---

	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator


Contents:
  boiling caps, and a recipe for a holiday ale (hpda!uunet!ingr!b11!conk!steve)
  Missing digest 315 ("2645 RUTH, GUY R.")
  re: inane pelletized hop question ("2645 RUTH, GUY R.")
  Orlando (FL) brewpubs (Mark.Leone)
  Stuck Fermentation and Bottle cleaning (Wayne Allen)
  There's something in there driving them crazy (Doug Roberts  at  Los Alamos National Laboratory)
  Briess extracts (Mark.Leone)
  Re: Terminology (Mike Fertsch)
  Sam Adams' Winter Lager (Alan Duester)


Send submissions to homebrew%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com
Send requests to homebrew-request%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com


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

Date: Tue Dec  5 21:25:06 1989
From: hpfcla!hpda!uunet!ingr!b11!conk!steve
Subject: boiling caps, and a recipe for a holiday ale

Well, I had intended to reply to a message a long time ago on this, but
my feed has been flaked out. Much to my surprise, when I get reconnected
after a month, the topic is still under discussion. Re: boiling bottle caps.
Call me strange (many do), but the first time I ever read that you should
boil your caps, I reasoned that it was not only to sanitize them, but also
to soften the seals, so as to make a better seal on the bottle. Now, I don't
think that any commercial bottlers do this, but it still seems like a good
idea. I boil mine, then leave them in the hot water until I use them.
 And now, to hopefully make this useful to someone, here is a recipe for
my Holiday Ale, which turned out VERY well. It has Just a hint of the
Allspice, more in the arome that the flavor, and is quite sweet tasting.
There is a slight bitter hops aftertaste, but I think that if it were any
less bitter, the sweetness would be overpowering. This beer will bring
color to your cheeks. The spice could be omitted with no great loss.

Blow Me Away Holiday Ale  (In memory of those who were blown away Nov. 15th)

6    lb William's Weizenmalt syrup (60% wheat)
2    lb dark DME
2.75 lb Buckwheat Honey
1    lb crushed crystal malt
.25  lb crushed chocolate malt

2.5  oz Cascade          60 minutes
1.5  oz Hallertaur 3.6%  60 minutes
.75  oz Hallertaur 3.6%   1 minute

4 tsp whole allspice simmered in water about 3 minutes, allspice
removed, water added to primary.

Steep grains in 2 gal water while heating to boil. Remove grains.
Add extracts and honey. Boil 1 hour, add 1 tsp irish moss at 30
minutes.

Initial Gravity 1.090
Final Gravity   1.025

Bottle with 2/3 cup corn sugar bulk prime.

Steve Conklin            ...!uunet!ingr!b11!conk!steve



Return to table of contents


Date: 7 Dec 89 08:39:00 MDT
From: "2645 RUTH, GUY R." <grruth at sandia.gov>
Subject: Missing digest 315

I believe the computer was in yo-yo mode when digest 315 was distributed.  Wouldsomeone send me a copy?

- -- Guy


Return to table of contents


Date: 7 Dec 89 08:47:00 MDT
From: "2645 RUTH, GUY R." <grruth at sandia.gov>
Subject: re: inane pelletized hop question

Mark Leone writes:

"Here's a rather inane question: is it normal for pelletized hops to
disintigrate completely during the boil?  So far I haven't noticed any
excessive bitterness or unpleasant flavors due to this...  (I do
strain the wort going into the primary)."

I often wondered if pelletized hops stayed whole in the boil.  In fact, I used
to smash them prior to addition to the wort.  I was told that they instantly
dissolve in hot wort so since then I don't about them worry anymore.

- -- Guy


Return to table of contents


Date: Thu, 07 Dec 89 11:05:54 EST
From: Mark.Leone at F.GP.CS.CMU.EDU
Subject: Orlando (FL) brewpubs


Are there any brewpubs or microbreweries of note in the Orlando area?
(None were listed in the recent brewpub list).

======================================================================
Mark R. Leone  <mleone at cs.cmu.edu>
School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Return to table of contents


Date: Thu, 7 Dec 89 11:13:40 CST
From: wa%cadillac.cad.mcc.com at mcc.com (Wayne Allen)
Subject: Stuck Fermentation and Bottle cleaning


Martin Lodahl suggested that Marty Albini's stuck fermentation was due
to exclusive use of extract, and that the solution is to add yeast
nutrients.  My understanding is that extract has all the minerals,
etc. of the original wort used to make the extract. I suggest that
Marty's 10 lbs of extract creates a rather high-alcohol environment
which could shut down some strains (different yeast strains have
varying tolerance to this). I've done good all-extract brews of ~10 lb
with Muntona (sp) and Red-star (maybe I'm just lucky?). If in doubt,
add champagne yeast after initial ferment. Temperature changes, too,
can freak out the little buggers.

I found a labor-saving way of washing bottles which need
brush-scrubbing (if only for peace of mind).  Clip the end off your
bottle brush and stick the stem in the chuck of your favorite power
drill (make sure you leave enough stem to put the brush to the bottom
of a bottle while in the chuck).  Put a case of bottles on the floor,
and spray a shot of cleaner in each one (409 works great). Then,
insert the brush in each bottle, and zing until you're no longer
worried. I use a bottle sprayer to rinse and the high-temp dish washer
to finish off my anxieties.
 _
 W	| Wayne Allen, wa at mcc.com
	| MCC/CAD, 3500 West Balcones Center Dr., Austin, Tx 78759
	| "You actually DRINK that???!!" - my mom

(ps. what is cordomon?)



Return to table of contents


Date: Thu, 7 Dec 89 10:17:39 MST
From: roberts%studguppy at LANL.GOV (Doug Roberts  at  Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Subject: There's something in there driving them crazy

The yeasties, of coarse. I heard my wife shout from the kitchen this
morning, "There's beer EVERYWHERE!" My holiday ale, which I'd pitched
the evening of the 5th had blown the lid off the primary. This is one
of those heavy-duty food-grade white plastic primary buckets with a
heavy-duty snap-on plastic lid. You have to push fairly hard to get it
on. You also, obviously, have to push fairly hard to get it off. There
_was_ beer everywhere, mostly the foamy cap stuff. Apparently, the
head rose higher than it ever has before, filling and completely
clogging the air lock. I've had the head overflow into the airlock
before, but never like this. I performed an emergency transfer to a
secondary and connected a blow-off hose instead of another air lock. I
have never seen such an active fermentation as this batch is
exhibiting: it is really blowing.

I sure hope it didn't get contaminated: the blow-off beer is
delicious. I may be lucky, as the explosion appears to have occured
only about an hour before we discovered it.

- --Doug
================================================================
Douglas Roberts                |
Los Alamos National Laboratory |I can resist anything
Box 1663, MS F-602             |  except temptation.
Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545   |  ...
(505)667-4569                  |Oscar Wilde
dzzr at lanl.gov                  |
================================================================

Return to table of contents


Date: Thu, 07 Dec 89 17:02:43 EST
From: Mark.Leone at F.GP.CS.CMU.EDU
Subject: Briess extracts


Does anyone recommend or dis-recommend Briess extracts?  Apparently
they are available in large quantities (58 lb pails) for *cheap*
prices ($72, from Green Acres).

Would such a large quantity be a bad idea for the occasional brewer
(ie, 10-15 gals/month)?  Is spoilage or contamination a problem?

======================================================================
Mark R. Leone  <mleone at cs.cmu.edu>
School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA 15213


Return to table of contents


Date: Thu, 7 Dec 89 16:48 EST
From: Mike Fertsch <FERTSCH at adc1.adc.ray.com>
Subject: Re: Terminology

Ken Giles asks:

> I just want to make sure I'm using the proper terminology. I thought that
> 'attenuation' refered to the amount of starch-to-sugar conversion. If not,
> what is the proper term? 

My short definitions of sometimes confusing terms:

attenuation - the degree that sugars are eaten by yeast.  Related to the 
   initial versus final gravity of the beer.  Attenuative yeasts result in
   a lower FG and result in less sweet beers.

conversion - the degree that enzymes change soluble starches into sugars.  
   This happens during mashing.  The masher wants to avoid non-converted 
   starches.

modification - related to the amount of enzymes generated during malting.  
   Malting involves germinating the barley plant, which consumes starch and
   gernates enzymes.  Fully modified grain has lots of enzymes but less 
   starch.

Return to table of contents


Date: Thu, 7 Dec 89 22:14:48 EST
From: capnal at aqua.whoi.edu (Alan Duester)
Subject: Sam Adams' Winter Lager

Tonight I bought a case of the just-released Sam Adams Winter Lager.
Nice beer, clean & crisp with more hopping overall, (both bitter 
and flower), and a slight aftertaste that lingers around the back edges
of the tongue. Since I'm snarfing down Sushi crackers at the same time,
maybe they have something to do with that aftertaste...

Not incredibly different than the regular Adams brew, but don't expect
the malty richness that was present in the Double Bock they released
this past spring. Slightly more carbonation than the normal brew.

I'm not very good at describing beer flavors, but I think it's safe to
say that if you like the regular and want more hops, you won't go wrong
buying a case of this.

========================================================================
Al Duester, Ocean Engineer, MS S201   #  SPAN: 6308::capnal 
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution  #  INTERNET: capnal at aqua.whoi.edu
Woods Hole, MA  02543                 #  GEnie:  A.DUESTER
(508) 548-1400 x2474 
(508) 457-2000 auto-receptionist for touch tone phones
========================================================================

Return to table of contents



End of HOMEBREW Digest #319, 12/08/89
*************************************
-------

---