HOMEBREW Digest #3240 Fri 04 February 2000

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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:
  Re: flour in witbier ("Darren Robey")
  Protein Rest (TKBFRED)
  kcal/ 12 oz serving (TKBFRED)
  efficiency & stuff (Tony Barnsley)
  Food Value Calculations (Tony Barnsley)
  Biere de Garde (ThomasM923)
  Calcium/pH/Papers/Carbonate/Boltz./Calories ("A. J. deLange")
  homebrew shops in Nashville (Marc Sedam)
  bug culturing info (Lou.Heavner)
  Buying casks (Bill)
  Jack's Cheeses ("Houseman, David L")
  Not Another Hobby... & PB ("Pannicke, Glen A.")
  calculating beer calories/ suing microwaves ("Alan Meeker")
  Northeast HB Clubs? (Mark_Ohrstrom/Humphrey_Products)
  corona mill adjustment results (erniebaker)
  UV sterilization of wort and general sanitation ("George de Piro")
  Mash Temperature, Radiating uwave doors,skunky and catty (Dave Burley)
  Fermenter design (Joseph Gibbens)
  Cheesemaking (Dan Listermann)
  Raw Wheat/Shipping (Eric Schoville)
  Thermometer preference ("Sean Richens")
  guiness acid levels (Jim Liddil)
  Re: efficiency & stuff (David Lamotte)
  Malz Bier (William Frazier)
  Aluminum Brew Pots ("Ed Howell")

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 16:56:00 +1000 From: "Darren Robey" <drobey at awb.com.au> Subject: Re: flour in witbier Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2000 07:20:04 EST From: KMacneal at aol.com Subject: Re: flour in witbier Well here i something I do know a thing about! Good extraction of wheat flour is around 75% so 1kg of wheat would yeild 750grams of flour. (Go Metric!) Some millers limit themselves to 60% as it can imporve flour quality in ways I wont bother going into. Dont know about in the US but most generic flour on the supermarket shelf is usually low protein (<10%) and low gluten. Best for making cakes and very poor for bread making, which is why a lot of peoples home breadmaking attempts are not totally successful, without the purchase of breadmaking flour. Anyhow the upshot is that the cheap supermarket flours should be what you need and I'd aim for using around 70% as your factor when working how much you need. --- --- ---- --- --- ---- --- Dave, I made the assumption that 1 lb. of whole wheat flour = 1 lb. of whole wheat grain. I follow Rajotte's suggestion and use a sifter to add the flour to the mash. No guey sparges yet. Keith MacNeal Worcester, MA Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 01:46:48 EST From: TKBFRED at aol.com Subject: Protein Rest Darrell Leavitt asked about: Subject: protein rest? Darrell: Without knowing if Charlie used under- or overmodified 2 Row Malt, I would say that the rest at 133*F was for the wheat Malt, to break down higher molecular proteins. I observed that using a small portion of wheat in Pilsener and under modified 2 Row Pilsener Malt gave a GREAT Foam and Heat retention on the resulting beer. Fred M. Scheer Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 02:01:33 EST From: TKBFRED at aol.com Subject: kcal/ 12 oz serving Mark E. in Melbourne asked: Subject: Food Value Calculations Mark: Basically you can calculate the Kcal per 12 oz of your beer as following: alcohol (w/w) X 6.9 = A real extract - Ash X 4 = B A + B = C C X 3.55 X specific gravity = Kcal/12 oz In the past I made some tests on our 15 gal PICO system (again, they don't pay me for mentioning the name) and found that the ASH value for most Homebrew was 0.10 Fred M. Scheer Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 09:26:49 -0000 From: Tony Barnsley <tony.barnsley at blackpool.gov.uk> Subject: efficiency & stuff Steve Alexander Wrote some stuff debasing the 'excellent' :) metric system and then finished off with <<Anyway that is my defence of the indefensible Phil, what do you think ?>> Pretty bad really. I mean when you revolted and kicked us out, you didn't even have the sense to stick with imperial standards :'> I mean there are 20 fl oz to the pint not 16! and a pint is 563 (completely arbitrary) ml (IIRC). Think we agree on pounds though! - -- Wassail! The Scurrilous Aleman With a Big :-') Schwarzbad Lager Braueri, Blackpool, Lancs, UK Reply To Aleman At brewmaster Dot demon Dot co Dot uk ICQ 46254361 Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 09:35:43 -0000 From: Tony Barnsley <tony.barnsley at blackpool.gov.uk> Subject: Food Value Calculations Mark E Wrote <<Just wondering if any of you kind souls know how I can calculate the finished food value in calories/kilojoules from the OG/FG readings for the finished beer. I am a bit of a fatty and I need to do some basic calcs to adjust my weekly beer allowance. >> OH NO NOT AGAIN!!!! beer doesn't make you fat, I just gives you big bones! - -- Wassail! The Scurrilous Aleman Schwarzbad Lager Braueri, Blackpool, Lancs, UK Reply To Aleman At brewmaster Dot demon Dot co Dot uk Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 06:38:40 EST From: ThomasM923 at aol.com Subject: Biere de Garde I'd like to add a little info to the biere de garde thread. A little while ago I found Jenlain in 11-12 oz. bottles. The bottles were capped instead of corked, and I found the beer inside completely devoid of that "earthy" flavor. I feel that the corks (and perhaps the critters that take up residence on corks) are entirely responsible for that extra "something" found in most of the beers of this style. Thomas Murray Maplewood, NJ Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2000 13:54:11 +0000 From: "A. J. deLange" <ajdel at mindspring.com> Subject: Calcium/pH/Papers/Carbonate/Boltz./Calories For Marc: I think malt does indeed have plenty of calcium for conversion. Remember that the Congress mash which establishes the practical upper limit of conversion in the laboratory is done with distilled water. In the brewery no one ever reaches the extraction levels of the Congress mash no matter how much the calcium is augmented. On the other hand, one of the virtues of calcium is that it aids in clarification of the wort in the kettle. I wonder if what you are seeing is related to that effect. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * RE the never ending debate on the subject of temperature and pH: I have always followed the words of DeClerk which Dave quoted yesterday and assumed from this that we should hit 5.2 - 5.5 at mash temperature. As a practical matter in most breweries the sample is removed to the laboratory for measurement and is thus cooled. Doing it this way is definitely easier on pH electrodes. At the same time my experiments, and even DeClerk's tables, indicate that the change in pH amounts to somewhat less than 0.2 pH. It would be, of course, best if all writers would specify the temperature at which the pH values they are talking about are measured. If you get it, see Wednesdays IBS forum on the subject of mash/wort pH. * * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * For Alan: There is definitely something funny about the pH papers in Troy's report. The pHydrion papers gave reasonable results (i.e. within perhaps 0.2 of the true value) in the mash but not with the tap water. The colorpHast were clearly way off both with the mash and the water. The only explanation I can think of for the pHydrion is that the tap water is of low ionic strength but I wouldn't stake a Corny full of my best beer on it. Low ionic strength water certainly gives problems with pH meters - perhaps its the same with test papers. Somone suggeted CO2 pickup. Airborne CO2 will drop the pH of deionized water into the 5's but Troy's water is estimated to be fairly alkaline and how would it be exposed to CO2 in the distribution system? In other words, I share your puzzlement! * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Charles Beaver wants to know how to find the carbonate level in his bottled water. The smartass answer is "none" because at pH 6.9 only a tiny fraction of carbo species are carbonate. The more serious answer is that the program probably really wants to know the bicarbonate level and that is found by dividing the alkalinity by 50 and multiplying by 61. One needs to be a little careful here. Lots of publihsed water profiles specify carbonate when they mean bicarbonate. At the same time, a survey of dozzens of published profiles show that the bicarbonate/carbonate is frequently under stated, substantially so in many cases. It would be less confusing if the program asked for alkalinity and pH and calculated bicarbonate, carbonic and carbonate from those two numbers. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * For -S: I'd guess Boltzmann's constant. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Mark E wants to calculate calories for beer. The basic formula is quite simple: Calories/100g beer = 6.9*ABW + 4*(real_extract - ash) Calories/355 mL (12 Oz) = (cal/100)*[(355*sp_gr)/100] The problem is that you may not have all the numbers you need. Forget the ash. Down there in Oz they put not only the alcohol content but the calories (or is that just on soda cans?) on on label so I presume you are interested in home brew. To obtain the real extract, accurately measure a volume of beer (best done with a volumetric flask), transfer, with rinsing, to an open vessel, evaporate to 1/3 the original volume (you can boil but a hot water bath is better), transfer back to the volumetric flask with rinsing, make up to volume with distilled water, mix thoroughly and measure the specific gravity. Convert to Plato by P = 135.997(SG)^3 - 630.272(SG)^2 + 1111.14(SG) - 616.868. Do the same for the original extract (i.e. the specific gravity of the wort prior to fermentation). Call the original extract (in Plato) p. Now calculate f = .48394 + 0.0024688*p + 0.000015607p^2. Now estimate the alcohol by weight as ABW = f*(p-P). Divide ABW by 0.79 to get ABV if you want. If you don't want to go to the bother of determining the true extract you can probably estimate it sufficiently accurately by taking the apparant degree of fermentation multiplying it by 0.8 and calculating the true extract from that. For example 1.052 (13P) starting gravity, 1.012 (3P) ending gravity implies (13 - 3)/13 = 77% apparent degree of fermentation. Then 0.8 time this estimates 62% for the real degree of fermentation and (1 - .62)*13 = 5 is then the estimated true extract. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2000 08:45:48 -0500 From: Marc Sedam <marc_sedam at unc.edu> Subject: homebrew shops in Nashville Does anyone know of a GOOD hb shop in Nashville, TN? I found one that sells gardening supplies and homebrew kits, but their selection wasn't great. Is there a place on the web to search for homebrew shops? -Marc Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 08:15:45 -0600 From: Lou.Heavner at frco.com Subject: bug culturing info Hello all, My 2nd grade daughter and her friend have decided to enter the science fair and the friend's mom suggested they compare bacteria found at their homes. When they asked me for info I immediately thought why not study yeast, but then I thought this would be a way to identify the beer spoilers in my home. They need some info suitable for relatively bright 2nd graders to learn about bacteria (and other micro organisms) and how to culture and classify them. Anybody able to recommend any sources available in a typical public library or on the internet for them to research. Maybe they'll finally get me to start yeast ranching. We have a microscope, but no culturing equipment or lab apparatus at the moment. My homebrewing library is relatively modest at this time, but I'd be willing to expand it if there is a good book covering the subject. Direct response is fine. Regards, Lou Heavner - Austin, TX <lou.heavner at frco.com> Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2000 08:17:59 -0600 From: Bill <bmurray at merr.com> Subject: Buying casks Listmembers, Seeking info on buying casks - new or used. Might anyone have a good lead? Thanks in advance... Bill Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 09:27:22 -0500 From: "Houseman, David L" <David.Houseman at unisys.com> Subject: Jack's Cheeses Jack, Some of us are into cheese as another form of zymurgy. Based on your enthusiasm I joined the Cheese Digest and my wife, who has supported my brewing for years, has now taken over in the cheese department. She's churning out cheese after cheese. But they are all ones that have to age for some time so we haven't enjoyed the results yet. Like getting into meads I suppose and having to wait to find out what you did wrong. It's a long control loop. For anyone who hasn't tried this, it really is complementary to brewing or making wine. Dave Houseman Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2000 09:34:13 -0500 From: "Pannicke, Glen A." <glen_pannicke at merck.com> Subject: Not Another Hobby... & PB In HBD #3239 Jack Schmidling wrote: >These folks >are a fantastic resource and I have no qualms about milking them. I just wish >some of them would get interested in cheese making, we are still in the stone >age there with the blind leading the blind. Oh, the wife would love that! Another hobby and more equipment! ;-) Marc Sedam also commented on the Practical Brewer: >Just so you know, the MBAA removed the Practical Brewer >download. Maybe there is too much of a good thing. I'm not surprised. They probably want you to buy the book or join the organization. No free lunch. Besides, their site probably couldn't handle all the traffic it was receiving lately. Talk about slow... Glen Pannicke Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 09:35:49 -0500 From: "Alan Meeker" <ameeker at welchlink.welch.jhu.edu> Subject: calculating beer calories/ suing microwaves Mark E asks: >Just wondering if any of you kind souls know how I can calculate >the finished food value in calories/kilojoules from the OG/FG >readings for the finished beer. I am a bit of a fatty and I need to do >some basic calcs to adjust my weekly beer allowance. Mark use the standard methods for determining alcohol content of your final beer by using O.G./F.G. Each gram of ethanol represents about 7 kcal. You can reasonably assume that the bulk of remaining gravity is from unfermented sugars/dextrins not "eaten" by the yeasts. These will contribute 4 kcal per gram. Jack S has a brilliant idea: >Considering that a ladder manufacturer lost a lawsuit because there was no >warning about putting the feet of his ladder in a frozen cow pie, and McDonalds >paid millions for a hot cup of coffee, my intuition says the issue is more urban >legend that a real problem. >In our litigating society, it is hard to believe that this danger would only be >known because of some caring person on the internet who chooses to remain >annonymous This is great! It took awhile before someone sued for coffee burns - this microwave hazard is ripe for the picking! I'm going to go burn myself right now.... -Alan Meeker Lazy Eight Brewery Baltimore, MD Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 09:54:42 -0500 From: Mark_Ohrstrom/Humphrey_Products at humphreypc.com Subject: Northeast HB Clubs? Since I've now taken responsibility for our Northeastern Region, would members of homebrew clubs in any of the great states of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, or the New England area be kind enough to e-mail me with their club's meeting schedule? I'll assemble a calendar matrix, and attend meetings as I can while traveling. Thanks to all of the great folks who responded to my request for club dates in the Southwest. Sorry, but I'm bound from Austin to Boston ... Mark in Kalamazoo Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 09:48:30 -0800 (PST) From: erniebaker at webtv.net Subject: corona mill adjustment results On 19 Jan I requested help on the procedures used to adjust the corona mill. Below is the extracts of the inputs to my request. 1. Simply place 2 dimes between the fixed plate and the plate that rotates (place about 180 deg apart). Turn the adjustment screw until the dimes are held between the plates such that they don't fall out. Tighten the locking nut on the adjustment screw. This is a good starting adj. Mill some grain, tighten/loosen the adj as needed. 2. Use a nickel to initially sat the gap. 3. Adjust the tension till the grains fall thru the mill whole when the handle is turned. Slowly tighten the tension up while turning the handle. When the handle begins to be "bumpy" and you hear popping sound while turning it, you've hit the sweet spot. Periodic adjusting will be necessary, also different grains may prefer different settings. 4. One needs to add spacers of 1/4" thickness to space out the C-shaped piece that has the threads which hold the screw which applies pressure to the rotating grinding wheel. Remove the nuts and add some washers or oversize nuts. 5. I have to add a couple washers to space the disc retainer (C-piece) or (Yoke) out enough to get the adjustment I desire. 6. I had to space mine by putting a couple pieces of slotted metal (about 1/20 inch) between the body and the yoke that holds the adjusting screw. Just back off the screw until the rotating plate wobbles freely, add some old/cheap grain and adjust as required. 7. The proper gap for the corona mill is 50 mils (0.050 in). This is about the thickness of a dime. Place three dimes evenly spaced around the gap then tighten it. Run couple handfuls of grain thru it, adjust by 1/4 turn of the nut at most before checking the crush again. 8. I use an aluminum throwaway roasting pan to catch the grist, loosen the setting and start some thru and adjust so all the grains are milled, but the bran stays in flakes. Sometimes I have to hold the spinning plate parallel at the end of the grind with pressure on the spinning plate at the bottom, as the absence of grain at the top will allow the bottom to gap and whole grain to pass. Thats about it, the rest of the advice is about the same as above, it also seems that using dimes to space the plates was the most mentioned procedure. At first I thought I was the only one with a corona mill, just by reading all the posts of brewers using all those fancy expensive grain crushing devices. Now I know that there are just some regular folk (brewers) out there like me. Hope this info helps and thanks again to the contributors. Ernie Baker (Semper Fi) 29 Palms, CA Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 12:56:00 -0500 From: "George de Piro" <gdepiro at mindspring.com> Subject: UV sterilization of wort and general sanitation Hi all, Eric Sperber relates his contamination paranoia and asks if the wort could be hit with UV light to sterilize it before pitching the yeast. A very large reason for the 60-90 minute boil that you conducted was to sterilize the wort, so it really does not need to be done again. Just make sure the wort chiller and fermenter are sanitary. Regarding paranoia about sanitation: Not breathing isn't really going to help anything. You need not wear rubber gloves or a surgical mask when pitching your wort. The few microbes that float in from the air won't hurt the batch, if you follow this one, all-important bit of advice: PITCH ENOUGH YEAST! I say that a lot on this forum, don't I? If you pitch enough yeast, they will grow quickly and begin fermentation, quickly making the wort an inhospitable place for many bacteria. The list of beer spoilers is short relative to wort spoilers, so the key is to make the wort into beer as quickly as possible. Pitching an adequate amount of yeast into well-oxygenated wort is the key to this. That said, do not think that you can ignore common sanitation practices. All equipment that comes into contact with the wort or beer must be clean and sanitary. That does not mean sterile, but that also does not mean that if you sanitized a carboy a month ago it is still OK now. Sanitation, and even sterilization, are of critical importance when culturing yeast. When you are dealing with very small numbers of yeast cells, any contaminating organisms become a relatively troublesome percentage of the total microbe population. You need to exercise extreme vigilance when preparing slants and starting yeast from them (laminar flow hoods are not necessary - but they are nice). If you find that you don't have the time or the desire to grow yeast starters to obtain an adequate number of cells to pitch into your wort, use dry yeast. Rob Moline turned me on to some of Lallemand's products and I have found them consistent and good. They also come in handy when refrigeration disasters cause you to lose all of your potential harvest yeast and you have to start over again, like I have to this coming week. What a crappy week... Have fun (somebody has to), George de Piro C.H. Evans Brewing Company at the Albany Pump Station (518)447-9000 http://evansale.com (under construction) Malted Barley Appreciation Society Homebrew Club http://hbd.org/mbas Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 13:00:25 -0500 From: Dave Burley <Dave_Burley at compuserve.com> Subject: Mash Temperature, Radiating uwave doors,skunky and catty Brewsters: Fred Scheer got it right that too high a temperature in the mash will affect the survival of the enzymes, but not quite right in the details. I suppose my primary objection is that he uses the term "sugars" which to me means means mono and disaccharides and most are fermentable by yeast. I assume he did this as a shorthand but most writers refer to the higher polymers of sugar as dextrins or oligosaccharides. There is a fuzzy area around the trisaccharides as some of these are yeast fermentable. Historically dextrins mean oligosaccharides which are not brewery yeast fermentable and these can vary from beer to beer as the yeasts and fermentation conditions vary. To go a little deeper into the effect of mash temperature. There are many enzyme systems and they are all temperature dependent to some extent in that by the time the mash ( e.g. a decoction) or wort temperature reaches boiling they are all denatured. Generally,a high mash-out temperature is used which stabilizes the sugar/dextrin ratio by denaturing the beta completely and reduces the wort viscosity to make lautering faster and more efficient. The temperature is kept lower than boiling for the simple reason that some alpha amylase is desired to be around to clean up any starch which comes into solution as the temperature is increased. This helps prevent starch haze. Ultimately the alpha is also denatured in the wort boil if not before at around 180F. But the alpha and beta amylase enzymes are the major point of discussion at the moment, since they affect the dissolution and saccharifcation of starch. The alpha chops up the various components of starch sometimes with assistance from other enzymes into fermentable sugars ( ~15-20%) and short chain carbohydrates called "dextrins". These are not sugars in the normal sense, although they are made up of sugar molecules (as is starch) and called oligosaccharides - i.e. long chain sugar polymers. The beta chops many of these dextrin pieces into shorter chain sugars. Some brewery yeast can ferment some or a portion of a dextrin molecule made up of three sugar molecules (e.g. maltotriose) of a dextrin molecule, but maltotetraose and higher oligosaccharides are not fermentable by brewery yeast and are truly dextrins. As the mash temperature goes up the rate of chopping increases but also the rate of denaturization of the enzyme increases. Beta disappears at a faster rate/degree so the higher temperature mash has more unchopped dextrins than a lower temperature mash. These remaining dextrins are often said to make a beer sweet, but not to me. They do make a beer more satisfying and perhaps even cloying, were it not for the hops. Pure dextrins do not taste sweet. These are not fermentable by yeast and while they can be fermented by certain bacteria don't really represent an unusual risk to beer stability IMHO. They are a normal component of beer. Perhaps Fred was thinking about starch which will remain if the mash temperature is too high so that both alpha and beta are destroyed prematurely. This can be a stability risk and a potential for haze. - ---------------------------- I'd like to see ( if possible) someone open a microwave door at the speed of light to allow all those reflecting waves into the room. My calculations show an infinite amount of energy would be required and the door might even radiate! - --------------------------- Eric Sperber suggests he might use an aquarium for holding his wort before pitching ( I guess) and using in-line UV sterilization . If I understood you correctly, I wouldn't use an aquarium since you do not know what sealant is used on the glass and as you guessed any UV light which may penetrate the glass or top would potentially produce at least temporary skunking. For sure an in line UV sterilizer would likely wreak at least temporary havoc in the skunkiness area and may even bleach the beer color and certainly coat the sterilizer with gunk, rendering it useless, if my experience as a photochemist is a guideline. Components in the hops are the source for this skunky odor when struck by UV light. Use a food grade container and protect the wort/beer from UV light. Don't worry too much about contamination if you sanitize everything and pitch enough yeast into a wort which was cooled quickly. On a somewhat related subject, some time ago a British contributor opined that they use the term "catty" odor instead of skunky, to define this "sunstruck" odor, since the skunk is exclusively a "New World" animal and they do not have an equivalent animal and have no idea how it smells. This is not correct as "Ribes" { from the smell of blackcurrant - Genus <Ribes> - flowers, and <Ribes> where blackcurrant syrup "Ribena" derives its name} or "catty" odor as the British define it (M&BS) is correlated with excess headspace air and is caused by a ketone not a mercaptan as is skunkiness. - --------------------------- Keep on Brewin' Dave Burley Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 13:20:17 -0600 From: Joseph Gibbens <jgibbens at umr.edu> Subject: Fermenter design Hello, I'm working on designing fermenter based on a SS keg and have a racking arm idea to knock around. Has anyone ever tried or heard of using a reamed out compression fitting to seal a racking arm in a similar fashion to a counter flow chiller? My idea is to fit a compression fitting to the side of the fermenter and run the tube through it. By loosening the fitting, the tube could be rotated with a little leakage and then re-tightened. What I'm not sure of is arm placement and length because I want to weld a SS cone on the bottom of the fermenter. Also, in order to do the welds properly, they need to be done from the inside right? That means I'd need to cut the top off the fermenter for easy access (easier to clean too. Does anyone have any idea how to get a good seal on a lid for a cut off top? Joe Gibbens Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 14:23:54 -0500 From: Dan Listermann <72723.1707 at compuserve.com> Subject: Cheesemaking Jack Schmidling writes: < I just wish some of them would get interested in cheese making, we are still in the stone age there with the blind leading the blind.> Perhaps John at "Home Wine, Beer and Cheesemaking" can help. I would be surprised if he didn't have an 800 number, but since he is a customer, I use (818) 884-8586. Dan Listermann dan at listermann.com 72723.1707 at compuserve.com Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2000 14:58:48 -0600 From: Eric Schoville <eschovil at us.oracle.com> Subject: Raw Wheat/Shipping Is it possible to use raw wheat obtained in a feed store for brewing? I assume that I want the feed variety, and not the seed. BTW, I didn't get any responses on my shipping beer from Germany question. Has anyone done it? Thanks, Eric Schoville FLower Mound, TX http://home1.gte.net/rschovil/beer Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 18:12:26 -0600 From: "Sean Richens" <srichens at sprint.ca> Subject: Thermometer preference Ted asks about a good thermometer. I went to my local kitchen toys store (my coffee retailer also has them) and bought a "cappucino thermometer". If you look, there is a whole range of kitchen thermometers which are the same device with different scales. I bought that one because it had a scale from 32 F to 212 F, which is a Good Thing because I can calibrate it. It was only CAD$10-12, which would be anything from $8 to $12 USD at retail. If you look under the dial and there's a nut there, it's worth buying. A slightly larger dial would be nice, but the lens makes it readable to 1 degree Farouttasight. It reads pretty quickly since it has only a 1/8" thick stem. Sean Sean Richens srichens at sprint.ca Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 03 Feb 2000 20:20:58 -0500 From: Jim Liddil <jliddil at liddil.com> Subject: guiness acid levels I forgot to post this before. Looking at page 37 in the book 'stout" by lewis one finds that guiness extra stouthas some of the highest lactate and acetate levels suggesting (and only suggesting) that guinness is doing something i the process. Jim Liddil North Haven, CT Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 04 Feb 2000 13:28:50 +1000 From: David Lamotte <lamotted at ozemail.com.au> Subject: Re: efficiency & stuff Steve Alexander in contrast to his usual practise of posting excellent answers, posts an excellent question directed to Phil Yates after presenting a number of facts > Where's your metric day Phil ? Gee Steve, that's an easy one to answer. For us ozzies the 'Metric Day' is everyday that we brew ! If we so choose, we can design a recipe in our heads ( lets see 4kg malt using 2.5 ltrs/kg needs 10 ltrs strike water). See all metric. Uses less brain cells, hence more home brew can be consumed during the brew session. Some of us, particularly if we remember the day that we went metric (14th Feb 1966), even freely pass from one system to the other, even in the same sentence. "Can I please have a kilo of 2 inch nails". How's that for choice ? BTW, please ignore all the above if you were expecting a serious post. David Lamotte Brewing a large number of Perches and fathoms from Jeff Renner. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2000 04:00:22 +0000 From: William Frazier <billfrazier at worldnet.att.net> Subject: Malz Bier LUDWIG'S MALZ BIER I was on vacation in Germany in 1987 and enjoyed a low alcohol beer called Malz Bier. This was a dark, foamy beer with a pronounced malty-sweet flavor. I've been interested in brewing a low or NA beer for a couple of years and I had Malz Bier in mind as a good representative of the style. I had the opportunity to ask the Siebel Institute some questions about Malz Bier last year. Joe Power was nice enough to respond and he said that this beer was known as Ludwig's beer in the 19th century. In addition, he said the beer was fermented with Saccharomycodes ludwigii, a yeast that cannot ferment maltose, the main sugar in beer wort. This leaves the beer with a sweet flavor and that is how I remember the Malz Bier I drank in Germany. After a post on the HBD concerning the availability of this yeast I was contacted by Jim Liddil. Jim acquired S. ludwigii and provided slants of the yeast for use in some experimental brews. A recipe and some brewing particulars are given below for a beer I brewed with S. ludwigii. I named the beer Ludwig's Malz Bier in honor of Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria. He built some beautiful castles. Ludwig's Malz Bier 6 gallons Maris Otter 4.50 lb Munich Malt 4.50 lbs Cara Vienne 0.45 lbs. Cara Munich 0.45 lbs. Roasted Barley 0.075 lb. EKG leaf hops 4.2 HBU 60 minutes Fuggle leaf hops 2.5 HBU 60 minutes EKG leaf hops 3.0 HBU Steep (expected IBU ~ 23.6 by G. Noonan's calculation) Soft brewing water. Crush grain with a Corona Mash at 150F, 90 minutes using 1.2 qts/lb. water Sparge with acidified water stopping at SG 1024 Top up to 7.5 gallons with brewing water Boil for 75 minutes. Steep for 20 minutes. Force chill and collect 5.9 gallons for settling Aerate by rocking the settling carboy for 4 minutes Settle for 6 hours Pump off cold break into two carboys #1 Pitch with a S. ludwigii starter (4 parts DME, 1 part corn sugar) #2 Pitch with a Wyeast Scotch Ale 1728 starter The OG was 1048 as determined by a narrow-range hydrometer The extraction was 60.4% (note: this compares weight of the extracted fermentables with the weight of the grain) or put another way 28.2 pts/lb/gal. The 1728 half-batch fermented as would be expected. The S. ludwigii half-batch fermented much slower but still had obvious signs of fermentation. After 5 days both appeared finished with the major fermentation. Pump to secondary carboys and blanket with CO2 #1 S. ludwigii ~ SG 1045 #2 1728 yeast ~ SG 1010 After 6 days in the secondary pump to a keg, prime with corn sugar and bottle #1 S. ludwigii ~ SG 1044 equivalent to about 0.5% v/v alcohol #2 1728 yeast ~ SG 1010 equivalent to about 5.0% v/v alcohol (alcohol % calculated by a method given in Homebrewing, Vol. 1, pg. 31 by Al Korzonas) One area I should mention is sanitation. I took as much care with this brew as I can in my basement brewery. I chose to aerate by rocking a covered settling carboy in lieu of aeration with my sterile filtered air system, trying to keep the system as closed as possible. I think there's a good chance that this wort could become infected with a stray basement yeast or other organism, leading to an unwanted wild fermentation. Joe Power suggested pasteurization at 160F for 15 minutes or storing the beer very cold. I haven't attempted pasteurization in my basement brewery so this beer will be stored in my lagering refrigerator. In the future I think these beers will have to be pasteurized to avoid a potential for bottle explosions. Ludwig's Malz Bier has been bottled for a couple of weeks now and is well carbonated. It's really too early to judge it's mature flavor but it does have sweetness and bitterness that tends to offset the worty flavor of NA beers. The sweetness is not surprising with a FG of 1044. In retrospect an OG of about 1025 might be about right for this type beer. The beer probably would finish up around FG 1020 to 1023 and there are good examples of beers that finish up in that range. In the final analysis, the use of S. ludwigii makes it possible for homebrewers to brew a low alcohol beer. You still get to do all of the brewing steps that makes brewing beer such a great hobby and you have a chance to create very interesting beers that can be enjoyed by the designated driver or by someone that has to reduce their alcohol intake. Thanks to Joe Power and Jim Liddil for their help in the project. Bill Frazier Olathe, Kansas Briarpatch Brewing Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 22:50:30 -0600 From: "Ed Howell" <edhoel at hal-pc.org> Subject: Aluminum Brew Pots In the near future I am planning on building a three level system using converted kegs. In the meantime i want to go to all grain brewing. What are the pros and cons on using aluminum brewing kettles? I have read that the only problem is durability. Has anyone in the collective used aluminum and what was the results? Thanks, Ed Howell Return to table of contents
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