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


Contents:
  Boston's Commonwealth Brewery...me too ("Gary F. Mason - Image Systems - MKO2-2/K03 - 603884[DTN264]-1503  24-Apr-1990 0743")
  high gravity readings for better brews? (Mark Stevens) <stevens at stsci.edu>
  Different O.G.'s (John Greene)
  Commonwealth Brewery (Steve Anthony)
  Butterscotch beer, or Diacetyl (Bill Crick)


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Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 04:42:33 PDT
From: "Gary F. Mason - Image Systems - MKO2-2/K03 - 603884[DTN264]-1503 24-Apr-1990 0743" <mason at habs11.enet.dec.com>
Subject: Boston's Commonwealth Brewery...me too

I too went to CB for the first time (Russ - did we see each other before game 
1?).  I actually went twice while the Habs were in town.  Anyway...

I tried only the Burton's Best Boston Bitter, the golden ale, and the amber 
ale.  I found the bitter to be too much so - unlike what I experienced in 
England (which is what got me started on this whole homebrew thing in the first 
place 8').  I thought the other ales were rather thin, but the amber the better 
of the two.

The bitter, by the way, is hopped with Talisman, and finished with Kent 
Goldings (I asked).  The golden uses Goldings throughout, as I recall.

All in all, a much better choice than the local taverns and their bottled 
stuff.  Food wasn't bad, but we stuck to burgers, etc.

Q: Does anyone know how consistent they are between batches?  I would like to 
try the bitter from another batch, hoping for less bittering hops.

Gary

P.S. I didn't try the Stanley Cup Strong Ale (at almost twice the price of the 
others).  The way I figure it, it's probably so strong because it has been 
aging since the last cup came to Boston - 20 years ago!

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Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 07:57:47 EDT
From: (Mark Stevens) <stevens at stsci.edu>
Subject: high gravity readings for better brews?


In Homebrew Digest #405, Chip Hitchcock related his experiences with
higher than expected gravity readings.

I've had similar experiences with two of Papazian's betterbrew recipes.
The Dark Sleep Stout came in with an original gravity of well over 1.07
I recently made another batch of Dark Sleep and had a similarly high
reading.

About 8 weeks ago I brewed a modified version of Palilia Ale.  I brought the
specialty grains up to a boil over about an hour, and used about 1/4 cup
more toasted malt and an extra 1/4 cup of pale malt.  I figured that
I would get a slightly higher gravity because I used a little more grain 
and brought it up to a boil so slowly that some of the sugars may have
converted (almost an infusion mash?).  I was, however, unprepared for
the O.G. reading which came in at about 1.076 when the book said it
would be about 1.048.  But the beer tasted great, so who's worrying?

- --Mark Stevens
  stevens at ra.stsci.edu

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Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 08:15:51 PDT
From: greene at venice.sedd.trw.com (John Greene)
Subject: Different O.G.'s


>   My latest attempt is "Dark Sleep Stout", which I picked because I could
>get \exactly/ the ingredients specified (2 cans John Bull dark, 1# dried dark
>extract, .5# each roasted barley, crystal malt, & black malt, hops & gypsum);

Were the grains whole, lightly crushed, or finely ground??

I have found that there is a big difference in specialty grains from different
brands.  I once stumbled across a great recipe for a dark beer by simply 
combining all the leftover stuff I had from previous batches.  It was by far the
best dark I have brewed to date.  I then tried to recreate that recipe using the
exact same quantities and grains but from a different supplier and there was a
big difference.  Anyway, the only point I am trying to make here is that even
though you used the same brandname extracts the specialty grains can have a 
major impact.  Especially if you grind them more finely than the recipe.  The
easiest way to tell if this is the reason for the difference is to check the
difference between the specific gravity before and after fermentation.  If the
difference is the same as the recipe then you are getting more out of your 
specialty grains than the recipe did.

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Date: Tue, 24 Apr 90 12:15:13 EDT
From: Steve Anthony <steveo at Think.COM>
Subject: Commonwealth Brewery


In #405, RussG write about the Commonwealth Brewery in Boston. I was there
a few weeks back while they were preparing a mash. I was rather shocked to
see about 30-40 lbs of good ole' granulated refined cane sugar being added
to the kettle. No wonder the beers taste a little thin! Didn't get a chance
to find out what particular beer they were brewing though.

Steveo

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Date: 	Tue, 24 Apr 1990 16:38:59 -0400
From: bnr-vpa!bnr-rsc!crick at uunet.UU.NET (Bill Crick)
Subject: Butterscotch beer, or Diacetyl

Here is how I get a good amount of butterscotch flavor in ales:

Boil all of your water, and try not to get too much oxygen in it
when handling it. This will cause the yeast to be oxygen starved
during its reproduction phase. the lag is longer, but I believe
this causes it to produce a lot more Diacetyl.

After 3-5 days in primary, add gelatin finings to strip out the 
yeast in suspension, and rack aftr a few days. Add finings again 
after a few more days. I use about 1/3 the recommended dose each time, and
the last 1/3 when I bottle. Stripping out the yeast in suspension will
stop it from reducing the diacetyl levelslater in the fermentation.
 
Note:It will take longer to reach final gravity, because the yeast has
     taken a beating. Think of it as growing Bonsai Yeast ;-)

Tis will give yo an ale similar to Samuel (? or john?) Smiths which
is fermented in "yorksire stones" which are large slate boxes. Due to
the temperature, and shape of the boxes, they have trouble getting
the yeast to stay in suspension, causing a high diacetyl, or butterscotch
flavor.

A lot of people try for minimum diacetyl, because it can be a sign of
contamination, but I've found an awful lot of people who like the 
"butterscotch" or "nutty" flavor it gives. I bet a lot of traditionally
inn brewwed ales had wuite a lot of diacetyl in them back in previous 
centuries. Hence we are probably genetically screened to enjoy this;-)

Brewius Ergo Sum 
Bill Crick




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End of HOMEBREW Digest #406, 04/25/90
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