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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  AHA 2001 National Convention (Drew Beechum)
  beerstone (ensmingr)
  solar refrigeration (Mea & Marvin)
  Re: Dropping (Tom smit)
  another suggestion ("Phillipa")
  Maturing & bottling homebrewed ales (Tom smit)
  Status of GA alcohol laws? (Julio Canseco)
  historic unhopped beer website (Jeff Renner)
  "dry" method of batch sanitizing bottles? (Martin Dennis)
  Old Stuff ("Pannicke, Glen A.")
  Re: trapped CO2 (Demonick)
  Experience with Alconox (R.A.)" <rbarrett at ford.com>
  RE: Blue camping pad as insulator, water additions in ounces (EdgeAle)
  Dumb question? Phils Phalse bottom (Mark)
  (no subject) (Jebbly)
  Old Stuff (Beaverplt)
  Misinformation - though likely well intentioned. ("FatCat")
  RE:  Whirlpool/cooling delay and increased bitterness ("George de Piro")
  Still On Holidays - Phil Yates ("Helen Pay")
  Wild Hop Bitterness (Epic8383)
  Mashing (Alan Davies)
  Converted keg mashing vessel (Hop_Head)


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Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 21:36:19 -0800 (PST)
From: Drew Beechum <abeechum at alum.mit.edu>
Subject: AHA 2001 National Convention


The SoCal Organizing Committee is pleased to announce the opening of
the AHA 2001 National Convention Website at
http://www.beerodyssey.com/. As we approach the June 20th start of the
Convention in Los Angeles we'll be adding more information on the
speakers and activities planned for the 4 days of the convention.

AHA 2001 National Convention - A Beer Odyssey - FACTS
 (more information available at http://www.beerodyssey.com/)

Where : The LAX Four Points Sheraton. This is a great hotel located
      only a few blocks from LAX. Phil Baxter has organized the
      country's first Beer Sommlier Program and runs one of the best hotel
      beer bars in the nation.
When : June 20th - June 23rd, 2001
Costs : *TBD* 
Planned Events: LA Pub Crawls, (with buses for shuttling)
		1st LA Beer Open - Public Beer Festival with prizes
		    going to the winner brewer (not brewery!)
		Club Night
		Trips to the local beaches and attractions 
		      (Disneyland, Six Flags and more)
		Workshops and Lectures
		2nd Round AHA 2001 National Competition
		AHA Grand Banquet.

Clubs : Currently Participating Clubs include :
      Barley Literate
      Inland Empire Brewers
      Long Beach Brewers
      The Maltose Falcons
      Pacific Gravity
      Q.U.A.F.F.
      Strand Brewers

All Clubs who'd like to participate should feel free to
contact Steve Casselman (sc at vcc.com) or myself (abeechum at alum.mit.edu)
for information on how to get involved.

Thanks and we look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible.

- -- Drew Beechum
AHA 2001 National Convention - A Beer Odyssey
Webmaster / Club Night Coordinator




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Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 02:18:14 -0500
From: ensmingr at twcny.rr.com
Subject: beerstone

I recently posted about removal of beerstone from Corny kegs
(see: http://hbd.org/hbd/archive/3510.html#3510-23 ).

Following the advice of several respondents, I purchased the
"5-Star Home Brew Cleaning Kit" from Stout Billy's (see:
http://www.fivestarchemicals.com/ yada, yada;
http://www.stoutbillys.com/ yada, yada). The kit was ~$18
and provided enough for cleaning six 5-gallon Corny kegs. It
consists of PBW, an alkaline,  non-caustic, sodium
percarbonate based cleaner (like B-Brite), and Star SAN,
which is Phosphoric acid (50%), dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid
(15%), and inert ingredients (35%). At ~$3/keg wash, I wish
it was cheaper.

I can report that the washing (with PBW) and subsequent
sanitation (with Star SAN) worked very well. The procedure
was simple, quick, and painless (no burns from hot caustic).
There is now no visible beerstone in my kegs. Thanks again
to all for your advice.

Cheerio!
Peter A. Ensminger
Syracuse, NY




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Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 23:53:30 -0800
From: Mea & Marvin <mcmc at loop.com>
Subject: solar refrigeration

Dear Folks:

Perhaps you're aware of the energy debacle in Southern California. In a
nutshell, the power brokers sold the politicians on the idea of
deregulation, and now the ratepayers are going to get to pay for the
mistake. Power rates shot up 300% in San Diego before an emergency price
cap was declared.

This sucks particularly badly as I have a beer-dedicated freezer, as
well as one of those pepsi display coolers. (Did I mention SWMBO's
self-esteem seems to be directly linked to having every light in the
house on, occupied or not, 24/7- closets too?)

Maybe "The Fridge Guy" or some of you other crazy engineer-types can
help us here. I recently read about an ammonia-based solar ice maker
used in third-world countries where power is not available on a
consistent basis. All I could glean from the article was that it ran on
ammonia. During the day it used solar energy to compress the
refrigerant- after dark the chill cycle occurs and the ice is produced.

Does anyone know anything at all about this technology? I think the
article said it's nothing new, having been around since before the turn
of the century.

Wouldn't it be cool (NPI) to chill your fermenters with solar energy?

Marv
Lost Angeles

"Ah, Mr. McGarrett. You think you are very smart...you make me laugh."
Wo Fat/HAWAII 5-0



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Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 20:14:48 +0000
From: Tom smit <tom at lunica-data.com.au>
Subject: Re: Dropping

Thanks for your post Tony,
  I still think taking the wort from between dirty yeast head & cake full of
god knows what is a good idea. I have always racked (apart from my earliest
kit brews) and will keep doing so-I have not had any probs. I may try dropping
a bit earlier with aeration to see the effect (diacetyl, fermentation rate etc.)

  My last 3 brews I have aerated the wort before pitching by running it from
one fermenter to a second one about 1.5m below. A bottling tube in the tap of
the first fermenter creates a nice tight stream of wort. By the time it is all
run into the lower fermenter it has frothed up to the top-plenty of aeration
has happened & so far no infection.

  The 1.5m drop is into the mechanics pit that I call my cellar-in winter it
is at 12C so if I ferment an ale in there it should sit at about 16C when it
is fermenting actively. I'll see how this affect flavor etc in comparison to
my normal 24C fermentations. Bloody pity can't siphon it back up!

Cheers

Tom Smit
Tiny Horses Brewery

> Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 10:58:41 -0000
> From: Tony Barnsley <tony.barnsley at blackpool.gov.uk>
> Subject: RE: Ale Dropping
> 
> Tom asked about dropping
> 
> 
> The real upshot is that [Graham] no longer recommends dropping.



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Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 21:27:44 +1100
From: "Phillipa" <backcrk at tpg.com.au>
Subject: another suggestion

G'day fellow brewers,

In a recent digest David Lamotte wrote:

>If you still need to rinse out bleach etc, I believe the best (and
>cheapest for you guys in the USA) is the cheapest commercial beer that
>you can find.

My husband suggested that if you use this method, to shake the tin or bottle
first to give a hose out effect.

Cheers
Phillipa



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Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 23:56:16 +0000
From: Tom smit <tom at lunica-data.com.au>
Subject: Maturing & bottling homebrewed ales

Hi,

  How do you mature an ale before bottling or kegging? Do you mature a
specific length of time depending on OG? I mature my ales for a month in a 20l
plastic water container placed inside a fridge, while my 1100 OG Russian
Imperial Stout is in 4x5l kegs for a year as advised in Graham's Real Ales book.

  I'd like to try an Old Speckled Hen (OG 1050) and then Theakston's Old
Peculiar (OG 1058) for my third and fourth all grain batches this fall/winter
(after a couple simpler milds or bitters for practise first!) Should I, say,
mature these stronger ales for two or three months instead of just the first
month? Any ideas.

  I bottled a partial-mash Caledonian 80/- last weekend without priming after
a months maturation. Last summer I tried this on advice of my local HB store
(Grumpys) and Graham. The bottles were left on a bench top in the garage which
probably reached well over 40C-not a speck of condition, not a suspicion of
head (tasted OK if flat) This batch will go into my 'cellar' which will stay
at about 20-22C. Any recommendations on how long the bottles should stay there
to acquire condition? If I kegged it in 20l kegs would that affect
conditioning time & how?

Cheers

Tom
Tiny Horses Brewery


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Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 08:37:29 -0500
From: Julio Canseco <jcanseco at arches.uga.edu>
Subject: Status of GA alcohol laws?

Greetings! I lost the addresses of some folks active in trying to change
the GA laws regarding alcohol limit in beer. Now that the legislature is
in session (hold on to your wallet) anybody knows how things are
looking?

    julio in athens, georgia



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Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 09:35:52 -0500
From: Jeff Renner <nerenner at umich.edu>
Subject: historic unhopped beer website

Brewers

As many of you know, hops is (are?) just one of many herbs and other 
flavorings that have been used in beers over the ages.  On Historic 
Brewing Digest this year, homebrewer Adam Larsen <euphonic at flash.net> 
of the Faeroe Islands (a self governing, rather isolated group of 
Danish islands between the Shetland Islands and Iceland, with a 
population of about 42,000 (1988), and inaccessible except by air 
much of the year) has introduced us to a wonderful range of unhopped 
gruit and shavings ales.

You probably already know that gruit is a mix of herbs, often 
including such herbs as bog myrtle, yarrow, sweet gale, marsh 
rosemary and others.  But what, you are probably asking, are shaving 
ales?  I know I shave first thing in the morning, and that's a little 
early for drinking. They are ales brewed with water that has first 
been boiled with wood shavings.  The tannins extracted serve as 
preservative and flavoring.  Adam wrote about these ales in HBD last 
October.

Adam is an excellent researcher and compiler of historic recipes, and 
writes clearly (especially impressive considering that English is not 
his first language - some HBDers don't have that excuse and could use 
it).  His descriptions make you want to brew these beers - not just 
as historic curiosities, but as drinking ales!

Nathan Moore <NTMOORE at SMTPGATE.DPHE.STATE.CO.US>, a homebrewer and 
member of the Society of Creative Anachronisms, has compiled Adam's 
posts on his (?) SCA page  http://sca_brew.homestead.com/Gruit.html. 
I recommend this for anyone interested in brewing or just knowing 
about this fascinating subject.  I haven't brewed any yet, but it 
will be a summer project.

I also recommend the Historic Brewing Digest.  (Maybe we should have 
a link from hbd.org.)  To subscribe to the Historic Brewing Digest, 
send email to majordomo at pbm.com containing the words "subscribe 
hist-brewing-digest" (or "subscribe hist-brewing" if you want to get 
the undigested version.) To contact a human about problems, send mail 
to owner-hist-brewing at pbm.com.

Thanks Adam and Nathan.

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


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Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 09:02:18 -0600
From: Martin Dennis <dennis at inst.augie.edu>
Subject: "dry" method of batch sanitizing bottles?

I thought I'd pick the collective's brain for ideas, because I'm 
fresh out (of brains, that is).

It's time for me to bottle a mild I've had in secondary for more than 
a month, and I'm looking to make the chore as easy on myself as 
possible. I'm especially looking for a way to sanitize the bottles en 
masse, without rinsing. I used to use the dishwasher method, but our 
new house doesn't have one. And I've considered the big tub of bleach 
method, but the last time I tried that SWMBO spent the whole time 
sighing about the dripped water all over the floor. Plus I spent more 
time keeping the three-year-old out of the bleach water than I did 
bottling. So, I guess what I'm looking for is something like the 
dishwasher method without the dishwasher.

Any suggestions?

Marty Dennis
Sioux Falls, South Dakota


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Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 10:05:28 -0500
From: "Pannicke, Glen A." <glen_pannicke at merck.com>
Subject: Old Stuff

Jerry writes of Old Stuff besdies himself:

>One is a bag of
>Halertau hops, not pellets, that I don't remember
>buying. I'm guessing it's well over a year old. It was
>not in the fridge. 

Open up those hops!  Give 'em a whiff and see if they're cheezy.  Many
insist upon fresh, nitrogen packed, mylar sealed hops with only a 5% drop in
AA content during storage.  Then there are these queer folk who brew more
than only pale ales or pilsners.  For some of their brews they prefer the
hops to be aged, slightly oxidized or even go as far requiring them to be
absolutely devoid of any bittering properties.  They like to brew the Scotch
ales, lambics and Belgian ales.  Why I happen to even know of one brewer who
keeps a bunch of hallertau and saaz hop cones around in glass jars for over
a year just so he can get that authentic aged character.  He also does a
bunch of other strange things as he learns more about beer and his friends
begin to talk, but I don't seem to mind ...  ooops!  I let slip...

>The other is a smack pack of Irish ale yeat
>with a date of October 2000 on it. It was
>refridgerated. I didn't know yeast expired if you kept
>it refridgerated. Should I toss this?

DO NOT toss the yeast.  It may still be good.  If properly refrigerated, the
yeast can live longer that the date printed on the pack, however the time it
takes for the pack to swell to full size will take longer as it ages.  I had
a package of Wyeast sake yeast which my local homebrew shopowner gave me
because it was 3 years old.  Since I'm used to culturing my own now it
didn't matter to me.  I can nurse a few cells up to pitching strength within
a week or so.  But I didn't need to.  I smacked the pack and placed it on
top of my snake's vivarium (a perfect 75F all the time).  It took 4 days
before I saw the package rise and by the end of the week it was bursting at
the seams.  In the end the yeast performed very well, giving me full
attenuation and a clean ferment.

The worst thing that can happen is that the package will never rise.  No
harm done.  Just have a backup or put off brewing until you can get another.


Carpe cerevisiae!

Glen Pannicke
http://www.pannicke.net
"Designs and schemes which work well on paper rarely do so in actual
practice." 


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Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 07:50:37 -0800
From: Demonick <demonick at zgi.com>
Subject: Re: trapped CO2

From: "Richard & Laura" <dromedary at worldnet.att.net>
>Is there any way to (or even a reason to) try
>to release the CO2 that is dissolved in the beer? Does the trapped CO2
>cause any problems or offer any benefits?

If your fermenter is closed, that is, has an airlock and all the
original air has been scrubbed out by the fermentation, then you
can "degas" the green beer by rousing the yeast.  "Rousing" just
means to stir it up off the bottom of the fermenter and get it 
back into suspension.  This will do 2 things.  It will push the
fermentation to the last few points, and the agitation will cause
the dissolved CO2 to come out of solution.  Pushed to the limit,
when the green beer is perfectly flat in the fermenter, it will 
contain about 1 volume of CO2.  Actually, at room temperature, the
limit is a bit less than 1 volume, but it is a good rule of thumb. 

If you rouse as a habit, then when bottling you will always know 
that you are starting with 1 volume of CO2 in the green beer and
base your carbonation calculations on that number.  This will lead
to more consistent and repeatable carbonation. 

You can and should rouse without opening the fermenter.  You can 
do this by simply tilting and swirling the fermenter vigorously.  
It's easy to tilt a typical glass carboy and swirl the contents.  
Since there is no air nor oxygen in the sealed fermenter, no matter 
how vigorous the rouse, you can not aerate the beer.

I rouse all my batches.  After the primary fermentation has peaked,
I'll rouse morning and night until I am ready for the secondary (if
I'm using one).  I also rouse in the secondary until I am 2-3 days
away from bottling.  The last 2-3 days I let the secondary sit 
undisturbed to allow the yeast to settle and the brew to clear.  

Domenick Venezia
Venezia & Company, LLC
Maker of PrimeTab
(206) 782-1152  phone
(206) 782-6766  fax orders
demonick at zgi dot com
http://www.primetab.com



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Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 12:22:45 -0500
From: "Barrett, Bob (R.A.)" <rbarrett at ford.com>
Subject: Experience with Alconox

Has anyone had any experience using Alconox for cleaning their brewing
equipment 
(carboys, stainless, plastic, etc)?  This is an industrial cleaner for the
pharmaceutical,
laboratory, medical device and food and dairy industries.  The literature
says it is safe for all
the types of materials we use for brewing (glass, copper, stainless,
plastic, rubber, etc).  It is
biodegradable.

Here is what's in it:
ALCONOX consists primarily of a homogeneous blend of sodium linear alkylaryl
sulfonate,
alcohol sulfate, phosphates, carbonates. ALCONOX is anionic in nature.

Not really sure what all that means to me, but maybe someone else out there
does.  It does
say that it is excessively foamy, but that it rinses without residue.  I can
get this stuff for next
to nothing (that means almost free), so price is not the issue here.  Or
maybe price IS the
issue????  I just want to know if the ingredients are compatible with beer
making.

We make the beer we drink!!!
Bob Barrett




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Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 13:03:00 -0500
From: EdgeAle at cs.com
Subject: RE: Blue camping pad as insulator, water additions in ounces


Strom Thacker asks about using camping pads to insulate a direct fire 
Mash-Tun.

Plastic pads will melt and burn, giving off toxic smoke. If you want to use 
them I would remove them during direct firing and only put them around the 
Mash-Tun during rests. This can be quick and easy using velcro or just bungee 
cords to hold them on.

Pete asks about water additions in ounces.

On my JavaScript brewing water spreadsheet I allow either grams or ounces to 
be used. The number of ounces per gram for the additions is generally 
inaccurate as everyone packs a tsp differently, but as AJ & John Palmer have 
mentioned, it is good enough to get close to the water profiles. Here are the 
numbers I use, which I took from various brewing books and magazine articles. 
You could try using them with a calculator to do your own promash conversions.

List of Water Additives & grams/tsp:
Gypsum 4.0 grams/tsp
Epsom Salts 4.5
Calcium Cloride 3.4
Calcium Cloride ??
Sodium Cloride 6.5
Chalk 1.8
Baking Soda 4.4

Dana


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Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 14:35:29 -0600
From: Mark <infidel at springnet1.com>
Subject: Dumb question? Phils Phalse bottom

I was wondering whether on not the Phils Phalse bottom can be used in a
direct fired mash/lauter tun? Or will it deform considering it has some
contact with the kettle? And btw, what type of plastic is the Phils
Phalse bottom made of?

Thanks very much,
Mark



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Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 15:51:47 EST
From: Jebbly at aol.com
Subject: (no subject)

Help.  I'm desperately looking for Guiness postcards.  Old or new, I don't 
care.  Does anyone have any for sale or can someone point me in the right 
direction.  The hopstore no longer carries them.

Thanks in advance.

Dave Grommons


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Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 13:40:15 -0800 (PST)
From: Beaverplt <beaverplt at yahoo.com>
Subject: Old Stuff

Thanks for the tremendous response to my query. The
vote was 4-2 for tossing the hops and unanimous for
using the yeast. Unfortunately, it was all for naught.


I have to tell a story. When SWMBO and I first started
co-habitating she looked in my refridgerator and saw,
among other things, a dozen eggs that were a couple of
weeks past the expiration date. As she's tossing them
down the garbage disposal I asked what she was doing
to which she replied "These eggs are old look at the
date". I asked her if she checked to see if they were
bad before tossing them all. Her reply "no, they were
past the expiration date. We got into a mild argument
about the value of expiration dates and went on to
other things. Other things included SWMBO doing some
baking. Guess what she needed? She meekly asked me to
go to the store to get some eggs for her. After
reminding her that she just destroyed some perfectly
good eggs I went in search of eggs. I returned a half
an hour later and handed 2 eggs to her. She asked
"Where's the rest of them". I replied "In the garbage,
I thought I'd save you the trouble of tossing them
later". 

After that story, guess what happened to my old stuff
without my knowledge before I posted my question
yesterday? 

Thanks again

Beaver



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Date: Tue, 09 Jan 2001 16:57:28 -0500
From: "FatCat" <fatcat at homebrew.com>
Subject: Misinformation - though likely well intentioned.

A recent poster wrote:

"No, there is no problem doing this, 
but it won't do any sanitising. Alcohol 
level needs to be around 80% and then you 
need fairly long contact times to be 
effective, plus not all organisms are 
knocked out. "

in reference to using ethyl alcohol 
(ETOH)to sanitize previously cleaned 
surfaces (carboys).  
This is erroneous on two counts.  

First, ETOH is equally effective in 
concentrations from 50% (volume) to 
95%, depending on the amount of 
organic material present (moot in 
this case as the object was physically 
clean).  It is not recommended at 
concentrations greater than 95%.  
The usually recommended range for 
routine asepsis is 50-70%.

Secondly, the contact time to kill 
a wide variety of truly nasty buggers 
(oh dear, they can't actually do that, well maybe the pili.., can they)
 is usually considered to be no more 
than 30 seconds (in the case of 
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as long as 90 
seconds) for common vegetative bacteria.  
Alcohols will kill some sporeformers 
(oh Heavens, here comes the botulism 
thread again)but that may best be left 
to other compounds.  Isopropanol is 
considered to be more active, somewhat, 
than ethanol, but it could make a muck 
of the beer.

At the risk of being accused of being an 
impudent, effite, data-quoting snob 
(with regrets to Spiro Agnew) the 
following references may be useful:

1.  Block. Disinfection, Sterilization 
and Preservation, 3rd Ed. Pg 228., 1983.
2. Murray, et al. Manual of Clinical 
Microbiology, 7th Ed. Pg. 149, 1999.

God Save the Queen  
(but the Prince of Wales 
is a rum bugger, what)





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Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 18:19:32 -0500
From: "George de Piro" <gdepiro at mindspring.com>
Subject: RE:  Whirlpool/cooling delay and increased bitterness

Hi all,

This one is a little old, but I haven't noticed a reply, although it is
becoming pretty easy to miss the actual beer-related posts on the HBD these
days, lost amongst the flotsam and jetsam as they are.

Steve wrote, back on 1 Jan. :

"While reviewing Miller's Homebrewing Guide, I came across his opinion that
aroma hops placed in at the end of the boil added almost as much bitterness
(as bittering hops) when the boil is whirlpooled and left to sit for 30
minutes. Can this be accurate?"

Back to me:

Sure, this can be accurate, although perhaps a bit hyperbolized.  Have you
ever noticed how if you put so-called aroma hops in at the end of your boil,
then whirlpool and cool using a CounterFlow (CF) heat exchanger (HE) that
the resulting beer doesn't have all that much hop aroma?  Why is this?
Because the hops were steeped in nearly boiling wort for an extra 30-75
minutes!

I first noticed this effect as a homebrewer when I switched from my
immersion chiller to my CF.  This increased hop utilization may at first be
seen as the bane of CF chillers, but closer scrutiny will reveal that this
property can be a blessing.

All of my recipes are formulated with the whirlpool settling time and
chilling time factored in.  I use on hop charge 60 minutes before the end of
all boils for my bittering hops.  Flavor hops get added when the heat is
turned off and the wort is then whirlpooled immediately and allowed to
settle 20-30 minutes (the time it takes me to pitch the yeast).

The addition of hops immediately prior to whirlpool will leave a very small
amount of hop aroma in the beer.  If I want more, I will put hops into a
fine-mesh sack (a homebrewer's lautering bag, actually) and hold them over
the kettle outlet while transferring the wort to the heat exchanger and
fermentor.  It's sort of a very simple, primitive hop back.  It actually
works surprisingly well.

How can this delay in wort cooling be a blessing, as I mentioned a couple of
paragraphs ago?  Simple:  You get to use fewer hops to achieve the desired
level of bitterness because you get increased isomerization efficiency, or
you can shorten your boil (saving energy and thus money) and still achieve
your utilization target.

As for predicting the increased efficiency:  IBU testing may be useful, but
only if the exact same beer recipe is repeated very carefully with the steep
time being the only variable.  Why?  Because the spectrophotometric IBU test
published in the ASBC text is a pretty poor analytical test.  I ran this
test many times when I was still working as an analytical chemist for a
pharmaceutical company (the benefits of a lab job for a homebrewer).  The
precision and accuracy problems inherent in this test made it laughable by
pharmaceutical standards.

At the GABF this past October I spoke with some chemists from A-B and asked
quite bluntly:  "So, what do you guys think of the spectrophotometric IBU
test as far as accuracy and precision?"

They laughed.

We then talked about the obvious flaws:  you are doing a very chemically
dirty extraction of substances from the beer and then reading it at a
wavelength at which many compounds can interfere.  The test works OK on
relatively clean samples, such as standard American-style lager or Low-cal
Lager, but reliability decreases as the samples become more characterful.

For this reason, I stay away from even estimated IBUs of my beers.  When a
customer asks how many IBUs are in a particular brew, I either tell them to
taste it and tell me, or I'll tell them the grams of alpha acid I put in the
brew kettle and let them do what they will with the information.

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



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Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 13:51:18 +1100
From: "Helen Pay" <hpay at optusnet.com.au>
Subject: Still On Holidays - Phil Yates

Steve Alexander is wondering about changes in the new year and beer content
appearing in my posts.
But Steve, I did promise to change my ways this year. I can't account for
Jeff Renner's new obsession except to say he must be having a lot of fun
with his new GPS.

We are still on holidays and I have just got my hands on a computer. Helen
Pay BTW is one of the Billiard Room ladies (actually Jill's younger sister).
We are staying with her in her home by the beach. I've tried quite a few
beers in my travels (well as best variety as you can generally get in
Australia - which isn't great) and must admit I am homesick for my brew in
Burradoo. You just can't beat the freshness that brewing your own assures.

 It is interesting to note that finally in Australia the micro brewing
industry is slowly emerging and I notice more and more people taking an
interest in different beers. Even on the south coast of NSW there is variety
that once never existed.
As time goes by I hope to see more of this develope. It can only be good for
the homebrewing industry that people are more aware of brewing alternatives
beyond the modern Aussie swill.

But I'll think more about all of that when I get back to Burradoo in a week
or so. Just right now, I'm trotting back down to the beach.

Cheers
Phil




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Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 22:13:44 EST
From: Epic8383 at aol.com
Subject: Wild Hop Bitterness

     I seem to remember reading Charlie P's simple method of determining wild 
hop bitterness, it goes somthing like this...
     Take a small quantity of a known hop and the wild hop and make two teas 
with them, boiling for at least 15 min. to get some iso-alpha in the teas. 
Using a very small measured amount of sugar in each will help pull out the 
bitterness as it doesn't work too well in straight water. Prepare a glass of 
sugar water to use as a diluent. Tasting the teas and measuring how much 
sugar water it takes to cover the bitterness of each will give you an 
approximate ratio of the known bitterness to the wild. This won't tell you 
much about the chemical profile of the wild hop, but it also won't cost 
nearly as much as a laser-guided-photo-spectro-refracto-exacto-megabuckmeter! 
    A very basic rule of thumb (there are exceptions) with respect to 
cultivated hops is, high alphas are usually poor flavor/aromas and vice 
versa. It's very possible that your wild hops could be low alpha and taste 
lousy, so don't commit to them until you taste them!
   Gus Rappold
   Massapequa, NY
   Unknown Lat/Long
   Unknown Rennerian
   Reasonably close to two confluences, although one is about 1/2 mile out on 
Long Island Sound


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Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 14:11:58 +1100
From: Alan Davies <afjc at cnl.com.au>
Subject: Mashing

To Rich Sieben,
The smell is hard to describe it doesnt smell like beer it is just off.
And the taste is not a true hop taste. It is bitter but not good. Head
is o.k. but  retention.is poor.the beer is not clear but is opaque.
I had a good smell of an empty drum. All it smells like is malt, if the
beer smelt the same I would be happy.
My cleaning schedule is Sodium Metabisulphite into the fermentng drums,
two teaspoons into a gallon of water leave overnight and rinse.
Kegs  and Rim system are cleaned with half a cup of Sodium Hypochloride
 .And rinsed with cold water.
Mashing schedule, The grain is mashed via a motorised Valley Mill on
setting 3 the night before mashing.A motorised mixer is used with
the.mash at 30 revs per minute.Brewing and grinding are not carried out
in the same area.
Strike temp is 175 F. with bottom 165 F in a single infusion. 160 F with
bottom 150 F in two step mash. Temp is gradually increased to 175 F.
Both these are increased over 1 1/2 hour  period.. Sparge temp is up to
180F. Boiling period is 1 to 1 1/2 hour.A coil is used to cool the
system down this takes approx 20 minutes to bring back to 40 C the whole
lot is left overnight to cool back to pitching Temp and pitched next
day.
A typical 10 gallon  receipt would be.
Pale barley            7 KG
Crystal               300 Gms
Demara sugar     500   "
Goldings 60- 15- 10 Fuggles 30 Gms. H.B.U units 10.8.
Yeast Pacific Ale 2 packets.
Notes from my last mash are.
Grind at three, strike temp 60C water volume into mash 30 litres.
Stiring continuously
raise temp to 66C over a 1 1 /2 hour period. Drain mash, sparge with
ballance of water at 70C. Boil for a 1/2 hours adding hops at start of
boil.Disolve sugar before adding to boil. Switch off heat add 15 grams
of goldings let soak 15 minutes. Fit cooling coil bring temp down to 40
C. Pitch yeast next morning . Original Sg 1.042 at 24C finished 1.006 a
n alcohol of 5.04.
I trust what has been put down here will be of help to you. Regards.
Big Al



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Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 22:23:51 -0500 (EST)
From: Hop_Head at webtv.net
Subject: Converted keg mashing vessel

I am currently designing a all-grain recirculating system. I am trying
to decide if I should put the drain in the bottom of the mashing vessel
or go through the side and use a siphon type drain. Does anyone have any
opinion on which system is better? I would like to know the pro's and
con's of each system.



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