HOMEBREW Digest #2365 Tue 04 March 1997

[Prev HBD] [Index] [Next HBD] [Back]


	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: janitor@ brew.oeonline.com
		Many thanks to the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers of 
		Livonia, Michigan for sponsoring the Homebrew Digest.
				URL: http://www.oeonline.com


Contents:
  Stadt Brauerei Roth / Budvar (John Sullivan)
  Cold Break Removal ("Reed")
  Blow-off (Dave LaRocque)
  re: Fermenting in 10gal Corny, Trub, Splitting CO2 ("C.D. Pritchard")
  Lactic souring (Mike Marshburn)
  Pellets vs Whole/Iodine vs Stainless ("Val J. Lipscomb")
  kegging question (Jim Dickinson)
  Temperature corrections for volume (Harlan Bauer)
  Fermenting Berliner Weisse (Michael Newman)
  barleywine (Bill Watt)
  Irish Moss (Michael Newman)
  Brewery Help Wanted (not brewing info) (hufkna)
  Mashing Machine (Jim Martin)
  stale (sour) beer for Porter (Hal Davis)
  Stainless steel fermenters?  Opinions (Tom Purdum)
  "phil chill" and cold break (jazztone)
  NHC rule change (Bill Giffin)
  Mash pH (A. J. deLange)
  Italy & Beer ("Nazzareno Todini")
  Carboy safety (PVanslyke)
  Re: CF chillers and cold break (Charles Burns)
  Tender Beer? ("Kevin Imel")
  AB specialty brewing ("Aaron Herrick")
  Yeast, Yeast, Yeast! Questions ("Mark Rose")
  Re: read this (american Cancer Society)HBD #2364 (March 03, 1997) (Rae Christopher J)
  potent yeast...barley wine (Rae Christopher J)
  keeping ferment warm with temperature controller (Randy Reed) ("Reed,Randy")
  malto-dextrin (korz)
  Wyeast 1968--London ESB: Multi-strain? (Harlan Bauer)
  Evaluation Program (Bill Giffin)

NOTE NEW HOMEBREW ADDRESS: brew.oeonline.com Send articles for __publication_only__ to homebrew at brew.oeonline.com (Articles are published in the order they are received.) Send UNSUBSCRIBE and all other requests, ie, address change, etc., to homebrew-request@ brew.oeonline.com BUT PLEASE NOTE that if you subscribed via the BITNET listserver (BEER-L at UA1VM.UA.EDU), you must unsubscribe by sending a one line e-mail to listserv at ua1vm.ua.edu that says: UNSUB BEER-L Thanks to Pete Soper, Rob Gardner and all others for making the Homebrew Digest what it is. Visit the HBD Hall of Fame at: http://brew.oeonline.com/ If your account is being deleted, please be courteous and unsubscribe first. Please don't send me requests for back issues - you will be silently ignored. For "Cat's Meow" information, send mail to lutzen at alpha.rollanet.org ARCHIVES: An archive of previous issues of this digest, as well as other beer related information can be accessed via anonymous ftp at ftp.stanford.edu. Use ftp to log in as anonymous and give your full e-mail address as the password, look under the directory /pub/clubs/homebrew/beer directory. AFS users can find it under /afs/ir.stanford.edu/ftp/pub/clubs/homebrew/beer. If you do not have ftp capability you may access the files via e-mail using the ftpmail service at gatekeeper.dec.com. For information about this service, send an e-mail message to ftpmail at gatekeeper.dec.com with the word "help" (without the quotes) in the body of the message.
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 02 Mar 1997 10:20:17 -0800 From: John Sullivan <sullvan at anet-stl.com> Subject: Stadt Brauerei Roth / Budvar I had an opportunity on a recent evening to try some beers that a friend brought back from Europe. Though, I had an opportunity to try Budweiser Budvar for the first time, we stayed primarily with the offerings of the Stadt Brauerei Roth. Regarding Budvar, it would be a shame if A-B's recent attempts to buy into that enterprise ever came to fruition. I've tasted a lot of great pilseners, but in my opinion this one puts Pilsener Urquell to shame. This example of Budweiser was bought several months back and my host did mention to me that it wasn't the freshest example. It was canned however, so it was not subjected to any skunking. Fresh or not, this beer was fantastic. The hop character of this brew is simply out of this world. If anyone does not understand the influence of soft water on making such a beer, Budvar will give you an idea. It is extremely hoppy, but without any of the harsh overtones that are normally associated with highly hopped beers. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the hop character of a good Alt, California Common or IPA, but there is something about the roundness of the hop character in Budvar that is hard to ignore. It is unfortunate that you can't buy it here. >From the Stadt Brauerei Roth, we sampled Hefeweizen, Dunkelweizen, Bock and a fourth beer that we had some difficulty putting a finger on. The weizens both had an aroma that is reminiscent of candy... actually those orange, peanut shaped sponge type candies that we all tried as kids. While it wasn't classic clove and banana, it certainly was an appropriate and not unpleasant phenolic for these beers. Both beers had a sweet edge along with some balancing tartness. The dunkelweizen had enough chocolate character to be noticeable. These were both quite good, but not quite what I would term classics. The bock would be classified in the helles bock category. Rich, malty, sweet, it was obvious that traditional decoction mashing was employed. This bock was truly excellent and one of the best bocks I have ever had. Just so you don't think that I got on here to be long winded about beers that I have had recently, I have some questions for any of you well-traveled brewers out here. The fourth beer from Roth used the term Hel and Voll at different spots on the label. Now "hel" means light in color and not necessarily the same thing as helles. "Voll" means full. Sampling this beer, we noted that it had a great hop aroma, moderate maltiness and balanced bitterness (we estimated probably around 25 to 28 IBU). It had too much hoppiness all the way around to be a helles but the maltiness and underlying sweetness was OK for a helles. It had the right aroma for Pils, but not enough bitterness and hop flavor. It was too sweet and malty to be a dortmunder style export. Has anyone tried this beer? My friend seems to think it defies categorization into the style parameters that we are all accustomed to. As I mentioned, the labeling did not help us much here. We checked out Jackson (both of the coffee table books... don't have the pocket guide) and the brewery is not mentioned and the city (Roth) only appears on a map. If anyone else has tried any of these beers or has any information on the beer or the brewery, I would appreciate you sharing it with me. Thanks! John Sullivan St. Louis, MO Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 11:43:15 -0500 From: "Reed" <rreed at netusa1.net> Subject: Cold Break Removal George writes: (re: removal of break material) : <snip> He does this by :using a chore boy pad as a filter on his racking cane at the ENTRANCE :to the chiller. :While this would help remove hot break, it will not remove COLD break, :which is what I was talking about. Cold break is made up of proteins :and lipids, etc. that are soluble at high temperatures, but crash out :of solution upon rapid chilling. They cannot be filtered out of hot :wort with a porous filter. : : Jim Cave's method of allowing the cold break material to settle does : work well (I used to do this), but I never seem to have enough free : carboys around to do this anymore. Another issue is: how much cold break do you want to remove? If the brewer knocks out via CF chiller, cold break will continue to form for many hours (days). An empirical point here... you can wait 4 hours or overnight after chilling, rack off cold break, and then pitch yeast, and you will *not* remove all of the break material. Cold break continues to form and it seems to continue through respiration and the onset of fermentation (pH change, perhaps?) The $1.2M question (adjusted for inflation) is: do you want to remove any or most of the *cold* break? BTW, the $100,000 question is if I make an adequate contribution, can I brew in the basement of the Whitehouse and ferment in the Lincoln bedroom 8{) There are some textbook reasons, e.g., (fusel alcohol formation, M & B Science, p.599) to remove cold break, but I think the most important issue is can you detect an incremental improvement for this incremental increase in labor, process complexity. There is also a substantial loss of wort (~10%), unless you are chilling your wort to the 30s-40s F, prior to racking. Most micro and pub brewers I have spoken with don't remove cold break prior to active fermentation. I have spoken to brewers from large breweries who *do* remove cold break prior to active fermentation. For my time and money, it depends on style - if I am brewing Kolsch or American Stock ale and am pitching adequate yeast, I'll consider removing cold break prior to pitching yeast: if I am brewing Stout, IPA, or some other robust beer, it's not worth it. Cheers, Rob Reed Kokomo, IN Home of the Bull and Stump, and Blessed Sacrament (Hand pulled ICE DRY Gueuze LITE currently "on tap") Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 02 Mar 1997 13:53:59 -0500 From: Dave LaRocque <davel at ids.net> Subject: Blow-off Hello folks- I'm realtively new to the craft and have only done batches so far. The most recent being an IPA. Due to inavailablility of other products, I had to use hop pellets. I also used a 6 gal glass carboy instead of the ol' HDPE pail. Now, 40 hours after pitching, there was no activity. At about hour 48, the thing started going crazy. This was about bed-time for me. Most of you experienced guys know what the next thing is going to be... I unintentionally redecorated my linen closet. Air lock clogged up with hop crap and blew. After waking the next morning, I cleaned and sanitized the stopper and air lock and replaced. Bubbling resumed almost immediately. Aside from the obvious exposure to oxygen for 8 hours or so, what other risks am I taking with this batch. Is it salvagable? Email answers are fine. <davel at ids.net> - --Dave - --Dave Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 02 Mar 1997 14:08:07 +0700 From: "C.D. Pritchard" <cdp at mail.chattanooga.net> Subject: re: Fermenting in 10gal Corny, Trub, Splitting CO2 John Wilkinson wanted to know how to secure an airstone to small diameter tubing for oxygenating his wort in fermenter kegs. I like the HBer's equalivent to baling wire: copper wire. 20 AWG ought to work well. Make 2-3 tight wraps then twist the ends together while tugging 'em with pliers. John finds it difficult determining when o2 flow starts. If one's oxygenating after racking all the wort to the keg, fitting a standard airlock to the keg's gas-in fitting should work- bubbling thru the air lock would almost directly relate to the rate you're injecting o2. If the flow is difficult to throttle, a needle valve in the o2 line downstream of the o2 regulator would afford finer flow control. - ----------------------------- Scott Bridges posted: >I just read about someone... who allows the trub to settle in a holding >tank then transfers into the primary and pitches the yeast. Would there be >anything wrong with pitching the yeast in the holding tank? Maybe I'm too AR about it, but, I don't like the idea leaving an unpitched wort sitting around awaiting the cold break to drop. I suspose if the yeast is not very flocculent, pitching into the holding tank would work. I'd make a big starter and pitch at high krausen. >Would the yeast settle out with the trub? I've pitched yeast while filling a carboy fermenter via a CF chiller (lots of cold break!). One memorable batch formed yeast/trub globs which were up to up to 3/8" in dia. As fermenting proceeded, the globs would float up from the bottom of the carboy to the top, release co2 and fall back to the bottom. It was quite a sight- kinda mesmerizing like a lava lamp. Did the brew no harm insofar as I could tell even tho' it spent an extra couple of days in the primary after high-ferment. Other batches with the same yeast (WY 1056) and about the same amount of trub did not put on this sort of show. Never deduced what the difference was. For ales, I'm not convinced cold break does much if any harm to the brew. Lots of hot break would cause me concern. - ----------------------------- Speaking of trub removal, I finally got around to putting info on a wort boiler racking manifold on the web. It's a slotted copper loop affair which is used mainly with immersion cooled and whirlpooled worts and whole hops instead of a racking cane/scrub pad. The URL is: caladan.chattanooga.net/~cdp/boil_man.htm - ----------------------------- Scott Rohlf wants to know how to split a single co2 line three ways. The cheapest way is to buy some nylon or brass hose tees (the type with barbs), vinyl tubing and clamp type valves which fit over the hose (they seem to be widely availabe at HB shops). I used such an affair until the current manifold evolved: 1/2" Cu Tubing =+==+==+=-- Inlet- 1/4" Cu tubing nipple 1/4" Cu nipples | | | v v v Valves- brass needle type 1/4" Cu nipples | | | All nipples are soldered to 1/4" holes in the the manifold. The brass valves have compression ends and are similiar to those used for supplying ice makers. They're intended for water service, but I've found them to be leak-tight at 30 psig of co2. 3/16" ID x 5/16" OD vinyl tubing is used throughout. The thing is fastened to the inside wall of the fridge with screws via brackets soldered on the manifold. The cylinder/regulator is outside the fridge. The business end of the regulator has a brass tee with a 1/4" valve, nipple and vinyl tubing at one outlet for purging kegs & secondarys, powering the counterpressure filler and such. If fabricating such a manifold is too difficult, one could be assembled from threaded tees, close nipples, and such. c.d. pritchard cdp at chattanooga.net http://caladan.chattanooga.net/~cdp/index.html Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 02 Mar 1997 15:37:04 -0500 From: Mike Marshburn <mike48 at erols.com> Subject: Lactic souring Brewers, I remember reading about souring a beer with lactic acid, but I can't seem to find a recipe with any amounts. I have 5 gals of wheat beer I wish to sour this way, but I don't want to just plunge in without some idea of what I'm getting in to. If any of you have done this I would really like to hear from you as to the amount you used and what were the results. Thank You mike48 at erols.com Virginia Beach, Va Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 14:54:02 -0600 (CST) From: "Val J. Lipscomb" <valjay at NetXpress.com> Subject: Pellets vs Whole/Iodine vs Stainless In HBD #2363, Charley Burns posted his procedures for hop "spooge" and trub removal, using an immersion chiller. He feels that to use CF chilling one must change to whole hops. I respectfully disagree. I have for some years used CF and pellets and a cut-off 1/2 bbl keg as a kettle. The concave bottom allows all the hot break and hop "spooge" (great word,Charley) to collect in a neat pile after whirlpooling energetically. Using a racking cane or spigot assembly with a nylon gauze covered Choreboy or other such gadget and pulling the wort from the weld point where the concave bottom starts, you can get crud free wort out of the kettle with no problems. As in your current method, you will lose a couple of quarts of wort, but your procedure to save still applies-strain,save,reboil and make it a yeast starter. In the same HBD, John Palmer wrote that "chlorine based sanitizers and cleaners that the dairy industry uses are Inhibited (usually with silicates) to help prevent corrosion". OK, John, where can we find some of these cleaners and what names do they go by?? Val Lipscomb-brewing in San Antonio Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 02 Mar 1997 22:35:23 GMT From: jdickins at baste.magibox.net (Jim Dickinson) Subject: kegging question hey all, I am going to start kegging my beer and I am wondering where I should get the equipment, mainly the CO2 regulator and the stainless steel quick disconnects. Also, is there one type of keg perferred over another (ball lock vs pin lock)? I am also wondering how I properly "age" the beer. I know that when I bottle and carbonate with corn sugar, the beer gets better with age (4-6 weeks). Will kegged and force carbonated beer also get better with age?=20 thanks in advance, jim Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 02 Mar 1997 17:17:36 -0600 From: blacksab at midwest.net (Harlan Bauer) Subject: Temperature corrections for volume I'm sure this has been discussed before, but a search of the archives yielded nothing--How do you correct for temperature in a volume of brewing water? I have a sight level on my hot liquor tank that is calibrated for 60*F, but when I raise the temperature, the water gets "bigger". Anyone have a formula or know of a table? TIA, Harlan Harlan Bauer ...malt does more than Milton can Carbondale, IL To justify God's ways to man. <blacksab at midwest.net> --A.E. Houseman Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 19:37:12 -0500 From: Michael Newman <MWNewman at compuserve.com> Subject: Fermenting Berliner Weisse Help please. I am making my first batch of Berliner Weisse. I have decided to inoculate the wort with Lactobacillus delbrukii initially for four days and at that point pitch a german ale yeast. The Ld is in the fermenter doing its stuff. I did not oxygenate the wort in order to give the bacteria a good start. Should I oxygenate at the time of pitching the yeast? Or should I not oxygenate and let it battle it out with the bacteria. All help gratefully received! Michael Michael Newman MWNewman at compuserve.Com http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/MWNewman Beer isn't the only thing in life; it's much more important than that. Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 02 Mar 97 19:53:55 PST From: Bill Watt <wattbrew at buffnet.net> Subject: barleywine I am about to make my first barleywine (maybe next weekend) and the following question needs an answer. If I secondary it for 6 months, how the heck will it carbonate after I bottle it? Will there still be enough yeast in suspension or am I missing the whole point? Is it supposed to condition for 6 months after it is bottled? And if so, how long is the primary and secondary ferment befor bottling? Any clear answers would be greatly appreciated. Private e-mail or public scorn at my lack of understanding will both be acceptable. Bill Watt - Brewing beer in Lancaster, NY Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 20:14:19 -0500 From: Michael Newman <MWNewman at compuserve.com> Subject: Irish Moss A couple of people asked about the method of using Irish Moss in the last HBD. I have discussed this on my web page (address below). I currently use 10g per 23 litres (6 US gall) but 5g seems to work as well (I'm experimenting). Commercial use is at the rate of 1-2g per 23 litres and I will try these rates out in my next few batches. I most important step in using flake IM (and probably powdered) is re-hydration. I soak my IM overnight in boiling water (150ml to 10g) and mix it with a hand blender just before use. This results in a thick, brown, foul smelling paste with some flakes left intact. Add this to the last 15 minutes of the boil. One advantage of the higher rate I am using at the moment is the greater amount of fluffy IM left at the bottom of the copper to act as a filter bed, augmenting any whole hops used. I would appreciate any feedback about your Im experiences so that I can update my web page. Michael Newman Warminster UK MWNewman at compuserve.Com http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/MWNewman Beer isn't the only thing in life; it's much more important than that. Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 20:39:44 -0500 From: hufkna at mich.com Subject: Brewery Help Wanted (not brewing info) Sorry for the non brewing information post, but thought interested folks might be lurking... BrewPub opening in Port Huron, Michigan. Hiring brewery staff. Send resume and/or flames to: Quay Street Brewing Company, 330 Quay Street Port Huron, MI 48060. (810) 982-4100 (voice) Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 02 Mar 1997 19:29:41 -0800 From: Jim Martin <fermntap at concentric.net> Subject: Mashing Machine I've always been a gadget guy, but my wifey say's I've gone too far with my latest invention.. I've converted her clothes washer into a RIMS system. It's now a "mashing machine". The agitation cycle works great for stiring the grains, the spin cycle will continually recycle until I switch the hose over to the boil kettle. Just spray sparge water for a complete rinse and WOW! Talk about extraction rate. And best of all is it's self cleaning ! For you new brewers, don't try this at home! Jim Martin, still alive and brewin. Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 21:39:09 -0600 (CST) From: Hal Davis <davis at planolaw.com> Subject: stale (sour) beer for Porter Thanks to all of you who wrote to me about my questions about mixing stale and mild beer to make porter the old-fashioned way. I waited a little longer to summarize, because I expected more responses than I got. First, I asked if you mixed bitter with mild, what would you call it (since stale and mild was called porter). Mark Peacock reports "A friend of mine from Lancashire used to mix draught bitters with bottled brown ale to make (naturally) a "brown and bitters". The bottled brown ale was low in alcohol -- I seem to remember the label saying about 2.5%, though I'm reaching for some very dusty neurons. His rationale for the mixture was: 1) Lower alcohol content meant a longer and more social evening at the pub (he was a very slight man); 2) He liked the taste." and " mild ale is too gassy, and bitter ale is too bitter, so a common request in a pub in England is ``mild and bitter'' (that, btw, is what it's called there). I can also tell you that, from the mild and bitter that I've had, it's a treat. Yum...." INNOCULATIOON TO MAKE STALE (SOUR) BEER Rex Clingan said that he let three batches sour by exposing them to the air. He wound up with one he liked, and he's sending me a bottle to use like a sourdough starter. I still haven't figured out whether to dump in the sour beer at the same time I pitch yeast or after it's undergone some primary fermentation. He also reports that the souring bug is rather difficult to sanitize out of his kegs, and thinks it has taken up residence in the rubber parts. He also says, "my experience is that the souring continues with time, so that your blend will probably change with time to get the proper profile. and aging is fairly important, old sour beer is really interesting." I also asked whether I should use the same recipe for my stale and my brown, and whether a good mild for mixing with bitter would be Cheeks to the Wind Mild from Papazian's New Joy. Dennis Waltman points out that the Cheeks mild might be considered a brown, even though it uses light extract, because it has a half pound of black patent which changes the color. I'm not sure: I think there's more to being a brown than the color. Also, the historical article indicated that the browns were smoked. Hal Davis the Safety Brewery, Plano, Texas member North Texas Home Brewers Assn Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 02 Mar 1997 20:29:07 -0800 From: Tom Purdum <tpurdum at gregg-jones.com> Subject: Stainless steel fermenters? Opinions Hello all, I'm fairly new to homebrewing and I thought that i read somewhere that a homebrewer could adapt stainless steel soda kegs (like whats used in fountain pop machines) for fermenting. I have a few laying around my house and was thinking about trying it out. Any hints, tips, suggestions, opinions, etc. Thanks is advance, Tom Purdum Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 1997 04:14:52 EST From: jazztone at juno.com Subject: "phil chill" and cold break Hello all, I just had 2 simple questions pertaining to brewing. I just recently put together the Phil chill counterflow chiller... It seems to work great, but here is my problem: As soon as I boil my wort, I pour it through a strainer (I use whole hops) into a 5 gallon bucket w/ a spigot. From the spigot, I have a plastic tube that connects to the inlet of the counterflow chiller. The outlet of the chiller connects to another plastic hose which dumps the nice "cold" beer into the primary fermenter. The problem is the hose from the spigot of the bucket heats up and gets real soft from the heat, and I can only use it for 1 or 2 chill "sessions". Is there another way to transfer the hot wort into the chiller safely without having to start a siphon and use a chore-boy....what is the BEST method? And secondly, after the cold wort went into the fermentor, I got a huge layer of settling stuff that was very specifically a layer.. I'm assuming it's cold break, and alot of it stuck to the sides of the fermentor, and most of it settled. Now the fermentation is about done... My question is, is this bad, can I still rack the beer into my keg without the flavor being affected, and how would I avoid it in the future (if it is in fact, bad.) If it means anything, I put in I tablespoon of Irish moss in with the hops at the beginning of the boil..(What will cold break do to the beer?) The last question is: I have been using liquid Wyeast with great results making starters, but just did a batch of wheat beer that calls for dry yeast. Is rehydration necessary for DRY yeast, and what is the best method for pitching it? Some books say shake it into the wort, others say don't....thanks very much for any responses..... -chris brown Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 1997 07:43:31 -0600 From: Bill Giffin <billgiffin at maine.com> Subject: NHC rule change Good morning all, I hope that all of you who are planning to enter the AHA NHC *VERY CAREFULLY READ THE RULES*!! Rule E in Part III - The Fine Print has been changed from preivous years and the following was added to this rule. "The recipe becomes the intellectual property of the AHA." Isn't that a nice simple little addition to the rule that will take away all of you rights to the recipe because creating a recipe is an intellectual process. Under this rule you will lose the name of the beer. I would find giving up the name of one of my beers something I wouldn't want to do as I name most of the beers with my tiny brewery's name, Broken Oar Brewery, or I have used the same name for a beer brewed using the same recipe for a number of years and I wouldn't want to part with any of these names. The 1997 NHC will be the qualifier for the Boston Beer "Long Shot" homebrew search. If your recipe is the intellectual property of the AHA what will you have to give to the Boston Beer Company? Your brewing expertise? It appears to me that that is about all you will have to give the Boston Beer Company. If you plan to write an article for any publication you would have to have the permission of the AHA before you could even use you own recipe as an example. If I were the Boston Beer Company I wouldn't want to be any part of the AHA NHC, though maybe this rule was put in for their benefit and the homebrewer doesn't have a chance. I won't enter the NHC because I honestly feel that the competition is not well run and the cost of entering the competition is excessive. Now to go to the second round you have to give up all your rights to your recipe, this rule change in and of itself would be enough to prevent me from entering the NHC. Those of you who would like to send a message to the AOB/AHA the NHC is the place to do it. Zymurgy depends on having recipes in the magazine to sell the magazine. If no one enters their will be no new recipes for the AHA to exploit. SAVE YOUR MONEY enter local and regional competitions to have you beer evaluated. Local competition may not give you national recognition but they often give much better prizes. Bill Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 1997 13:27:26 -0500 From: ajdel at mindspring.com (A. J. deLange) Subject: Mash pH Rick Pauly used 6 (yep 6) tsp of gypsum in 15 gal of mash water and doughed in at a pH of 5.2 and then added another 3 (topping off to 15 gal again) for sparge. At the end of sparge he measured pH 4.6. He reports soft water and wonders what is going on. I don't have enough info to say with certainty but I would guess that the grist contained a good proportion of high kilned malts. pH 5.2 at dough in is too low, especially if this was measured at room temperature as at mash temperature it's going to be a couple of tenths lower still. Rather than adding gypsum which releases H+, the proper move for a grist like this would be to add chalk (carbonate) which will raise the pH by neutralizing some of the acidity in the malts. Around 5.4 - 5.6 would be a good target for dough in so that this can drift down a couple of tenths as the temperature is raised to conversion temperature and still be in the desired range. There is no reason to add gypsum to sparge water. It does not lower the pH of water by itself (in fact it usually increases it slightly). We assume that the pH meters were properly calibrated before use and that they have ATC or that manual compensation for temperature was done? For further information on pH in brewing and the use of pH meters see the last 2 issues of BT (what the hell, if Ken Scwartz isn't ashamed of blatant personal plugs, neither am I!) A. J. deLange - Numquam in dubio, saepe in errore. Please Note New e-mail Address Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 1997 10:12:43 -0500 From: "Nazzareno Todini" <natzos at ix.netcom.com> Subject: Italy & Beer Hi Kenny. My name is Nazzareno and I am Italian. Thanks for bringing up the "Italy & beer" issue, it's always interesting to me to know what people think about my country, especially regarding beer. Far from being an authority in this field I nonetheless would like to try to give an explanation to the "strong beer phenomenon" in Italian bars. Beer drinking in Italy is strongly related to the season. In the general opinion this beverage is thought to be nothing more than a thirst quencher and Italian large breweries produce almost exclusively light lagers to follow the trend (or may be they set the trend?). Beers like Peroni or, to a smaller extent Moretti, are a delightful refreshment for the Italian working class during the painfully hot summer days and is not unusual to see construction workers or anybody else who has to work outdoor enjoying a "canadese" , slang word used to describe the specific kind of bottle used from Peroni to package their 22 oz.. beers, along with a "king size" sandwich for lunch. So beer seems to be considered a beverage more apt to be a snack wetter than the more alcoholic wine, especially in work days (Sundays are a different issue). When people go out on the weekend or at night after work, alcohol is not a problem anymore (au contraire!) and drinking foreign beers in a downtown bar is much more "sophisticated" than having a Nastro Azzurro (Peroni Export lager); moreover, being imprinted from childhood to the sensation given by wine, when drinking beer, Italians seem to look for the " kick " and go for strong , wine-like beers (Belgian are among the favorites). Finally, don't forget that visiting a country normally means just take a quick look at monuments in the cities' historical centers. The bars around touristic sites are the same usually visited at night from the "suburban city tribes". The same people who during the day swallow a quick lunch with the aid of a cold lager, make the barkeeper stock the cooler with Ceres and Adelscott, not to forget Biere du Demon, ready for the night shift........ Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 1997 10:50:29 -0500 (EST) From: PVanslyke at aol.com Subject: Carboy safety Good morning I have read postings many times from brewers dropping, nearly dropping, etc. carboys. I consider myself lucky in that I have not broken one yet (knock wood). Especially when washing with slippery stuff (technical term). I don't know where I originally read this tip, but I know it worksx Find a plastic milk crate and place the carboy in it. These crates will accomodate 5 and 6.5 gal 'boys. Use the crate to move empty and full carboys. Later Paul VanSlyke >> brewing and relaxing in Deposit, NY Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 97 08:14 PST From: cburns at egusd.k12.ca.us (Charles Burns) Subject: Re: CF chillers and cold break At 10:28 AM 3/2/97 -0500, Al Stevens wrote: >A point of clarification regarding cold break in CF chillers. >The wort is cooled very rapidly in the chiller coils, and THIS >is where the break material is formed. If the chiller drains >directly into the fermenter, the break goes with it, and no amount >of filtering, whirlpooling, pellets vs whole, etc at the >INPUT, is going to change this. > >As a data point, I have never noticed any problem with >fermenting on the cold break (for ales anyway), >but I used to have problems before I used a chiller >because of the long time to cool the wort. > Of course, since the chilling occurs IN the chiller, the cold break rolls right out into whatever container receives the outflow. All I had to do was picture it in my head and it became obvious. And you're right, I've had as much as 2" of coldbreak on the bottom of my primary and made excellent beers that way. I think I'll stick with my immersion chiller. I cooled 6.5 gallons yesterday from boiling to 75F in just under 12 minutes. That's fast enough for me. Later, Charley Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 1997 08:53:06 -8 From: "Kevin Imel" <kimel at moscow.com> Subject: Tender Beer? Hi Gang! Here is a question for all those that like to ponder such things as etiology and the beer industry: About a month ago I was visiting a shopping mall when I was set upon by a young lad with a clipboard that wanted to ask me a few questions. Since the topic was "Beer" I went ahead and answered his questions. Well, I fit the profile ("Beer Drinker") and was asked if I would like to participate in a longer survey about "Beer" for which I would be paid $8 that would take about 50 minutes. Well, the chance that I might actually leave a mall with more money than I went in with was compelling but I also had the misconception that maybe I would get to taste some actual beer....WRONG! Anyway, after answering several questions and after establishing that my three favorite "brands" were 1) My homebrew Brown Ale, 2) My homebrew "Road Tar Porter", 3) My homebrew Raspberry Weizen [which really blew the rest of the survey I am sure] I was confronted with a list of brand names that included "micros" like Sam Adams, Pete's and Sierra Nevada as well as the big boys (AB, Coors, Miller, etc.) and the imports: Heinekin and Corona. I was asked to assign values to these brands (a list of about 40 total) for various qualities such as Bitterness, Taste, Drinkability, and...get this...."Tenderness". What the heck is "Tenderness" in terms of beer? Now I have read stuff for the BJCP and I sure can't recall ever hearing the term "Tender" associated with beer. Oh, and the $8 profit from the mall visit? Well, the S.O. went shopping while I was earning my $8 and spent $650 on a new Futon. Go figure. Cheers! Kevin ___________________________ Kevin Imel - KF7CN DN16lv kimel at moscow.com Palouse, Washington USA "The only way to truely fail is to fail to try" For a copy of my pgp public key send message with subject "SEND PGP KEY" Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 1997 11:12:54 -0000 From: "Aaron Herrick" <chemstat at phoenix.net> Subject: AB specialty brewing C&S Peterson writes: >I recently was in San Diego and ordered what I thought was a local microbrew >called American Hop Ale. For those that haven't tried it yet, I thought it >was an excellent example of the West Coast Amber style. Its reportedly got 40 >IBUs, which leads to a nice strong but smooth bitterness, and of course a >strong hop flavor. It had a slight fruitiness, and good malt background. I >had two in a row; a rarity for my fickle beer heart. I almost decided not to post this to HBD, because it is pure and simple heresy among homebrewers to say that AB makes a good product. But sometimes they do make a good product. The AB approach to microbrews it to divide the country into several regions, target the most popular micro for that region, and pull it's customers back. On the West Coast, that would be SNPA. Here in Texas, they have targeted Shiner Bock, to create ZeigenBock. What are the other offerings from AB specialty brew? Aaron Herrick Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 2 Mar 1997 16:20:45 -0500 From: "Mark Rose" <mrose at visi.net> Subject: Yeast, Yeast, Yeast! Questions Two questions for you wizards out there: 1. I have an all-grain IPA in the secondary in its third week of fermentation. It started at an OG of 1.065, and is now down to 1.020 and has been there for a week. I inadvertently mashed at 155, not the 152 that I had planned for. I think the higher than expected finishing gravity is due to the higher mash temperature, but I am not sure. I plan to bottle it this weekend. Can I use Yeast Energizer now to drop the gravity any further (just drop it in the secondary)? The yeast is Wyeast 1056, American Ale. 2. I would like to begin my own yeast bank of sorts. I've read that you can capture the slurry in a 12oz bottle from the primary and keep it is the fridge for up to a year, and then use part of the slurry to make starters later. Is this a good method? Does it work? 2a. As opposed to this method, what about those yeast kits from Brewer's Resource or the Yeast Company web page. Which is better? Is this a better method than the one described in #2? How much extra time and trouble is this yeast harvesting/bank business compared to the benefits? Please email me direct, as well as to the list, if you can. Thanks a lot, I appreciate your advice! ========================================= Mark Rose Langley AFB, VA ========================================= Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 1997 12:51:35 -0500 (EST) From: Rae Christopher J <3cjr7 at qlink.queensu.ca> Subject: Re: read this (american Cancer Society)HBD #2364 (March 03, 1997) the american cancer society thing is a hoax. enough said. ___________________________________________________________ This is Chris' signature: C____ R__ &% His home page is at http://qlink.queensu.ca/~3cjr7/ Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 1997 13:08:39 -0500 (EST) From: Rae Christopher J <3cjr7 at qlink.queensu.ca> Subject: potent yeast...barley wine this is a digest of all the helpful private e-mail i have gotten re: my question about what yeast to use for a 10% beer: 1. do not use wyeast 1388, belgian strong... 2. try brewtek cl-170 3. try wyeast 3787 4. add more yeast at bottling time 5. brew one batch of normal beer with the chosen yeast. save the yeast from the secondary fermenter at bottling time and immediately use that yeast in the primary fermenter of the high sg beer. having done some further reading, i have a couple questions re:barley wine (which, i am told, is what i am in fact making): 1. does it end up carbonated? 2. can i make it from extract? both of the recipes i have are for all-grain. not that i am adverse to trying an all-grain, but... well, i'm lazy, and supplies are limited in the little city of k'town... thus i'd prefer an extract version. if anyone has a recipe, i'd love to get it. private e-mail preferred, kudos will be given with the digested form. thanks to all for the help!! meisters were: r gardner a stevens e miner m preston someone else who's name has vanished ___________________________________________________________ This is Chris' signature: C____ R__ &% His home page is at http://qlink.queensu.ca/~3cjr7/ Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 1997 13:15:00 -0500 From: "Reed,Randy" <rreed at foxboro.com> Subject: keeping ferment warm with temperature controller (Randy Reed) Has anyone got a recommendation of how to keep a fermentation fridge with a temperature controller WARM enough. Let's say my basement is 55 degrees and I want to primary ferment at 65. I can set the controller to 65, but, what are some tried and true ways to add a little warmth to the inside of the fridge without cycling on the fridge too often to cool it off. Covered in foil light bulbs? Electric blankets? Controller is a Honeywell (from Willliams Brewing) type controller. It does not have a heating circuit, only cooling. Please post answers privately. I will post a summary to the Digest. - Randy ===================================================== If tuns are outlawed, only outlaws will have tuns... ==================================================== +-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ + The Local Brewing Company + + ESBITTER at AOL.COM + Surfing the + Randy Reed + Information + BJCP Recognized SuperBikePath Beer Judge/Potscrubber + & + South Shore Brew Club + Whirled Wide + (Boston, MA Area - South) + Web Visit SSBC at http://members.aol.com/brewclub/ +-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-+ Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 3 Mar 1997 12:35:01 -0600 (CST) From: korz at xnet.com Subject: malto-dextrin Allen writes: Going to try using some malto-dextrine for the first time in a batch tomorow! When do I add this? Is there a way to tell how much to add? While this is far too late to help Allen, it is probably of general interest. I've done a few tests on pure malto-dextrin and found that *the brand I have* is about 16% fermentable. I got it from L.D.Carlson. Now, there are many different versions of malto-dextrine made and they all have very different percentages of fermentables/unfermentables. Ideally, you would like to get a DE number (a dextrose equivalent). The Practical Brewer (published by the MBAA) has a listing (very big... too big to post even without questions of copyright) of the makeup of various DE products. In my experiments I also found that the brand of malto-dextrin I used dissolved compleatly, i.e. did not give a starch haze, and gave about 40 points/lb/gal (if I recall correctly). This means that if you add a pound to 5 gallons of wort, it will raise the OG by 40/5 or 8 points (a.k.a. 0.008 SG). Since it is 16% fermentable, it will raise the FG about 6.72 points or roughly 0.007. Other brands of malto-dextrin or dextrin powder may be slightly different. How to use it: Since it's fermentable, you should probably add it into the boil, but since you need not do anything to it except sanitize, I would add it in the last 15 minutes of the boil. You could, conceivably prime with it, but I recommend that you experiment with the exact brand and lot you have to be certain of the fermentability. A small change could result in a big carbonation difference. Also, I'm not sure about what "slowly fermenting" sugars there may be in the M-D I used because I simply let it ferment three weeks at 63F with an ale yeast and measured the FG. It may be more fermentable with lager yeast because lager yeasts can eat melibiose and ale yeasts can't. I don't know how much of the M-D I had was galactose (a fructose + a melibiose). Al. Al Korzonas, Palos Hills, IL korz at xnet.com Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 1997 12:41:12 -0600 From: blacksab at midwest.net (Harlan Bauer) Subject: Wyeast 1968--London ESB: Multi-strain? Does anyone know with any certainty whether Wyeast 1968 is a multi-strain yeast? I had a problem with a recent batch that absolutely refuses to clear (it's DEFINITELY yeast and not a protein haze). Here's what I'm thinking (aka WAG): At least one strain is non-flocculant but attenuative, and at least one strain VERY flocculant but less attenuative. The non-flocculant strain(s) piggy-back on the flocculant strain(s) and drop out of suspension. BTW, this was a repitching from the suspended yeast from a previous batch, ie, neither from the top of the ferment nor from the bottom of the fermenter. This has led me to suspect that I accidently "selected" the non-flocculant strain(s). Comments? Al? Dan? TIA, Harlan Harlan Bauer ...malt does more than Milton can Carbondale, IL To justify God's ways to man. <blacksab at midwest.net> --A.E. Houseman Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 03 Mar 1997 14:01:51 -0600 From: Bill Giffin <billgiffin at maine.com> Subject: Evaluation Program Good afternoon all, First a very short history lesson. A little over two years ago the AHA pulled its support from the BJCP. The reason given was that the AHA wanted to start a beer evaluation program, judging was far to harsh a word. Now after two years the evaluation program may hit the light of day. In the Beer Enthusiast the President of the AHA, wonder who that is now, stated " We'll be launching our Beer Evaluation Program". The President goes on to state that the prices will be reasonable, is this another way of saying too much, or we need another profit center? Further on and I quote "....and the study material will be unintimidating. Beer is fun and we want to keep it that way". Unintimidating material is that material for those of us who have difficulty comprehending a simple sentence. In the group of homebrewers I hang out with , most have degrees from some of the best colleges and university in the world, I say world because we have at least one bloke from the UK. Also a bunch of them can be referred to as Doctor this or that. Why couldn't this beer evaluation program be done as a regular column in Zymurgy? Lets talk about beer evaluation and how to do it. First open the bottle or draw a pint. Second taste the beer. Third if you like it, its good beer or if you didn't its not. If you want to get more involved then that I suggest that you get yourself involved with the BJCP and participate in their judging program as a steward or as a judge, bet you that it will cost a good deal less then the AHA program. Bill Return to table of contents