HOMEBREW Digest #3129 Mon 06 September 1999

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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.
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Contents:
  Esters/Yeast Growing/Liquid Measure/BMW (AJ)
  foil caps (HOCKESIN)
  Duh! Where've I been? (Bob Sheck)
  Sour Mash; Ice Beer; Millenium Beer (Ted McIrvine)
  Re: Maple syrup brew? (JYANDERS)
  A Big Hairy CAP? ("Phil and Jill Yates")
  Re: wyeast and white labs (Miguel de Salas)
  Last of the millenium??? ("John Stegenga")
  Licorice; An interesting reference (ThomasM923)
  Fridge Stuff (Kevin or Darla Elsken)
  Caramel flavor for FESB (Nate Wahl)" <cruiser at cros.net>
  Tuns of soybeans / ReCAP (psuedo) (Crossno Clan)
  RE: Maple Syrup Mead ("Frank J. Russo")
  Maple Syrup Brew? (Pete Diltz)
  Re: Fullers ESB (Jeff Renner)
  Demise of Brewing Techniques Pondered? ("Mr. Joy Hansen")
  RE: carboy volume markers (LaBorde, Ronald)
  RE: Drilling a fridge (LaBorde, Ronald)
  Bottling pLambic ("Steven Jones")
  Caramel in Fuller's ESB (Brad McMahon)
  RE: Supporting the brewing infrastructure (Bob Sheck)
  Legality of homebrewing (ALAN KEITH MEEKER)
  HBD PALE ALE Experiment (ALAN KEITH MEEKER)
  Pumpkin ale recipe (ALAN KEITH MEEKER)
  Re: Soybean Beer (BillPierce)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 03 Sep 1999 15:59:40 -0500 From: AJ <ajdel at mindspring.com> Subject: Esters/Yeast Growing/Liquid Measure/BMW Arnold Chickenshorts presumes that he has upset me and then proceeds to apologize. "Annoy" would be a better word than "upset" and though the apology is obviously insincere it is accepted because the annoyance was minor and the perceived upset caused Arnold to post information which I feel actually contributed something to HBD. Let's remember that what I originally posted (i.e. what is in the classic brewing texts, and in the experience of most small commercial brewers and even the more experienced home brewers) is that inadequate oxygen supplied to pitching yeast will result in increased levels of esters in the beer. Interestingly enough this well known fact was recently reiterated by Horst Dornbush with respect to ethyl hexanoate in particular in his article on lagering in the last Zymurgy. While the source of some esters may be substances from hop oil clearly yeast metabolism has an effect on the overall ester spectrum of the beer. Now are hop oil components really major contributors to the ester profile in beer? I think that depends on the beer. Clearly in an amyl acetate laden Weizen where hopping levels are so low that there just isn't much oil they aren't and the same would be true in a home brewed ale reeking of ethyl acetate because of poor oxygenation. But if the beer is clean because of proper yeast management I think they could be. I visited Rooster's in Harrogate this January and I think I posted that experience here at that time. During this visit I tasted a group of beers all prepared from very similar worts pitched with the same yeast and fermented under the same conditions. The difference between the beers was in the hopping (Sean uses several hop varieties in different proportions in his ales - if memory is failing me here, please jump in Sean) and the resulting ester spectra were amazing in their diversity and subtlety. These beers are very clean so we are not talking about ethyl acetate, ethyl hexanoate or amyl acetate but rather pleasant, complex, berry- like esters. In particular I remember lychee because I've never tasted lychee in beer before or since. Arnold's assertion that material obtained from brewing texts must, for that reason alone, be wrong is sheer sophistry. This particular idee fixe was the trademark of another sometime contributor to HBD who also hid behind anonymity - hmmm. As I mentioned in a post about a week ago the more experience I gain in brewing (and, happily, I expect to be struggling up this learning curve for the rest of my life) the more I appreciate what those classics have to offer. Yes they have their warts (in fact M&BS appears to confuse ethyl caproate [hexanoate] with ethyl caprylate [octanoate] in one passage). Perhaps it is the increased experience which enables the reader to interpolate through these errors. Perhaps as Arnold's thinking matures he'll be able to appreciate the value of these books. When he learns to put these things (the journals, his own experiences, experiments, the classics..) in perspective he'll be qualified to graduate to long pants. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * With respect to the questions on growing yeast - based on my experience: Yes, it is important to supply FAN. There are several products on the market which make this very easy to do. No, you needn't worry about Crabtree effect. Maybe the yeast won't respire but they will use the oxygen to produce biomass (sterols, fats leading to healthy cells leading to reproduction). Perhaps they won't do it quite so efficiently but I don't think the loss of efficiency is important in the homebrewing application. By supplementing FAN with a nutrient you can grow a lot of yeast in a day or two in a broth prepared from DME if you supply oxygen as rapidly as the yeast consume it. The best way to do this is use a DO meter and hit the broth with O2 as soon as the DO gets down to a couple of mg/L. A more practical method is to pitch, oxygenate and then wait until pinprick bubbles are seen at the surface of the broth. Then oxygenate again and wait for pinprick bubbles etc. Once the cell mass gets appreciable you will be oxygenating every half hour or so. Knowing this you can just give the broth a blast every half hour without waiting for bubbling to start. Depending on how much yeast you need you can keep doing this until the SG of the broth is quite depleted and then supplement with more sugar and nutrient or allow the yeast to finish, decant the broth and replenish or just decant the broth and pitch the paste. It's a good idea to feed the paste with the first runnings from the wort chiller before pitching. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Dave in Seattle was surprised at the inaccuracy of his Erlenmeyer flasks. If you look carefully you will probably see that the scale is labeled "approximate volumes". Also don't forget that the density of water changes quite a bit as it warms. A container marked to hold a gallon contains only 0.9615 gallon if the water is near boiling temperature. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Thanks to Phil for the clarification. This A.J. would never have been caught dead on a Hog, preferring to purr about town and country on a BMW R75/5 in days gone by (still have it rusting in the garage). * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I'll be out of touch for a week - business trip. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 18:30:57 EDT From: HOCKESIN at aol.com Subject: foil caps I'm trying to locate someone who may know a supplier for foil-caps, (similar to those found on some champagne bottles - SHINY & BRIGHT GOLD). If anyone has any info please e-mail me or post to the list. Thanks! Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 04 Sep 1999 00:27:15 -0400 From: Bob Sheck <bsheck at skantech.net> Subject: Duh! Where've I been? RE: From: "Sieben, Richard" <SIER1 at Aerial1.com> Subject: O'fest decoction recipe I always interpreted the term decoction as drawing off the wort and heating it up, then re-introducing it to the mash tun. What I get from Rich's post is that he scoops up a bunch of grains, heats them up and plops 'em back into the mash. Where've I been all these years? Bob Sheck bsheck, me-sheck, abednigo! Greenville, NC email:bsheck at skantech.net or see us at: http://www.skantech.net/bsheck/ (252)830-1833 Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 04 Sep 1999 01:24:24 -0700 From: Ted McIrvine <McIrvine at ix.netcom.com> Subject: Sour Mash; Ice Beer; Millenium Beer I was quite surprised to read a recent post that "nobody sour mashes beer" followed by a definition of sour mashing that was basically that of beer blending. The great lambic brewers would be even more surprised. And I know that I'm far from the only brewer who sets aside a a pound or two to mash around 150 for a few days to add sourness to Berliner Weiss, lambics and other beers. Someone else recently asked about a Millenial beer. Mine has been aging for about 9 months and has almost 16 months to go before the millenium. I made an icebock inspired by Samichlaus. For 5 gallons, I used 11 lbs of DWC Munich Malt, 3 lbs of DWC Pils, 3 lbs light dry malt extract with a double decoction mash. It was hopped with 4 oz of Perle (boil) and 2 oz Hallertauer (aroma) and fermented with Bavarian yeast. After the secondary fermentation, I froze the keg and racked and am continuing to cold condition at 34 degrees. The hops should come into balance by 2001. The only problem is if I enter this in a competion, do I enter it as a Barleywine or as an Icebock? Cheers Ted - -- Dr. Ted McIrvine McIrvine at Ix.Netcom.Com College of Staten Island/CUNY http://www.csi.cuny.edu/academia/programs/mus.html Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 1999 03:22:12 EDT From: JYANDERS at aol.com Subject: Re: Maple syrup brew? Jason Birzer asks: >Something my girlfriend was asking me about was whether it was >practical to make a fermented beverage out of Maple Syrup. I'm not >talking about a beer, but something like Mead (fermented honey). I haven't heard of anything being made strictly from Maple Syrup, but in Gregg Smith's book "Beer in America - The Early Years 1587-1840" he does mention a concoction made in colonial Georgia called "demon rum". Seems they fermented then distilled molasses into the drink of choice for that colony. I would imagine someone could do the same thing with Maple Syrup, but they might be a bit outside of the law. JMA Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 1999 17:43:19 +1000 From: "Phil and Jill Yates" <yates at flexgate.infoflex.com.au> Subject: A Big Hairy CAP? A note for Jeff. Not the big, not the hairy, not the mate of A.J. Jeff. Just Jeff. I'm not going to make any mention of motorcycling. Not going to mention that I am sickened to here of A.J. getting about Yorkshire on a chopped Harley (how dreadfully inappropriate). I'm not even going to tease Arnold about his Lambretta. Nor will I ask the question on everybody's lips "Why does Steve A keep mentioning the Bavarian boys dressed in Lederhosen"? Is he trying to drive Kyle Druey into a frenzy? I'm not going to mention any of these things because tonight is the grand opening of my Classic Australian Pilsener. This is the one I made with corn in the form of polenta along the lines of recent information from Jeff on the matter. I mashed it and boiled it before adding it to the rest of the grist in the mash tun. I used our classic Pride of Ringwood hops along with Saaz in the form of First Wort Hopping and Dry Hopping. The first person to go down this track that I know of was Regan Pallandi who made a beautiful drop ( though Jeff thought a little bitter). I did mention to Jeff that after the taste of sheep (or cold mutton) as Doc Panther would have put it, us Aussie's need a very bitter beer. I have saved a bottle for Regan, who was kind enough to allow me to help him drink the second half of his keg (though I still am not convinced there was that much in there before I arrived) and the Scurrilous Mr Barnsley of England with his mate Sean have laid claim to the other two bottles. The rest is in my keg and Jeff I just can't bring myself to send this to you in Michigan (besides, Fouch would probably intercept it). I'll draw off a bottle and send it over when Eric is not watching. BTW, if you think Arnold would look ridiculous on his Lambretta, you should have seen the photos of Eric on his Hodaka Wombat! But I won't even be tempted to talk about that either. This creation, with the help of those who pointed me this way, in my opinion is a real beauty. This is the Mudgee Mud I was hoping to recreate, without the "bloody awful" tag. The one I was to bring to our Christmas party which nobody bothered to organize....lousy lot! One question for Pat Babcock before I go. Is Al K carrying out time warp experiments? He seems to be talking to us from a few months back. I know he has just had three new bods placed upon him and such behaviour could be attributable to this. But now Jack S is responding to him. Is Jack in the experiment also? Does this mean I could be really nasty to both of them and expect no nasty return flaming for at least three months? Doc Pivo would have been more than a little excited about an experiment like this! Cheers Phil Yates. Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 04 Sep 1999 19:20:47 +1000 From: Miguel de Salas <mm_de at postoffice.utas.edu.au> Subject: Re: wyeast and white labs It sounds a bit scary when people call others to say no to Wyeast. Some may fail to realise that there are homebrewers outside the US, and for us downunder, at least in the town where I live, Wyeast is the ONLY liquid yeast, thus the only source of different yeasts. As it happens, and has been pointed out, other brands just don't travel well. This makes it unlikely we'll get others. Besides, some people commenting on the fact that if other brands go, we'll get 50 yeasts that taste the same fail to acknowledge the fact that for a long time WYeast was the only commercial producer of liquid yeast cultures catering for homebrewers. If they didn't all taste the same back then, why should they do so in the future. Many brands of yeast in fact offer strains which originated from the same breweries, and produce similar tasting beer. >From that point of view, they are redundant. But I ramble. My point being, if Wyeast succumbs to a boycott, homebrewers unlikely enough not to live in the US may find themselves without a source of good quality yeasts. Cheers - ------------------------------------------------------------ Miguel de Salas School of Plant Science, University of Tasmania, PO Box 252-55, Sandy Bay, Hobart Tasmania, Australia, 7001. Dept home-page: http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/plant_science/ My Homepage: http://www.southcom.com.au/~miguel/ Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 1999 10:16:48 -0400 From: "John Stegenga" <bigjohns at mindspring.com> Subject: Last of the millenium??? IN HBD 3128 Jim writes: >Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 08:23:36 -0500 >From: "Jim Hodge" <jdhodge at worldnet.att.net> >Subject: 1999 Spooky Brew Review Homebrew Competition >The Chicago Beer Society announces its last homebrew competition of the >Millenium, the 1999 Spooky Brew Review to be held Saturday, October 30, 1999 >at O'Grady's Brewery and Pub, Arlington Heights, IL. Damn! Sorry to hear it. You guys not having a competition next year? Gee that sucks. Oh well. For information on when the Millenium ends, go here: http://www.usno.navy.mil/home.html Ignorance is no excuse of the truth. Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 1999 10:30:15 EDT From: ThomasM923 at aol.com Subject: Licorice; An interesting reference I wonder if anyone else found this gem of a reference while searching for info concerning licorice... The Household Cyclopedia http://members.xoom.com/mspong/ It is the complete text from a book published in 1881. It contains a lot of information on a lot of subjects, one of which is the subject of brewing. This would be of interest to anyone fascinated with the methods and recipes of the past. Check it out. I found a recipe in The Household Cyclopedia that uses licorice root and Spanish licorice. It is still unclear to me what Spanish licorice is but I imagine it could be a "processed" form of licorice like the candy we are all familiar with. The fact that the root of the licorice plant contains a sweetener (glycerrhizin) with is 50 times as sweet as table sugar gives some insight on it's use. If the recipe I mentioned above is scaled down to a 5 gallon batch, the amount of licorice root added would be about 4 ounces. Although it seems that heat breaks down glycerrhizin into glycerrhettic acid, which is not as sweet, adding four ounces of something much sweeter than sucrose to a 5 gallon batch would certainly sweeten it up quite a bit. I would imagine that this sweetener is unfermented by yeast. So it seems that licorice root was used not only as a flavoring, but (primarily?) as a sweetener, not unlike adding lactose to a beer. BTW, I found the information on licorice root in On Food and Cooking, by Harold McGee, Collier Books, Macmillan Publishing Company. Thomas Murray Maplewood, NJ Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 04 Sep 1999 11:48:30 -0400 From: Kevin or Darla Elsken <kelsken at adelphia.net> Subject: Fridge Stuff A couple of recent postings have been about refrigerators, one of things I actually feel I know a little about. Adam Holmes in # 3125 was having problems with his refrigerator not getting cold. It was already mentioned to add mass to the inside of the unit, i.e. jugs of water in the freezer and fresh food compartments. This mass provides a great 'heat sink' to absorb energy from the air to keep it cool. The result should be less cycling of the unit and more consistent temperatures. Also be sure to check those door gaskets, especially at the bottom where it is difficult to see. If these suggestions don't improve the situation, write again, there are still some other more esoteric possibilities. In #3128, Thomas Hamann asks how to know how much volume he can add to his refrigerator without overtaxing the cooling system. Well I am sure there it can be calculated, but I doubt there is enough information available about your particular unit to do it (I feel certain someone will try to prove me wrong here). My gut feeling is that you could easily double or triple the existing volume, if you are careful to: 1. Build a well insulated and well SEALED expansion box. 2. Keep it full (see note above) Another consideration is what temperature you are planning to keep the expanded unit. Obviously keeping it a "cellar temps" (50 to 55 F or so) will be much easier on it that if it is always at "lager temps", 32 to 35 F. In the same issue Dave Thomson wants to know about drilling the side of his refrigerator. It used to be the side of the fridge had little in it besides the insulation. With the 1993 Energy Consumption Standards most manufacturers now use part of the "hot loop" (condenser) to heat the front flange of the cabinet to avoid sweating. The used to use electric heaters. If your unit has a switch on it that says something like, turn it to this position to reduce sweating (heater on) or turn it to this position to save energy (heater off) then the fridge falls in the latter category. Anyhow, units with the hot loops in the flange sometimes route the tubing in the sidewall. Drill through that, the fridge is dead! My suggestion: if you unit has a plastic liner on the inside, take a sharp knife (box cutting knife) point and carefully poke it through the liner. Slice out a small area of the liner (the plastics are very thin, but be careful with the knife). If it is a plastic liner then there will be polyurethane insulation in the wall cavity. This can be dugout with a screwdriver till you hit the outside wall. All clear? Drill away! If your unit has a metal liner on the inside, then drill a small pilot hole, but try to stop the drill as soon as you are through the inner liner. If it is a old unit it may have fiberglass in the wall. At any rate, poke around and try to make sure there is nothing in the way. If it does have fiberglass insulation it is a pretty old fridge, and I doubt there is much in the walls anyway. That's it. More than anyone wants to know about refrigerators. Kevin Elsken Little Boy Brewery Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 04 Sep 1999 11:55:10 -0400 From: "(Nate Wahl)" <cruiser at cros.net> Subject: Caramel flavor for FESB Collective, Here's an idea that works for getting caramel-ish flavor. I found this on for a recipe given me to duplicate Traquair House Ale, which it does very well. This may help with an FESB clone, although I have yet to try it in one. Basically, you take the first gallon of runnings into a separate pot, and rapidly boil it down to about a pint or so. Return that to your main kettle, then "deglaze" the pot, to use cooking parlance, by putting a pint of water into it, stir briskly, bring it to boiling, and dump into the main kettle also. Do your regular boil in parallel, this stuff ends up going in at about the half hour mark. The first part carmelizes some sugars in the wort, and the second part gets all of the good carmelized stuff off of the pot, and makes it very easy to clean. Be sure to stir the small pot continuously; you don't want to burn anything, just reduce it. In the THA clone, it gave a marvelous caramel taste and thickness. Simply amazing. Even most Lite-o-phobes like the stuff, even tho' they don't think it's beer! You may want to use only a half-gallon for an FESB, as I don't recall it having that strong of a flavor. Oh, I would suggest that since this can darken your wort considerably, you may want to go to lighter versions of any caramel or crystal malts in your recipe, to compensate. I hope this helps. Nate Wahl Oogie Wa Wa (Old Zulu drinking salute!) Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 04 Sep 1999 16:27:00 -0500 From: Crossno Clan <Crossno at tnns.net> Subject: Tuns of soybeans / ReCAP (psuedo) On 3 Aug. I bottled my soy(led) CAP (pseudo). Sent a couple of bottles off to an HBD participant see comments below. The recipe was a CAP but instead of corn used flaked soy (12%) and rice (8%). "We were both really surprised by how light it was! I figured that the soy would have given it quite a bit of body, but I guess those proteins are the wrong kind to add body to beer. Really light, really nice. The aroma was exactly what I expected from a CAP, and even seemed a little corny (maybe the soy added that touch?). The flavor was certainly in the realm of light pilsner beers, but I see what you mean about the odd flavor contribution of the soy. Couldn't exactly label it, but there was something there right in the middle of the tongue that caused part of me to say, "yep, that's it." " Everyone I shared it with seemed to like it. But there is a "different flavor." With a month in the bottle the Windsor yeast bottles are past their prime. I know I should have thrown them in the refrigerator sooner. The EDME was harsher at first but now has mellowed. Or does the ale yeast just make this a bunch of CACA? Glyn Crossno Estill Springs, TN I'll see your point, and raise you a line. Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 1999 18:07:26 -0400 From: "Frank J. Russo" <FJRusso at coastalnet.com> Subject: RE: Maple Syrup Mead "Jason Birzer" wrote: Subject: Maple syrup brew? .... whether it was practical to make a fermented beverage out of Maple Syrup. I'm not talking about a beer, but something like Mead (fermented honey). I know that maple syrup is highly fermentable,.... I have not tried to ferment Maple Syrup, at least not yet. A member of my homebrew club has. So I asked him about it. He loves the sweeter brews. His mead's have a sweetness to them. When he tried maple syrup & honey he used a Champaign yeast. This created a VERY DRY brew. For his taste it was awful, others liked it. Since then he has not tried it again. So a recommendation from someone who does not know what he is talking about, is if you try this then use a low attenuating yeast, a wine yeast should be fine. Sorry but I can not give you a recipe. But if you do like I have in the past, go to the cat's meow, locate a mead recipe and just begin substituting. Good Luck Frank Havelock, NC FJRusso at Coastalnet.com Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 04 Sep 1999 17:23:39 -0500 From: Pete Diltz <pdiltz at plutonium.net> Subject: Maple Syrup Brew? In HBD #3127, Jason asked: >whether it was practical to make a fermented <beverage out of Maple Syrup. >Has anyone on here tried something like this? >How did it turn out? Jason, I have made two 1 gallon batches of Maple Syrup wine..1/3 syrup to 2/3 water is a good place to start (O.G. of about 1.120) I used Lalvin #K-1118 yeast for the first batch, it fermented well (F.G. 1.002), but has a looong-lasting Listerene aroma that still lingers after 3 years.....the batch from earlier this year with Lalvin #K-1116 has a lot less of the medicinal character. I would guess that Dick Dunn (of the Mead Lovers Digest) would be able to add a lot of good, solid info concerning yeast choice.... Grade "A" syrup is lighter in color and taste, and seems to be a little more fermentable....I would recommend Grade "B", (for sweetener as well as for fermenting), it is darker, richer, less processed. Be prepared for a long fermenting, clearing, and aging process if you use wine yeasts, as I did. Both my batches have turned out extremely clear, with a lovely amber color, the Grade B batch being somewhat darker. They have a pronounced maple aroma and taste. Good Luck, and keep us posted. Pete Diltz Trial & Error Brewery Troy Mills, Iowa (somewhere between Al K. and Jethro) Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 1999 19:09:25 -0400 From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu> Subject: Re: Fullers ESB Paul Campbell <Paul.R.Campbell at is.shell.com> asks: >Does anyone know anything about the characteristics of Alexis and Chariot >pale malt. I've seen Chariot described as a *pilsner* malt, and know of >a few beers using Alexis (a modern pale ale malt). Is the Alexis anything >special, or just easier to farm? I think I might try some pilsner malt in >my next attempt, just to see what happens. You are confusing *barley* varieties and *malt* types. You can more or less malt any variety of barley to any type of malt, although high protein types may not make very good ale or continental-type lager malts. I don't know the details of those malting varieties of barley. Check American Malting Barley Association, Inc. links http://www.ambainc.org/linx/index.htm or Master Brewers Association of the Americas http://www.mbaa.com/ and you might be able to track down details. I can't find it in my bookmarks, but I think there is also a British Malters Assn. or something like it. Pale ale malts are typically more highly modified and kilned higher and perhaps following a different schedule than Pilsner malts. BTW, after some further reading I'm pretty well convinced that caramel doesn't add any flavor. -=-=-=-=- Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, c/o nerenner at umich.edu "One never knows, do one?" Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943. Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 05:58:41 -0400 From: "Mr. Joy Hansen" <joytbrew at patriot.net> Subject: Demise of Brewing Techniques Pondered? Awakened at 4 AM by the blaring of television's early morning profiteering rhetoric, the advertisement lauded the benefits of web advertising. This struck a cord in that one of the elements of the Brewing Technique's demise was non-payment of advertising and possibly the lack of paid advertising to maintain the publication. A motorcycle magazine "Motorcycle Consumer News" suspended ALL advertising more than four years ago and seems to continue publication. Suspended all advertising and high cost color printings. It still provides some of the best written reviews of products and technical tips and fixes. Much like BT could become with different management outlook? I often wonder if BT considered publishing at a web site for a subscription cost. Surely the cost of maintaining a web site is much cheaper than the publication printing and mail distribution of the magazine. Only my two-cents worth. I don't have enough computer/web knowledge to know if an electronic publication would be profitable, practical, or legal. As far as a refund of the subscription fee, better that the small amount stay with BT. A very small token of appreciation for the many years of pleasant reading and practical articles about brewing. Brewing Techniques will be sorely missed by Joy"T"Brew! Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 09:21:29 -0500 From: rlabor at lsumc.edu (LaBorde, Ronald) Subject: RE: carboy volume markers From: "Bayer, Mark A" <Mark.Bayer at JSF.Boeing.com> >i used to have problems with the marks getting wiped off when the carboy got >wet on the outside during washing. then i applied scotch tape over the >volume marks, and now the volume marks stay on a lot longer. the tape >eventually peels off (after 3+ years - maybe some of the more heavy duty >clear tape would stay on longer), but the marks stay dry and last a lot >longer than with no tape. What works for me is to use plastic electrical tape. It's waterproof, and sticks onto a dry glass surface. I have run through many cleaning cycles with the tape still fully sealed on and intact. My tape was about 1/2 inch wide, so I just guestimated the center line. To be more accurate, I guess one could cut the tape to 1/4 inch width, or cut small arrows, or chevrons at the ends to serve as pointers. Ron Ronald La Borde - Metairie, Louisiana - rlabor at lsumc.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 09:39:06 -0500 From: rlabor at lsumc.edu (LaBorde, Ronald) Subject: RE: Drilling a fridge From: "Dave Thomson" <dlt at ici.net> >I am in the process of setting up my extra fridge for kegging. I want to >drill a hole in the side for my co2 line. I call the local repair shop and >they said "well drill a small hole and see what happens" Yeah thanks guys! >Anyway it a Hotpoint fridge with the freezer on top there are no visible >coils on the back of the fridge. Is it possible to drill a hole? The fridge >is also used to hold food for large gatherings and as extra freezer space, >thus my wife would be rather unhappy if I destroy the fridge! It's Sunday morning, the coffee is hot and good, it's to darn hot outside, so what the heck, I'll take a shot at this one. First, if you do drill a small test hole as suggested above, the method to prevent drilling too far past the outer wall is to use a drill stop. Simply cut a piece of metal or plastic tubing to slide onto the drill bit, with just enough protruding drill bit to clear the wall thickness. Second, if your fridge happens to have an ice maker, you can get a sneak preview by temporarily removing the ice maker, you should find a square hole hidden by the ice maker, through which the electrical wires pass to the motor, etc. Now you can poke around through this hole and determine what is there. Ron Ronald La Borde - Metairie, Louisiana - rlabor at lsumc.edu Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 11:16:00 -0400 From: "Steven Jones" <stjones1 at worldnet.att.net> Subject: Bottling pLambic Greetings, all. I have a pFramboise in the carboy (about 18 months) that has a thick pellicle and I'm getting ready to bottle it. I can force carbonate, but I'd rather bottle condition for more authenticity, and I'm concerned about pellicle formation in the bottle. I thought about pasteurizing by raising to 150F for an hour, cooling, pitching a neutral yeast and adding priming sugar. Has anyone seen any mention of this anywhere? Anyone have any comments? Steve State of Franklin Homebrewers http://home.att.net/~stjones1/index.htm Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 06 Sep 1999 00:53:37 +0930 From: Brad McMahon <brad at sa.apana.org.au> Subject: Caramel in Fuller's ESB William Frazier asked, and many people pondered, about caramel flavours in Fuller's ESB. I don't recall having ESB when I was in the UK, I did however drink lots of London Pride, but my palate was still learning the basics. I have read that some people detect diacetyl as caramel flavour. Perhaps this is what you are tasting? Brad Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 05 Sep 1999 01:04:05 -0400 From: Bob Sheck <bsheck at skantech.net> Subject: RE: Supporting the brewing infrastructure I always operate on the premise: If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the problem. Zymurgy mag helped me become a successful home brewer. I got a lot of knowledge out of the mag, and then found the HBD. While never joining the AHA, or other major orgs, I have continued to brew and have started judging in several comps along the way, and my association with BJCP certified folks has really boosted my understanding of this craft. What a membeership in AHA costs for a year I probably piss away in a week sampling commercial 'craft' brewed or other intoxicants, so I think I'm going to support them with a subscription. "Lead, follow, or get the hell out of my way" (someone's quote that seems relevant now. . . ) Bob Sheck bsheck, me-sheck, abednigo! Greenville, NC email:bsheck at skantech.net or see us at: http://www.skantech.net/bsheck/ (252)830-1833 Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 14:34:28 -0400 (EDT) From: ALAN KEITH MEEKER <ameeker at welch.jhu.edu> Subject: Legality of homebrewing I'm still sifting through a stack of BT magazines. In the Jan 1997 issue there is a map of the U.S. showing the legal status of homebrewing for each state. By this map there are 12 states where homebrewing was illegal and 7 states where the laws are "unclear." Since this time I know that at least Tenn. has legalized homebrewing but what about the other states? This is an important issue for me as I am looking about for places to postdoc and the thought of ending up in a state that disallows my favorite hobby will weigh heavilly in my decision! -Alan Meeker Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 15:25:34 -0400 (EDT) From: ALAN KEITH MEEKER <ameeker at welch.jhu.edu> Subject: HBD PALE ALE Experiment I've just read the BT articles on the HBD Palexperiment run by Louis Bonham. This was one of the best designed and executed brewing experiments I've yet seen - kudos Louis! This is an example of the kind of articles I for one will miss given the demise of BT. The experimental design was far superior to the previously published Oregon Pale Ale experiment in which they let so many variables float that the results are essentially meaningless (one of the uncontrolled variables was yeast strain!!). This is an example of the type of articles I won't be missing. I do have a couple of quick questions for Louis, or anyone else out there who'd care to chime in. 1) Concerning IBU measurements: The ASBC method that you made use of involves extraction into an organic solvent and then measuring the absorbance at 275 nm. I'll bet that a LOT of organic compounds, particularly aromatics, present in beer will absorb well at 275. Therefore, how reliable will an IBU measurement be when done using this method? The organic extraction should get away from the peptides, proteins, nucleic acids and nucleotides thet would act as interfering substances but there must be other compounds to worry about. Ideally, one would like to use the exact same beer but unhopped as a baseline for comparison. If such baselines are significantly above zero, and it seems likely that they will be, then it makes it very difficult to make a good IBU comparison between different beers. I don't think this was much of a problem in the case of the HBD experiment since they all used exactly the same starting ingredients from a single source so at least the /relative/ differences are valid. Another conclusion this might impact is in trying to compare measured IBUs with those predicted by the popular IBU prediction formulas. What do you think? 2) Headspace air: In the section on headspace air volume Louis states that "...commercial operations generally view 1 ml of headspace air in a standard 12-oz bottle as an absolute maximum. (with modern bottling lines, headspace air levels of 0.15ml aer commonplace)." This seems to go against my experiences - one ml is a fairly small volume (for those of you who are metric-challanged 5 ml is about one teaspoon) and it seems to me that most commercial bottled beers I've seen have /at least/ a 5 ml headspace. The only beers I have on hand seem to confirm this - Flying Fish ESB, Tennants lager, and Sam Adams lager all have significant headspace volumes - some have greater than 1 inch of headspace measured down from the cap!! Are most commercial outfits using older bottling lines that leave more headspace? I don't imagine the beers with larger headspaces are in danger of staling as in commercial beers the headspace should be pretty free of oxygen. There have however been pretty convincing studies showing that extremely small volumes of headspace can negatively impact the level of carbonation achieved in bottle conditioned beers. -Alan Meeker Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 15:39:36 -0400 (EDT) From: ALAN KEITH MEEKER <ameeker at welch.jhu.edu> Subject: Pumpkin ale recipe - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 3 Sep 1999 12:16:09 -0400 (EDT) From: ALAN KEITH MEEKER <ameeker at welch.jhu.edu> To: ALAN KEITH MEEKER <ameeker at welch.jhu.edu> Subject: Pumpkin ale recipe Here's my recipe for "Headless Horseman Pumpkin Ale." This recipe evolved when I was still doing partials and extracts so it is not in fact all-grain. Uses a mini-mash with couple of pounds of 6-row to generate enough amylase to convert the pumpkin's starch. Dried malt extract is used to bump up the gravity and the boil is only about 3 gallons in volume, with water added to the primary to bring up the final volume to about 5 gallons (I was limited at the time by the small kettle I had for wort boiliing) When I went over to all-grain I tried a couple of times to convert the recipe to all grain. One problem with this is that it is prone to stuck run-offs because of all the finely ground pumpkin meat. Rice hulls should probably take care of this problem. The otherand more worrisome problem is that the all grain versions, while decent, never were as good as the mini-mash recipe below. Since this is one of my wife's favorite recipes I had to go back to the mini mash... What you'll need: 2.5# English 6-row 1# xtal-20 1/2 # flaked wheat 6# Extra Light Dried Malt Extract (Munton&Fissons) 1 LARGE pumpkin 2 oz Willamette hop pellet Water treatment: My water is pretty tame - tens of ppms of carbonates and calcium. I pre-boil 6-7 gallons of water the night before with 1 tsp CaSO4 (gypsum) or CaCl2 to precipitate out the carbonates and get rid of chlorine. Pumpkin prep: The night before brewing, I quarter one LARGE pumpkin, remove the seeds/"guts," cover the sections with foil and bake at 350 degF on foil-covered oven racks for about 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Check towards the end of this time, you're looking for the meat of the pumpkin to becone very soft (a fork works well for checking this). I perioically add a little water under the foil to keep everything moist otherwise the meat can dry out, especially around the edges of the sections. If it dries out a lot it becomes hard to work with later. Keeping the the foil well sealed also helps prevent excess drying. Cool, then you should be able to pretty easilly scoop/scrape out the softened pumpkin meat from the "skin" of the pumpkin. You should end up with mostly pumpkin meat and a little of the skin/rind (discard the skin). The skin often charrs a bit where it contacts the metal oven racks. Here you can sometimes just peel the skin off, sort of like removing the skins from charred peppers if you've ever done this. While some degree of charring seems unavoidable I don't think you want too much or you'll end up with "burnt pumpkin ale" so move the sections around every now and then as they cook to avoid this. Once you've got all the meat, you want to smush it all up well (sorry for the technical jargon). I've used a food processor for this but if the meat is well cooked and soft enough a potato masher works well as does one's hands if it's cooled off enough. You can store the pumpkin in the frig till you're ready to use it. Save all the "juice" along with the meat. On Brew day: 1. Heat 1 1/2 gal. water to 62 degC 2. Mash in 2.5# british 6-row 3. Adjust temp to 55 degC and pH to 5.2-5.4. Protein rest x 30 min. 4. If the pumpkin has been refrigerated then warm it up now to about 70 degC (microwave works well for this). 5. Add the pumpkin, 1# English crystal-20, 1/2# flaked wheat, and about 1/2 gallon warm brew water to the 6-row mash. Mix well and bring temp up to 65-67degC for a 90 minute sacchrification rest. 6. Sparge with 2 gallons of brew water at 50 degC. I do this by transfering everything to a large grain bag and rinsing with the water. You should end up with about three gallons of very cloudy sweet liquor. 7. Add 6# extra light dried malt extract. Bring to boil then add the following spices: 1 tsp cinnamon powder 2 cinnamon sticks 2 tsp vanilla powder 1 tsp nutmeg 1.5 tsp allspice 1 tsp ginger 1 oz Willamette hop pellets 8. Boli 45 minutes. Add 1 more oz Willamette and 1/2 tspp Irish Moss. 9. Boil 15 minutes then cool. 10. Transfer to a 5 gallon primary fermentor and bring up the final volume with cold brew water to 4 1/2 gallons. The O.G. will be 1.070 - 1.080. 11. Pitch a large starter of Wyeast 1272 (American Ale II). Ferment for 2 weeks at 65 degF. 12. Rack to secondary for another 2 weeks. Prime at a rate of 3/4 C dextrose (corn sugar) per 4 gallons volume an bottle. F.G approx. = 1.012 13. Should be drinkable at 2-3 weeks out but the spices belnd and mellow well in a month or two. This beer has a good amount of residual sweetness and mouthfeel. I don't know whether this is a byproduct of the pumpkin or the fact that there's a lot of dried malt extract in the recipe or due to the fairly high gravity. Probably a combination of all the above. Have fun with this, let me know how it turns out if you try it! -Alan Meeker Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 19:03:22 EDT From: BillPierce at aol.com Subject: Re: Soybean Beer > Date: Thu, 2 Sep 1999 20:10:59 EDT > From: JPullum127 at aol.com > Subject: soybeans > > i just heard something on the news tonight that a des moines iowa brewery > was using 15% soybean meal in its mash . i didn't catch the name of the > place. report said unidentified "taste testers" found the beer to be " > verysmooth, rich and less bitter" besides the fact that i like "bitter" > ie;hoppy beers has anyone any further info on this or tried it themselves? I know the brewer of this soybean beer, Steve Zimmerman of Court Avenue Brewing Company, a brewpub in Des Moines. I have had the beer and spoken with Steve about it. The impetus for brewing it came from the Iowa Soybean Association, which is seeking innovative new uses for one of the state's major agricultural products. The soybeans used, which were actually in the form of soy grits, are a special new variety developed to be lower in oil than conventional soybeans. Their contribution to the beer in terms of fermentable sugars is minimal (when asked the extract potential of soy grits, Steve answered, "I didn't even figure it into my calculations"). Their contribution to the flavor is minimal as well. However, the soy grits do have a protein content of approximately 30 percent and contribute a noticeable increase in body to the beer. The recipe was intended to be a blond ale, light in both color (about 4 SRM) and bittering (15 IBU), that used American two-row malt and a small percentage of light crystal malt in addition to the soy grits. The mash schedule employed a 30-minute protein rest at 122 F, otherwise the brewing process was identical to the other beers Steve brews. At the moment I don't have information on the starting and finishing gravity. The beer is pleasant but unremarkable in my opinion, apart from having more body than a typical light ale. The average brewpub beer drinker would not find much to distinguish it from other beers. The residual oil in the soybean grits does not affect the head; in fact, the high protein content seems to improve heading somewhat. Because the beer is unfiltered, there is a slight haze, which Steve believes could be easily removed by filtering. If the intent was to prove that drinkable beer could be made using soybeans as an ingredient, then I would call the experiment a success. There is certainly no detriment to the flavor from the use of soy grits. However, as there is no appreciable flavor improvement (at least to my taste) and little additional fermentability, I'm not sure what the incentive is to use them. That's my $.02 on the subject. Bill Pierce Cellar Door Homebrewery Des Moines, IA Return to table of contents
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