---

	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: janitor@hbd.org


***************************************************************
       THIS YEAR'S HOME BREW DIGEST BROUGHT TO YOU BY: 

                  Beer, Beer, and More Beer
      Visit http://morebeer.com to show your appreciation!

    Support those who support you! Visit our sponsor's site!
********** Also visit http://hbd.org/hbdsponsors.html *********


Contents:
  Hop segregation ("Pat Casey")
  Low alcohol brewing... (Chris.Pittock)
  Lager Fermentation Photo (Rob Zamites)
  Mash thickness ("Dave Burley")
  Convoluted CF Chillers (Lonzo McLaughlin)
  Mash Thickness (gornicwm)
  DCL yeast (Scott Birdwell)
  The Return Of Mr Sanders ("Phil Yates")
  Recipe Translation (Bob Hall)


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*           The HBD Logo Store is now open!             *
*            http://www.hbd.org/store.html              *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*  Suppport this service: http://hbd.org/donate.shtml   *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*   Beer is our obsession and we're late for therapy!   *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Send articles for __publication_only__ to post@hbd.org

If your e-mail account is being deleted, please unsubscribe first!!

To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE send an e-mail message with the word
  "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" to request@hbd.org FROM THE E-MAIL
  ACCOUNT YOU WISH TO HAVE SUBSCRIBED OR UNSUBSCRIBED!!!**
IF YOU HAVE SPAM-PROOFED your e-mail address, you cannot subscribe to
  the digest as we cannot reach you. We will not correct your address
  for the automation - that's your job.

HAVING TROUBLE posting, subscribing or unsusubscribing? See the HBD FAQ at
http://hbd.org.

LOOKING TO BUY OR SELL USED EQUIPMENT? Please do not post about it here. Go
instead to http://homebrewfleamarket.com and post a free ad there.

The HBD is a copyrighted document. The compilation is copyright 
  HBD.ORG. Individual postings are copyright by their authors. ASK 
  before reproducing and you'll rarely have trouble. Digest content 
  cannot be reproduced by any means for sale or profit.

More information is available by sending the word "info" to 
req@hbd.org or read the HBD FAQ at http://hbd.org.

JANITOR on duty: Pat Babcock and Spencer Thomas (janitor@hbd.org)



----------------------------------------------------------------------


Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 14:25:36 +1000
From: "Pat Casey" <pat at bmbrews.com.au>
Subject: Hop segregation

Approximately when did it become the norm to cultivate only female hop
plants and propogate them from cuttings? The anonymous author of  The London
and Country Brewer (1736), a retired professional brewer, talks about seeds
in hops. So, in the British Isles segregation and propogation from cuttings
was not probably not standard practice until after 1736.
This would of course have an important bearing on using old recipes to
recreate historical beers.

Pat



Return to table of contents


Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 15:05:00 +1000
From: Chris.Pittock at dpi.vic.gov.au
Subject: Low alcohol brewing...

Hi All,

No, I haven't gone 'soft'!   BUT I am trying to help out a guy who has
beaten cancer.  His quality of life would be higher if he could enjoy beer
without high alcohol content.  The drugs he's on give his liver/kidneys a
good workout, but he enjoys his beer.  Problem is alcohol could tip the
balance on the health of his organs...

SO!  I was wondering about minimal pale malt, mashed with darker malts
(light crystal or lighter...).  I have seen maltodextrin powder available
for non-fermentable 'body' addition to kit brews, so some of this may
relieve some of the mouthfeel issues with very light beers.  Is dextrin
malt the unprocessed version?

Residual femrentables aren't much good, whether balanced with hops or
not...  [killing the guy with a glass grenade would be a savage irony]  So,
I guess I'm looking to produce a bitter with some colour (but not very
dark), some mouthfeel and less than 2% v/v ethanol.  Or close to it...

All ideas gratefully accepted, and summary willingly posted to the forum.
(PS.  Will be away from the office for a few days, so fast responses from
me won't be likely!)

Thanks in advance,  Chris.
(Err... approx 12,000 miles Universal Rennarian...  OK so I made that up!
It's Australia)




Return to table of contents


Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 00:07:37 -0500
From: Rob Zamites <popeye at zamites.net>
Subject: Lager Fermentation Photo

PMR stated:
	Here's a
	link to a picture I took minutes ago - what is that crud in my beer?  
Is a lager fermentation 	supposed to throw a funky head like that?  
Calm me down, please!

	PMR

	http://webpages.charter.net/rede/First%20Lager

Well, I got a bunch of gobbledygook from that link, so I can't tell you 
a thing. Sorry.



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Rob Zamites
Converse, Texas USA
[1194.7, 227.1] Apparent Rennerian
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *



Return to table of contents


Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 08:59:29 -0400
From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley at charter.net>
Subject: Mash thickness

Brewsters:

SteveA picks on Bill's use of the word viscosity to describe mash thickness.
While I don't want to be picky, it is OK to talk about a thick mash being
viscous, esp in an agitation sense. It's just not the term commonly used in
the brewing industry and can lead to the mistake that the visosity is
referring to the viscosity of the wort. Mash thickness deals with the grist to
liquor ratio.

Mash thickness does affect the rate of enzyme reactions as Steve points out.
The thinner the mash the faster are the enzyme reactions, largely due to a
reduction of the inhibition of the reaction by the products, esp  in the case
of the saccharification.

BUT the disappearance of the enzymes through a uni-molecular degradation is
also faster in the thinner mash and higher temperatures, so it becomes a
balacing act for the saccharification, as Steve chooses to focus his attention
on these reactions, as well as other enzymes.

Of course, there are many other enzymes in the mash which affect beer quality
and to just focus on the saccharifiaction enzymes does not give a complete
picture.

In the case of the proteolytic enzymes, the thicker mashes increase the
lifetimes of these enzymes.  It is a fact that more concentrated ( thicker)
mashes produce more nitrogen in the wort and if it survives the boil ( i.e.
does not denature)  a better mouthfeel results from thicker mashes. ( Which
was I think the point of Bill's comments)  Mashes with lower temperature holds
also yield more soluble nitrogen with the same result.

It is a balancing act of mash thickness and temperature. As M&BS points out on
P 220 1st ed. "

 However, worts from mashes made at 150F ( 65.5C)  sometimes have greater
fermentability than more concentrated mashes probably because of the extended
survival times of the heat-sensitive Beta-amylase."

Keep on Brewin'

Dave Burley



Return to table of contents


Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 10:07:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: Lonzo McLaughlin <lonkelm at yahoo.com>
Subject: Convoluted CF Chillers

Hello,

For those who have purchased the newer convoluted
chillers like from St. Pats or Morebeer, how have you
connected them to a pump system?

They appear to come with 1/2" OD copper tubing for the
wort in/out.  The 1/2" id tubing I have is too big to
make a tight fit.  Have people attempted soldering? 
What a bout compression fittings?

Lonzo


	
		


Return to table of contents


Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 13:09:33 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
From: gornicwm at earthlink.net
Subject: Mash Thickness

First, Don't shoot the messenger!!!  The Horst Dornbusch book
on Helles explains everything.  That's where I got the
beef for my "baloney".  :-)

While reading, I found it interesting that certain enzymes react 
differently to changes in mash thickness.  Dornbusch suggests 
having a thicker mash creates a better environment for protein 
degradation and a thinner mash is better for sacchrafication.

As a homebrewer, I tested this theory...well, to the best that a 
homebrewer can test a theory...I brewed.

If I didn't experience this "Baloney" personally with a beer
that I brewed, then I would not have tried to help others with 
what I found.

When I obtained an expedited conversion with no perceptable changes to 
the desired body or flavor of the beer that I was brewing, while using 
Dornbusch's technique,  I figured it was worth bringing to my
club's attention.  

My experience was loosley based on Dornbusch's explanation.  My 
final product was a clear, medium bodied beer that finished conversion
noticably faster than If I would have left the mash thick throughout 
the entire mash session.  If you're still in doubt...TRY IT!!!

The result I obtained is as good as gold even if I cannot scientifically 
explain everything that enzymatically happened.

Bill Gornicki
CRAFT Homebrew Club
Michigan


Return to table of contents


Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 12:27:37 -0500
From: Scott Birdwell <defalcos at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: DCL yeast

Regarding the DCL yeast strains:
    Actually the old Edme strain is sold as Safbrew S-33.  The old 
Whitbread strain is sold as Safale S-04.  DCL American Ale #56 is, 
theoretically, a dried version of Wyeast #1056 (American Ale 
Yeast)/White Labs WLP#001 (California Ale Yeast).  My vendor claims the 
yeast will be available in 10 - 11 gram packages sometime around 
September (it was apparently promised sooner rather than that).  This 
will be very interesting to see how it compares.  The yeast is 
currently available in bulk form only.  Thought you'd like to know. . .

Scott Birdwell
DeFalco's Home Wine & Beer Supplies
Houston TX



Return to table of contents


Date: Tue, 20 Apr 2004 08:59:12 +1000
From: "Phil Yates" <phil.yates at bigpond.com>
Subject: The Return Of Mr Sanders

Graham
I'm truly pleased to hear you are on the mend. Sounds like you've been
through a dreadful ordeal. Just the night before your post, I sat up with
Phoebe watching a vampire movie and people were getting stakes driven
through them left right and centre. Youch!!, it certainly looked like no fun
at all!

I hope you will honour your commitment to post to HBD at least once a week.
I thought you'd be back sooner or later.

Now about this bus driver. I'd be checking his licence out and making sure
he wasn't an ex Southern Stater. We have a bounty on QLD heads down here,
but the practice is banned in Queensland.

Further about this "Bloody Bastard Bus Vienna", what about a little
competition to find a better name?

I'm thinking "Tropical Vampire Wit-Sunday"
This reflects your shocking ordeal in the hospital, whilst maintaining a
local flavour. Shame you couldn't keep that SS rod as a souvenir.

When you feel better Graham, start firing the shots. It's QLD versus NSW
again. Nothing like a warm up before the "State Of Origin" footy starts.

Cheers
Phil



Return to table of contents


Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 20:24:46 -0400
From: Bob Hall <rallenhall at henry-net.com>
Subject: Recipe Translation

I'm interested in doing a semi-authentic brew for a historical observance 
later this year, and would like to try something along the order of George 
Washington's recipe, which I have seen in a number of sources:

To Make a Small Beer
by George Washington

"Take a large Sifter full of Bran Hops to your taste Boil these 3 hours 
then strain out 30 gallons. Into a Cooler put 3 gallons Molasses while the 
Beer is scaling hot or rather drain the molasses into the Cooler. Strain 
the Beer on it while boiling hot let this stand til it is little more than 
Blood warm. Then put in a quart of Yeast if the weather is very cold cover 
it with a Blanket - & Let it work in the Cooler 24 hrs. then put it into 
the Cask  leave the Bung open until it is almost done working  Bottle it 
that day Week it was brewed."

Now, my Colonial English probably isn't what it should be, and I must have 
been absent the day that the class converted sifters to other forms of 
standardized measurements. Thought it might be interesting to see how some 
of you would convert George's recipe into a typical 5 gallon homebrew batch.

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



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




Return to table of contents

---