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

Contents:
  homegrown hops - yield, drying (Dick Dunn)
  The Gravity of the Situation (Mike Fertsch)
  Grain Grinding (Steve Anthony)
  Great Fermentations, more info (Doug Roberts)


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Date: 15 Aug 89 21:42:06 MDT (Tue)
From: hplabs!gatech!raven!rcd (Dick Dunn)
Subject: homegrown hops - yield, drying

In response to the question about yield on hops--I've found that my plants
took several years to establish themselves reasonably.  The yield goes up
each year--this is their sixth year and they're still improving.  Our soil
is probably not well suited to hops--heavy clay.  Our climate almost
certainly isn't suited to them--erratic spring (which doesn't seem to
bother too much), relatively short growing season, and drydrydrydry.  But
they are hardy.  I seem to remember a note from Wegeng some time back to
the effect that it should only take a couple of years?  What experience do
other folks have with hops establishing themselves?

About drying:  Hops can certainly be air-dried and frozen.  However, a
trick I haven't figured out is how to dry them to a reasonably consistent
moisture level.  It doesn't really affect the storage; the trick is knowing
how much you've got.  If the moisture content can alter the weight by a
factor of two or more, how do you figure how much bittering or aromatic
effect you're getting?!?  (0.5 oz of commercial hops might be equivalent to
1.5 oz of inadequately dried homegrown hops.)

I can guess that if I dry them moderately, then freeze them, and find that
I get little ice droplets in the bag after they've been in the freezer for
a while, I probably didn't dry them enough.  But how much is too much?
---
Dick Dunn	{ncar;ico;stcvax}!raven!rcd		(303)494-0965
			or	rcd at raven.uucp

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Date: Wed, 16 Aug 89 09:09 EDT
From: Mike Fertsch <FERTSCH at adc1.RAY.COM>
Subject: The Gravity of the Situation

Doug Roberts writes about his sweet stout recipe -

> The start S.G. was 1.057, which translates to a potential alcohol of 7.8
> percent. The end S.G. was 1.022 prior to kegging, six weeks after the boil.
> The 1.022 S.G. meant a residual of 3.0%, for an alcohol content of 4.8%.

Can someone help me out with the math here?  Working backwards from these
numbers, I assume that potential alcohol is the starting (original) gravity
divided by 7.31, or more precisely, potential alcohol = (OG-1)*1000/7.31. 
Residual is final gravity divided by 7.31, or (FG-1)*1000/7.31.   Alcohol
content is the potential alcohol minus the residual, giving
(OG-FG)*1000/7.31.  Is this by weight, or by volume? 

Alcohol by volume gives a higher figure than alcohol by weight, because 
alcohol is lighter than water.  %-by volume is around 20% higher than 
%-by-weight.

Doug's technique seems reasonable, but the resulting numbers seem high. As
an example, Budweiser has a starting gravity around 1.045, and a final
gravity around 1.005.  Using Doug's numbers, Budweiser has an alcohol
content of 5.5%.  I've always thought that Bud was around 4.0 by weight, 
4.8 by volume.

Something is wrong here.  Either my numbers are wrong on Budweiser, or my
calculator is broken.  I use a similar equation to Doug's, but divide by
10.0, instead of 7.31.  I would estimate Doug's recipe as yielding
(57-22)/10 = 3.5 percent by weight.   Adding an additional 20% 
gives 4.2 percent by volume.

I probably should just use the potential alcohol numbers on my hydrometer
and not worry! 

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Date: Wed, 16 Aug 89 11:49:22 EDT
From: Steve Anthony <steveo at Think.COM>
Subject: Grain Grinding

Does anyone out there have any experience using a food processor or blender
to grind grains for brewing?  Seems like it'd be an efficient way to grind
the grains, rather than use the rolling pin or breaking down and buying a
grain mill.

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Date: Wed, 16 Aug 89 10:42:22 MDT
From: roberts%studguppy at LANL.GOV (Doug Roberts  at  Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Subject: Great Fermentations, more info

Boy, this brew-list is an active one! Since I posted my recipe for a
Mackeson Stout-alike last night, I've received numerous inquiries
about Great Fermentations. So, here is their address & phone number:

I mispoke their address previously; they have two locations in
California, not Seattle.  In any event, they ship. Call them and ask
for their catalog.

Great Fermentations
87 Larkspur
San Rafael, CA 94901 (415)459-2520

and

840 Piner Road
Santa Rosa, CA 95403 (707)544-2520

In case they don't have Australian light, you can use whatever bulk
light syrup they happen to have on hand a the time. They maintain
their stock in 55 gallon barrels.

--Doug

================================================================
Douglas Roberts                |
Los Alamos National Laboratory |When choosing between two evils,  
Box 1663, MS F-602             |I always like to try the one 
Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545   |I've never tried before.
(505)667-4569                  |
dzzr at lanl.gov                  |
================================================================

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End of HOMEBREW Digest #230, 08/17/89

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