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


Contents:
  coffee beers (Mark Stevens) <stevens at stsci.edu>
  Re:  Fermentation Temperature (techentin)
  Lactose (boubez)
  Coffee Beer (Patrick Stirling (Sun HQ Consulting Services))
  idle fermentation,  how long in secondary?    (cckweiss)
  AUTO ANSWER MESSAGE. (mark_koski)
  AUTO ANSWER MESSAGE. (mark_koski)


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Date: Mon, 30 Apr 90 08:55:23 EDT
From: (Mark Stevens) <stevens at stsci.edu>
Subject: coffee beers


In Homebrew Digest #408, Chuck Coronella asked about coffee used in beer.

A couple months back (I believe in January) we had discussed using
coffee to flavor stouts.  Seems that several people have tried doing
this, with generally good results.

I brewed a batch on January 1 that was based on Papazians "Dark Sleep
Stout"; to the basic recipe I added about 1/2 cup of dark molasses and
10 cups of brewed French roast coffee.  The molasses was probably NOT
a good idea to add to this brew, but the coffee gave the stout a very
pleasant aftertaste that seemed to be fairly subtle and to come through
mostly as an aftertaste.  Yesterday I opened a bottle that was warmer
than previous samples (about 60 degrees), and in this bottle the coffee
flavor was MUCH more prominent, virtually overpowering the stout flavor.
My recommendation is to use either less coffee, or perhaps to be sure
to drink it fairly young, and to drink it chilled.

If you want, I'll repost the recipe I used.

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


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Date: Mon, 30 Apr 90 08:03:50 CDT
From: techentin at Mayo.edu
Subject: Re:  Fermentation Temperature

Andrius Tamulis <tamulis at dehn.math.nwu.edu> wrote in HBD #407:

>  My current residence does not have any A/C, and is therefore 
>  subject to the outside temperature, which means that it can reach 
>  90 degrees in here, maybe even higher. The question is, can I brew 
>  beer?

You can *always* brew beer.  :-)

Unfortunately, high fermentation temperatures can produce off flavors.  
My early brewing days were in Texas where I brewed and stored in the 
garage.  It routinely exceeded 100F, but the brew was still drinkable.  
Now that I am in the Great White North, the temperatures are a little 
more under control, and perhaps my tastes are refined a bit, so I 
suggest you attempt to cool it, if you can.

I have heard of folks placing the carboy in a large tub of water, with 
towels acting as wicks to draw the water up around the carboy.  The 
evaporation can cool your brew by several (10?) degrees.  A fridge would 
probably be better if you are planning on any real lagering.

- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Techentin                              Internet: techentin at Mayo.edu
Mayo Foundation, Rochester MN, 55905 USA             (507) 284-2702
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Date: Mon, 30 Apr 90 09:50:24 EDT
From: Chris Shenton <chris at asylum.gsfc.nasa.gov>

I made a batch I called Cafe Stoudt. Used a half *cup* of french roast beans,
coursely ground in my grain mill. The coffee taste is difinitely noticable but
works very well with the roastiness of the stout. Next time, I would add more
roasted barley, as the stout's roast taste underwhelms the coffee's.

I had also hoped for the caffein (sp?) kick, but I doubt 1/2 C in 5 gal is
enough to lose any sleep over...

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Date: Mon, 30 Apr 90 12:30:06 EDT
From: boubez at bass.rutgers.edu
Subject: Lactose


I'm planning to add some lactose in the next batch, to get a little
more sweetness in the beer. I'm not sure, however, of the orders
of magnitude to use. Is it in spoonfuls, cupfuls or pounds :-)?
For example, is one cup a reasonable amount? Thanks.

toufic

Toufic Boubez
boubez at caip.rutgers.edu

- -- We didn't inherit the earth from our ancestors,
   we borrowed it from our descendants.


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Date: Mon, 30 Apr 90 11:24:46 PDT
From: pms at Corp.Sun.COM (Patrick Stirling (Sun HQ Consulting Services))
Subject: Coffee Beer

My last batch was 'Mocha Porter'. From memory, the recipe was
	- 6.6lb Amber Extract (M&F)
	- 1lb Crystal
	- 1/2lb Chocolate
	- 1/4lb Black Patent (not cracked)
	- 1/2lb Colombian Supremo whole coffee beans
	- 1/4lb cooking chocolate

I can't remember what hops I used, sorry! It's come out well, very full
bodied with a very distinct coffee taste and aftertaste. Next time I'll
use less. The only problem is that there's no way (that I could think
of) of sanitizing the coffee beans. I tossed them into the primary
fermenter (a plastic bin), then racked into a 5gal glass carboy after 3
days (leaving the beans and a *lot* of sediment behind. Then I bottled
after another 3 weeks with 1/2cup of light dry malt extract. Again, a
*lot* of sediment (at least 2"). After a couple of weeks in the bottles
I tried it, and it was already fizzier than it should have been! Now, another
couple of weeks later, it's a little fizzier still, but not too bad. I plan
to drink it pretty fast!

patrick

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Date: Mon, 30 Apr 90 12:40:58 -0700
From: cckweiss at castor.ucdavis.edu
Subject: idle fermentation,  how long in secondary?   


[yerga at cory.Berkeley.EDU (Chris Yerga)] 
> The yeast had covered the surface of the wort by midnight and was 
> bubbling away at the rate of 3 or 4 bbles per second by the next  
> morning. Fermentation continued in this manner until the second 
> morning (48 hours after pitching), when the head on the wort had 
> fallen. I haven't seen a single bubble since
>

I don't have an answer for this one, but I do have the exact same 
symptom. I started a batch of "steam" beer about five weeks ago.
After three days in the primary I racked into the secondary, and it
is still showing some very slight signs of life. About a week ago I got 
another batch going (a basic lager this time), pitched it, and three days later it was totally quiet, after a vigorous start. 

The two batches were made from the same amount of the same 
extract (6 lb. of a bulk Canadian light), and used the same yeast (Red 
Star lager). The steam beer had some crystal malt added to the boil, 
and that's the only difference. Both batches were kept at the same 
temp throughout fermentation. 

I racked the quiet stuff into a carboy anyway, on the theory that it 
couldn't hurt. My plan is to give it another day or two to wake up. If 
it doesn't, I'll add about 1/2 cup of sugar, boiled into syrup, just to 
see if there's anything happening. I figure that small amount won't 
affect the taste much. If it still doesn't show bubbles, I'll try 
repitching with fresh yeast, I guess. The wort tasted pretty good 
when I racked into the secondary, so I think it'll all be okay if I can 
get the stuff carbonated.  My bet is, same for your batch.

[JEEPSRUS <ROBERTN%FM1 at sc.intel.com>]
> krauzen(sp?) fell. It's been in the secondary for a week and a half 
> now, as of 4/26.

I've left stuff in the secondary for 8 - 12 weeks without bad results.
Then again, I'll drink anything if I made it myself. Seriously, the beer
tasted fine.  Since the secondary is a completely closed oxygen-free
environment (assuming you used a glass carboy and fermentation lock), any deterioration should be pretty slow.


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Date:        27 Apr 90 15:47 -0700
From: mark_koski%02 at hp4200
Subject:     AUTO ANSWER MESSAGE.

I will be out of the office from Tuesday, 4/23, to Monday, 4/30, on
business.  If you require immediate attention to an issue, please
contact Eric Lewis at 720-3650.


Mark Koski


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Date:        26 Apr 90 09:39 -0700
From: mark_koski%02 at hp4200
Subject:     AUTO ANSWER MESSAGE.

I will be out of the office from Tuesday, 4/23, to Monday, 4/30, on
business.  If you require immediate attention to an issue, please
contact Eric Lewis at 720-3650.


Mark Koski


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End of HOMEBREW Digest #409, 05/01/90
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