HOMEBREW Digest #443 Wed 20 June 1990
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Ideas for Peaches (Robert P. Mattie, L-331,(215)270-5681,mattierp at smithkline.com)
The Mill, in Orlando (Mark.Leone)
Slow Fermentation (Patrick J. Waara)
wheat beer (RUSSG)
Beer Tastings & John Mellby (Jeff Close)
Re: Homebrew Digest #442 (June 19, 1990) (Steve Sekiguchi)
Cherry beer (CORONELLRJDS)
Dark & Sweet, the beer that eats like a meal! (jrs27)
brew-sheet for your Macintosh (Frederic W. Brehm)
Filtering beer (was ``Info on Beer Bottle'') (Chris Shenton)
Re: Homebrew Digest #442 (June 19, 1990) (don bowmen)
filtering (florianb)
RE: Label markings on Austrian Beer (Mike Fertsch)
Send submissions to homebrew%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com
Send requests to homebrew-request%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com
Archives available from netlib at mthvax.cs.miami.edu
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Date: Tue, 19 Jun 90 08:16:02 EDT
From: mattierp%lavc3.dnet at smithkline.com (Robert P. Mattie, L-331,(215)270-5681,mattierp at smithkline.com)
Subject: Ideas for Peaches
With Peaches coming into season, my wife has become interested in making a peach
mead/cordial/beer/etc... Specifically, she wants to start with FRESH peaches and
is afraid that the pectin might affect the consistency of our attempt. Does
anyone have any recipies/suggestions?
Robert P. Mattie II mattierp at smithkline.com
SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals
P.O. Box 1539/L-331
King of Prussia, PA 19406
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Date: Tue, 19 Jun 90 09:42:20 EDT
From: Mark.Leone at F.GP.CS.CMU.EDU
Subject: The Mill, in Orlando
Trip report: they still make lousy beer (although it's cheap - $1.75 a
pint), and the place is swarming with yuppies. The service was
awful -- I finished my lunch before my beer arrived! Not recommended.
I did try the Prince of Wales pub, which is just up the block (thanks
to Paul Emerson for the recommendation), and was glad I did. They
have a great selection of UK beers on draught: Whitbread, Smith's,
Double Diamond, Guiness, Watney's (stout), Fuller's, a great Norwegian
Bock called Aass Bakk (sp?), and a few other's I don't recall.
Regular prices are steep: $2 for a half-pint, $4 for a 20-oz "pint".
The happy-hour price of a 20-oz. pint is $3. They also serve real pub
food: bangers & mash, shepherd's pie, etc. Highly recommended!
- Mark
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Date: 19 Jun 90 09:57 EDT
From: Patrick J. Waara <Waara.wbst at Xerox.COM>
Subject: Slow Fermentation
I'm a relatively new brewer with a situation I hope some of you may be able
to help me explain. I wanted to brew a batch of bitter based on a recipe
in TCJoH, and followed it except for the addition of one extra pound of
amber malt (6 lbs. total instead of 5.) I boiled it for 45 minutes as
directed and let it cool to 78 degrees. The original specific gravity was
1.050 (much higher than the expected 1.036.) I then pitched one package of
Telefords ale yeast and let it go. It took nearly 36 hours for it to begin
fermenting (at 65 degrees F), and now, two weeks later, it is still
fermenting very slowly (a bubble every 2 minutes or so.) Normally I would
have bottled by now, but the FG is still 1.032. I almost worried last
night and bottled it, but I decided the best thing I could do at this point
is wait. (I don't want any grenades.) The good news is that I tasted the
beer I used to measure the specific gravity and there is no indication of
infection. It tastes and smells rather good.
That's the situation, now where do you think I went wrong? My guess is
(which is supported by local brewers) is that I did not pitch enough yeast.
Two packets probably would have been better. The next question is, what
could I have done (or could I still do) once I had pitched insufficient
quanities of yeast? Should I have pitched another pack after not seeing it
start fermenting within a 24 hour period? Are there any additives that
would have aided the process? Any hints would be greatly appreciated.
~Pat
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Date: Tue, 19 Jun 90 09:20 EST
From: <R_GELINA%UNHH.BITNET at MITVMA.MIT.EDU> (RUSSG)
Subject: wheat beer
I just brewed a wheat beer (BME wheat extract: 67% wheat, 33% barley malt) last
night. It was boiling before I realized that all I had was regular dry ale
yeast (Telford's), so rather than let the wort sit, I pitched it. Have I made
a mistake? I added 2 lbs. of DME to the 3.3 lbs of extract, hoping to get at
least *some* response from the yeast. Is wheat yeast *required* for a wheat
beer, or is it just a better way to do it?
Russ Gelinas R_GELINA at UNHH.BITNET
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Date: Tue, 19 Jun 90 11:34:12 EDT
From: Jeff Close <jclose at potomac.ads.com>
Subject: Beer Tastings & John Mellby
John Mellby writes on Jun 18:
>> From: jmellby at ngstl1.csc.ti.com (John Mellby)
>> me that few things should be more important to a homebrewer than
>> an objective evaluation of their beer.
>>
>> Certainly you should not completely rely on another's opinion of a beer,
>> just as the wine group has discussed people's devotion to a particular
>> reviewer (such as Parker). That being said, the goal is still to have
>> an objective way of discussing beer.
Many of the same points that are being raised here arise in
wine-tasting -- the issue of objectivity, describing things
"accurately", what people are "supposed" to like, etc.
I think this is just a question of degrees. On one hand, there is
certainly merit in knowing about types of beer (or wine), and intended
or "classic" tastes and styles, in order to really appreciate
a drink (or food in general). Not that it's taboo to make unsupported
statements about personal preferences. It's fine with me to hear, "I
don't like this Zinfandel, it's too peppery", but it seems it's
important for someone to understand that a peppery taste is a common
characteristic of a style of zins. (So maybe you don't like
Zinfandels in general). On the other hand, there's one thing to
evaluating beer in it's context (e.g., what classic pilsners have in
common), and it's another to be told "you shouldn't like this, it's a
bad beer". Each to his own, right? I sometimes hear purely
subjective remarks that I disagree with and later wind up agreeing or
at least sympathizing with.
That was more than my two cents worth, thanks.
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Date: Tue, 19 Jun 90 09:04:24 -0700
From: wrs!yuba!steve at Sun.COM (Steve Sekiguchi)
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #442 (June 19, 1990)
Please remove eric at wrs.com from your mailling list. He no longer works here
and has left no forwarding address.
-steve
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Date: Tue, 19 Jun 90 10:56 MST
From: CORONELLRJDS at CHE.UTAH.EDU
Subject: Cherry beer
Mike Herbert mentioned a recipe for "Sinfully Red Cherry Beer" that appeared
in the Spring 1984 issue of Zymurgy. I don't have that issue, and by the
time the AHA would get around to sending me the back issue, it will be Spring
1991. Could somebody please send me a copy of that recipe?
Cherrily,
Chuck Coronella
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Date: Mon, 18 Jun 1990 10:46 EDT
From: jrs27%CAS.BITNET at CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu
Subject: Dark & Sweet, the beer that eats like a meal!
Greetings all!
Life has finally slowed to the point where I can stop patronizing
the local beverage emporium and start patronizing the local homebrew
shop again. I'll be brewing an IPA or light ale for summer/fall but
I'd like to have something with a bit more substance to it for fall/
winter. I had the good fortune to try some Old Peculiar last weekend
which brings me to my question:
Is it possible to brew a beer as sweet as OP with a low level of
carbonation using extracts, specialty grains and natural carbonation?
Should I attempt this or go for a dry stout?
Both my previous batches of dark beer (an ale and a lager/steam beer)
eventually became dry and overcarbonated (one was infected). Both used
2/3 cup of corn sugar for priming and were bottled in brown longnecks.
Does anyone have a recipe for an OP-like beer? What yeast would you
recommend? Did it store well?
Also, is it roasted barley that gives John Courage it's distinctive
flavor? Has anyone duplicated it? (I know, get "Brewing beers like
those you buy." I can't find it and would rather hear about personal
experiences.)
About leaking siphon hoses: I run hot water over the siphon hose
to soften it, slip it over the racking tube and run cold water over
the joint. I had problems with air getting in until I added the cold
water step.
About the Melby (sp?) posts: I love hearing people's impressions of
various beers, but these were a bit long for my attention span. The
stats and descriptions of beers spoiled :-( by storage conditions don't
do much for me, but the other descriptions led to a couple of pleasant
surprises. How about a Homebrew Digest Condensed version? (However,
if you start sending out sweepstakes letters with ascii pictures of
Ed McMahon I'll be forced to shoot you ;-)
John
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Simpson jrs27%CAS.BITNET at CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu
The Whimsical Dude
"Give the people a light and they'll follow it anywhere" - Firesign Theatre
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Date: Tue, 19 Jun 90 13:09:25 -0400
From: fwb at demon.siemens.com (Frederic W. Brehm)
Subject: brew-sheet for your Macintosh
Tired of trying to figure out those scribbled notes you keep for each
batch? Do you have a Macintosh and Microsoft Word 4.0? Yes! Well, now
you can transcribe those notes to a nice form and print them out legibly.
Or, you can print out a nice blank form and scribble illegibly on it. :-)
I made a version of Chris Stenton's brew-sheet for MSWord 4.0. It looks
nice on a LaserWriter and OK on an ImageWriter II. I'll send the stuffed,
binhexed file (about 7K bytes) to anyone who is interested.
Fred
- --
Frederic W. Brehm Siemens Corporate Research Princeton, NJ
fwb at demon.siemens.com -or- ...!princeton!siemens!demon!fwb
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Date: Tue, 19 Jun 90 13:55:31 EDT
From: Chris Shenton <chris at asylum.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Filtering beer (was ``Info on Beer Bottle'')
Jim Somerville writes:
> On another topic, is there any way to filter the yeast out of
> your brew before kegging it, so you don't have to worry about
> sediment?
Rodney Morris -- a biochemist, I believe -- wrote a good article on this in
the latest Zymurgy (I got mine 3 days ago). He compares a home-grown
variety with the commercial Marconi filter and the flat wine filters.
His looks easy to put together, and not too expensive.
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Date: Tue, 19 Jun 90 11:54:11 PDT
From: xm50%sdcc12 at ucsd.edu (don bowmen)
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #442 (June 19, 1990)
Please remove me from the mainling list
DonB
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Date: 19 Jun 90 13:34:49 PDT (Tue)
From: florianb at tekred.cna.tek.com
Subject: filtering
Jim Somerville asks:
>On another topic, is there any way to filter the yeast out of
>your brew before kegging it, so you don't have to worry about
>sediment?
See the latest issue of Zymurgy magazine for an article on filtering
using the cylindrical water filters.
Florian
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Date: Tue, 19 Jun 90 16:21 EDT
From: Mike Fertsch <FERTSCH at adc1.adc.ray.com>
Subject: RE: Label markings on Austrian Beer
Jim Somerville asks about Info on Beer Bottle:
> A friend of mine recently brought back a couple of bottles of
> beer from Austria. On the bottles, along with % alcohol
> by volume, there is a marking that looks like:
>
> o
> 12,3 Stammwurze
>
> What does it mean?
My German dictionary is at home, so I can't tell you what Stammwurze
means. My guess is that 12,3 ^o is a measure of the starting gravity
of the wort. Europeans use degrees Plato - one degree Plato equals
approximately 4 SG points. A reading of 12.3 degrees Plato translates
to a SG of 1.049. (Europeans use commas instead of periods when
representing fractions.)
Many countries require listing of the starting gravity of the wort
used to make the beer. Unlike the USA, these countries see nothing
wrong in telling the consumer about the beer in the package. US law
currently FORBIDS the listing of gravity or alcohol content on the
label. Some states have crazy laws regarding alcohol content - high
content brews are often labelled as "Malt liquors" and are regulated
as liquor rather than beer. Other states restrict beer beers of
certain alcohol levels at certian times or days of the week.
This might be a good forum to tell tales of crazy state laws regarding
regulation and labelling of beer. Any takers?
I heard that Anchor Porter is not avialable in keg in California
because state regulators would require Anchor to sell their Porter as
a "Malt Liquor". Anchor refuses.
Apology: This letter does not deal specifically with homebrewing. I
apologize to those who feel that "general beer discussion" is not
appropriate in this forum.
Mike Fertsch
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #443, 06/20/90
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