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Contents:
  mash/lauter tun worry ("John Zeller")
  Amber Waves of Grain ("Gustave Rappold")
  Re: mash/lauter tun worry (David Lamotte)
  Duvel ("Brad McMahon")
  All grain questions (Hop_Head)
  Re: Growing grain (Jeff Renner)
  Off Topic - Fats Waller (Jeff Renner)
  Cleaning SS Stones (Nathan Kanous)
  Re: Cleaning SS Stones ("A. J.")
  RE: Hofbraeuhaus ("Dennis Lewis")
  benefits of science (ccolby)
  RE:Delayed mashing and boiling (Paul Shick)
  Munich (Andechs) (Aleconner)
  One For The Aussie's ("Axle Maker")
  Solution to Don's lack of fridge space ("Thomas D. Hamann")
  re. Growing grain  (grain and malting) (Clifton Moore)
  The moon in Boon (RBoland)


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Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2001 22:52:22 -0700
From: "John Zeller" <jwz_sd at hotmail.com>
Subject: mash/lauter tun worry

Randy,

The grain and water are in a more or less static conditon while mashing. The 
grain is suspended in the mash, hopefully preventing any immediate 
compaction.  When you begin to sparge and drain off wort everything is 
flowing downward and the grain husks function like a filter. As the smaller 
particles move down through the grain bed, they get trapped along the way 
increasing the resistance to flow and also increasing the grain bed density 
at the lower levels.  If you allow the sparge water to drop too much, the 
grain above the water level is no longer suspended in the wort and the bed 
will have a tendency to consolidate even more at the lower levels. 
Compaction always occurs from the bottom up.  The addition of some hot water 
to raise temperatures for the mash out will help prevent a stuck sparge by 
thinning out the mash some. The other reason to keep the water level above 
the grain is so that you can see it and know where it is. If it is below the 
surface of the grain, you don't know how far down it is.  Keeping the water 
level above the grain helps to insure that these upper level grains are 
being rinsed well and the hot sparge water helps to maintain the mash temp. 
at the desired 165 to 170 F.  This explanation is only my personal 
understanding of the whole sparging process.  The guys doing batch sparges 
are draining the grain bed completely, usually twice, without any problems. 
So, it isn't something to get overly worried about.


Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 3:34:19 -0400
From: "Gustave Rappold" <grappold at earthlink.net>
Subject: Amber Waves of Grain


Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2001 11:43:09 -0300
From: "Jamie Smith" <jxsmith at vac-acc.gc.ca>
Subject: Growing grain

I tried to read the archives but there was nothing there.
Does anyone here grow their own grains for brewing?

Jamie on PEI

    Jamie, 
   Try "The Homebrewer's Garden", published by Storey Books and available
(I think) from the AHA. It tells how to grow anything you might use in
beer-malted grains, hops and herbs. I'm planning on growing some hops and a
patch of barley to see how it comes out. If you need more info on the book,
just ask.
    Gus
http://home.earthlink.net/~grappold 

- --- Gustave Rappold
- --- grappold at earthlink.net
- --- EarthLink: It's your Internet.




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Date: Tue, 03 Apr 2001 18:42:59 +1000
From: David Lamotte <lamotted at ozemail.com.au>
Subject: Re: mash/lauter tun worry

Randy Walker pleads "Someone please tell me why I shouldn't worry." about
compaction of the grain bed during mashing.

Well, I'll take a shot at that.

You whouldn't worry, because beer makes itself....

Oh, you want a little more reassurance.

Well, just remember, that the whole reason for mashing is to generate
sugars, which dissolve to increase the specific gravity of the mash
liquor.  This results in the mash 'goods' floating around in a dense sugar
solution.

One thing that I found gave the best sparge was to give it all a good stir
at the end of the mash period, to refloat all the fine, powdery stuff which
can otherwise clog your screen.

Compaction occurs during sparging when you let the grain run dry and hence
the draff no longer floats, but sticks together.

Have fun,

David


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Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 22:39:21 +0930
From: "Brad McMahon" <brad at sa.apana.org.au>
Subject: Duvel

In #3597 John Thompson wrote:

>Which of the Wyeasts is closest to the Duvel strain? 

Wyeast #1388 Belgian Strong Ale is supposedly the
 Moortgart (Duvel) strain.

>Also, if someone has a good recipe, it would be appreciated
                                                                   
Duvel's OG is 1070, colour is 10 EBC, bitterness is 30 IBU's, abv = 8%

For 5 US Gallons at 75% efficiency:

10.65lb Pale Malt (or 5.7lbs of malt syrup if you don't mash) 
1.45lb   Dextrose

Mash at 67C/152F

Start of Boil
1.0 oz   Styrian Goldings

Half Way through Boil
1.0 oz  Saaz

Last 15 mins.
 .45oz Saaz

(adjust hopping rate to equal 30 IBU)

Yeast: Wyeast 1388 or culture from a bottle of Duvel.

Source: Brew Classic European Beers at Home, Wheeler & Protz.

Cheers,
Brad
Aldgate, Sth. Australia






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Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 09:19:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: Hop_Head at webtv.net
Subject: All grain questions

I usually do partial mashes with M&F extra light spray malt. When
converting a recipe that previously used this, is it as simple as using
1.3 pounds of 2 row, or should some other grain be added?
If I use 1.5 quarts of mash water per pound of grain, how much sparge
water should I use?
How much water is absorbed and "left behind" by the grain?
Thank you for your help.



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Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 10:09:52 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <JeffRenner at mediaone.net>
Subject: Re: Growing grain

"Jamie Smith" <jxsmith at vac-acc.gc.ca> of P.E.I. asks

>I tried to read the archives but there was nothing there.
>Does anyone here grow their own grains for brewing?

I have grown and malted soft white winter wheat, and I remember some 
years ago Dan Listermann was going to grow Klages 2-row barley. 
Never heard what came of it.

The main problem is getting small quantities of malting varieties of 
barley.  But brewing beer starting from dirt is a worthy goal.  Hops 
are easiest, malt is more challenging, yeast is a real challenge. 
Spontaneous fermentation is mighty chancy.

Jeff
- -- 
***Please note new address*** (old one will still work)
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner at mediaone.net
"One never knows, do one?"  Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943


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Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 10:30:52 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <JeffRenner at mediaone.net>
Subject: Off Topic - Fats Waller

Brewers

I have occasionally been asked about the quote in my signature line. 
Since there isn't too much traffic now, I thought I'd share the 
details.  It is a "throw away" line at the very end of a recording 
"Your Feet's Too Big" by Fat's Waller.  It is almost inaudible, but 
somehow I've always felt these are words to live by.  Besides, it's a 
fun song.

Waller was an American genius.  A good reference of his life and 
recordings is at http://www.tcsn.net/adf/fats/waller.html

"Your Feet's Too Big" is available via Napster, so you can easily 
listen for yourself.  (I'm not sure what the copyright status is of 
this 1939 recording, so if you choose to download it, you're on your 
own if the copyright police come asking you for a royalty fee.)

Hope this answers an unasked question.  Now back to brewing.

Jeff
- -- 
***Please note new address*** (old one will still work)
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner at mediaone.net
"One never knows, do one?"  Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943


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Date: Tue, 03 Apr 2001 10:08:52 -0500
From: Nathan Kanous <nlkanous at pharmacy.wisc.edu>
Subject: Cleaning SS Stones

Howdy,
Don't consider me an expert on cleaning SS aeration stones, but I believe 
that when I got mine, it very clearly stated not to touch the stone with 
your hands that the oils in your hands will clog the pores.  This could 
explain why AJ was successful with acetone.  Hope this helps.
nathan in madison, wi



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Date: Tue, 03 Apr 2001 15:45:54 +0000
From: "A. J." <ajdel at mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: Cleaning SS Stones

Nathan makes a good point about oils. I have been pretty careful about not
touching the things with my hands. They still load up with what I assume is
protein after aerating starters (leave the stone in the starter wort for
hours - in fermenter wort for only a few minutes). Wayne wrote saying that
he soaks in a phosphoric acid/nitric acid mix overnight. I haven't tried
that. If acetone is going to work it only takes a few minutes.

A.J.


>



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Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 12:08:31 -0400
From: "Dennis Lewis" <dblewis at lewisdevelopment.com>
Subject: RE: Hofbraeuhaus

> I'll side with those suggesting to go to the Hofbrauhaus.  But
> here's a hint...SIT OUTSIDE!  The tourons like to go inside
> because it's inside and American tourons like their vacations
> neatly packaged.

Since we seem to be on the topic, here are my simple recommendations for
everyone's impending trip to Munich (oh, yes, you will be going sometime...)
Start by taking Mike's Bike Tours http://www.mikesbiketours.com/ which will take
you to the Hirschau biergarten in the middle of the Englischer Garten. It's a
Spaten place--absolutely get ein MaB dunkel and a Steckrl (roasted mackerel).

Then after touring around the city for a few hours, you'll end up 1 block from
the Hofbrauhaus. You will have had so much fun, that the whole group will go the
the HBH because you don't want it to end. And by the way, the HBH will toss you
out at midnight on Saturday. We had a couple Kiwis, Brits, an obnoxious Calif
student and a Wellesley chick who had just arrived in Munich to work for BMW.
Very memorable. Try to get Haynes as your group leader if you have the chance.
And we did sit outside.

Don't bother watching the Glockenspiel. And definitely don't bother taking a
picture of it, especially while it's moving. Like it's going to look different
in a photograph. And nobody at home cares to see it.

We visited the Ayinger Brewery, Biergarten, and Bed & Breakfast. Aying is a very
small town, but probably a decent place to explore the SE side of Bavaria from.
The brew is as awesome as you'd expect, and I think we were the only non-Germans
in the place. Check out
http://www.merchantduvin.com/pages/5_breweries/ayinger.html. They had an
unfiltered version of their helles--I should have brought one home to culture
the yeast from.

A great, completely non-tourist biergarten is the Augustiner Keller by the main
train station. The food is excellent. Also, you might try the Jazz biergarten at
Grosshesselohe.

And when you make it to Andechs, go there hungry. There's a fantastic courtyard
with huge (and I mean huge) umbrellas for shade. Get a big slab of
Schweinsbraten or a Schweinshaxen (and you have to eat the skin!) to go with
your liters of dunkel. Otherwise, you'll end up smashed.

If anyone would like to know more, I'll be glad to chat via private email.

Dennis



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Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 11:27:07 -0400
From: ccolby at hrw.com
Subject: benefits of science

Alan in PEI writes:

> I am not convinced that science has improved what art in
> the past failed to achieve.

    I completely disagree. Due to science and technology,
we homebrewers all have access to clean yeast strains,
uniformly malted barley (without a smoky flavor), and the
ability to store our hops and yeast in a refrigerator. I
think beers in genereal, and homebrewed beers, are much
better today than they ever have been.

> That being said, what has the opportunities of science
> added to brewing?

> - fewer brewers,

    Yes, but there is much better distribution of
existing brews. I can go to my local supermarket and get
beers from all over the world. I would have no hope of
finding a supermarket, much less a supermarket with beer,
in a pre-technological society.

> style standardization,

    Perhaps overall, but we have access to more styles.
I'm not limited to the one or two styles that are produced
locally.

> more adjuncts

    In some beers. Don't drink them if they offend you.

>longer shelf life, greater profitability,

    Good.

> lower alcohol.

    I can buy any of several high-alcohol brews where I
shop. Or, if I really need the extra alcohol, I can just
drink another beer. (The horror!)

    I think we forget how much science influences our
lives because we don't know any other way of living. I
would much rather be living now than other other time in
the history of the planet; and the primary reason for my
preference is the influence of science on society.

    We have so much today that we take for granted. We
have clean water supplies and other public health measures
that have reduced the spread of disease immensely (more
than medical advances, actually). We don't all have to
boil our water to avoid dysentary (or death). We have
medical advances that allow us to live longer, more
producive lives. No more worrying that your wife will
die giving birth to your child (who would have only a
50% chance of living to age 2). We have grocery stores
filled with food from all over the world due to advances
in agriculture. Call me crazy, but I prefer having a
pizza delivered to my door to poking at an anthill with
a stick in order to glean a few insects. (Of course here
in Texas we have fire ants; your local ants may taste
better. 8-)

    Sure, there are some problems associated with modern
technologies. But would you preferthe modern set of
problems (telemarketers, cell-phone users, Zima) or the
ancient set of problems (disease, starvation, no access
to Sierra Nevada)?

Just my $0.02-- I could be wrong,

Chris



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Date: Tue, 03 Apr 2001 14:16:00 -0400
From: Paul Shick <shick at jcu.edu>
Subject: RE:Delayed mashing and boiling


Hi all,

	Don Watts asks about potential problems with 
mashing in his Gott cooler in the early morning, then 
sparging and boiling in the evening.  Don, this approach
was suggested a few years back in the Zymurgy "Great Grains"
issue, and a lot of people tried it, including me.  I
used to mash in a 33 qt canning kettle that fit perfectly
in my oven, so it was easy to keep a reasonably constant 
temperature.  I made several beers by getting the mash to
the saccharification temperature (often by complicated step
mashing regimes) late at night, then raising to mashout 
temperature, sparging and boiling the next morning.  

	Others have warned of several potential drawbacks to
this approach:  excess leaching of tannins because of the 
extended mash time, lactobacillus outbreaks in the mash causing
off-flavors, and angering the brewing gods by not being 
sufficiently committed to the brewing process.  As far as
the bacterial problem, in my attempts, the mash temp had often 
dropped to about 140F overnight, but there was never any sign 
of souring in my particular batches.  I never noticed any
astringency problems in any of these batches, either, even
in rather delicate styles like Vienna lagers.  Since this
particular Vienna did very well in national competitions, I
guess this means that the brewing gods weren't too put off
by my attempts to save time.  So Don, the technique should
be fine.

	Since then, I've moved my brewing set up to the basement
and done most of my sessions from about 6:30-11AM on weekend
mornings, so that time isn't as much of a factor.  It's much
nicer, I think, to schedule some time on the weekend just for
brewing, so that you can really enjoy the process and not feel
rushed about it.  Getting up really early on Saturday morning
might be enough of a sacrifice to the brewing gods to assure
proper fermentation, too.

			Paul Shick
			Cleveland Hts OH


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Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 15:14:47 EDT
From: Aleconner at aol.com
Subject: Munich (Andechs)

Marc Sedam writes:

<<And do visit Kloster Andechs.  Magical, magical dunkles.  
Mmmmmm....dunkles..>>

I'll second this.  If you have a day to kill while in (or around) Munich, 
take the 45 minute trip out to Klosterbrauerei Andechs, southwest of the 
city.  We were there on a dreary, overcast March afternoon, and yet the 
Braustuberl was very lively.  This place oozes gemutlichkeit.  And because it 
was the start of the starkbierzeit, everyone was hoisting litre mugs of the 
awesome Andechser Doppelbock Dunkel -and it was barely noon!  Fortunately for 
those who can't make it out to the monastery, this beer is also available in 
bottles.

Prost!
Marty Nachel 


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Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 18:50:25 -0400
From: "Axle Maker" <axlemaker at mindspring.com>
Subject: One For The Aussie's

Got this today in my e-mail...




AUSTRALIA NEAR DEAL TO CUT BEER TAXES
Australian Democrats and the federal government are near a deal to 
reduce the beer excise, which could cut up to $200 million from the 
budget surplus. The government reluctantly agreed to cut beer excise 
after Labor and the Democrats insisted it stick to a pre-GST promise 
that the price of ordinary beer would rise by only 1.9% -- but that 
went up 9% in hotels and pubs. Democrat leader Meg Lees said the party 
had commissioned independent estimates of the impact of the higher beer 
prices, especially on country pubs. "It's money that should never have 
been collected, it should never have been rolled into the budget in the 
first place," she said. Faced with the higher taxes, many Australians 
turned to homebrewing. Sales of kits rose 55% at Woolworth, Australia's 
largest grocer, after the taxes went into effect.




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Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2001 11:37:31 +0930
From: "Thomas D. Hamann" <tdhamann at senet.com.au>
Subject: Solution to Don's lack of fridge space


>Hi Don, have got the answer to that lack of fridge space, send by airmail 
>the kegs of California lager, scotch ale and old ale to Box 53 Hahndorf 
>South Australia. That ought to give you plenty of space for that next 
>batch of  Imperial Colonia Stout. You could drink more of it but I must 
>think of your health Don.


Onya Don, eagerly waiting at the post office!!! :-)


>Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2001 15:50:59 -0500
>From: Don Price <dprice1 at tampabay.rr.com>
>Subject: suggestions/questions for Wyeast 2565 Kolsch ale yeast
>
>My Kolsch ale is fermenting along nicely. Any suggestions for pitching a
>new brew onto the cake? I already have several brews kegged or aging
>(California lager, honey lager, scotch ale, amber ale, old ale, brown
>ale, and a very brown ale). Any suggestions (extract & specialty grain)
>for a missing style that is well suited for the Kolsch yeast? I "need"
>something bigger like a strong ale, IPA, imperial stout, or Belgian....a
>10-12% barleywine may be too big but I'll think about it. Any recipes or
>links to find specific ones greatly appreciated.
>
>Aging (ale lagering?) questions: I am almost out of fridge room. After
>fermenting for 12-14 days at 60 F, is there a problem with aging the
>Kolsch in a corny at room temp (70-75 F) for a couple of weeks before I
>put it on tap? My other options include 1) bottle lame amber ale and
>make room in fridge for aging/drinking at ~40 F; or, 2) make room in the
>fermentation chiller and age it at ~60 F for a week or two while the
>other Kolsch yeast based brew ferments....then I'm out of room again.
>
>Thanks in advance for the advice. Brew on!
>
>Don
>
>Suitcase City Brewery





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Date: Tue, 03 Apr 2001 18:40:09 -0800
From: Clifton Moore <cmoore at gi.alaska.edu>
Subject: re. Growing grain  (grain and malting)

For the past three years I have had farmers grow small lots of
Harrington malting barley for me in interior Alaska.
One problem is, that for a farmer, anything under a few acres is too
small to bother with, and these small plots can produce thousands of
pounds of grain.
Quick germination, enough water at the proper times, enough warmth to
get the growth to maturity, and a dry harvest are all important to good
malting barley.

Then there is the harvest, storage, and malting.
The combine needs to be set so that the seeds are stripped but not
broken.
The seeds need to be dry enough so as not to rot in storage.
Malting?  Well that is an entirely different set of problems.

I have made some  good malt in ten pound batches using my brewing gear
as a malting kit.
The cooler served well as a steeping vessel.
My garage floor, which so often has been the recipient of overflow, was
equal to the task of supporting a pile of wet grain.
And my converted keg made a half assed kiln.  The false bottom was
plumbed from the top with a fan driven duct.  The entire thing was
placed under a tent heated by a gas stove.  Temps were monitored, and
draft adjusted by opening a flap.

Some harvesting tips from the Canadians:

http://www.agric.gov.ab.ca/agdex/100/1402002.html




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Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2001 23:44:55 EDT
From: RBoland at aol.com
Subject: The moon in Boon

My friend Marc Gaspard recently provided a very nice overview of lambic and 
gueuze beers, but he repeated a common misunderstanding concerning one of the 
most famous of the gueuze blenders, Frank Boon.  His name is frequently 
pronounced as BONE.  However, the owner of Beermania, Brussels' best beer 
store and Armand Debelder, the owner/blender of Drie Fonteinen gueuze and a 
good friend of Frank, pronounce his last name like moon, or Daniel Boone, for 
you early American history buffs.  For once, pronunciation in 
Flemish-speaking Belgium is easy; call it the way you see it.  

When you go to Brussels, make sure you visit the Drie Fonteinen cafe in 
Beersel, a small town few miles south of the city.  The food is outstanding 
and the beer is better.  Armand will enjoy telling you about it.  He serves a 
fantastic dry gueuze as well as a sweetened draft kriek that tastes like 
liquid cherry pie.  What a desert!

Bob Boland
St. Louis 


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