HOMEBREW Digest #3886 Mon 11 March 2002


[Prev HBD] [Index] [Next HBD] [Back]


	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: janitor@hbd.org


***************************************************************
       THIS YEAR'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY: 

          Northern  Brewer, Ltd. Home Brew Supplies
        http://www.northernbrewer.com  1-800-681-2739

    Support those who support you! Visit our sponsor's site!
********** Also visit http://hbd.org/hbdsponsors.html *********


Contents:
  RE: Screen usage ("Michael R. Brzezowski")
  Re: Grain bed depth and Gott cooler (Brian Levetzow)
  conical fermenters ("Keller, Steven W.")
  further abuses ("Dr. Pivo")
  Kettle Screens ("Joe Newcomer")
  Washing machine motors? (Paul Kensler)
  Grain Bed Depth in a Gott Cooler. ("Dan Listermann")
  Turbo Extra (Michael Marshburn)
  extraction efficiency ("Ronnie Anderson")
  Still Alive And Kicking ("Phil Yates")
  RE: Converting extract to all grain ("Steven Parfitt")
  Maple Charlie Brown ("John Gubbins")
  3068 (AJ)
  Converting Extract Recipes to All Grain (Al Klein)
  GSPS and Beer (Allen W Senear)
  MCAB4 - Hotel discount deadline (shick)
  AHA Big Brew ("Mike Pensinger")
  Some Positive Bazooka FeedBack ("Scott D. Braker-Abene")

* * Drunk Monk Challenge Entry Deadline is 3/16/02! * http://www.sgu.net/ukg/dmc/ for more information * * Maltose Falcons 2002 Mayfaire Competition * Entries accepted 4/1/02 - 4/11/02 * http://www.maltosefalcons.com for details * * Show your HBD pride! Wear an HBD Badge! * http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/shopping * * MCAB-IV - April 12-13, 2002 - Cleveland Ohio * See http://www.hbd.org/mcab for more info * * Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy! * Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!! To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE send an e-mail message with the word "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" to request@hbd.org FROM THE E-MAIL ACCOUNT YOU WISH TO HAVE SUBSCRIBED OR UNSUBSCRIBED!!!** IF YOU HAVE SPAM-PROOFED your e-mail address, you cannot subscribe to the digest as we cannot reach you. We will not correct your address for the automation - that's your job. The HBD is a copyrighted document. The compilation is copyright HBD.ORG. Individual postings are copyright by their authors. ASK before reproducing and you'll rarely have trouble. Digest content cannot be reproduced by any means for sale or profit. More information is available by sending the word "info" to req at hbd.org. JANITOR on duty: Pat Babcock and Karl Lutzen (janitor@hbd.org)
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 09 Mar 2002 01:51:24 -0500 From: "Michael R. Brzezowski" <mrb at dedham.k12.me.us> Subject: RE: Screen usage I am fairly new to brewing, so maybe this is just obvious but I will say it anyway. I use something that looks like a really fine meshed hair net. I put it over my fermenter (plastic, not a carboy). Then I have someone hold it just to make sure it doesn't fall in, and I pour the wort through it. Works fine, but that is with a nice wide 6.8gallon bucket. - Mike Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 09 Mar 2002 09:05:10 -0500 From: Brian Levetzow <levetzowbt at comcast.net> Subject: Re: Grain bed depth and Gott cooler Brian Schar wrote about Zymurgy article and stuck mashes: >The author suggests that the grain bed should be no more than >4 inches deep, and in no event more than 8 inches deep. However, in a >Gott cooler, I can't believe I could get enough grain in there to make >5 gallons of beer (much less 10 gallons) and still maintain a grain bed >under 8 inches in depth. Is the author correct? Or overly conservative? >How deep is your grain piled in the Gott cooler mash tun? Does it really >matter? I am curious to get some feedback on this before I commit to a >cooler. Bung. I use a 5 gal Gott, but have had 14 lbs. of grain in it, filling it to the brim with grain and mash water. That's a touch more than 8 inches deep, more like 16 while 'floating'. This drops to ~12 inches when drained. I have never had a stuck sparge due to grain bed thickness. Now, when that grain gets under my phalse bottom, that's a different issue... - -- +++++++++++++++ Brian Levetzow ~ Laurel, MD [425.7, 118.5] Apparent Rennerian Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 2002 11:03:53 -0600 From: "Keller, Steven W." <KellerS at missouri.edu> Subject: conical fermenters I was hoping to get some input on experiences with plastic or stainless conical fermenters. Are they worth it? Is one type signifcantly better than another? I have looked at BBMB (stianless), Sabco (keg conversion), and discountbrew.com (plastic). Any comments from the gurus would be greatly appreciated. Brew on, Brew well, Steve Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 09 Mar 2002 18:12:15 +0100 From: "Dr. Pivo" <dp at pivo.w.se> Subject: further abuses Pat Casey suggests some serious treatment for not only yeast, but brewing abuse. > Phil's Phlogger, the perfect device for > dealing with brewing deviants and miscreants. It would probably also > prove popular in Townsville where they enjoy this sort of thing anyway. > The reference to Townsville seems to be entirely appropriate, as Graham Sanders recently wrote: > Pride of Ringwood is essential, get it!!!!!!! Its an Aus signature > to all our beers. Use it also in the flavour of the beer, 10 grams > at 10 minutes. It actually a good flavour hops, highly under-rated. > I seem to recall that "Pried Off Ringworm" was a 60's product when the hop growing world took a simplistic view that alpha acid was everything. In this sense the 'ol ringworm was an unparallelled breeding success , giving yields in excess of 10 percent. I mention this because this hop variety carried along with its high alpha, a very distinct taste signature.... one that I find absolutely disgusting. Not that my personal taste is of any value here, but just to caution those who've not encountered the ringworm before.... a little will go a long way, and it is not a flavour that you can hide amongst others.... in a sense somewhat like a hop like "Bullion" where even small ammounts will inevitably show their face, but where Bullion gives an interesting "Black Currant" flavour, The "Pride" has always struck me as "metallic" tasting... or perhaps it really is "pried off ringworm". Now, if you've been buttering your tongue with "Vegemite" your entire life, while parking yourself in front of an open oven in the tropical heat, you may find this flavour quite appealing.... If not, some judicious usage upon first encounter may be advisable. Dr. Pivo Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 2002 11:02:19 -0700 From: "Joe Newcomer" <joencmr at zianet.com> Subject: Kettle Screens For years I used an Easy Masher (no affiliation) in my kettle to filter the hops and trub, and it worked great with whole hops. Very clear runoff. But I was afraid to use it with pellet hops for fear of a clogged runoff. So I removed the stainless steel hose clamp from the Easy Masher, slid a nylon hop bag over the screen, and installed the hose clamp back over it. Works perfectly with pellet hops. Joe Newcomer Las Cruces, New Mexico Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 09 Mar 2002 13:12:08 -0500 From: Paul Kensler <pkensler at comcast.net> Subject: Washing machine motors? I checked the archives and couldn't find anything... but I swore I've seen this discussed before. Does anyone have any experience or recommendations on using a washing machine motor to motorize a malt mill? Thanks, Paul Kensler Gaithersburg, MD Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 2002 18:05:19 -0500 From: "Dan Listermann" <dan at listermann.com> Subject: Grain Bed Depth in a Gott Cooler. <Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002 09:11:11 -0800 <From: "Brian Schar" <schar at vimedical.com> <Subject: Grain bed depth and Gott cooler < I am leaning toward the 10-gallon Gott cooler as my <mash tun, based on a lot of comments I have read here on HBD and elsewhere, <and on discussions with other homebrewers. However, I am rethinking this in <light of an article in the recent Zymurgy that discusses 10 ways to prevent <stuck mashes. The author suggests that the grain bed should be no more than <4 inches deep, and in no event more than 8 inches deep. I can't imagine where someone might get the idea that a grain bed more than 8" in a Gott cooler would be any problem. I have been mashing in these coolers for years and I doubt that I have ever had a grain bed under 8". The other week I lautered 30.5 lbs ( mashed in two coolers for space reasons) in a 10 gallon Gott where the grain bed was about 18" over a Phil's Phalse Bottom. The lauter was uneventful. It looks as if someone had other problems and missassigned blame to the depth of the grain bed. 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! Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 2002 15:13:44 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Marshburn <mikem4851 at yahoo.com> Subject: Turbo Extra Hey All I was searching through eBay and typed in "Yeast" to see what popped up. I ran across an auction for a 220 gram sachet of Turbo Extra Yeast. It was advertised for making alcohol for distillers using 9kgs dextrose and 25 liters water. I was curious if anyone had any experience using this yeast for barley wine, imperial stout, meade or some other high gravity brew. Since this was auctioned by a shop in Canada, a brewer from there might have given it a try?? Mike M Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 2002 18:25:34 -0500 (EST) From: "Ronnie Anderson" <lerxst at webmages.com> Subject: extraction efficiency Brewed my first 10 gallon all grain batch today (3rd all grain overall). I hit my target OG on the nose, but unfortunately was about 1.5 gallons short. Since I've just started with all grain, I'm sure there can be improvements in my process to bump up the efficiency, but I don't know what they would be. Here's what happened today: 10.5 lbs german wheat 9.5 lbs belgian 2-row 8 oz munich 1 oz whole leaf hallertau (4.1 aau) 10 gallon gott cooler SS false bottom (morebeer.com) converted keg as boil kettle single infusion mash -strike water 180 -mash at 151 ~1:15 -sparged with ~8 gallons of 170 water split 3 times in a bottling bucket-checked mash temp after the first 10 mins and it was at ~155 -heated sparge water up to ~185 (bucket doesn't hold heat well), which brought the mash up to about ~164. -stopped sparge when runoff was 1.007, about 45 mins later -60 min boil -OG 1.053 I didn't want to try to risk extracting any more from the grains since the gravity was already below 1.010, but had only collected about 9 gallons. So, other than the sparge water losing it's temperature too fast, does anyone see any room for improvement? TIA, Ronnie Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 10:54:47 +1100 From: "Phil Yates" <yates at acenet.com.au> Subject: Still Alive And Kicking The recent reappearance of Graham Sanders on HBD throws up some interesting considerations. Seems the crocodiles didn't get him after all. Though from what Graham tells us, they are still busy eating people. Judging by Graham's ranting, when he posts in here I imagine he would be lucky to walk, let alone run from a crocodile. Lucky for Graham he doesn't live near a river bank. Graham seems to be celebrating the demise of Ansett Airlines in this country and the loss of some 17000 jobs. Even with my weird sense of humour, I'm not sure what he thinks is funny about that. The last six months in particular has taken me away from my full mash brewing. I've kept my supplies going using wort kits. I really am very impressed with these but it's high time I fired up the kettle, cranked up the grain mill and started churning out some serious beers again. Jill has been screaming for another rice lager (along with all the other ladies of the billiard room). With winter coming on here in Oz, I'm thinking a full bodied Scottish Ale might be the go. I have to thank Wes Smith once again for his contribution to Australian brewing. Thanks to Wes, we now have a huge range of brewing malts available where once there were hardly any. This is great news for homebrewers, not to mention the micro brewing industry which seems to be gathering momentum at an increasing rate here in Australia. One wonders why an awareness of good brewing and good beers has taken so long to occur in this country. It's been all the rage in the USA for many years. New Zealand has been well into it for a long time. I think Ozzies have been so used to thinking of beer as nothing but swill, and raving about our wines, serious beer brewing has been overlooked. But all of that is changing, and changing fast. The big breweries have realised a major shift in people's tastes is occuring. The micro brewing industry in Australia is taking up the void. Graham is right. He'll likely not see me in Townsville for a long time. Circumstances in Australia have pretty much finished my flying career. But this is not the end of the world. I'm looking forward to pursueing my other passion, brewing good beer and learning more about it. Keeping the bills at bay is going to be a challenge, but you never know where I might bob up. Though I won't be seen in Townsville, I can assure Graham I am very much alive and kicking. Cheers Phil Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 09 Mar 2002 19:29:36 -0500 From: "Steven Parfitt" <the_gimp98 at hotmail.com> Subject: RE: Converting extract to all grain Easy way to do this is to get ProMash (NAYAYA). Enter your extract recipe. Check your percentage for each ingredient, total IBU, OG, etc. Substitute grain and adjust to the same percentages, OG, IBU, etc. Done. Steven, -75 XLCH- Ironhead Nano-Brewery, Under construction. Johnson City, TN 5:47:38.9 S, 1:17:37.5 E Rennerian http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=241124&a=1791925 "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 Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 2002 17:47:07 -0700 From: "John Gubbins" <n0vse at idcomm.com> Subject: Maple Charlie Brown Before the thread on maple flavored beers and maple wine started up, I decided to make one. There was some leftover maple syrup in the fridge that my sister brought over last Christmas. I'd meant to do something with it but didn't know what. As it was taking up valuable refrigerator space, I decided to dispose of it. In wort, of course. On New Years Day of this year I concocted and made a fabulous Brown. I wanted to make it again and perhaps tweak it a bit. So that is where I put that maple syrup. Maple syrup is weird stuff. The bottles had sugared out on the bottom. I had to break up the precipitate by gently heating the stuff up. This was a fairly low grade of syrup since it was pretty dark. It was not the clear stuff you get in the East, this was good old Colorado grocery store stuff. Below is my log entry: Maple Charlie Brown (based on the New Year's Brown) 2.5 lb british 2 row 8 lb light LME 8 oz caramunich 1 lb brown malt 4 oz chocolate malt ~24 oz real maple syrup put in at 10 minutes to end of boil 2 oz domestic cluster (boil) AA 8.6 1 oz hallertou 4.8 aa 10 min White Labs English Ale yeast Made another mess. This stuff is hard to control! The first hot break lasted about 10 minutes and then there was another small one towards mid boil. There was another major break when I added the syrup. The gravities turned out good and high. The wort temp was a bit high, about 80 but I pitched anyway. This stuff should take off. I think I'll put some yeast energizer in the secondary to try to ferment this stuff way down. OG 1.070 Pot alc 9.5 February 23, 2002 Racked to secondary Gravity 1.01 Pot Alc 1 Tastes good. Does not taste finished yet. There may be a hint of woodiness to it that may be from the maple. I didn't put any energizer in it as it looks like a good fermentation March 2, 2002 Still fermenting. March 8, 2002 Kegged. FG 1.01 pot alc 1 Don't know why it didn't drop more since the fermentation went on so long. Bubbles were even in the lock so it was done. - --- I kegged it last night. After drawing off the sediment I force carbonated it. It is very good. There is a hint and only a hint of maple flavor, but there is a woodiness in there that I've never tasted in a beer. I hope it improves with age (if it can!) and if so it does not lose this character. I guess the thing I can say is try it, you'll like it. And I have a gallon of the A maple syrup in the cupboard. This stuff is almost 20 years old and never opened. Probably sugared, but it can be reconstituted. John Gubbins (1117,265,5) apparent Rennarian.... Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 03:01:16 +0100 From: AJ <ajdel at mindspring.com> Subject: 3068 I'm not much of a genetecist but the POF gene which lends the clove flavor is heterozygotic (is that the right term?) I.E. its a single gene - not a pair) and thus is lost is succesive uses. You are not the first to experience disappointment from repitching of these yeasts. The best thing to do with this (and similar strains) is buy a new slap pack for each batch or subculture a slap pack and use the subcultures to pitch multiple batches. A lot of work to save $4 IMO. A.J. Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 09 Mar 2002 21:44:22 -0500 From: Al Klein <rukbat at optonline.net> Subject: Converting Extract Recipes to All Grain Larry Bristol said: >And it gets even worse when the recipe calls for hopped extract. Yeah. I'd sure like to find out just which hops are used in Munton's Hopped Amber LME. I made a nice ale with it but I can't duplicate it with unhopped malt and my own hops. - --- [Apparent Rennerian 567.7, 95.9] Al - rukbat at optonline dot net Return to table of contents
Date: Sat, 09 Mar 2002 19:14:06 -0800 From: Allen W Senear <senear at seanet.com> Subject: GSPS and Beer >From the Seattle Times, Saturday March 9: Two beer-loving British entrepeneurs have come up with a computerized global-positioning device that starps on the wrist and directs the wearer to the nearest pub. No word on whether Jeff Renner's co-ordinates are included. Allen Senear Big Water Brewing Seattle Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 17:33:03 -0500 From: shick <shick at jcu.edu> Subject: MCAB4 - Hotel discount deadline Hi all, Just a quick reminder for those thinking about attending MCAB4 in Cleveland, April 12 and 13: the deadline for getting the special AOB rate at the Renaissance Hotel is Tuesday, March 12. After that, the (much higher) regular rates will be in effect. Check the MCAB4 page (advertised in the header of this HBD issue -- thanks Pat!) for details. Briefly yours, Paul Shick Cleveland Hts, OH Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 19:43:57 -0500 From: "Mike Pensinger" <Beermkr at bellatlantic.net> Subject: AHA Big Brew Has anyone else seen the recipes for Big Brew this year? I couldn't find anything that said we had to brew those recipes. My club wants to participate but franly the two recipes they have provided are way out of most brewers tastes and league. 28.5 pounds of grain is beyond anyone in the clubs mash tun capacity and the lagar presents its own problems in a predominately Ale brewing club. Does anyone now if we HAVE to brew the recipes they provide to participate? Mike Pensinger beermkr at bellatlantic.net http://members.bellatlantic.net/~beermkr/ President - Hampton Roads Brewing & Tasting Society http://hrbts.tripod.com Norfolk Virginia - [551.4, 132.9] Rennerian Return to table of contents
Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 17:00:00 -0800 (PST) From: "Scott D. Braker-Abene" <skotrat at yahoo.com> Subject: Some Positive Bazooka FeedBack Hi all, With all the negatives I have to come in with some positives. I have recently switched over from my 6 year old false bottom systems to Zymie's Bazooka screens. I have at least 6 vessels equipped with various configs of bazookas. I use mostly leaf and occasionally pellets. I have had no issues with them clogging. I did have an original prototype bazooka screens weld go out and Z promptly replaced it. He even patronized me with free shipping. I am not an immersion chiller user. I am a MAXI CHILLER user. I believe that most clogging issues are due to the immersion chiller causing the gunk to harden in the boiler. I brew between 15.5 and 45 gallons at a time and the bazooka has always done well. I recently even mashed 100 pounds of grain with a single screen and achieved just under 80% eff. http://www.skotrat.com/skot/equipment/Feb_22_BW I am a chronic Do-It-Yourselfer and rarely buy brewing equipment. Z's stuff is almost always better than what I could make for myself. Hats off to companies like Zymico, Schmidling, EasYeast, PBS for taking the time to market great products. Let's not blame "user error" on the companies that supply us with good sturdy products. These guys do not have to sell us their stuff... They could just keep it to themselves. Thanks Guys! C'ya! -Scott Other brew equipment pics for those bored at work... http://www.skotrat.com/skot/equipment/Brew_Rig_Pics http://www.skotrat.com/skot/equipment ===== "Heh, hey Von you see me steppin on these leprechauns? It gotta be acid cause the X is gone " -D12 http://www.skotrat.com/skotrat - Skotrats Beer Page http://www.brewrats.org - BrewRats HomeBrew Club Return to table of contents
[Prev HBD] [Index] [Next HBD] [Back]
HTML-ized on 03/11/02, by HBD2HTML v1.2 by KFL
webmaster at hbd.org, KFL, 10/9/96
/n