HOMEBREW Digest #3132 Thu 09 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.
				URL: http://www.oeonline.com


Contents:
  Copper Coil for Jockey Box ("J. Matthew Saunders")
  Science, Tradition And Who is Eric? ("Phil and Jill Yates")
  BT and Suporting those that Su [bscribe, I guess...] (Robert S Wallace)
  Soy Beer ("Dic Gleason")
  No sediment in bottles ("Darryl Downie")
  HBD stats (ALAN KEITH MEEKER)
  Chest freezers (fridge)
  Soybean adjuncts? ("Mr. Joy Hansen")
  HSA-still?, AHA-never ("Nathaniel P. Lansing")
  Liver Enzymes (Eric.Fouch)
  Pils vs Pale ("Scholz, Richard")
  RE: (Chad Bohl)
  Re: Thinning the Wort Post-Pitch (Jeff Renner)
  Re: BT and Suporting those that Su (Jeff Renner)
  Re: Spartan Battle Cries ("Patrick Michael Flahie")
  Sarah Connor (Dave Burley)
  RE: Pumpkin Brews / Thinning the Wort Post-Pitch / HSA (again, (MaltHound)
  False Bottom Question (David Sweeney)
  re: GFI electrical circuits... (Lou.Heavner)
  Re: saving water (Ganister Fields Architects)
  MIni Kegs (DaGoalie38)
  Now I understand the process! (Des Egan)
  Mild recipe correction (Jeff Renner)
  Soybeans (William Frazier)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 23:11:44 -0600 From: "J. Matthew Saunders" <matthew-saunders at uswest.net> Subject: Copper Coil for Jockey Box Dear Collective, Many thanks to those that emailed me about converting a dorm fridge into a jockey box. I am pleased to say that the attempt has been very successful. In fact the fridge is keeping my water bath cold enought that ice and water has stayed ice and water for about 36 hours now. I've pulled several pints and the temperature of the beer is nice and cool. Total cost--$20 for the fridge, $18 for the copper coil and fittings, and $30 or so for the faucet and beer line. Pretty cheap! OK my one concern is this....the copper coil that I purchased says on the box: "Soft Copper Tube Type: Refrigeration" Is there anything added to the copper to make it really soft (like lead) that will poison me over the next few years as I use the system? I should have asked this question before putting the darn thing together. TIA, Matthew in Colorado. "We have to work in the theatre of our own time, with the tools of our own time" --Robert Edmond Jones Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 15:52:56 +1000 From: "Phil and Jill Yates" <yates at flexgate.infoflex.com.au> Subject: Science, Tradition And Who is Eric? Steve, I am glad that you are back from your trip and ready to hurl yourself into the continuing discussion. I don't feel that my reading of your question is at all flawed. The point I was trying to make with respect to the major breweries is that they are more or less trying to pursue an SE type brewing technique and as they do they are getting further and further away from what we appreciate as good beer. I haven't side stepped your question. I simply do not believe that your concept of the Brave New Brewery is going to make for us a better tasting beer. I don't believe it can! You see Steve the majority of the world's beer drinkers don't give a rats about the things we care about. I gather from your recent post that you would class yourself as pretty high up on the scale of taste appreciation with regards to beer. That is fine, possibly you are. And from this you probably think I would be somewhere below, and possibly I am. But also just possibly you may be deluding yourself. Sorry, I am drifting from my point. I called your Brave New Brewery and associated question flawed because I believe it is. It is a bit like asking " If Marilyn Monroe appeared naked outside your window would you tell your wife you were just going out to check on the cat - or would you draw the curtains and stick with the wife"? (Lucky Jill doesn't read this)!! It is something I do not believe is going to happen. Besides, it would be no fun at all (I'm talking about the SE brewing, not Marilyn)! Steve, I am glad you enjoy the level of science that you are at, and I am glad you make it available here in the HBD for others to consider. I'm sorry and I am certainly not being insulting, but I am not at all convinced you are making any better beer than me. Maybe I am just that much further down the tasting tree. You mentioned you knew Eric. Well I knew you knew Eric. I know Eric myself. I did not know that I knew Eric when I first asked you if you knew him. At that stage you did not realize that you knew him yourself! Now that you know that I know you and I both know Eric, well why don't you indeed join us for a beer? Regan runs a once a week get together at his "blackhole" of the homebrew universe. Where all information comes in but nothing gets out. Even Doc Pivo has visited us (though I was not there that night, pity) and he still talks of Gil's Czech Pils as one of the best he has encountered. There is many a varied brewer who gathers for a beer and a yarn at the Blackhole. But to answer the question, just who is Eric? Well let's just call him "The Jackal". Cheers Phil Yates. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 08 Sep 1999 01:04:24 -0500 From: Robert S Wallace <rwallace at iastate.edu> Subject: BT and Suporting those that Su [bscribe, I guess...] Date: Tue, 07 Sep 1999 16:04:21 -0400 From: Spencer W Thomas <spencer at engin.umich.edu> Subject: Re: BT and Suporting those that Su Spencer Thomas replied to John E Schnupp's Comment: John> It is my opinion that the majority of the $$$ necessary to John> publish a magazine comes from the advertisers, not the John> subscribers. Spencer: I subscribe to an excellent cooking magazine, Cooks Illustrated (http://www.cooksillustrated.com). They carry NO advertising. None. Not a single word. Subscription price? About $30/yr for 6 issues. Is it worth it? Yes. Do I miss the advertising? What do you think? :-) <snip> =Spencer Thomas in Ann Arbor, MI (spencer at umich.edu) Rob: I subscribe to two woodworking magazines (Shop Notes and Woodsmith; Augusthome Publications) which do not include advertizing and cost roughly about the same as Spencer's "Cook's Illustrated" magazine. Quality articles (albeit not as "thick" as BT), good illustrations, and a definate target audience in mind. Successful, to say the least. Woodsmith and Shop Notes are both written "in house" and don't really take input from 'outsiders', except for occasional hints and tips. Writing articles on a schedule when one produces everything from cover to cover is likely quite different than working with external sources for one's articles. Regardless, it IS possible to run such a non-advert mag, as long as subscriptions reach a critical minimum level. Perhaps this is a viable possibility, but someone (or some group) must invest some capital to get a publication out and to solicit subscriptions, hopefully to recoup the initial investment and make some money in the end. My sole contribution to BT was an article on the Shepherd Neame Brewery in Kent (Nov-Dec '98), and working with the staff at BT was a rewarding, enjoyable experience. I had at least two other articles in the works, but these are now on hold. As has been said here previously, the void that is now created hopefully will be filled in the future. I would gladly participate in a journal of similar scope, audience, and editorial rigor. The demand is there - how can we develop a quality BT replacement to make the economics work?? Off to Yakima to photograph the hop harvest...... Humulonically-yours, Rob Wallace Robert S. Wallace "In cerevesia veritas est." Associate Professor of Botany e-mail: rwallace at iastate.edu 353 Bessey Hall Phone: +001-515-294-0367 Iowa State University FAX: +001-515-294-1337 Ames, Iowa 50011-1020 USA Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 07 Sep 1999 23:14:57 PDT From: "Dic Gleason" <dicgleason at hotmail.com> Subject: Soy Beer I found this in the 8 Sep. edition of the Pacific Stars and Stripes Newspaper. No story, just a picture of Steve stirring the mash and the following caption: AP "Steve Zimmerman, brewmaster at Court Avenue Brewing Co. in Des Moines, Iowa, mixes a batch of soybean beer that will age and ferment in four to five weeks before it is ready for consumption. If the beer is successful, it will have big implications for Iowa's farmers." I went to thier web site http://www.courtavebrew.com/ but there was nothing about soybean beer. I have sent Court Ave. e-mail and will post any information they give me. Dic Gleason Uijongbu, South Korea ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 20:23:42 +0930 From: "Darryl Downie" <dagzy at senet.com.au> Subject: No sediment in bottles Hi all me again, I have a question in regards to my latest over hopped brew (the bitterness has diminished very much and it has quite a nice taste thankyou ). My question is this, this is the first non kit brew I have made, and when I bottled it there was not the least but of cloudiness like the other kit brews. Now after 3 days in the bottle there is no sediment layer in the bottom of the bottles and they look quite clean. I was curious and cracked a stubby to see if there was any gas and I was rewarded with a faint release of co2. But when I poured some into a glass there did not seem to be very much dissolved gas in the beer AKA very few bubbles. I used an ale yeast in the beer which flocculated well and dropped out of suspension leaving quite a large amount of slurry in the bottom of my closed fermenter. I would like some advice as to whether this lack of cloudiness is normal for boiled worts against my experience with kits. Or have I let the batch clear too much and if so how can I remedy the situation without over gassing the bottles which have been primed with castor sugar. All the best and keep brewin Darryl Adelaide Australia Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 07:50:31 -0400 (EDT) From: ALAN KEITH MEEKER <ameeker at welch.jhu.edu> Subject: HBD stats In the March BT there is an article on this newfangled thing called the "internet." Seems that ifn you have one of them thar computer gizmos you can yuk it up with other homebrewers! The number of "sub scri bers/participants" for the HBD is listed at 2900. This was in 1994. How have the numbers changed since then? -Alan Meeker Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 08:46:23 -0400 From: fridge at kalamazoo.net Subject: Chest freezers Greetings folks, In HBD#3131, Sean Richens asks about chest freezer life at the higher than normal temperatures often used in homebrewing, and wants to know if trimming the refrigerant charge will help extend a freezer's life in this application. I've covered this topic in more detail in prior posts. Those interested can search the HBD archives. The short answer is if the system pressures are allowed time to equalize before each compressor start, the freezer will probably rust out from condensation before the compressor wears out. Equalization time is the reason I suggest setting a 5 degree differential between cut-out and cut-in when using an external temperature controller. Some folks place their controller probe in a jar of oil or water to increase the differential. This is useful if the controller has a fixed (too short) differental. A chest freezer's compressor will have less starting torque than the compressor used in a refrigerator/freezer. Allowing a minimum of 5 to 10 minutes between cycles will minimize the starting load on the compressor. I have heard from many folks who use chest freezers at elevated temperatures (I use two myself). To the best of my knowledge, the only compressor failures I've encountered have been due to age or refrigerant loss. If one were to have the refrigerant charge trimmed (reduced in this case) in a chest freezer, I don't believe the starting load would be reduced significantly until enough refrigerant is removed to cause a notable loss in cooling capacity. Proper compressor cooling could then be a problem. Please be aware that any modification or altered use of a chest freezer MAY cause it to fail prematurely. In my case, and for many others, there hasn't been a problem. YMMV Hope this helps! Forrest Duddles - FridgeGuy in Kalamazoo fridge at kalamazoo.net Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 08:12:18 -0400 From: "Mr. Joy Hansen" <joytbrew at patriot.net> Subject: Soybean adjuncts? WARNING: The following dialog is based fully on personal opinion! I'm surprised that soybean, normal or defatted, is being considered as a brewing adjunct. I realize that the protein profile for soybean might be quite different than barley; however, what's to do with all the protein? Several commercial products are available that are soy or soyflour derived: soyflour(50% protein), soy protein concentrate (70% protein), isolated soy protein (90%+ protein), and many textured soy protein products. Possibly try a farm supply store for animal feed? What is the benefit of all that protein? Something to do with a huge hot break and cold break during and after the boil? Are the proteins "head positive"? Is there a special flavor/aroma contributed by soy? OR Flatulens? A "special effect" brew? A new category for home brewing? Joy"T"Brew Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 09:35:21 -0400 From: "Nathaniel P. Lansing" <delbrew at compuserve.com> Subject: HSA-still?, AHA-never I too read the piece in BT regarding HSA, and after some 33 citations of reference in support of the article I can't understand how some people still don't get it. Roger says, >>In other words, the article says that stalling occurs at a time when most homebrew has already been consumed, these experiments that have been posted have done very well in confirming the work done by the author, stalling occurs at a long timescale when talking about homebrew.<< That was not the conclusion I would draw, the staling starts immediately, the products reach a threshold level_sometime_later depending on levels of HSA. The anecdotal evidence given in various experiments can be countered by my own anecdote. After helping a brewer create a recipe for SNPA on his system I tasted the beer. At 1 week it was wonderful, dare I say _better_than SNPA, good malt presence and a balanced hop bitterness, character and nose. Two weeks later, at the competition the beer was brewed to enter, I tasted the same beer when it only placed 3rd, a pale remembrance of its' former self. Maltiness gone, aroma gone, bitterness flat, paperiness becoming apparent. So what happened? The brewer refuses to pump the mash liquor for recirculation in fear of HSA and having the shear forces denature the enzymes. He recirculates by draining into a ladle and though we've added a dip tube to extend to the bottom of the ladle and he is very careful in not splashing; the HSA did very much indeed take its' toll on the beer in only a coupla weeks time. Now maybe I can sell him the recirc pump. - --------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -------------------------- The AHA also still doesn't get it, I received a nice little note that to boost my profitability they are offering the "Classic Beer Styles" series 1 at a bargain price of $3 per copy in case lots. What a deal!!! I get to buy books that will replaced in a few months at a price higher than they got when they remaindered out the series. What kind of service to the brewing community is that? Since the series is archaic and that is why they are reprinting them, why not send them off to recycling and do something good for the environment rather than disseminating that bilge? <rhetorical question, I know they need $> Well doesn't everyone, the whole industry is on a downturn and it doesn't help to screw retailers who are already struggling. Now everyone feel free to tell me what a caring, warm and fuzzy organization they are. Persistently pounding pilsner in Pittsburgh, N.P. Lansing Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 09:41:00 -0400 From: Eric.Fouch at steelcase.com Subject: Liver Enzymes HBD- > When he reviewed the results from the insurance company >he told me that the elevated liver enzymes were usually caused by excessive >drinking or hepatitis. I told him I only drank 1-2 beers a day. Well, I just >got back the blood test from my doctor and the liver enzyme levels are now >normal. The doctor says I was probably exposed to a virus that elevated the >liver enzymes. I try to donate blood on a regular basis. After one donation, I got a letter back from the blood bank saying my liver enzymes were high too. This sparked many dark admonitions from my wife who owns far too many medical books, that I drink too much. Any consumption of alcoholic beverages is too much, as far as she is concerned. Well, enough about my personal hell.* Anyway, I took her medical book to look it up myself (amazing what you can find when you look for it), and showed her where it says elevated liver enzymes can also be caused by undue stress (like her constantly bitching at me for my drinking*). Rather than blame it all on her, I pointed out that I drink 1-2 homebrews a day, and I had been going through some stressful employment status stuff (moved my family across the state, and then it looked like I wouldn't be hired direct- but don't worry, Alan, my superior collegiate education secured me the position*). Since then, I drink more, have less job stress, and have been successfully donating blood. Well, except for very recently: Ever since Kyle started teasing me for making vegetable beers, my stress level has increased, and my enzyme levels are through the roof! Think of the children, Kyle- the children who need my blood! FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, GET OFF MY BACK!!!! Eric Fouch Bent Dick Alcohol Dehydrogenase Concentration Modulation Center Kentwood MI "I may be paranoid, but they ARE out to get us!" -Dave Burley *Humor Impaired individuals insert smileys here. Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 08:43:15 -0500 From: "Scholz, Richard" <RScholz at refco.com> Subject: Pils vs Pale Nathaniel in HBD 3131 replies to Paul asking, >>" but then there's no reason I can think of not to use lager malt to make an ale.... is there? > Not if you take the higher levels of DMS into consideration and boil longer to reduce the final levels of DMS, not normally found in an ale. Using ale malt for a lager wouldn't work as well since you want a threshold level of DMS in the finished lager. A short boil would help but then you would miss the hop bitterness utilization. > Is there a real (from a molecular chemistry level) difference between "Pils" and "Pale" Malts in modern commercial product?(come on, I know you malt scientists are dying to write reams on this) I have compared the spec sheets and see almost no difference in kiln temps or drying regiments, sprout length, mealy/steely ratio, FAN% or other normally reported characteristics. I also have used the two interchangeably for base malt with the following caveat. The differences in malts are more effected by regional, seasonal and varietal differences than by marketing labels. One would prefer to use English malts in a Bitter and German malts in a Marzen or Czech malts in a Pilsner. But to think that Pils malts produce more DMS than Pale malts has not been my experience YMMV. And for DMS in a lager, it is acceptable in a lager but not required as a major flavor contributor. I find base malt is base malt, and yes, M&F pale is not identical in flavor to Moravian Pils but you can use either as a start to almost any recipe. I think the slight differences will not be perceivable except in very light beers with few additions. - --- Richard L Scholz Brooklyn, NY (624.2, 102o Rennerian) Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 09:06:23 -0500 From: Chad Bohl <Chad_Bohl at digi.com> Subject: RE: On the web... http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/990913/nycu/expired.htm Then scroll down to "Funky, skunky beer." Chad > > Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1999 20:51:29 -0400 > From: Dan Listermann <72723.1707 at compuserve.com> > Subject: US News & World Report > > Check out the 9/13/99 issue of USN&WR under health. There is > a portion > of > an artical which interviews Dave Radzanowski, President of the Sieble > Institute who explains the shelf life of beer and the fact that light > exposure causes "skunky" flavors, not age as Bud would have > you believe. > > Dan Listermann dan at listermann.com 72723.1707 at compuserve.com > Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 09:34:09 -0400 From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu> Subject: Re: Thinning the Wort Post-Pitch "Dransfield, Michael" <mdransfi at lehman.com> wrote: >So, my questions: I really wanted a bitter, not a strong ale that I would >expect from a 1.059 wort. Is it too late (two days after pitching) to add >boiled, cooled water to the fermenter to bring the volume up to 5 gallons? >Should I add water prior to bottling? How much will three or four quarts of >water bring the gravity down? Is my beer ruined? Also, there was no cold >break. I thought that lack of cold break in my prior batches was due to >slower chilling via the cold water bath technique. I thought that my new, >home-made immersion chiller would have produced some, but nooooo.... Does >this result in higher gravity? Will my beer be full of evil proteins? I would add the water as soon as possible so that any O2 you introduce has a better chance of being eliminated by the active yeast. Boiling will drive off nearly all the O2, but be sure not to splash after it's cooled. Adding water prior to bottling will work, too, but you run the risk of adding O2 that won't be consumed by the yeast. Yeast activity from priming apparently doesn't eliminate all that much O2. So do it even more carefully this late. I've done it with no problem. Another consideration is that high gravity fermentation may produce more esters and higher alcohols. Also, you probably got slightly less hops utilization at higher gravity. (see below for bitterness estimate). 3 qts (0.75 gal) of water added to your 4.25 gallons would reduce the gravity to 1+ [4.25/(4.25+.75)]*.059=1.050, still too high for a bitter, IMO. I'd add at least 5 qts. for 1.046. That's still a strong drinking bitter, but fine for one you don't drink pints of at a sitting. The lack of break shouldn't materially affect your gravity. >1 oz. Fuggles 4.5% AA ten minutes into boil >1 oz Fuggles 4.5% AA 55 minutes into the boil (last 15 minutes) >1 oz. Willamette (? AA) 67 minutes into the boil (last three minutes) Estimated bitterness for 4.25 gallons at1.059 (assuming pellets): Hops 1st 23 IBU 2nd 11 IBU 3rd 3 IBU (assuming 5% alpha acid) ________ 37 IBU Or 31 IBU for 5 gallons at 1.050, or 29 IBU for 5.5 gallons at 1.046 I suspect that dilution will get you the beer you were after. Good luck. Jeff -=-=-=-=- 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: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 10:10:37 -0400 From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu> Subject: Re: BT and Suporting those that Su Spencer W Thomas <spencer at engin.umich.edu> wrote about a no advertising magazine: >Do I miss the advertising? What do you think? :-) I think that in a hobby like ours, advertising is an important part of the magazine. How else would we learn of new products that our retailer doesn't carry? (Prime-tabs come to mind). New product reviews don't always cover them. Jeff -=-=-=-=- 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: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 11:08:15 -0400 (EDT) From: "Patrick Michael Flahie" <flahiepa at pilot.msu.edu> Subject: Re: Spartan Battle Cries Kyle from CA <Biergiek at aol.com> says: > > P.S. - Anyone know what the Spartan soldiers did > before battle to build camaraderie within their The standard procedure from my days in East Lansing, MI: Before a battle: Drink copiously. After a battle: Burn a couch or tip a car. Riot. Hope this helps in your report. Patrick Flahie Jackson, MI Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 14:18:08 -0400 From: Dave Burley <Dave_Burley at compuserve.com> Subject: Sarah Connor Brewsters: "Sarah Connor" says when speaking from the future of the apocalyptic End of the Brewing Century: " It was just a question of which one would reach him ( Pat Babcock) first." I'm betting on MajorDomo! ____________________________ Miguel De Salas ask about Tasmanian Pepperberries in beer and for comments on his recipe. If you want to show the berry color I suggest you not use Crystal at all but mash at 158F to provide a high dextrin level to balance the spice from the berry and to avoid coloring the beer with caramel from the crystal. Since you are going to put them in the secondary, why not take some other light flavored beer like Foster's or your own and crush some of the berries into it. Use far more than you think will be necessary. Allow it to stand in the fridge for a few days and then prepare various dilutions to get in the ball park, at least. You could start this experiment now even before you brew. - ------------------------------------------------- AlannnT says something like When it comes to January 1,2000 or 2001," Milennium will still be spelled Millennium." If you want to have some fun, have the register attendee ring up the sale and show him/her a twenty dollar bill, let him/her ring up the change and then give him/her some small change to round out what you will receive and watch his/ her puzzlement. Actually I think bad spelling and no math skills are an indication of the end of this society, since younger folks just plain don't care if they can't spell it or make change. Scares me! Or else they're all underemployed engineers. Which is even scarier! - --------------- Keep on Brewin' Dave Burley Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 15:31:22 EDT From: MaltHound at aol.com Subject: RE: Pumpkin Brews / Thinning the Wort Post-Pitch / HSA (again, To the annual autumnal flurry of posts about brewing pumpkin beers I can add that the best "pumpkin" beer I ever made had absolutely *no* pumpkin in it at all. Instead, I simply made a spiced beer with the traditional pumpkin pie spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, etc.) added as a strong spice-tea infusion during bottling. No muss, no fuss, and I only had to spice as much of the batch as I felt I wanted to get me through the season. Everyone that tasted it, thought, Yumm, Pumpkin pie! But there I had none of the problems with smashing or mashing or with the beer clearing as is reported with the true pumpkin mashers. This is an especially good trick for those extract brewers that would like to attempt a October Harvest brew since adding pumpkin flesh without converting the starches in a mash should be pretty reliably horrible. ********************************* In HBD 3131 "Dransfield, Michael" <mdransfi at lehman.com> asks: "...So, my questions: I really wanted a bitter, not a strong ale that I would expect from a 1.059 wort. Is it too late (two days after pitching) to add boiled, cooled water to the fermenter to bring the volume up to 5 gallons? Should I add water prior to bottling? How much will three or four quarts of water bring the gravity down?" and I especially like this question: "Is my beer ruined?" It's never too late to add water if dilution of the finished product is desireable. You can even *plan* to brew this way intentionally in order to maximize your output for a given brewery capacity. You just need to be sure the water has been fully de-aerated since the only time you want to add oxygen to your wort or beer is immediately before and/or after pitching the yeast. To de-aerate the dilution water, simply boil the bajeebers out of it and then allow it to cool to room temp before adding. The boil will also have the added benefit of killing any bacteria present in the water supply. "Also, there was no cold break. I thought that lack of cold break in my prior batches was due to slower chilling via the cold water bath technique. I thought that my new, home-made immersion chiller would have produced some, but nooooo.... Does this result in higher gravity? Will my beer be full of evil proteins? " Your lack of cold break is probably more a function of your ingredients than technique. Break is made up of coagulated proteins. Since you are brewing from malt extracts, rather than mashing grain, most of the proteins have been removed from the concentrated wort by the manufacturer prior to it being packaged. Most (if not all) malt extract has been boiled already in it's manufacturing process. Take it as an added advantage of the convenience of extract brewing! ************************************************ Speaking of adding water to brews... When I first started in this hobby, like many of you I read TNCJoHB. Following the suggested procedures explicitly, I would dilute the boiling hot, concentrated wort from the partial boil with very cold water to its final volume. This would have been about equal volumes of wort and water since I had a rather small kettle at that time. Typically, due to these volumes and temperatures, the resulting mixture would still be at too high of a temperature to pitch the yeast right away. I later decided that if I precooled the concentrated wort down to about 100 deg F (I used the plunge the kettle into the kitchen sink ice bath method) and then added cold dilution water I would be right at the desired pitching temperature immediately. An interesting side effect was that those beginning brews developed a stale, cardboard like flavor which worsened with conditioning. The later "prechilled" brews did not. All of my other procedures for wort / beer handling and packaging had not varied (intentionally anyway) so I have always thought that this was a form of HSA. Like some others, I noticed that the staling seemed more pronounced on darker brews. As to why oxygen would bind to the hot wort so quickly, I haven't a clue. I haven't brewed this way in quite some time now, but I wonder if it would be possible to repeatably reproduce the ever controversial HSA staling using this technique. Regards, Fred Wills Londonderry, NH Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 14:39:39 -0500 From: David Sweeney <David at stulife2.tamu.edu> Subject: False Bottom Question I'm in the process of making a RIMS with a SS304 mash/lauter tun. I would like to use a design detail from C.D. Pritchard's RIMS which uses the SS sheathing from a plumbing fixture hose connected to a tee as a sweet wort exit manifold instead of the standard perforated SS false bottom. C.D.'s "dip tube" design exits his Gott cooler at the bottom. (See http://chattanooga.net/~cdp/rims_inf.htm#manifold <http://chattanooga.net/~cdp/rims_inf.htm#manifold> for details). Since my mash/lauter tun is SS, and I have a burner under it, I would like to take advantage of these features to use the mash/lauter tun to heat strike water for dough-in. This, of course, necessitates a dip tube exit at the side. The question is this: If I use a side exit for the dip tube, what configuration should the dip-tube be in? I imagine that the standard right-angle "straight-up-the-middle-and-over" configuration will get in the way of my mash paddle. This is not an issue when a standard false bottom is used as only about an inch of pipe is above the false bottom. I suppose I could follow the contours of the vessel using 45s and the like. Any comments would be appreciated. David Sweeney Texas A&M University David at stulife2.tamu.edu <mailto:David at stulife2.tamu.edu> - --"I'm learning big things." - --David's three-year-old daughter Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 15:05:22 -0500 From: Lou.Heavner at frco.com Subject: re: GFI electrical circuits... Recently this august forum deliberated on ground fault interrupt circuits in the brewery. Well I participate in another forum where the topic came up again. Thought ya'll might find this an interesting review. A straightforward explanation can be found at http://www.rge.com/1911.html A more humorous approach by "Mr. Fix It" is at http://www.misterfixit.com/gfi.htm Thanks to Eric Nelson (who probably doesn't brew or read HBD) for the links. Cheers! Lou Heavner - Austin, TX only 97 DegF today, must be end-of-summer Lagniappe Brewing - something extra in every sip Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 08 Sep 1999 17:43:26 -0400 From: Ganister Fields Architects <gfarch at tiac.net> Subject: Re: saving water In HBD #3110 Jim Clayton writes about saving water. How about a cistern for your waste cooling water from a wart chiller? It can be mounted high for gravity feed for your next batch of brew. If the cistern is insulated it might still be still be warm for your next batch or at least room temperature if you don't brew very often. This would save on propane too. Does anyone have any ideas about what to do with waste water/iodophor solution? I'm reluctant to use old solution for anything but carboy soaking. I've seen lots of stuff floating around in it even after one brewing session. Will Fields Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 19:04:37 EDT From: DaGoalie38 at aol.com Subject: MIni Kegs I am fairly new to homebrewing....I have brewed 4 batches. I have bottled these batches with good results. With my next batch (brown ale) I am thinking about kegging it using mini kegs (5 liters). Can anyone give me any input regarding these? Do you have to do anything different in regards to the kegs. I will be using partial grain. Thanks in advance. Dan Cutcher Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 09:52:01 +1000 From: Des Egan <degan at Bendigo.vic.gov.au> Subject: Now I understand the process! The Buffalo Theory A herd of buffalo can move only as fast as the slowest buffalo. When the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, we all know, kills brain cells, but naturally it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers! Return to table of contents
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 20:16:34 -0400 From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu> Subject: Mild recipe correction Brewers I mistyped the recipe I posted on 9/3 for a mild using Ashburne- I said I used 0.75 lbs chocolate! Wow - I really only used 3 oz. Hope nobody brewed it. Here is the recipe: 7.75 gal. Mild at 1.037: 8.5 lbs Briess Ashburne 0.5 lbs Briess Victory (a toasted malt) 3 oz. Baird chocolate 1 lb. Durst 90L crystal 0.25 lbs torrefied wheat Fuggles 1 hr. to 20 IBU E.K. Goldings 15 minutes for 4 IBU Fermented with Ridley's B111 yeast (YCKC). This turned out very nicely. When it was very young it was a little roastier than I wanted, but after a few weeks, this mellowed and melded with the rest of the flavors. A very good warm weather ale. I don't know how much the flavors of the chocolate, Victory and crystal malt may have overwhelmed the probably more subtle flavors of Ashburne. Jeff -=-=-=-=- 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: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 03:18:07 +0000 From: William Frazier <billfrazier at worldnet.att.net> Subject: Soybeans "But Rick, you didn't tell us where "my area" is. You've violated Renner's Law #1! I don't know where skantech is. Kansas?" Jeff Renner comments on Rick's search for soybeans. Jeff...I know that Kansas has recently been in the news and that the whole world now knows that our fine state is intellectually, as well as topographically, flat... but soybeans?? Come on down...I've got at least 300 acres of soybeans coming into ripeness within one mile of my house. Never cared for them much. Out here on the prairie we just feed them to the critters. Bill Frazier Johnson County, Kansas Return to table of contents
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