HOMEBREW Digest #3985 Wed 10 July 2002


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Contents:
  Is it Yeast?? (Markzak11)
  Ireland pubs, breweries, etc. recommendations (John Scime)
  2002 Topsfield Fair Homebrew Competition (North Shore Brewers)
  RE Visiting Belgium ("Shawn E Lupold, Ph.D")
  RE:RE:...Re: US Electrical System - 240V ("Steven Parfitt")
  Re: Pretzels (Jeff Renner)
  JULY IS AMERICAN BEER MONTH! ("Monica Tall")
  Plato etc. (AJ)
  Upcoming trips and local watering holes. ("Bill Lucas")
  Tampa Fla. brews ("Mark Kellums")
  Ex-Beer-Iment ("Charles R. Stewart")
  Re: PVC pipe as pressure vessel (DHinrichs)
  The Beer Bill Of Rights ("Ross Potter")
  Rogue's Younger's Special Bitter clone recipe? (Jeff Renner)
  RE:  Fermenting under pressure ("Houseman, David L")
  Making a weight percent solution - Plato ("Fred L. Johnson")
  Here's where to drink in Brussels, Brugge (Bill Rogers)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 06:25:05 EDT From: Markzak11 at aol.com Subject: Is it Yeast?? A few days into the primary fermentation with all going well. I've just emptied the contents of the mason jar at the end of the "blow off" tubing and it sure looks like there was a nice looking yeast cake at the bottom of the jar. A couple of questions: > If it looks like yeast, feels like yeast and smells like yeast, is it yeast? > I've dumped off the top layer of water and replaced it with some water from the tea kettle (pre-boiled). How viable are the collected goods for repitching? Looking forward to the collective thoughts. Mark Zak Sandpiper Brewing Brookline, MA Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 06:20:59 -0700 (PDT) From: John Scime <jascime at yahoo.com> Subject: Ireland pubs, breweries, etc. recommendations Jay White asks about good pubs in the south counties of Ireland. In my experience practically any pub in Ireland will be a pleasant experience, although, as has been mentioned before, the quality of Guinness does vary somewhat from establishment to establishment - generally due to the manner in which the publicans service their dispensing equipment. In general, be sure to frequent "locals" - the pubs servicing distinct neighbourhoods - if the drink in these places is substandard because the equipment isn't treated properly, they go out of business!! Also, it is a good idea to visit many pubs, having a pint in each. In my experience this is a recipe for a great deal of fun! The exception to this rule is when the pub you're in happens to be hosting a traditional music "session" - this is entertainment not to be missed!! Nothing compares to the sound of accordians, mandolins, tin whistles, violins and bodhrans over a pint of Guinness! Waterford: Try to find a pub with Murphy's and/or Breamish stouts to compare with the more readily available Guinness. Dublin: Dublin is a pub lover's dream!! Be sure to try the beers of the Dublin Brewing Company <www.dublinbrewing.com>. I haven't had them in Ireland, but the products I've tried here in Canada are terrific. They brew a traditional Red Ale - astyle almost lost to Ireland since the corporatiztion of the brewing industry there. And the brewmaster, BTW, is a young Canadian fellow. Also, the tour of Guinness's St. James Gate brewery is terrific, as is the tour of Whisky Row. Killarney: To be sure, Killarney is a tourist centre and most of the pubs are meant to service the tourists. Nonetheless, if you take my advice and frequent the pubs where locals are drinking, then you'll be ok. My wife and I spent a wonderful evening in a small (5 tables?) pub well off the beaten path, entertained by the publican's young daughter who had taken it upon herself to torment all of the patrons with various pranks! Much more entertaining than watching a bunch of tourists drink lager! And be sure to visit the lake and Ross Castle - it is beautiful! If you're heading around the Ring of Kerry, the pubs in the small towns such as Cahirciveen and Waterville are terrific places to spend some time!! Bunratty: It's a bit touristy, but Dirty Nelly's, the pub at Bunratty Castle, is a neat place to spend the evening. The building is several centuries old and has been a pub for a much of it. When I was there in 1991 it was like stepping back in time, except that they served Guinness and the like! Have a great time! john scime Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 06:24:18 -0700 (PDT) From: North Shore Brewers <north_shore_brewers at yahoo.com> Subject: 2002 Topsfield Fair Homebrew Competition The North Shore Brewers and the Topsfield Fair announce the 2002 Topsfield Fair Homebrew Competition, to be held on Saturday, September 14, 2002. This is a BJCP sanctioned competition. Entries are due by September 6, 2002. There will be numerous drop-off locations in the Greater Boston Area. Entries can also be dropped off at the Topsfield Fairgrounds September 4th - 6th from 6 - 8 p.m., or shipped to us by the shipping service of your choice. Please visit the Topsfield Fair Homebrew Competition web site at: <http://hbd.org/northshore/Topsfair.html> We are in need of judges and stewards, and hope to see many of the people back who have helped us in the past, along with lots of new faces. At the website is a link for *on-line* judge and steward sign-up. Early registration helps us to plan better (as well as preventing undue panic :-)), and, using the on-line forms, it only takes a few minutes of your time. Thanks, and good luck in the competition! Seth Goodman Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2002 09:44:58 -0400 From: "Shawn E Lupold, Ph.D" <lupolds at jhmi.edu> Subject: RE Visiting Belgium Bill asks for advice on Belgium: Brugge was my overall favorite Belgian city. Bring your walking shoes from the train station, because it's a hike on cobblestone streets to the center of the city (especially with luggage). You MUST go to Brugs Beertje. With over 300 beers, and the glasses to match, you'll need to spend a whole night. The amazing thing is the average beer cost less than two dollars! I never made it to Den Dyver, probably the most famous beer restaurant in Brugge, and I still regret it. All the food in Brugge was great, especially the beer steamed mussels and the beer braised lamb. I only spent one night in Brussels. I saw it as another big city with plenty of tourist traps. I wish I had done more research on restaurants, because it was really overwhelming compared to Brugge. We were told to avoid the strip of restaurants on the main square. They look great with all of the fresh seafood on ice, but apparently the food is poor quality. We had lunch at Le Falstaff, which was average. The beer selection was pretty good though. The Manekin Pis is an interesting landmark, but not worth going out of your way if you're short on time. We did have some great beers at Morte Subite. They had some interesting lambics on tap that we didn't see anywhere else. Finally, make sure you eat the chocolates. We would stop in many of the shops, select two or three chocolates and lean against the wall outside to enjoy them. Incredible! Bring some home too, because the Belgian chocolate stores here don't carry the same selection. Plus it's dirt cheap over there! Have fun, Shawn Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2002 09:50:00 -0400 From: "Steven Parfitt" <the_gimp98 at hotmail.com> Subject: RE:RE:...Re: US Electrical System - 240V Spencer W Thomas <spencer at engin.umich.edu> Gives some good links to US references. I used to be in a group where I was responsible for "cordage" to ship with computer systems that went international. It was a nightmare! >In the US, plug shape varies according to the voltage, the number of >phases, and the amperage. This is true even for 120V plugs. A plug >for a 20A appliance should have one "vertical" and one "horizontal" >blade (plus the grounding blade, of course) so that you can't plug it >into a 15A outlet. If you look at a 20A outlet, you will see that one >of the slots is "T" shaped. It will accept either a "standard" (i.e., >15A) plug (two vertical blades) or a 20A plug. .... I always wondered about the US plugs, but never looked into it. Nice update. When it comes to 240V, you can have a "2-phase" or "3-phase" circuit, with or without grounding (usually with these days!), and with or without a "neutral" conductor (as opposed to the ground conductor). Amperage ratings range from 15 to 40 and up. Each of these has a different shape. Plugs may also be "locking" or not -- a locking plug is twisted after inserting it into the socket to "lock" it in place, so that it won't fall out. Unfortunatly, I left all my refernece info with the last group I was with, and don't have links for the european plug snafu. They are trying to haromonize since the Union took hold, but it has been slow going. The big point to remember when bringing equiptment to the US (or taking US equiptment to Europe)is that we are on 60Hz line frequency, and Europe is on 50Hz line frequency. This has little effect on most items, EXCEPT, rotating machenery as in motors. You can use two phase to get 240VAC in the us, but it will still be 60HZ. If it has a motor in it, it will run 20% faster when run off a US line, unless it is configurable for 50/60Hz. Steven, -75 XLCH- Ironhead Nano-Brewery http://thegimp.8k.com Johnson City, TN [422.7, 169.2] 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 Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2002 10:17:31 -0400 From: Jeff Renner <JeffRenner at comcast.net> Subject: Re: Pretzels Jeff Beinhaur <beinhaur at msn.com> of The Yellow Breeches Brewery, Camp Hill, PA solicits my comments on his pretzel experience: >I tried my first batch yesterday and they were outstanding. I'm really glad these were a hit, and especially glad you got to make it a family activity. >I would like to make a few suggestions for those of you who are >dough challenged like me. ... Hey this stuff looks awfully dry. Oh >add more water. Jeff did say that I just didn't read it since the only water >in the list of ingredients was the 1/4 cup for the yeast. Aw now we've got >dough. I probably added close to another cup of water. Sounds close Jeff? Actually, at the end of the list of ingredients is this, "enough additional water to make a soft dough, about a cup (240ml)." So you used the right amount. You probably didn't see that because there was no amount in front of it and so you thought it was part of the flour amount. Your instincts were right. >I'd definately go the full 20 inches as the longer ones seemed >easier to twist. Again, good to go with your instinct. I agree on the length suggestion. > >Speaking of which my 4 1/2 year old daughter and I practiced this >with her play dough before using the real stuff. Another good suggestion. >One other item was the timing of the baking. I think the >recipe says 12 to 15 minutes. Mine were done in 10 so don't just put them in >and set the timer to 15. You could end up with hard pretzels or worst yet >burnt pretzels. Good observation. Ovens differ a great deal. It's always a good idea to do as you knew to do - check early in any new recipe. Thanks for the feedback. I hope your experience and suggestions encourage other brewers to try making pretzels. BTW, thanks to Glen Pannicke for emailing me about his family's visit to an old pretzel factory in Pennsylvania Dutch country. They used baking soda rather than lye and they gave him a ballpark figure of 2 tablespoons of baking soda per cup of water. That would be a 1/2 cup per quart - a little more than the 1/3 cup I suggested. Sounds good to me. I suspect that the old pretzel factory used to use lye, although I don't know. I remember long ago watching a Mr. Rogers show with my son (now 27) that visited that factory or a similar one. They sprayed hot baking soda water on the pretzels rather than simmering them. The machinery around was encrusted with soda. You wouldn't want to do that with lye! Jeff - -- Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner at comcast.net "One never knows, do one?" Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943 Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 09:05:30 -0600 From: "Monica Tall" <monica at aob.org> Subject: JULY IS AMERICAN BEER MONTH! Greetings from American Beer Month land! The Association of Brewers wants to remind you that July is American Beer Month! American Beer Month was born July 1, 2000. In celebration of the first annual American Beer Month, the American Brewers Rally was held on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum July 1, 2000. American Beer Month is a grassroots campaign to promote American brewing and celebrate the diversity and variety of American beer. Help us and the nation celebrate the pride and heritage of American-brewed beer by drinking American beer! Visit www.americanbeermonth.com and download American Beer Month artwork and logos to design fun banners, web sites and more. Here are fun ways to celebrate the diversity and variety of American beer: *Hold a special beer dinner with friends *Try a new brew each week *Have a party where each friend brings a different beer *Brew traditional or historical American beer recipes *Pair your beers with food *Have an open house or an education day *Use American Beer Month logos and/or artwork on your sale lists *Encourage people to go to their local brewpub and/or microbrewery *Take part in festivals *And of course, savor unique flavors of American Beer It's time to open a refreshing American beer .... ahhhhhhhh! For more American Beer Month information, contact the Association of Brewers at +1.303.447.0816 or 888.822.6273 or email monica at aob.org. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2002 15:23:09 +0000 From: AJ <ajdel at mindspring.com> Subject: Plato etc. First WRT to the fiction. 1% error is about right in terms of degrees Plato but not specific gravity. My notes show that if I make a 10.0032 P solution of glucose (using the method I described yesterday) and measure it with an instrument reading Plato I get 9.91P i.e about 1% error. Similarly for fructose a 10.0028P solution reads 10.08P again about 1%. Notice that glucose reads a little low and fructose a little high. In an equal parts mix of glucose and frunctose these errors would approximately cancel and you get even closer to what you'd see with sucrose. For maltose an approximately (the best I could come up with was minimum assay 92% maltose with 3% glucose and the maltose has one water of hydration bound and the stuff is, as anyone who has used DME knows, hygroscopic as all get out ) 9.49P solution measured 9.53P (again within a percent), a "dextrine" solution of 10.000 P strength measured 9.94 (better than 1%) and finally a soluble starch solution, at 1.851P (the most I could get to dissolve) measured 1.56P (about 15%). Now translated to specific gravity 1% of 10 P is 0.1P which is about 0.0004; at 15P about 0.0006. Thus is specific gravity terms the error (at 15P) is approxiamtely .0006/1.06 or about .06%. If I a narrow range Plato (or SG) hydrometer I could resolve the difference between 10.00 and 9.91 or between 10.00 an 10.08 but it certainly wouldn't reach out and hit me in the face. I don't think I could detect that level of inconsistency with the "instrument" that came with my first homebrew kit. Bear in mind that I'm reporting on a handful of measurements here - not an extensive study. I have some confidence in my method as a check with sucrose gave me a reading of 9.99 for a solution of strength 9.9974. Finally, I'm not saying the fiction is anything more than a fiction. Just that, WRT to home brewing at least, it's one that we can comfortably live with. Even in commercial brewing it's a useful tool and indeed one that has been accepted since the first Brix tables (and doubtless before that). Other industries engage in similar fictions in order to make operations practical. We should, I suppose, ammend our ways and make statements like "origianl extract 12 P as sucrose" i.e. add the "as sucrose" tag to make it clear what we mean. On to Pete's post. They've led you astray. A 13.6P solution contains 13.6 grams of extract (as sucrose) in 100 grams of solution. Cheers, A.J. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 11:28:14 -0400 From: "Bill Lucas" <Homebrew42 at hotmail.com> Subject: Upcoming trips and local watering holes. Hello all, On Sunday the 21st of July I will be traveling to Groton CT. from State College PA on business. I will only be there for one day. (Well closer to about 18 hours. I arrive Sunday install our software at Pfizer on Monday and leave Monday afternoon.) This gives me about 2 meals in the area and I am looking for suggestions. If someone from the area could point me to the tastier local spots (brew pubs with take out preferred) I would appreciate it. This upcoming weekend July 12-14 I will be in Columbia MD (Merriweather Post) on Friday then I will be leaving on Saturday and heading to Morgantown WV. I would appreciate the same type of info on places in these areas as well. Thanks again, to all who make this digest so great. Especially Jeff Renner who's advise and effort in dealing with my first post (on Kegging green beer, a marzen recipe and opening and removing the spear from an Old Sanke Keg I found to clean it out) was invaluable. The help with force carbonating our beer for the fourth was a great time saver and led to much better results than my first attempt at the process. The beer was also a big hit. Thanks again to everyone. Have fun, Bill Lucas State College PA, [325.6, 106.6] Apparent Rennerian Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 10:31:44 -0500 From: "Mark Kellums" <infidel at springnet1.com> Subject: Tampa Fla. brews Hello, We'll be heading down to Indian Rocks beach in the Tampa Fla. area on the 19th of this month. We'll be meeting up with some relatives from England. I'd like to show off some good American micro-brews to our English cousins if there are any to be had in the Tampa area. Are there any brew pubs around Tampa? Thanks! Mark Kellums Decatur Il. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 11:37:13 -0400 From: "Charles R. Stewart" <Charles at TheStewarts.com> Subject: Ex-Beer-Iment On Sat, 6 Jul, Audie Kennedy <audie_24293 at yahoo.com>queries about a possibly stupid sparge question: >> I have a question about sparging. I use a large rectangular cooler for mashing. I have sparged in the "normal" way, and really don't understand the finer points, I suppose. I had to take "Chemistry for non-science majors" (better known as bonehead chemistry) 3 times in college... Anyway, what would happen if I added my normal amount of sparge water, STIRRED the grain heavily, and let it sit for another hour, then opened my spigot and drained off that liquid? Or if I added the water and didn't stir? What would be the effect on efficiency on soaking the grain? I see sparging as "rinsing" the remaining fermentables. Is this wrong? For my past few brews, I've tried batch sparging as a way to end up with two brews. It's worked great! For the first, I ended up with 7.5 gal. of a Samiclaus clone and about 8 gals. of a good lawnmower ale. The next one, a Russian imperial stout left me with 10 gals. of another light ale. The color was much lighter than I expected, so on one of the kegs, I ex-beer-imented with soaking dark grains in water in the fridge overnight, then boiling it and adding it to the keg. It was awful - there was some kind of funky grainy-starchy taste. Rather than throw it out, I threw in a half-dozen Beano tablets (to convert the starch) and a packet of lager yeast and left it in the fridge for a few weeks. It actually came out pretty good. Kinda unorthodox, but good in the end. On Fri, 05 Jul., Steve Funk <steve at hheco.com> illuminated us on Hops and Sperm??? >> . . . [a]n estrogen found in . . . hops, may reduce the fertilizing ability of sperm, a British research team has found. Of course, what the study DIDN'T explore was hops ability - when combined with barley, water, and yeast - to help the sperm gain entry in the first place. ;-) Oh, and if you're a HBD member and bought a keg from me within the past two months, could you drop me a line? I need to get a count so I can make the appropriate donation to the server fund. Chip Stewart Charles at TheStewarts.com http://Charles.TheStewarts.com Support anti-Spam legislation - Join the fight http://www.cauce.org/ Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 12:33:37 -0500 From: DHinrichs at Quannon.com Subject: Re: PVC pipe as pressure vessel From: "Mike" <brewski at inet99.net> Subject: Re: PVC pipe as pressure vessel >There seems to be a lot of hot air, duck, going around about the wisdom of >using schedule 40 PVC to pipe or hold compressed CO2. I to was leary of >doing that knowing as someone else pointed out, when you have a catastrophic >failure of a water pipe is one thing. Granted its messy but when a vessel >with a hundred or so pounds in it, you have an explosion. >Anyway, I done a Google search for "schedule 40 PVC" and got this sight >http://www.otool.com/untitled12.htm >Here 1/2" schedule 40 PVC's MAX PSI is 600 at 73F. "WO" >Even 12" can take 130 PSI. While these figures for PVC burst pressures are correct they are for 600 psi water pressure not air/gas pressure. The effects of the two different media at high pressure are VERY different and should not be ignored. I used to design water treatment equipment and often did destructive testing of pressure vessels (very fun and could tell many a story) and would highly recommend that PCV should not be used in this manner. We did in fact create RO filter chambers from PCV pipe and welded end caps. These where both fatigue and burst tested with water on a regular basis. The burst tests would explode in dramatic fashion. Ocassionally "test" would be run with air and the results where much more dramatic at a lower pressure. Picture a 12" long 2" diameter pvc tubing reduced to 1" triangular pieces creating large dents in concrete or actually penetrating enough to stay. You can get away with extreme care but problems can arise over time with plastic creep, fatigue, shock loading, accidental damage and other possible problems. In my book playing with potentially FRAGMENTATION BOMBS is NOT worth the few dollars saved. Use a cornie or run a gas line. Dave in minnetonka, mn Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 13:46:08 -0700 From: "Ross Potter" <BurningBrite at charter.net> Subject: The Beer Bill Of Rights I don't know if this has been posted before to the HBD, but I just received it from my brother, and since we are still (relatively) close to July Fourth, it seemed rather timely. Sorry if this is a repeat for some of you... **************************** The Beer Bill Of Rights Amendment I Congress shall make no law disrespecting an establishment of beer, or prohibiting the free consumption thereof; or abridging the freedom of bar service, or of brewing; or the right of the people peacably to assemble, and to petition the bartender for a round of beers. Amendment II A well-stocked bar being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to brew and consume beer shall not be infringed. Amendment III No beer shall, in time of heat be quartered in any house without refrigeration, nor in time of cold, except in a manner prescribed by law. Amendment IV The right of the people to be secure in their beer, bottles, glasses, and brewing effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no last calls shall be issued, but upon the proper time, supported by the clock, and particularly offering the bar patrons the opportunity to purchase and consume one more beer before closing. Amendment V No person shall be held to consume a second-rate, or otherwise infamous beer, unless on presentment or indictment of a large bar bill, except in cases arising in block parties or backyard barbecues, or at a fraternity house, when in actual celebration in time of holidays or sporting events; nor shall any person subject for the same bar bill to be twice put in jeopardy of cash or credit; nor shall be compelled in any drinking establishment to purchase beer for anyone other than himself; nor be deprived of beer without due process of law; nor shall private stocks of beer be taken for public consumption without just compensation. Amendment VI In all drinking establishments, the patron shall enjoy the right to speedy and courteous service, by a qualified bartender of the establishment wherein the beer shall have been ordered, which establishment shall have been previously licensed by law, and to be informed of the nature and price of the beer; to be presented with the bar tab against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining the beer which was ordered, and to have the assistance of the bartender for service. Amendment VII In bills at drinking establishments, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of service shall be preserved, and no tab presented by a bartender shall be otherwise re-examined in any drinking establishment in the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. Amendment VIII Excessive drinking shall not be required, nor excessive prices imposed, nor cruel and unusual beers inflicted. Amendment IX The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain beers, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others consumed by the people. Amendment X The beers not supplied to the bars by mass marketing, nor brewed in microbreweries, are reserved to the brewpubs respectively, or to the people. ******************************* ...ross No electrons were harmed in the creation, transmission or reading of this email. However, many were excited and some may well have enjoyed the experience. Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 09 Jul 2002 18:26:38 -0400 From: Jeff Renner <JeffRenner at comcast.net> Subject: Rogue's Younger's Special Bitter clone recipe? Brewers A non-brewing friend who is interested in learning brewing likes Rogue's Younger's Special Bitter. I tried it again and agree - very nice beer. I'd like to clone it. Some web searching reveals consensus that Rogue stout and porter contain the Pacman strain, and the Rogue web site http://www.rogue.com/beers.htm gives these details: "YSB is amber in color with a mild hoppy finish. Brewed with a blend of 2-row Harrington and Crystal malts, Willamette and East Kent Golding hops. YSB is available in a 12-ounce 6-pack, and on draft. Measurements: 12 Degrees Plato, IBU 35, Apparent attenuation 75, Lovibond 17." Only in the Pacific NW would 35 IBU be called mildly hoppy! This is pretty useful info, but does anyone have any further ideas, like what color crystal malts and how much? How are the hops used? Elsewhere on the site they tell what their base malt is and suggest that they use Beeston crystal, and also seem to say that the hops are domestic, although for my money, the term EKG means from East Kent. Thanks. Jeff PS - some further info, first from the Rogue site: "Our original Rogue Ale, Younger's Special Bitter (affectionately nicknamed YSB) is a classic English Special Bitter named after Bill Younger of the infamous Horse Brass Pub in Portland, Oregon. The Malt Advocate described Younger's Special Bitter as "rich and flavorful. A triad of caramel maltiness, fruitiness (apricots?), and hop bitterness in aroma and flavor. A fuller malt foundation than some other pale ales, with some background spiciness. Dry, hoppy finish." In the SouthWest Brewing News, Feb/March 1994 issue, George Fix wrote "A strong case could be made for Rogue Ale being included among the top 5 ales brewed in the US." It was named not for the Scottish brewery Younger's but was "Named in tribute to Don Younger, whose Horse Brass Pub in Portland, OR, was the first retailer to carry Rogue Ales. " Found this review by noted English beer writer Roger Protz: "Amber colored with a dense collar of foam. Great wafts of spicy hops-good old Kent Goldings!-and nutty crystal malt on the aroma. Raisin fruit in the mouth is balanced by peppery hops. Big, complex aftertaste with sweet malt, sherry-like fruit and bitter hops, all funneling together into a gentle, dry, rolling finish." Found this in the 1996 archives of Celebrator Beer News: "It's a new name and look for Rogue Ales' flagship beer, Rogue Ale. The beer, a classic English-style special bitter, was originally designed by Rogue Brewmaster John Maier and the late Bill Younger. Bill was the brother of Don Younger, who has owned the Horse Brass Pub in Portland, OR since 1976. HB was the first retailer to carry Rogue Ales, and Bill Younger passed away the day the original Rogue Ale was to debut at the Horse Brass. It has remained the house beer ever since. The beer will be called Younger's Special Bitter." - -- Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner at comcast.net "One never knows, do one?" Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943 Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 20:17:59 -0400 From: "Houseman, David L" <David.Houseman at unisys.com> Subject: RE: Fermenting under pressure David Passaretti asks about fermenting under pressure. A recent issue of The New Brewer has exactly an article on fermenting under pressure. I don't have this copy handy (I'm on vacation) but do recall that there was an increased perception of bitterness and diacetyl in beers fermented under pressure compared to the same beer not fermented under pressure. You'll have to look up this article in the New Brewer (or perhaps it's available on-line?) for further details. David Houseman - ------------------------------------------------------ Date: Sun, 7 Jul 2002 09:36:27 -0700 (PDT) From: David Passaretti <dpassaretti at yahoo.com> Subject: Fermenting under pressure Does anyone know if there are any adverse/positive effects of fermenting under CO2 pressure? Is there any difference for ale or lager yeast. Is there a safe pressure range for yeast (eg 10, 20, 30psi)? Thanks for any information David Passaretti Cincinnati, OH Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 21:10:39 -0400 From: "Fred L. Johnson" <fljohnson at portbridge.com> Subject: Making a weight percent solution - Plato Pete was trying to summarize what he had been reading on the HBD about making a standard gravity solution with a known Plato gravity and stated how he was going to make the solution. He said, >A 13.6 P solution is 13.6 GRAMS of sucrose in 113.6 GRAMS of solution. >That is 13.6 Grams of sucrose with 100 Grams of H2O. and >So to repeat my process, corrected for errors and using ethanol, to make an >initial solution of OG=1.0483 (Plato=12), I will make a solution of 13.6 gm >of table sugar in 100 gm of DH2O. These statements are incorrect. A "percent weight" solution (which Plato refers to) is a solution containing a specified number of grams solute in 100 g solution. Thus, a 13.6 P solution contains 13.6 grams sucrose in 100 grams final solution, or 13.6 g added to 86.4 g water and placed into solution. The total weight of the solution is 100 g . Making sucrose solutions with a precise gravity measured in degrees Plato is very easy. You simply place a vessel that will hold the solution on the balance, zero the balance (or tare the vessel), add a precisely known amount of sucrose into the vessel (by simply leaving the vessel on the balance), and then add water to the vessel while it is still on the balance until the weight of the sucrose is the desired percentage of the total weight added to the vessel. Fred L. Johnson Apex, North Carolina, USA Return to table of contents
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 2002 20:44:37 -0700 (PDT) From: Bill Rogers <bill6beers at yahoo.com> Subject: Here's where to drink in Brussels, Brugge Bill Lau writes . . . >My wife and I are vacationing in Belgium starting this coming Sunday >(July 14th). We will be in Brussels, Brugge and a day in Luxembourg >City. Does anyone have any recent recommendations on bars, restaurants >and "must sees"? I've been to Brussels a few times and really love the city. One look at the opulence of the Grand Place and you can see why the seeds of the Communist Maifesto sprouted here. You should buy CAMRA's "The Good Beer Guide to Belgium and Holland" before you go. ISBN 1-58017-103-6. No affliation, etc. Here are a few of my favorites: Bier Circus, 89 Rue de l'Enseignement, is a neighborhood tavern next to the Cirque Royal concert hall. They have a 3-ring binder for a beer menu, containing a well organized list of about 120 entries, with many pages of various vintages. They serve snacks but no meals. Mort Subite, 7 Rue Montagnes aux Herbes Potageres, is the home bar for the Mort Subite line of kriek, framboise, etc. From the Grand Place, walk across the street full of restaurant touts, through the Galeries Royale St Hubert shopping arcade and out the other side. It'll be across the street slightly to your right. They have other beers as well. Snacks and meals are available. It's a little spendy (for Belgium, not for here), but a very classic Bruxellois experience. There are a couple of cafes at the end of blind alleys in the city center that I'd recommend: La Becasse and Aux Bon Vieux Temps. La Becasse ("the woodcock") is accessible at 11 Rue Tabora. There's a woodcock mosaic in the sidewalk at the entrance to the alley. They serve a lambic doux ("soft lambic") which is a very young undercarbonated lambic -- probably only interesting if you're a lambic fan. Still it's a nice cozy cafe with decent selection. The other, Aux Bon Vieux Temps, can be found on Impasse des Cadeux, off 8 Rue Marche aux Herbes. The beer list is a little short and the place is small but it's got the great character of a very old cafe. Brussels is the home of lambic, and you should go to Cantillon for a tour to see how it's made. They have a little museum/brewery thing going on there, and the owner/brewer, Jan-Pierre Van Roy, is a very charming host. They're at 56 Rue Gheude, near the Gare du Midi train station. I walked to Cantillon through the neighborhood which lies to the north my first time there and found it a little seedy for my tastes, but walking from Gare du Midi was very pleasant. Two places I haven't visited, but intend to, lie in the southern suburb of Beersel. Drie Fonteinen, 3 Herman Teirlinckplein, sells a wonderful bottled lambic. I really want to try it on draft at their restaurant. I've heard the beer-cooked food there is excellent too. The Oud Beersel cafe, 232 Laarheidstraat, is the other lambic brewery cafe in town. It's about 2km from the town center -- follow the signs to Oud Beersel 1882. WARNING, NOT A BEER RECOMMEDATION: For the best chocolate in this land of great chocolate (IMHO) go to a store called "Mary" on Rue Royal in Brussels, across the street from the statue of some dead prince :-) on a giant pillar above the tomb of the unknowns. Do this last if you're able so you can bring back a kilo!!! Your chocolate-loving friends will adore you. As for Brugge, the Straffe Hendrick brewery tour is more touristy museum than working brewery but still nice. They crank the tourists through there in great numbers thanks to Rick Steves. The town has a new brewpub (Brugge Bierkai? or something like that) that is OK. Take a 10 minute tour there too. Of course, the real place to go in Brugges is Brugs Beertje at 5 Kemelstraat. Their beer list is in the 200 range. I could sit there all day! But then I'd never get to the other great cafe, De Garre. De Garre is at the dead end of an alleyway, but worth the narrow walk in the darkness. Inside, it's loud with conversation and their beer list is extensive. It's probably a little pricier than "the little Brugge bear" but still worth a stop if you're near the Grote Markt. Oh, The Hobbit restaurant across the street from Brugs Beertje is a good place to eat. Bill Rogers Madison WI Home of the Great Taste of the Midwest! America's BEST beer festival Return to table of contents
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