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


Contents:
  Fermenting apple cider? (Michael Berry)
  christmas holiday brews (Wayne Allen)
  What, me worry?  Well... maybe. (jrs21 at cas.bitnet) <jrs21%CAS.BITNET at CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu>
  Re:  Homebrew Digest #321 (December 12, 1989) (Brian Rice)
  Homebrew supply store in Palo Alto  (Kenneth Kron)
  fest beers (florianb)


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Date: Tue, 12 Dec 89 08:40:38 mst
From: Michael Berry <mcb at hpgrbd>
Subject: Fermenting apple cider?


I am seeing lots of apple cider on the store shelves and was wondering if
it is possible to make some of the "hard" variety from what I see.  My
thought would be to add some pre-started yeast to the gallon jug and
"let her rip."  The brand I had my eyes on had "no sugar added" but seems
to taste quite sweet.

Any advice before I begin my experiment?

Michael Berry   ARPA:mcb%hpgrla at hplabs.HP.COM   UUCP:hplabs!hpgrla!mcb

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Date: Tue, 12 Dec 89 10:34:08 CST
From: wa%cadillac.cad.mcc.com at mcc.com (Wayne Allen)
Subject: christmas holiday brews


I got to try Young's winter warmer last night, and could not even
decide if I liked it; some sort of bizarre taste would not identify
itself. Anyone know what it is?  I also tried the oatmeal stout and
porter, which were both disappointing.  The Anchor or Sierra Nevada
stouts and porters are MUCH better. Were my taste buds taking a
siesta? I'd heard this was pretty good stuff...

wa

(ps. the SN Celebration Ale got me in the holiday spirit!)

 

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Date: Tue, 12 Dec 89 10:39:48 pst
From: jrs21 - John Simpson (jrs21 at cas.bitnet) <jrs21%CAS.BITNET at CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu>
Subject: What, me worry?  Well... maybe.


        First, I'd like to thank everyone for the advice and
        encouragement I received regarding Elbro Nerkte and
        Papazian's stouts.  I didn't get a chance to respond
        to everyone who sent me email, this is my last week
        at work (I'm a co-op) and they've been keeping me
        pretty busy.  If only they'd relax, not worry...

        My batch of Elbro was bottled about a week ago, and
        the results are less than awe inspiring.  The biggest
        problem is a nasty astringent/woody aftertaste.  I
        followed the rules and did not boil the grains, but I
        see two possible culprits:

        1) The strainer I was steeping them in was fairly coarse,
           and about a tablespoon's worth of grain filtered through.
           A lot of this went into the primary. (I used single stage.)

        2) I raised the heat slowly, so the grain probably spent 5-10
           minutes between 170 and 212 F.

        Will the taste improve much with age?  It's already gone from
        an overpowering taste/aftertaste to a very annoying aftertaste.

        I plan to steep my next grains in a separate pot and monitor
        the temperature.  How long is needed to extract the flavors
        and characters without risking tannins?

        Also, these beers have the 'old faithful' feature if opened
        anywhere near room temperature (I discovered this while
        wearing a white dress shirt :-( ) but when served ice cold
        they don't have enough carbonation.  This could be due to
        variation between bottles and/or their age (~1 week).  The
        level of carbonation is actually pretty good for the first
        15 minutes or so, but it goes flat quickly.  I thought I
        had kept things sanitary, and I can't taste any infection,
        but it could be being overpowered by the tannins.

        And now question about body.  It doesn't have any.  This is
        partly my fault, because (as an experiment) I didn't add
        the 4 tsp. (listed as optional) of gypsum. What sort of
        character/body do gypsum and malto-dextrin add to beer?
        I like my beer thick and sweet, but I don't want to over do
        it the first time I use them.

        Miscellaneous questions:


        I used Wyeast #1338.  Would it be safe to try to use the
        sediment from one of these bottles as a starter for my
        next batch?

        My father travels to Germany fairly often and I'm trying
        to convince him to bring me back some fresh German beers.
        Would the bottles survive a transatlantic flight in an
        unpressurized cargo hold?  Will I have to settle for a
        few bottles brought back in a carry on?  Will he have to
        declare them and pay duty?  Any recommended brands?

        Are there any homebrewer's clubs or brewpubs in the Dayton,
        Ohio area?  I'm going back to school there in a few weeks.
        Anything in Cincinatti?

        Are there any brands of extract that use artificial flavors
        and/or colors?  What about preservatives?

        Thanks for putting up with (yet another) novice's questions.
        This may be the last you hear from me for a while, because
        at Univ. of Dayton we students aren't allowed to use bitnet
        (I'm working on it).  Thanks, Rob (and the rest of you), for
        a great digest.

        john

jrs21%CAS.BITNET at CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu (Until Dec. 15)

simpson$j%dayton.bitnet at CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu (receiving only)

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Date: Tue, 12 Dec 89 17:46:29 EST
From: rice at zip.eecs.umich.edu (Brian Rice)
Subject: Re:  Homebrew Digest #321 (December 12, 1989)

 


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Date: Tue, 12 Dec 89 11:49:32 PST
From: kron at Sun.COM (Kenneth Kron)
Subject: Homebrew supply store in Palo Alto 

I'm looking for a homebrew supply store in the Palo Alto area.  Anybody know
of one??

kk

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Date: 12 Dec 89 10:16:16 PST (Tue)
From: florianb at tekred.cna.tek.com
Subject: fest beers

In # 321, Mark Stevens says:

>Every year I try to sample as many of these holiday beers
>as I can because they are almost always denser and more
>robust than the breweries' regular offerings.  This year

and asks about possibilities.  My personal favorite is Widmer's Festbeer
(could be Winterfest or something like that), at $6 per large bottle.
The cost is just too much for beer, though.  I made my own version this
year, which I prefer, and it cost much less per bottle. 

If anyone is interested in the recipe, I could bring it in.

Florian Bell

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End of HOMEBREW Digest #322, 12/13/89
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