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FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
re: Zinc in your Wort ("Stephen Alexander")
Air lock on conical ("Bruce Garner")
re: Oxygen in the mash and starch conversion ("Stephen Alexander")
Direct-Fired RIMS ("Gustave Rappold")
re: cylindroconical advantages ("Stephen Alexander")
King Kooker Burner Assemblies (Tony Barnsley)
Wheats? (cmmundt)
Cleaning CF Chiller ("Bridges, Scott")
Re: Stone Beer (The Brews Traveler)
Copper in chillers, melting hoses, and cleaning ("Michael G. Zentner")
Re: Stein bier - Stone beer ("S. SNYDER")
Think you had a bad brew day? ("Eric Fouch")
zinc supplementation ("Alan Meeker")
starch degradation ("Alan Meeker")
Calibrating Thermometers (JDPils)
conical draining (The Freemans)
counterflow sanitizing (The Freemans)
A Double Brew Warning!!! (Brad Miller)
Stones for Steinbier (Richard Foote)
Food Grade Hose (Wayne Aldrich)
Hydrolysis/NIST (AJ)
Another defective conical... ("Daniel C Stedman")
RE: Another defective conical... ("Daniel C Stedman")
RE:cleaning chillers ("Joseph Marsh")
Re: North Tampa area Beer (Joel Eledge)
RE: Hops: Pellets vs. Cakes... (The Man From Plaid)
Maximum usage of hops ("Mike Pensinger")
Cleaning CF Chiller ("Bridges, Scott")
Aeration ("Axle Maker")
Indianapolis ("Marc Hawley")
FW: Chest freezer conversion advice. ("Steve Guernsey")
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Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1999 02:43:22 -0500
From: "Stephen Alexander" <steve-alexander at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: re: Zinc in your Wort
patrick finerty jr asks ...
>can someone please tell me what an acceptable final conc of Zn is in
>wort?
Actually no - no one can tell ...dependent on strain. Lack of Zn prevents
budding and reduces certain enzyme activities. High Zn levels can inhibit
growth and speed autolysis.
Manganese above 0.4ppm will permit high levels of Zn (65ppm) w/o any
inhibition of growth (Jones & Greenfield, Process Biochem 19(2):48-60,
1984). Otherwise 2ppm of Zn is the level at which growth inhibition begins
when Mn is below 0.4ppm.
M&BS suggests an *addition* of 0.2ppm zinc chloride (~0.1ppm Zn) accelerates
many fermentations, which isn't to say that more might not cause further
acceleration (or not). If we assume 0.2ppm Zn is typical of wort (as per
AJ deLange's measurements in the archives) then we're at 0.3ppm of zinc.
Several sources provide figures of 4 to 8 microMol(0.26ppm to 0.52ppm) of Zn
as sufficient for growth reqs.
My original practice & experiments added 0.3ppm Zn, and somehow (without
recording why) I've slipped that to about 0.5ppm. Still 0.3ppm Zn addition
(+~0.2ppm in wort) sounds closer to the upper end of the text range.
>my current plan is to simply add the Zn to the primary so that i avoid
>any ppt that may occur during the boil.
Excellent idea. I think an addition between 0.1ppm to 0.4ppm of zinc (0.2
to 0.8ppm of ZnCl2) is the right range for experimentation, and nothing in
that range is likely to be inhibitory. Zinc chloride is fairly soluble in
water - makes for an easy way to measure these tiny doses (0.2ppm of ZnCL2
is only 3.8mg per 5gal fermenter).
-Steve
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 03:08:33 -0600
From: "Bruce Garner" <bpgarner at mailbag.com>
Subject: Air lock on conical
Lou King writes:
I am using my new conical fermenter for the first time.
I realize if I open the bottom port to let the trub out, it will pull the
solution out of my fermentation lock.
I write:
Why not use a long hose of adequate diameter. Run the hose down the side of
the fermenter to a jar of water like the pros do. That way the negative
pressure will pull some liquid up the hose, to be pushed back down again. If
you don't want to do that you may want to switch to an s curve two bubble
chamber style fermentation lock that can bubble both directions. The small
amount of air shouldn't be a big deal. I ferment in an open container with
plastic wrap draped over the top to keep the dust out.
Bruce Garner in Madison, WI
Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1999 04:15:48 -0500
From: "Stephen Alexander" <steve-alexander at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: re: Oxygen in the mash and starch conversion
Dave Says ...
>Can anyone please tell me where the oxygen atoms come from which are
>needed to fill up the empty valences every time a (1-4) glucose-glucose
>bond is broken?
Oxygen ? We don't need no steenking oxygen !
When a 1-4 bond is broken by 'hydrolysis' [hint hint 'hydro' (water)
'lysis' (degradation)] a water molecule is dissociated into an -H and a -OH.
The hydrogen goes to one side of the split and the -OH (hydroxyl) to the
other, filling the missing valence charges.
Glucose is a 6 sided ring structure where one of the ring molecules is an
oxygen, the other 5 are carbons. There is also a single carbon hanging off
to the side and enough -H and -OH attached (not shown) to make everyone
electrically happy.
Horrid ascii art:
C O
\ / \
C C
| |
C C
\ /
C
The carbons in the ring are labeled 1 thru 5 going clockwise from the 1
o'clock position. The out-hanger carbon 'tail of the kite' is #6. In a
1-4 bonded situation like maltose, carbon #1 of one glucose and carbon #4 (7
o'clock position, opposite #1) of another glucose are linked with an oxygen
molecule in between - it's called an O-glycosyl bond.
xxxC-O-Cyyy
Add an H2O molecule and we can split both & get
xxxC-OH HO-Cyyy
- ----
Actually there is a little scam in the description above. The glucose will
twitch between a couple conformations faster than blazes, but
diagrammatically it holds water.
To produce 5 gallons of well attenuated 12P wort from malt causes about 2.5
fluid ounces of water to disappear by hydrolysis. The yeast use a somewhat
smaller amount of water while hydrolyzing the maltose and maltotriose.
Explains why you're always half a bottle short when bottling ;^)
Go to
http://ull.chemistry.uakron.edu/biochem/08/
and click on disaccharides for a nice diagram of maltose's 1-4 bond.
-Steve
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 4:24:48 -0500
From: "Gustave Rappold" <grappold at earthlink.net>
Subject: Direct-Fired RIMS
Hi Everyone,
I'm back (on Earthlink) and AOL sucks. Once I get a picture of my setup
on my free little webpage, I'll post the address for y'all to criticize ;)
Marc's observation of his direct-fired RIMS is right on the money. I've
been cranking out some pretty good beers on mine and NEVER scorched a mash.
Having a burner for each 1/2 keg helps enormously!!
It's amazing how SWMBO will practically push you out the door while
pressing cash into your hand to go buy equipment that will get you out of
her kitchen for good. Hell, she'll probably drive you to the store, too!!
Gus
- --- Gustave Rappold
- --- grappold at earthlink.net
- --- EarthLink: It's your Internet.
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 06:11:58 -0500
From: "Stephen Alexander" <steve-alexander at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: re: cylindroconical advantages
Steve Claussen says of CC fermenters ...
>In addition to making yeast harvesting WAY easier,
>efficient and less messy, I can think of at least the
>following advantages:
Efficient but you'll never re-pitch more than half the yeast. Less messy
but you have to clean up the exposed valve etc on a full fermenter
afterward. Harvest is way easier but pointless since most could only afford
one such fermenter. Just where are you going to pitch that freshly
harvested yeast anyway ?
...
>1) trub removal with the flick of a valve
And constant attention looking for end-of-trub.
>5) side port makes sediment free transfers easy
The sideport design brings up questions of either how
clean is the resulting beer vs how much good beer is left
behind. Always a tradeoff that requires adjustment and the
levels are behind opaque stainless.
Still I'll grant you 1) and 5) as advantages.
Item 4) and 7) just repeat items 1) & 5).
Items 2), 3) and 6) are just advantages of a stainless
fermenter with a decent size aperture. Corny's
would have the same advantages at 1/10th the
cost.
Assuming CCs still run $400 - would you really tie up your only fermenter
for many weeks w/ 3.5 gallons of barleywine ? Have you never had three
brews bubbling at once ?
The conical bottom slope should permit trub and flocculent yeast removal
cleanly, given constant attention. The saving of the transfer labor and
sanitizing steps is offset somewhat by the infection potential around the
valve and the necessity to clean this (w/ a full fermenter attached) after
removing trub or yeast.
It's still just a racking cane alternative to me. If you had 2 or three it
would make a lot more sense.
-S
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 12:38:08 -0000
From: Tony Barnsley <tony.barnsley at blackpool.gov.uk>
Subject: King Kooker Burner Assemblies
Hi Oh Great And knowledgeable Collective,
Having finally found a supply of 22 (UK) gallon stainless kegs for brewing
vessel conversion, I am now looking forward to the next evolution of the
Schwarzbad brewery. The next evolution will be 22 gallon HLT and boiler and
an 11 gallon Mash Tun. Even with 240 Volt Supply I have an inkling that the
50 Amp supply that I am putting in to the outbuilding will still not provide
a rapid enough heating capacity to enable a shortish brew day. So I have to
move to High Pressure propane.
Now in the UK we are not fortunate in having a wide supply of Propane burner
assemblies. (A 43K BTU Propane 'furnace' costing over 100ukp sans regulator!
Is just one example). A brewing colleague has a very nice burner that he got
from the US which is the cast burner body from a King Cooker. The burner
isn't a ring Cajun cooker type and neither is it a single jet, I guess its a
hybrid. His was trans shipped with some other bits and pieces indirectly
from Metal Fusion, now the reason for Trans Shipping is that MF are not that
happy dealing outside of the US. I want a couple of these Burners (Model
PK84), but before I try and get some, does anyone know if there is a more
powerful version? I'm not all that interested in a Jet type burner. I know
that the 84K BTU will probably be more BTU's than I require, but a little /
lot more spare capacity is always a nice thing.
I'm not interested in complete burners, I only want the burner body, and I
brew outside so CO / Explosive gas build up is not an issue / is an issue I
am already aware of. I can get Hi pressure adjustable regulators fairly
easily and sort of cheaply along with needle valves for flame control.
Anybody got an online source for such burner bodies?
TIA
- --
Wassail!
The Scurrilous Aleman (ICQ 46254361)
Schwarzbad Lager Brauerei, Blackpool, Lancs, UK
( Ok Dr Pivo I could call it the Schwarzteiche, Black pond as opposed to
Black bath, but I like the original :> )
UK HOMEBREW - A Forum on Home Brewing in the UK
Managed by home brewers for home brewers
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Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 08:07:29 -0500
From: cmmundt at AircraftBraking.com
Subject: Wheats?
Hi All,
I plan on brewing my first all-grain wheat beer this weekend and I had
some questions about wheat types. The recipe I was basing my batch on
called for using raw wheat. I do not have raw wheat easily accessible, I
can get it but it will require a little effort, while I can get torrified
wheat and flaked wheat with no effort. I was wondering what is the
difference(s) between these three types of wheat and their contributions to
the finished beer. Also, how long of a protein rest should I do with
torrified or flaked wheat. I plan on using 50-55% of the grist wheat.
Thanks,
Chad Mundt
cmmundt at aircraftbraking.com
Wadsworth, OH
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 08:31:05 -0500
From: "Bridges, Scott" <ScottBridges at sc.slr.com>
Subject: Cleaning CF Chiller
Bob asks:
>Subject: How to clean counterflow chiller?
Here is my routine. Possibly overkill, but since you can't see in there, I
tend to err on the side of too much rather than too little.
1. Flush with boiling water
2. Run Bbrite (or your favorite cleaning agent) through
3. Flush with boiling water
4. Sanitize with iodophor
I do this both before and after use, except that I skip the last step after
use. BTW, I just bought pump #2 for my system, and the next time will
employ the CIF routine you mentioned.
Hope this helps.
Scott
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 06:48:39 -0700
From: The Brews Traveler <BrewsTraveler at adamsco-inc.com>
Subject: Re: Stone Beer
> Need a source of Graywacke for making some stone beer. Any
> help will be greatly appreciated? Anyone in the Northwest or
> Pacific coast brewing stone beer?
I cannot help you find graywacke in the Great Northwest but you can also
use pink granite (which may also be hard to find up there) which you
might be able to purchase at a landscaping yard.
If you are interested I put together a article on my experiences with
the 'style':
http://www.adamsco-inc.com/BrewsTraveler/Main/howto/steinbier/
- --
John Adams
The Brews Traveler
http://www.adamsco-inc.com/BrewsTraveler
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 08:51:25 -0500
From: "Michael G. Zentner" <zentner at laf.cioe.com>
Subject: Copper in chillers, melting hoses, and cleaning
"Jones, Steve (I/T)" <stjones at eastman.com> writes:
> Then I turn on
> the chilling water and divert the output of the pump into my fermenter. With
> the boiling wort running thru it during the sanitation cycle, any place the
> inner line touched the outer line would have gotten a vinyl hose very hot,
> maybe hot enough to weaken it or even melt a hole in it.
>
The hose does get hot, but it does not melt, and it doesn't
seem to be permanently damaged by running boiling water
through the chiller. I would have been more worried about
the effect of heat on the pump (unless it's built for such
temperatures), but it sounds like you have not had any
problems with that.
and "R.M. Opalko" <opalko at ebicom.net> writes:
> My question is, what is the best way to clean/sanitize the inside of the
> copper tubing? I know Dave Miller recommends a CIP system that includes a
> recirculating pump, but I don't have and don't forsee one in the future. So
> far what I have been doing is, after I'm done brewing, reusing the warm
> water runoff back into one of the kettles. I boil that water and run it
> back through the counterflow chiller. It clears out any gunk, but do I need
> to do more? I mean, it seems like boiling water should kill anything living
> in there? But do I need to re-sanitize before the next session? How?
>
Try to devise a cleaning method that fits in with your
brewing process. For example, in mine, I always seem to
have a 5 gallon batch of heavy bleach water making its way
around the system. It starts in my feeder bucket (for the
chiller), and ends up sanitizing my carboy (in fact, it's
usually from another carboy that has recently been
bottled). I run the bleach solution through the chiller.
Then I boil a few gallons of water to run through the
chiller afterwards to get rid of the bleach solution. I
save some of the cooling water outflow to run through the
chiller after the wort has made its way through, so I don't
sanitize "after" the process, I just rinse. I have not had
any contaminations doing it this way, but YES, I think you
ought to sanitize before you brew even if you have done so
after your last brew. If it's had any exposure to air in
between, who knows what could be in there?
Most importantly, anyone building one of these things ought
to take to heart the following advice. Copper tubing has
been machined, and often will have machine oils on the
inside. If you intend for your hot wort to contact the
inside of the tubing, make sure you try to clean it. I did
not initially do this, and I noticed little oily flecs on
top of whatever came out of it. Whether they are
significant or not, they bothered me enough to uncoil the
thing and go through some serious cleaning. I tried running
household solvents through it, but that did not work.
Finally, I squirted a lot of dishwasher fluid into it, and
snaked stiff wire through it (had to go at it from both
sides and hook up in the middle), then attached wet paper
towels/rags on the ends and repeatedly dragged them through
until they stopped coming out brown/black. If you want to
know whether your tubing is dirty, cut off a few inches and
try wiping around in there with a soapy cotton swab.
Last of all, if you haven't built one of these, but want to,
I will send you the directions I used for mine (just drop me
an email asking for it). It's not the only way to build one
and may not even be the best, but use them as you will.
Also, just another note, all of my friends use immersion
chillers, and their beers are just fine. All told, the
immersion chiller seems like a lot less of a hassle to use
(it just doesn't give me the same satisfaction of knowing
that all my wort is being chilled).
Mike Zentner
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 08:53:17 -0500
From: "S. SNYDER" <SSNYDER at LBGHQ.com>
Subject: Re: Stein bier - Stone beer
Steve spouted:
>>Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2001 15:52:14 -0500
>>From: "Hill, Steve" <SHill at advanta.com>
>>Subject: Stone Beer
>>Need a source of Graywacke for making some stone beer. Any help will be
>>greatly appreciated? Anyone in the Northwest or Pacific coast brewing
stone
>>beer?
>>Steve
Steve,
Any particular reason you would want a Graywacke? Seeing as though it is
"now generally applied to a dark gray firmly indurated coarse-grained
sandstone that consists of poorly sorted angular to subangular grains of
quartz and feldspar, with a variety of dark rock and mineral fragments,
embedded in a compact clayey matrix having the general composition of slate,
and containing and abundance of very fine-grained illite, sericite, and
chloritic minerals," (Dictionary of Geological Terms, Bates and Jackson) (I
know how everyone here likes references)
why would you necessarily want a graywacke?
Seriously though, is there any particular reason you have to have a
greywacke? I would think that the igneous rocks (granite, trap rock
(basalt), etc.) would give you a much longer heat retention time and make
your life easier for a stone beer. I would think that the graywacke, which
is a low temperature rock would heat up and cool off far quicker than an
igneous or even metamorphic (schist, gneiss, slate) rock. Being in the area
of the northwest you have quite a bit of basalt (the Columbia River Basalt
flows). Even the volcanics would be of use and would hold their temps
longer than a greywacke.
If you are making a Stein bier, I would be surprised if the "rock of the
day" for making stone beer in Germany was a graywacke.
Check the local quarry. If they can't help you with finding a greywacke,
they could certainly set you up with some basalt.
Scott Snyder
Senior Geologist
Leggette, Brashears & Graham, Inc.
Trumbull, CT 06611
ssnyder at lbghq.com
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 08:58:40 -0500
From: "Eric Fouch" <airrick147 at hotmail.com>
Subject: Think you had a bad brew day?
Lets see what f%ck#ng went wrong with Saturday's Belgian White session!
-I used 4# instead of 3# of wheat.
-The immersion heater contacted the CPVC drain manifold, causing a nasty
smelling smoke to rise up out of the mashtun.
-The control thermocouple was too close to the heater, causing a 20 degree
discrepancy. (mashed at 135- no REAL biggie)
-The Stepson's car blew the alternator belt, so I had to go pick him up.
-The mash didn't stick, but I had to sparge 7 gallons to get the sugars out,
necessitating a 3 hour boil (bad conversion, had to boil down to 4 gallons
for 1.045 wort)
-The aforementioned bad conversion
-Fight with wife (pretty much a continuation from last night)
-Stormed out for leisurely lunch at Wendy's (during the three hour donkey
d#ck-s%ck#ng boil) and was laughed at by high school hotties because I was
wearing red sweat pants, white socks and loafers.
-The m$th at rscr!tch#ng tension system on the alternator would not work, so I
had to use an hydraulic jack and a 5" long 3/8" rachet extension to jack the
d!mn alternator in place.
-The stopper on the starter flask popped into the starter.
The 4 gallons of too-dark, scorched, greasy Monkey-Wrench White is happily
churning in the fermenter.
Who wants a bottle?
Eric Fouch
Monkey Wrench YocotBrewery
Kentwood, MI
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 09:18:45 -0500
From: "Alan Meeker" <ameeker at mail.jhmi.edu>
Subject: zinc supplementation
Patrick Finerty is thinking about performing some zinc experiments -
"can someone please tell me what an acceptable final conc of Zn is in
wort? I'll do the expt with two 5 gal carboys (+Zn and no Zn added)
with a couple of strains and report the results.
my current plan is to simply add the Zn to the primary so that I avoid
any ppt that may occur during the boil."
Glad to hear that you're interested in checking into this! Values I have
seen for desired /final/ zinc concentrations in wort fermentations are
between 0.2 - 0.5 ppm. Though it obviously will vary, a typical 12P wort
supposedly has 0.10 - 0.15 mg/L to start out with.
I think you are right in adding it to the primary so as to minimize losses
from precipitation.
Just a thought but it sounds like you grow your yeast starters the same way
I do and given that you're pitching a lot of very healthy yeast it may be
that you won't see any dramatic effects for the various additions.
-Alan Meeker
Baltimore, MD
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 09:29:55 -0500
From: "Alan Meeker" <ameeker at mail.jhmi.edu>
Subject: starch degradation
David asks:
"Can anyone please tell me where the oxygen atoms come from which are
needed to fill up the empty valences every time a (1-4) glucose-glucose
bond is broken? I've looked in my sources and could not find the
subject addressed anywhere."
The amylase reactions are typical hydrolytic reactions which means that the
glycosidic bond is broken with addition of a water so this is the source of
your oxygen (water).
-Alan Meeker
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 10:04:07 EST
From: JDPils at aol.com
Subject: Calibrating Thermometers
Pete brings up the most important point about temperature control, which is
the fact that we all have significant variation in our mash tuns. This is
certainly true of mine. The main focus of hitting the correct temperature
for me is to initially limit my high temp. I have always pondered adding a
mixer to my mash tun for this reason and hence why I am a frequent mash
stirrer.
Cheers,
Jim Dunlap
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 09:52:03 -0600
From: The Freemans <potsus at Bellsouth.net>
Subject: conical draining
Morning Lou,
I have a B3 conical that I now do not know how I lived without.
Congrats on your purchase.
When draining trub or taking samples, I simply remove the ferm lock.
The small amount of O2 you draw in is pushed back out fairly quickly
once the process is completed. The CO2 blanket is thick enough to
resist any intrusion by the incoming air.
Another alternative is to use vodka or some such in the lock so that if
any is ingested it won't make any difference in the first place. It is
not necessary to run the lock completely full either.
Hope this helps.
Bill Freeman aka Elder Rat
K P Brewery - home of "the perfesser"
Birmingham, AL
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 09:57:55 -0600
From: The Freemans <potsus at Bellsouth.net>
Subject: counterflow sanitizing
I have always had good results in sanitizing my counterflow by
essentially doing what you have outlined. A thorough rinse after using
plus I take an additional step by running StarSan or iodophor through
the chiller and storing it with the liquid inside. When comes time to
use it again, I boil up 4-5 gallons of water and flush it out again. An
occasional treatment of PBW will thoroughly clean it out.
Bill Freeman aka Elder Rat
K P Brewery - home of "the perfesser"
Birmingham, AL
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 08:30:24 -0800
From: Brad Miller <millerb at targen.com>
Subject: A Double Brew Warning!!!
Well last week I decided that as long as I was brewing and
going through all the trouble to clean everything up that I'd brew
twice in one day. The plan was to make a BoHo pils and then an
Octoberfest. Things went well, I had a great use of time. When I
got the first batch boiling I started to heat up the strike water for
the second batch. The nice part was that I didn't have to clean out
all of the grains from the tun or flush the lines. That's the nice
part about a dullie, you only have to clean things totally out once!
(or so I thought) So after the first batch was in the primaries, I
scooped out all the hops I could grab and started to ruin off the
next batch. When all was said and done it only took about 10 hours
to make 24 gallons of beer.
Now come the warning. When I started to clean up the kettle
after the second batch I found something really bad. When I removed
my hop screen I found some charcoal! What had happened was that
since I didn't clean out the kettle between batches a lot of break
material had gotten trapped under the screen and gotten burnt on the
next batch. A week has past and the gravity has dropped about 20
points and the burnt taste is starting to come out. I'm not sure how
bad it will be when it is done fermenting but it can't get better.
So the moral of the story is, doing a double brew day is an
efficient use of time but make sure you clean out the kettle or
you'll loose the second batch.
Brad
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 12:31:40 -0500
From: Richard Foote <rfoote at mindspring.com>
Subject: Stones for Steinbier
Steve Hill wrote:
>Need a source of Graywacke for making some stone beer. Any help will be
>greatly appreciated? Anyone in the Northwest or Pacific coast brewing stone
>beer?
I'm not sure about sources for the Graywacke used by Rauchenfels in
Germany. This age old style was recently revived by Rauchenfels in the
80's. Is Graywacke necessary or traditional, given the short history
following it's revival? What kinds of stones were used before the advent
of kettles that could take direct heat? While we'd all like to adhere to
the methods and materials used by brewers we admire, sometimes it isn't
possible or practical.
http://www.nobleunion.com/sailer/rauchenfels.html
I've been using granite with good results. I got a bunch from a mason.
They were "scrap" stones to him. It holds up well to the stresses of
heating. It may not "bloom" like Graywacke, but it's serviceable. Boscos
in Nashville uses pink granite gathered on annual trips to the Rockies.
http://boscos.citysearch.com/4.html
Atlanta Brewing Co. brews Kelly's Light using heated stones.
http://www.atlantabrewing.com/core.html
I wash my granite rocks with water and a scrub brush to remove dirt,
lichens, moss, whatever and then dry them in my home oven by heating them
up to 350 or so and then turning off the oven and leaving them in there
overnight. You don't want them popping like popcorn in your fire.
SWMBO: "What's in the oven dear?"
WP: "Ummmm...rocks?"
SWMBO: "Should have known it had something to do with beer."
Build a good hot fire with hardwoods only. Beech is traditional. Again,
use what you have. I use oak mainly. You need a good hot fire with a lot
of coals. Screw any kind of grate to place them on. Throw them right in.
Some may use and/or melt a fan to blow on the fire. I don't. When they're
hot, (I go for 2 hours) get them out using a shovel, long tongs, a rake or
any means necessary. I use an old commercial french fry type basket, which
is nice.
Most of the ashes will fall off the rocks when you take them out. I like
to dunk the rocks, using long-handled tongs, in my hot wort one at a time,
concentrating on each stone. Another method that I've not tried is to
place them in the mash for a type of mash out. There are a lot of
variations possible here. I've dunked them in full volume wort, I've
dunked them in first runnings too. You could also dunk them after the boil.
After they have transferred most of their heat, put them in a corny. I
place the rocks under a CO2 blanket in my brewing fridge to await the
secondary fermentation. Transfer from primary onto the rocks. I'd go a
couple weeks and not too cold at first, since an ale yeast is used
"traditionally".
Recipe formulation:
Steinbier as brewed by Rauchenfels uses a good percentage of wheat malt and
ale yeast. Michael Jackson offers descriptions in his books. Wheat and
pale malts are used. To approximate Rauchenfels, I'd go with 30 to 40%
wheat malt, the balance pale 2 row, with some some munich for a bit of malt
backbone/color and perhaps a little light crystal for color and body. You
want a nice amber color. My frist effort (based on Jackson's descriptions)
was good but way too light. Bittering should be moderate at 24 ibu's or
so. Hop aroma and flavor should be subdued. Let the toffee malt and
slight smoke come through. Choose an ale yeast that can tolerate cold and
accents malt, such as an alt yeast or maybe an Edinburgh strain.
Steinbier is also a manner of brewing as much as it is a style. For my
next effort, I'm going with a lager yeast.
Hope this helps.
Rick Foote
Whistle Pig Brewing
Murrayville, GA
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Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 18:40:20 +0100
From: Aldrich4 at t-online.de (Wayne Aldrich)
Subject: Food Grade Hose
Someone posted a link for food grade high
temperature hoses. I know I bookmarked it
but I cannot find it. The HBD search cannot
find it either. I recently purchased a counterflow
chiller (all copper) and I would like to set up flexible hoses to connect it
between my brewpot and my fermenter. Could someone please post this
link again? Thank you!
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Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 14:12:09 -0400
From: AJ <ajdel at mindspring.com>
Subject: Hydrolysis/NIST
For David:
It's called hydrolysis because water does the job:
H H H H
=C-O-C= + H2O --> =COH + HOC=
"=" symbolizes the two bonds to respecitively carbon and oxygen at the
left and two carbons on the right
For Pete:
I got a good, long chuckle out of "is it NITS or something" but, comeon
folks, be nice. It's NIST.
A.J.
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Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 12:18:32 -0600
From: "Daniel C Stedman" <"daniel_c_stedman" at uhc.com>
Subject: Another defective conical...
Lou King writes:
>I am using my new conical fermenter for the first time.
>I realize if I open the bottom port to let the trub out, it will pull the
>solution out of my fermentation lock. I'm thinking of pulling out the
>little upsidedown cup from the fermentation lock and proceeding.
Hmmm... Looks like another defective conical fermenter. Go ahead and send it to
me & I should be able to fix it for you by November. You should probably send me
a couple of cases of the beer that you have made using this fermentor, too -
this often helps me determine the cause of the problem.
Dan in Minnetonka
(who is still trying to "acquire" a conical fermentor for the upcoming brewing
season)
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Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 12:23:47 -0600
From: "Daniel C Stedman" <"daniel_c_stedman" at uhc.com>
Subject: RE: Another defective conical...
Well, I decided I might as well post something helpful instead of trying to get
everyone to send me their conical fermenters.
I say take the airlock off when you are going to drop yeast/trub out of the
bottom. Someone more anal might even tell you to stuff a piece of cotton in the
airlock port while you are dropping the stuff, since this would potentially
filter out nasties that might otherwise get sucked into your fermenter. But
since your beer is already fermented, this is probably unnecessary. Easy,
though, so what the heck...
Dan in Minnetonka
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Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 14:44:08 -0500
From: "Joseph Marsh" <josephmarsh62 at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE:cleaning chillers
R.M.Opalko asks about chiller sanitation. I just run about 3 gals of boiling
water thru mine and drain it out well then blow a bit of CO2 thru it and cap
all openings. Aluminium foil works for pipe caps. After several brewing
sessions I run some PBW ,Power brew wash thru it.
While were on chillers, I'd just add that most work well and do what they
say they will. So I've heard. I just objected to someone saying a friend of
mines product was no good.
Good brewing,
Joe
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Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 11:41:43 -0800
From: Joel Eledge <joele at sequence.stanford.edu>
Subject: Re: North Tampa area Beer
- -------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: North Tampa area Beer
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 11:24:35 -0800
From: Joel Eledge <joele at sequence.stanford.edu>
Organization: Stanford Genome Technology Center
To: post@ hdb.org
> Can anyone help me with good beer stores in the north Tampa area. I recently
> relocated and can't find much better than Becks and the like from Walgreens.
> ABC liquors has some goodies, but its all in the $7 range.
>
I grew up in North Tampa before moving to San Francisco in 1997. I
used to get imports and micros from a store called World of Beer on
Waters Avenue, just west of Dale Mabry Highway. They had an excellent
selection. The store was right next to the Brew Shack, the homebrew
store that got me started homebrewing. I would highly recommend both
stores, but I haven't checked in on either establishment since moving in
late 1997. I used to think paying $7 was a lot for a six-pack (until I
moved to the Bay Area). Hope this helps.
-Joel
- --
Joel Eledge
Production Engineering Technician
Stanford Genome Technology Center
855 California Ave.
Palo Alto, CA 94304
Tel:(650) 812-2009
Fax: (650) 812-1975
joele at sequence.stanford.edu
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Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 14:54:14 -0500 (EST)
From: The Man From Plaid <pbabcock at hbd.org>
Subject: RE: Hops: Pellets vs. Cakes...
Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager...
"Mr. Shane A. Saylor" <shane.saylor at verizon.net> writes of Hops: Pellets
vs. Cakes...
> Greetings. I have question of great interest. Most
> homebrewers get hop pellets (I assume) because they are the most
> common for of the various hops available. But on The Food Network, I
> was watching Emril Live! with Chef Emril Lagasse. He maid a ale. And
> he had a gent from a NY Brewery on and they were discussing the
> various hops, grains & malts. In his ale, Emril used not hop pellets,
> but HOP CAKES. I assume that the cakes are fresher and therefore add a
> more "hoppy" flavor to the brew. Thoughts???
>
> P.S. What exactly are the PROS & CONS of using pellets vs. cakes?
First, let me say that Emeril Lagasse is a wonder, exquisite, exemplary
chef! Second, let me say that, when looking to emulate someone's brewing
skills and depth, Emeril is a rank novice brewer :-)
The "cakes" that Emeril was using were, from my recollection, what we
refer to as plugs.
The order of "desirability" in terms of freshness and fresh flavors are
generatlly whole hops first, followed by plugs and, finally, pellets. In
terms of accessibility of hop oils to the brew, the rank is pellets,
plugs, then fresh hops. If you want hop FLAVORS, arguably, you'd want to
use the whole hops. If your goal is hop BITTERNESS, you'd likely want the
pellets. Plugs are in the middle. (I prefer whole hops for everything -
particularly for their filtering capabilities in the boil kettle - plugs
have this same feature. Pellets are broken into tiny, siphon plugging
fibers. I find less stem and leaf material in whole hops as well - not
that I'd be able to recognize it in a pellet...)
All hops are harvested and dried in the same manner. Pellets are created
by putting hops through a medieval torture device re-employed to crush the
hops (or whatever else you choose to subject to its evil influence...)
into unrecognizable pellets of crushed stuff. This device is called a
"hammer mill". Plugs are compressed into tubes, nott quite as roughly as
the pellets are, but enough to rupture some of the lupulin glands. (I
don't believe there is any one left importing plugs to the US, let alone
making them...). Finally, fresh hops are humanely packaged and shipped out
to your local homebrew store for sale.
- --
-
See ya!
Pat Babcock in SE Michigan pbabcock at hbd.org
Home Brew Digest Janitor janitor@hbd.org
HBD Web Site http://hbd.org
The Home Brew Page http://hbd.org/pbabcock
"The monster's back, isn't it?" - Kim Babcock after I emerged
from my yeast lab Saturday
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Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 15:03:52 -0600
From: "Mike Pensinger" <beermkr at bellatlantic.net>
Subject: Maximum usage of hops
Hello all,
Bieng displaced from my brewing setup (it is Norfolk and I am in Chicago) I
have had an overly large amount of time to think about brewing :) Not a bad
thing but now i have a question for the collective:
I want to know if there is a maximum amount of bitterness that can be
extracted from a given amount of hops. For example, if I use 1 oz of
cascades is the a number of minutes I can boil it to where no more
bitterness will be imparted into the wort?
Just curious
Mike Pensinger
beermkr at bellatlantic.net
http://members.bellatlantic.net/~beermkr
over 900 miles from my brewery :)
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Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 08:31:05 -0500
From: "Bridges, Scott" <ScottBridges at sc.slr.com>
Subject: Cleaning CF Chiller
Bob asks:
>Subject: How to clean counterflow chiller?
Here is my routine. Possibly overkill, but since you can't see in there, I
tend to err on the side of too much rather than too little.
1. Flush with boiling water
2. Run Bbrite (or your favorite cleaning agent) through
3. Flush with boiling water
4. Sanitize with iodophor
I do this both before and after use, except that I skip the last step after
use. BTW, I just bought pump #2 for my system, and the next time will
employ the CIF routine you mentioned.
Hope this helps.
Scott
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Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 17:38:17 -0500
From: "Axle Maker" <axlemaker at mindspring.com>
Subject: Aeration
Hello All !
I used to be a carboy shaker, but through the years that got old, as well as
I myself am getting old : - )
Anyway I bought a aeration stone from Williams Brewing, it uses a HEPA
filter and a fish pump, they say 5 mins is all you need to properly aerate
the wort, I didn't think this was enough so I was gonna go at least 15 mins,
but within seconds ( maybe 10 ) it foamed up and was gonna pour out the top
of the carboy if I didn't stop ( I use a 5 gal. glass water bottle for a
carboy ).
So if anyone would be kind enough to help, what i'm trying to figure out is
what to do about the foaming and once that is solved, how long should I
aerate the wort ?
TIA ! Axle...
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Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 18:31:32 -0600
From: "Marc Hawley" <Marc_Hawley at email.msn.com>
Subject: Indianapolis
Relax. Don't worry about finding beer in Indianapolis. If you run out of
home brew, you can buy Bell's imported from Kalamazoo.
Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 18:51:58 -0800
From: "Steve Guernsey" <flight8341 at home.com>
Subject: FW: Chest freezer conversion advice.
I just had a real heartbreaker happen to me last night. Before I get to
the meat of this post I must explain my loss in the hope that, however
remote, I might find some catharsis.
The story begins 3 months ago when the Garage Brewing boys and I brewed up
our "bread 'n butter", the ever evolving Industrial Pale Ale (har, har), a
very big and bold NW style pale. The beer is always a hit with the
aficionados and the ignorant alike....5 gallons is never really enough. It
had been a while since we had brewed it and where quite anxious. After
patiently fermenting my 5 gallons (of the 20) for the usual month, I kegged
it and placed it into my chest freezer that I inherited with the house. All
was well.....for 1 week.
Well, the 15 year old freezer decided to give up on me. I tried finding a
cheap replacement. I even paid a fine individual to make a housecall and
tell me my freezer was broke and not worth fixing. Meanwhile my beer is
sitting at garage temperature. Finally after a month of shopping around, I
decide to take the plunge and buy a 22 cft chest freezer.
The aged IPA's flavor had changed to something very different from the
usual. More complex hop and malt flavor. Tasty for sure but it had yet to
capture my heart...until last week. Something "clicked" in my palette and I
began to fall head over heels in love with this beer. I would eagerly await
nightfall everyday for my chance to rendezvous with her. When we met it was
always fast and then slow. The first half of the glass would be speedily
spent in greedy tiny gulps, hardly allowing time for air. The last half was
spent staring intently into the glass and deeply inhaling all of the aroma
that she would give me. Then when the temptation was too much, I would gulp
loudly from her until she could give no more. Then we would depart.
This went on until last night. Maybe it was destiny or maybe it was the
fitful wrangling of the tap line by a lusty parched man but the unthinkable
happened. I came home last night particularly eager to quench a thirst that
only 12.5 hours at work can create in a man. I rushed in the door and
shakily grabbed my glass. I ran to the garage and opened my chest freezer
and ....AAAAiiiiiieeeeee. All 2.5 gallons of her were pooled into the
bottom of my chest freezer. At first I thought sabotage. SWMBO has been
feeling a little left out lately....yes, jealousy perhaps. I began to look
for evidence of this sacrilege. No, the cobra tap wasn't locked open.
Maybe she just held it open with her hand as she laughed and laughed at the
slowly growing pool of my IPA. I then looked to the ball lock fitting on
the keg. Doh! the tap line had come loose from the ball lock. It appears
that in my eagerness every night for the last week, I had not been careful
with the tap line, nor had I ensured that the line was tightened to begin
with. Needless to say, I went to bed a sad and lonely man that
ight. -sigh-
OK, now that you have felt my pain, here's the meat. I swung by
Steinbart's today and talked to the God of all that is kegs behind the
counter about modifying my chest freezer so I wouldn't have to cry over
spilt beer ever again. He suggested using some 2x4s between the chest and
the lid so I didn't have to drill into my new freezer. It sounded good at
the time so I bought some parts, but then as I drove home I began to wonder
about the effectiveness of using 2X4's as an insulator. Yeah, I could rig
up something and make it semi-airtight, but how much heat would come in
through the wood? Could some kind souls relate their experience converting
chest freezers to me?
Steve
Aloha, OR (some distance west of Renner, I'm sure)
Maltboy
Garage Brewing (gearing up for the 50 gallon brew day!)
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