---

	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:
  Rob Rezac ("Ray Estrella")
  Head Start Yeast Co... Where are you?? (Jim Wallace)
  Re: RIMS and flaked maize (Paul Shick)
  Jethro in the News!!! (Robert S Wallace)
  BJCP and the Beer Police ("David R. Burley")
  foam sealant (Stephen Ross)
  Scotch Ale, Old Peculiar (John Penn)
  No Tears Bottling (Robert Parker)
  weedeater motor for grain mill? ("Joe Shope")
  RIMS info (Wes Shadden)
  Low gravity and maltodextrin ("Henckler, Andrew")
  Burners (James.Tiefenthal)
  35 K burner (kathy)
  Orange flavour (Al Korzonas)
  Barleywines (Al Korzonas)
  Oxygen and the starter/Big Brew update (Al Korzonas)
  Big Brew '98 - Site 22 Report ("RANDY ERICKSON")
  protein (Al Korzonas)
  pub glasses (K. Kutskill)
  stout/porter and another opinion (AlannnnT)


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----------------------------------------------------------------------


Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 04:38:38 -0500
From: "Ray Estrella" <ray-estrella at email.msn.com>
Subject: Rob Rezac

  Hello to all,
I just wanted to say thanks to Rob "the new mouthpiece
of the AHA" Moline for bringing us the HBD version of
"Why we brew".  I am happy that Brian's daughters had fun.


Ray Estrella   Cottage Grove   MN
ray-estrella at msn.com

****** Never Relax, Constantly Worry....have a better Homebrew ******






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Date: Sun, 03 May 1998 22:41:46 -0500
From: Jim Wallace <jwallace at crocker.com>
Subject: Head Start Yeast Co... Where are you??

Does anybody know the whereabouts of the Head Start Brewing Cultures...??
 .........Old address and info was.........921 Bill Smith Road
 ...Cookeville, TN  38501 
(931) 372-8511          BAN5845 at TNTECH.EDU

I saw a recipe ref to an Oud Brun which incorporated a souring Bret...
the results sounde very good and would like to find it...
___________________________________________
    JIM WALLACE ... jwallace at crocker.com
      http://www.crocker.com/~jwallace  
___________________________________________


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Date: Mon, 04 May 1998 10:17:37 -0500 (EST)
From: Paul Shick <SHICK at JCVAXA.jcu.edu>
Subject: Re: RIMS and flaked maize

 


Hello all,

	Dave Bradley recently wrote about problems with his grain bed
compacting while making 12 gallons of Classic American Ale.  He used a
Sabco false bottom with a pump, and wondered if the 20% flaked maize 
might have led to his difficulties.

	Dave, I had a number of problems with the same gear last fall, 
including having the false bottom collapse a few times.  Suggestions from
the collective generally centered around two ideas:  keep the flow rate 
low (using whatever valve you have on the exit side of the pump) and 
keeping a relatively thick mash.  For me, the mash thickness seemed to
be the key.  If I kept the mash at 1.3 or fewer quarts per pound, I 
encountered few problems.  If I let it creep up to 1.5 or more (with 
a 40-60-70C program,) it set up pretty badly.  These two ideas seemed to 
work regardless of the level of flaked maize in the grist.

	Early this year, I got around to making a center support for the 
Sabco false bottom.  This prevents the FB from flexing at all, and I get
much less grain coming through the pump during recirculation.  You might
search the archives if you're interested in this or the earlier problems.

	Since then, this "pseudo-RIMS" system has been a real joy to brew
with.  A typical 11+ gallon batch takes only 4-4 1/2 hours, including
clean up.  Given how easily this system works, with fairly precise temperature
control (unless I misguess my infusions,) I can't see any reason to move
to an electronically controlled RIMS.  Now if I could just avoid getting 
this seriously overmodified British malt, I could make some good beer....


   			Paul Shick 
 			Basement brewing in Cleveland Hts OH

 



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Date: Mon, 04 May 1998 09:55:39 CDT
From: Robert S Wallace <rwallace at iastate.edu>
Subject: Jethro in the News!!!

Greetings HBDers - 

	I don't usually post to HBD, preferring lurking instead.  I did want
to let the group know that Rob Moline's photo appeared with a very nice
article in the Mid-Iowa Section of the Ames Daily Tribune on Saturday, 2 May
 - Big Brew day!!  It shows him in front of a series of framed awards, and
tells of his transition from an operating room nurse in Australia, to brewer
at Little Apple, to asst. brewer at Court Avenue, along with the "Big 12
Barleywine" story.  The article explained what Big Brew '98 was, and that
Rob's B-12 BW recipe was chosen as the beer to be emulated. It only
tangentially mentioned the Little Apple/aol posting debacle, and was
'up-beat' on beer and brewing throughout.   It was a nice boost to beer 
awareness here in central Iowa, and hopefully several possible investors' 
curisoities have been piqued with his now publicized intentions of opening a 
brewpub in Ames, something that I fully support, and in fact, investigated 
possibilities of trying to open one myself several years ago.  

	Note that I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting Rob, having
only spoken to him on the phone a few times since his recent arrival here 
in Ames.  I do strongly support his intentions of bringing locally-brewed 
quality beer to Ames, and I sincerely hope that some day I'll have my own 
seat in his brewpub (no, I won't change my name to "Norm".).  If this 
newspaper article does anything, it will make people aware that beer is not
the evil beverage our University administrators and community right-wingers 
make it out to be (we just had a 'dry' spring Festival here, and 'beer' was 
blamed as the cause for student misbehavior).  My reasoned protests fell 
upon deaf ears, unfortunately...

	Brew-on, friends...

	Rob Wallace 
 
- ---
Robert S. Wallace
Associate Professor of Botany                     "In cerevisia veritas est."
Dept. of Botany - Iowa State Univ.
Ames, Iowa 50011-1020             rwallace at iastate.edu       FAX: 515-294-1337
+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_ooo000ooo_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+


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Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 11:10:26 -0400
From: "David R. Burley" <Dave_Burley at compuserve.com>
Subject: BJCP and the Beer Police

Brewsters:

AlK says:

>Guidelines are just the
>rules, in advance, so the judges and the entrants
>are playing  by the same rules.

Yep.  I agree with your assessment of the role of the
BJCP as the provider of guidelines and a way to
communicate about beers verbally.  I think this is a
great role for the BJCP and I respect that. What I find
extremely annoying ( and who I call the beer police)
are those individuals who believe that *brewing* has
to adhere to these guidelines. That's the difference in
emphasis which I find annoying, since I am a creative
type and not a gatekeeper.

On the subject of Lewis, AlK comments that he thought
that Lewis took the easy out by trying to define what
modern beers called stouts by the ( in most cases classic)
 brewers are all about.  I have heard from time to time
comments by BJCP types - "well that's not a real XYZ
beer" even though the brewer called it that.  If the brewer
is a brewpub who stated brewing last month and only read
about beer XYZ in a homebrewer magazine, then I think the
BJCP has the right to say something like that.  If the beer
is a classic from the native country where the style was born
then I think it is time for a little perspective adjustment.

I remember not too long ago the discourse on Kolsch
produced a comment by someone that Kolsch style beers
from the surrounds of Cologne and Dusseldorf weren't
really Kolsch.  Baloney!   Beer tasting to some people is a
little like mother's home cooking. If a similar beer doesn't
taste exactly like the first beer tasted that was called a Kolsch,
then it is not  a Kolsch in their definition.  My wife is like that,
if tuna salad isn't made exactly like her first introduction
to the taste, then it isn't really tuna salad.  I take the opposite
approach, I taste all offerings of tuna salad and judge
whether I like it more or less than others I have tasted.
I use the same approach with beer, since after all it is
the best taste we are after, not duplication of some "standard".

On the other hand, a beer drinker who had obviously been
spending his beer money in brew pubs told me he didn't
really think a Newcastle Brown Ale was really a  brown ale
and should be called an amber.  I guess because it didn't
have any Chocolate Malt in it!  



Keep on brewin'


Dave Burley
Kinnelon, NJ 07405
103164.3202 at compuserve.com
Dave_Burley at compuserve.com  

Voice e-mail OK 


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Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 10:11:24 -0600 (CST)
From: Stephen Ross <ross at lights.com>
Subject: foam sealant

Dan Ritter asks:
"Has anyone had success using the original foam-in-a-can or does it also
melt at mash temperatures?"

No melting here.

I used the cheapest expanding foam sealant I could find for insulating the
lid of my picnic cooler mashtun.  It worked great and significantly cut
the heat loss. Prior to insulating, I could lose more than 10F at the
upper end of the mash temps in an hour, and the lid would be warm.  Now I
will lose about 3-4F in an hour, and there are only a few small warm
spots.
 
Dan's right, the foam does expand for a long time, hours if not
days, and I should have believed the can's advice to fill spaces 1/2 full.
My Coleman cooler lid needed only 1/2 can, not the full can I used...

Stephen Ross in Saskatoon SK
Re vera, potas bene.



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Date: Mon, 04 May 1998 12:59:35 -0400
From: John Penn <john_penn at spacemail.jhuapl.edu>
Subject: Scotch Ale, Old Peculiar

                       Subject:                               Time:11:50 AM
  OFFICE MEMO          Scotch Ale, Old Peculiar               Date:5/4/98

Made my best scotch ale yet thanks to some recent posts on Traquair House ale
and some helpful advice from Charley Burns, and an email from Scott Abene some
time ago.  Thanks Charley and Scott!  Never tried or even seen Traquair House
ale but I am a fan of McEwans Scotch Ale and have yet to find a decent recipe
to emulate that.  At any rate here's the extract version of that scotch ale
which came out So Good!

Scotch Ale (5 gallons/3 gallon boil) OG ~1.095 est.  IBUs 35-45?

4# Can of Muntons Pilsner(?) Lager (Hopped to 25-35 EBUs) 
9.7# M&F Light extract (liquid)
6 oz Roasted Barley
1oz Goldings (AA?) 75 min boil
Wyeast 1728 Scotch Ale Yeast (~1.5-2 qt starter)
Primed with about 3-1/3 oz corn sugar

The hopped extract was covenient and I'm still assuming 1 EBU = 1 IBU though I
never got an answer to that previous question.  The local homebrew shop owner
told me that the 25-35 EBU range means you start at the lower range (25 EBU)
and increase the longer you boil up to 35 EBU.  I always assumed that hopped
extracts were fully isomerized and additional boiling would not increase the
bittering--unlike boiling hops up to 60 or 90 mins. 

Question:  Anyone know if this is true for M&F extract, does the bitterness
change with boil time?

  You could also replace the hopped malt with light malt and increase the
bittering hops.  Anway added another 1oz of EK? Goldings to bring the
bittering to about 35 or more IBUs?!  Boiled about 3 gallons total in two
seperate pots.   Boiled the hopped malt in about 1 gallon of water for about 2
hours to carmelize and boy was it thick!  Well less than 1/2 gallon (1/3
gallon?) and as thick as the original LME!  Steeped the Roasted Barley than
added more water to about 2 gallons for boiling the remaining 9.7# of malt in
a separate pot.  Added Goldings and boiled for about 75 min.  Cooled both,
added yeast starter and pre-boiled water to 5 gallons and measured a
suprisingly low OG of 1.085, about 10 pts below what I expected for that much
malt!  I'm assuming that the really thick 2 hour carmelized wort sank right to
the bottom of the fermenter and didn't get mixed in really well.  FG was about
1.025 yielding about 8-9% ABV depending on which OG you use.  Very good,
thick, strong, nice brown color and my wife commented on how good the aroma
was.  Aroma must have been from the carmelized malt.  


Old Peculiar--One of my wife's favorites and mine even back in the days when
it came in a 3 pack of 10oz wide mouth bottles.  The recent HBD posts on Old
Peculiar got me inspired but when I went to make a recipe I noticed how much
they differed especially in the specialty grains--crystal, chocolate, black,
and some with roasted barley.   I went for roasted barley and chocolate malt
with some corn syrup to lighten the final gravity and boost the alcohol.  Here
tis'

Kinda Peculiar (5 gallons/2.5 gallon boil)  OG ~1.058 est.  IBUs ~30
6.8# M&F light extract LME
1.25# Karo corn syrup
5.5 oz Roasted Barley
5.5 oz Chocolate Malt
10 HBUs of Northern Brewer in place of Fuggles
Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale yeast
~1/2 cup+ Lyle's Treacle to prime

Steeped grains, added syrup, malt, hops and boiled for about 50 min.  Cooled,
added pre-boiled water and 1 qt starter to bring volume to 5 gallons. 
Fermented two weeks and measured an FG of 1.018!  That seems a little high to
me, I was expecting something like 1.013-15.  It's still green but the first
bottle tasted good and the aroma and taste did remind me of Old Peculiar. 
It's been a while since I've had Old Peculiar so I can't say how it compares
but if you like Old Peculiar this seems like a beer that you'd also like. 
Feel free to subsitute a different Ale yeast and I think all the recipes used
Fuggles though I used NB.
Oh, had a hard time finding Lyle's treacle except at Maryland Homebrew for
$5.75 a pound (Ouch!).  I tried searching some local health food stores for
treacle and the gourmet sections of the local grocery stores but could not
find treacle.  I did find blackstrap molasses but I had heard that treacle is
a must for this recipe and I was afraid to substitute here.  Lyle's treacle
has a potent flavor! 

Question:  Anyone have any ideas on why my FG seems a bit high or does that
seem appropriate with the given recipe and yeast?  
Question:  Is blackstrap molasses a substitute for treacle, and can anyone
enlighten us on a good source for treacle and what the differences are to
other forms of molasses?

Thanks and hope someone else can enjoy these recipes.
   John Penn




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Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 13:05:44 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Parker <parker at parker.eng.ohio-state.edu>
Subject: No Tears Bottling

I am way behind on the hbd, but many posts I'm reading (mid-March) 
discuss bottling procedures. Anyone interested in a wonderful, simple,
low-cost, low aeration bottling procedure should check out Gregg Howard's
method. It is posted at The Brewery at

http://brewery.org/brewery/library/NoTeBot1296.html

This is such a nice procedure I didn't bother to look for improvements.

Rob Parker
parker.242 at osu.edu



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Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 23:23:20 +0000
From: "Joe Shope" <jshope at bioserver.vsb.usu.edu>
Subject: weedeater motor for grain mill?

Over the weekend my weedeater died, the plastic housing broke but the 
motor is in good shape. My questions are:  Is it possible to 
power a grain mill with a 3/8 HP (120 volt, 4.0 amp) motor?  How do I 
determine the RPM's of the motor?  How many RPM's should I be running 
to grind grain with a Brewtek Mill?  Any help is appreciated.


Joe Shope
Head Brewer/Bottlewasher
Apostate Brewing Co.
Crash Valley, UT


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Date: Mon, 04 May 1998 12:03:55 -0600
From: Wes Shadden <wes at trib.com>
Subject: RIMS info

Hi All,
	I'm looking for all the info I can find on RIMS systems with the goal
of building one myself.  I thought I'd use 1/2 Kegs.
	I know absolutly nothing about electronics and such things, so if you
could make it simple I'd be very hsppy.
	Any info would be good, exspecially plans, blueprints, ect.
	Thanks in Advance


	Wes Shadden
	wes at trib,com


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Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 16:13:50 -0400
From: "Henckler, Andrew" <ahenckler at findsvp.com>
Subject: Low gravity and maltodextrin

Hi All:

I'm trying to formulate a low gravity, low alcohol beer that still has
lots of flavor and body.  I am thinking about using maltodextrin to
increase the body.  What amounts are typically used in a 5 gal. batch?
Looking at various recipe archives around the web, I've seen everything
from 1 ounce to half a pound.


Andrew P. Henckler
Senior Research Analyst
Industrial Products & Services Practice
Strategic Consulting & Research Group
FIND/SVP-THE BEST PEOPLE TO FIND THE ANSWERS

625 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY  10011

Tel:      (212) 807-2754
Fax:      (212) 807-2782
E-mail:  ahenckler at findsvp.com
Web:    http://www.findsvp.com


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Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 16:48:27 -0400
From: James.Tiefenthal at rossnutrition.com
Subject: Burners

Mike Spinelli asked:
I'm wondering if I could just buy a industrial-quality rectangular single
burner that I could adapt to fit my 12 X 18 frame.  More importantly,
I would need a beefier manifold and adjustment knob

AJK also noted that the burners used by Golden Prairie are wok type burners.

I have been using 80kBTU ring type burners from Solarfo (model Z20 or Z21) for
several years on my
13 gal system with great success. These appear to be the same burners used by
Golden Prairie
(from pictures I have seen of the brewery). They are made of cast iron and
contain many brass jets, providing a large heating
 area. You can order these burners in many size and shape configurations as
well as jetted for natural gas or propane.
 I purchased mine from a local restaurant supply house for about $30 each.  I
regulate them using a standard natural
gas ball valve.  I do not have any problems with them working, sooting  or
crazing the kettle bottoms, as other burners have
been noted to.  They are a little finicky at very low output - but other than
that they will last a lifetime.

Solarflo has a website at  www.solarflo.com/impinged.htm

No affiliation with Solarflo, yadda, yadda, yadda.....just a happy customer

Jim Tiefenthal
Columbus, Ohio


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Date: Mon, 04 May 1998 15:46:50 -0500
From: kathy <kbooth at scnc.waverly.k12.mi.us>
Subject: 35 K burner

A posting talks of a 35K burner as:

> 
> Jim Bentson mentioned a neat 35 kBTU burner that he bought years ago. 
> 
> Funny he should mention that, because I just saw what may be the exact
> burner in a Northern Hydraulics flyer (no. 589) . It's on page 5.  They
> list it at 35 kBTU, it has three separate valves on the front, it looks
> like it has two coencentric burner rings, and all for $40  (plus $15 for
> the hose /regulator assembly)- certainly much  less than I paid for my
> Superb (which I am very satisfied with)


I have a Superb unit which I like and would not use the wasteful jet
boilers.  I got a second unit similar to the one described.  Beware, it
will NOT support a 15.5g keg cutout for use as a boiling tun as the keg
will not be stable on the burner platform.

Cheers, jim booth, lansing, mi

P.S.  Thanks to those who posted with better memories of the Hawthorne
Effect.



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Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 17:40:57 -0500 (CDT)
From: Al Korzonas <korz at xnet.com>
Subject: Orange flavour

Nathan writes:
>AlK suggests that if you want real orange flavor to use an extract.  No
>offense to Al, he knows more about brewing than I do, but I tried an orange
>extract for a mead and hated it.  It tasted like "faux orange", just not
>natural.  This was also mentioned WRT raspberry extracts in Stouts.
>Anyhow, how about Cardamom?  I find it has a very citrusy, orange nose and
>flavor.  Now, I don't believe that is the only flavor imparted either, so I
>would like to hear how others may describe the taste / aroma imparted by
>Cardomom.

I guess I wasn't very clear... what I meant was really kind of what you
experienced... a kind of orange soda kind of orange flavour/aroma.  I
have no experience with cardomom, but freshly-crushed coriander smells
very citrusy... some say like oranges.  I wrestled with mentioning navel
orange peels in my previous post and chose to leave it out because the
aromatics are in the oils and unless you extract the essences from the
oils, you may have trouble with head retention.  I also didn't want to
suggest something I hadn't tried, but I'll give it shot here... maybe
someone has done this and can comment: soak the orange peels in vodka
and then use the vodka... maybe you can somehow skim the oils off the
top?  Maybe with a pipette?


Al.

Al Korzonas, Palos Hills, IL
korz at xnet.com
http://www.brewinfo.com/brewinfo/


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Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 18:03:55 -0500 (CDT)
From: Al Korzonas <korz at xnet.com>
Subject: Barleywines

Dave writes (quoting George):
>> On the bright side, given enough time, the higher alcohols will 
>>     oxidize and the beer will take on a nice, aged, sherry-like character 
>>     that is appropriate (even desirable) in barley wines.  
> 
>This is the first time I have ever heard this as it relates to
>barley wines.  Do you have more information on this?
>What is the oxygen source, particularly with carbonated
>wines?
> 
>I always assumed it was esterification as in grape wines
>that was the normally active pathway to remove the fusel
>alcohols and provide a bouquet to the barley wines.  I guess
>I don't understand why fusel alcohols would be
>preferentially oxidized before ethanol which is in
>substantially larger quantities.

Personally, I consider that sherrylike character *acceptable*
as opposed to "desirable" or "appropriate."  A well-made Barleywine
can have no sherry-like character if you are very careful regarding
oxygen introduction in the hot wort, finished beer *and* in the mash.

I too believe that esterification is the pathway by which higher
alcohols were removed from Barleywines.  It is consistent with the
increased fruity aromas I find in aged Barleywines, both mine and
commercial.  I've read here in HBD that without yeast the estrification
is very slow, but I do believe that it is not so slow that a year
doesn't make a difference.  I believe Anchor Old Foghorn is pasteurised
(maybe it is only centrifuged?) and I do believe that it does soften
and get fruitier with age.  Sierra Nevada Bigfoot is a classic example
of this process.

As for oxidation, I suspect that each alcohol has a different likelyhood
of being oxidised (it can come from oxidised melanoidins in beer or
even from iron in the water, Dave... surely you know free oxygen is not
the only source of oxidation) and I'm not willing to presume that ethanol
is more or less likely to be oxidised than the higher alcohols.  Is there
any kind of data on this in chem books?  I know that alcohols have a higher
affinity to the oxygen than the melanoidins... this explains why the
melanoidins will give up their oxygen to the alcohols to form aldehydes
in stale beer.

No, wait... I'm *sure* ethanol doesn't have the highest affinity for
the oxygen... the aldehyde of ethanol is acetaldehyde, right?  Given that
there is at least 100 times more ethanol in a typical beer than any other
alcohol, I suspect that the existance of *any* other aldehyde indicates
that those alcohols have a higher affinity for the oxygen.  Granted, I
don't know what other pathways there are for the formation of aldehydes...
I know that trans-2-nonenol is a significant player in stale beer.  If
I'm not mistaken, it's the "wet cardboard" aldehyde.

I'm really over my head here... I'm much more of a practical brewer, I'm
afraid... but I would like to know more about this.

Al.

Al Korzonas, Palos Hills, IL
korz at xnet.com
http://www.brewinfo.com/brewinfo/


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Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 18:23:33 -0500 (CDT)
From: Al Korzonas <korz at xnet.com>
Subject: Oxygen and the starter/Big Brew update

Richard writes:
>Sorry to bring up the aeration thread again. While in a homebrew shop last
>week I was pondering an oxygen cannister to use in lew of aeration (shaking
>the carboy). The shop owner told me to just oxygenate the starter (1 quart)
>and not the wort (carboy). Never heard this before. Is this adequate?

Ahh, another misguided shop owner... it might be adequate for a 1.040
Bitter when you are pitching a raging 2-liter yeast starter, but for
a Barleywine or Doppelbock, the wort will just look at you with that
puzzled look for a week before it starts fermenting.  The higher the
gravity, the more important it is to oxygenate the wort.  The maximum
amount of oxygen that can dissolve in a ml of wort or starter wort limits
how much oxygen you can provide to the yeast.  High gravity worts are
even worse because the solubility limit is even lower.

Oxygenate the wort...

Al.

P.S.  A Big Brew update: all three Nottingham airlocks were filled with
blowoff this morning.  One clogged and blew a cardboard box off the top
of the carboy.  Luckily the wort offenders were the 3-gallon carboys
(each with about 2.6 gallons of wort in them) and I had the presence of
mind to put the carboys into 7-gallon plastic buckets.  The 6-gallon
has probably spewed all over the crawlspace by now.  The Windsors (no,
not the Royal Family) are fermenting solidly, but more slowly and there
was no danger of blowoff (yet!) this morning.  All 6 fermenters are
sitting at 68F although my new (cheap!!!) Sunbeam min/max thermometer
read min:68F, max:77F the morning after pitching.  I suspect some kind
of error.

P.P.S.  I also suspect that many brewers will have the same questions
about blowoff that one Big Brewer asked me privately: what to do about
all that spewing blowoff?  I suggest removing the airlock, putting the
fermenter into a bucket, tub or even garbage bag to catch the foam, cover
the top with a loose-fitting bag so bugs or dust don't fall in when the
foam slows, and check this often so you can stick the airlock back on
when the ferment settles down.  If you have a blowoff tube, then you may
use that (although I have them, I don't have room to use them... the
six Big Brew fermenters are sitting amidst 4 IPAs, a Munchner Dunkel and
a Smoked Ale... all still in 6-gallon carboys... I've got a LOT of
bottling to do!).  

P.P.P.S.  How are others' Big Brews going?


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Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 16:33:43 -0700
From: "RANDY ERICKSON" <RANDYE at mid.org>
Subject: Big Brew '98 - Site 22 Report

Here's a Big Brew Report from Site 22, brewed at the Jack
Russell Brewery in Camino, California.  Jack Russell is located in
the Sierra Nevada foothills east of Sacramento in the Apple Hill
area, best know for its apple orchards and small wineries.  The
brewery only produces English-style Ales, a Best Bitter, a Brown,
and a London Porter.  The porter was served cask-conditioned
from a hand pump, lest you think our day was all work and no
enjoyment. 

For reasons I still don't quite understand, Terry Bonham the head
brewer, allowed over a dozen homebrewers to overrun his
brewery and use his system to brew a 7 bbl batch of Jethro's
Barleywine!

Beth Zangari of HAZE (Hangtown Association of Zymurgy
Enthusiasts) did all of the real leg work in organizing the brew,
and Charley Burns and I agreed to be site coordinators.

Charley and I estimated that it would take me about three hours
to get to the brewery from where I live, so I rolled onto the freeway
at 6:01 a.m.  I made one stop for McBreakfast, yet arrived
promptly at 8:00.  No one was around yet, so I stood there and
stretched my legs for a few minutes until I was greeted by two
tough little Jack Russell Terriers, obviously the inspiration for the
name of the Brewery.

Terry's wife followed a few minutes later and unlocked the doors,
and I helped her get set up for the unruly mob.  About the time we
finished moving tables the others started to arrive, mostly members
from HAZE, but also a respectable number from GCBA (Anchor
Homebrew Club of the Year) from Sacramento, and a few from
the SF Bay Area.

Terry explained his system to us, pointed to the sacks of grain and
the mill, and let us have at it.  Charley pleaded a bad back, but
promptly assented to be milling foreman and whipped us into shape.
 
Here's the particulars:

Grain Bill (All Beeston Malts, UK)
672# Halcyon Pale Malt
194# Carastan 25
30# Caramalt 45
29#  Brown Malt (Probably closer to 32# as Charley swept up all
our spillage and threw it in the mill (It's no coincidence Charley
brews Scottish))
Target Gravity 24 P
Mash between 150 and 154 degrees for approx 90 minutes.

Water Treatment
12 oz (by vol) IM 30 min.
35 oz (by vol) Gypsum in mash (With a tip of the hat to Charlie P.)
9 oz (by vol) NaCl in mash

Hops
4# Target Pellets (8.8%, 60 min)
3# EKG Pellets (6.1%, 30 min)
5# EKG Whole (6%, hopback)
Estimated 64 IBUs

4 gallons 1968 Wyeast ESB
>From a corny keg, how cool!

Knowing that Barleywine brewing results in a lot of wasted
extract, several of us brought our equipment and brewed 5-10
gallon batches with the second runnings.  Charley was first in line
with his kettle, and our pre-boil gravity was 1.060!  Charley had
some new Chinook, Columbus (16.9% AA!), and Centennial whole
hops he wanted to try out, so I guess we ended up with an IPA
of no small stature.

A number of people decided to take some of the wort home to
ferment on their own yeast.  We partitioned roughly the first barrel
into half a dozen carboys and kegs, some of which were pitched
on the spot.  The rest of the batch was then pumped to the
unitank and the waiting yeast.  Bryan and Lisa Gros decided a
little late that they'd like to try to ferment some at home as
well. Terry responded that he could just pull that off with the last
bit of wort in the lines and the 3 gallons or so that had drained
through the 5 pounds of EKG hops in the hopback.  Bryan even
cracked a smile for a brief instant.

We cleaned the place up then, ate pot luck, packed it all up, and
headed for home (Charley's in my case, I'd tackle the highway on
Sunday).  We'll go back in a month or so to rack some (hopefully)
into cornies, and run the rest through the bottling line.

I'd like to thank everyone who was involved in this effort,
especially Terry for his hospitality, and Beth for bringing it to
fruition.  Also Brian Rezac for pulling things together on a National
scale, and to Rob Moline for his advice and for a target worthy of
shooting for.

P.S.  Charley says I should tell about the Boon Marriage Parfait
Kreik, single malt, barleywine, and maybe not surprisingly,
karaoke, that followed Saturday night, but maybe that's a story for
another day..............

Cheers to all,
Randy in Modesto



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Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 18:43:15 -0500 (CDT)
From: Al Korzonas <korz at xnet.com>
Subject: protein

I said:
>consider the fact that a
>good low-protein malt will contain only 8 to 10% protein,

I must have been tired... typically pale malts have 10 to 11% protein...
I've seen some 6-row as high as 13%.  Where I got that 8% from I don't
know!  Sorry.

Al.


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Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 22:36:14 -0400
From: kkutskill at net-ex.com (K. Kutskill)
Subject: pub glasses

I just got my hands on some Boddingtons pub glasses from a friend of a
friend.  On the back of each glass, there are five symbols: MG, 4.8, an
image of a pub glass, B, and an outline of a factory (brewery?).  Anyone
know what they stand for?  Just curious.

TIA,

Kevin Kutskill

kkutskill at net-ex.com



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Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 22:58:35 EDT
From: AlannnnT <AlannnnT at aol.com>
Subject: stout/porter and another opinion


Another voice on the Stout Porter debate can be seen on the web page of
'grist'. Grist is [in their own words] "the UK's leading monthly trade
magazine for brewing small brewers, distributors, manufacturers and
suppliers."

One of the articles, from March/April 1996, edited for space considerations
follows:

Dr. J.R. Harrison continues his series on beer styles with a historical look
at Stout 
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is no doubt about the origin of stouts. When high gravity porters began
to be produced in the early nineteenth century they were called 'stout
porters'. The adjective 'stout' was carrying its old English meaning of
'strong' [1]. Some brewers then began to drop the word porter as unnecessary,
leaving just stout. 

The pace of change was slow and variable in the nineteenth century. Barclay
Perkins, in 1805 were using the terms 'brown stout' and double brown stout for
their strong porter[2]. 

Courage in 1914 were still calling their export stout of 0G95 'Imperial Double
Brown Stout'[3]. However by 1830 most brewers were calling their strong
porters stout and double stout. The link between porter and stout continued
into the late nineteenth century and many were made as a parti-gyle, the first
worts going into stout and any surplus plus the weaker worts blended into
porter. 

Between 1800 and 1820 the use of the word 'brown' before the word stout
indicated that the stout beer on offer was a porter type. After 1820 (when
black malt, chocolate malt and roast barley became available) it was indicated
that the beer offered was made with a tradi-tional porter grist containing
significant amount of porter brown malt.

The expansion of porter from a single beer in 1790 to a family of eight or
more porters and stouts is shown in the illustration. The details shown are
not from one brewery but list what was available to a serious drinker in a
large city like London. The number of variations shown after the period
1850-1870 is probably an underestimate as some breweries made export versions
of their single and double stout using extra hops. 

The changes in porter grist that occurred in the late eight-eenth century and
in 1817-1820 [4] also affected the make-up of stouts. However, stouts were
regarded as flagship beers by porter brewers and retained a higher % of brown
malt than porters. 

[Charts are edited out here, see the web page for brewers charts.]

Irish Stouts

Up to 1815 Irish Porter Grists were similar to those used in England. In 1815
however a dark roasted brown malt be-came available and this resulted in a
reduced % of brown malt [5]. 

In 1857 Tizard describes Irish Porter and Stout grists as containing 95% Pale
Amber Malt plus 5% Black Malt (or roast barley at the lowest edge of the
colour range[6]. Irish Stout made with 95% Pale Amber and 5% Black has an
excellent flavour which is quite different to a stout containing Porter brown
malt. 

By the end of the nineteenth century a combination of high excise duty, the
temperance movement and an industrial-ised society which frowned on strong
drink led to a steady de-crease in beer gravities. In 1909 Maclay's Oatmeal
Stout at an 0G of 46 meant that the word stout was understood as a black beer
of any gravity. 

References 1. Corren HS,A History of Brewing London 1975. 2. Barclay Perkins
Brewing Books, Greater London Record Office. 3. Courage Brewing Books, Greater
London Record Office. 4. The Grist July-August 1995 p.25 5. Lynch. P & Vaisey.
J Guiness's Brewery in the Irish Economy (1759-1876) Cambridge 1960. 6. Tizard
W.L. Theory & Practice of Brewing. London 1857. 

[Recipes that follow edited out, visit
http://www.breworld.com/the_grist/9602/gr1.html for the whole story.]

Best Brewing,
Alan Talman
East Northport, New York USA


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