HOMEBREW Digest #2387 Tue 01 April 1997
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FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
Boiling volumes in Pots ("Michel and Connie Brown")
Re: follow up on using hemocytometer (Joe Rolfe)
Hydrometer correction formula (Dave Whitman)
AHA NHC (Bill Giffin)
Wheat beer-rings around bottle necks (Randy Ricchi)
RE: Diets ("Bridges, Scott")
blow off vs... (mark evans)
Re: Decoction, tannin, corrections (Steve Alexander)
Bier De Garde recipe (Jim Wallace)
Decoction - The King's new clothes? (Charles Rich)
AHA Membership Benefits/Decoction mashing-extract efficiency (George De Piro)
North Dakota Brewers (Ralph Link)
Vitamin C and Oxygen (jander)
Kent Dog Hops/Fermenting in Sankey kegs (RANDY ERICKSON)
Malty flavor / RIMS vs Decoction (George De Piro)
contest announcement (Btalk)
Wanted: a couple ft. of 1/2" ID silicon tubing (Mike Spinelli)
Shorter brew day tip/question ("Reed,Randy")
Re: alpha and beta amylase (Edward J. Basgall)
One for Al K/RE: Water Analysis/Bottling Yeast (John C Peterson)
MaltMill motor horsepower (Ian Smith)
RE: Vitamin C, Oxygen and Homebre / Corriander (Nathan Moore)
hopped cider (Lenny Garfinkel)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 30 Mar 1997 23:15:58 -0800
From: "Michel and Connie Brown" <hommade at spiritone.com>
Subject: Boiling volumes in Pots
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RB:The bottom line is, I think anything less than a 10 gallon pot is too
small for 5 gallon RB:batches. Opinions?
Well, Rich, that would depend on at least three variables that I can think
of, perhaps even more. The minimum requirements IMHO are that the caloric
energy required to drive the heat increase are proportional to the loss
such that an extremely violent boil is prevented, but rather a firm roiling
boil is initiated and maintained. Also, I would consider the heat source
and energy equivalence (eg therms for gas, btu's for electric) in
relationship to the volume as it relates to the shape (over/under square).
Then there is the viscosity of the wort, which will affect the bubble size
during the boil. My 8 gallon S.S. boiler is undersquare by 10%, yet it will
perform a full wort boil in 30 minutes, or less, without boilover (this is
with a 6.5 gallon volume on a 10 inch stovetop electric burner on high)
going from mashout to boiling. Just my personal experience from the past 25
years. Let me know what you hear from others, OK?
Dr. Michel J. Brown, D.C.
mjbrown at teleport.com http://www.teleport.com/~mjbrown
"Big Man don't drink no stinking light beer!"
"Big Man drink beer what got BIG TASTE!"
Big Man Brewing (R) 1996
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<html><head></head><BODY bgcolor=3D"#FFFFFF"><p><font size=3D2 =
color=3D"#000000" face=3D"Arial">RB:The bottom line is, I think anything =
less than a 10 gallon pot is too small for 5 gallon RB:batches. =
Opinions?<br><br>Well, Rich, that would depend on at least three =
variables that I can think of, perhaps even more. The minimum =
requirements IMHO are that the caloric energy required to drive the heat =
increase are proportional to the loss such that an extremely violent =
boil is prevented, but rather a firm roiling boil is initiated and =
maintained. Also, I would consider the heat source and energy =
equivalence (eg therms for gas, btu's for electric) in relationship to =
the volume as it relates to the shape (over/under square). Then there is =
the viscosity of the wort, which will affect the bubble size during the =
boil. My 8 gallon S.S. boiler is undersquare by 10%, yet it will perform =
a full wort boil in 30 minutes, or less, without boilover (this is with =
a 6.5 gallon volume on a 10 inch stovetop electric burner on high) going =
from mashout to boiling. Just my personal experience from the past 25 =
years. Let me know what you hear from others, =
OK?<br><br>			 Dr. Michel =
J. Brown, D.C.<br>		<font =
color=3D"#0000FF"><u>mjbrown at teleport.com</u><font color=3D"#000000"> =
<font color=3D"#0000FF"><u>http://www.teleport.com/~mjbrown</u><font =
color=3D"#000000"><br>	 =
"Big =
Man don't drink no stinking light beer!"<br> =
&=
nbsp; "Big Man drink beer =
what got BIG TASTE!"<br> =
&=
nbsp; &n=
bsp; Big Man Brewing (R) 1996</p>
</font></font></font></font></font></body></html>
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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 08:46:13 -0500 (EST)
From: Joe Rolfe <onbc at shore.net>
Subject: Re: follow up on using hemocytometer
in addition to that last hbd post, if the cell count is greater than
a "few hundred" on the grid the counting can be tedious....do a dilution or two
to get a reasonable number and take this into consideration when
you calculate.... i think the best range was less than 400/chamber....
in counting that i have done, the outcome can vary quite a bit, so insure your
sample is mixed well/or done by wt and the dilutions are done very accurately.
the other big ticket item is the slide and slip must be very clean and if you
break the slip - you need to replace with the "special kind" not a
off the shelf pack of a hundred kind.
good luck
joe
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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 08:52:57 -0500
From: Dave Whitman <dwhitman at rohmhaas.com>
Subject: Hydrometer correction formula
In HBD#2386, Jim Thomas asks about a formula for correcting hydrometer
readings.
Jim, I've got a nice equation that does a great job of predicting 60F
hydrometer readings from higher temperature observations, and have
encorporated it into an Excel spreadsheet as you are trying to do.
Unfortunately I don't have the formula handy as I write this. What I can
give you is the way I GOT the formula, which you can use to generate your
own, custom tailored to your hydrometer. (Is the temperature correction
hydrometer dependent, or just a density change of the wort itself? My
intuition says that hydrometer expansion is part of the observed effect,
but I can't back this up rigorously.)
My hydrometer came with a little correction table. I plotted the data from
the table, then did a least squares polynomial fit to generate an empirical
function to mimic the data. The data was decidedly nonlinear, but a
quadratic (i.e. y = ax2 + bx + c) fit it very nicely over the range I had
data for. I've checked the equation many times and it gives good
predictions of 60F SG readings within my observational error over the range
60-120F.
I did the fitting from within my graphing software (Kaleidagraph) but I'm
sure that if you dig around, Excel can do it too.
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 08:51:25 -0600
From: Bill Giffin <billgiffin at maine.com>
Subject: AHA NHC
Good morning all,
Tom Pope said:
>Bill Giffin has again criticized the the AHA and their competition.
It's evident Bill doesn't like the AHA
<
I don't dislike the AHA I am extremely disapointed with them. The
AHA often presents itself as something it isn't or promises to provide a
service which is beyond its competence. I believe that the AHA NHC is
one of the services that is beyond the competence of the AHA.
Tom again:
> I do believe, however, that his remarks concerning the
judging are unfair and untrue, at least in my experience.
<
Anyone who has judged, organized a competition knows there are
excellent judges, good judges, and not so good judges. There are too
sides to the judging question one is the judges, with whom I find no
fault being one, the other is the organization of the competition and
that can have a very serious effect on the judging. A judge can only be
expected to judge adequeately a few beers within a given time This
number has been given as between 8-12. Yet at the last NHC first
round I judged I judged 12 pale ales in the morning and 15 barleywines
in the afternoon. How well do you think the barleywines were judged
no matter how hard my partner and I tried?
Tom goes on to say that at least in his region the beers are well and
properly judged and a good many of them win first place. If the folks
on the West coast are doing such a good job then why is it that so many of
the beers that win in that region have only a nodding aquantance with
the style guidelines?
Numbers of beers that a judge has to judge, the temperature that the
beers are presented to the judges, the conditions of the area where the
judging takes place, these are items that have a great effect on the
outcome of a competition and many of them have been done incorrectly
by the AHA NHC.
Further more each year I entered the AHA NHC at least 10% of the
entered beers got lost, broken or the score sheets were not returned.
When you complain you get ho hum.
Bill
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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 09:07:12 -0500
From: Randy Ricchi <rricchi at ccisd.k12.mi.us>
Subject: Wheat beer-rings around bottle necks
It seems whenever I brew a beer with a weizen or a belgian yeast, I get
rings around the necks of my bottles. The beers taste fine, so I don't
think they're infected. If I had this problem with only my weizens or
witbiers, I would think they might be "protein rings", but I've noticed
this same phenomenon in my all-barley belgian ales as well. I don't have
this problem with my other ales or lagers. I either do step infusions, or
(usually with weizens)single decoctions.
It would be easy for me to assume from the above information that it has
something to do with the yeast, except for the fact that none of the other
brewers I know have had this problem. Any idea's out there? I sanitize my
bottles by soaking them in bleach solution (.5 oz. per gal), usually
overnight. Could this eventually cause etching in the glass which could
attract weizen/belgian type yeast? There is no visible etching in any of
my bottles and I've been using them for about four years.
By the way, I have a weizen in secondary right now and there is a film on
the surface of the beer. It sort of looks like an oil slick and where it
contacts the carboy sides, the smudge looks like the same stuff I get in my
bottles. Once again, the beer tastes fine.
Another thing that has been bugging me over the years (and it might be
related to the above problem) is that when I brew very pale beers (All
pilsener malt lagers, for instance) the yeast (or something)tends to cling
to the sides of the bottles. This happens whether I do a decoction mash or
a step infusion, and with ales as well as lagers, but doesn't happen with
beers that are amber or darker in color. The only way to avoid this is to
fine the beers in secondary with polyclar or bentonite, or I suppose a long
secondary without finings would do the job, but I'm usually not that
patient. This problem also makes me wonder about invisible etching in my
bottles, or could a slight bleach residue act as some kind of magnet for
yeast? Any input would be appreciated; private e-mail or otherwise.
Randall B. Ricchi
394 Lakeview Drive
Hancock, MI 49930
(906)482-3754
"Should anyone thirst, let them come unto me and drink"
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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 97 08:54:00 EST
From: "Bridges, Scott" <bridgess at mmsmtp.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM>
Subject: RE: Diets
Randy writes:
>Can any nutritionists out there recommend the best diet for an
>over-weight home brewer? I drink about 2-3 pints of home-brew or craft brew
>a day. Since beginning my brewing 4 years ago, my weight has steadily
>risen. Light beer will never be brewed in my basement, and I do not wish to
>drink less beer. After all, a beer judge must do his research... What
>portion of my diet that I can reduce in order to better balance the
>wonderful empty calories of beer? (Less bread, carbohydrates?...)
Good question. I'm surprised that this doesn't come up more often. After
all, those of us who are passionate about beer do tend to consume a large
number of calories that needs to be accounted for somehow. My beer
consumption is about the same as yours. I'm not a nutritionist, but I've
always been kind of health conscious. I encountered a similar problem with
weight gain when I started drinking more homebrew/craft brew. I still do
struggle to keep the weight down. I'm not a fan of " fad diets". I don't
think that they do any good. My recommendation is to continue to try to eat
a balanced diet. We ALL tend to eat too much fat. Cutting back on that
always helps (9 calories per gram vs. 4 for protein and carbohydrates, if I
recall correctly). The bottom line for me is physical activity. I find
that I can maintain my weight much more easily, regardless of diet, if I
stay active.
It's a simple equation. To lose weight, calorie output must be greater than
calorie input. If you drink beer, you need to remember that beer becomes
part of the input side of the equation.
Scott
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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 08:45:44 -0600 (CST)
From: mark.evans at midplains.net (mark evans)
Subject: blow off vs...
HBD:
For many years I have been using the blow off tube to deal with the ferment
head. In my five gallon carboy it seemed like the the thing to do. I
recently went to a 6.5 gallon glass for primary. I'm curious (the curse of
being a homebrewer, eh?)... what are the opinions of any who do either way
(to blow off or not to blow off) and especially those that have done both.
Comments could be couched regarding off flavors, etc., with mentions of
types of brews.
Thanks.
mark
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Date: Sun, 30 Mar 1997 11:09:42 -0300
From: Steve Alexander <stevea at clv.mcd.mot.com>
Subject: Re: Decoction, tannin, corrections
Chris Cooper asks why there is no concern about tannins in decotion
boils, when a significant fraction of the mash grist is boiled for 10'
to 30' minutes. There is. I've been collecting information on phenols
and tannins for some time in hopes of eventually posting a series of
phenol notes, but alas I'm still far from ready.
The short answer is that the large phenol polymers in malts, like
tannins, are expected to complex with the proteins coagulated during the
decoction boil. This is like an early hot break. Also note that decocted
beers are traditionally subjected to long lager periods during which
protein tannin complexes may sediment.
A double decoction beer (50C/60C/66C) I made last year with a high
percentage of rye malt had several flavor problems including excess
phenolics. The problem *might* be that the very undermodified rye
malt(and I got that directly from Maryann Gruber at Breiss) did not
release sufficient protein into solution to match the tannins released.
It would be interesting to know more about the rye malt used by
Schreierling in their decoction 'Roggen' rye beer.
In any case the traditional decoction methods produce beers without
tannin problems, but Chris is correct to be aware of a potential problem
here.
- --
Dave Burley expresses concern about my practice of pulling virtually all
of the GRIST in a single decoction. Greg Noonan's advice in 'Brewing
Lager Beers' is that the first decoction is the thickest 1/3rd of the
mash volume and the second decoction is the thickest 40% of the mash
volume. A rudimentary calculation assuming 8# of grist, 1# of grist
displaces about 0.05 gallon, 1# of grist holds about 0.125gal of liquid
when sieved or lautered (and I think that is a high estimate), and that
thickest mash is no more than .1875 gal/# of liquid - will show that
Noonans thickest 1/3rd of the mash will contain more than 50% of the
grist. Noonans second 40% volume thickest decoction will take over 60%
of the grist. My practice of pulling 100% of the very thickest portion
of the grist is about 45% of the mash volume and about 1/3rd of the mash
liquid.
In practice I've decocted high percentages of raw wheat adjunct with
this method and without unusual conversion times.
Dave's concern about the enzymes soluability and propensity to stick
with the grist portion has some validity. I believe I've addressed the
soluability issue previously. The enzymes are bond for relatively
longish periods of time in their active hydrolysis sites of their
substrates. Note that the Kolbach index indicates that around 40% of
all of the nitrogen (a protein proxy) is immediately soluable in modern
malts. Also a remarkable fraction of the carbs (~45%) are soluabilized
in 30 minutes. These fractions of protein and carbos represents a very
large fraction of the *accessible* substrate sites for the free enzymes
[note that the amylases can't be bound in the starch granules which are
undegraded for example]. Because of this I must again recommend an
enzyme soluabilizing first rest of about 30' before pulling the first
decoction - regardless of the percentage pulled. This first rest can be
a traditional dough-in or combined with saccharifying rest.
- --
In a previous post I referred to Kolbach index and 'STN', Scott Murman
points out that this is not a widely accepted acronym. By 'STN' I meant
the Soluable to Total Nitrogen Ratio which is more commonly written as
SN/TN or SNR. This figure is used as a measure of the degree of
modification of a malt.
- --
In HBD #2384 Charles Rich 'Decoc Redux' there are several incorrect F/C
temperature numbers given. I believe that the Fahrenheit numbers are
correct, but this is really for Charles to say. Nice post otherwise.
later,
Steve Alexander
.
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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 10:49:10 -0500
From: Jim Wallace <jwallace at crocker.com>
Subject: Bier De Garde recipe
I would like to get some input on other recipes for the Bier De Garde style.
There seems to be little info out there on this type of Beer. Jenlain
'Country Ale' brewed about 4-5 yrs ago was one of my favs... But not
available now. I would like to take a stab at it.
Of particular importance would be :
grain; types used ... hops; additions and AAU ... Mash Schedule ... Yeast;
commercial and ... bottle captures ... Ferment temps ... Primary, Secondary,
Aging
Any help appreciated.
JIM WALLACE ___ jwallace at crocker.com
http://www.crocker.com/~jwallace
Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 28 Mar 1997 11:10:35 -0800
From: Charles Rich <CharlesR at saros.com>
Subject: Decoction - The King's new clothes?
In HBD #2385 Louis Bonham says:
>By the same token, our experiment seemed to confirm Steve
>Alexander's observation that:
>> There are flavor difference between a decocted and
>> non-decocted beer, but they are probably more related to phenols and
>> early formation of hot break than melanoidins IMO. And more of a
>> secondary than a primary factor in flavor.
This is a direction I'd really like to see the discussion turn, I agree
with Steve Alexander, too, that the flavor difference doesn't hit you
over the head, it's more a difference in the way your malt flavor tastes
- than a magnification of malt flavor.
I started decocting in order to find my way to a quenching beer I was
served once in Holland with a very big, forward malt flavor. I think
now that that will be developed more from the grain bill than the
mashing process.
By the way my next experiment with decocting is going to be to cook the
bejeezus out of my decoc fraction in a pressure canner after its
mash-rests. Tonight I'm going to pressure cook about a half-pound
(250g) of Belgium Pils after a dextrinous rest at 156F (69C) and another
half-pound after a simple sugar rest at 148F (65C) (both will have a
rest at 135F, 57C, first) just to revisit some of questions that George
De Piro recently raised and to see how they cook. I expect this to
brown way more than I get by hand-stirring, with no risk of scorching,
and take less time and trouble. I can fit my old five gallon brew pot
in the canner, but I'll just cook these in mason jars.
Cheers,
Charles Rich (Seattle, USA)
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 11:03:30 -0800
From: George_De_Piro at berlex.com (George De Piro)
Subject: AHA Membership Benefits/Decoction mashing-extract efficiency
Hi all,
I really wanted to avoid more AHA Bashing, but their latest mailing is
so amusing that I can't contain myself!
I just received a letter asking me to renew my AHA membership. Aside
from Zymurgy magazine, it says that there are many other membership
benefits, which are listed on the enclosed attachment.
Well, quelle surprise! There was NOTHING else in the envelope! This
letter was signed by Karen Barella, AHA President. I thought she
quit?
-----------------------------------
It is commonly said that decoction mashing increases mash efficiency
by helping to break up starch that is otherwise inaccessible to the
amylases. This would definitely be true with undermodified malts, in
which much of the starch is trapped within the protein matrix of the
grain, but with today's malts I don't find this to be the case.
In my experience (I stress that this is only my experience!), my
extract efficiencies are very similar whether infusion mashing or
decocting. I decoct only to aid in protein removal and increase
melanoidin formation. Any small differences I experience in
batch-to-batch efficiency are probably due to any of a hundred other
variables.
I think some of the confusion arises because there is a
misunderstanding of what "well modified" malt means. It does not mean
that the malt starch has been converted to sugar by the maltster. It
means that the young plant was allowed to germinate to a point where
the degradation of the protein that gives the endosperm structure was
maximized. Without these proteins, starches are more easily
solubilized. Decocting is NOT necessary to release them from the
grain.
This is why low temp protein rests are bad for well-modified malts.
The large proteins are already well degraded. Resting between 113F
and 122F (45C-50C) will only serve to degrade the desirable
middle-molecular weight proteins that the maltster provided.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could obtain malt analysis specs so
that we'd know for sure what we are working with? Do you small pro
brewers get spec sheets?
Have fun!
George De Piro (Nyack, NY)
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 11:13:17 -0600
From: Ralph Link <rlink at minet.gov.mb.ca>
Subject: North Dakota Brewers
Is there anyone in the Grand Forks or Fargo N.D. area who is doing whole
grain brewing with a homemade micro brewery or a comercial unit? If there
is please respond via e-mail as soon as possible. Thanks
Ralph Link
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 10:42:36 -0500
From: jander at wasatch.com
Subject: Vitamin C and Oxygen
On 1997-03-31 Dan Cole (dcole at roanoke.infi.net) said:
dc>Anyone have any information on adding Vitamin C to homebrew to
dc>reduce oxidation? It is very popular in the food industry for that
dc>very use and would seem to be a great addition to a homebrewer's
dc>bag of tricks.
dc>Main questions: Will it directly affect the yeast in any way? (kill
dc>or supress them)
dc>If Vitamin C is good for scavenging oxygen from bottled beer, would
dc>it remove the needed oxygen for the yeasts to naturally carbonate
dc>the beer?
dc>Has anyone tried this, or have the chemical knowledge to explore
dc>this?
I'm no chemist, Dan (as recently attested) -- indeed, I'm currently
under suspicion of adding spermicides to my beer ;). I routinely add
1/2 tsp. of ascorbic acid to my bottling bucket. (Be sure to get
ascorbic acid and *not* Vitamin C tablets -- they have other stuff in
'em as well.) No, it doesn't bother the yeasties in the least -- don't
forget that they're anaerobic at this point.
I learned about ascorbic acid on p. 106 of Pap's NCJOHB. You may wish
to refer to it.
- Jim
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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 09:46:16 -0800
From: RANDY ERICKSON <RANDYE at mid.org>
Subject: Kent Dog Hops/Fermenting in Sankey kegs
John C Peterson wrote:
>>> My prognosis, until I hear from someone who's
>>> dog died eating hops fresh or just out of the wort,
>>> the subject is dead.
This is merely anecdotal evidence, and should not warrant any more
weight than any other questionable data, but it _is_ something to
consider.
My brewing partner and I always composted our spent grains and sweet
hops directly to his flower beds. His Golden Retriever was often
interested in these yummy smells, and was seen on many occasions
sampling the goodies.
One day my partner came home from work and found his dog barely
conscious, panting like crazy. He rushed the dog to the vet where he
was found to have a high fever and was put on some sort of dialysis? to
fight a suspected poisoning. They were able to save the dog's life, but
he was never even close to his old self. Kind of like Cujo.
This occurred two years before this thread first appeared on HBD so we
had no clue what had happened at the time. Clearly, we'll never know
for sure, but I personally will hesitate to dismiss these claims as
unfounded.
- ------------------------------
Nathan L. Kanous II asked about Fermenting in Sankey kegs.
Works great!
Mine was in terrible shape (on the outside) so I carted it over to the
coin-op carwash and blew a roll of quarters on the pressure wash.
Cleaned all the junk off real nice.
I would clean the inside like any other fermenter, i.e. carboy brush, tsp,
b-brite, bleach solution, etc. If you use bleach, don't overdo the
concentration or the contact time, and rinse well.
BTW, that's a #11 stopper you'll need in case you were wondering.
Randy in Modesto
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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 13:38:19 -0800
From: George_De_Piro at berlex.com (George De Piro)
Subject: Malty flavor / RIMS vs Decoction
Hello again,
Chas talks about caramelization of the wort during a decoction adding
to its maltiness. To my palate, caramel does NOT taste malty. Malt
flavors can even be masked by excessive caramel, although malt
perception might be increased by small amounts of caramel.
Beers like Spaten Ur-Maerzen and Optimator are excellent examples of
malty beers with little or no caramel notes. Paulaner Oktoberfest
tends to be more caramel-like. Compare these beers to each other and
you'll see the difference. It's a tough job, I know...
----------------------------
The RIMS vs. Decoction experiment is very interesting. I would love to
see it done with a step infusion, too.
Chas' suggestion that the RIMS beer may have been perceived as being
maltier because of wort caramelization is possible, but as I said
above, the two flavors really are quite different. I was wondering if
the boiling/hopping parameters were identical, as that could effect
hop utilization and thus effect perceived maltiness.
As for the RIMS beer being darker, could it be that there was some HSA
occurring? That would darken the wort. Or perhaps Chas is right, and
the wort was being caramelized a bit.
By the way, Dr. Pivo is spelled PIVO, and my name is DE PIRO. I don't
know who this "Dr. Piro" is. Perhaps some sort of bizarre hybrid...
Have fun!
George De Piro (Nyack, NY)
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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 13:54:39 -0500 (EST)
From: Btalk at aol.com
Subject: contest announcement
Parlor City Brew Off
BJCP sanctioned event.
Last chance to get points for the NY Brewer of the Year award!
April 19, 1997
Binghamton , NY
Entry deadline Friday April 11
All recognized styles of beer, mead and cider may be entered.
Mead and cider will have separate Best of Show award.
Judges and stewards needed! Lunch and breakfast goodies will be provided.
Questions? Ask one of us...
Organizer, Kurt Nelson, k_nelson at sunybroome.edu
Asst Organizer, Roger Haggett, rhaggett at juno.com
Head Judge, Bob Talkiewicz, btalk at aol.com
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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 97 13:50:39 est
From: paa3983 at dpsc.dla.mil (Mike Spinelli)
Subject: Wanted: a couple ft. of 1/2" ID silicon tubing
HBDers,
Does anyone have and is willing to sell a couple feet of 1/2" inside diameter
silicon (or equivelent) tubing for handling boiling wort?
Thanks
Mike Spinelli
Cherry Hill NJ
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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 14:24:02 -0500
From: "Reed,Randy" <rreed at foxboro.com>
Subject: Shorter brew day tip/question
I am always trying to find little improvements to make my beer better and
my brew day shorter. This past weekend, I tried something new. I have a
three tier converted sanke Newtonian (Gravity) system with propane burners.
I crush the grain and pour the water the day before brewing.
This time I placed a table top, two ("calrod" type unit) portable electric
stove on a timer under the mash tun and turned it on high. I set the timer
for 5 AM and awoke at 7:30 to find the temperature of the mash water was
140F. Not bad. Heating up to mash in temp was very quick with the help of
the propane burner, once the electric unit was removed.
The two nice things are that the water is brought close to mash-in temp and
there is no need to vent the room, since the electric burners produce no
fumes. It shortened my brew day by at least a half.
hour.
Now a separate question: Is there any general reason we wouldn't fill our
mash and sparge tanks from the Hot Water tap? Microbrewies take water from
a hot water tank which keeps the water at a high temperature at all times.
Am I the only person who has used cold tap water for my brewing water? Any
pros/cons? My water heater is a gas unit.
- Randy
=====================================================
If tuns are outlawed, only outlaws will have tuns...
====================================================
+-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
+ The Local Brewing Company +
+ ESBITTER at AOL.COM + Surfing the
+ Randy Reed + Information
+ BJCP Beer Judge + SuperBikePath
+ Primary Fermenter + &
+ South Shore Brew Club + Whirled Wide
+ (Boston, MA Area - South) + Web
Visit SSBC at http://members.aol.com/brewclub/
+-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-+
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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 16:05:58 -0500
From: ejb11 at psu.edu (Edward J. Basgall)
Subject: Re: alpha and beta amylase
On Tue, 25 Mar 1997 Steve Alexander wrote in HBD #2384
re: decoction consensus...
>>snip-
>>"It's probably worth noting at this point that the important brewing
>>enzymes are all part of the water soluable or albumin portion of the
>>mash protein. Also that the beta-amylase is concentrated in the
>>allurone layer(sub husk) and the outer portion of the endosperm.
>>Alpha-amylase is formed in the embryo and concentrated near the
>>embryo/endosperm barrier tissues. Both have a great opportunity to
>>soluablibize in even moderately crushed malt." -snip
>
Just a quick point of clartification from an acquaintance who happens to be a
barley aleurone researcher here at Penn State Univ.
re: the sources of amylase enzymes in malted barley....
>
>aleurone is an endosperm tissue
>
>beta amylase is found in the starchy endosperm - there's a neat story about
>a-amylase activating the beta amylase that was laid down as the endosperm
>formed by breaking the starch grains it is trapped in. Aleurone produces a
>bit of every hydrolytic enzyme knwon to man but beta amylase is not its
>major thing.
>
>The embryo does make some amylase (wimpy). Its the scutellum (cotyledon)
>that is the best amylase tissue for the embryo and it is the organ that
>makes the endosperm/embryoo border. But if you wnat amylase the aleurone is
>the place to be!
>
>Simon
>
>==========================
>Simon Gilroy
>founding member of
>SCAB
>State College Allied Brewers
>or
>Scientifically correct aleurone brewers
>============================
>Simon Gilroy
>Biology Department
>PennState University
>
>www.bio.psu.edu/faculty/gilroy/lab.html
>============================
cheers
ed basgall
SCUM
State College Underground Maltsters
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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 19:18:17 EST
From: petersonj1 at juno.com (John C Peterson)
Subject: One for Al K/RE: Water Analysis/Bottling Yeast
Al K:
>... since then, I've brewed a couple of extract, partial-
>boil, dry yeast batches and they were par with my all-grain, liquid
yeast
>batches.
Thanks Al, we (newbies) needed that. Being on this list for four months,
I have seen beginners go from a pot, two buckets and some bottles to
spending big $ (kegs, fridge, etc.) in an effort to "catch up" with the
Joneses. BTW, I'm drinking that Oatmeal Stout you helped me out with
last month (stuck fermentation), thanks. It's so creamy and smooth, I
don't know if I need a bowl or a mug. AND, I made it with (gasp!) dry
yeast.
Tom Neary wrote:
>I just obtained a Water analysis for my area. Could ....
What area? Some of us might live by you and could use this info as well
but we don't know where you live. BTW, does anyone have the water
analysis for Aurora, CO? I don't have the time to track down the water
company (new here) and I'm sure one of you guys have it.
My $0.02 question to the masses. I have a beer I'm bottling next week
and I want to try something that has been tossed around the HBD a few
times lately. I want to add another yeast strain at bottling time to
alter the taste. How do I go about this? Do I just add it with the
priming sugar and bottle? or add the yeast, let it rest for X amount of
time, prime then bottle, or what? Private email okay.
John C. Peterson
Aurora, Colorado
petersonj1 at juno.com
Recipes and Newbie Help: http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/6841
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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 17:57:21 -0700 (MST)
From: Ian Smith <rela!isrs at netcom.com>
Subject: MaltMill motor horsepower
Does anyone know approximately how fast and how much power is needed to
motorize a Maltmill ? I think the speed is 90-120 rpm and the power is
1/8 th HP ? Can anyone set me straight ?
Cheers
Ian Smith
isrs at rela.uucp.netcom.com
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Date: Mon, 31 Mar 1997 18:23:05 -0700 (MST)
From: Nathan Moore <moorent at bechtel.Colorado.EDU>
Subject: RE: Vitamin C, Oxygen and Homebre / Corriander
Dan Cole brought up the idea of adding Vitamin C to homebrew.
Although I havn't done this I have seen at least on recipe from the
Winners Circle in Zymurgy with vitamin C so I assume it works. However, I
would prefer not to throw a vitamin tablet into my beer. This question
got me thinking about a comment that I read by Charlie Papazian. He
suggested adding 1 tsp of crushed corriander to the mash to fight
oxidation. He suggests that corriander is a strong antioxidant (as well
as cinnamon) and this small amount would be below the taste threshhold.
(Article in Zymurgy summer 1996)
So, has anyone tried this. I would like to do an experiment were
I add the corriander to half a batch, and nothing to the other half and
then splash the beer when bottling a few bottles. My method would be
slightly different then Papazians method because I would be adding a hop
tea at bottiling instead of in the mash but it should work for a quick and
dirty experiment. The problem is due to personal situations I will not be
brewing for about 4 months (no dont cry for me, I'll survive somehow) so
if someone else wants to try this go for it, otherwise I'll report in the
fall.
Nathan "if this works I'll be buying corriander in bulk" Moore
Denver, CO
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Date: Tue, 1 Apr 1997 07:04:32 +0300 (IDT)
From: Lenny Garfinkel <lenny at inter.net.il>
Subject: hopped cider
I'm interested in dry hopping a batch of cider, just out of curiousity. Has
anyone tried this?
Lenny Garfinkel
Leonard Garfinkel, Ph.D.
home: Menuha Venahala 16/13 office: Bio-Technology General
Rehovot Kiryat Weizmann
Israel Rehovot, Israel
tel:972-8-9451505 tel:972-8-938-1256
fax:972-8-940-9041
lenny at inter.net.il
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