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Contents:
  dwarf hops and high temperature mashing (JohanNico)" <JohanNico.Aikema at akzonobel.com>
  re: Enzyme Lifetime and mashing considerations ("Steve Alexander")
  re: was mashing considerations ("Steve Alexander")
  Jeff, how soon we forget .... re: First Wort Hopping ("Steve Alexander")
  RE:  How large all grain batches? ("Jones, Steve - Eastman")
  re: yes...another question about natural gas conversions (Ed Jones)
  As the light dawns I realize I am in trouble. ("Bill Lucas")
  maris otter (Tony Barnsley)
  Re: Liquid level control (Tony Barnsley)
  Carlsberg (Tony Barnsley)
  Blackberry Wheat (douganb)
  Cleveland Thanks! (mohrstrom)
  Re: (Andrew Nix)
  re: yes...another question about natural gas conversions (Paul Fife)
  FYI - Beer on the Food Network (Bill Wible)


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Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 07:27:10 +0200
From: "Aikema, J.N. (JohanNico)" <JohanNico.Aikema at akzonobel.com>
Subject: dwarf hops and high temperature mashing

Hi,

Somebody asked some time ago, about problems with setting up a hopfield. I
advised him to think of baby-hops. Now I see I used the wrong name. On
http://www.hri.ac.uk/hops/  you will find some information about Dwarf hops.

And yes I know 85 degrees C (185 F) is high for mashing. But I didn't want
to make beer, just wort. I'm doing a little (small scale) experiment,
mashing at different temperatures and times. Trying to reproduce the results
from the book Brewing from Michael J. Lewis and Tom W. Young .
Greetings from Holland (Europe), Hans Aikema
http://www.hopbier.myweb.nl/ik.html




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Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 03:05:55 -0400
From: "Steve Alexander" <steve-alexander at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: re: Enzyme Lifetime and mashing considerations

Dave Burley writes ....

>Steve Alexander's excellent comments on enzyme lifetimes failed to point
out
>that the majority of the lifetime studies are done on bare enzymes and
>solubilized starch not those complexed with a starch surface and whatever
and
>not in an actual mash.  Even those studies with grain present are often
highly
>diluted.   [...]

Dave is right that actual practical studies of enzyme activity under brewing
conditions are rare, but this is exactly what Muller presents in the paper I
cited.   It's an ironic fact of modern biological science, that I can easily
get the entire protein sequence for barley amylases right off the net, but
finding the kinetic figures even for these common 'industrial' enzymes
requires a lit search.  There is one database for enzyme *properties*
but access to this db has recently become restricted.  It's not that great a
loss since as Dave suggests the properties cited in the database often
cannot easily be applied to practical brewing.

Muller used small scale mashing apparatus and varied the temp and mash
thickness for this study.   The malt was a British PA malt, the mash
thickness
was 2.5:1 (3.75L water:1.5kg malt) for the initial test.   The author took
samples at 0, 5, 10,15, 20, 30, 40,50 and 60minutes after mash-in for
assay. The details of the enzyme assays are complicated and I won't repeat
them here, but after assay they measured sample activity at a low
temps and inferred activity at 65C using "standard tables".  The
authors admit this is a possible source of error, but they state any error
would increase the actual enzyme activities above the levels reported !

The main body of the paper involved studying enzyme activities and extract
at high temps (70C, 75C, 80C and 85C) and mash thickness ratios of 2:1,
2.5:1, 3:1, 4:1 and 7:1.   The carbohydrate%(carbo extract),
fermentability% and starch% are presented graphically for each of these
20 cases.  Several other tests and assays are included.

>Also, these are usually half lives being reported and not "lifetimes",
since
>the enzymes disappear by a first order kinetic mechanism (like radiation or
>cooling) , in most cases, which has a log Conc vs time characteristic and
>never really goes to zero except in a practical sense.

Dave is of course right which is why I didn't use the term "lifetime".
Muller reports the exponential decay constants for AA  as "k=0.0163",  and
BA as "k=0.0434" at 65C.  The enzyme level as a function of time has a first
order kinetic so can be written:

    E(t) =  E0 * e ^ (-t*k)

where E0 is the initial enzyme concentration, t is time (in minutes), and k
is a decay constant in units of (1/minute).  The eqn above can also be
written:

    E(t) = E0 * 2 ^(-t/H)

where H is the half-life and   H = ln(2)/k   in minutes.

so for AA, the half-life H = (0.69.../0.0163) = 42.52 minutes
and for BA the half-life H = (0.69../0.0434) = 15.97 minutes

I decided to report the decay in terms of half-life since this is
easily understood by a general audience.  After 1 half-life period
of time one half (50%) of the enzyme remains active.  After
2 half-life periods 1/2 of 1/2 (25%) remains active and so on.

>The malt itself is also of importance here in a practical sense in that the
>cooler the roast out on the malt, the higher the total enzyme concentration
[...]

Absolutely - but not only are pale-ale(PA) malts lower in diastatic power
they also have a lower BA:AA ratio than lager malts which requires the more
careful low temp mash Dave mentions.  Munich malt often have relatively low
amounts of BA too and need to be coddled to get good attenuation on their
own.  The catch to mash schedules is that no one (or almost no one) is
making traditional lager malts anymore.   Kunze reports that pale german
malts are now finished at 100C-110C in order to reduce SMM - very similar
the traditional PA malt kiln-off.

>A starch iodine test [...]

Let me lift a definition out of a text ....

"Iodine test - Starches containing amylose will develop a blue color in the
presence
of iodine due to its formation of an inclusion complex with amylose. This is
the
basis of the simplest test available to check for the presence of starch.
The
blue coloration is also obtained with starch degradation products down to
quite
low DP (<100). Amylopectin gives a red/brown coloration which can be used to
distinguish waxy starches."

About 25% of malt starch is amylose and the other 75% is amylopectin.
Either of the color reactions (blue or red/brown) indicate non-conversion
and
non-fermentables in excess.  Wort fermentables are DP=3 and lower, so
a negative iodine test doesn't mean you have reasonable fermentability.   A
negative test of mash liquor just means you've passed a milestone - and
won't have a starchy beer - not that you're finished.

Iodine is a pretty miserable test since the newbies who need it have great
trouble interpreting the results and experienced brewers seldom need to test
since starch conversion is difficult to avoid and insufficient to signal
completion.    Somedays a refractometer sounds like a sensible mash
instrument.

 -Steve




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Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 03:53:47 -0400
From: "Steve Alexander" <steve-alexander at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: re: was mashing considerations

Larry Bristol notes .....

>I like to do a mash out because it supposedly reduces the viscosity of
>the sugars, allowing more of it to be extracted during the sparge.

I've seen viscosity tables for solutions of various carbs at various temps
and altho' the change in viscosity from 55C to 65C to 75C  is a real effect
it is pretty small.    A number of years ago articles appeared that claimed
mash-out improved runoff rates by partly denaturing proteins in the grist.
Also there was a study back in the 1950s that ran-off and lautered a mash at
cold temps (<0F), and got conventional levels of extraction !    I can't say
exactly why, but lautering as low as the mid 50C range does not seem to
relate to lautering problems with my hardware in my experience.   I seldom
pay much attention to the lauter water temp aside from getting it above 50C
and keeping it below 80C.

- ----------------

Bill Frazier says ...

>Funny this should come up at this time.  After not doing a mash-out step in
>over ten years of all-grain brewing I decided to do so last batch.  The
[...]
>My question - Is mash-out futile given Steve's information on enzyme
>activity at hight temps?

Del Lansing and I had a rather vociferous debate on the topic a few years
back.

I performed a number (perhaps a dozen) no-mashout brews using a 60C-70C
(140F/158F) mash step or a minor variation on this and using warm sparge
(not hot).  The beers were completely normal,conventional, and matched the
flavor etc of my mash-out beers - no better and no worse.   Most of the time
I got w/in 3% of my typical extraction rate *but* a couple times the
extraction rate was significantly low (like 10% low) and I had difficulty
accounting for this variability or predicting it.  That's the reason I gave
up no-mashout.

Del pointed out that there is a foam head improving rest at 72C, but for my
money 70C is close enough.  I never noticed any lack of head problems.
Despite your experience and mine no-mashout should be more difficult to
sparge&lauter but I didn't notice a significant difference.

If you are getting predictable and decent extraction rates using no-mashout
use it.   A mashout should decrease your fermentability by a hair.   Also
don't sparge a no-mashout with excessively hot water.  It's seems unlikely
but you could cause enough starch release that can't be handled by the
residual AA in the diluted boiler.

What is your method Bill ?   Lauter temps ?   Are you seeing any unexpected
glitches in extraction rate ?  Tell me what I was doing wrong.

 -S





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Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 04:47:29 -0400
From: "Steve Alexander" <steve-alexander at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Jeff, how soon we forget .... re: First Wort Hopping

Jeff Renner wrote a couple weeks back ....

>Brewers
>
>The folks down under at Oz Craftbrewing Digest have been having a
>discussion on FWH, and I figured you all up here on the top of the
>world would be interested.

>John Ross [...]  wrote [...]
>>
>>Recent research has shown that early hop additions do not contribute
>>anything toward flavour in beer. Simply early hop additions contribute
>>bitterness only.
[...]
>>The paper I refer to was in the Journal of the Institute of Brewing Vol
>>105 No.3 May 1999.
>>
>>Page 156  Item 55. Reads as follows:
>>Investigations into the development of hop flavour during the brewing
>process.

This reference stumped me for a short while but .... every issue of the JIB
includes short synopsis of major brewing research articles in other brewing
journals.  John Ross included the entire *synopsis* EXCEPT for the source
reference.  The article by Kaltner et al appeared in Brauwelt in German and
later the Feb 2001 Brauwelt International and George dePiro posted a nice
summary to HBD back in May 2001:

http://hbd.org/hbd/archive/3641.html

And you thought HBD could be upstaged by OCD Jeff ?  What were you thinking
?  They're 14 months behind, upside-down and spinning clockwise !

>OzCB readers shouldn't be the only ones to benefit from your
>citation.  I will pass your reference along to HomeBrew Digest for
>the edification of those readers, where I suspect it will generate
>some discussion.

Personally I think the jury is still out on FWH and I've made 5 brews now
with FWH as the only hopping and many more with mixes.  I intend to try Marc
Sedam's mash-hopping soon too.

FWH does add more hop flavor than expected if you thought that only late
hops add flavor.   Even before FWH was ever posted to HBD there were
discussions about selecting bittering hops carefully because they impact
flavor, so that's not really news.   The flavor from FWH seems refined to
me, but also subdued and weak compared to the same amount of hops added late
IMO.  The difference (I think) is that FWH has less of the herbal stuff that
makes dry-hopping a lager so undesirable.   Without the undesirable herbal
aspect the FHW flavor is refined but also reduced.

I've just gone thru 2 batches of pils with variations on FWH only and both
were as bitter as desired yet had decent but modest hops flavor
characteristics.  Perhaps this is why the methode used only a portion of the
hops as FW.

 -S




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Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 09:48:37 -0400
From: "Jones, Steve - Eastman" <stjones at eastman.com>
Subject: RE:  How large all grain batches?

Greetings, 

The Drewmeister questions Scott's numbers on the time to do back-to-back 10
 - 12 gallon batches in one day, with good reason. I have done this 4 times
now, beginning in January of this year. It has reduced the number of brew
days without reducing the number of brews, but it results in a long, hard
day.

First, some details about my setup: I have 3 half-barrel Sanke kegs on a two
tier system, with 3 burners and a single pump. I gravity feed the sparge
water, and pump the wort from the mash tun to the boiler. I counterflow
chill the wort as it goes into the fermenter (using the pump). 

My mash schedule varies per the style. I'm a firm believer in 90 minute
boils, and I don't cut corners to try to save time. I still treat each batch
with the care it deserves, but I merely try to overlap the procedures so
that the 2nd mash occurs during the first boil, and is ready at about the
time that the first boil is in the fermenters. Here is a typical timing
schedule when I do two 10 gallon batches back-to-back, figuring 90 minutes
per mash and that things go perfectly as planned:

T=0:00	- Add strike water to mash tun, begin heating. Measure & crush grain
while heating.
T=0:30	- Dough in. Put about 10 gallons water into HLT, heat to boiling.
T=2:00	- Raise mash temp to 170 with boiling water, then add cold water to
HLT till temp is 170.
T=2:10	- Begin pumping wort to boiler. After the first few gallons, turn on
burner under boiler.
T=3:10	- Sparge done. Add more water to HLT (usually have some left) and
begin heating. Clean out mash tun.
T=3:20	- Boil starts. Measure & crush grain for 2nd batch.
T=3:50	- Move hot strike water to mash tun, and dough in 2nd mash. Add more
water to HLT and heat.
T=4:50	- Boil finished. Begin collection of wort thru cf chiller.
T=5:20	- 1st batch in fermenters. Empty and rinse boiler. Raise temp of 2nd
mash to 170 with boiling water, then add cold water to HLT till water temp
is 170.
T=5:30	- Begin pumping wort to boiler. After the first few gallons, turn on
burner under boiler.
T=6:30	- Sparge finished. Clean out mash tun
T=6:40	- Boil starts
T=8:10	- Boil finished. Begin chilling
T=8:40	- 2nd batch in fermenters. Begin cleanup
T=9:10	- Done. Begin some serious thirst-quenching activities.

As you can see, this is over 9 hours. However, things rarely go perfectly,
and I usually plan on spending around 10-11 hours on brewday. 6 hours is
about the shortest I can do a single batch, and often it goes to 7. 

I suppose if I did 60 minute mashes & boils, I'd cut another 1 to 1 1/2
hours off of this, but 6-7 hours is VERY optimistic. I just don't see how
you can get it under 8 hours. 

Hope this gives you a picture of how it would work.

Steve Jones
Johnson City, TN
[421.8 mi, 168.5 deg] Apparent Rennerian
State of Franklin Homebrewers http://hbd.org/franklin
Proud member of the American Homebrewers Association

Have a suggestion on improving the AHA? email me at stevejones at aob.org



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Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 10:07:49 -0400 (EDT)
From: Ed Jones <ejones at ironacres.com>
Subject: re: yes...another question about natural gas conversions

A very grown up Marc Sedam wrote:

"So, this place has a natural gas hookup.  I'm very pleased.
But since The Brewery is a totally finished space I'm likely
going to still brew outside.  I'm prepared to build a stand
to set this stuff up right with permanent gas lines, a la
the More Beer setups.
So I went to Home Despot to look at what kinds of gas
apparati were available.  One intriguing piece was a 20ft
natural gas tube with quick disconnects.  This got me
thinking...which is always dangerous.  In this case that
could well be a literal statement.

I know I can drill out the holes in my two propane burners
to accommodate natural gas.  This is a good thing.  But
wouldn't it be great if I could have the piping to the
burners permanent, but have a QD natural gas hookup from the
gas line to the brewing system which I could attach only
during brew days.  Since I'd be brewing outside, I figured
that the hookup from the gas line (which is conveniently
right outside the brewery) could be outside as well.

I know nothing about gas piping or hookups or anything like
that.  Does anyone out there think it's possible to have a
outside QD hookup to the house's gas setup that I could, in
essence, tap into whenever I need to brew?  Would the gas
company let me do this if I put in a shutoff valve?  Is
there a safety issue?  Well...there's always a safety issue
dealing with gas lines, but if anyone could outline the
specific issue that would be great."

Marc, take a look at my site http://ironacres.com/brewery.html to
see my setup. Notice the gas piping on the wall which has two QDs
for flex line. Also notice the burners and gas piping. I think this
is very similar to what you plan. I can run all three burners on
the stand supplied by the flex gas line. The other flex gas line fires
my free-standing camp chef burner (also converted to nat gas) that I
use for decoctions and some most excellent chinese stir fry!

Now, as for code conformance and all that, check with your local inspector.
There hoses with QDs are marketed toward converting propane BBQ grills (though
how anyone could call grilling on gas BBQ...but I digress...) to natural
gas. By still brewing outside you have don't have to worry so much about the
ventilation. But that said, if you're still going to brew outside and
dont have to worry about the ventilation issues, why not stick with
propane? It's burns hotter and you won't have to tether yourself to the
building with a hose. Refilling those propane cylinders is a paint though.

Feel free to look at the pics of my rig and let me know if you questions
about any of the pictures. One thing I would do differently is use black
iron pipe for the gas plumbing on the stand instead of copper and flare
fittings.

- --
Ed Jones - Columbus, Ohio U.S.A - [163.8, 159.4] [B, D] Rennerian

"When I was sufficiently recovered to be permitted to take nourishment,
I felt the most extraordinary desire for a glass of Guinness...I am
confident that it contributed more than anything else to my recovery."
  - written by a wounded officer after Battle of Waterloo, 1815



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Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 10:26:13 -0400
From: "Bill Lucas" <Homebrew42 at hotmail.com>
Subject: As the light dawns I realize I am in trouble.

Hello all,  I have a question of the community.

I started brewing about 9 months ago and have a dozen or so batches under my
belt (So I am far from a seasoned brewer). However nine months later I am
starting to realize exactly how much trouble I am in.  Up until now this has
been a fairly inexpensive hobby.  A cheap SS 5 gal pot a carboy and when I
went all grain a Phil's Mashing setup.  Now though I am starting to convert
a keg to a boil kettle and I am starting to design a 3-tier 10 gal. system.
This is all very well and I assume a frequent evolution the home brewer goes
through.  However, now that I am thinking bigger I have started to run into
a little sticker shock.  While pricing new equipment and complete systems I
soon realized these were way out of my league and in all honesty look less
fun then a home made setup.  So my question goes to all you scroungers and
opportunistic engineers in the forum. Where have you found to be the places
to rummage around for brewing related equipment.  I live in what is still a
fairly small burg, no matter how much it would love to claim otherwise.
This may limit the sources I have available locally.  In particular though
we have a very good salvage yard through Penn State and they are constantly
getting rid of interesting things that might be useful.  Is there a problem
with scrounging from salvage yards?  I know it would depend on the specifics
but I am looking for a general list of places people have had the best luck
finding stuff they could use in their brewing rigs.

Thanks all,

Have fun,
Bill Lucas
State College PA,
[325.6, 106.6] Apparent Rennerian


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Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 15:19:44 +0100
From: Tony Barnsley <tony.barnsley at blackpool.gov.uk>
Subject: maris otter

Hi all

Petr Wrote In Response to Rama

> >Subject: CACA results
>
> ><snip> using Maris Otter as the base, and 24 oz of corn meal.

> I think your high FG problem is with the Marris Otter

and

> This malt is not really suitable for adjunct brewing and has very
> low levels of beta-amylase (BA).

I have got to disagree here, 24oz of corn meal is not a lot of adjunct.

Don't blame the variety of Barley the maltster is using, blame his malting
schedule! As Steve has said British Pale malt is 'typically' higher roasted
than US or German malts and that may lead to less well attenuated worts
compared to other malts. FWIW I have noticed the same beer brewed with
Munton's Maris otter malt finishes a couple of SG points higher than
Warminster maris otter. This may be down to a difference in malting, or it
could be my process differences, but I do strive to be as consistent as
possible

- --
Wassail!
The Scurrilous Aleman (ICQ 46254361)
Schwarzbad Lager Brauerei, Blackpool, Lancs, UK

Rennerian Coordinates (3605.3,47.5) No Longer Lost In The Brewing Void!

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Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 15:44:36 +0100
From: Tony Barnsley <tony.barnsley at blackpool.gov.uk>
Subject: Re: Liquid level control

Hi all,

Thanks to all for responding to my query regarding a logic circuit to
control the wort level in my under back. Quite a few people warned me not to
control the speed of the pump as it will ruin the motor. Before I purchased
the pump I did quite a bit of research including talking to the
manufacturers explaining exactly what I was intending to do (Use a triac to
vary the duty cycle). They assured me that there should be no problem with
the pump apart from speed stability issues at low speeds and recommended
that I use a ball valve AS WELL to throttle the pump flow back if I wanted
to have good results at low flow rates. (FWIW the pump in question is an ex
cellar pump capable of 10gpm, and used to be used for pumping keg beer to
the faucet instead of using higher CO2 pressures).

Why not use a simple on off approach? Well I want a gentle flow initially
when I start running off for recirculation, then once I'm happy that the
grain bed has formed I can throw the Mash Tun Ball valve wide open to fill
the boiler, which is when I will require a faster flow rate. FWIW I normally
lauter 50+Litres of beer in 15-20 minutes. Yes, as Darrell pointed out in
another post, efficiency suffers, I get 72-75% this way as opposed to 85-90%
with a slower run off. The time saved is worth it to me and malt is cheap.

- --

Wassail!

The Scurrilous Aleman (ICQ 46254361)
Schwarzbad Lager Brauerei, Blackpool, Lancs, UK

Email Disclaimer is:
http://www.blackpool.gov.uk/democracy/corpdocs/EmailDisclaimer.htm

This message has been scanned by F-Secure Anti-Virus for Microsoft Exchange
as part of the Council's e-mail and internet policy.


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Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 15:50:17 +0100
From: Tony Barnsley <tony.barnsley at blackpool.gov.uk>
Subject: Carlsberg

Bill posted to the HBD

> Does anyone have a clue as to what hop(s) are used in Carlsberg.
> Once I solve my lager flavor problem I'd like to try to clone this 
> great Dannish/Canadian beer.

Hi Bill,

Both Dave Line and Graham Wheeler have recipes for the various Carlsberg
beers. I take it that you are talking about the 'Export', or could it be
'Elephant' or are you talking about 'bog' standard (Common or Garden)
Carlsberg. Anyway I have the recipes at home and will post them. ( Unless
someone posts to the UK Homebrew group first ;-'> )

- --
Wassail!
The Scurrilous Aleman (ICQ 46254361)
Schwarzbad Lager Brauerei, Blackpool, Lancs, UK

Rennerian Coordinates (3605.3,47.5) No Longer Lost In The Brewing Void!

Email Disclaimer is:
http://www.blackpool.gov.uk/democracy/corpdocs/EmailDisclaimer.htm

This message has been scanned by F-Secure Anti-Virus for Microsoft Exchange
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Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 10:27:55 -0400 (EDT)
From: douganb at plattsburgh.edu
Subject: Blackberry Wheat

Looking for an extract recipe for a blackberry wheat, something along the lines 
of LongTrail's, I will be using fresh blackberries.  Any help is definatley 
appreciated..


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Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 12:09:22 -0400
From: mohrstrom at humphrey-products.com
Subject: Cleveland Thanks!

Thanks to all who responded regarding the current beer scene in Cleveland.
The S.N.O.B.s held a grandly raucous meeting at Great Lakes BC (still
trying to undo the memory of the tomato-chili pepper wine!)  Business
associates caused me to be at the Akron Thirsty Dog two nights running
(plus a lunch at the Canton location...)  Hit Buckeye BC and Rocky River on
my way out of town.  Next time, I'll be flashing my AHA card at the
Cleveland Chophouse, and also be hitting the Quarryman to visit Doug
Breedy.

Thanks again!
Mark in Kalamazoo



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Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 13:48:21 -0400
From: Andrew Nix <anix at vt.edu>
Subject: Re: 

In response to Messr. Jones' response:

Now that's more like it.  I don't argue the practicality of doing two 
batches back-to-back, just that 6-7 hours is way too short.  I responded to 
Scott's email because I and a friend are thinking of doing two 10 gallon 
batches here soon.  The difference would be we will sparge the first batch 
into a separate kettle so we can potentially have two boils going at once 
to shorten the time.  My system is similar to Steve's, except that I use my 
pump to move hot sparge water up to a HLT (cooler) which gravity feeds to 
the mash/lauter tun during sparging.  A typical brew day for me for 10 
gallons is 5 hours at best, without any gliches and assuming I'm not doing 
multiple steps and/or decoction mash.  As we all know, there's always some 
short lag times between steps that add to the total time of brewing.  I 
could see this brew day being 10-12 hours easy.

At 09:43 AM 8/12/02 -0400, Jones, Steve - Eastman wrote:
>Greetings,
>
>The Drewmeister questions Scott's numbers on the time to do back-to-back 10
>- 12 gallon batches in one day, with good reason. I have done this 4 times
>now, beginning in January of this year. It has reduced the number of brew
>days without reducing the number of brews, but it results in a long, hard
>day.
>
>First, some details about my setup: I have 3 half-barrel Sanke kegs on a two
>tier system, with 3 burners and a single pump. I gravity feed the sparge
>water, and pump the wort from the mash tun to the boiler. I counterflow
>chill the wort as it goes into the fermenter (using the pump).

SNIPPED OUT A FEW LINES

>As you can see, this is over 9 hours. However, things rarely go perfectly,
>and I usually plan on spending around 10-11 hours on brewday. 6 hours is
>about the shortest I can do a single batch, and often it goes to 7.
>
>I suppose if I did 60 minute mashes & boils, I'd cut another 1 to 1 1/2
>hours off of this, but 6-7 hours is VERY optimistic. I just don't see how
>you can get it under 8 hours.

Drewmeister
Andrew Nix     Apparent Rennerian [400.6, 152]
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Virginia Tech
anix at vt.edu
http://www.vt.edu:10021/A/anix



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Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 15:57:11 -0500
From: Paul Fife <paulf at amered.com>
Subject: re: yes...another question about natural gas conversions

 >I know nothing about gas piping or hookups or anything like
 >that. Does anyone out there think it's possible to have a
 >outside QD hookup to the house's gas setup that I could, in
 >essence, tap into whenever I need to brew? Would the gas
 >company let me do this if I put in a shutoff valve? Is
 >there a safety issue? Well...there's always a safety issue
 >dealing with gas lines, but if anyone could outline the
 >specific issue that would be great.

I have an outside QD hookup for my natural gas grill. It's perfectly 
allowed, and I am pretty sure you need to have a shutoff valve outside on 
the line as well. I don't have one on mine, but I plan on adding one so I 
don't have to rely on the valves on the grill, and can shut it off after 
using it each time. There shouldn't be any safety issues as long as the 
hookup is done correctly and does not leak. If you don't feel confident 
doing it yourself you probably should get someone to do it for you. Usually 
your natural gas company can do it (or send someone to do it) for you.

Paul



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Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 17:59:46 -0400
From: Bill Wible <bill at brewbyyou.net>
Subject: FYI - Beer on the Food Network



Sorry for the length of this.  This is an alert to watch for
beer on the Food Network.

The show is called "Calling All Cooks."  The recipes they
will be doing are below.  They gave all grain recipes, no
extract here.  I think they should have done at least one
extract.

And you'll notice this thing about 'American II row'
malt, and 'toasted II row' malt which beginners will surely
be confused out.  It's 'American 2 row malt' (Briess) NOT
'American II' row malt.  It's 'Toasted 2 row malt' NOT
'Toasted II' row malt.  A brewer should have reviewed this
for accuracy.

Bill


Blackstrap Porter
See this recipe on-air on 08/19/2002 at 11:00 AM ET.

Raspberry Ale
See this recipe on-air on 08/19/2002 at 11:00 AM ET.

Recipes below:

- -----------------
Blackstrap Porter
- -----------------

Recipe courtesy Eric Hanson

8 pounds American II Row pale malt
1/4 pound 120L crystal malt
1/4 pound 60L crystal malt
1/2 pound chocolate malt
1/2 pound Black Patent malt
1/2 pound Cara Pils malt
1/2 pound toasted II Row Pale malt
1/2 pound flaked wheat
2 teaspoons gypsum
4 ounces blackstrap molasses
1 1/3 ounces Cascade hops, divided
1 2/3 ounces Fuggles hops, divided
1/3 plus 1/2 ounce Kent Goldings hops
1 (2 3/4 ounces) American ale yeast (liquid)

Measure out all grains using a scale. Run the grain through a mill to crack
the husk and release the starch; a supplier can do this. In a 6 to 10 gallon
boiling pot, with screen in bottom, also known as a false bottom, add the
gypsum to 2 1/2 gallons of water preheated to 168 degrees F. Pour crushed
grains and wheat into the water and stir until mixed thoroughly. Cover the
pot and let stand for about one hour periodically checking the to be sure it
stays between 146 to 152 degrees F.

Have available another 6 to 10 gallon pot of water heated to 180 to 190
degrees F also on the stove, about 7 gallons worth.

Remove grain pots' cover, sparging [spraying], and gently sprinkle the hot
water over the grain mixture until you get 2 to 3 inches of water on top of
the mixture. Then attach a flexible tube to the outflow of the grain pot
(masher) and turn the spigot on. This opens a valve that allows drainage of
the sweet liquid (wort) from the bottom. Keep a steady stream of hot water
sprinkling over the mixture while allowing a third pot to be filled with the
drainage (this takes about 20 minutes).

Once you have collected about 6 1/2 gallons close the spigot and stop the
sprinkling then place this pot on the stove. Bring to a boil (this takes
about 25 to 30 minutes). Once brought to a boiling, start a timer, add the
molasses, and boil for a total of 15 minutes without any hops.

At 15 minutes add 2/3 ounce of Cascade hops; for bittering, continue to
boil. After an additional 30 minutes add 1 ounce Fuggles hops; for flavor,
continue to boil. After an additional 15 minutes add 1/2 ounce Cascade, 1/3
ounce Fuggles and 1/3 ounce Kent Goldings hops; also for flavor, continue to
boil. Also add copper chilling coil to the boil at this time to sterilize it
(standard home brewing equipment). After an additional 15 minutes add 1/2
ounce of Kent Goldings and 1/3 ounce of Fuggles hops; for aroma, and stir
for a few seconds then switch off the heat.

Remove the pot containing the wort to the sink, attach a plastic tube to the
faucet and another to the outflow of the copper coil, and run cold water
through the coil immersed in the wort. This will cool down the wort in about
20 minutes to fermentation temperature, approximately 75 degrees F. You
could chill the wort by placing it in an ice bath but this would take much
longer.

Next, the wort is transferred into a sterilized fermenter. Shake the
container to add air to the wort. Finally, the yeast is added to the
fermenter, and an airlock is attached.

The recipes for this program, which were provided by contributors and guests
who may not be professional chefs, have not been tested in the Food
Network's kitchens. Therefore, the Food Network cannot attest to the
accuracy of any of the recipes.


Yield: 5 gallons
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 3 weeks
Cook Time: 5 hours
Difficulty: Medium


- ----------------
Raspberry Ale
- ----------------

Recipe courtesy Eric Hanson

8 pounds American II Row Pale malt
1/2 pound 60L Crystal malt
1/2 pound Cara Pils malt
1/2 ounce wheat
2 teaspoon gypsum
1/2 ounce Willamette hops
1 ounce Fuggles hops, divided
1/2 ounce Kent Goldings hops
1 (4-ounce package) California liquid ale yeast
5 pounds frozen red raspberries

Measure out all grains using a scale. Run the grain through a mill to crack
the husk and release the starch; a supplier can do this. In a 6 to 10 gallon
boiling pot, with screen in bottom, also known as a false bottom, add the
gypsum to 2 1/2 gallons of water preheated to 168 degrees F. Pour crushed
grains and wheat into the water and stir until mixed thoroughly. Cover the
pot and let stand for about one hour periodically checking the to be sure it
stays between 146 to 152 degrees F.

Have available another 6 to 10 gallon pot of water heated to 180 to 190
degrees F also on the stove, about 7 gallons worth.

Remove grain pots' cover, sparging [spraying], and gently sprinkle the hot
water over the grain mixture until you get 2 to 3 inches of water on top of
the mixture. Then attach a flexible tube to the outflow of the grain pot
(masher) and turn the spigot on. This opens a valve that allows drainage of
the sweet liquid (wort) from the bottom. Keep a steady stream of hot water
sprinkling over the mixture while allowing a third pot to be filled with the
drainage (this takes about 20 minutes).

Once you have collected about 6 1/2 gallons close the spigot and stop the
sprinkling then place this pot on the stove. Bring to a boil (this takes
about 25 to 30 minutes). Once brought to a boiling, start a timer, and boil
for a total of 10 minutes without any hops.

Add Willamette hops and 1/2 ounce Fuggles hops; for bittering, continue to
boil. After an additional 45 minutes add remaining Fuggles hops for flavor,
add the copper chilling coil to sterilize it and continue to boil.

After an additional 14 minutes add Kent Goldings hops for aroma, stir, and
immediately switch off the heat. Remove the pot containing the wort to the
sink, attach one plastic tube to faucet and the copper inflow and another to
the copper outflow, the other end runs into the sink, and turn on the cold
water. Cool it down to fermentation temperature of 75-degrees F. This takes
about 20 to 25 minutes.

Next, the wort is transferred into a 5 gallon sterilized fermenter. Shake
the container to add air to the wort. Finally the yeast is added to the
fermenter and an airlock is attached. This fermenter is allowed to stand for
1 week prior to the addition of the raspberries.

At the end of the week, take a large stockpot and add the raspberries and 1
to 2 quarts water. Bring ingredients to 140-degrees F. and allow to stay at
this temperature for 30 minutes.

Set aside and let cool. Once cooled, add this into a 6 gallon sanitized
fermenter through a sterilized funnel. Siphon the beer from the previous
week into the same fermenter once the raspberries have cooled. If you do not
let it cool, you could kill the yeast. Attach airlock and allow it to
ferment an additional week.

At the end of the week siphon the beer off the raspberries into a third
fermenter and allow to finish fermentation for 1 to 2 more weeks.

The recipes for this program, which were provided by contributors and guests
who may not be professional chefs, have not been tested in the Food
Network's kitchens. Therefore, the Food Network cannot attest to the
accuracy of any of the recipes.


Yield: 5 gallons
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 3 weeks
Cook Time: 5 hours
Difficulty: Medium



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