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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Digest Janitor: pbabcock at hbd.org


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Contents:
  Gump on Servo ("Rob Moline")
  RE: Dry Hopping Questions ("Doug Moyer")
  Re: John's question re Wyeast 1056 (Denny Conn)
  Bottling with Gyle (Gary Spykman)
  PC,London III ("Dave Burley")
  Slaked lime water treatment ("Bill Pierce")


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JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
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Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 23:40:16 -0600
From: "Rob Moline" <jethrogump at mchsi.com>
Subject: Gump on Servo

			Gump on Servo
From: "Scott D. Braker-Abene" <skotrat at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Servo for Homebrewers!
GUMP writes:
>      ...ServoMyces, the yeast nutrient blessed with zinc and by brewers
> across the planet.
> 	It's about time!
This is very cool!!! Very Cool indeed...  Does it come in a nice plaid???

From: Jon Olsen <burnunit at waste.org>
Subject: servo; also getting my gyle on
On Dec 28, 2004, at 10:28 PM, Rob Moline wrote:
> Servo for Homebrewers!
>    Finally....something Gump has used with great results...and
> advocated for the homebrewer is now available...to
> homebrewers...ServoMyces, the yeast nutrient blessed with zinc and by
> brewers across the planet.
I have to admit, it's kinda funny when you go to the site, the first
sentence reads "Servomyces is a nutritional yeast supplement (GMO free)
that was originally developed for German brewers "  I'm glad this
nutrient is GMO free (and veg! I have vegan friends) but we have to
admit, technically speaking, by cultivating particular yeast strains
for their particular genetically derived features (flavor,
flocculation, etc) we've long been dealing with a kind of genetic
modification.  Not going to stop me from trying this stuff out... Oh
well.

SkotRat,
     Of course the cells are plaid! Why would it be otherwise? Genetic
selection guarantees it!    Hmmmmm...  ;-0

Jon,
     You are missing the point......of course the yeast is selected, but how
does that differ in your discrimination of the most attractive oranges  at  the
corner shop? And certainly I select yeast, based on "their particular
genetically derived features," when I decide to use a WhiteLabs 380 to make
a Hefe, rather than attempt to use Nottingham.
     Servo's benefit comes from the proprietary mix that they are fed...
     These cells don't get their beneficial properties by eating diet soda!
     Noting that you intend to try it, I would be happy to see your results
posted here....Let us know what your results are, as I am sure you will be
pleased.
Cheers!
Gump

"The More I Know About Beer, The More I Realize I Need To Know More About
Beer!"
- --
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.296 / Virus Database: 265.6.6 - Release Date: 12/28/2004



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Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 08:55:56 -0500
From: "Doug Moyer" <shyzaboy at yahoo.com>
Subject: RE: Dry Hopping Questions

Tony asks about the green hop gunk floating in his fermentor after he dry
hopped with pellets.

I like to use pellets for dry hopping. (I use whole hops exclusively in the
boil.) Since I ferment in carboys, it is a royal pain to put whole hops into
the secondary. (Unless you get plugs, which you can cut in half, but I
haven't seen a good assortment in plugs.)

I usually rouse the beer once or twice a day. This causes the floating hop
pieces to sink partially. After a week of rousing, the hop bits gradually
settle to the bottom.

If the beer is still too full of bits, I'll transfer to a tertiary fermentor
for additional settling. (To stop the dry hopping - don't want one
dimensional beer, or rotting hops...)

As to filtering, any filter material you use will clog immediately if it is
fine enough to filter out the yeast. Not a worry. You might try a hop bag
(properly sterilized) attached to the end of your racking cane.



Brew on!

Doug Moyer
Troutville, VA

Star City Brewers Guild: http://www.starcitybrewers.org

Shzabrau Homebrewery: http://users.adelphia.net/~shyzaboy/homebrewery.html





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Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 09:13:54 -0800
From: Denny Conn <denny at projectoneaudio.com>
Subject: Re: John's question re Wyeast 1056

I have a hard time blaming the yeast strain, as others have done.  It works 
as expected and quite well for me and many others, so how can it be the 
strain?  I think it's an easy out...you should be looking at _all_ aspects 
of your brewing process here.  Either that, or there's more than one 1056 
that Wyeast is shipping!

	------------------>Denny Conn



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Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 14:33:51 -0500
From: Gary Spykman <mail at gjwspykman.com>
Subject: Bottling with Gyle

Hi folks,

Jon Olson asks about bottle priming using gyle. Actually, he uses the 
term "krausening", not "priming". So, I'm ready for some education 
here. My understanding is that krausening is the process of adding 
actively fermenting wort to nearly completed beer to induce a 
secondary fermentation. Whereas, Jon is talking about simply adding 
unfermented wort to fully fermented beer for bottle priming, in place 
of the more commonly used corn sugar or DME.

This process, priming with wort, is what I have always done. I either 
do as Jon describes, and save about a quart and a half of wort in a 
jar in the refrigerator, to add back to the same batch at bottling. 
Or, I will take some wort from the next brewing session and use it to 
prime the last batch. I prefer the second approach unless the new 
batch is a stout and the batch to be bottled is a pale ale, or some 
such.

For the questions:
>
>1. has anyone here had luck with krauesening? Is it as "fresh" as 
>everyone claims?

Having never used any other method, I can't compare, but mine always 
tastes the way good beer should.

>2. should I expect a bottle ring, like one gets with DME? I prefer 
>to think of them as little halos. :-p

I've never had bottle rings.

>3. Do I boil the stuff before putting the wort on it? It was cooled 
>and immediately transferred into a sealed jar and from there into 
>the fridge, but I don't mind boiling if that will help.

When I use wort that I reserve as you describe I have never boiled 
it.  As always, you must be scrupulous in you sanitary procedures. Of 
course when using wort from a current batch it has just been boiled.

>4. Does it take longer to carbonate?

Mine usually takes about a week and a half to two weeks.

>5. I do love the carbonation recipator at
>http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html?5616698#tag
>so I'm wondering if anyone's done anything like that using gyle-
>something that does the math incorporating the OG of the wort along
>with the typical range of CO2 volumes for particular styles.

Not I.

Though speaking of the Recipator itself, I don't see it mentioned in 
the digest very often, but I credit the Recipator 
(http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator) with helping me to never 
make a bad beer. I can tweak my recipe to perfection before I begin, 
and know that the beer will be balanced, and within the parameters of 
the chosen style. Print the recipe out, stick it to my beer fridge 
with a magnet, and away I go. Folks, if you haven't tried it, do so!

- -- 
Gary Spykman
Keene, New Hampshire
e-mail: mail at gjwspykman.com
web site: http://www.gjwspykman.com
SIMM Brewery Pages: http://www.gjwspykman.com/simm/simm.html


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Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 17:33:37 -0500
From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley at charter.net>
Subject: PC,London III

Brewsters:

Steve Funk says:

"Dave Burley,
Thanks for the banter on PC and I couldn't agree with you more.
However, I don't believe our beloved HBD is the proper venue for such a
diatribe.  Can we please keep it beer related?"

That was my point EXACTLY. I didn't start it!
- -----------------
Fred Johnson comments on his using and stopping his use of Wyeast 1318 London 
III due to attenuation and clearing problems. This is my favorite yeast for 
these London/Burton style ales.

In my experience, I have never had a problem with either attenuation or 
clearing and I have used at least three generations in the past.

If this is a true London yeast mixture of powdery and flocculant strains and 
not a single strain, this may explain the problem with going to multiple 
generations, if you hold a long time in the primary,  you will choose the less 
flocculant strains in the secondary for the next go around. This could explain 
why you have yeast cloudiness. The cloudiness may not be due to yeast, 
however.

Powdery yeast generally finish well and give high attenuation. So this is a 
little mysterious.

I suggest two things  1) an iodine test 2)  fire up your Clinitest and see if 
your attenuation checks out due to remaining sugar or is just due to some 
unexpected all grain temperature flubup in which you generated a lot of 
unfermentable maltodextrins. If the beer is dry ( <1/4% glucose)  then you 
know it is because you held the mash at at too high a temperature for the 
attentuation you desire. Check your thermometer, perhaps

Keep on Brewin'

Dave Burley






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Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 17:21:57 -0500
From: "Bill Pierce" <BillPierce at aol.com>
Subject: Slaked lime water treatment

I'm posting this question based on information supplied by a fellow
homebrewer, but I'm also seeking to increase my own knowledge on the
subject.

All of the material I have consulted about water treatment with
slaked lime, including Hubert Hanghofer's excellent site
(http://www.netbeer.org/english/tips.htm), indicates that, like
boiling, it is effective only at reducing temporary hardness.

The source of the water relevant to this question is a private well.
An analysis from a reputable lab reveals an interesting profile.
The water is very low in calcium and magnesium (16 ppm and >1 ppm,
respectively), with a total hardness as CaCO3 of 16 ppm , but it is
also rather high in carbonates and bicarbonates (values of 20 ppm
and 123 ppm).  The total alkalinity as CaCO3 is 101 ppm, and the pH
of the water is very  high at 9.3.

My question concerns the best treatment for this water when brewing
a pilsner that requires soft water.  Certainly the addition of
gypsum or calcium chloride to the mash would increase the calcium
and buffer the alkalinity, but the water is also rather high in
sodium (68 ppm), so there is a desire to avoid saltiness and harsh
bittering.

An option would seem to be the treatment of the water with slaked
lime (Ca(OH)2).  This would increase the calcium level without a
corresponding increase in sulfate or chloride.

However, all of the literature I have found indicates that slaked
lime is ineffective in treating water with high levels of permanent
hardness, and that additional calcium is required in this case.

Why doesn't the slaked lime itself provide all the additional
calcium that is needed?

Bill Pierce
Cellar Door Homebrewery
Burlington, Ontario
BillPierce (at) aol.com



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