HOMEBREW Digest #3684 Sat 14 July 2001

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Contents:
  Gas Filtration ("Fred L. Johnson")
  re:fermentability ("Dr. Pivo")
  DWC ("Vinbrew Supply")
  CO2 and Rubber ("Dan Listermann")
  RE: Stuck Fermentation ("Steven Parfitt")
  yeast freezing ("Peter Fantasia")
  Poor yeast storage ("David Craft")
  Re: fermenting with raw honey (Dan McFeeley)
  Re: Using a Dishwasher to Clean Bottles ("Houseman, David L")
  Filling tires with CO2 (Tom Daniels)
  Re: stuck ferment (Smith Asylum)
  Weird yeast behavior (Spencer W Thomas)
  cloudy Star San, amber iodophor (Frank Tutzauer)
  Bottling and Kegging ("Charles R. Stewart")
  quick sanitation test ("Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies")
  DWC malts ("Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies")
  Shipping (Danny Breidenbach)
  DWC no more, low mash temp, SA geometry exp. ("Czerpak, Pete")
  Steam recipe (Greg Remake)
  Points in berries ("David Craft")
  Re: stuck ferment ("Todd M. Snyder")
  plastic buckets with o-ring lids (Jeff & Ellen)
  Possible replacement speciality malts (Kim Thomson)
  Re: stuck ferment (Smith Asylum)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 07:31:59 -0400 From: "Fred L. Johnson" <FLJohnson at worldnet.att.net> Subject: Gas Filtration Many of us aerate wort with aquarium pumps, myself included. However, I suspect that most of us do not use any type of filtration of the air to prevent bacterial contamination because filters for this purpose are not easily found or obtained. I have been doing a lot of yeast propagation by constantly aerating the spinner culture of yeast and have been given by a lab friend a few 45 micron disposable syringe filters typically used for liquid sterilization. As far as I can tell, the ones I have appear to work for gas filtration (as long as you don't wet them); but I've noticed that the filter membrane can break, and it is very hard to tell if and when it occurs. Therefore, it would be best to dispose of the filter after every use or at least after a few uses. So... I'm looking for a source of an appropriate affordable filter for aerating my worts. Perhaps some of you out there do filter your forced air or work in labs where this is routine. Having worked in a lab myself for years, I know the very high cost of anything coming from scientific supply retailers. - -- Fred L. Johnson Apex, North Carolina USA Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 13:47:24 +0200 From: "Dr. Pivo" <dp at pivo.w.se> Subject: re:fermentability Chris Hatton asks (while taking his hatt off): "I have a contest for y'all. Who can describe to me in 100 words or less the relationship between mash temperature and mash thickness as it relates to wort fermentability and starting gravity of beer." Here's one I always found popular with beginners..... I even threw in pH. Basically you've got 2 enzymes, and they both like different stuff. One makes fermentable stuff that turns into alcohol (low FG), and the other makes non fermentables (high FG). I used to find the lads would look at the following cheat sheet long after they were on their own, and mostly ignored any other charts I made up.... so it must have been of some value. Pat's machine chews it up and makes everything get in the wrong order, so I'll list it by headings - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- <---- going this way makes stuff that turn into alcohol. "stiff" mash (little water, lotta' grain) lower pH lower temperature - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- going this way makes stuff that turns into "dextrins" (non fermentable)-----> "loose" mash (lotta' water, little grain) higher pH higher temp. - --------------------------------------------------------------------- A "sort of" "middle value" for these things. "sloppy porridge" consistency pH 5.5-5.6? 66-67C(about 150 "frankfurters") - ------------------------------------------------------------------- as to: "Pretend you are writing an article for USA today (i.e 5th grade reading level). This would help me and other beginning to mid level grainers without a science background!" I thought I would pretend I was writing for the National Enquirer instead....... "All of the above combinations cure cancer, except the ones that cause it, and I just bit my cat's head off, and a stripey tail started growing out of my (*)." Dr. Pivo Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 08:24:39 -0400 From: "Vinbrew Supply" <devans at greenapple.com> Subject: DWC > INTERBREW TO CLOSE DEWOLF-COSYNS MALTINGS Could be because Franco Belge has supposedly been the main malt Belgian Brewerys have been using. DWC is a nice malt, and I will be sorry to see it go. I have since picked up the Franco Belge line and have been very impressed with what I have seen so far. For who is interested I can email what is contained in Franco Belge line. For those who are really interested I can send out one pound samples. However those that wish the 1 pound samples, they would have to pay the shipping costs. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 08:50:35 -0400 From: "Dan Listermann" <dan at listermann.com> Subject: CO2 and Rubber Jay Pfaffman <pfaffman at relaxpc.com>writes:I can now also fill tires with C02. That has yet to come in handy. I don't know how CO2 effects the rubber used in the tire industry, but I do know that CO2 can be hard on some rubbers. It can cause the rubber to disentragate. Dan Listermann Check out our new E-tail site at http://www.listermann.com Take a look at the anti-telemarketer forum. It is my new hobby! Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 08:48:34 -0400 From: "Steven Parfitt" <the_gimp98 at hotmail.com> Subject: RE: Stuck Fermentation Smith Asylum ponders a Stuck Fermentation ...snip... >My situation is: A stuck (ver-r-ry slow) fermentation. I started out >with >a 1.085 SG and it dropped to 1.065 after two weeks. I racked to >a >secondary and the SG dropped to 1.036 after three weeks. It only >moved 2 >points in the last week so I added 1/2 tsp White Labs yeast >nutrient and >the SG dropped 6 points in 4 days. Unfortunately it >stayed there for a week. Three days later the SG had not changed so I >racked it a third time and added another 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient >with no >results. Here is the recipe, a knockoff of Samual Smith's >Winter Welcome Ale: ....SNIP.... >White Labs Claifornia Ale yeast WLP051 Before attempting to answer your questions, I did a little math... ProMash shows that you must have made around a 3.4gallon batch to get that high of an OG. With DME, I would expect a normal 1.048 beer to come down to around 1.010 as a final gravity( maybe even lower due to the Honey). I would expect to get a final gravity of around 10*(85/48)=17.7, or about 1.018. My estimate is that you are currently around 1.030, so you should still have some fermentable sugar left. ....SNIP.... >My questions are: >Should I add another starter? I think this is the best idea. I'm not sure about the CACA yeast, but i suspect it is not a high alcolol tolerant yeast, and you are going to be pushing it. YOu are already at (85-30)/85=64.7% attenuation. If you didn't areate well to begin with, you could have a stuck fermentation. I would get a good alcoloh tolerant yeast ( I'm not into big brews yet, so hopefully someone can make a good suggestion). The highest I did was an IPA at 1.064 and I used Wy1028. It fermented quite dry. My suggestion is to make a really good starter with a known alcohol tolerant yeast. Step it up several times. When you get to the third step, let is settle several days, pour off most of the liquid, and add a pint of 1.064 wort. Areate the snot out of it, and keep agitating it for 48 hours. Then pitch it when it is really cooking. This will give you a large amount of really healthy yeast ready for a feeding frenzy. >Should I bottle? ..... Not yet.. >Should I add yeast along with the priming sugar when I bottle? ....... Yes, but wait till you get the SpGr down... >Should I Bean-o it? ..... I think bean-o is used to convert unfermentables to fermentables. Not the issue you are facing. >What is the highest safe level of SG to bottle with ..... With this beer including the honey, I wouldn't bottle till I got it down to at least 1.020 >and is there >anything else I can do to bring it down to that level (short >of adding >grain alcohol)? ..... Grain will not help. It will up your alcohol, but will not do anything about the sugars that are left. >I'd hate to lose the body that all those sugars create, but at the >same >time I'm in fear of bottling grenades as I will be out of town >during >botle condition. From reading the archives I am going to allow >it to warm >to 70 deg). Good luck. Steven Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 12:57:22 -0000 From: "Peter Fantasia" <fantasiapeter at hotmail.com> Subject: yeast freezing Dennis, You can freeze yeast by boiling 1 cup water with 3/8 cup cane sugar for 15 min.Cool. Add equal parts yeast slurry and this solution to sanitized freezer bag. In a non frost-free freezer will last at least one year. I have been using these "yeasy sicles" for five years. They work great. Make a sanitized starter and add a chunk of yeast sicle. That's all there is to it! Happy Brewing Pete Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 08:50:14 -0400 From: "David Craft" <David-Craft at craftinsurance.com> Subject: Poor yeast storage Greetings, I have a friend of a friend who brewed his first batch. He ordered a White Labs Lager yeast and when it came stored it at room temperature for 2 weeks. He then pitched it, realizing his error. I was asked if this was a fatal error. I told him it would certainly be detrimental, but not necessarily fatal. Any thoughts out there.........? David B. Craft Greensboro, NC Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 07:46:56 -0500 From: Dan McFeeley <mcfeeley at keynet.net> Subject: Re: fermenting with raw honey On Thu, 12 Jul 2001, Rob Dewhirst wrote: >I have a honey ale recipe I am particularly proud of. My recipe calls for >honey in the boil. After a recent homebrew club seminar on mead, I am >wondering if it isn't possible to add raw honey to the secondary instead, >so long as it's been sulphited separate from the fermenting beer. . . . >Optionally, is there a way to get rid of wild yeasts in honey other than >heat or sulphite? It's really not necessary to use a lot of heat to kill off the wild yeasts in honey. According to a 1939 study by Townsend, the optimum temperature and time needed to kill off yeasts are as follows: Time in minutes Degrees F 470 125 170 min 130 60 135 22 140 7.5 145 2.8* 150 1.0* 155 * This is a table from a 1978 edition of _The Hive and the Honey Bee_ The last two items were extropolated from Townsend's data. The citation, for those interested, is: Townsend, G. F. 1939. "Time and Temperature in Relation to the Destruction of Sugar-Tolerant Yeasts in Honey." J. Econ. Entomology. 32:650-654 <><><><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><> Dan McFeeley mcfeeley at keynet.net Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 09:56:17 -0400 From: "Houseman, David L" <David.Houseman at unisys.com> Subject: Re: Using a Dishwasher to Clean Bottles Patrick Humphrey says "It seems that many people have been using their dishwasher to clean and sanitize bottles. I have tried this in the past as well but have since gone to a kegging system. I never was convinced that the water was able to get up into the bottle completely, either." Those of us who use dishwashers are NOT using them to clean the bottles; that we do prior to placing in the dishwasher. They must be clean first. The heated drying cycle in the dishwasher is sanitizing (not sterilizing) the bottles. Don't use detergent or rinse agents in the dishwasher. I too keg most of the time but often still bottle, especially CPBFing; it's a convenient way to sanitize a couple cases at a time. Dave Houseman Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 09:04:12 -0500 From: Tom Daniels <daniels at cerias.purdue.edu> Subject: Filling tires with CO2 Jay Pfaffman Said: >I can now also fill tires with C02. That has yet to come in handy. >People without CO2 system who'd still like the joy of force >carbonating beer when they're too impatient to wait for bottle >conditioning can buy CO2-cartrige-based bike pumps (which is what my >mini-keg tap uses) for about $10. I have in a pinch used my CO2 tank for filling a tire since I have attached an air type attachment to my tank. Works ok...but wastes CO2. I searched for quite a while for Chrome valve stems to insert in 2 liter bottle lids and found the only place in my area that had them was PepBoys. (Lafayette, IN) I bought 4 of them and in an hour had 4 home made carbonation caps. - -- Tom Daniels The floggings will continue until morale improves. -- unknown Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 07:34:02 -0700 From: Smith Asylum <smithly at neta.com> Subject: Re: stuck ferment My sincere apologies, I made a typo when I listed the recipe. 4.5 lb of British Pale should read: 7.5 lbs. The OG really was 1.085 corrected for temperature at the full five gallons minus evaporation from the boil. I coned the hope and Irish moss very thoroughly too. Thanks for posting the numbers for OG beerbob, very helpful. If I calculate correctly using both 45 and 40 units for DME and honey I come up with an OG: max = 1.081 and min = 1.073. So, I goofed but recovered my error. Now what? I will have only another 10 days and then I won't be able to do anything with it for two weeks. Unless I want my son to ... naw! Tried that before. Didn't work. So I'm warming it up to 70. Should I pitch a large starter? It's in a 6.5 carboy so I have plenty of room. Where can I go to find the calculations for predicting FG? Thanks, Lee Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 11:18:44 -0400 From: Spencer W Thomas <spencer at engin.umich.edu> Subject: Weird yeast behavior Almost a couple of weeks ago I brewed a Wit. 4lbs pils malt, 4 lbs bulgur (because I didn't want to bother milling raw wheat) from the local food coop. Mashed about 152 for 1:15 to 1:30. 3/4 oz Hallertau hops, 1 oz coriander, 1 oz orange peel (I forget which kind, it came from "Brewers Garden" originally, but had lost its label). Pitched the Wyeast "Wit" yeast (3944, I'm pretty sure), along with the dregs from a bottle of Gulpener Koerenwolf (the most recent selection from the Real Beer Club). Fermentation started quickly and then slowed. I shook it up, and it picked back up, and then slowed. Last night, I gave it a big "swirl", hoping to drop the yeast cap so that I could rack tonight. Well... This morning, there was yeast on the floor. I have 5 gallons in a 7 gallon bucket, so there was some pretty wild activity going on in there last night! The beer tastes pretty good, it's cloudy (as expected), and has dropped from 1.040 to 1.018, so I don't think it's finished (not to mention that in just a few minutes sitting in a glass, the hydrometer sample dropped a thin yeast film onto the bottom of the glass). It's been fermenting at about 75F for most of the time (I took it to the basement for a day so the cleaning crew wouldn't muck it up). Seems like must be a flocculent yeast that requires frequent rousing to work well? Has anyone else seen this behavior from the Wyeast Wit strain? (I would be surprised if the other yeast was contributing much -- the Wyeast starter was already going strong when I swirled and pitched the yeast from the bottle.) =Spencer Thomas in Ann Arbor, MI (spencer at umich.edu) Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 11:51:14 -0400 (EDT) From: Frank Tutzauer <comfrank at acsu.buffalo.edu> Subject: cloudy Star San, amber iodophor Since the topic of Star San has come up lately, I thought I'd relay a recent experience. Ok, everyone knows the rule of thumb that Star San's good when clear and iodophor is good when amber. Well, I bought some test strips from my brewshop -- low-range pH papers and also some strips for testing iodine concentration. On hand, I had some cloudy Star San and some amber iodophor. Well, the test strips showed the Star San to be off the scale at something less than 2.8, and the iodine test strips had the iodophor at less than 12.5 ppm. So in both instances the test papers showed results opposite the rules of thumb. The test papers are probably crummy, but who knows. FWIW, I use cloudy Star San all the time (as long as the pH is below 3). It clouds almost instantly for me, and if I had to use distilled or RO water that would be a serious enough drawback for me that I would switch exclusively to iodophor. (The thing I don't like about iodophor is I'm always staining things -- my hands, my counters, my dogs.) I will say, though, that the one time I used distilled water the Star San solution stayed clear for damn near ever. --frank Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 13:13:31 -0400 From: "Charles R. Stewart" <Charles at TheStewarts.com> Subject: Bottling and Kegging Thanks, Paul. I've become a big fan of the 3 gal. kegs as well. My kegerator holds two 5 gal. kegs and two 3 gal. kegs on the compressor shelf, so I tend to use the 3 gal. kegs for sipping brews. And they fit in a milk-crate with my 5# CO2 tank for parties. My original source for the 3 gal. ball-lock and pin-lock kegs has dried up, but I have found a source for 3 gal. kegs with standard 1/4 in. fittings (the fittings that screw onto your quick disconnects). You can either use a check valve behind the 1/4 in. fitting, or install ball lock fittings. I will be getting some of the screw-on ball lock fittings for the kegs as well. I'll try to get the info on my web site brewing section as soon as I can (see below). And as before, I'll donate $2.00 for every keg sold to the HBD server fund for anyone who identifies themselves as a HBD member. >On Wed, 11 Jul 2001, Paul Kensler said re: bottling and kegging: > > Chip Stewart of HBD fame used to have an "in" on a good source of > 3g. cornie > kegs... I believe he was selling them on eBay and maybe in the HBD > fleamarket. Or try a search of the HBD archives back a couple > months. Some > homebrew shops stock them too, but they are generally more expensive than > the 5g. kegs (fewer of them available = higher cost). Chip Stewart Charles at TheStewarts.com http://Charles.TheStewarts.com Pursuant to United States Code, Title 47, Chapter 5, Subchapter II, Section 227, any and all unsolicited commercial e-mail (spam) sent to this address is subject to a download and archival fee of US$500.00. The sending or forwarding of such e-mail constitutes acceptance of these terms. Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 11:40:46 -0600 From: "Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies" <orders at paddockwood.com> Subject: quick sanitation test Danny Breidenbach <dbreiden at math.purdue.edu> asks about quick sanitation tests and wort stability tests. The problem with using a wort stability test to test your bottles is you would be doing a combined test of the bottle and the wort. The BioTrace Pro-tect swab may provide some more specific data. It is a single use swab that offers a 10 minute protein test. The swab is about 7 inches long, so it may be a little tricky to test the inside bottom of a bottle, but I imagine something ingenious like tape and a chopstick would provide a handy extension. Wait! That's our patented Tape-A-Stick(TM) swab extension! Call now... operators are standing by.... The BioTrace swab tests surface purity; ideal for testing equipment, hoses, heat exchangers and fermentors for residual proteins which harbor contaminant bacteria or wild yeast. Each swab is completely self-contained and can test up to a 10 cm x 10 cm surface. It's easy to use: remove swab, swipe the test area, and replace swab in tube. A simple color change indicates purity. Great for brewers who have questions about their cleaning and sanitizing programs! We found it useful when we had questions about valves and lines in our wort production facility, and were unpleasantly surprised by the results. A few swabs gave us the data needed to identify and correct a potential problem at a fraction of getting a commercial testing company to test our facility. It retails for about $5.99 US. There's a pic and description at: www.paddockwood.com/catalog_equipment_test.html#swab affiliated as can be, I remain, Stephen Ross -- "Vitae sine cerevisiis sugant." Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies, Saskatoon, SK, Canada orders at paddockwood.com www.paddockwood.com Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 11:51:51 -0600 From: "Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies" <orders at paddockwood.com> Subject: DWC malts I have heard no news on the imminent closure of DWC malting, but we have slowly been reducing our DWC malt in favour of Weyermann malts for some time now. The Weyermann malts seem to be cleaner, more consistent, and more precise in their colour spec's than their DWC counterparts, and with the possible exception of Special-B, the DWC malts were easily replaced. With Weyermann's new additions, even the Special-B can be approximated. The most common requests we get for DWC malts are for Carapils, which is easily replaced by Weyermann Carafoam (33 PPG, 2-4 SRM), and by Carahell (33 PPG, 8-12 SRM), and for Special-B which the new seems to be very similar to the new Weyermann CaraAroma (33 PPG, 110-150 SRM). Initial reports seem to suggest that the CaraAroma may not be as 'raisiny' as the Special-B, but this malt is so new to our listings we haven't had enough experience with it to be absolutely certain. Has anyone else brewed with CaraAroma? The others like Pils, Caramunich, Roasted Barley, Chocolate etc are straight replacements. cheers, Stephen Ross -- "Vitae sine cerevisiis sugant." Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies, Saskatoon, SK, Canada orders at paddockwood.com www.paddockwood.com Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 13:22:22 -0500 From: Danny Breidenbach <dbreiden at math.purdue.edu> Subject: Shipping This isn't about shipping beer, but with the recent talk on that subject, I can't resist sharing my story. Besides, it might give some folks some ideas. During a recent trip to China, I bought a couple of porcelain tea sets as gifts. I didn't want to lug these around for the rest of my trip, so I decided to mail them home to myself. Luckily, I had an interpreter with me, so off we went to the post office. Turns out that for shipping out of China, you take in the goods to mail and a postal employee inspects and then packs the items for you. The woman doing the packing of my tea sets looked very disapproving of my desire to ship something so fragile, then told me (through my interpreter) that before she would let me mail it, she would have to pack it using "some special stuff." This is where it got interesting. First she opened the boxes and used large amounts of cotton to pad the contents. She used thick pads of cotton stuff. Would be really great for shining shoes, chrome, belt buckles, silverware, etc. Then it got REALLY interesting. She put each box in a plastic bag and thoroughly wrapped the bagged box with packing tape. Then she constructed a large carton to put these bundles in, and she whipped out her big gun. She had a machine that dispensed what I've seen marketed as "Great Stuff," the expanding foam sealant stuff. She squirted a whole bunch of this in the bottom of the carton, let it expand a bit, nestled the two boxes into the still expanding mess ("It's alive!!"), and then added more stuff. Finishing off the box was the interesting part. She squirted a bunch in, closed the box, waited, peeked inside, added some more, and then practically sat on the box. Soon the foam was pushing against the lid of the box (and sides and bottom of course), whereupon she quickly stapled the top closed. The foam was even trying to ooze out of the cracks at the sides and corners of the lid and bottom, so she sealed those up with packing tape. As the coup de grace, she used four bands of that plastic strapping stuff to make absolutely sure the box wouldn't fly open. When I lifted the box, I could feel heat through the walls ... I guess the energy of that expanding foam had to go somewhere since the box wouldn't let it expand. All this for a mere 210 yuan (about $25). My wife jokingly asked if the package was insured ... I figured that the packing was my insurance. This could have made it home as checked baggage it was packed so well. So who needs bubble wrap when shipping beer bottles ... get yourself an industrial supply of this foam stuff, and you're set! - --Danny Boy West Lafayette, IN Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 14:51:49 -0400 From: "Czerpak, Pete" <Pete.Czerpak at siigroup.com> Subject: DWC no more, low mash temp, SA geometry exp. I brewed my latest batch of browne ale after about 4 weeks of brewing inactivity (which is alot for me compared to last summer). I only used dehusked carafa I as the only dark grain in it. I really enjoyed the use of carafa II, I, and III in my last oatmeal stout made with malted oats. In that I used a wt ratio of 2:1:1 on the dehusked carafa mentioned above plus about 0.25 lb roasted barley. Anyways, to answer some posted questions........ By Jeff Tomole on 7/11 - I think that low mash temp can cause you to reach poor conversion and thus a decreased OG. especially if you mash for the normal 45 to 60 minutes and don't test for conversion. I mash generally for 75 to 90 minutes but don't test for conversion either. Only had one problem batch in the last 2 years that I can attribute to under conversion due to missing mash temp. I did just recently also find that my thermomemetr was high by about 6 to 8 degrees - and I have been wondering for so long why I couldn't get my FGs to get much below 1.014-1.018 when pitching on a old yeast cake.... I'm had the last few (with the new thermometer) consistantly hitting 1.008ish which is consistant with the new mash observed temp. To Steve A on 7/12 - Thanks for posting your geometry vs. fermentation data. maybe a few other data points from other folks and we'll be all set - unless further data confuses the issue. To Jim Wallace on 7/13 - I also saw the news last week about DWC maltings to close. I currently use weyerman or durst for my belgian and german ales. I would consider using the French grains as well since I hear they are similar to DWC. What do those belgians do thats so different from everyone else - is it climate where the grain is cropped? have fun brewing. I'm off to the Portland International Beer Fest next week and then through to the OBF the following wkend as well with plenty of bicycling and beer drinking inbetween. Pete czerpak albany, NY Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 14:01:06 -0500 From: Greg Remake <gremake at gsbpop.uchicago.edu> Subject: Steam recipe Hello all, I thoroughly enjoyed the narrative found on Scott Morgan's craftbrewer link about Steam beer, and I share the author's (Mr. Sanders?) enthusiasm. In fact, it was a California Common recipe that was my first-ever homebrew attempt, and I try to brew at least one every year. My last attempt was tremendous, the best of the season. As is Anchor Steam, I kraeusened this batch with an active primer using some yeast collected from the primary and a bit over two quarts of wort saved from the kettle. I had wort primed earlier versions with similar success, but the kraeusened examples were exquisite. I sugar primed several samples I bottled when racking from the primary, and the difference was quite noticeable in a triangle test, with a more malty flavor and much better foam stand. It's not an Anchor Steam clone, being a little stronger and hoppier, but it's the one I'm hoarding all for myself. To account for the kraeusen and my large primary this recipe is sized for seven gallons, so scale accordingly. 2-row pale ale 10.0 lbs. 77% Munich 2.0 lbs. 15% Med. crystal (40L) 1.0 lbs. 8% 1st rest 145F 30 min. 2nd rest 158F 30 min. Mash out 170F 10 min. Northern Brewer (whole) 0.50 oz. Mash Northern Brewer (whole) 0.50 oz. FWH Northern Brewer (whole) 0.50 oz. 60 min. Northern Brewer (whole) 0.50 oz. 30 min. Northern Brewer (whole) 0.50 oz. 15 min. Northern Brewer (whole) 0.50 oz. 0 min. OG 1.053 FG 1.015 IBU 44 BU/GU 0.83 SRM 9.4 CO2 vol. 2.5 Yield 7.0 gal. Primary 1 week 60F Secondary 2 weeks 60F Notes: Collected 0.55 gal. cooled wort for kraeusening, stored refrigerated, boiled and cooled before adding 0.5 cup yeast slurry from primary. Fermented one day and added at bottling. Cheers! Greg Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 15:26:42 -0400 From: "David Craft" <David-Craft at craftinsurance.com> Subject: Points in berries Greetings, I am loading a Mead recipe in ProMash. I added raspberries and it defaulted to about 32 points per pound/gallon, about what DME is. Is this close? any other experience with fruit in Meads? Regards, David B. Craft Greensboro, NC Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 16:14:06 -0400 From: "Todd M. Snyder" <tmsnyder at buffalo.edu> Subject: Re: stuck ferment Hi Lee, Even with 7.5 lb of DME, SUDS still calculates the OG to be 1.073. You'd have to have boiled it down to about 4.25 gallons in order to be at 1.085. I think it's very possible your hydrometer sleeve has slipped inside the glass. Did you check your hydrometer against tap water? It should read very, very close to 1.000. If it did slip, I'll bet your tap water reads 1.012. Corrected for this, it would mean your FG is 1.016, not 1.028, which would be fine to bottle. Todd Buffalo, NY - -----Original Message----- From: Smith Asylum <smithly at neta.com> To: tmsnyder at buffalo.edu <tmsnyder at buffalo.edu>; homebrew at hbd.org <homebrew at hbd.org> Date: Friday, July 13, 2001 10:36 AM Subject: Re: stuck ferment >My sincere apologies, I made a typo when I listed the >recipe. 4.5 lb of British Pale should read: 7.5 lbs. The >OG really was 1.085 corrected for temperature at the full >five gallons minus evaporation from the boil. I coned the >hope and Irish moss very thoroughly too. Thanks for posting >the numbers for OG beerbob, very helpful. If I calculate >correctly using both 45 and 40 units for DME and honey I >come up with an OG: max = 1.081 and min = 1.073. So, I >goofed but recovered my error. Now what? I will have only >another 10 days and then I won't be able to do anything with >it for two weeks. Unless I want my son to ... naw! Tried >that before. Didn't work. So I'm warming it up to 70. >Should I pitch a large starter? It's in a 6.5 carboy so I >have plenty of room. >Where can I go to find the calculations for predicting FG? >Thanks, >Lee > > Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 21:41:24 -0400 From: Jeff & Ellen <JeffNGladish at ij.net> Subject: plastic buckets with o-ring lids Glen Pannicke wrote: "To protect the grain from insects and seal out the outside air, I plan on purchasing storage buckets with a screw-top and an o-ring seal on the lid. I'm not sure where I've seen them, but there out there." I've found these at swimming pool chemical supply stores, usually with chlorine tabs inside. Ask a friend with a swimming pool to save you an empty bucket. (You can also get 88% calcium chloride while you're at the pool supply store to acidify your mash.) Here in Florida, humidity capitol of the US, I usually buy my base grains in 55 pound bags and use it up within two months. The heat and humidity do not seem to affect it, but bugs become a minor annoyance toward the end. 'Hope this helps. Jeff Gladish, Tampa Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 22:45:49 -0500 From: Kim Thomson <alabrew at mindspring.com> Subject: Possible replacement speciality malts Weyermann has released three new malts that may be able to fill the void if DWC stops production: CaraRed - Similar to CaraVienne CaraAmber - Similar to Biscuit CaraAroma - Similar to Special B Haven't tried any yet, anyone out there in HBD land have any experience with them? - -- Kim and Sun Ae Thomson ALABREW Homebrewing Supplies 8916 A Parkway East Birmingham, AL 35206 (205) 833-1716 http://www.mindspring.com/~alabrew mailto:alabrew at mindspring.com Beer and Wine Making Ingredients and Supplies Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 13 Jul 2001 20:49:54 -0700 From: Smith Asylum <smithly at neta.com> Subject: Re: stuck ferment Todd, I checked the hydrometer. Dead on 1.000. I've certainly learned a lot about brewing in the past couple days thanks to all you guys chiming in. It seems to be an arguable point, how many points a pound of DME or Malto-Dextrin or Honey provides to a wort. I calculated from both camps the possible min and max and it came out to 1.073 - 1.081. If I run the min and max attenuation numbers (according to PharaohJB) for the range of OG's to project FG, I get should get an FG in the range of 1.018-1.024. His practice is to multiply the OG by (1-percentage of attenuation) to get an estimated FG. If that's the case, I'm six points high. If my hydrometer reading was correct (1.085) I'm 10 points high. I think I'm going to get some fresh yeast, make a 2 liter starter, pitch the slurry and allow it to ferment out at 75 deg. Lots of folks think it will be okay to bottle and they are probably right. I'm just too AR for this! Aughh! I know, I know, RDWHAHB. Well, I have to bottle some first. 8^) Thanks to all who responded, it was amazing! Lee Smith Chandler AZ "Todd M. Snyder" wrote: > Hi Lee, > > Even with 7.5 lb of DME, SUDS still calculates the OG to be 1.073. You'd > have to have boiled it down to about 4.25 gallons in order to be at 1.085. I > think it's very possible your hydrometer sleeve has slipped inside the > glass. > > Did you check your hydrometer against tap water? It should read very, very > close to 1.000. > > If it did slip, I'll bet your tap water reads 1.012. Corrected for this, it > would mean your FG is 1.016, not 1.028, which would be fine to bottle. > > Todd > Buffalo, NY Return to table of contents
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