HOMEBREW Digest #2543 Wed 29 October 1997
![[Prev HBD]](/img/previous.gif)
![[Index]](/img/index_button.gif)
![[Next HBD]](/img/next.gif)
![[Back]](/img/Back.gif)
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:
Moldy fridge summary / disclaimers ("Keith Royster")
Filter size (Randy Lee)
Will a propane tank freeze? ("Alan McKay")
Mixed bag (LNUSTRUK.CZLSSB)
Wyeast 2112 ("John Robinson")
Homebrew Recipe Calculation Program - New Old Release (RUSt1d?)
instructional videotapes ("Paul A. Baker")
Re: Beer Festival (Aaron A Sepanski)
Summary Cyser/Braggot , campden question. (Chris Cooper)
Wild Hops (Don H Van Valkenburg)
Prayer (OCaball299)
break (Al Korzonas)
Re: Extract (Ben Pollard)
Styles (Al Korzonas)
Stein Bier - THE Reference (Tom Gaskell)
O2 diffusion and airlocks (Dave Whitman)
HSA issues... (Greg Young)
Belgium White Beer Recipe (Bob Tisdale)
filter sizes (Edward J. Basgall)
in further defense of extract brewing ("Curt Speaker")
Water analysis (James Keller)
IPA recipe (James Keller)
Cranberry beer/style question (Rick Gontarek)
Extract THIS! (Some Guy)
Zymurgy special issues (Dick Dunn)
Aeration while racking to secondary? (KROONEY)
Odd. . . (stargazer)
Irish Dry Stout pt. 1 (Fredrik Staahl)
NOTE NEW HOMEBREW ADDRESS: hbd.org
Send articles for __publication_only__ to homebrew at hbd.org
(Articles are published in the order they are received.)
If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!!
To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE send an e-mail message with the word
"subscribe" or "unsubscribe" to homebrew-request@hbd.org.
**SUBSCRIBE AND UNSUBSCRIBE REQUESTS MUST BE SENT FROM THE E-MAIL
**ACCOUNT YOU WISH TO HAVE SUBSCRIBED OR UNSUBSCRIBED!!!
IF YOU HAVE SPAM-PROOFED your e-mail address, the autoresponder and
the SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE commands will fail!
For "Cat's Meow" information, send mail to brewery at realbeer.com
Homebrew Digest Information on the Web: http://hbd.org
Requests for back issues will be ignored. Back issues are available via:
Anonymous ftp from...
hbd.org /pub/hbd
ftp.stanford.edu /pub/clubs/homebrew/beer
E-mail...
ftpmail at gatekeeper.dec.com (send a one-line e-mail message with
the word help for instructions.)
AFS users can find it under...
/afs/ir.stanford.edu/ftp/pub/clubs/homebrew/beer
JANITORS on duty: Pat Babcock and Karl Lutzen (janitor@hbd.org)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 09:12:00 +0500
From: "Keith Royster" <keith at ays.net>
Subject: Moldy fridge summary / disclaimers
Thanks to all who responded to my moldy fridge problem. I received a
number of suggestions for using a bleach solution to clean the inside
periodically, but I wanted something a little less corrosive and also
something that would inhibit its re-growth. Along those lines the
two best suggestions were: Clean with lysol and leave the residue to
inhibit regrowth, and; Place a bucket of Damp-Rid(tm) in the fridge
to suck the moisture out of the air. Damp-Rid is a dessicant
normally used to keep basements and closets dry, and can be found in
the supermarket in the cleaning section near the mothballs.
===================
Now I'd like to request a free consultation from our homebrewing
lawyers.... I've noticed that some of the brewing related web pages
contain disclaimers stating that people use the information found on
that page at their own risk. I've always felt these disclaimers to
be unnecessary so I have not added one to my RIMS web page, but I've
been reconsidering after reading recent posts about brewers possibly
electrocuting themselves. Is this really necessary? Can I be sued
if someone builds a RIMS using info from my page and kills/injures
themselves due to inaccurate or incomplete information? Any
suggestions on wording the disclaimer? And finally, how might this
subject relate to advice dispensed here in our beloved digest?
Keith Royster - Mooresville/Charlotte, North Carolina
email: keith at ays.net
http://www.ays.net/brewmasters -Carolina BrewMasters club page
http://www.ays.net/RIMS -My RIMS (rated COOL! by the Brewery)
http://www.ays.net/movingbrews -pumps and accessories for advanced homebrewers
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 07:47:02 -0600
From: Randy Lee <rjlee at imation.com>
Subject: Filter size
>I have converted to kegging and wondered if my beer would taste
>"crisper/cleaner" if I filtered. I know if I filter too fine I will lose a
>lot of taste. What micron size will remove yeast but won't effect (or have
>minimum effect on) the beer taste ?
We use a 4 micron filter (pads) here without too much degredation of
flavors or bittering. I started one of our beers with a 1 micron setup
one day. It plugged up right away so I switched back to the 4 micron and
found that the 1 micron had taken out quite a bit of the bittering from
the beer. This was a bohemian pilsner at about 13P and about 35IBU.
I have used a 1 micron on a preprohibition pilsner without noticeable
affect.
For a home brewer, I think that just having a little patience and
letting the beer fall clear in the keg and then racking it off to
another is a far easier, better thing to do that to filter; while a
filter can clean up limited problems in a beer, it shouldn't be used in
that way. It won't give you a "crisper/cleaner" beer. That is done with
recipie and process.
Randy Lee
Viking Brewing Company
Dallas, WI.
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 08:32:01 -0500
From: "Alan McKay" <Alan.McKay.amckay at nt.com>
Subject: Will a propane tank freeze?
Hi folks,
Well, here comes the dilemma. We just got hit with the big storm that
took
out Colorado, and so winter in Ottawa is just around the corner. That
means
about 4 months of -25C, with peaks at -35C.
I don't like the idea of storing my propane tanks (regular BBQ sized)
inside
the house, but I'm wondering if the things are going to freeze outside.
Anyone know?
I was thinking of storing each one inside in it's own plastic garbage
can,
so that if it leaked, all the propane would stay in the can where I
could
smell it, and just take it outside to dump it.
-Alan
- --
Alan McKay
Nortel Enterprise Networks
Norstar / Companion / Monterey Operations
PC Support Prime
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 10:12:51 -0500
From: LNUSTRUK.CZLSSB at gmeds.com
Subject: Mixed bag
1) Botulism, Botulism. just kidding.
2) Lizardhead - Relax! Have a homebrew.
3) To the lucky guy who's going to Europe:
Do yourself a favor and visit the Cantillion Brewery in Brussels. Just got back
from there a couple weeks ago. So many beers, so little time. Aside from superb
food, and 12oz bottles of Chimay Blue for a buck, and countless other
legendary beers, (You can start crying now) the Cantillion brewery tour is
reason enough for visit to this amazing and often overlooked city.
I took the subway to the neighborhood where the brewery is located and walked
about 4 blocks to the brewery. I had to ask a few people where it was before I
got a good answer. All that asking made me a little thirsty so I sat down by a
fountain and had a bottle of Chimay. I got a few funny looks but it was only 9
o' clock. It was no leisurely beer, mind you, cause there was a brewery to
tour. I moved on.
Looking like a total tourist, map in hand ect, ect. I peered into a open garage
doorway and spied various brewing paraphernalia, just as a guy who sat in the
warm sun on a overturned wine crate said "you want to tour the brewery?" I
entered, paid my 2 or 3 bucks in Bfr., and entered. I was given a numbered
pamphlet in English, and the friendly guy set me off on my own. Taking a step
into the brewery felt like taking a step back one hundred years. You'd never
get a chance in the Sue-Crazy USA to just wander up ladders, peer down hatches,
and walk about stacks of barrels at your own leisure.
The place was filthy, and I fought the temptation to sweep up a little filth to
take home and bless my brewing area. Without spoiling the experience for any
visitors, I'd just say that all the stuff you've been told about good
sanitation seems to run contrary at Cantillion.
But as always the proof is in the beer. Kriek, Frambozen, and Gueze were IMHO,
superb. If you have an appreciation for wood, you'll freak in the corner of the
tasting area which is decked from head to toe in quater sawn white oak raised
panels. I comptemplated the oak connection (beers, arts & crafts furniture,
lambic barrels) as I had a champagne bottle of each of the Cantillion beers.
The friendly Flemish guy brought me a half glass of two year lambic which is
the immature precursor to the finished product. It's not very tasty, but does
give one an idea on how a lambic progresses.
The brewery claims to be the last brewer using the traditional lambic style of
brewing. I was told that because many consumers favor sweeter lambics, extended
fermentation are bypassed by many popular lambic brands.
Don't pass this place up if you like lambic beers.
Chuck Carman.
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 12:21:06 +0000
From: "John Robinson" <robinson at novalis.ca>
Subject: Wyeast 2112
Has anyone tried fermenting with Wyeast 2112 at around 50 F? I've
read the sheet they put out on their yeasts and it seems to indicate
that 58 F is about the minimum temperature.
I ask because I've got a beer that has been fermenting for about a
month at around 50-52, and I'm trying to determine if this is normal
for this yeast or if I have some other problem.
- ---
John Robinson "When I am working on a problem I never think about beauty.
Software Developer I only think about how to solve the problem. But when I
NovaLIS Technologies have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know
robinson at novalis.ca it is wrong." - Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983)
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 10:14:01 -0800
From: RUSt1d? <rust1d at usa.net>
Subject: Homebrew Recipe Calculation Program - New Old Release
I have put a new release of my homebrew program on my web page. It is
version 1.7. This is an upgrade to version 1.6. Registered users have
been using version 1.7 for about a year now. I am making it available to
the public because of the pending release of version 2.0 which will not
be compatiable with version 1.6. Version 1.7 contains import/export
routines that will be used by version 2.0 to migrate recipes and data to
the new table formats.
Register your copy of version 1.7 before the release of version 2.0
(sometime in early '98) and
receive a free upgrade when available. Registered users of HBRCP can
request a beta version of 2.0 for testing. It requires a screen
resolution of 800x600.
- --
John Varady http://www.netaxs.com/~vectorsys/varady
Boneyard Brewing The HomeBrew Recipe Calculating Program
Glenside, PA rust1d at usa.net
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 10:34:07 -0600
From: "Paul A. Baker" <pbaker at facstaff.wisc.edu>
Subject: instructional videotapes
Hi folks,
This is my first post to HBD. I think it's a great forum.
I've been brewing with malt extract kits for about six months now.
I don't have the benefit of a nearby homebrew club, so most of my
learning has come from reading. I recently bought a copy of Charlie
P.'s "Complete Interactive Joy of Homebrewing" on CD-ROM, and
found the video sequences helpful. Does anyone know of any
instructional videos available for relative newcomers like myself?
Paul Baker
pbaker at facstaff.wisc.edu (608) 263-8814
Wisconsin Center for Education Research
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 09:38:03 -0600 (CST)
From: Aaron A Sepanski <sepan001 at uwp.edu>
Subject: Re: Beer Festival
Attention Southeastern Wisconsinites!!!!!
The Parkside Homebrewer's Network, in cooperation with The University of
Wisconsin-Parkside Student Union are putting on a beer festival.
The Following breweries will be in attendance:
Gray's
Wisconsin Brewing Co.
Lakefront
Sprecher
Port Washington
Brewmaster's Pub
For Information email sepan001 at uwp.edu
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 11:53:05 -0500
From: Chris Cooper <ccooper at a2607cc.msr.hp.com>
Subject: Summary Cyser/Braggot , campden question.
Greetings all!
A couple of weeks ago I asked about a looooong lag time for a cyser I was
making. I had used "campden" (sodium metabisulfite) to prepare and apple
cider/honey brew. The logic of the campden is to kill wild nasties, and
after it disapates (~ 24 hours) pitch a healthy yeast starter to go to
town and produce a cyser. I had read in a mead book that you should use
2 campden tablets for a one gallon recipe, from this I interpolated that a
5-gallon batch would need 10 tablets. For the record a couple of responses
pointed out that the ideal solution for "campden" to work would be 50ppm
for a ph of 3.3-3.5 and that the tablets available from wine shops are
designed to reach this level with one tablet per Imperial Gallon, (this
would come to 4 tablets for 5 US Gallons) when I added 10 tablets I ended
up with around 125 ppm sulfite which would inhibit just about anything from
growing! Time heals many wounds and after 7-days the sulphite levels had
dropped enough for a fresh batch of ale yeast to get a foot hold and start.
I recieved several responses privately and via HBD to all who responded
"Thanks!". The universal advice was "Don't Use Campden" it isn't needed.
If you are worried about wild things simply heat to 160-170^F for 15-30 min.
cool and pitch (the temp and time ranges bracket the advise from several
responses). Some suggested that heating was only needed to help disolve
the honey and that any wild things would only add to the flavor profile.
I have repeated the batch without the "campden" and the second batch took
off in 12 hours. Both batches seem to be doing well and the week-lag
hasn't produced any off odors or flavors.
I do have one question/obsevation, both batches have been going strong for
the last week (i.e. constant airlock activety) and although slowing down a
bit it seems they have plenty of steam (CO2) left. For those of you who
have made a cyser, the foam in the carboy is absoultely milkly in color
and forms large bubbles (3"-4" in size, I have plenty of head room, a 5G
batch in a 6.5G carboy), just curious how this compares to other's
experience.
Chris Cooper , Commerce Michigan --> Pine Haven Brewery <--
Chris_Cooper at hp.com --> aka. Deb's Kitchen <--
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 09:43:34 -0800
From: steinfiller at juno.com (Don H Van Valkenburg)
Subject: Wild Hops
Keith Zimmerman <keithzim at computron.net> Writes about hops in the wild.
>This September I was back packing in Colorado. Along the trail I was
>enjoying eating some raspberries when I noticed a plant which had some
>cones which looked like hops. I am just curious, are hops growing like
>this normal or was this an unusual occurrence?
- ---------Yes it is.
There was an article which appeared in the journal of the American
Society of Brewing Chemists, Inc., 1993. This was a study of N.
American hops by; A. Haunold, G.B. Nickerson, and others.
Here is an the first paragraph from that study, which pretty much sums up
the article.
"Native wild North American hops collected in 11 states and two Canadian
provinces at various times since 1959 were evaluated for agronomic and
quality characteristics during the 1990 and 1991 growing seasons near
Corvallis, OR. Most plants had deeply lobed leaves and prominent hooked
climbing hairs on main stems and sidearms. Male plants outnumbered
females in an unselected seedling population, but monoecious types
predominated. Most plants were susceptible to hop downey mildew, but
Verticillium wild was never observed. Clear differences were evident in
colonization by two-spotted spider mites in the absence of chemical
control measures, even in adjacent plants late in the season. The soft
resin content of most native American hops was low, rarely were
approaching 10% of cone weight. Plants with alpha acid levels above 5%
were rare. Bata acid content frequently exceeded that of alpha acid,
resulting in a alpha ratio below 50 %. However, some plants with a
moderately high alpha ratio could be identified from most collection
sites. Native American hops had exceptionally high cohumulone and even
higher coupulone content and a pungent, unpleasant aroma. The
composition of their essential oils differ significantly from that of hop
cultivars used for commercial brewing."
Don't forget that Brewers Gold, Bullion and N. Brewer, just to name a
few, are all direct results of a cross with a N. American WILD hop.
And Cluster most likely was a result of an English hop crossing by open
pollination with wild hops.
For more on this see my article in Brewing Techniques Sept./Oct. 1995
Don Van Valkenburg
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 12:45:21 -0500 (EST)
From: OCaball299 at aol.com
Subject: Prayer
I hope this doesn't offend anyone...
> Our lager,
> Which art in barrels,
> Hallowed be thy drink.
> Thy will be drunk, (I will be drunk),
> At home as it is in the pub.
> Give us this day our foamy head,
> And forgive us our spillage's,
> As we forgive those who spill against us.
> And lead us not to incarceration,
> But deliver us from hangovers.
> For thine is the beer, The bitter, The lager.
> BARMEN.
Omar Caballero - ocaball299 at aol.com
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 12:25:06 -0600 (CST)
From: Al Korzonas <korz at xnet.com>
Subject: break
Jim found that he got very little break in his Porter (which had a
pre-boil pH between 4.9 and 5.1).
Break formation is tied to boil pH. pH drops during the boil and break
formation is seriously decreased below 4.6 (and begins to be decreased
even at higher pHs). So, the solution would have been to raise the
pH of the wort up to 5.3 or so with calcium carbonate before your boil.
Careful... a little calcium carbonate can go a long way. Actually,
too low a pH will impair enzyme functions too so you may want to adjust
the mash, not wait till the runnings.
Dark grains lower pH and this is why you had this problem with your
Porter and not with paler beers.
Al.
Al Korzonas, Palos Hills, IL
korz at xnet.com
My new website (still under construction, but up-and-running):
http://www.brewinfo.com/brewinfo/
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 13:04:09 -0800
From: Ben Pollard <classicferm at fia.net>
Subject: Re: Extract
What is the big deal about brewing with extract. I've been brewing 4 or
5 years and reading the digest for about 3 years. I brew about half the
time with extract and do all-grains the other half. I mainly do the
extracts to get an easily reproducable recipe for customers in my shop.
I have been actively competing with my beer for a few years now and
have
a number of 1st place ribbons to show for it. Nearly 50% of my awards
are for EXTRACT brews including Best of show at Dayton last month. IMO
extract brewers can brew as good a beer as all grain brewers (in much
less time) if they follow good practices and learn everything they can
about brewing. They nned to do many of the things all grain brewers do
such as boiling a full volume of wort, cooling as quickly as possible
and using high quality, fresh ingredients. Extract brewers don't
despair, just because we brew with extract it doesn't make us second
class brewers.
--
Ben Pollard
Amarillo, Texas
classicferm at fia.net
http://home.fia.net/~classicferm
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 14:07:56 -0600 (CST)
From: Al Korzonas <korz at xnet.com>
Subject: Styles
John writes:
>The goal is to try to preserve traditional styles, while at the same
>time providing a way for new styles to emerge.
I am all for new styles emerging and am against guidelines that are so
narrow that they don't allow for a little creativity within existing
styles. However, when a brewer makes a 17 Lovibond beer that clearly
tastes of dark roasted malt, they should NOT call is an ESB. I think
what's at issue here is misuse of titles, not the squelching of
creativity. I think Charlie Papazian does it right: when he brews a
1.100 OG beer with smoked malt and a spicy Belgian yeast, he calls it
a Belgian Rauch Barleywine... he doesn't simply call it a Barleywine.
What's wrong with that? If someone indeed comes up with a unique
style, say a malted spelt beer, spiced with mint, with maple syrup added
to the fermenter, then naming is up for grabs... if it were me, I'd
invent a new name for the style, like Palosian Ale.
Al.
Al Korzonas, Palos Hills, IL
korz at xnet.com
My new website (still under construction, but up-and-running):
http://www.brewinfo.com/brewinfo/
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 16:01:17 -0500
From: Tom Gaskell <gaskell at borg.com>
Subject: Stein Bier - THE Reference
Folks, there is a lot of speculation going on regarding Stein Bier.
May I humbly suggest a very credible source for the real story.
To *see*, not just read about, the production of Stein Bier, get your
hands on "The Beer Hunter" videotape series by The Beer Hunter (Michael
Jackson). The series of three, one hour tapes was released a few years
back by the Discovery Channel (who broadcast the series originally).
Each episode is a half hour run time, and the series is six episodes,
one each in a region or country famous for beer.
The German episode includes a visit to Bavaria, and one of the breweries
visited is one that produces Stein Bier. Mr. Jackson shows the parts of
the process which differ from normal brewing, mainly the use of the
stones, and the tasting. 8^)
The stones are obtained locally (from the fields surrounding the brewery),
and are of volcanic origin. In the video, they do not look bubbly like
cinders or gas grill stones, and not crystalline like granite, but look
to be just heavy, ordinary, light gray rocks. As I recall, the type of
stone is mentioned in the video. I suggest that you use the type of
stone specified in the video, since explosion seems like a very real
possibility.
In fact, the stones are placed in a basket (which looks as if it is made
from wrought iron bar), heated to white hot over an open fire, raised by
a gantry hoist then lowered into the near-boiling wort. The addition of
the rocks to the wort causes an instantaneous and vigorous boil.
Once the boiled wort is emptied from the kettle, the black, caramel
covered stones are removed, still in the basket, then placed by hand into
the bottom of a fermenter (through a manway), and the beer is run in to
the tank for lagering.
I have seen the tapes, but have forgotten most of the details (it has
been a few months since I watched the series). I cannot the brewery,
town, etc. Check around locally to track down a copy of the videos.
Try homebrew clubs, video rental joints, and homebrew supply shops.
Cheers,
Tom Gaskell
Still lurking after all these years...
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 16:10:20 -0500
From: Dave Whitman <dwhitman at rohmhaas.com>
Subject: O2 diffusion and airlocks
Steve Alexander and I have been exchanging email about the
best-of-all-possible airlocks.
Steve and I agree that an airlock design with a narrow cross section and
long diffusion path are better than a short, wide one for minimizing O2
diffusion.
Probably the best way to choose a fluid to fill the airlock is to look at
O2 diffusion rates. It turns out water isn't a bad choice:
solvent O2 diffusion rate temp degrees C
cyclohexane 5.31 30
CCl4 3.71 25
EtOH 2.64 30
water 1.86, 2.08 18, 25
The admitted limited data suggest that polar liquids minimize diffusion of
(very non-polar) O2. I found references that suggest you can decrease the
O2 diffusion rate through water by adding salt (increase polarity), or
increase it by adding soluble organics (decrease polarity).
I found references that suggest that all else being equal, high viscosity
will decrease diffusion rates. Glycerine is very polar (like water and
ethanol) with the added advantage of being pretty viscous, and as such
might make a good choice (but I can't find diffusion data to prove/disprove
this).
Steve and I disagree about whether diffusion is important during active
fermentation when bubbling is going on. I maintain that as long as the gas
flow out due to bubbling is fast relative to the rate of O2 diffusion in,
O2 concentration inside will be essentially nil. O2 will constantly
diffuse in across the concentration gradient in the airlock - it's just
that when it gets inside, it's in a volume of gas that's in the process of
leaving the carboy. Only when diffusion is faster than bubbling does the
entering gas have a chance to build up.
I've got a lot of experience storing *profoundly* air-sensitive compounds
under a slight overpressure of heavier-than-air inert gases for long
periods with no adverse effects. Basically, you fit the flask with a two
hole stopper, put an airlock in one hole and a tube bleeding in inert gas
in the other. The trickle of gas sweeps out the O2 that is diffusing in
through the air lock and around the stopper rim. You only need a few
bubbles per minute to keep the flask inert indefinitely, and believe me,
you'd know it if any O2 got in. (In these systems, we usually use mineral
oil or mercury to fill the airlock, since the compounds are also sensitive
to water).
An analogous system with a slight bleed of CO2 could easily keep a carboy
of beer free from adventitous oxygen during storage once active
fermentation was over.
- ---
Dave Whitman dwhitman at rohmhaas.com
"Opinions expressed are those of the author, and not Rohm and Haas Company"
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 16:04:05 -0500
From: Greg_Young at saunderscollege.com (Greg Young)
Subject: HSA issues...
Greetings, all. I know that this issue may have come up in the past, but I
wasn't about to search through the 569 posts that came up when I did a search (I
got fed up with my sluggish modem after about 100). So, onto the dirt. In my
last few batches I've been giving a lot of thought to HSA during the transfer of
my mash from the mash tun to the lauter tun and during sparging, and I'm
interested to know if my worries are warranted. From what I understand, most
breweries pump the mash from the mash tun to the lauter tun (which I would think
would cause some sloshing and therefore HSA) *AND* apply the sparge water to the
mash using either a "trickle" method (much like the ever-popular rotating sparge
arm) or a spray nozzle. I would tend to think that since both of these 'trickle'
methods are reducing the water into many small particles (especially in the case
of spraying), you are in turn largely *increasing* the surface area of the
sparge water, thereby optimizing aeration. If I'm wrong here, well.....well then
good for all of us--one less thing to worry about. If I'm right, then what's the
straight dope? Is it the case that at these temperatures, HSA isn't as great as
a concern as I think? Do I need to be ever-so-gentle when transferring my mash
to my lauter tun? Is batch sparging the way of the future?
Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope. (Or Al....or George....)
Greg Young
G.Young's Basement Brewery
greg_young at saunderscollege.com
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 16:20:13 -0500
From: rtisdale at entomology.msstate.edu (Bob Tisdale)
Subject: Belgium White Beer Recipe
I call this "off white" because of the use of brown sugar anf the high
O.G., both of which are not to style. This beer tasted great after only
two weeks in the bottle. It took a long time to ferment out because of the
High O.G. and the high alcohol tolerance of the yeast.
Bad Bob's Off White Beer
6.6 lbs Muntons Wheat LME
1 lb Laeglander Extra Light DME
1 lb Wheat malt
1 lb Cara Pils
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
2 oz Hallertau Hops at 3.2%AA (boil)
1 oz Saaz Hops at 3.6%AA (finish)
1 tsp Corriander (finish)
18 grams Dried Naval Orange Peel (the peel from 1 medium sized orange) (finish)
1 tbl Gypsum
1/8 tsp Irish Moss
Wyeast Belgium White Beer Yeast
Put the grains in 3 qts water, bring to a boil, and steep for one hour.
Sparge the grains in enough water to bring total volume to 2.5 gallons.
Add gypsum, malt, and sugar and boil for 15 minutes. Add hops and boil for
1 hour. Add Irish Moss last 15 minutes. Remove from heat, add finish
hops, corriander, orange peel, and let stand for 10 minutes. Pour wort
over a layer of ice in fermenting bucket (cooling technique is optional).
Bring volume to 5 gals. Corriander and orange peel are left in the wort
during primary fermentation. Pitched yeast at 70 F.
O. G. 1.052
F. G. 1.012 % OH v/v = 5.25
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 17:34:41 -0500
From: ejb11 at psu.edu (Edward J. Basgall)
Subject: filter sizes
>Date: Fri, 24 Oct 1997 18:08:24 -0600 (MDT)
>From: Ian Smith <rela!isrs at netcom.com>
>Subject: filtering beer - what micron size?>
>I have converted to kegging and wondered if my beer would taste
>"crisper/cleaner" if I filtered. I know if I filter too fine I will lose a
>minimum effect on) the beer taste ?
>Cheers
>Ian Smith
>isrs at rela.uucp.netcom.com
Hi Ian,
Yeast are about 7 um in size, so a 5 um filter should hold em back.
On the other hand, if you have a bacterial infection in your beer, you need
to get down to about .2 um.
cheers
ed basgall
SCUM
State Colelge Underground Maltsters
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 16:13:10 EST
From: "Curt Speaker" <speaker at safety-1.safety.psu.edu>
Subject: in further defense of extract brewing
Just had to add my $.02:
As Al K pointed out, some fine beers can be made from extract. I
switched over to all-grain brewing about 2 years ago, and while I
will probably always brew that way (or partial mashes for my big
beers), it is possible to brew extract beers that will win
competitions. I have two first place ribbons on my barroom wall to
attest to this: one for an American Premium lager and one for a
Rasberry Wheat beer, both made from extract (Alexanders, BTW).
There are many things that you can do to make your extract beers
better, and they have been enumerated here many times. But at the
risk of boring some folks, here is a short list of ways to improve
your extract beer.
1. Full volume boiling - try to boil all 5 gallons of liquid; it
will result in less carmalization of malt sugars, better hop
utilization and better break formation.
2. Chill your wort quickly - less chance for infection, funky
flavors, etc. - and a necessity if you do #1.
3. Use the lightest extract possible - Alexanders is always my
choice; it is pale, light in flavor and widely available.
4. Add your own hops - avoid pre-hopped syrups...most of the flavor
and aroma disappears during the boil.
5. Aerate your cooled wort - yeasties need O2 during the first day
of their life.
6. If you use liquid yeast, make a starter. The bigger, the better.
7. If you use dry yeast, rehydrate it for 15 minutes in warm water
before you pitch it.
8. Use specialty grains to give your beer additional flavor - but
steep them at 150-160F, do not boil them.
9. Get your beer off the trub as soon as possible (especially
important for lighter beers).
10. The importance of good sanitation cannot be overstated...if it
is going to touch your beer, make sure that it is clean!
This list could go on much longer, but these are some basics that can
improve your beer from "drinkable" to "boy - this is really good!"
Prost!
Curt
Curt Speaker
Biosafety Officer
Penn State University
Environmental Health and Safety
speaker at ehs.psu.edu
http://www.ehs.psu.edu
^...^
(O_O)
=(Y)=
"""
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 17:01:00 -0500
From: James.S.Keller.12 at nd.edu (James Keller)
Subject: Water analysis
Trent Neutgens (tneutgen at isd.net) from Chaska, MN delivered his water
analysis in HBD#2538. We have nearly the same
water profile (South Bend, IN) and it drove me to bottled water until I
started looking into the profiles of *traditional* brewing regions. My
preferences tend toward British classics (bitters, IPAs, Old ales, etc.)
and *our* water can be relatively easily doctored to make a good match.
I typically use quite a bit of gypsum to enhance the sulfate concentration
(my tap water comes in between 50 and 80 mg/l and I have been known to
boost that to between 300 and 500 mg/l). Although you can boil your tap
water to precipitate CaCO3 and then add gypsum (CaSO3), the resulting
carbonate levels are *still* nearly two to three times the suggested water
profile (Foster, Pale Ales).
Instead, I add 1 tsp of gypsum to four gallons of water *before* boiling to
drive the precipitation further (assume approx 40 mg/l residual Ca+ after
boiling). Then, after cooling overnight and racking off the solids, I add
between 1-1/2 to 2 tsp of gypsum and one or two gallons of distilled water.
This final dilution is probably not necessary, but brings my magnesium,
sodium, and chloride levels close to an idealized profile.
Note two things...I rely on brewing authorities like Foster to suggest an
appropriate profile. We know that Burton water was (is) exceptionally hard
and full of minerals, but we do not always know what *treatments* the
Burton brewers applied before its use. Second, you can achieve very good
profiles without exhausting the chemical stockroom if you are willing to
work a little with what you have got. For example, I make a perfectly
acceptable London water profile (English ales) by merely diluting my tap
water 1:1 with distilled and adding a pinch of sea salt (NaCl). [Sometimes
I boil to remove chlorine (but do not worry about promptly racking the
water off the solids), sometimes, I just "mix-em" up and let the water sit
for a few days in an open container.]
Having said all that, I certainly appreciate the know-how of A. J. deLange
and his ilk who can whip-up a batch of virtually any brewing water with
distilled water and a wonderous assortment of salt additions, all the while
keeping track of the pH, surface tension, and conductivity. I just try to
keep my additions simple and noticeable (my palate can really sense the
affect of sulfate in the expression of the hops and chloride in the
mouthfeel of my beers). Of course, having read AJD's response to your
post, I will *have* to recheck the iron levels in my water and my tasting
notes. Damn those scientific types! :^)
Cheers,
Jamie in South Bend
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 17:04:08 -0500
From: James.S.Keller.12 at nd.edu (James Keller)
Subject: IPA recipe
Trent (tneutgen at isd.net) also wanted to know a good IPA recipe for a full mash.
My favorite IPA recipe is stolen and (only moderately adapted) from Dave
Brockington's Sister Star of the Sun. I have been making minor (and
probably insignificant) refinements for the past two years.
For 5 gallons
10.5 # English Pale (Hugh Baird if possible)
0.25# Crystal 120
0.25# Wheat (head retention)
0.50# Munich (nice touch)
1.00 oz EKGoldings (First Wort hopped...I like it!)
1.75 oz Chinook at 60 minutes (AA 10.4%)
1.00 oz Cascade at 30 minutes (AA 6.2%)
1.00 oz Cascade dry-hop in secondary
Wyeast 1028 (London)
Dough-in all grains with 7 qts water; acid rest at 104F for 20 minutes.
[Alternatively, add some or all crystal at mash-out for much bigger crystal
affect.] Single-step infusion of boiling water and hold at 151F for 90
minutes. Withdraw and boil enough liquor to achieve mash-out at 168F (10
min). Recirculate and sparge into kettle with EKGoldings. Boil for 10-15
minutes to achieve hot break. Begin 1 hour countdown with listed hop
additions. Add rehydrated Irish Moss at 15 minute mark and cool with
chiller. Original gravity 1.060. Aerate, pitch yeast and ferment at 65F.
Transfer to secondary on fourth day. Dry-hop for at least a week. Final
gravity 1.012. Calculated IBU (Tinseth): 60.
Note: my boil is rather concentrated (smallish pot). Hops additions may
need to be reduced for full wort boil.
Cheers-
Jamie in South Bend
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 19:59:59 +0000
From: Rick Gontarek <gontarek at voicenet.com>
Subject: Cranberry beer/style question
Hi Everyone,
I would like to brew a cranberry ale this year for the holidays. I have
looked at the Cat's Meow as well as other sources, and I've seen recipes
that use either fresh (or frozen) pureed cranberries or cranberry juice
concentrate. Using the juice concentrate seems to be against my better
judgement because of the sugar. But cranberries are also chock full o'
pectin, so if I use whole berries and add them to the hot wort, I run
the risk of pectin haze (I could always add pectin enzyme).
Unfortunately, most of the recipes I've seen do not provide detailed
tasting notes. If anyone has made a good cranberry beer that has a
noticeable cranberry flavor, I'd love to hear from you. Any advice is
welcome.
Also, I recently made a "Multi-grain Harvest Brew" which used several
different types of barley malt, rye malt, and wheat malt. The beer has
medium hop bitterness, and a nice deep amber color. It was fermented
with Wyeast 2112 California Common yeast, so it is rather clean tasting.
I would like to enter this brew in a competition, but I am unsure what
style to place it under. It could be an American Amber Ale. Or it could
be entered as a specialty brew. Anyone have any thoughts on how to
maximize the winning potential by having it placed in the proper
category?
Thanks for the advice,
Rick Gontarek
Owner/Brewmaster of The Major Groove Picobrewery
Trappe, PA
gontarek at voicenet.com
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 20:10:50 -0500 (EST)
From: Some Guy <pbabcock at oeonline.com>
Subject: Extract THIS!
Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager...
Well, take this from a dyed-in-the-wool-all-grain-pico-brewer:
As many know, this summer found me on exile from my Pico in Sunny, Scenic
Edison New Jersey. Undaunted, I set about brewing extract batches under
the thin guise of teaching about fifteen others how to brew. Since
investing in all the doodads that make up a proper all-grain brewery was
beyond the scope of our interest, we brewed from extracts - both dried and
liquid; kits and unhopped; straight-extract and partial mash; etc and etc.
Amonst these brews lurks about the damned-finest American wheat I've ever
brewed - bar none!
As much care and attention went into the design of these brews as with
any of my all-grain batches and, instead of selecting grains (about which
much is know) and mash schedules to create a particular flavor/body
profile, extracts were selected for the same. To tell you the truth, I
found it more challenging to select the appropriate extracts to create
the desired balance between the two than I ever found the grain/schedule
selection to be! So, to you careful, artistic extract brewers, I tip my
hat. And any of the sneering all-grain types who look down their
schnozolas at you really don't have a clue, do they? And they probably
will never get one. Don't bristle and grouse at them; nay! Pity them.
They, like me, are mere slaves to their mashtuns...
See ya!
Pat Babcock in SE Michigan pbabcock at oeonline.com
Home Brew Digest Janitor janitor@hbd.org
Harvest THESE: rhundt at fcc.gov jQuello at fcc.gov sness at fcc.gov rchong at fcc.gov
Return to table of contents
Date: 27 Oct 97 18:35:37 MST (Mon)
From: rcd at raven.talisman.com (Dick Dunn)
Subject: Zymurgy special issues
If anybody really cares, here's how the _Zymurgy_ special-issue prices have
gone, for all the years they've appeared...
Year Reg Issue Special Issue
1981 $2.00-3.00 Free (reg price changed during year)
1985 $3.50 $7.50
1986 $3.50 $3.50
1987 $3.50 $7.50
1988 $4.00 $7.50
1989 $4.00 $7.50
1990 $4.00 $7.50
1991 $5.00 $8.50
1992 $5.00 $9.50
1993 $6.00 $9.50
1994 $6.00 $9.50
1995 $6.00 $9.50
1996 $6.50 $9.95
1997 $6.50 $9.95
Now the AHA boosters and the AHA detractors and Sturman can go debate the
deep significance of these numbers (but hopefully not here on the HBD:-).
- ---
Dick Dunn rcd, domain talisman.com Boulder County, Colorado USA
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 18:02:03 -0500
From: KROONEY at genre.com
Subject: Aeration while racking to secondary?
I'm making a cranberry ale which calls for adding 6 lbs of crushed
(pasteurized) cranberries to the secondary, then racking the ale to it
after 5 - 7 days in the primary. Thinking it would help to continue the
hearty fermentation, I let the ale splash into the carboy instead of easing
it down in a tube. Now I just read a tip in a supply catalog that said to
aerate vigorously during the first 12 hours, suggesting that after that you
should not.
Did I blow it by aerating at this stage? What will be the result?
Anything I can do over the next 2 weeks in the secondary?
Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 23:15:42 -0600
From: stargazer at dlcwest.com
Subject: Odd. . .
Slightly off topic and trolling for amusement:
So why is it we've cigar affectionadoes (sp?), wine connoisseurs, and beer
snobs?
Is this a class thing? Connoisser is actually correct; expert on/lover of
taste, but doesn't quite sit as nicely as beer snob.
- --
- -----
If I had a neat and nifty saying, it would go here.
mailto:stargazer at dlcwest.com L^3
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 11:09:59 +0100
From: Fredrik.Stahl at math.umu.se (Fredrik Staahl)
Subject: Irish Dry Stout pt. 1
Vince Mitchell wants to clone Murphy's Irish Stout:
>Hello to all! It has been a long long time since my last post. I am
>curious if any of the Stout Guru's here has a recipe (preferably
>extract/partial-mash) that resembles or possibly clones Murphy's Irish
>Stout? Any info would be fantastic!! E-mail works for me!
Before brewing a Guinness clone this weekend, I decided to review the
references I have to the three commercial examples (Guinness, Beamish and
Murphy's), see part 2 below. Maybe I'm being a bit overzealous with all the
references, but I grew tired of not remembering where I read this and that.
Comments are welcome.
Here is the recipe:
========================================================================
Name: Black Hole Stout
Volume: 25 l
OG: 41 Oe (points)
Mash Efficiency: 91%
Grains: Pale ale malt (Maris Otter) 2.7 kg
Roasted barley 500 g (on the high side, but I wanted to try a
little more this time)
Flaked barley 800 g
Salts: some CaCO3 added (I don't remember the exact amount), and 1 g NaCl.
Mash schedule:
- Mash in at 40 C, glucanase rest for 15 min. (Not essential but I like it.)
- Hot water infusion to 56 C, protein rest for 20 min. (Might be skipped
but I wanted to see if it made the head even better. Clarity is not an
issue for me in a beer this black.)
- Heat to 64.5 C, rest 70 min. (A low temp rest in favour of a highly
fermentable wort.)
- Heat to 71 C, rest 15 min. (Probably not necessary but why not I thought
- I was having lunch at the time so I didn't feel like sparging too soon
:-)
- Heat to 77 C, mash out for 15 min.
Hops: 43 g Bullion, unfortunately pellets (they don't separate very well in
my boiler). I added the hops when I had lautered 2/3 of the wort, i.e.
first wort hopping. See the references in part 2.
Yeast: Wyeast #1084 Irish, reused from a previous batch. Even if 1084 isn't
very attenuative, I think it will get the SG down quite a bit since the
large amount of reused yeast is very healthy. (By contrast to the previous
batch, an old Peculier clone which I wanted to be low attenuated with more
esters.)
Fermentation: Planned 1 week in primary and 2 weeks in secondary. The only
thing I'm worried about is that the vigourous fermentation increased the
temperature to 21.5 C, which may result in a little more fruitiness than I
was aiming for. (Guinness' yeast ferment at 25 C, but that probably gives
too much esters with most other yeasts.)
========================================================================
As for Murphy's, I would lower the OG, IBU and roasted grains a bit, and
probably replace some of the roasted barley with chocolate malt to make it
a bit smoother. I think the attenuation is even more important, so use a
high pitching rate with an attenuative yeast, aerate sufficiently, and try
to make the wort as fermentable as possible. This is harder if you are
using extracts, but try to use one of the more fermentable extracts out
there. You could use a bit of sugar, but I don't recommend it since you
still want the beer to be very malty.
Another problem with extracts is that you will not get as good a head as
with all grain since including flaked barley requires mashing, and even if
you do a partial mash you will have to include a fair amount of pale malt
to provide the enzymes. I cannot detect any aroma or flavour hops in
Murphy's, so I would use one addition of Target at the start of the boil
only.
For Beamish I have had good result replacing half of the roasted barley
with chocolate malt and all the flaked barley with wheat malt. The result
was a little bit thinner than when using flaked barley, so maybe one could
keep a little of the flaked barley, or perhaps use wheat flakes instead of
wheat malt. I used Northern Brewer and Goldings for bittering and Goldings
for aroma, which was close but not exactly right. I now feel that a
combination of Challenger and Goldings might do it. (I really love the
aroma of Challenger!)
Longing for a stout in the cold northern Sweden,
Fredrik.Stahl at math.umu.se
Return to table of contents
HTML-ized on 10/29/97, by HBD2HTML version 1.2 by K.F.L.
webmaster at hbd.org, KFL, 10/9/96