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From: Wseliger at aol.com
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 1996 21:28:09 -0400
Subject: North Carolina Beery Places?
I will soon be travelling to the Raleigh-Durham and Winston-Salem areas (as
well as Myrtle Beach and points in between). Can anyone recommend beery
places that I should not miss in any of these cities?
Thanks in advance,
Bill Seliger
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From: Dan <DJTIM at delphi.com>
Date: Thu, 22 Aug 1996 23:23:25 -0500 (EST)
Subject: None
Subject: Won't You Wear My Ring Around Your
Jeff asked in HBD #2151
h>"Is a ring around the neck of a bottle ALWAYS a bad sign?" (he asked
h>infectiously)
The best I can answer this is that "I don't think so." I have had a
number of brews with some sort of ring around the neck but the beer the
beer tasted fine when I started drinking that particular batch and even
better at the last bottle. So my conclusion has been that it isn't an
infection. I'm guessing but I think it maybe some left over break
material that won't settle.
Something that I have done with some success is to swirl the bottle to
stir up what has deposited on the neck (doesn't always do it) and then
let the bottles continue to condition. This stirred up material seems to
always settle and doesn't end up in my glass.
Bottomline...taste it and you'll have your answer.
This is only my guess on the situation and I defer to the greater
knowledge of the collective.
=============================
Subject: Hydrometer Conversion
Stephen asked in HDB #2151
h> Is there a simple formula which allows one to take a Hydrometer
h> reading at any temperature and convert it to the standard 60F? I
h> vaguely remember some discussion in this area. I have only seen
h> look up tables (and I have lost mine).
I have taken the adjustment table and did a curve fit to it but I don't
think there is anything "published" more than tables. I know that The
Brewery on the WWW has links to this info. If you need more email me.
=============================
Dan
djtim at delphi.com
"I've always been mad, I know I've been mad, like most of us have. It's
pretty hard to explain why you are mad even if you are not mad." Pink
Floyd
'[1;32m== IntJet: QWK, UK & US, Windows, GUI, OLR !!
'[1;35;40m-=> Delphi Internet Jet SST v3.012 - (C) PBE
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From: bob rogers <bob at carol.net>
Date: Wed, 21 Aug 1996 23:26:57 -0400
Subject: re: recipies normalized for water type
``
first popularized using regional water supplies). What I might propose
is to devise a grouping system of 10 or so of most common water types
(Burton, Dortmund, Plzen, etc.) with ion concentrataion ranges for each
type.
''
i like this idea, it would be great if we could compile a national database
of water types. for instance: i know my water is soft but that's about it.
since water types are regional (at least somewhat, thus: "burton") maybe we
could have water types for various parts of the u.s. (or even other places).
btw, i really like the idea of a conversion matrix, which would explain how
much of various things to add to move from one type of water to another.
oh, and i also realize that charts and tables aren't nearly as accurate as
measurement and calculation, but i don't like to measure, and my
calculations are usually wrong :(
brewing in the heart of the bible belt,
bob
bob rogers bob at carol.net
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From: "Braam Greyling" <acg at knersus.nanoteq.co.za>
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 1996 11:25:14 +200
Subject: Freezing yeast again.
Hi
I know there were a thread about freezing yeasts.
There is just one or two more things I would like to know.
What effect will finings like irish moss and other beer clearing
agents have on the second generation yeast. Will it influence the
flocculation too much ?
Also: what the heck is DME.
It would be nice if someone can post an explanation of acronyms to
the HBD. I have looked at the brewery www site but couldnt find DME.
Thank you very much.
Braam Greyling I.C. Design Engineer
Nanoteq (Pty) Ltd
tel. +27 (12) 665-1338 fax +27 (12) 665-1343
- ---- 24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case ----
- ---- coincidence ????? ----
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From: "Braam Greyling" <acg at knersus.nanoteq.co.za>
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 1996 12:27:38 +200
Subject: Pumps for wort and RIMS
Hi
There has been some talk about sanitizing the air when aerating the
wort.
I propose something for discussion.
Take the outlet of the airpump. Connect it to a small piece of soft
copper tubing. Let this piece of soft copper tubing goes through
boiling hot water (ie. electric kettle). Connect the other side of
the copper to the plastic pipe again. Let the air go into the wort.
If it is too hot let it go through another copper pipe in ice water.
Do you guys think it will work ? Is it too much of an hassle ?
Any ideas ?
Also:
Bob Wolff , are you still out there buddy ? I am mailing you but it
seems you dont get my mail.
Cheers
Braam Greyling I.C. Design Engineer
Nanoteq (Pty) Ltd
tel. +27 (12) 665-1338 fax +27 (12) 665-1343
- ---- 24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case ----
- ---- coincidence ????? ----
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