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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  BOA Elections-2004 ("Rob Moline")
  thermowells ("Jay Spies")
  Re: Fix and the 40C Rest (Jeff Renner)
  Re: Fix and the 40C Rest (Jeff Renner)
  Boneyard Brew-Off, June 5, Champaign Illinois ("Joel Plutchak")
  Re: Brewoff Scoresheets, name rank and serial number ("Al Quickel")
  mash schedule questions ("Joseph Gerteis")
  DCL American Ale #56 (Bob Hall)
  Bad temp readings.. ("Mike Eyre")
  Re: Enzyme Liquification ... and overnight soaking (stencil)


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Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2004 22:36:16 -0500
From: "Rob Moline" <jethrogump at mchsi.com>
Subject: BOA Elections-2004

Folks,
     The American Homebrewer's Association Board Of Advisors is pleased to
announce the results of the 2004 BOA Election.
     This year's Election was especially difficult, with not only an
outstanding slate of candidates, any of whom would be solid contributors to
the Board and our Association....but we also felt the impact of the loss of
candidate Steve Ford, mid-election, who passed away. His departure is our
loss, as he surely would have continued to be an asset to our community,
elected or not.
     The Board wishes to thank all who offered to serve our membership by
running as candidates, but the greatest thanks go to those members who
participated in the election. Your continued input is required to help mold
this Association to serve you in the best manner possible.
     Thank you.
     And Congratulations to your newly elected BOA members...

Susan Ruud
Mark Tumarkin
Jeff Donovan
Mike Hall
Chris Frey
Chris Graham

Cheers!
Rob Moline
Secretary
AHA BOA

"Have You Been To Beer Heaven?"
http://www.beertown.org/homebrewing/scholarship.html
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Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 09:59:12 -0400
From: "Jay Spies" <jayspies at citywidehomeloans.com>
Subject: thermowells

All -

Dave Humes correctly opines in a recent HBD about the use of a thermowell to
measure the wort temp vs hanging the probe in the fridge and measuring the
ambient air temp.  This is exactly what I do.  B3 sells a carboy thermowell
that is basically a corny keg liquid out tube that's welded shut on one end.
The temperature probe from a Ranco controller fits perfectly down into it.
Put the thermowell into a stopper and then down into the fermenting wort,
and set the Ranco to 1 degree and you can maintain as precise a temp hold on
the fermenting wort as is practically possible.  I notice that with the
thermal mass of the wort, once the fridge gets it to the setpoint, the cycle
times are on the order of 30-40 minutes to maintain, even during vigorous
fermentation, which produces its own heat. (BTW, since B3 is now the sponsor
of the HBD, I don't feel bad plugging their products....)

Jay Spies
Head Mashtun Scraper
Asinine Aleworks
Baltimore, MD



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Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 10:29:43 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <jeffrenner at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Fix and the 40C Rest

Steve A wrote:

>Morten Meilgaard, well known beer flavor researcher and a student of Jeff
>Renner, (care to 'splain that one Jeff ?;^)

It's true.  Morten Meilgaard once took a class from me.  Taught him 
everything he knows.  Well, maybe that's going too far.

For those of you know don't recognize the name, Morten Meilgaard, a 
native of Denmark who came to the US right after WWII, is the 
inventor of the Beer Flavor Wheel and is the recognized world expert 
on sensory evaluation of beer.  He worked for the Stroh Brewing Co. 
in Detroit from the 50's to the 90's, and has authored many papers 
and books.  He spoke at the NHC 2001 in Livonia, Michigan.  In short, 
he is a legend in the field.

Here's the story.  Back in the 90's I taught a six week course in 
beer appreciation called something like "Beyond Budweiser: A Survey 
of the World's Great Beers" in a local university's adult education 
program.  Students could sign up for the series or for individual 
classes, which focused on general categories of beer, and it was very 
well attended and received.  (Budget cuts eliminated such courses, 
unfortunately).

I have a pretty broad and deep knowledge of beer, but Belgian beers 
are a weak subject for me.  So I asked my friend Dan McConnell 
(former owner of Yeast Culture Kit Co. and then a National BJCP 
judge) to teach that night.  I noticed an bright-eyed, apple-cheeked, 
older gentleman in the front row who had not come to previous 
classes.   When Dan served a sample of a mainstream Belgian Pilsner 
and commented on its taste attributes, this gentleman offered the 
opinion that it was oxidized, which Dan hadn't mentioned.  I think it 
was at this point that Dan recognized him, and told me later it was 
very daunting.

Morten is a true gentleman of the old, European school, and he was 
very gentle with Dan.  Dan invited him to offer opinions on the rest 
of the beers he had, which were more interesting than the Pils, and 
this was a real bonus for the students, to say nothing of Dan and me.

Thanks for bringing this happy occasion back to mind, Steve.

Jeff
- -- 
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner at comcast.net
"One never knows, do one?"  Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943


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Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 10:50:48 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <jeffrenner at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Fix and the 40C Rest

Steve also writes:

>Meilgaard reviews studies of beers a special anti-oxidant
>malt (made similar to very light caramel or carapils as I understand it)

As I recall, Briess Malting claims that its carapils is an 
antioxidant.  They seem to be redesigning their website and none of 
the specs are online that I can find, so I can't check this.  But 
after reading it online in the past, I mentioned it in a draft 
Zymurgy article.  Ray wasn't comfortable in mentioning it simply in 
passing, and it wasn't worth going into, so we deleted it.

Jeff

- -- 
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, JeffRenner at comcast.net
"One never knows, do one?"  Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943


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Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 16:28:35 +0000
From: "Joel Plutchak" <plutchak at hotmail.com>
Subject: Boneyard Brew-Off, June 5, Champaign Illinois

Brewers and meadmakers, start your kettles!  Judges, mark
your calendars!

The 10th Annual Boneyard Brew-Off will be held on June 5,
organized by the Boneyard Union of Zymurgical Zealots,
Champaign Illinois.

Be the first on your block to win a ribbon in the anticipated
new BJCP categories of Roggenbier, Irish Red Ale, Imperial
IPA, American Stout, or Baltic Porter!  We are also continuing
our tradition of a No One Gets Out Alive High-Gravity category,
with a hedonic judging of any beer or mead with a starting
gravity over 1.070.

Details are available on the World Wide Web at:

   http://www.uiuc.edu/ro/BUZZ/brewoff.html

Entry forms will be available for download, and are being
snail-mailed out to regional clubs and judges, in the next
week or so.  Online judge and entry registration will be
enabled around May 1.

Entries will be accepted May 24 through June 2.

To receive a hard copy of the materials or for more
information, contact one of the following people:

Competition Organizer: Britt Weiser <weiser at net66.com>
Judge Director: Joel Plutchak <plutchak at uiuc.edu>



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Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 13:02:55 -0400
From: "Al Quickel" <alquickel at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: Brewoff Scoresheets, name rank and serial number


Jim Bermingham says:

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



Jim,

I entered a competition over a year ago (Coconut Cup in South Florida) and 
never heard anything from the judges. (my bank said they cashed the check, 
so I'm pretty sure they received the entry). Now I know that, like you, I 
must have had a Gold medal beer. Thanks for shedding some light on that.

- -----
(shameless plug)
Sunshine Challenge '04 in Orlando FL
Check out www.cfhb.org for details
They will give your judging sheets back on the last day of the competition 
(if you're there.)
(end shameless plug)
- -----

Jeff Renner requests that posters tell their name and location.

Al Q
Longtime Lurker, First time Poster
Groveland, FL
[954.6, 172.6] Apparent Rennerian

Currently nursing a stash of pumpkin brown and Schwarzbier from the winter 
and a fresh Belgian Wit



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Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 12:00:06 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Joseph Gerteis" <joseph540 at elvis.com>
Subject: mash schedule questions

I've been really interested in the discussion of mash
schedules.  This has helped me to come to my own
conclusions about the cost/benefits of low temp rests. 
I still have some questions though as I am a relative
novice here.  I am specifically interested in lagers
here, since I have worked out my ale mash schedules and
since the malts are typically easier to work with.

First, putting aside the question of the low temp rests
(40 or 50c), I am still wondering about the two-stage
high-temp rest (60/70c or similar).  I have seen lots
of references to this for lagers, but I have not yet
come across a good discussion of what this does for the
beer in practice, relative to a single-temp sacc rest
midway between these temps (say 65c/149F).  Is this an
extraction/conversion issue or is there a flavor impact?

(Side question: Steve Alexander mentioned yesterday
that Fix himself noted that a single step rest was not
clearly different from a multi-step mash in the taste
of the finished beer.  Steve -- does that correspond
with your own experience with lagers?)

Second, what kinds of schedules are most common at the
commercial and homebrew levels?  How many out there use
a 60/70c rest schedule or equivalent?  Also, Dave
Burley comments that German brewers moved to the
Kurtz/Hoch schedule -- what is this?

Thanks!

Joe Gerteis
St. Paul, MN

- -----------------------------------
See what's new at http://elvis.com!


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Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 15:27:13 -0400
From: Bob Hall <rallenhall at henry-net.com>
Subject: DCL American Ale #56

Mark Beck posted a response from DCL that mentioned a new dry ale yeast, 
US. 56. I checked the Crosby-Baker website, and surely enough, American Ale 
#56 is a new entry for both their homebrew and commercial lists. I assume 
(using lots of brain power here) that the name is a thinly veiled reference 
to the venerable Wyeast 1056, which would make it a very interesting dry 
yeast indeed. A quick search didn't produce any web vendors who as yet 
carry #56, so I'd like to ask the early adopters to post their results and 
opinions as soon as they can get their hands on the stuff.

Bob Hall
Napoleon, OH
[51.2,197.8] Apparent Rennarian

"I am Robert A. Hall, and I have approved this message." 




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Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 19:15:22 -0400
From: "Mike Eyre" <meyre at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Bad temp readings..

Hello all,

Question here for the masses who, like me, use converted kegs or similar
to brew in. I have a standard issue home built 3 teir gravity feed "beer
tree". I have 3" dial temp gages screwed into couplers welded into the
side of the kegs. My question is, when dumping the strike water in, or
heating the water already in the mas-tun (whatever way I decide to go
that time..) the dial gage usually reads much lower than a 12" stick
thermometer that I hold by hand in the middle of the mash. Just an
irritation more than a critical fault.. But was wondering if anyone had
found a solution for this? I'm guessing that a pump to circulate would
make things more accurate.. But I went with the gravity method to
end-run around the whole need for a pump, hoping to lose the cost and
such associated with that all. Ideas?

Mike
Barkhamsted, CT




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Date: Thu, 15 Apr 2004 20:30:38 -0400
From: stencil <etcs.ret at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: Enzyme Liquification ... and overnight soaking

In HBD#4520, Fredrik writes
>
>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) [ ... ]
>
>2)  [ ... ]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've come to convince myself that doing a fairly dry (ca 1.2 pt/lb) dough-in
the night before brewday, using unheated tapwater, has many benefits and
escapes many of the staling risks that Steve.S. warns against.  By morning
virtually all the standing water has been taken up by the mash and my notion
is that the soaking (or retting or imbibement) makes the starch more
accessible to the wort-borne enzymes, more quickly than would be the case in a
normal same-day mash-in.

Mash temperature at the point of first infusion (to 40C, yes, but that's not
the issue here) typically is 45 - 50F.  This is achieved by leaving the tun in
the unheated mudroom where the grain is ground.  It would seem to me that
biology, and chemistry in general, proceed pretty slowly at that temp.
Grinding the night before has the added benefit of letting the chaff settle
out of the air and of letting me conduct the mash in dust-free clothes.  The
principal utility of the acid rest seems to be that it provides an appropriate
time to tweak the mash pH.  Since I mash in a spigoted stock pot (WeldBGone
sei dank) subsequent heats are directly fired as well as by infusion.

In sum then, overnight soaking offers benefits and avoids the risks that may
be incurred by overnight mashing.

stencil sends





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