HOMEBREW Digest #3461 Wed 25 October 2000
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FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
The Headless Weizen Strikes Again ("David G. Humes")
Graham Sanders Alert (Scott Morgan - Sun On-Line Telesales Representative)
Mexican beer (TOLLEY Matthew)
Re: Water Flouridation (Epic8383)
Ferment temps (Chris Cooper)
Ball Valve (Jim & Patti Hust)
Spirit of Belgium III (Anderson Andy W NSSC)
Question... ("Drew Avis")
Re: Rice Beer (Jeff Renner)
Sake help (John Baxter Biggins)
Cider ("Dave Hinrichs")
lager pitching temps / decoctions ("George de Piro")
Re: Pitch Temp for Lagers ("Thomasson, John W")
Chiler cleaning, storing malt (Dave Burley)
electrolytic corrosion? / copper chiller ("larry maxwell")
Wyeast 3068 Questions (WallyBrau)
Venture into the unknown and turned sour. ("Leland Heaton")
2 Recent Topics x My 2 Cents= 4 cents worth of opinion (Althelion)
FW: I'm brewin' in the seven-ties... (TOLLEY Matthew)
sake digest s^bscribe (Jim Liddil)
Thanks a million Thanks (Ralph Link)
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Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 00:42:13 -0400
From: "David G. Humes" <humesdg1 at earthlink.net>
Subject: The Headless Weizen Strikes Again
Greetings,
Actually, I have never been too impressed with the head on my wheat beers,
but it seems to be getting worse. Note that none of the other styles I brew
have this problem. So, I have to believe it is related to ingredients or
procedure and I'm leaning towards the latter. Here are the ingredients and
specs:
Ingredients for 11 gal Bavarian Hefeweizen:
11.5 lb Weissheimer Wheat Malt
6.5 lb Weisheimer Pilsner Malt
2.0 lb Weyerman Dark Munich
53 g 5.1 AAU Hallertauer Mittelfruh for 110 min
White Labs WLP300 Hefeweizen Ale Yeast
1.056 OG
1.012 FG
17.3 IBU
Procedure:
1. 5 days before brew day prepare a 1.050 1.5L starter.
2. Allow starter to ferment out and refrigerate to drop yeast.
3. On the morning of brew day, siphon off spent beer from starter
and top off with 500mL fresh 1.050 oxygenated wort.
4. Dough in at 113F (45C) and hold for 30 min.
(combined beta-glucan and ferulic acid rest)
5. Raise in 10 min to 131F (55C) and hold for 15 min.
(proteinase rest)
6. Raise in 15 min to 154F (68C) and hold for 60 min.
(saccharification)
7. Recirc for 30 min while raising to 165F (74C)
8. Runoff and sparge for 60 min.
9. Boil 120 min.
10. CF chill to 70F, oxygenate with pure O2, and pitch yeast.
11. Ferment at 70F.
A couple notes:
1. I've tried fermenting cooler (65F) but did not get enough banana, so
I've moved the fermentation temp up in search of more banana notes.
2. I've also used cooler saccharification temps, but have been trying to
achieve more body.
3. Beers made with this procedure taste pretty good, but are quite lacking
in mouthfeel/body and heading.
4. I use a high quality dial thermometer for the mash that has been
calibrated.
5. Since I generally do not use lower temperature rests except when brewing
with wheat, I suspect the next thing to try is to eliminate one or both
of these
rests and just do a straight single infusion mash.
Any suggestions will be glady accepted.
- --Dave
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 17:06:36 +1100 (EST)
From: Scott Morgan - Sun On-Line Telesales Representative <Scott.Morgan at aus.sun.com>
Subject: Graham Sanders Alert
LADIES AND GENTS...
(YES I KNOW AT LEAST THERE ARE MORE THAN 2 OF YOU OUT THERE..)
This is not an announcement of a pending Graham Sanders onslaught.
Lucky us.
Graham has asked me to advise that unfortunately he has been
cut down in his prime by his ISP going belly up. He is unable access
any of his mail or digests and is unable to post to the HBD
thru his work account.
(i can hear Pat's shouts for joy already)
Therefore if you have sent him any mail during the course of the
last few days, then it has all been naught.
For private correspondance pls mail Graham directly too;
GrahamS at bsa.qld.gov.au
Now I figure that Graham would love to hear from everyone on the
HBD personally. As well, this window of oppurtunity is perfect for
those of you out there that are real fans of Graham to say whatever
you like before he an get back onto the HBD and maul you like the
best potato cod could!
Scotty
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 15:12:07 +1000
From: TOLLEY Matthew <matthew.tolley at atsic.gov.au>
Subject: Mexican beer
Been thinking about using Mexican ingredients in brewing. A chipotle and
lime lager, perhaps? Any suggestions/precautions when brewing with chiles?
What about Iberra chocolate to give a cinnamon flavour to a stout or dark
ale? Anybody used fresh coriander/cilantro in a brew? Read about 'corny'
lagers recently - anybody tried using hominy in beer? What about
'fortifying' a brew with tequila? Dry-chipping with mesquite? Just
brainstorming at the moment, but I know some wacko out there has probably
done all these and more :)
Cheers
...Matt...
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 04:15:07 EDT
From: Epic8383 at aol.com
Subject: Re: Water Flouridation
The most intelligent discussion on water flouridation that I ever heard
was in 'Dr. Strangelove'...
In the Purity Of Essence of our natural bodily fluids,
Gus Rappold
Massapequa, NY
P.S. Anybody get any info on my Q about the phosphate compounds added to my
water? Someone else I asked suggested that I not worry about it, as malt
contains phosphates as well.
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 09:16:48 -0400 (EDT)
From: Chris Cooper <ccooper at a2607cc.msr.hp.com>
Subject: Ferment temps
Greetings all!
Just a quick question to the digest, yesterday I mentioned starting a
couple of batches of cyser and mead and that got me to thinking.
Much discussion has been had as to the proper fermentation temperatures
for ales and lagers but what about meads, cyser's, hard cider, etc.
Should the fermentation temp be matched to the type of yeast used?
I used an ale yeast on my cyser and have it a room temperature but would a
cooler ferment make a difference?
In general do all of you mead makers out there ferment warm, cool, ????
One other question, has anyone made a mead using a lager yeast and a cool
ferment regimen ?
While I'm here, a quick update on the wyeast #1338 pitchable tube use.
Started in a 1.040 starter noon Sunday
Pitched to 1.098 cyser wort 6:00 pm Sunday (slight activity in starter)
Checked Monday at 7:00 am, positive pressure in air-lock minimal activity
Checked Monday at 7:00 pm, 2" krausen on top
Checked Tuesday at 7:00 am, steady activity, 3" krausen
The krausen is a thing of beauty, "IT LIVES!!!" now I remember why I love
fermenting in glass, even with all the impending dangers of handling.
Well two posts in two days, I had better get back to work!!!!
Chris Cooper, Pine Haven Brewing (aka. Debbi's Kitchen)
Commerce, Michigan Member, Ann Arbor Brewer's Guild
(Approximately 25 miles from 0.0 Renerian)
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 07:45:08 -0500
From: Jim & Patti Hust <ph01731 at navix.net>
Subject: Ball Valve
I just bought a 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler to use as my combination
mash/lauter tun. I need to replace the push-button outlet with a
plastic ball valve. I have found plenty of them, but none with a
bulkhead fitting. In other words, how do I get it affixed through the
sides of the cooler? Does anyone make this simple thing commercially?
In addition, if I buy a false bottom for it, will I need a pick-up tube,
and if so, how will it connect? Thanx for the help.
Jim
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 09:07:14 -0400
From: Anderson Andy W NSSC <AndersonRW at NAVSEA.NAVY.MIL>
Subject: Spirit of Belgium III
Hi,
Just a quick note to remind people of the upcoming Spirit of Belgium
III. It will be held on January 13-14, 2001 (Martin Luthor King holiday
weekend) in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. This is a celebration of
Belgian and Belgian-style beers which will feature multiple speakers, two
separate beer tastings, a Belgian-style homebrew contest, and a Belgian
banquet with Michael Jackson as the keynote speaker. This non-profit event
is being hosted by BURP (Brewers United for Real Potables), the largest
homebrew club in the DC area.
Our web page describing the event has a lot more content than a couple
of months ago, so if you haven't checked it out recently, you might be in
for a surprise. It's at http://www.burp.org/SoB2001/
Tickets will start going on sale on November 1, 2000. We will also be
sending out a mailing package for people who want to learn more about the
festival, as well as regular electronic updates. You can sign up for more
electronic information simply by sending an email to kepler at burp.org with a
message stating: Your Name & Your Email Address. Or, send me your
snail-mail address & I'll make certain that you are added to the paper
mailing list.
Prost,
Andy Anderson
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 13:44:24 GMT
From: "Drew Avis" <andrew_avis at hotmail.com>
Subject: Question...
I'm brewing a beer using the Swedish Porter yeast, so I thought I'd label
the carboy using ancient Viking lettering.
Is my beer runed?
- Drew
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Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 11:11:08 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Rice Beer
"Mike Pensinger" <beermkr at verizon.net> writes
>Well I am going to embark on the quest for a rice beer that is drinkable.
>My plan involves some 6 row and some rice and some mild hopping levels.
>
>What do you all think about using the boiled rice to bring the mash to
>saccarification temps? I was planning to dough in at about 122 dF and let
>thet rest for 20 minutes and add the hot rice to bring the mash to 149 dF or
>so. I have to work out the exect temps to hit my marks but had a couple
>questions, the first being has anyone else done this.
If you check the archives and/or my article on Classic American
Pilsners (CAPs) in the Sept/Oct Zymurgy, you will find some specifics
on this. This is called the American cereal mash method, and was
devised by brewers more than a century to work with American high
protein malts. My current favorite method is to add the boiled
cereal mash (see below) to the main mash which has been resting at
around 119F. This seems to be low enough to avoid excessive protein
degradation. The addition of the cereal mash alone will not get you
to saccharification temperatures unless you are using a large amount
of cereal adjunct (like 35%+ I would guess), you you may need to add
boiling water or heat. I like a saccharification temperature of 148F
for a crisp, well attenuated beer, or higher for a less attenuated
one. More attenuated seems appropriate for a rice lager.
>
>The second has to do with the rice. Should I run it through my mill or
>leave it whole. Also should I boil some grain with it? I seem to remember
>reading something like that in cereal mashes.
Short or medium grain rice is best for brewing. Grind it to break it
up into grits the size of very coarse sand. Mash it with 1/3 malt at
~153F for 20-30 minutes, then bring it to a boil for 20-30 minutes.
Old texts say it is best to actually have a very tiny bit of hard
rice in the center for ease of lautering, but I've never worried
about it. Then add this to the main mash.
If you wanted to, you could skip all this and use flaked rice and a
single step infusion mash, but it isn't nearly as much fun.
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: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 11:37:31 -0400
From: John Baxter Biggins <jbbiggin at med.cornell.edu>
Subject: Sake help
By mistake, I just deleted the HBD w/ the moderator for the sake
digest's post. If poss, can anyone please forward to me that post
and/or give me the info on how to sign up for the sake digest??
Thanks. Go Yanks!
- --
John B. Biggins
Cornell University Medical College
Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences
Student -- Program in Pharmacology
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Laboratory for Biosynthetic Chemistry
Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics
lab:(212)693-6405 fax:(212)717-3135
http://www.ski.edu/lab_homepage.cfm?lab=189
"Science, like Nature, must also be tamed
With a view towards its preservation.
Given the same state of integrity
It will surely serve us well."
-- Neil Peart; Natural Science (III) -- Permanent Waves
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Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 10:47:30 -0500
From: "Dave Hinrichs" <dhinrichs at quannon.com>
Subject: Cider
I want to make some cider the only source I have for tasty cider is labelled as
having .01% sodium Benzoate as a preservative.
My question is, is this ok to try and ferment or will the sodium benzoate just
kill my yeast.
*******************************************************
* Dave Hinrichs E-Mail: dhinrichs at quannon.com *
* Quannon CAD Systems, Inc. Voice: (952) 935-3367 *
* 6101 Baker Road, Suite 204 FAX: (952) 935-0409 *
* Minnetonka, MN 55345 *
* http://www.quannon.com/ *
********************************************************
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Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 12:12:30 -0400
From: "George de Piro" <gdepiro at mindspring.com>
Subject: lager pitching temps / decoctions
Hi all,
Jeff and Mike wrote a bit about pitching lagers at temperatures higher than
that desired for fermentation. Mike observed that beers he has tasted
brewed in this manner are not very lager-like. The reasons for this were
not explicitly mentioned in his post, but were touched upon.
When yeast are pitched warm, the rate of growth will be higher than when
they are pitched cool. One of the only times the word "always" can be used
in brewing is here: faster yeast growth always leads to an increase in
fusel alcohol production.
All beers have some fusels, but the amounts that are appropriate vary from
style to style and personal taste. Well-brewed lagers have fewer fusels
than ales, so you should work to minimize them if you want your beer to
taste like commercial examples.
The lag time is often longer when you pitch cold, but this can be largely
alleviated by using a large, healthy starter. Good sanitation will also
help keep the beer tasting clean despite a longer lag.
- -----------------------------
Steve A. writes, regarding decoction mashing:
"You get most of the impact from a single decoction performed after
simple sugars have formed (fm 60C to 72C for example)."
As a homebrewer, I decoction mashed almost all of my brews (even did it to a
stout once). I performed single, double, and triple decoctions and came to
the same conclusion as Steve: one is enough.
The positive flavor impact is too subtle to justify the time and energy, and
all the handling of hot mash can be dangerous: you risk burning yourself
and aerating the mash, both of which are bad.
At the brewpub, I don't decoct anything (because the system cannot). I have
adjusted recipes to compensate for this, using lots of Munich, melanoidin,
and aromatic malts to give the beers a rich malt character. It seems to
work pretty well.
Have fun!
George de Piro
C.H. Evans Brewing Company
at the Albany Pump Station
(518)447-9000
http://evansale.com
Malted Barley Appreciation Society
Homebrew Club
http://hbd.org/mbas
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 12:53:43 -0500
From: "Thomasson, John W" <john.w.thomasson at lmco.com>
Subject: Re: Pitch Temp for Lagers
First, Wayne Aldrich <Aldrich4 at surf1.de> wrote in HBD #3458:
>> Hello, I'm a long time reader first time poster.
>> I have had mixed success with all grain brewing for
>> about a year. I usually brew ales (kolsch or hefeweizen).
>> I have attempted several lagers with mixed results,
>> mostly poor. My question is about starters, I always make
>> up a yeast starter about 2 days before I brew.
>> Since lager yeast likes cooler bottom fermenting temperatures
>> should I pitch my starter at lager temps i.e. 50 deg or so?
>> Thanks in advance for any responses.
Then, Jeff Lewis <jlewis92 at alumni.princeton.edu> wrote in HBD #3459:
> I've heard advice to pitch at warmer temps and then lower once it
> gets going. In anticipation of someone suggesting this, may I throw
> in a question here too? My question on this is that to the same
> degree that you've allowed the yeast to "get going" at these warmer
> temps, haven't you caused/encouraged the very fermentation by-
> products that the lower temp is supposed to eliminate/reduce?
You've made a very astute observation, Jeff. I've heard the same advice and
find it less than sound. I don't have my notes handy, but about a year and
a half ago I conducted an experiment of sorts where I pitched lager yeast at
70F, waited for visible signs of fermentation before placing the fermenter
into a refrigerator set at 50F... with a sanitized probe thermometer
submerged in the wort. I checked the wort core temperature and SG
periodically/sporadically. The results were kind of interesting.
As we all know, fermentation generates heat. Six hours after placing the
fermenter in the fridge, the wort was actually warmer than when it was
pitched, by 4F or so. The core temperature did not drop much below 60F for
some 36 hours, by which time the beer had passed the halfway mark toward the
expected terminal gravity. In other words, over half the fermentable sugars
were fermented at temperatures above 60F. There was a lot of blow off, too.
You can see a pic of the action at:
http://home.flash.net/~jwtjr999/beer/blowoff3.jpg (this is NOT a dog... or
maybe it is, depending on your perspective).
So when all was said and done, did I have a true lager beer? Well, I had
beer sure enough, but it did not taste like a lager to me. It was certainly
drinkable beer, but it lacked the characteristics that define a proper lager
beer, IMHO. It was not necessarily fruity; but it did have some yeast
imparted flavors that I am not able to correctly identify. It just didn't
have the clean, crisp flavor that I've come to appreciate in lagers.
I did not collect nearly enough data points to plot temperature and SG over
the duration of the ferment. Nor was I trying to prove or disprove
anything. I just wanted to get a general idea of what % of the fermentables
would be consumed by the time the wort core temperature reached something
resembling lager fermentation temperature in wort pitched at 70F and not
refrigerated until the onset of fermentation. The answer I got was about
half. *TOO MUCH* is the take home message, even when allowing for a large
margin of error.
I think if one is going to pitch the yeast from a quart starter into 5
gallons of 1.060 lager wort, he/she is probably better off pitching warm,
and waiting for fermentation to start before refrigerating. At least he/she
will make beer. I would pitch the yeast solids from a 2 gallon starter or
into such a wort. I'm aware that there are varying opinions on methods of
aeration, but I get very good results by injecting pure oxygen using a
sintered SS airstone. About 2 minutes worth for a wort like this.
I don't try to get the temperature of the wort all the way down to primary
fermentation temperature before pitching. I just don't think letting the
wort sit unpitched for the length of time it would take is worth the risk.
With my 2 stage, 50 foot immersion chiller, I can knock 10 gallons down to a
little below 60F in less than 20 minutes, even in the Texas summer (with
stage 1 in an ice bath, of course). After transferring to the fermenter(s),
I pitch, aerate, then into the fridge it goes. By taping the temperature
controller probe to the side of fermenter, the temperature of the wort is
usually close to the set point by the start of fermentation, and there it
stays until I decide it's time to lower it.
By letting the starter ferment to completion after the last step, decanting
the spent wort and waking up the yeast with a quart of fresh wort mid
morning on brew day, I usually see 3-5 hour lag times for lager beers, less
for ales. I don't bother propagating lager yeast at cool temperatures, but
I do chill the starter and the "wake up wort" to 50F a couple of days prior
to using. It's usually climbing out of the jug by the time I'm ready to
pitch.
One other thing I'll mention while on the subject of starters and such. I
noticed a marked improvement in the quality of my starters after I started
using all grain wort (reclaimed from spent hops and break material) instead
of DME. I can see that it produces more yeast mass, and I'd be willing to
bet that the % of viable cells is higher too. Why throw it away when you
can put it to good use?
FWIW, most pro lager brewers and acknowledged experts (Fix, Noonan and our
own Jeff Renner, I believe) recommend pitching lagers cool. If you pitch
enough healthy yeast and aerate well, there really is no need to conduct
half of your fermentation at warm temperatures.
Cheers!
John Thomasson
Aledo, Texas
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Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 14:18:36 -0400
From: Dave Burley <Dave_Burley at compuserve.com>
Subject: Chiler cleaning, storing malt
Brewsters:
I clean my chiller at the end of a run by running boiling hot water through
it to bring the brew up to the correct volume and then turn off the
chilling water and drain the jacket until the water coming out the end of
the copper tube is very hot. Be careful not to melt the outer plastic
chiller hose by continuing this too long. I've never had a problem and have
been doing this for many years. I always repeat this process with boiling
water before I chill the next brew.
- ----------------------------------
Drew Avery asks for malt storing options. I store mine in plastic garbage
cans with a tight fitting lid and other heavy plastic ware. Why? 1) helps
insulate the malt from variations in humidity but 2) and most importantly
it keeps mice from enjoying themselves ( and other things) in your malt.
Behind some books in a bookshelf (~ 10 ft from the malt storage area) , I
once found about a cup of malt that had been carried mouthful by mouthful
from my grain storage cupboard. That had been extracted from a small, thin
plastic box that the mouse chewed through. Why the third shelf of the
bookshelf? I have no idea. So don't underestimate them. Mouse traps are a
necessity around your malt.
- -----------------------------------
Keep on Brewin'
Dave Burley
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Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 18:47:32 GMT
From: "larry maxwell" <larry_maxwell at hotmail.com>
Subject: electrolytic corrosion? / copper chiller
Here's one for John Palmer or other metal jockey:
I just bought a Chillzilla CF chiller, which, like the
Maxichiller, is copper tubing inside copper tubing. It
has a 1/2" NPT-male brass fitting brazed onto one end of
the wort tubing that I would like to couple onto the SS
pipe nipple leading from my boil kettle using a pipe
union. (Space limitations prevent using a coupling.)
My question is what kind of pipe union should I use to
avoid electrolytic corrosion between dissimilar metals?
If I were to use brass to match the chiller fitting, would
brass in contact with SS promote corrosion? Would a
SS union be better than a brass union or make no difference?
What about a brass-iron dielectric union? (I haven't seen
a brass-SS dielectric union, but if it existed I assume it
would be ideal.) Would putting Teflon tape on the threads
of a brass or SS union be helpful? Am I worrying about
nothing? My setup is designed to remain permanently
connected, so hoses and removable things are not part of
the plan. I have been anal retentive about everything
else in my mostly SS brewery, so I can see myself going
overboard with a Teflon union or something exotic like that
if it would genuinely be of value in avoiding corrosion
problems.
Larry Maxwell
Atlanta, Georgia
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Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 14:54:10 EDT
From: WallyBrau at aol.com
Subject: Wyeast 3068 Questions
I have an odd question. I brewed a 10 gallon of Wheat Beer and pitched half
with Wyeast 1056 and the other half with Wyeast 3068.
The 1056 batch fermented from 1.048 to 1.010 in about 4 days. After 10 days
the 3068 batch has only gone from 1.048 to about 1.020. Since it is the same
wort I don't think that is the problem. The temperature has been a steady 70
degrees.
Additionaly the 3068 batch showed signs of fermentation after about 6 hours
and after 24 hours had a large 3" foam at the top of the fermentor and
bubbling like crazy.
I tasted a sample and it does not taste sweet at all. Is it possible that
there is so much of the 3068 yeast suspended in the beer that it is affecting
my hydrometer. I have never heard of it before and am wondering it it is
even possible. The yeast is very fine and powdery.
Since it tastes fine, I think I will go ahead and keg it and drink it, Since
I don't bottle there isn't any concern about bottle bombs.
Thanks in advance for any feedback,
John
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Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 12:46:50 PDT
From: "Leland Heaton" <rlheaton at hotmail.com>
Subject: Venture into the unknown and turned sour.
Well, I finally did it. I got brave and moved away from my security Pale
Ale and decided to try to brew a different style. A dry stout.
I got the recipe from www.homebrewmart.com (no affiliations)
Dry Stout
7# pale malt extract
1/4# roast barley
1/4# black paten malt
1/2# chocolate malt
1.5oz NBH boil
1oz Fuggles (aroma)
White Labs Irish Ale
The wort was not too bitter, and had a choclate / coffee flavor OG 1.053, I
then transfered to secondary after 3 days and gravity was 1.020. Then after
a week in the secondary (reading then 1.019) I racked and bottled. But the
taste had definatly changed. It was now sour. I am guess this is a
sanatation issue? I am usually pretty good, and was not expect this "dry
stout" to go sour. The only odd thing I noticed about this fermentation is
that I only lost 1/2" of trub (1/4" in both primary and secondary).
Any suggestions? I am getting ready to do a belgium tripple, and am worried
if maybe I have a sanatation issue (I thought I was really good as
sanatization). Should I give all my equipment a good bleach soak?
Thank you again for all the help
Leland
- ----
Thank goodness for the extract revolution, so us newbie's can move onto
great extract styles. Boy I can't wait to go all-grain.
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Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 16:47:18 EDT
From: Althelion at aol.com
Subject: 2 Recent Topics x My 2 Cents= 4 cents worth of opinion
Greetings:
Lager Pitching Temperature: I just brewed a 1.094 Dopplebock last weekend. I
made a 2-quart starter two days before using a Wyeast smack pack and tube of
2206. My procedure for this and other lagers is to cool the wort as low as I
can with my immersion chiller using the recently oft mentioned Detroit city
water (not Stroh's, contrary to popular belief). I got it down to about 68 F
in less than 15 minutes. I strained it first into a holding tank and then
through a finer funnel strainer into my carboy. Pitched yeast and aerated
well. Placed the carboy in the chest freezer set at 50F. I got an active
fermentation in about 20 hours. Not bad for a traditionally slow starting
yeast. I would rather pitch my yeast as soon as possible than risk infection
by chilling for a length of time to get down to the low 50's F. If the yeast
gets a little kick start at the beginning, all the better.
AHA - Zymurgy: Lots of hard feelings out there, eh? I dunno, I guess I got a
little weary when the personnel at the AHA started changing at a rapid clip.
I used to get Brewing Techniques. I enjoyed reading it. Zymurgy is not
Brewing Techniques. So fuggetaboutit. But I consistently read a good portion
of the magazine. Another magazine that I get is Brew Your Own. Brew Your Own
has seemed to improve since it was sold last year. The latest edition has a
nice review of Belgian brewing complete with several clone recipes. One thing
Brew Your Own has over Zymurgy is that it's more fun. Probably the biggest
reason behind this is because Brew Your Own isn't a non-profit,
quasi-political entity. It's a hobby magazine. A hobby should be about fun.
The label contest Brew Your Own has every year is quite entertaining.
Ultimately, neither the AHA or Zymurgy upset me because me getting upset
isn't fun. Besides, I already have a job that gets me upset. No reason to be
redundant. Or superfluous. Or repetitive.
Cheers,
Al Pearlstein
Commerce Township, Michigan
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Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2000 08:14:20 +1000
From: TOLLEY Matthew <matthew.tolley at atsic.gov.au>
Subject: FW: I'm brewin' in the seven-ties...
Twice I've sent this now, and twice I've forgotten to get rid of the bloody
non-ASCII 'half' in the recipe. Thrid time lucky!
At a recent book fair, I picked up an 'Australian Home Brewing Company'
catalogue from way back in 1970.
The first page is filled entirely with Commonwealth law (the Beer Excise Act
1901-1966), with definitions of mead, beer, spirits, excisable wines, and so
on, and warns of a $200 fine for brewing beer to more than '2% proof spirit'
- anybody know when this act was changed/repealed? Even the books have a
warning: "The recipes in these books are written for English conditions
where the law permits unrestricted brewing at home. The unlicensed
Australian brewer must adjust these recipes to comply with Australian
law...penalty $200". Back in the days when crystal malt was 30c a lb,
that's a fair whack of a fine! Any Aussie brewing elders have any 'it's a
raid, man! Hops? Me? It's just weed, I promise, sergeant....hey, you
planted that hydrometer, pig!' stories to share? :)
The catalogue has a few ingredients I haven't heard of before - yeast in
tablet form, 'Vierka instant hop' (a hop concentrate in dried powdered
form), heading fluid, spruce extract (erk - wouldn't this make your beer
taste like Pine-O-Kleen?), lauterase (for a higher yield in mashing), and
speedase (removes a starch haze). Are these used by 'modern' brewers?
Ah, the prices - DME was 48c per lb, or $7.50 for an 18lb bag; malted grain
was 30c a lb, 45c for a 4oz pack of 'Ringwood Specials' hops, a 5 gallon
fermenter was $3.25, and a bench capper was $11.95. The Aussie dollar was
probably double the US back then, so halve these prices for US dollars.
It has instructions for making a starter using - wait for it - sweetened
orange juice. Thought maybe it was just for winemaking, but later they talk
about using the same starter for 'Vinotex liquid stout yeast culture'.
Anybody make an orange stout before? :)
Here's a retro mead recipe for all you flower children out there (I'll spare
you the little rant in the catalogue about Australian honeys making
perfectly good meads, contrary to what some Pommy authors apparently said):
4 lbs yellow box honey
1/2 tsp AHB nutrient salts
1/8 tsp tannic acid
1 tsp malic acid
1 tsp tartaric acid
Peel from one large orange
1 tsp AHB all purpose dried wine yeast or mead yeast
Dissolve the honey in 5 pints of cool water. Slowly bring to the boil.
Remove any scum which rises. Simmer gently for 10-15 mins. Allow to cool,
then place in sterilized gallon jar. Peel the orange, avoiding white pith.
Add peel, acids, salts and yeast when temp is 70oF. Make up to one gallon
with cool boiled water. Fit airlock and allow to ferment. When completed,
rack to sterilized jar and allow to stand. Bottle when clear. Mature for
12-24 months.
Cheers
...Matt...
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Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 20:22:16 -0400
From: Jim Liddil <jliddil at vms.arizona.edu>
Subject: sake digest s^bscribe
After several enquires I realize I needed to post this:
to s^bscribe to the sake digest send a message to:
address-- To: sake-request@hbd.org
message-- s^bscribe
substitute a "u" for the "^".
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Date: Tue, 24 Oct 2000 21:18:24 -0500
From: Ralph Link <rlink at escape.ca>
Subject: Thanks a million Thanks
To the collective.
I just want to say a big thanks to every one who offered a variety of great
information on cleaning the Counter Flow chiller. Just when you think you
know what your doing you find out you don't. All the e-mail was much alike
and covered areas I never thought about. This forum really proves its'
worth when you get the kind of input I received.
Thanks again
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