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Contents:
  competition scoresheets etc ("Peter A. Ensminger")
  Re: RE:re: Fix and the 40C Rest ("-S")
  Refrigeration Question ("Sandy Macmillan")
  Re: Enzyme Liquification process vs Starch liquification ("Fredrik")
  er: Pitching Cold Yeast into Cold Wort ("-S")
  er: Temp of fermeting wort, low T mash ("-S")
  Re: Question About Hot Trub and pumps (Fred Johnson)
  Re: Temp of fermeting wort, low T mash ("Dave Burley")
  Location, location, location (Kevin Elsken)
  Temperature bands ("Dave Burley")
  Mash Thickness (Bill Gornicki) (gornicwm)
  Overnight mashing (Michael)
  First All Grain.... (Inland-Gaylord)" <BrianSmith1@templeinland.com>
  Safale attenuation (Mark Beck)
  Voter apathy? (BJCP Communication Director)
  Controlling temperature of fermeting wort ("Dave Humes")
  RE: question about hot trub and pumps (Steve Funk)
  Buna-N o-rings (John Mitchell)
  Fat Tire in LA area? ("Dave Draper")


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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 00:00:48 -0400
From: "Peter A. Ensminger" <ensmingr at twcny.rr.com>
Subject: competition scoresheets etc

Jim Bermingham posted on a topic very near and dear to me. I know of 
competition organizers who have never mailed back judging results 
and who have never submitted judge participation forms to the BJCP. 
Fie! Fie! Fie! 

If I pay my $5 or $6 to enter a competition then I deserve the judges' 
feedback. If I judge in a competition, then I expect the organizers 
to send my form to the BJCP. 

Cheerio!
Peter A. Ensminger
Syracuse, NY
hbd.org/ensmingr

- ---
In HBD #4519:
I think I finally know why I didn't bring back the gold from the 
Bluebonnet brewoff.  My beer was just too good!  My beer must have been 
so good that the judges, when tasting such a golden elixir that I had 
produced, couldn't get enough of it and drank all three bottles.  Then 
realizing what they had done, destroyed all evidence of my having 
entered into the contest.  I know that this must be the case because I 
haven't received my score sheets.  The Bluebonnet was healed on March 
19-20 and the score sheets were to be mailed out the next weekend.  I 
haven't  received my score sheets so I just know that my beer was the 
best and I would have won the gold if it hadn't been for the thirsty 
judges.  Bev Blackwood's beer won only because his was the best of what 
was left.

Jim Bermingham
Millsap, TX
- ---





Return to table of contents


Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 00:27:30 -0400
From: "-S" <-s at adelphia.net>
Subject: Re: RE:re: Fix and the 40C Rest

Steven, Sven Pfitt writes ...

>... chill haze ....  I'm aware of no impact of chill haze on flavor
> which it my primary concern.

I agree.  I've spent spent a lot of time trying to avoid chill hazes.
Several times I've celebrated my victory only to be laid-low by a different
sack of malt from the same maltster or some other innocuous change to my
mash.   Too much haze prevention certainly ruins a beer.  I prefer a clear
beer in most styles, but it's unimportant compared to body and flavor.  The
folks who are repulsed by haze are also repulsed by real beer flavor, so
let's not cater to them.

> More to the point, what do you find detremental in overnight mashes? Or is
> it just a matter of inconvienence?

It has absolutely nothing to do with convenience.   Good quality sweet wort
has a fresh flavor and this freshness is greatly diminished over an extended
period of time.  It  tastes dull after a few hours and the effect isn't very
subtle.  When I used to do decoctions I noticed this impact was pretty
remarkable in the thin mash that was sitting around for 45 minutes or an
hour at relatively low temps.  Wort gets stale.  It may have some 'sparkle'
early-on but it becomes bland  in a short while.

I have to say that the ferment improves the freshness of any wort to an
astonishing degree, but I can't believe that early wort damage can ever be
reversed - just masked.

I think the wort damage is due to oxidation processes.  It also seem that a
small amount of sulfite reduces the flavor effect quite markedly.   It's
hardly a surprise - our tiny little 5 & 15 gallon mash tuns have loads of
surface area with air exposure per volume compared to big commercial mash
tuns.  HBers regularly transfer the mash to separate sparge vessels and
expose the wort to loads of oxygen in the process.  You could taste and see
the damage as phenoic oxidation (browning) if you handled white grape juice
or fresh cider that way.   Given the enzyme content I suspect the wort
damage is just as significant.

Morten Meilgaard, well known beer flavor researcher and a student of Jeff
Renner, (care to 'splain that one Jeff ?;^)   ... Morten reviewed the topic
brewery innovations including oxygen exclusion methods with the primary
criterion of assessing whether there was solid data that showed these
methods improved flavor.  He concludes that the evidence of mash oxygenation
induced flavor problems on commercial scale brews is unclear, but the place
where the evidence is more clear is in small <200L lab brews.  He also notes
that several of the innovations studied produce uncertain results but ...
"All other factors aside, a shorter brewing process would be expected to
produce a cleaner flavor and more reproducible brews."  [JIB v107, #5,
pp271-286, 2001, "Effects on Flavour of Innovations in Brewery Equipment and
Processing: A Review"]

In that same paper Meilgaard reviews studies of beers a special anti-oxidant
malt (made similar to very light caramel or carapils as I understand it) and
the data clearly shows that flavor improves with inceasing abounts of this
malt.   Van den Berg and Eerde
 studied the use of 50ppm of sulphite (an anti-oxidant and flavor
stabilizer) to the mash tun and found this improved the final beer flavor
and gave faster runoff.[Proc.Conv.Inst.Brew.Australia&NZ, Perth 1982, pp70].
I don't have a reference handy, but some of the Wehenstephan researchers
have suggested smaller sulphite additions to the mash  (20 or 30 ppm as I
recall).

> -Steve, What negative effects to you feel this will have on beer quality
of
> the small batch?

The impact on the final beer is a subtle lack of certain positivie flavors.
Less maltiness, greater astringency duller flavor overall.  You may also
find that some well know and severe forms of staling damage (cardboard
aldehyde development for example) are greater after a long mash and aging,
but this depends on may factors.

> Although I admit that the small batch is always a lower gravity beer and
it
> does not last more than two months in a keg, so I probably do not have the
> time to see any effects that would show up due to aging.

I think you'll see a difference on day one - you don't need to wait to see
it.  Of course if you wait the difference may become greater.

===

As kind of a freshness tutorial ... we humans constantly judge the freshness
of the foods we eat.  It's an evolutionarily honed survival skill. There are
at least hundreds and more likely tens of thousands of specific chemicals
that we taste as "stale".  Oxidized oils are particularly obnoxious and
clear-cut.  Some oxidized oils are directly responsible for "fishy" aromas
while others give a "stale nut" or even rancid aroma.  Adults enjoy some
level of fresh unoxidized phenolics (fresh greens, coffeee, tea), but
children reject phenolic rich foods like spinach as these may interfere
protein uptake which is most important in children.  We all reject the
bitter flavor of stale oxidized phenolics from stale leafy greans, stale
tea.  The oxidized phenolics and loss of ascorbic acid in a browning slice
of apple clealry makes the fruit far less desirable.  Gelatinized
carbohydrates stale in a particular manner called retrogradation (think
stale bread) - this makes the carbohydrate non-nutrative and objectionable.
There any loads of more subtle and less easiily defined changes as food
stales.  Many involve carbonyl formation .. (aldehyde formation for example)
and in some cases browning reactions (which are not the same as
caramelization nor Maillard reactions).  The carbonyl formation is halted by
sulfite.

The human perception of staling is intended to warn us of aged, unfit food
[apart of infection issues].   Most of these rely on some sort of oxidation
product as a 'trigger' or proxy for age.

If you are having a problem getting your mind (or your tongue) around the
issue of what flavor changes are taking place in an extended mash - I'd
suggest you find some fresh fruit juice then try slowly heating and
re-cooling a sample (say 60C for 15+ minutes) - then compare.  It's not the
same, but it's a good flavor analogy.

===

The good news is that a solution (or great improvement) is easy.  Either
drop ~25ppm of sulphite into the mash or else find some way to cover the
mash surface overnight and greatly reduce the oxygen access.  I often use
sulphite (available at any winemaking shop) for pale beers and some others
here have also reported good resuilts with this.  Don't overdo it.  Another
approach is to float a layer of saran wrap over the mash surface before you
put it away for the night.   In a pale beer mash you will see a noticably
lighter color beer from either method !

 -S




Return to table of contents


Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 05:52:28 +0100
From: "Sandy Macmillan" <scotsman at intonet.co.uk>
Subject: Refrigeration Question

Kevin asks


1) Is there a minimum amount of time the compressor should be on?  That
is, once the refrigerator kicks on, how long should it stay on?  Or, can
it be shut off quickly without stressing the refrigerator?

2) Is there a minimum amount of time the compressor should remain off
between cycles?

3) Are there any other control parameters that should be set to extend
(or rather, not shorten) the life of the refrigerator?


I have built a few temperature controlled fermentors using small freezer
compressors and having burnt one out I can offer the following :

The trick to controlling small compressors in refrigeration is not the run
time but the OFF period. I would suggest that the minimum off time should be
about 10 minutes to allow the capillary tube to balance out the pressures in
the system
I would like to see a run time of over 20 minutes for the ON cycle to allow
the compressor to warm up and operate satisfactory.
I would suggest that you set you temperature requirement so that you have
about 2C or 4F degrees between the on and off setting. This normally gives
timings that are consistent with the above.. If you have a large mass to
cool then you can go to 1C or 2F degree differential, but watch the off
cycle timing.
Hope this helps

Sandy Macmillan


- ---
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Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 08:06:28 +0200
From: "Fredrik" <carlsbergerensis at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Enzyme Liquification process vs Starch liquification


Hello Steve,

Thanks alot for your excellent comments. You have inspired me to improve a
few things in the model. I tried to account for
the mash thickness but I realized that you are right that I may need to
account for the loss of water too, also I will try
to account for the limited enzyme process possibly occuring the in the gel.

I got another idea too regarding the 40C rest while reading the other
threads.I haven't tried any of this in practice yet but I have two ideas on
the 40C rest.

1) At first I though it was the breakdown of beta-glucans that improved
perhpas both gelatination and the liquification of the gel? but then I did
some reasearch and found that while unmalted barley has some 3-10%
beta-glucans, malted barley typically has some 0.1-2%. If it is as low as
0.1% and you still benefit from the 40C rest the explanation seem do be
elsewhere at least in part?

2) Then I came to think of how I do when I cook rice and got another idea on
the hydration. I ususally preboil the rice a little bit just so the rice
softens, then I pour off the liquid and starta new boil in new water. I foun
that this gives me a less sticky rice and a more uniformly cooked rice. The
idea is that if you plot the gelatination vs progress rather than vs time,
it seems likely to think that the progress is veryt slow in the beginning
before the grain is moisturised. Possibly because a moistured grain has a
better heat conductivity and than that of dry grains? I'm going to put this
into the simulation later and see what the result is. If this is true then
the 40C might serve as a pre moisturieser to get passs the slow part of the
gel process without start burning the enzymes too early. It would moisturize
at 60C as well but then one is also staring to fry enzymes. This seems
supported by the increase of fermentability on the 40C rest?

I read an old test
http://realbeer.com/spencer/Experiments/yield-and-fermentability.html

and played with the numbers and it seems from this that the improvement on
the 40C rest is more than the improvement on mashout.

The article doesn't reveal anything about the extent of stirring, which I
think may have a large impact? Even if the stirring is the same, it would
matter alot to the other conclusions if it was almost no stirring or
continous stirring?

> Biochem and Biophysics (one in v284 No.2, pp298-305, 1991)

Steve, I tried to locate that article but I can only trace the archives back
to 1995?

> So back to Frederick's question - at or above gelatinization temp both
forms
> of starch become rapidly available for hydrolysis ... in a few minutes.
> M&BS pp 282 shows by graph that in 15 minutes at 65.5C essentially all the
> available extract is in the wort.

Does this assume instant dissolving of the gel? Like continous strong
stirring? If not 15 mins
sounds really fast to me? I am assuming the gel is a bit sticky, and
stirring would then
probably make a big difference?

> Very, nice Fredrik.  Obvious the activity scale isn't the same for BA and
> AA, as there is something like 20X as much AA activity as BA activity at
> peak.   I don't think the average HBer realizes how much excess AA is
> available and how little BA on a relative basis in the mash.

Yes I am assuming a ratio AA:BA =25:1 I found as a reference somewhere. I'm
not sure what
the exact value is, it will probably vary anyway, so the ballpark is enough
for now.

Got to goto work I'm late dang :)
 /Fredrik


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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 02:59:08 -0400
From: "-S" <-s at adelphia.net>
Subject: er: Pitching Cold Yeast into Cold Wort

John Kennedy asks not what his yeast can do for him, but what he can do for
his yeast ...

>My question is, my wort is at 2C (61F) ready for cold break removal, can I
>pitch the liquid yeast into an oxygenated starter of the same tempture,

Well 2C is 35.6F.   I'll assume your Celsius figure is correct.

Actually pitching yeast at or below the fermentation temp is the BEST policy
under most circumstances.  Yeast build more of the important growth lipids
in colder environs but only when oxygen is available in early fermentation.
If instead you pitch yeast into wort above their operational temp then those
yeast lack the important lipids and could have lower alcohol tolerance,
produce greater amounts of fusels and esters and be subject to cold shock.

There are limits.  I don't have any problem w/ pitching LAGER yeast into 2C
wort, but for ALE yeasts I think 10C or 12C is a better starting point.  Ale
yeast simply can't operate at 2C.

>providing both are the same temperature, and let them rise to the correct
>tempture...?

That's the other thing.  If your yeast already have less of the important
lipids (UFAs primarily) they can experience cold shock in a temperature
transition to a lower temp.  If the temps are equal I wouldn't expect a
problem - just a slow but nice start due to the temps.

 -S




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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 04:39:58 -0400
From: "-S" <-s at adelphia.net>
Subject: er: Temp of fermeting wort, low T mash

Dave Burley

>I still use a low T mash ( and did before I heard of G. Fix) as I found it
>allows the malt to get thoroughly wetted out and hydrated so that the
enzymes
>can do their work at higher temperatures.

If you mean it prevents "balling" during the dough-in, I agree, but I
find that's seldom a problem with 1.5qt/lb or more.

>I basically disagree with the C. Papazian attitude ( repeated by SteveA)
to

I've never read this from CharlieP, so I'm certainly NOT repeating him.
>add additional malt to make up for mashing inefficiencies,

The topic was George Fix' mash schedule and I reported what Fix wrote in
AoBT pp30.  Fix states that instead of his 3 step(40/60/70C) mash schedule,
that adding more malt to account for the lower efficiency in a single
infusion works well.  Fix writes that,  "we found little difference between
the finished beer quality of a single-infusion mash and a three temperature
mash".  You're welcome to disagree, but my point is clear - the guy who
devised and advocated the complex three step method found it had no
advantage, merely an efficiency advantage.  Note that George advocated both
of these procedures for low protein well modified 2-row malts only.  His
50/60/70 schema was intended for less modified malts.

> as I feel doing a
>good mashing job brings with it additonal flavors ( perhaps the melandoins
>Steve speaks about) and mouthfeel.


Certainly not melanoidins ...    My own split no-sparge vs 1st sparge tests
show clearly that the melanoidins(color) and related Maillard flavor
compounds come out disproportionately in the early runnings.  Unlikely extra
mashing helps.  Mashing impacts mouthfeel certainly - but modern malts
require little help and any extra time in the 45-55 range is only likely to
damage head/body/mouthfeel.  There certainly may be exceptions.

>I have never really had a problem with a short low T rest giving head
>formation problems.

Then you haven't tried.  Take a good PA malt (Munton, or Crisp for example)
and rest it 15 min at 50C - you'll find the body severely damaged.  Such a
rest is seldom helpful for any all-malt beer.  You're likely to find the
same result from the very high SNR% lager malts from the likes of Durst &
Weissheimer.

If you don't believe your eyes then review the textbooks and lit where they
discuss modern (post 1990) malts: See Kunze pp 199 "A long rest at 50C(122F)
always therefore results in poor foam". pp 209, "The protein in malt is
often highly modified.  If such a malt is given a long rest at 50C there is
a risk otheat too much ...protein will be degraded..  The beer then tastes
empty and insipid and the foam stability is poor".  Kunze goes on to suggest
that low rests can be entirely eliminated unless the malt is poorly
modified.  He suggests mash-in at 58C-62C(136-143F) instead.

In a later section (pp213...) Kunze discussion infusion mashing and points
out that a mash-in of 35C and a "normal" temp rise rate of 1C/min causes a
27minute time to hit 62C, and this slow rise (10 minutes in the 45C-55C
range) can cause "excessive protein and beta-glucan breakdown ... worse
foam".  He suggests mash-in of 58C.

On decoction (pp216) Kunze examines two traditional decoction schedules and
announces that because of the low temps (35C/50C & 50C) and "there is
extensive protein and b-glucan breakdown.  As a result palate fullness and
foam formation suffer and the beer produced is insipid.  It's taste can only
be partly restored by addition of dark malt (Munich malt).  Kunze suggest a
two-step decoction that starts at a 62C mash-n !

Kunze cites SNR% of 40%+-1% as a typical Pilsner malt spec !!!  That's very
high compared to traditional, but many malts are higher 44%-46% ! Dingeman
Pilsner malt take the prize at 48% SNR% !

Ludwig Narziss made the same point in Brauwelt about a decade ago.  The jist
is translated in the HBD archive.

If the mainstream German brewing sources eschew sub 58C(136F) rests for
their malts because it damages head & body I'd have to see some solid
evidence to convince me otherwise for any malt.   Raw grains are a different
story.

 -S






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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 07:16:44 -0400
From: Fred Johnson <FLJohnson at portbridge.com>
Subject: Re: Question About Hot Trub and pumps

Chip says that the wort pumped out of his kettle and through his 
chiller has more trub than when he used to simply drain the wort 
through the chiller. The emerging wort eventually clears during the 
pumping but apparently not as fast as when he simply drained it.

I don't understand why there would be any difference between pumping 
and draining the wort. The wort should be the same clarity unless it 
has been settling for different lengths of time before emptying the 
kettle.

I recently made the same transition from draining the wort to pumping 
it out of the kettle. I used to drain the kettle after using an 
immersion chiller. The first wort contained trub, but this quickly 
cleared and I didn't worry about the small amount of trub that went 
into the fermentor. Now I recirculate the hot wort with a peristaltic 
pump through a counterflow chiller (without chilling) for a short time 
to get clear wort and then collect with chilling into the fermenter. 
Now I get LOTS of cold break in the fermenter that either did not form 
when using the immersion chiller or was left behind in the kettle.

Fred L Johnson
Apex, North Carolina, USA



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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 07:31:17 -0400
From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley at charter.net>
Subject: Re: Temp of fermeting wort, low T mash

Brewsters,

SteveA provides ample evidence of the literature position that a LONG hold at
low temperature is a bad thing.  I never disagreed with that.  All I said was
I had never noticed a problem with a SHORT hold.

In fact, a short hold at low T is a positive thing as it gives the chance for
the malt to wet out, hydrate the enzymes ( remember they are high molecular
weight  molecules and require a finite time to hydrate) and do a predictable
and complete job of mashing.

What's long and short?  If I remember correctly Kunze's examples ( and M&BS
also, I think) were on the order of hours and, yes, I imagine these holds
would have an adverse effect. What's my definition of short? 15 to 30 minutes.

The mistake these authors all make is believing this effect is linear, which
it is not. They believe that just because a long hold is negative on the
desired outcome, a short one must be, but to a lesser extent. Not so.

Short low T holds prepare the malt enzymes for mashing ( as indicated by the
noted higher efficiencies).

What I didn't provide in my comments is that I typically use an infusion
method to move quickly from the low temperature hold and high solids mash at
the beginning, unlike commercial breweries with their slow progression up the
temperature scale.

Steve also noted that a low temperature hold with raw grains is OK. I agree.
I typically emulate pre-1990s malts ( when the Grermans moved to the kurz/hoch
mash schedule from the more traditional schedules) for my old timey lagers
using cooked barley as a part of the mash formulation. This definitely needs
the low T mash program.

My point was, don't be so enamoured with just adding more malt to overcome
poor mashing performance, as you will miss out on additional flavors and
mouthfeel, as poor mashing effficiency is an indication the enzymes ( and not
just the sacchrification enzymes) are not doing their thing completely.

I still believe it was CharlieP who first suggested this approach of adding
more malt to make up for mashing inefficiencies ( as others also have), but I
don't think it is useful to pursue this historical question.

Keep on Brewin'

Dave Burley




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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 07:51:07 -0400
From: Kevin Elsken <littleboybrew at verizon.net>
Subject: Location, location, location

Per Jeff Renner's call for a roll call, the Little Boy Brewery has recently 
relocated to Upper Saint Clair, Pennsylvania, which shares Allegheny County 
with Pittsburgh and a few hundred other locales.  I am a regular reader but 
an infrequent poster.  I mostly make milds, bitters and stouts, with the 
occasional Belgian Wit or CAP.

Regards to all,

Kevin



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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 08:05:19 -0400
From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley at charter.net>
Subject: Temperature bands

Brewsters:

Kevin Eggemeyer is using a PC to control his fridge temp and asks about time
and temperature holds to keep from burning out his compressor.

I believe a minimum of 5 minutes between stop an start is OK for the fridge
and if you are using temperature a 2- 4 degree F bandwidth is typical for the
sensor being in the air of the fridge and 1-2 degrees F for when you have it
submerged in the wort.

Keep on Brewin'

Dave Burley




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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 08:20:20 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
From: gornicwm at earthlink.net
Subject: Mash Thickness (Bill Gornicki)

I did a short excerpt for my club's education corner about mash viscosity
based on Dornbusch's model and it may be useful to some.

Different mash viscosities favor different mash enzymes.

Check out how I applied this model at the link below...

http://www.feathercraft.net/CRAFT/Documents/Mash%20Technique2.doc

Bill Gornicki
CRAFT Homebrew Club
Michigan




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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 11:19:11 -0500
From: Michael <grice at binc.net>
Subject: Overnight mashing

Sven Pfitt asks:

> More to the point, what do you find detremental in overnight mashes? Or is 
> it just a matter of inconvienence?

[Massive deletions...]

When you mash overnight, the enzymes are still active in the mash
(obviously). This may result in a thinner beer. Also, mash temps
aren't necessarily high enough to pasteurize the wort. As a result, you
may see enough bacterial growth to introduce off flavors.

My overnight "mashing" procedure is somewhat different. I actually
complete the mash and heat the collected wort to at least 200F. Usually
I turn it off when I notice that it's begun to boil. Then I cover it
and leave it until the next day.

By heating the wort to boiling or nearly boiling, I've pasteurized the
wort and denatured all the enzymes. The composition of sugars should
remain the same, and bacteria or wild yeast don't have the time to gain
a foothold in the wort before I begin boiling it the next day. I haven't
added any hops to the wort yet, so bitterness and hop flavor would
obviously not be affected.

The disadvantages are obviously that the whole process takes somewhat
longer. Potentially, it might also result in more carmelization and
darkening of the wort. Frankly, this wouldn't concern me unless I was
making a very pale lager. 

For what it's worth, the only beers I've had problems with lately have
been those I've mashed and boiled in the same day.

Michael
Middleton WI


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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 11:29:17 -0500
From: "Smith, Brian (Inland-Gaylord)" <BrianSmith1 at templeinland.com>
Subject: First All Grain....

Well lister, I finally did it, I have ventured into the realm of the
All-Grainer.  Here's a report of how it went. (purist and hard core a/g'ers
may wish to skip down now)...

Started with 6 lbs of 2 row and 1 lbs of crystal malt.  (figured I start
with a light bodied beer for my first try)  Did a single step mash with 2
gal of water in a 5 gal SS pot.  Mashed for 2 hrs at 150-155 F.  Monitored
temp every 15 min with digital therm.  Added heat when it needed it. (this
portion was done on the kitchen stove).  Put my sparge water on my outdoor
burner.  I used a "zap-a-pap" lauder turn used per instruction in NCJHB.
Sparged with 170-180F water...temp kept dropping to the mashing range.
Run-off collected in my 10 gal brewing kettle. (ended up with about 5.5 gals
of wort, added water to get 7 gals)   Run off was not as clear as I would
have hoped, but neither are my partial mash batches.  Brought to boil, added
1 oz of 15.5 Nugget hop pellets, boiled for 1 hr, added 1oz of cascade
pellets for 15 min, added approx 2 oz of whole cascade from my bines, shut
of heat and covered pot.  Cooled wort with immersion chiller to 90F.
Transferred to primary.  Aerated wort via SS airstone with my 6 hp Craftsman
air compressor (figured why buy a aquarium pump when I have this).  Air was
filtered through inline HEPA filter.  Initial gravity of wort was .025, I
added approx 1 lb of liquid malt extract just for good measure.  Pitched
with a tube of California Ale yeast, had good Kreusen at 6:00 am the next
morning.  Was finished cleaning up at 6:00pm had started about 12:30pm.
With all this effort, I sure hope it taste OK.  When I was finished I
noticed my whole hops still had the lupin glands intact so I collected these
and boiled them on my kitchen stove to make a hop tea.  I put the tea in a
container and froze it.  If I need extra hop flavor, I'll drop the hop ice
block in.

Brian Smith
Inland Paperboard and Packaging
Bogalusa Mill

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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 12:16:02 -0700
From: Mark Beck <beckmk at whitman.edu>
Subject: Safale attenuation

I said I'd get back to the group what I learned about the attenuation of 
Safale S04.  The answer I received is:



>Fermentis posts attenuation for the S04 at 79%.
>Enjoy!
>Also, we now have in stock their new US 56 product. Great Stuff!
>Crosby & Baker Ltd
>Seth Schneider
>
>
> > Could you tell me what the apparent attenuation of Safale S-04 yeast is?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Mark
> >
> >



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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 16:05:30 -0400
From: BJCP Communication Director <communication_director at hbd.org>
Subject: Voter apathy?

For those who are current BJCP judges in the Northeast region, please do
us two favors.

First, cast your vote for regional rep on the BJCP board of directors if
you haven't done so already.

Second, remind your friends to do the same. You must know some judges
who don't subscribe to this publication.

With three weeks left, the voter turnout is about 23%.

Voting is simple and fast:

1. Have your BJCP number and password ready. If you've lost your
password, send an email to it_director at bjcp.org and ask for it to be
emailed to you.

2. Go to <http://www.bjcp.org/nevoting.html>

3. Read the candidate statements and click the button to go to the
online voting booth.

In the name of good government, we thank you.

Ed Westemeier
BJCP Communication Director


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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 17:39:43 -0400
From: "Dave Humes" <dhumes001 at comcast.net>
Subject: Controlling temperature of fermeting wort

Dave Burley is correct that controlling the temperature of the wort, rather
than the ambient temperature, is the key to maintaining accurate,
predictable, and stable fermentation temperatures.  Ideally, this is done
exactly as he describes, by inserting the temperature probe directly into
the fermenting wort.  But, this also has obvious sanitation issues.  One
option is to use a two-hole stopper with a thermowell.  BB&B sells just such
a combination at
http://www.morebeer.com/index.html?page=detail.php3&pid=FE612.  This should
work very well.  Just make certain that your temperature probe will fit in
the well.  Another alternative that I have used for a few years now is to
attach the temperature probe to the side of the carboy and then wrap
insulation around the carboy.  I just take a 6" square of 2" rubber foam
insulation and tie it around the carboy at the top and bottom of the square
and position the probe in the middle.  I've checked the temperature of the
probe against the fermenting wort and with surface mount thermometers on the
carboys, and all stay within a degree.  Make sure you set the deadband on
your controller to 1 degree.  The thermal mass of the wort will prevent
excessive cycling and you'll be able to maintain your desired temperature to
within a degree.  But, be sure to either turn off your fridge, push up the
setpoint, etc. if you just have the probe hanging open in the fridge.
Otherwise, with the deadband set to 1 degree, excessive cycling of the
compressor will occur and lead to premature failure.

- --Dave Humes



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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 14:47:27 -0700
From: Steve Funk <steve at hheco.com>
Subject: RE: question about hot trub and pumps

Chip Tate, I assume from Waco, asks about problems with trub and 
recirculating hot wort with his pump.  I used to whirlpool and siphon 
before switching to a pump.  I brew in a converted Sanke with a false 
bottom and use whole hops.  What I do to avoid resuspending the break 
material is first let the wort settle in the kettle for 15 minutes or so 
after the boil while I start cleaning up.  I then recirculate several 
liters of wort manually using gravity and a saucepan taking care to 
gently decant the wort without disturbing the hop filter bed or 
introducing aeration.  This will set your hop filter bed and you'll be 
all set to pump wort through your chiller.
Cheers,
- -- 
Steve Funk
Brewing in the beautiful Columbia River Gorge
Stevenson, WA




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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 18:26:12 -0400
From: John Mitchell <johnlmitchell at earthlink.net>
Subject: Buna-N o-rings

Buna-N (nitrile rubber) o-rings are widely available for good prices on ebay.
  Is this an acceptable substitute for silicone rubber for constructing
  bulkhead assemblies in hot liquor or boiling pots? My references
  indicate this material is acceptable for high temperatures, but I
  wanted to see if anyone else has experience with using these.

John Mitchell
Suffolk, VA




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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 16:51:13 -0600
From: "Dave Draper" <david at draper.name>
Subject: Fat Tire in LA area?

Dear Friends,

A good pal of mine from my days at Johnson Space Center is 
one of the lead scientists on the current Mars rover missions 
being run out of Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA.  
When I saw him a couple weeks ago he was bemoaning his 
inability to find anyplace to buy his favorite beer, New 
Belgium's Fat Tire amber ale.  He said he'd tried all the local 
groceries and Trader Joe's didn't even have it.  This struck me 
as impossible.  So I turn to Los Angeles area HBDers for help.  
Please email me privately at the address in my .sig below if 
you know where my friend can buy himself his Fat Tire within 
a reasonable distance (I'm sure he'd drive at least half an 
hour if need be) of the JPL area.

Many thanks, Dave in ABQ
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
David S. Draper, Institute of Meteoritics, Univ New Mexico
David at Draper dot Name
Beer page: http://www.unm.edu/~draper/beer.html
That's all very well in practice; but will it work in *theory*?
    ---Ken Willing






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