HOMEBREW Digest #4312 Fri 01 August 2003


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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Plastic fermenters (Michael)
  Top Twelve in US Homebrewing (Jeremy Bergsman)
  Re: Mead problems ("Kevin Morgan")
  Top in Homebrewing (darrell.leavitt)
  Re: my wife is pregnant (Jeff Renner)
  Re: Mead Problems and Questions (mjkid)
  Non beer, but worth considering? ("Paul Campbell")
  Re: Checklists ("Pete Calinski")
  Top 12 in US Homebrewing (Randy Ricchi)
  Andeker clone? ("Tom & Dana Karnowski")
  starters and moose drool (Randy Ricchi)
  Tennesse mead ("Dave Burley")

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 17:25:16 -0500 From: Michael <grice at binc.net> Subject: Plastic fermenters Bill Tobler wrote: >Christian Layke is looking for a bigger and better way to ferment 20 >gallons of hooch in his fridge using plastic containers that are readily >available. >I haven't tried this myself, but I know people do this and have had >good success. You could buy a 25 or 30 gallon plastic garbage can from >WallyWorld, line it with a plastic liner like the one in the link below, >and just cover the fermenter with the lid. You won't be able to monitor >the ferment with an airlock, but that's no big deal. [...] If you get food-grade plastic, I wouldn't bother with the liner. Winemakers sometimes use a garbage can for primary fermentation. I have done that myself, in fact. I certainly didn't have any off flavors from the plastic. Since the pH of beer is typically less than that of wine, I would expect it to be even less of a problem. Someone else will have to tell you what sort of plastic is food grade. It *may* be HDPE, but I'm suffering from acronym overload. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 18:34:05 -0400 From: Jeremy Bergsman <jeremy at bergsman.org> Subject: Top Twelve in US Homebrewing Louis, this is a great topic. I think, at least for me, that the HBD is about as important as it gets. Having run some tiny mailing lists I can only begin to imagine the work that Pat and Karl put into the HBD. I would like to add Rob Gardner, the original HBD janitor, to this list. Can we subtract the AHA for what they did to it? Also, just about anything you can say about Byron Burch can be said about Al Korzonis (I'm sure I spelled that wrong). Although quiet here lately, for about a decade was one of the most prolific and reliable sources of info here on the HBD. He is a master judge, worked behind the scenes at the BJCP, owned a homebrew store, wrote brewing articles and a great book.... - -- Jeremy Bergsman jeremy at bergsman.org http://www.bergsman.org/jeremy Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 19:44:37 -0400 From: "Kevin Morgan" <kevin.morgan2 at verizon.net> Subject: Re: Mead problems From: Denis Bekaert <Denis-B at rocketmail.com> Subject: Mead Problems and Questions About a week ago (July 20) I finally got around to starting a batch of mead and I'm having some possible problems that I thought I'd throw out to the experts. I used 13 pounds of mixed honey (clover, mesquite etc), 1 ounce of yeast nutrient, 1 Tablespoon acid blend, 1 Teaspoon gypsum and added a starter made with honey and boiled water to which I pitched 2 packets of Red Star champagne yeast. Volume is 5 gallons. Initial specific gravity was 1.076. Fermentation was always slow and stopped about 4 days ago. When I checked the specific gravity, it was 1.042, so I pitched another two packets of yeast, along with another tablespoon of yeast nutrient. Still no activity that I can see. - --Have you checked the pH, sounds like it may have fallen to far - --and that can cause the fermentation to stick. Also, what kind of - --yeast nutrient did you use, and did you oxygenate/aerate at the - --beginning of the fermentation? I realize that mead takes much longer (maybe 6 months?) to clear and finish, but this seems too high a final specific gravity to me. - --You are correct, with an OG of 1.076 and Champagne yeast - --the gravity should drop to <1.000 within a couple of weeks Suggestions? Should I oxygenate it to rouse the yeast or just rack to a secondary carboy and forget it for a few months? Is that enough yeast nutrient? - --I would oxygenate it and see what happens, check the pH and correct - --it if necessary Denis in Beechgrove, Tennessee where moonshine is the native product, but I'm only brewing, honestly, officer! - --Kevin, brewing and mazing in South Jersey Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 20:03:59 -0400 (EDT) From: darrell.leavitt at plattsburgh.edu Subject: Top in Homebrewing I would respectfully like to add: George DePiro Jeff Renner Steve Alexander Peter Garofalo Mike Mc Donnough ...but why are we doing this? Perhaps it results in invidious comparrisons... God bless all home brewers. me too... ..Darrell and many, many more... Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 20:20:00 -0400 From: Jeff Renner <jeffrenner at comcast.net> Subject: Re: my wife is pregnant MATTHEW HAHN <mchahn at earthlink.net> wrote: >OLD BRITISH BEERS AND HOW TO MAKE THEM has a recipe for Younger's >Majority Ale, brewed for just this purpose. > >For 1 gal.: Just a clarification, this is for each *imperial* gallon, which is 1.25 US gallon. 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: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 20:26:40 -0400 From: mjkid at rochester.rr.com Subject: Re: Mead Problems and Questions On 31 Jul 2003 at 18:29, Denis Bekaert <Denis- B at rocketmail.com> wrote: > I used 13 pounds of mixed honey (clover, mesquite > etc), 1 ounce of yeast nutrient, 1 Tablespoon acid > blend, 1 Teaspoon gypsum and added a starter made with > honey and boiled water to which I pitched 2 packets of > Red Star champagne yeast. Volume is 5 gallons. Initial > specific gravity was 1.076. Sounds like you didn't get the honey mixed in very well. 13 lbs of honey in 5 gallons should be close to 1.100. It will vary with the type of honey, but 1.076 seems low. Adding acid blend at the beginning of a mead fermentation can cause problems. Honey is poorly buffered, which means that the pH will drop quite rapidly during fermentation. Also, honey is acidic to start with, with the pH varying with the type of honey, so adding acid blend compounds the problem. I don't get the gypsum addition at all. I think the legend of traditional meads taking months to ferment was brought about by recipes calling for acid additions at the beginning the fermentation. Save the acid blend for bottling time, if needed. My traditionals typically finish fermenting in three to four weeks. Also, your started didn't use any nutrients, which may have hindered more than it helped your yeast. I just rehydrate according to the package directions and it always works for me. > Fermentation was always slow and stopped about 4 days > ago. When I checked the specific gravity, it was > 1.042, so I pitched another two packets of yeast, > along with another tablespoon of yeast nutrient. > Still no activity that I can see. If you have access to a pH meter, try checking the pH. If it's below about 3.5, your yeast may be suffering. Adding some calcium carbonate will raise the pH into a more hospitable range for the yeast and may restart the fermentation. Dissolve a 1/2 teaspoon in some distilled water and add it to the mead. It doesn't really dissolve well in water, but it will be ok in the mead. You may have to do this a couple times to get it restarted. > > I realize that mead takes much longer (maybe 6 > months?) to clear and finish, but this seems too high > a final specific gravity to me. Your OG was very likely much higher than you measured, so it's not as bad as you think. You're at about 58% attenuation, in 10 days which isn't really too bad. I think if you get the pH up around 4 or so, it should perk up. You might try some energizer also. > > Suggestions? Should I oxygenate it to rouse the yeast > or just rack to a secondary carboy and forget it for a > few months? Is that enough yeast nutrient? I wouldn't oxyengenate it, that would just cause off flavors. Get the pH under control and it should be fine. FWIW, here is the recipe for my latest mead: 12 lbs Spotted Knapweed honey 1.5 tsp Wyeast yeast nutrient 1.5 tsp yeast energizer water to make 5 gallons 2 packages Lalvin D47, rehydrated Dissolve honey in warm water, top with cool water to 5 gallons. Pitch yeast. OG: 1.094 FG: .998 I'll be racking this onto 11 lbs of sour cherries (frozen and pitted) for Mead Day this Saturday, along with a couple more pounds of honey. Hope this helps, Mike Kidulich [338.5, 65.2] Apparent Rennerian Return to table of contents
Date: Fri, 1 Aug 2003 02:05:39 +0100 From: "Paul Campbell" <paulrcampbell at blueyonder.co.uk> Subject: Non beer, but worth considering? Hi all, Apologies for non-beer content, but I drank some today, promise (Belgian BTW). Last recipe was pale ale for a complete newbie who is now hooked! Anyhow... "We" have a team at United Devices (AKA Grid) which supports a cure for cancer search. We have all lost many so why not consider it? Join your fellow HBDrs! http://www.grid.org/services/teams/team.htm ?id=FA64472E-9373-401F-800F-5101476415FA You can either cut and paste the above to put it back together, or use the info below. I don't like posting full links as i don't trust them myself!!! Many thanks to those who have kept up the good work, I myself went awol for a bit, sorry.................. Info: The team name is HBD, the website is www.grid.org I am not in any way affilliated etc. etc. Ob On-topic: http://www.belgianstyle.com/mmguide/ Paul Campbell. Cheers! Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 21:19:37 -0400 From: "Pete Calinski" <pjcalinski at adelphia.net> Subject: Re: Checklists I make what I call a "Batch Sheet" for every brew session. It starts with how much water to "declorinate" and lists every step. I also include blank spaces for readings like OG and an area for notes. Once you make one, the rest are just a simple cut and paste followed by some edits. Here is a typical sample: 5/28/2002 Big Boot #2 At Time:______________ Water Meter:______________ Electric Meter:_____________ Set out 12 Gal Water overnight. This is for mash and sparge. White Labs WL008 from Pete's Pale Ale #11 Add salts as above Bring Grains to room temperature overnight. Heat 3.7 gal. + dead space in mash tun to 172F Place grains in Mash Tun (155F) and get the lid on. Measure pH ___________________ Bring to ph=5.7 with ~ 12.4 ml Lactic Acid (Use Dropper) Maintain Mash at 155F for 90 Min. Heat remaining water (4.5 Gal.) to 190F Test for conversion. Results Here_____________________ Bring mash to 170F Recirculate Until Clear. Sparge until gravity gets to 1.010 (0.985 at 170F) Boil to get hot break Bring to 6 gal. Add 3.0 Oz Cascades Start 90 Min. Timer Put immersion chiller in wort At 45 Min to go add 1 oz Cascades At 31 min. to go, add 1 oz hops in bag. Stop heat and bring to 5.5 gal. Let sit for 30 minutes Immersion Chill to 68F. Swirl for 3 Min. (Just a guess) and allow to settle for 20 Min. Rack to plastic over yeast cake leaving Trub behind (Aireate during Racking) Read OG. Enter Here__________ When Bubbles stop, Rack to secondary When done, add 0.5 oz cascades as Dry Hop. Then after 1 day, bottle with 4.25 oz CS. At Time:______________ Water Meter:______________ Electric Meter:_____________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 21:40:17 -0400 From: Randy Ricchi <rricchi at houghton.k12.mi.us> Subject: Top 12 in US Homebrewing Louis Bonham suggested 10 people for the top 12 in promoting homebrewing. I'm familiar with most but not all of the names, and they all sound like good candidates. I would think Dave Line may be a serious candidate, 'though he was and Englishman. No doubt he got a lot of people in the U.S. started with his "Big Book of Brewing". It's an antique now, and from today's perspective has a lot of dubious information, but back when it came out there was VERY little info on homebrewing and he filled an important void. I'd also like to nominate my favorite Homebrewing author, Dave Miller, author of The Complete guide to Homebrewing, among others. After reading Dave's book I KNEW I could brew a decent beer. His clear, organized explanation of process, ingredients, sanitation, etc. continues to be an inspiration to me. Finally, let's not forget Greg Noonan, who gave us the first very detailed look at the decoction mashing regimen in his "Brewing Lager Beer", a well-known classic. DOH! That makes 13 nominees. Oh well, nothing wrong with a baker's dozen. Randy Ricchi Hancock, MI Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 22:01:33 -0400 From: "Tom & Dana Karnowski" <karnowsk at esper.com> Subject: Andeker clone? Pardon me if this has been asked recently... ...but a member of our homebrew club wants to clone Andeker. Its our understanding that this beer was the Pabst "premium" lager several years ago. I think he searched the archives but didn't find anything on it. I thought I'd post this to the group. A gentleman challenged him to clone it and we're trying to get a feel for what it was like or how it was made. Any ideas? Thanks! Tom Karnowski Knoxville TN Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 22:00:48 -0400 From: Randy Ricchi <rricchi at houghton.k12.mi.us> Subject: starters and moose drool Timothy recounts some advice he read which states: >Then, if I read into some answers correctly, at high >krausen I should pour off almost all of the liquid and pitch the trub from the >starter into the porter wort. Is this the right method for a starter? Any help >is appreciated First, the remains wouldn't be considered trub, but settled yeast. Trub is the coagulated proteins from hot and cold break. More importantly, if the starter has hit high kraeusen and you're ready to use it, you should pitch everything. The best yeast is the stuff still in suspension in the liquid at this point. If you decided you couldn't brew now and had to wait a week or so, then you would want to decant the supernatant because it would now contain a significant amount of alcohol, which, if pitched in the beer and then aerated, could cause oxidation problems. If you find yourself in this situation, my recommendation would be to add a pint or quart of wort to the remaining yeast, aerate well, and then pitch everything the next day into your batch. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 22:19:06 -0400 From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley at charter.net> Subject: Tennesse mead Brewsters: Denis is making some mead instead of moonshine and has problem with what appears to be a stuck fermentation. Probably the pH is too low. The lack of sufficient buffers ( unlike wort or fruit) in the honey causes the pH to fall outside the enzymically active region. Bring it back up in the pH 4 region with calcium carbonate. Continue this until the fermentation is finished as evidenced by Clinitest. Keep on Brewin' Dave Burley Return to table of contents
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