HOMEBREW Digest #400 Tue 17 April 1990

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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator


Contents:
  More on Sweet Beer (Doug Roberts)
  Re: Yeast, Cultures (Crawford.WBST129)
  Too Sweet? (Martin A. Lodahl)
  Mead and color... (Paul L. Kelly)
  Coolant Pump, Revisited (Martin A. Lodahl)
  Black Currant juice (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 16 Apr 90 08:47:24 MDT From: roberts%studguppy at LANL.GOV (Doug Roberts) Subject: More on Sweet Beer > Date: Thu Apr 12 15:31:49 1990 > From: "William F. Pemberton" <wfp5p at euclid.acc.virginia.edu> > Several people on the net > (thanks to all) suggested cutting back on the Crystal Malt. I must > admit that is about the only constant in my beers, I always use > right around half a pound. I think I will try a version with that > eliminated. 1/2 # crystal isn't enough to give your beer an overly sweet flavor. I often use recipes with a pound of crystal, and I haven't ever had the problem. You say you've used Whitbread ale yeast, and it really is fairly attenuative. I would suspect that your wort is experiencing some environmental condition (temperature perturbations, residual sterilant in the secondary) that is preventing the fermentation from going to completion. - --Doug Return to table of contents
Date: 16 Apr 90 05:45:57 PDT (Monday) From: Crawford.WBST129 at Xerox.COM Subject: Re: Yeast, Cultures Glenn Colon-Bonet writes about culturing from a petri dish: > Attach fermentation lock and when small starter becomes active (2 days), > transfer to a larger starter (16-24 oz). When the large starter is active > (1-2 more days) its ready to make beer! I have recently started doing this with some success. My problem is that when I add the small starter to the larger starter I still get a lag time of over 24 hours. I have found that I need to use a third even larger starter (32 oz) to get my lag time down to about 18 hours. Can you give me any pointers Glenn? How much malt do you use in your 2-4 oz of wort? Do you yeast nutrient? The big advantage of culturing my own yeast for me is that the local shop where I get my yeast is usually out of the type I want. Now I don't have to worry (and you know how important it is not to worry) whether they have the yeast I want when I want it. Greg Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 12 Apr 90 12:47:18 PST From: Martin A. Lodahl <hplabs!pbmoss!mal> Subject: Too Sweet? In HOMEBREW Digest #397, William F. Pemberton observed: " ... most of the brews I have made have been a touch too sweet for my liking. Is there a simple recipe change that I can do that will take care of this? I have used several different yeasts, including Whitbread." I've had the same sor of problem from time to time. When I used extracts, I found that some were more fermentable than others. On one memorable occasion, I used Australian Dark bulk extract in a porter recipe I'd developed using Scottish Light bulk extract. The SG drop was much less than expected, and the beer was altogether too sweet. Another time, I added more extract and crystal malt in an attempt to increase the "malt flavor", and ended up with something disgustingly sweet. I tried the same recipe again later but massively boosted the hopping rate, which appeared to balance out the impression of excessive sweetness. Since moving into grain brewing, I've been able to control the fermentability of the wort, and have had fewer surprises. By the way, next Saturday will be the "beta test" of the Icewater Recirculation System (Mark II) I put together after the lively discussions on that subject a couple of months back. Though several dissenting voices were heard, the consensus was that a small drill-powered pump was just the ticket to run icewater through a wort chiller. My family, however, responded to the din from my drill with even louder an more persistent din of another sort, so I've substituted a water recirculation pump from an evaporative cooler. At $4.16 the price was tough to beat, it's quiet, and should work fine, if it doesn't fall over into the coolant and cause all kinds of excitement. Watch this space ... - Martin = Martin A. Lodahl Pac*Bell Minicomputer Operations Support Staff = = pacbell!pbmoss!mal -or- mal at pbmoss.Pacbell.COM 916.972.4821 = = If it's good for ancient Druids, runnin' nekkid through the wuids, = = Drinkin' strange fermented fluids, it's good enough for me! 8-) = Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 90 16:11:09 EST From: pkel at psych.purdue.edu (Paul L. Kelly) Subject: Mead and color... I'm planning to brew a batch of strawberry mead (well, technically melomel) soon, and I was wondering how well the red color from the berries will be retained in the final product. My wife tells me I drank too much Kool-Aid as a kid, but it's my belief that something that tastes like strawberries should be red. Should I add something else (red zinger tea comes to mind) that will definitely stay red, or will I get enough color from the fruit (assuming I use about 6lbs of strawberries)? Thanks in advance. Paul pkel at brazil.psych.purdue.edu | I think <----+ |"Cows!" - Owen, _Throw Paul L. Kelly | | | |Mama from the Train_ Dept. Psych. Sci., Purdue Univ. | \|/ | |Disclaimer: Jane, you "Humpty Dumpty was pushed!" | Therefore, I am ->+ |ignorant slut. Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 90 13:46:42 PST From: Martin A. Lodahl <pbmoss!mal at Sun.COM> Subject: Coolant Pump, Revisited (This is not my first attempt to post this. Something seems to be eating my words! Usually, I'm the one forced to do that ...) A few months ago there was brisk discussion on the subject of a pump to recirculate icewater through a wort chiller. The consensus favored a small drill-powered pump, but my family objected strenuously to the din. Inspiration: a water recirculation pump for an evaporative air cooler! So, for some $4 I acquired one for a 5000 CFM cooler, and tried it out on last Saturday's batch of stout. Not an unqualified success: the flow rate of this small pump was just not enough. The transit time through the coils was so long that I suspect that a difference in temperature between the coolant and the wort only existed for the first turn or so. I'd been worried that too much flow would pop off the low-pressure hose connections, but I could have used 5 times the flow this pump put out. It was quiet, at least. Unfortunately, pumps designed for larger coolers have a MUCH larger price, so it's time to hit the salvage yards ... DISCLAIMER: This type of pump is not designed for this type of use. It's not grounded or electrically sealed, and is top-heavy. If it falls over into your icebath, something horrid will happen. Not my fault. Now about that stout: there's about 4.5 gallons in the fermentor (I slipped while straining the hops. It's astonishing how much of the kitchen can be covered in one splash!), bubbling merrily away, of some of the most wildly over-hopped stuff I've ever tasted. I just hope it's drinkable when it's done. = Martin A. Lodahl Pac*Bell Minicomputer Operations Support Staff = = pacbell!pbmoss!mal -or- mal at pbmoss.Pacbell.COM 916.972.4821 = = If it's good for ancient Druids, runnin' nekkid through the wuids, = = Drinkin' strange fermented fluids, it's good enough for me! 8-) = Return to table of contents
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 90 16:58:46 mdt From: hplabs!hp-lsd.cos.hp.com!ihlpl!korz (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583) Subject: Black Currant juice The black currant flavoring that John Mellby is searching for is available, oddly enough, in grocery stores in my area. I don't recall the brand, but it is manufactured by a Polish company and imported. You may have to look in stores that stock European foods or imported foods in general. This company makes many flavors of berry syrups, which I believe are used mostly in tea or to make a berry "tea" by itself. Good luck. Al. Return to table of contents
End of HOMEBREW Digest #400, 04/17/90 ************************************* -------
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