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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Re: Brewpubs in Vancouver (Matt Walker)
  Maple sap and syrup (John Schnupp)
  RE: arrested fermentation (Jonathan Royce)
  Re: 2206 - weird yeast behavior (Dean Fikar)
  Re: Cleaning kegs ... and other stuff ("Hall, Kevin")
  Arrested Fermentation for NA  Beer ("Dan Listermann")
  Guinness "Tang" ("Dan Listermann")
  RE:  The mash tun dilemma (Demonick)
  Vancouver -local beer/Guinness "tang" ("pablo")
  RE: Arrested Fermentation for NA ("Steven Parfitt")
  Clones required ("John Fraser")
  drilling the Sankorny (Marc Sedam)
  Re: Whole hops and Low OG (Jeff Renner)
  Carbinator Cap problem ("Hedglin, Nils A")
  Harsh Flavour / Plastic Buckets w/ spigots (Paddock Wood Customer Service)
  DCL Yeast - dry lager S-189 etc (Paddock Wood Customer Service)
  South Shore Brewoff - reminder (McNally Geoffrey A NPRI)
  De-chlorination and gypsum ("Parker Dutro")
  specific heat of malted barley ("the Ludwigs")
  Mash Panic (Dave Larsen)


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Date: Mon, 04 Mar 2002 22:46:09 -0800
From: Matt Walker <matt at suckerfish.net>
Subject: Re: Brewpubs in Vancouver

Definitely check out Steamworks Brew Pub (http://www.steamworks.com/). 
My girlfriend and I were in Vancouver over the summer and were looking 
for a good brewpub to stop in for dinner and some good house brew. We 
passed Steamworks and considered going in but due to their proximity 
to Gastown -- one of the main tourist drags in Vancouver -- as well as 
the giant garish sign out front, we nearly passed them by. We assumed 
that they were just another bland, watered-down, trendy brewpub. But 
then it started to rain so we said "screw it" and ducked in. I'm glad 
we did because we had some of the best beer (and food) that we had on 
our vacation (which also took us through Washington and Oregon). We 
drank their Sour Cherry Belgian Ale, Wit, Porter, and IPA, all of 
which were excellent (although their Wit was a little unbalanced). We 
also had a great dinner. My girlfriend was served the largest piece of 
Ahi Tuna that I have ever seen. I'm glad we took a chance on Steamworks.

  -- Matt



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Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2002 22:48:13 -0800 (PST)
From: John Schnupp <johnschnupp at yahoo.com>
Subject: Maple sap and syrup

Cool something I know a little bit about, being from the #1 maple syrup
producer in the United States (48.9% production from New England and 26%
nationally).  The production in 2001 was 275,000 gallons.  At 36 gallons sap
(average) to make one gallon of syrup that is a lot (9,900,000 gallons) of sap.

One product that is produced is called sweet water.  It is carbonated maple
sap.  I used to pick this up in a local general store/farm stand but have not
seen it in a while.  

If you have access to maple sap and do kegging, you have everything you need. 
Carbonate to about 40-50 psi.  Makes a nice refreshing drink when served cold.

=====
John Schnupp, N3CNL
??? Hombrewery
[560.2, 68.6] Rennerian
Georgia, VT
95 XLH 1200, Horse with no Name



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Date: 5 Mar 2002 04:49:34 -0800
From: Jonathan Royce <jtroyce at directvinternet.com>
Subject: RE: arrested fermentation

"I was thinking of pulling some brew out of my next 
batch when it hits about 0.5% alcohol.  Then running 
it through a wort chiller to bring it to near freezing 
temps.  
"Would this kill off the yeast (ale yeast)?
 
I doubt very much that near freezing temperatures 
would kill yeast--it would more likely just go 
dormant. Meaning that, if it were to warm up again, I 
suspect it would become active. 
 
"Also, could I then use a real fine filter to filter 
out most of the yeast?" 
 
Absolutely. Many commercial breweries (and vineyards)
use fine filters (0.45 - 10 micron) to remove yeast 
and other non-desireables prior to bottling. These 
filters vary from cellulose pads or polypropylene 
wraps (depth filters) to pleated polymer membranes 
(surface filters). The only drawback for the 
homebrewer is that these filters tend to be expensive. 
For an overview of the commercial filtration process, 
check out this website: 
http://www.millipore.com/foodbev/applications.nsf/docs/beerprocessing 

HTH,
Jon




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Date: Tue, 05 Mar 2002 07:34:11 -0800
From: Dean Fikar <dfikar at swbell.net>
Subject: Re: 2206 - weird yeast behavior

Alan Meeker sez:

"I just had a strange experience with Wyeast's 2206 and am wondering if
anyone else has seen anything similar."

Alan,

2206 was my favorite lager strain until I had problems with two batches in
the last year.  The first was a big doppelbock which stuck at 1.040 (OG
1.098) and the second, months later, was a Dunkel which stuck at about
1.026-1.028 (OG 1.059).   The bock was pitched with slurry which was
refrigerated for a few weeks and then restarted with 2L of canned wort.  The
dunkel was pitched with a 2L starter from a new smack pack.

I eventually racked the dopplebock onto the Ayinger yeast cake of a recently
brewed CAP which took the SG down to about 1.025.  With the dunkel I pitched
the slurry from a 2L starter (Ayinger from a slant) and got the SG down to
1.022 which, though still high, was about where it should have been since I
mashed at 158F.  I later got some feedback from Louis Bonham who has heard
anecdotal reports of similar behavior from the 2206 strain.  Perhaps he can
comment further if he has any insight into this puzzling yeast behavior.

I think I'm going to switch to Wyeast 2308 which IMHO gets a bad rap as a
finicky yeast.  I've never had any problem with it myself.  I'd be
interested in suggestions for any other 2206 replacement that folks may
have.  BTW, though I love the Ayinger strain it doesn't seem to accent
maltiness as much as 2206 does in bocks, fests, and the like.  Makes a great
CAP though (thanks Jeff!).

Dean Fikar
Ft. Worth, TX



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Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2002 09:50:24 -0500 
From: "Hall, Kevin" <Kevin_Hall at bausch.com>
Subject: Re: Cleaning kegs ... and other stuff

richard davidson <ooh_rick at yahoo.com> wrote in HBD 3873:

<<While reading about some of the ideas for cleaning Sankes, carboys, and
such in confined quarters, I thought of something I might try in my garage.
I have a large plastic sink that I wash my fermenter and carboys in, but
take my sanke outside.

I'm now toying with the idea of building a "cradle" that my carboys and keg
will fit into. Something with a V shape on four legs to keep the round
object in place. The hind legs taller to create an angle for easy drainage.
The whole thing could sit tall enough to drain right into the sink. I could
set it right next to the sink, scrub, rinse with a hose, etc.

I could probably even get a small garden sprayer filled with iodophor to
reach in the carboys and spray the insides for sanitation. Let it set a few
minutes and rinse.

Sound doable?>>

Richard,

I can't quite recall where I found this link
(http://www.cros.net/cruiser/carboy/carboy.html) to Nate's Carboy Safety
Carrier Page, but this seems like a very elegant solution to a vexing
problem. How to handle those glass buggers while slippery and soapy. This
little doodad could be made from almost any type of lumber material hanging
around, and with a little woodworking (or a buddy who knows how - paid with
tasty homebrew) could make this in short order. I have even invested in a
dado head for my old table saw to knock a couple out. I will post if they
are cool as they look.

Your proposal of a tilted rack would still leave liquid material in the
carboy after cleaning, and then what do you do with the other ones that
require attention? Nate's carrier can be stacked and inverted to allow for
complete draining, air drying, and storage to keep clean (dust, debris,
creepy crawlies, etc.). I like it.

Thanks,
Kevin Hall
Lilac Ridge Brewing Co.
Rochester, NY


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Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2002 10:14:30 -0500
From: "Dan Listermann" <dan at listermann.com>
Subject: Arrested Fermentation for NA  Beer

: "Michael R. Brzezowski" <mrb at dedham.k12.me.us> writes:

<I am wondering if anyone out there has used arrested fermentation to create
<a non-alcoholic beer.  This is the method that most of the better NA beers
<use, but it seems to simple.

Miller does this.  The cooling does not kill the yeast but rather suspends
its action and it falls out, but they still need to sterile filter to keep
the residual sugars from fermenting.  Pasteurizing may work too.

 Dan Listermann

Check out our E-tail site at http://www.listermann.com

Take a look at the anti-telemarketer forum.  It is my new hobby!




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Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2002 10:38:43 -0500
From: "Dan Listermann" <dan at listermann.com>
Subject: Guinness "Tang"

IIRC this subject came up at the Homebrewers conference in Kansas City a few
years ago during a lecture that Ray Daniels was giving.  Charlie Papazian
happened to be in the room and said that he had seen the fermenters that
make the soured beer that is blended in to produce the "tang."

 Dan Listermann

Check out our E-tail site at http://www.listermann.com

Take a look at the anti-telemarketer forum.  It is my new hobby!




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Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2002 07:50:44 -0800
From: Demonick <demonick at zgi.com>
Subject: RE:  The mash tun dilemma

I'd like to expand on what Bill Tobler <wctobler at sbcglobal.net> pointed
out.

>With the extra space, you can step up with hot water, and do a
>mash out.  You can't do that in a 5 gallon cooler. 

In a 10 gallon cooler you can do a step mash, where with a 5 gallon 
cooler you very quickly run out of room.  

I like to do a mash out in my 10 gallon Gott.  A typical 5 gallon batch
mash runs 4+ gallons with 10 lbs of grain and 1.25 quarts water/lb.  2
gallons of near boiling water bring the volume to over 6 gallons.  With a 5
gallon cooler you'd have a gallon on the floor.  Also, even without doing a
mashout, during the sparge with a 5 gallon cooler and a 5 gallon batch you
have to watch the sparge water inlet VERY carefully so as not to overflow
the cooler.  With a 10 gallon, you can just let it rip.

My suggestion is to get both a 10 gallon and a 5 gallon.  Set up the
10 gallon as a mash/lauter tun, and use the 5 gallon as a sparge water
reservoir.  If the kettle sits on the floor, the mash tun on a table,
and the sparge reservoir on a box on the table, you have a little 
temporary, 3-tiered system that make life much easier. 

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



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Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2002 10:01:56 -0600
From: "pablo" <pjm at cavern.uark.edu>
Subject: Vancouver -local beer/Guinness "tang"

 > Contents:
>   Guinness "Tang" (Nathan Kanous)
>   Brewpubs in Vancouver (Matt Gavin-Wear)
>  > ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2002 08:06:13 -0500 (EST)
> From: Pat Babcock <pbabcock at hbd.org>
> Subject: That Guinness "Tang"
>
> Greetings, Beerlings! Take me to your lager...
>
> Well, I purchased some Guinness Pub Draught Sunday to enjoy with
> our kids' grandparents. There is definitely a flavor component
> that tickles the taste buds in the area where the bitter sensinf
> buds are closest to the sour sensors. In "Kim-speak", this is
> hte "back corners" of the tongue. Due to where this sensation
> pops up on the tongue, I'm not at all surprised regarding the
> interpretation of this as a sourness or by the interpretation of
> it as a bitterness. Due to the sour note, I can particularly see
> it being classified as a hoppiness rather than the simple grain
> bitterness. (What a fence-sitter I am :^)
>
> I have read on many an occasion that Guinness adds (or added?) a
> portion of "soured" beer to the stout. This could be a factual
> relic from the porter days and the three threads, fantasy
> created by those who detect the sour-bitter I describe above, or
> something they actually do. Their website speaks of a blending
> process for consistency of flavor; however, nothing there reads
> any different from the blending process you'd expect from, say,
> Budweiser (on that note, their website shows the release of the
> previously discussed "Guinness Extra Cold" in 1998), ie. no
> specific mention of soured beer.
>
> If anyone has a definitive answer, I'm certainly numbered among
> the curious. Any Guinness employees out there?
>
>> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Mon, 04 Mar 2002 08:20:34 -0600
> From: Nathan Kanous <nlkanous at pharmacy.wisc.edu>
> Subject: Guinness "Tang"
>
> Morning,
> I'll take just a moment to point out that there is more than on "Guinness"
> out there.  The stuff on draft with nitrogen is plain-old draft
> Guinness.  Nothing special except that it's a great beer brewed to an OG
of
> 1.038 or so with pale ale malt, flaked barley and roasted barley.
>
> The other is the Guinness Foreign Extra Stout (there may be some other
> variations in different parts of the world).  This is a bottled beer with
a
> much higher gravity (not going to guess) that some have said includes some
> soured Guinness.  This may be the origin of the "Guinness Tang."  I wonder
> if they have this kind of Tang on the Space Shuttle?  Remember those awful
> protein sticks you could buy for breakfast...."just like the astronauts
eat"?
>
> So, if you've never tasted that "Guinness Tang" in a draft of Guinness,
> it's 'cause it's not there.
>
> Just a thought.
> nathan in madison, wi
>
> ------------------------------
>

Hello all; just a gratuitous de-lurking here to offer my completely
subjective 2 cents and weigh in on this Guinness flavor thread...
    FWIW, I tend to agree with Nathan's basic observation here, to wit, the
great (to me anyway) difference in flavor between "draught" widget-canned
Guinness and the much different bottled stuff...  Though I've never
experienced a "tang" (at least what *I* perceive/describe a tang to be) in
either bottled or canned Guinness, I suspect, like others, including Mr. &
Mrs. Babcock, that much is due to a certain hop characteristic(s) AND (this
has not been mentioned yet) the carbonation factor...

My first Guinness was bottled Guinness, and it remains my favorite (not ever
having had the pleasure of sampling from a tap in Ireland...!).  Something
about the bubbles...  The canned stuff is just too smoothed out for me; I
like the "snap" of the bottled version...that is, the hop _and_ carbonation
snap...  Perhaps others can comment on how the C02 affects perceived
taste...?  At any rate, imagine, if you will, a weizen bier vom fass without
that lovely effervesence...  It would surely *taste* much
different...n'cest-ce pas?

Also...:

>> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2002 10:37:42 +1100
> From: Matt Gavin-Wear <matt at pulsedesign.com.au>
> Subject: Brewpubs in Vancouver
>
> I will going to Vancouver, Canada soon.
>
> Can anyone please recommend any brewpubs/microbreweries there. Also
> addresses and a couple of details (ie. if they have a restaurant attached,
> what sort of beers etc.) would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Quality brewpubs/micros are few and far between here in Australia so I'm
> looking forward to sampling the best that Canada has to offer.
>
> Private emails welcome.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Matt Gavin-Wear

    I too am headed to B.C. later this month...  Will be in Victoria and
Vancouver; if some of you who intend to reply to Mr. Gavin-Wear wouldn't
mind either a) replying to the collective, or b) cc'ing/bcc'ing me when
replying to Matt privately, I'd be much obliged!  Many thanks in advance...!

Paul Morstad
Fayetteville, AR



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Date: Tue, 05 Mar 2002 11:16:18 -0500
From: "Steven Parfitt" <the_gimp98 at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: Arrested Fermentation for NA

Michael R. Brzezowski Posts:

>I am wondering if anyone out there has used arrested fermentation to 
> >create a non-alcoholic beer.  This is the method that most of the >better 
>NA beers use, but it seems to simple.

I have hears of several technicues used to make NA, but not this one. I'm 
afraid this would leave you with a really sweet beer.

>I was thinking of pulling some brew out of my next batch when it hits 
> >about 0.5% alcohol.  Then running it through a wort chiller to bring >it 
>to near freezing temps.

>Would this kill off the yeast (ale yeast)?  Does any have suggestions >of 
>yeast strains to use?

I wouldn't count on killing all the yeast. You could end up with 
femrnetation resuming later.

>Also, could I then use a real fine filter to filter out most of the >yeast?

Probably so, but if you had a filter fine enough to guarantee that you got 
all the yeast, you would also end up filtering protein and other compounds 
as well.

 ....SNIP...

>(PS:  I have looked at vacuuming off the alcohol, but I like aromatic
>brews.)

Per previous discussions, this is a form of distillation, and frown'd upon 
by BB.

Why not just brew a low alcohol beer. I'm down to about 2%abv with one of my 
brews called SNAL. It is a really tasty brew. You could experiment and 
prbably get to 1% or maybe less and still have a nice beer. The trick is in 
the use of specialty malts for flavor and body.

My recipe calls for:

Grain/Extract/Sugar

0.19 lbs. Special B Malt        Belgian        1.030    120
2.50 lbs. Pilsener              Belgium        1.037      2
1.00 lbs. Munich Malt           Belgium        1.038      8
1.00 lbs. CaraPilsner           France         1.035     10
0.50 lbs. Wheat Malt            Germany        1.039      2

Hops
1.00 oz.    Strisselspalt       Whole    2.00   8.1  60 min.
0.75 oz.    Strisselspalt       Whole    2.00   2.1  20 min.
0.75 oz.    Strisselspalt       Whole    2.00   0.0  0 min.


I used WYeast 1214 Belgian Ale at 64F to suppress some of the ester 
production.

Some friends that like Corona have said that this reminds them of it, 
although I don't see how.

Steven, -75 XLCH- Ironhead Nano-Brewery  http://thegimp.8k.com
Johnson City, TN 5:47:38.9 S, 1:17:37.5 E Rennerian

"Fools you are... who say you like to learn from your mistakes.... I prefer 
to learn from the mistakes of others and avoid the cost of my own." Otto von 
Bismarck





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Date: Tue, 05 Mar 2002 16:16:41 +0000
From: "John Fraser" <rims_brewing at hotmail.com>
Subject: Clones required

Has anyone got a an all grain recipe for the following brews:
1. Bass, no doubt someone has a good one of these!
2. Victoria Bitter (Australian brew referred to by some as the green death 
as it comes in a green can!)


John M. Fraser
http://rims-brewing.tripod.com/
Relax and have a home brew




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Date: Tue, 05 Mar 2002 11:35:59 -0500
From: Marc Sedam <marc_sedam at unc.edu>
Subject: drilling the Sankorny

I posted something last week about what to do regarding
finishing welds on my newly-welded Sankorny keg.

I have a Dremel (high-speed rotary tool) and went to Home
Despot, Lowes, and finally Sears to look for bits that would
do the job.  I tried cut-off wheels, heavy-duty cut off
wheels, aluminum oxide grinding stones, SS brushes, and none
of it worked.  Until I learned the magic of two little
words...

TUNGSTEN CARBIDE.

That stuff is pure magic.  The bit ate through stainless
like a drill press through wood.  I was able to smooth out
the stainless "lip" left during the welding.  Once I got
down to the place where the Sankey met the welded corny keg,
very gentle pressure with the side of the bit made for one
relatively smooth surface.  Finished it off with the
aluminum oxide grinding stone and it's pretty clean and
smooth.  I plan to use the dremel "polishing compound" to
finish the welds followed by a gentle brushing with 180 grit
paper and bathing all the welds in nitric acid to dissolve
any iron and prevent rust.  Of course doing all of this
through the top hole of the corny lid is much harder than
you'd think.  Will take 3-4 hours to make the smooth
surfaces.

Thanks to all the HBDers who've made suggestions and helped
with how to finish the welds to make them approach
sanitary-grade.  And yes, I also bought a pressure gauge
from William's Brewing (NAYYY) so I can sterilize through
steam pressure.  I know some have cautioned against this
use, but since I plan to use it as a serving tank on
occasion it needs to be able to handle AT LEAST 20psi.  If
it can't then I've just created a very big, very expensive
fermenter.

Lastly, if the entire keg CAN be pressurized but there's the
occasional nook or cranny in the weld, will the pressure be
able to kill all the buggers?  I can't believe I just asked
that, but it's been a while since I used the autoclave--I
seem to recall all surfaces had to be smooth and clean to be
effectively sterilized.

Cheers!
- --

Marc Sedam
Chapel Hill, NC



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Date: Tue, 05 Mar 2002 12:23:49 -0500
From: Jeff Renner <JeffRenner at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Whole hops and Low OG

"Larry Bristol" <Larry at DoubleLuck.com> wrote of his horrible former habit:

>I will tell you about something I used to do (at the risk of bringing
>down cries of "horrendous" from our fellows here in the HBD).  I would
>place the (cooled) wort back into the (sanitized) lauter tun, let the
>hop petals settle onto the false bottom, drain the wort into the
>fermenter through the hop "filter bed", and then sprinkle cold water on
>top to rinse the hop pettles.

Actually, this is a traditional brewing practice called sparging the 
hops.  Normally it's done with hot sparge water.  I've done it in the 
past myself, ans still do occasionally if I need to dilute my final 
volume.  However, since I use an immersion chiller, I use cool water 
now.

Dave Line wrote of it in his seminal (1974) "Big Book of Brewing," 
from which I learned to brew all grain more than 20 years ago.  He 
wrote (p. 160)

"Hops can absorb and retain a considerable amount of extract which 
must be retrieved to maintain efficiency and economy.  Hop sparge 
with kettles of boiling water at the rate of approximately 1 pint per 
gallon of beer.  Some of the protein matter will bound to be washed 
through by this action."

Jeff
- -- 
***Please note my new address***

Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner at comcast.net
"One never knows, do one?"  Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943


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Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2002 09:27:06 -0800 
From: "Hedglin, Nils A" <nils.a.hedglin at intel.com>
Subject: Carbinator Cap problem

Hi all,
  I finally tried the idea of carbonating my flat beer using CO2 & a
Carbonator Cap.  At first it seemed to work well, until I started shaking it
& it sprayed me in my face.  For some reason, the valve of the cap wasn't
sealing, so the beer was foaming out of the top.  Just minutes before, I had
done a test to make sure I had the bottle had the right threading, & shot
CO2 into the bottle when it was empty.  I've also used it to carbonate home
made root beer & cider too & it worked fine then.  I didn't hear any gas
escaping at that time.  Once I put beer in it, I made sure to squeeze all
the air out of the bottle before applying the CO2.  Has anyone else seen
this type of problem?
Thanks,
Nils
Sacramento, CA


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Date: Tue, 05 Mar 2002 14:25:30 -0600
From: Paddock Wood Customer Service <experts at paddockwood.com>
Subject: Harsh Flavour / Plastic Buckets w/ spigots

Greg had posted about a nasty flavour in his beer, and later revealed that
he had switched to plastic buckets from glass, and didn't rinse the Iodophor
off. Iodophor must be carefully measured to be used as a no-rinse sanitizer,
but I suspect that those spigots may be the problem, not the sanitizer. But
I would recommend StarSan over Iodophor, as a no-rinse flavorless sanitizer
(brewshop owner, yadda yadda yadda).

Some spigots simply cannot be properly sanitized, and are only intended for
the briefest of use in a bottling bucket.  If used in a fermentor,
eventually wort and hop bits can and will find their way into the inner
workings of the spigot, and the spigot cannot be properly cleaned without a
lot of hassle.

Spigots that allow you to straighten or turn the spout (not merely the
handle) to adjust the orientation after tightening the nut, have a
tube-in-tube barrel that will allow wort to collect between the inner tube
and outer barrel. It will not always be visible.  The spigots can be snapped
apart with some difficulty.  Then you can clean them, but repeated
dismantling will eventually lead to a leaky spigot. Spigots that are solid-
one piece, except for the nut and the spout can sometimes be cleaned well
enough to use for fermentation. I have seen "fast flow" spigots like these,
but the tube-in-tube style are more common.

We had experimented with providing fresh wort in ready to ferment buckets
w/spigots, but the spigots became a source of infection. It didn't show up
right away, nor did all the buckets get it. We ended up with a smokey sour
lactobacillus infection, but there were no tell-tale rings or other obvious
signs, other than an increasingly unpleasant taste.

If Greg's troubles are indeed from the spigot, it may be an infection. Not
all infections leave a ring, or produce cloudy beer.  Buckets can be great,
if they are replaced regularly, and not scrubbed with abrasives, but I would
suggest using a bucket sans spigot.

cheers,

Stephen Ross -- "Vitae sine cerevisiis sugant."

Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
experts at paddockwood.com  www.paddockwood.com



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Date: Tue, 05 Mar 2002 15:01:02 -0600
From: Paddock Wood Customer Service <experts at paddockwood.com>
Subject: DCL Yeast - dry lager S-189 etc

Paul asks:

"What's the consensus on S23 vs. S189 with regards to
flavor and performance?  Is S23 truly fruity?  I've
seen S23 carried at a few homebrew stores, but does
anybody carry S189?  Perhaps its not a normally
stocked item, being as its smallest available size is
a 500g pack but could be special-ordered..."

We normally stock vacuum packed  20 gm units of S-189 , $6.25 Canadian, so
what's that, 50 cents USD? ;)  It can go in an envelope to the USA without
large shipping costs.  We also sell the 500gm bricks. Our website isn't up
to date, but we carry most of DCL yeast, most of the time.

We were just as puzzled by the 'estery' and 'fruity' description, and also
concluded that it must have been some Marketing rep who didn't know. Or
maybe DCL covering their butts, but I find S-189 to be a fairly neutral
yeast, good flocc, and a good choice if you do not aerate your wort, or if
you wish to have some emergency lager yeast kicking around for a no-go
starter or yeast.

It's an extremely popular strain in Europe, and as noted on the HBD, it can
tolerate abuse.  I wouldn't suggest it if you knew that the temp was going
to be high, Wyeast 2112 is better for that, but S-189 is a good choice for
homebrewers who may have difficulty with temperature control.

cheers,

Stephen Ross -- "Vitae sine cerevisiis sugant."

Paddock Wood Brewing Supplies, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
experts at paddockwood.com  www.paddockwood.com



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Date: Tue, 05 Mar 2002 16:49:56 -0500
From: McNally Geoffrey A NPRI <McNallyGA at Npt.NUWC.Navy.Mil>
Subject: South Shore Brewoff - reminder

Hi All,

  This is just a small reminder that the entry deadline for the
South Shore Brewoff is fast approaching (March 15th).

  Please visit the South Shore Brew Club website for a complete
entry package (entry forms, bottle labels, judge/steward registration
form, etc.).

  http://members.aol.com/brewclub

                                          Geoffrey McNally
                                          Competition organizer


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Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2002 15:24:24 -0800
From: "Parker Dutro" <ezekiel128 at edwardwadsworth.com>
Subject: De-chlorination and gypsum

I am wondering- if I start running my water through a carbon filter system
to de-chlorinate it (*which I am GOING to start doing)  I should add any
gypsum to the water *before* starting the mash, or after the initial strike
when the grains and water have infused but before I close the tun for the
alotted time.  According to what I have read, it seems that for the
enzymatic processes to benefit from the gypsum/pH it would be right to set
up the water and then mash.  Any input?
Parker Dutro



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Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2002 20:56:09 -0800
From: "the Ludwigs" <mwludwig at tqci.net>
Subject: specific heat of malted barley

I'm looking for a specific heat value for malted barley. I found a
report on the web that gave an equation for calculating Cp of "barley"
based on moisture content. Using a maximum of 5% moisture content from a
maltster's web site, I came up with approx 1.18 KJ/(Kg)(degK). For those
of you in the know, is that about right? Thanks in advance. 

Dave Ludwig
Flat Iron Brewery
Southern MD

- ---
[This E-mail was scanned for viruses at tqci.net]



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Date: Tue, 05 Mar 2002 20:11:49 -0700
From: Dave Larsen <HunahpuMonkey at comcast.net>
Subject: Mash Panic

Here is a little story.

The other day was brew day -- my third all-grain batch.
The first two went very well.  I was pretty cocky going into
the the third.   I had this all-grain thing down pat.

The new thing this brew day was a brand new thermometer.
This was a new Pyrex digital thermometer.   In previous
batches, I had used an old deep fry thermometer, with a dial
that had marks for every ten degrees, which made it hard to
get exact temperatures.   I had carefully checked the new
thermometer with boiling and freezing water.  It was off by
3F degrees exactly-- three degrees too low in fact.   I knew
this going in.   This time, my temps were going to be exact.

One of the problems I has always had in previous batches was
getting my strike temp right.  My mash in temperature always
came out too low.   This time, I decided to heat my mash
water a full 180F degrees.   So using my new thermometer, I
heated my mash water to 183F degrees.  Adjusting for the
thermometer that was 180F degrees.  Right?.  I mixed it with
my grain and -- presto -- according to my new thermometer it
was 158F degrees.   Adjust that by 3 degrees and it is 155F
degrees.  Perfect.  Right?

I put the lid on my gott cooler and waited for fifteen
minutes.

I decided that it was time to check on my perfect mash.
Hmmmm.  It had only dropped by one degree.  This was going
great.

It was then, like a ray of light, I realized that I had
adjusted the temp in the wrong direction!   My mash had been
6 degrees to far into alpha amylase all along.  ARGH!

I quickly added some cold water and checked it.   Still too
high.  Panic.   More water.   Mash now all watery.   Mash
tun too full.   Out of room.   Must remove some mash to add
more cold water.   GRRRRRRRR.   Panic.   Add more cold
water.

Finally, I stuck my brand new thermometer into the mash.
It read 152F degrees.  Thank God.  No wait, 156F degrees.
No wait, 160F degrees.   I keep moving the thermometer to
different places in the mash.   172F degrees.   This
sucks.   Panic.   Is too late?  Have my enzymes all been
killed off.  Why does the mash vary so much from place to
place?

My wife yells out from the other room, "WHAT IS GOING ON?!
You keep swearing like a truck driver."

The temperature was now 186F degrees.  Wait a second, that's
higher than my mash water was going in.  Something's wrong
here.

I pulled the thermometer out and plunged it into some
boiling water.  It read 236F degrees.  The culprit was
unveiled.  Bad thermometer.  Bad!

That is my story.   The batch is in the fermenter now.
According to the iodine test, all the starches converted
into something -- into what I don't know.  Isn't homebrewing
fun?

Dave Larsen





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