HOMEBREW Digest #2458 Wed 09 July 1997

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


Contents:
  computer controlled 120v lights (temp control)? (dbrigham)
  Substituting light extract for dark ("Richard Cuff")
  Opening Frozen beer ("Randy J. Lee")
  (root) beer (Brian Deck)
  recipes ("John Penn")
  Re: frozen beer (Mike Uchima)
  lager vs. ale fermentation (HOUCK KEITH A)
  3d Annual Metropulse/TN Valley Homebrewers Competition ("Barry Wertheimer")
  yeast flocculation / lemonade brewing (Dave Whitman)
  yet more yeast flocculation (Dave Whitman)
  realbeer server (Jim Liddil)
  Brewery Moving (kfl)
  Shipping Beer Story (long) (Mark T A Nesdoly)
  Alcohol bitterness/sweetness (korz)
  it's the water (BAYEROSPACE)
  Punkin Head Ale Closure (eric fouch)
  Forgive the 'newbie' question please...but ("LadyGodiva")
  RE: Homebrew in Pennsylvania (Rory Stenerson)
  Frozen Beer (Paul Ward)
  Brewing Lemonade/Bottle Kraeusen (eric fouch)
  Sanitation Simplicity Pt 1: Kegs and Carboys (Rob Kienle)
  Sanitation Simplicity Pt 2: Bottles (Rob Kienle)
  SS Perf Plate Hole Size? ("Houseman, David L")
  Re: Bottle of ice questions ("Michael J. Westcott")
  phenolic vs. infection? (mirsjer)
  Re: Zima and other recipes (DGofus)
  Corona bottles (Randy Ricchi)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 08 Jul 97 07:24:10 EST From: dbrigham at nsf.gov Subject: computer controlled 120v lights (temp control)? I have an old Lego (sorry!!! was for hobby projects) serial to analog computer interface that gives me 8 outputs which I can drive from 0v to 9v DC. I'd like to use these outputs to control some 120v incandescent lighting to control temperatures in a 'closed box' insulated cooler for lagering. The analog outputs can be varied over 18 steps, so that equals .5v DC increments. Does anyone have a simple circuit using a Triac or whatever to use the 0v to 9v DC control current to dim a 120v AC load like a light bulb? Thanks!!! Dana Brigham National Science Foundation dbrigham at nsf.gov Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 7 Jul 1997 17:51:19 -0400 From: "Richard Cuff" <rdcuff at worldnet.att.net> Subject: Substituting light extract for dark Hi all - I'm somewhat new to the homebrew hobby, but I've already graduated to specialty malts and liquid yeast, for whatever that's worth. I've made the investment in a 33 lb pack of bulk M&F light extract to keep costs down, especially since the delivered cost is under $1.25 per lb. So far it has kept well. I'd like to try brewing a porter, but most recipes call for all or a portion of the extract to be dark extract, along with the chocolate and/or black patent malt. Is there a rule of thumb for using light extract in lieu of dark extract -- e.g. one lb light extract plus 1/4 lb chocolate malt equals one lb dark extract? Thanks in advance for any insight. Regards, Richard Cuff Lutherville, MD Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 07:42:29 -0500 From: "Randy J. Lee"<rjlee at imation.com> Subject: Opening Frozen beer BTW: There is a common misconception that Ice beers are somehow frozen to make them more potent. To do that would be a distillation process; something the ATF seriously frowns on from a brewer (can't have brewers and distillers in the same building). Ice beers are indeed frozen slightly forming ice crystals at the available nucleation sites of some protein sets, thus precipitating them out. The beer is then warmed up and filtered, thus removing these other substances. This provides for a smoother brew, or so they say. That they are higher in alcohol content is purely a marketing thing; they are brewed that high to start with. Randy Lee Viking Brewing Company Dallas, Wis. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 09:05:10 -0500 From: deck at pathbox.wustl.edu (Brian Deck) Subject: (root) beer Hey: Does anybody know where I can find a recipe/protocol for root beer? I remember reading all about it at some point, but I can't remember where it was and I don't remember quite enough to do it from memory. My wife seems to think I should make some for some reason. Seems like time I could be using to make real beer, but you know how it goes. Or maybe you don't, if you're lucky. Brian Deck "I drank what?" -Socrates Return to table of contents
Date: 8 Jul 1997 10:19:01 -0400 From: "John Penn" <john_penn at spacemail.jhuapl.edu> Subject: recipes Subject: Time:9:39 AM OFFICE MEMO recipes Date:7/8/97 I checked out the gambrius (?) mug recipes based on that comment about the Cats Meow being incomplete and I noticed the same problem in the mug recipes with comments such as "its only been a week and I think this will be good...", etc. So far I have found some excellent recipes in the Cats Meow but the best recipes are those with descriptions of the taste as well as details on the ingredients and the brewing procedures used. I like that kind of detail and you can find it in Papazians recipes in both of his books. Speaking of recipes, anyone know a good ESB recipe? As for that Old Ale malt kit, you'd probably be better off using it to make a Strong English Ale. I tried to make a Scotch Ale using that kit and some unhopped light malt and I think there was a lot more bitterness in that kit than I anticipated. Might want to check the brewery for hopped malt kit amounts. John Penn Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 1997 09:20:42 -0500 From: Mike Uchima <uchima at mcs.net> Subject: Re: frozen beer OK, I guess I'll have to toss my own $.02 into this debate... As Dave points out, the pressure isn't enough to depress the freezing point *that* much, and in any case I suspect that there's enough particulate matter in a typical bottle of beer (well, homebrew anyway) that supercooling just isn't possible -- there are too many nucleation sites for ice crystals. (Yes, I've observed this phenomenon with bottles of unfiltered homebrew.) Any gas will cool if allowed to expand -- this is the principle on which refrigerators work. In a fridge, a gas is compressed (which heats it); then it is circulated through the coils on the back of the fridge, which cool it to near ambient (room) temperature; when the gas is subsequently allowed to expand back to its original volume, it cools to significantly *below* ambient temperature. If the beer is very close to freezing already, opening the bottle -- i.e. allowing CO2 bubbles to form and *expand* in the beer -- will lower the temperature enough to cause it to freeze. - -- == Mike Uchima == uchima at mcs.net == Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 1997 14:40:00 +0000 (GMT) From: HOUCK KEITH A <HOUCK_KEITH_A at LILLY.COM> Subject: lager vs. ale fermentation I have brewed a number of lagers which were fermented around 45 degrees F. Fermentation is always much slower than with an ale yeast at warmer temperatures--not that surprising but I am wondering how normal my fermentations are. For comparison purposes, I am interested in the observations of others. How much krauesen do you see? For how long? Is there visible churning of the wort like with an ale yeast? This past weekend, I brewed a Bohemian pilsner and pitched 240 billion yeasts into about 6 gal. Fermentation, at 45 degrees, was active the next morning with some krauesen. There is now approximately 3/4 inch krauesen, steady bubbling in the airlock, but no active churning. Thanks for your information. Keith Houck Carolina Fermenters Unlimited Chapel Hill, NC Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 10:48:51 EST From: "Barry Wertheimer" <wertheim at LIBRA.LAW.UTK.EDU> Subject: 3d Annual Metropulse/TN Valley Homebrewers Competition Brewers, The third annual Metropulse/Tennessee Valley Homebrewers Club Competition will be held on July 26 in Knoxville, TN. Entry fees are a mere $3, and there are lots of prizes, etc. For more info, check out the TVHC homepage (look under "What's Brewin'") at: http://www.korrnet.org/tvha/ - --------------------- Barry Wertheimer wertheim at libra.law.utk.edu Knoxville, TN Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 1997 10:56:38 From: Dave Whitman <dwhitman at rohmhaas.com> Subject: yeast flocculation / lemonade brewing Steve Alexander and I have been having an off-line discussion about yeast surface chemistry. I did a search and came up with this interesting reference I think is worth sharing with the collective: **** Mechanisms of flocculation of flocculent yeast during wort fermentation. I. Relation between the behavior of the flocculent yeast cell and its constituent proteins. Ito, Umeno. Mem. Coll. Sci., Univ. Kyoto, Ser. A (1967), 31(2), 107-15. CODEN: MSKAA4. Journal written in English. CAN 67:72455 Abstract The protein of the flocculent yeast cell was mainly composed of zymocasein, with an isoelec. point at pH 4.5, which pptd. when the pH was adjusted to 4.5 with acetic acid. Zymocasein was a nucleoprotein; the yeast cell behaved as an insol. protein particle with properties like the protein. When this property of the yeast cells was demonstrated, it became possible to explain the phenomenon of yeast flocculation. 37 references. **** I'll try and get a copy of the full paper. However, the abstract suggests that if the pH of a fermentation drifted down to pH 4.5, yeast would flocculate. Without actually doing the calculation, I can imagine CO2 driving the pH into that pH regime. Wasn't there a recent thread about brewing lemon flavored beers? Folks experimenting with this should probably watch out for premature flocculation, and rousing the yeast if necessary to get complete fermentation. - --- Dave Whitman "The opinions expressed are those of the author, and not dwhitman at rohmhaas.com Rohm and Haas Co." Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 1997 11:02:34 From: Dave Whitman <dwhitman at rohmhaas.com> Subject: yet more yeast flocculation A couple more interesting references on yeast surface chemistry: **** Settling kinetics of champagne yeast. Arikan, Ozlem; Ozilgen, Mustafa. Food Eng. Dep., Middle East Tech. Univ., Ankara, 06531, Turk. Enzyme Microb. Technol. (1992), 14(9), 762-6. CODEN: EMTED2; ISSN: 0141-0229. Journal written in English. CAN 117:149646 Abstract Settling kinetics of champagne yeast were studied... <big snip of long abstract> ...The first stage of the settling phenomenon was slower at pH 3.0, implying that the isoelec. point of the yeast surfaces was about 3.0. **** Surface properties of yeast cells: chemical composition by XPS and isoelectric point. Van Haecht, Jean L.; Defosse, Camille; Van den Bogaert, Bernard; Rouxhet, Paul G. Fac. Sci. Agron., Univ. Cathol. Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, B-1348, Belg. Colloids Surf. (1982), 4(4), 343-58. CODEN: COSUD3. Journal written in English. CAN 97:123292 - --- Dave Whitman "The opinions expressed are those of the author, and not dwhitman at rohmhaas.com Rohm and Haas Co." Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 1997 08:08:18 -0700 From: Jim Liddil <jliddil at .azcc.arizona.edu> Subject: realbeer server > From: "Robert Marshall" > Subject: The Brewery now at realbeer.com?? > > Have I been in a time warp, or something? I went to > alpha.rollanet.org, got the form with all the link buttons, but > everytime I follow it, it tells me that page has moved to > realbeer.com/... > > When did this happen? It seems that only a couple of weeks ago the > links were there at alpa.rollanet.org. If it did change, why didn't > they change the map too? > And you noticed how bad the realbeer server and connection is? I bet at least 3-4 times a month the thing is impossilbe to get to. What gives? So now we move all our resources on to one overworked inaccesible server? duh! Jim Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 10:27:54 -0500 (CDT) From: kfl at umr.edu Subject: Brewery Moving Robert Marshall wrote asking about the move of The Brewery to realbeer.com. Well, cutting a long boring story down to the essentials, The Brewery has indeed been in the process of moving to the realbeer.com server over the past month. The reasons are many and I won't bore you with them, other than to say, it was either move somewhere or shut down completely. In regards to the complaint about not updating the map, well, how would folks know to update their links if the map just popped them straight to the page without first informing the user of the move? We have lots and lots of people who don't come in the front page and the automated jumps are better than getting nowhere. Now, as to complaints about the host, I've received mail from Jim Liddil complaining that the realbeer.com server is overloaded and overworked. (He also has posted a similar message to this digest). He complains that he gets terrible connections to the server, which I have rarely seen (except for recently when they had some power problems). Life on the internet is far from perfect. We have had substantial complaints that access to The Brewery on RollaNet was painfully slow in some areas while others thought the connection was great. It all depends on where you are. As for their server, under the heaviest load (during backups), the load will be above 2.00, but the rest of the time the load is well below 1.00. Their system can handle the load. I did a lot of evaluation before committing to the move and this was the best situation I could get for the users of The Brewery. Back to beer talk please. Complaints to /dev/null ============================================================================ Karl F. Lutzen | Computing and Information Services Scientific Programmer Analyst II | University of Missouri - Rolla E-Mail: kfl at umr.edu | 114 Math-Computer Science Bldg. Fax: (573) 341-4216 | 1870 Miner Circle Voice: (573) 341-4841 | Rolla, MO 65409-0360 ============================================================================ Return to table of contents
Date-warning: Date header was inserted by mail.usask.ca From: Mark T A Nesdoly <mtn290 at mail.usask.ca> Subject: Shipping Beer Story (long) Hello All, Just a followup to Dan Morley's/Richard Stueven's comments about DHL shipping beer to competitions. I live in Saskatoon, SK Canada, and I've employed UPS to ship my brew to Canadian competitions four times. Their policy is not to ship alcohol, but on those four occasions, the lady behind the counter let me get away with it. It pays to be polite & honest! However, last Monday June 30th, I tried to ship my 2nd round entries to the NHC in Cleveland via UPS--no go. Like Dan stated previously, I'd rather be honest about the contents so customs won't hold up the shipment, rather than lie about the contents so the courier will accept it. The same lady was behind the counter, but because it was going to the 'states, she couldn't accept it. Alright. No big deal, thinks I, I'll just go to DHL since I just found out that day that they do ship alcohol (thanks to Dan Morley and the HBD). Unfortunately, the office was closing just as I got there. Tuesday July 1st was a holiday in Canada, so I had to come back the morning of Wednesday July 2nd. I was beginning to have nightmares about my beer getting held up in customs and not making it to Cleveland in time for the cutoff date of July 11th. Oh well. If there's one thing I've learned in my professional life, it's cover all the bases so that there's no surprises. With that in mind, I called the DHL office in Calgary just to confirm that they do, in fact, ship alcohol. The receptionist/whatever lady that answered the phone said no. Okay. "Are you sure?" I was transferred to another lady and she said yes. She also stated that she gets asked that question all the time (maybe she was referring to Mr. Morley? :-). I asked exactly what the guidelines were, and she read them to me out of the manual: 1. They will ship no more than 6 (six) bottles of alcohol, worth no more than $50 CDN. 2. The airwaybill must be marked: "Gift - For Personal Use Only". 3. The shipment must be to a person, not a company. In other words, a residential address. If those three guidelines are met, they'll ship it. Only one problem--point #3 above. I had an address in Cleveland for "NHC 97 c/o Great Lakes Brewing Co.", but no specific individual's name. So I called Great Lakes Brewing Co. on Wednesday morning, and explained my predicament to the receptionist. She was very helpful, and gave me the head brewer's name. I would send my entries to the head brewer, c/o Great Lakes--not quite a residential address, but at least the package was going to be marked for an individual, not just the company. I then took my parcel to the DHL office here in Saskatoon on Wednesday morning. They gladly accepted it. Under "Full Description of Contents" I wrote "6 (six) home-made beer; gift - for personal use only". I marked the receiver as being the head brewer at Great Lakes with (NHC 97) after his name. Hopefully they figure it out. And as for the declared value of the shipment--$.60 CDN (the deposit on the bottles). I paid the receptionist $71.75 (!!!), and I was on my way. At 4:30 PM I get a call at home from DHL. The receptionist informs me that their driver said they can't ship alcohol. Oh? I explain to her that the Calgary office told me that morning that they do, and I told her the three guidelines above. Oh. Well she'll check on that and get back to me. She calls back in fifteen minutes and explains that she just talked to the Edmonton office, and they said that Calgary didn't quite get it right. Didn't get what right? She wouldn't elaborate. She then tells me that DHL will ship alcohol but their driver informed her that customs won't let it into the US, and that I should be aware that it might get held up for some kind of quarantine period. Do you still want to try shipping it? It was about this time that I came to the conclusion that no one at DHL's Saskatoon office would be able to distinguish their rear end from a hole in the ground. I also came to the conclusion that they were trying to discourage me from shipping my beer. I told her to try shipping the package anyway--if it gets held up, that's not their fault. I was willing to take my chances. It went out that evening (July 2nd). It was delivered yesterday morning (Monday July 7th). Pretty short quarantine. All in all, an experience I don't care to repeat. If I ever have to ship beer to the US again, I'm going to go in to the DHL office with my cell phone and call DHL's Calgary office, and get them to explain to the people here in Saskatoon exactly what are DHL's policies regarding alcohol--since the people here obviously can't find it out themselves. On a related note: Does anyone know why the 500 ml PET (plastic) beer containers aren't acceptable for the NHC? Every one of CABA's (Canadian Amateur Brewer's Association) competitions accepts these containers. I would think that they would be far easier to ship since you don't have to pack plastic containers as carefully as glass. With that in mind, it would be far easier to lie to the courier companies regarding the contents of your parcel--thus less shipping hassles. Sorry for the long windedness, but I thought that the information above might prove useful to someone. - -- Mark Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 10:47:09 -0500 (CDT) From: korz at xnet.com Subject: Alcohol bitterness/sweetness Several days ago, I posted that alcohol added bitterness. A couple of HBD'ers posted that alcohol (ethanol, specifically) added sweetness, not bitterness. I'm afraid I was simply repeating something I read in the HBD or r.c.b (from 6 or 7 years ago, I think) without ever having doubted it. Last night, I did a taste test. I took 25ml of Finlandia 80 proof vodka and 50ml of Chicago tapwater and tasted the mixture. This works out to about 13.33% alcohol (I'm not sure if proof is measured by weight or volume). To my taste, the mixture, relative to plain water, tasted very slightly sweet, with a hint of sharpness (bitterness?) on the back of the tongue and the sides of the tongue, near the back. The primary mouth sensation was a warming mouthfeel. Unless there was some interaction between the ethanol and compounds in beer, I believe that both the additional perception of sweetness and bitterness would be negligible. I apologize for the misinformation and appreciate the polite manner in which other members of the HBD community corrected me. Thanks! Al. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 11:02 -0600 From: M257876 at sl1001.mdc.com (BAYEROSPACE) Subject: it's the water collective homebrew conscience: jeff renner wrote (in reference to brew tour guides): > I think they hire people as tour >guides who know nothing about brewing. We know more about brewing than >they, and when we ask questions they don't know, a number of responses are >possible, depending on their whim or personality. witness this gem from a tour guide at anheuser busch in stl: me: "so, where do you get the brewing water?" guide: "...uhhh....ummm...i think we use mountain water that gets trucked in." i knew the answer, i was just wanting to hear her tell us all that they use river water. i didn't press her on it. by the way, there's nothing wrong with using river water. st. louis has very good water, considering its source. thanks to all the responses regarding how to set hop poles. none involved swinging a large hammer at the top of a ladder. brew hard, mark bayer Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 1997 12:34:26 -0400 (EDT) From: eric fouch <S=fouch%G=eric%DDA=ID=STC021.efouch%Steelcase-Inc at mcimail.com> Subject: Punkin Head Ale Closure Date: Tuesday, 8 July 1997 12:28pm ET To: STC012.HOMEBRE3 at STC010.SNADS From: Eric.Fouch at STC001 Subject: Punkin Head Ale Closure In-Reply-To: The letter of Monday, 30 June 1997 3:53pm ET HBD- From one of my earlier ramblings to the HBD: First, an update on the mashed-in-punkin brew. Things went relatively well, actually: The Recipe- 1 large (3 Gallon) Punkin 5# Pale Ale Malt 1.5#s DME 1#s Special B Malt 1#s Crystal Malt 1/4 cup Chocolate Malt 15ozs Libbys Canned Pumpkin 1oz Cascades Hallertaur Nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, clove, allspice, vanilla per your favorite pie recipe Irish Moss The Process- Boiled up 3 gallons water. Cleaned out punkin. Poured the boiling water into the punkin and steeped the insides for about 30 min. Drained the punkin (via my aforementioned EM knockoff) and used 2 gals to preboil the canned pumpkin. Mashed into the crushed malts inside the punkin at 150F. After about 30 mins, I had to decoct back up to 150 F from 135F. After another 30 mins, the punkin sprang a small leak in the bottom (Hello Murphy, what took ya so long?). I was able to collect the leakage and add to the boil pot. I sparged with 1.5 gallons 170F water and collected in the boil pot. Added 1.5#s DME and started the boil. 60 minute boil with Cascades at start, IM, spices, and Hallertaur at 15 minutes left. Pitched a 1056 starter and got activity at about 6 hours. Racked to secondary after 7 days (added two tsp. gelatin dissolved in hot water). Primed with 1/2 cup honey, bottled after 14 days total ferment time; OG- 1.050 SG- 1.015 at racking FG- 1.010 at bottling Now for closure. I entered this brew in the U.S. Open down in NC this spring. It scored a 30 and a 33. Positive comments were excellent appearence, nice spice flavor. Increased maltiness and pumpkin spice were suggested opportunities for improvement. Next time I'll use some "Pumpkin spice, and perhaps use Wyeast 1338 instead of good 'ole 4-to-11 yeast. I still have four bottles left that I might enter somewhere else, or perhaps I'll just drink 'em in a drunken stupor. Either way, I'll let you know]] Eric Fouch efouch at steelcase.com Bent Dick YactoBrewery Kentwood, MI Glory may be fleeting, but obscurity is forever. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 09:48:10 -0700 From: "LadyGodiva" <dantre at netxxpress.net> Subject: Forgive the 'newbie' question please...but We all have to start somewhere. My husband has brewed 2 batches at home, and though he is happy with the flavor, the carbonation leaves something to be desired. The reipies we have used call for 3/4 c. corn sugar boiled in a pint of water then pitched into the wort. His father recommends 1 1/2 c. boiled, then distributed evenly aboung the bottles (I dont see a difference in method, the sugar gets there either way right?) Anyway, I would like input from you. Which is the preferred method? Or do you Kraeusen? (Which I'd like to try) Thanks for being so patient with such a newbie. Lady G. Yesterday is the past, tomorrow is the future. Today is a gift, thats why its called present. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 13:01:58 -0400 From: Rory Stenerson <71762.1664 at compuserve.com> Subject: RE: Homebrew in Pennsylvania On Mon, 7 Jul 1997 Michael E. Sandell wrote: "Hello All, I am considering retirement in PA. The AOB web pags says that it is not legal to homebrew there, there are however homebrew supply stores! Does anyone have the facts on the legality of homebrewing in PA? Thanks for the assistance." Greetings Michael, It is still "unlawful" to homebrew in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, just as it is still unlawful to ride a team of horses faster than a trot = in some of our communities <g>. Unless you try selling your homebrew or you= open up a cool-aid stand in front of the PA Liquor Control Board Offices then you should not experience any problems. PA is host to several competitions, one just a couple of weeks ago had the fourth largest numbe= r of entrants in the country so far this year. Otherwise, come on out. You'd be welcome here in our slightly antiquated= commonwealth...but remember I'm not a lawyer or play one on TV <g>. Rory Stenerson, V.P. - State College Underground Maltsters, a.k.a. S.C.U.M. State College, PA = 71762.1664 at compuserve.com = Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 14:14:16 -0400 (EDT) From: Paul Ward <paulw at doc.state.vt.us> Subject: Frozen Beer The discussion of what happens with the 'instant' ice beer is fun, even for us physics challenged slobs (my wife would add physical fitness challenged). David Burley appears somewhat sceptical of some of the given reasons for the observed phenomenom. Me, I can't say aye or nay on anything in this topic, but there is one part of the phenomenom that nobody's mentioned (at least I didn't see it). The reason for the beer gushing out of the bottle may have something to do with the rapid nucleation of CO2 in a diminished quantity of fluid, but I thin, this may be aided by the expansion of water freezing into ice. Not just the fact that the water freezes leaving only the original volume minus water content to contain the CO2, but the ice expansion would increase the pressure inside the bottle. That the 'lighter'components (alcohols, aromatics, etc.) would rush toward the opening in the bottle first (rapid CO2 scrubbing) isn't too much of a stretch for my non-techno imagination. Of course, I don't have the faintest idea what I'm talking about. Paul - -- I serve the State for a living, I do NOT live to serve the State! Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 1997 14:48:25 -0400 (EDT) From: eric fouch <S=fouch%G=eric%DDA=ID=STC021.efouch%Steelcase-Inc at mcimail.com> Subject: Brewing Lemonade/Bottle Kraeusen Date: Tuesday, 8 July 1997 2:41pm ET To: STC012.HOMEBRE3 at STC010.SNADS From: Eric.Fouch at STC001 Subject: Brewing Lemonade/Bottle Kraeusen In-Reply-To: HBD 2457 HBD- I whipped up a batch of One-Eyed Dog Jack (TM) last nite per: 2# wheat malt 1# corn sugar 2# honey 6 cans pink lemonade concentrate. Boiled water, added WME, corn sugar, boiled 15 minutes, added honey, chilled. Added one can of PLC (why not?). Diluted to 5 gallons, added 1 packet Coopers yeast (rehydrated). Perhaps this is the yeast Two Dogs Lemonade uses? OG 1.054 This weekend I'll add the other 5 cans of PLC. Last Saturday I bottled up 6 gallons of barleywine, and 5 gallons of Amber Ale. A few hours later, I noticed three of the bottles (of Amber Ale) had a little head of foam. Never happened before. After a few days noticed those bottles had more sediment than the non-kraeusen forming bottles. Perhaps I sucked up more yeast sediment into these bottles? Can't 'member if they were the first bottles bottled or not. IMBR? Did I FTIM? Am I SOL? Does this ever happen at Kalamazoo Brewing Company (DTEHAKBC)? Would they tell me if it did? Has this happened to anyone else? Private e-mail OK I'll summarize and post responses Eric Fouch efouch at steelcase.com One-Eyed Dog Jack Farm, Animal Husbandry Department, Kentwood MI Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 1997 14:44:23 -0500 From: Rob Kienle <rkienle at interaccess.com> Subject: Sanitation Simplicity Pt 1: Kegs and Carboys A recent experience in my racking procedures has led me to rethink my sanitation practices. After kegging a batch about a week ago, I rinsed and filled the carboy that I had used for the secondary with my standard solution of chlorine and water. Things got busy around the house and I didn't get around to emptying the solution from the carboy so it sat there filled for the entire time. The other day, I was ready to rack another batch from primary to secondary and decided to simply rinse (*very* hot water, per usual) the standing chlorine/water solution from the previous carboy and rack the new beer into it without "resanitizing" it. My rationale was that it had already been well sanitized after sitting there for a week (albeit uncovered) without being disturbed. About a day later, however, I noticed a pretty decent amount of bubbles rising to the top of the secondary and this activity has continued for the last three days. Since the beer had already reached 1.010 by the time I racked it, I became surprised that it would seem to display so much life and am now somewhat worried that the activity reflects a wild yeast infection. It doesn't stink or taste bad yet but I'm considering slamming the whole thing into my kegging fridge to chill it down and hopefully shock any wild yeasties into submission (which if it's the normal fermentation I'm observing is still okay since I'm pretty much as low as I need to be in terms of FG for this batch). So here are three questions (at last!) this brings up to me relating to making sanitation procedures more simple: 1.) Is it acceptable to leave a fermenter sitting full of sanitizer between brewing/racking sessions, and thus simplify the brewing/racking by avoiding the need for a repeat sanitation procedure? Or do any of the chemicals responsible for sanitizing the environment become oxidized or otherwise "burned out" over time and thus allow contamination within the vessel to occur? I have followed a similar procedure in my kegging practices by cleaning the kegs, then filling them with a weak iodophor solution and sealing them shut, and full of sanitizer, until needed. Since I have experienced no ill effects from this procedure with iodophor and kegs, it would seem that it works and "ain't broken." But can the same be said of chlorine and carboys? Had I sealed the carboy while full of the chlorine, would things have been different? Or is the beer actually just going through normal secondary fermentation (no wild yeast) and I'm just being paranoid (a not uncommon phenomenon). - -- Cheers4beers, Rob Kienle Chicago, IL rkienle at interaccess.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 1997 14:52:43 -0500 From: Rob Kienle <rkienle at interaccess.com> Subject: Sanitation Simplicity Pt 2: Bottles To keep a post on simplicity as simple as possible, I've separated it into two. My conundrums with kegs and carboys is also reflected with a concern or two about bottles. I've recently ordered a counterpressure bottle filler and, in talking to the supplier about its use, was urged to allow my bottles to air dry after sanitizing. Like my kegs, I use iodophor to sanitize my bottles but have never bothered to let them sit around drying (and risking contamination) before or during a bottling session. My supplier, however, maintained that I could store the sanitized bottles upside down in my bottle tree overnight or more without having any problems with infection or wild yeast. This surprised me and I'm not sure I believe it; to say the bottles would be safe from contamination just because the bugs float downward seems way too simple to me. I originally asked the question of my supplier because I have frequently heard it recommended to chill the bottles before filling them via a CF filler, but that didn't make a lot of sense to me either since putting newly sanitized bottles in a refrigerator (filth heaven) really seems to beg for trouble. Hence, what is is the simplest way to handle bottle sanitation when using a CF filler? Do they need to be chilled? Or can I just do it the way I always have (when I used to prime instead of force-carbonate) and fill 'em even with a few drops of very dilute iodophor still present? - -- Cheers4beers, Rob Kienle Chicago, IL rkienle at interaccess.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 16:21:30 -0400 From: "Houseman, David L" <David.Houseman at unisys.com> Subject: SS Perf Plate Hole Size? I'm either purchasing some stainless steel perforated plate or wire cloth for a new false bottom or simply purchasing one already made for that purpose for my 1/2bbl boiler. My question is what is the optimum hole size when the vast majority of my hopping is done with pellets in order to keep hops, irish moss and hot break out of my counter flow chiller yet still give good thermal transfer and not cause excess scorching on the boiler bottom? I seem to recall that most of the commercial false bottoms are 3/32" holes on 5/32" centers; I would expect that to be fine for whole hops but what about the use of hop pellets? I may also upgrade my 10gal Gott mash/lauter tun from a Phils Phalse bottom with a ss perf plate/wire cloth to give a greater open area. Is the plate with 3/32" hole on 5/32" centers the optimum for this purpose? TIA, Dave Houseman Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 15:35:03 -0700 From: "Michael J. Westcott" <mikew at sedona.net> Subject: Re: Bottle of ice questions The main factor responsible for maintaining the beer in an unfrozen state when the temperature of the ambient surroundings is below the freezing point of water is the freezing point depression which occurs when a substance(in this case CO2) is dissolved in a solvent. The effect is enhanced due to the high bottling pressure which ensures a large quantity of dissolved CO2(Henry's law). As the bottle is opened, rapidly decreased pressure allows the CO2 to come out of solution, thus the effect on freezing point(depression) is reduced and you have a solution now at its freezing point, so it freezes! Michael J. Westcott Physical sciences/chemistry Mingus Union High School Cottonwood, AZ mikew at sedona.net Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 1997 21:58:45 -0700 From: mirsjer at charlie.cns.iit.edu Subject: phenolic vs. infection? Hi- last brew session was a major disappointment for me... I was shooting for an all-grain American pale of about 1.050... got 1.036, I believe due to oversparging (I never seem to get a 5 gallon yield! - any suggestions?) My mash temp was not too low. Anyhow, I fermented with Wyeast 1056-American and had a quick start... since it's warm here in Chicago, I used the old carboy-in-a-cool water bath-with a towel trick. Fermented down to 1.010... kegged... this stuff smells a little funky.. and tastes not-too-great. How do you determine whether a beer is phenolic or infected? BTW, this was the 1st time that I boiled ALL of my brew water -in an attempt to AVOID phenols (ironic, eh?). Do other Chicago HBDers boil their water? Also, I notice some (not too much) small grain particles suspended in a glass of brew drawn from the keg. OK, I guess a bit of grain slipped through, but why is it suspended in the beer? Thanks! Jeremy Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 8 Jul 1997 23:32:40 -0400 (EDT) From: DGofus at aol.com Subject: Re: Zima and other recipes Help!!!!!! My wife does not enjoy homebrewed beer nearly as much as I. She does enjoy Zima ( I do too ). Since this drink is touted as a "all malt beverage", is it possilble to duplicate that on a extract homebrew level? Also, I want to brew two beers. 1) A Pete's Wicked Ale 2) A chocolate mint stout. Any help, guidance, or recipe info would be appreciated. I was told that the hop flavor and aroma for the Pete's is brewers gold? Many recipes that I have checked out have various different hops. Thanks in advance, I am preparing my wish list of brews for when the temps drop to get back to brewing. Private e-mail okay. Bob Fesmire Madman Brewery Pottstown, PA Dgofus at aol.com Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 1997 23:31:40 -0400 From: Randy Ricchi <rricchi at ccisd.k12.mi.us> Subject: Corona bottles Larry is looking for a way to get the painted labels off of his Corona bottles, which he is going to use to bottle his barley wine. I offer a low effort solution: why not name your barley wine "Corona Barley Wine"? Problem solved. "Should anyone thirst, let them come unto me and drink" Return to table of contents
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