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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Hard Water ("A.J deLange")
  Re:Hop Tea ("Rick Gordon")
  health beer recipes/techniques? (Burn Unit)
  Advanced brewing texts ("Brandt, Chuck")


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Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 13:31:38 +0000
From: "A.J deLange" <ajdel at cox.net>
Subject: Hard Water

RE: Water with makeup
Ca - 127   [6.35]
Mg - 8       [.66]
Na - 16
SO4 - 72
HCO3 - 337 [5.52]
Cl - 31

The numbers I've put in brackets are the numbers of milliequivalents 
per liter of these constituents (note that there is always a question 
as to what is meant by the bicarbonate number - I'm taking it to mean, 
literally, the bicarbonate content as the ion). Generally speaking 
where calcium and magnesium are present in excess (the temporary 
hardness is greater than the alkalinity) , calcium (preferentially) and 
magnesium (if there isn't enough calcium) will be removed to the extent 
of the bicarbonate. In practice all the bicarbonate except 1 mEq/L will 
be removed. In this case then we'd expect 4.52 mEq/L of the bicarb to 
precipitate taking 4.52 mEq/L of the calcium with it. After boiling 
you'd expect to have:

Ca 36.6    [1.83];        Mg 8 [.66];   HCO3-      61   [1]    with the 
other ions at about the same concentration.

These are approximate numbers. In fact some magnesium would probably 
precipitate and you will probably have a bit more than 1 mEq/L of 
bicarb left dependent on your technique. You might wish, for example, 
to add a small amount of chalk to the water in order to provide 
nucleation sites (probably not necessary for water this hard) or some 
lime to provide extra calcium. If you do the latter you will have to 
neutralize the treated water with mineral acid or by extended exposure 
to air or rather the carbon dioxide in it (IOW sparge with air or CO2) 
and this will require measurement of pH so you will know when the 
neutralization is complete.

A.J.



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Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 09:21:19 -0500
From: "Rick Gordon" <regordon at bellsouth.net>
Subject: Re:Hop Tea

Sorry for the late addition to this thread - been away from the digest for a
bit.

I have used one of the Melita coffee funnels to make a "hop tea" for several
years. I use about an ounce of finishing hops (pellet or whole) in a normal
coffee filter. I pour about a quart or so of boiling water thru the hops and
add the resulting green tea to the fermenter just before pitching yeast. I
don't figure this into the IBU calculations. (I will probably try acidifying
the water next time)

I think it gives the beer a better hop aroma very similar to dry hopping,
but a lot easier. Maybe I just like smelling the wonderful hop aroma when I
make the tea.

Disclaimer: I have never used the phrase "too hoppy" except to describe
frogs & rabbits.

Prost!
Rick




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Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 10:22:04 -0600
From: Burn Unit <burnunit at waste.org>
Subject: health beer recipes/techniques?

Howdy,
So I've been thinking about beer as health food.  I've heard it said 
that good beer(tm) has a somewhat healthier profile than what they 
peddle as 'low-carb' stuff, insofar as the "carbs" (I'm starting to 
loathe that word) in my homebrew have a greater likelihood of being 
complex than simple.  The dietary profile I've been trying to achieve 
lately has sort of followed the "more complex is better" model, 
figuring if my body has to work harder to digest it, I'll be healthier 
in the long run.  This has proven to be successful-- I've lost ~70# and 
haven't given up beer!  Call now and ask me how...

Argh! Okay okay, that's a sidetrack I didn't want to get off onto.

What I'm really at is trying to solicit info on beer recipes for 
experimental purposes.  Several HBD posters back in Feb. demonstrated 
that, before Reinheitsgebot, the mad monks of old Europe probably 
brewed highly flavorful beers filled with all manner of ingredients and 
herbal wackiness.  Re-reading those posts makes me a little hesitant 
since I don't want to fan any RHG rants or bad blood if there is any... 
  But I plunge ahead because history is cool, complexity is cool and I 
want to experiment.  Regardless, I'm interested in methods and will 
joyfully get to the history later, perhaps over a glass or two of 
health beer.

SO... assuming I don't care one way or the other about duplicating 
specific style; and I don't care much about actually getting long term 
day-to-day nourishment from beer, I'd be interested in recipes and 
techniques to create beer with higher nutritional qualities.

I wondered too if the unfermentables in beer are also necessarily 
indigestible.  To wit, could a person gain some nourishment from a 
higher quantity of certain unfermentables? and if so, which ones might 
be preferable?
I'd like to preserve SOME idea of good beer taste- I don't think I want 
a broccoli beer, no matter how good for me broccoli is.

On the technique side, I'd be curious what kind of mashing techniques I 
might have to employ if I introduce more grains, seeds,, legumes and so 
on in the mash.  I see me making a multi-grain mash with the 
appropriate rests to preserve a balance between good beer flavor, 
higher protein, higher complex carbs, etc.  For example, I'd love to 
use quinoa, millet, oats, lentils, and wheat in addition to the barley. 
  Perhaps some other herbs and fruit in addition to hops.  A clear, 
hazeless beer is immaterial to me, unless it would mean significant off 
flavors.

I'm guessing a high gravity beer is in order, but another question is, 
would a person use a lager or an ale yeast? The ale flavor 
characteristics might give me more leeway to mess around.  Does one 
yeast leave more healthy stuff behind than another?  i.e., brewer's 
yeast is supposed to be good for you (vitamins and all that), so 
*which* brewer's yeast?

I also thought that since the IPA style is getting so wacky with its 
enormous size and hopping rates that maybe this would give a fun way to 
go for the "healthy" approach.  Heck, how about a *truly Indian* IPA?  
Dal, brown rice, and lentils in the mash with the barley; cumin, 
coriander or cilantro, cinnamon, clove, and cardamom (good curry 
essentials, of course) in the boil with the hops;  a tiny bit of chili 
and a bunch of mango in the fermenter!  Heart of Bengal Mango IPA!  
(that name practically sells itself!)

Your thoughts are appreciated!
JonO
Minneapolis, MN



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Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 15:16:12 -0500
From: "Brandt, Chuck" <chuckb at digitalgreenhouse.com>
Subject: Advanced brewing texts


I have a feeling this topic was covered not too long ago, but the
archives were a bit cranky when I tried to look, so here goes...

Any opinions out there on the following brewing texts:

1) The Practical Brewer (from the MBAA)

2) Malting and Brewing Science Vols. 1 & 2 (D.E. Briggs et al)

3) Textbook of Brewing Science (de Clerck)

They're all a bit pricey, so before taking the plunge I'm
interested in what the folks who have these texts think about
them as:

a) texts for the passionate homebrewer
 -and-
b) essential reads for the budding pro brewer

Also, are there any other essential reads out there?


Thanks,

Chuck Brandt
[193, 87.5] apparent Rennerian
aka Pittsburgh


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