HOMEBREW Digest #4781 Thu 26 May 2005


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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Re: Sight Glass material (Kent Fletcher)
  Dunkel came out clear... (leavitdg)
  Glad press and seal (Jeff Adelsberger)
  Attn: Homebrew Suppliers ("Lemcke, Keith")
  re:festbier malts (Nathaniel Lansing)
  Dunkel came out clear? ("Spencer W. Thomas")
  re: festbier base malt help (Michael Owings)
  Cantillon Faro (Eric Schoville)
  Re: McMaster Shipping costs ("Michael O'Donnell")
  Faro ("Spencer W. Thomas")
  Re: festbier base malt help (Jeff Renner)
  McMaster Carr Orders ("Berggren, Stefan")
  Re: Festbier base malt help (Ricardo Cabeza)

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---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 25 May 2005 23:07:55 -0700 (PDT) From: Kent Fletcher <fletcherhomebrew at yahoo.com> Subject: Re: Sight Glass material Doug Moyer asked: > Now, how do I cut it to length without breaking it? A fine toothed hacksaw does just fine. Let the blade so the work, minimal pressure, and take it slow at the end. > Too bad acrylic can't handle the heat. A flourescent > pink sight glass on the HLT and a flourescent green > sight glass on the kettle would be groovy, baby! What ever blows your skirt up on the colors, but I still can't imagine why anybody would want a sight glass (more properly called a gauge glass) on a boil kettle? Very useful on an HLT, but teats on a boar for a kettle, if you ask me. Kent Fletcher Brewing in So Cal Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 05:58:08 -0400 From: leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu Subject: Dunkel came out clear... I made what approximates a Dunkel, and much to my surprise (not dismay, however) it came out clear. Here is the recipe: 5 lb Wheat malt 6 lb Pale malt 2 oz Caraffa I 1 lb Vienna malt 2 oz Special B a handfull of rice hulls 2 stage infusion (145 for 45 min, then heated to 155 for 1 hour), boosted to mashout/ 170 og was 1.061 fg was 1.012 yeast was 4th use of wlp300/ hefe 2 hour boil (low btu heat source): perhaps it was the hot break here that created a clear final product? 24 ibu's of Willamette and Brewers Gold. This tastes very good, so I am not complaining, but still I wonder why it came out clear? Darrell Happy Brewing! Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 04:45:50 -0700 (PDT) From: Jeff Adelsberger <fuzzydodads at yahoo.com> Subject: Glad press and seal Stephen Johnson wrote: > I just saw an ad for a new Glad food storage product: Press and Seal > Freezer Wrap sheets that are designed to store food products in the > freezer. They are sheets of wrap that can be laid flat and the food item > placed in between, followed by pressing action that seals the two sheets > together. Has anyone tried these for use with storing hops that have > been opened from original packaging? Just curious as to how oxygen > permeable they might be... Its probably mostly user error but I've had bad experiences with the press and seal stuff. It is also difficult to tell when you have a good seal If I had to use something of that nature I'd take the bags firtst. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 09:00:19 -0400 From: "Lemcke, Keith" <klemcke at lallemand.com> Subject: Attn: Homebrew Suppliers Our Siebel Institute / Fort Lewis College Advanced Homebrewing Course starts in only two months (July 25 - 29, 2005), and we would like to invite all homebrew product manufacturers & suppliers to provide our students with your catalogs, promotional materials and product samples. If you would like more information about this free opportunity to promote your company to our enthusiastic homebrewing students, please contact Keith Lemcke, Vice-President of Siebel Institute of Technology, at klemcke at siebelinstitute.com. To learn more about our Advanced Homebrewing Course held in Durango, Colorado, go to our web site at http://www.siebelinstitute.com/course_desc/homebrewing.html . Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 09:00:33 -0400 From: Nathaniel Lansing <delbrew at compuserve.com> Subject: re:festbier malts >>Now, in reading the Fixs' Classic BeerStyle Series text on this style, they state that that vienna and munich malts are not good choices due to a grainy harshness they impart (even the well-regarded European varieties)<< Working from memory, I'm sure the Fixs were referring to the 6-row American Munich and Vienna malts available at that time of publication. It was difficult (impossible?) to find imported Vienna or Munich at that time. But it was easy to find imported (English) crystals. There are plenty of imported Vienna or Munichs now, and I wouldn't hesitate to use them or even Briess "Bonlander" (r) 2-row Munich. Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 09:27:47 -0400 From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <hbd at spencerwthomas.com> Subject: Dunkel came out clear? I'm not sure I understand your confusion. In my mind, a dunkel should be clear (I assume you don't mean Zima-clear, but "not hazy" and dunkel-colored). Is it because you put wheat malt in the grist? Wheat by itself does not cause cloudiness. Hefeweizens are cloudy because of the suspended yeast, not because of the wheat. After all, a Kristal weizen is merely a filtered hefeweizen. (Hmm... Did you mean dunkelweizen? The yeast choice indicates this. Ok, I'm a little more on board here.) I suspect it's the fact that you're repitching the yeast. Weizen yeasts are notoriously unstable and will "mutate" fairly easily. If you've been harvesting the yeast from the bottom of the fermenter to repitch, then you've been selecting those yeast that flocculate and settle out. After several times through this cycle, you've left most of the "powdery" yeast behind. And it's exactly those "powdery" yeast that cause the cloudiness in your hefeweizen. I haven't brewed with WLP300 in a while, but at least some weizen yeasts top-crop nicely. If your fermenter permits top-cropping, you might try it, and you might find that the yeast is more stable and continues to produce cloudy beer as you reuse it. =Spencer in Ann Arbor, MI Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 08:41:35 -0500 From: Michael Owings <mikey at swampgas.com> Subject: re: festbier base malt help Fix's book is fairly out of date as regards munich quality. I routinely do dunkels with almost 100% munich, and perhaps a couple of ounces of whatever black malt I have on hand -- the last such beer took first place at the AHA first round in my region. Having said that, personally, I like the recipes in his book, and generally use little to no munich in my octoberfests -- maybe a pound or so, tops. I generally use a good continental pilsener as the base malt. Vienna is also a popular base malt for this style. Hope that helps -- m - -- Teleoperate a roving mobile robot from the web: http://www.swampgas.com/robotics/rover.html Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 09:00:33 -0500 From: Eric Schoville <eric at schoville.com> Subject: Cantillon Faro As a side note, when I was at Cantillon last August, they had a faro which they said they do not bottle and only make for consumption on premises. Eric Schoville Madison, WI http://www.schoville.com/brewing.php Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 08:00:06 -0700 From: "Michael O'Donnell" <mooseo at stanford.edu> Subject: Re: McMaster Shipping costs Doug points out that he paid more for shipping from McMaster than for his part. This can definitely be a problem from them; they really don't like small orders, in fact, until the advent of the web, individuals couldn't even get a catalog. In Doug's case, the problem was certainly exacerbated by an odd-shaped piece, over 8 feet long. Once you have an idea of the sizes of boxes they use, you can generally estimate from the UPS site what they might charge. Another suggestion is to get your order shipped to a business address, especially if the company involved orders a lot from McMaster. I have been pleasantly surprised to find that they give me the same shipping deal that they give to my employer just because it was coming to the same address (but billed to my credit card)... On one order, a big chunk of 1/2" thick aluminum and a bunch of heavy stainless bolts showed up at my office within 24 hours of ordering. Shipping cost was $5. cheers, mike Monterey, CA Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 11:36:14 -0400 From: "Spencer W. Thomas" <hbd at spencerwthomas.com> Subject: Faro A friend reports "just-in-time" faro at a Belgian cafe thusly: a glass of (flat) lambic with 2 or 3 cubes of sugar added. =Spencer in Ann ARbor Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 12:22:57 -0400 From: Jeff Renner <jsrenner at umich.edu> Subject: Re: festbier base malt help Tad, who used the email of Richard Seyler <rseyler at gmail.com>, wrote: > In anticipation of brewing an Octoberfest, I bought a bag of > Weissheimer Munich at a recent club bulk buy. My plan was to use this > and Dingeman Pilsner malts in percentages to yield a dark orange > (9-11L) color. Now, in reading the Fixs' Classic BeerStyle Series > text on this style, they state that that vienna and munich malts are > not good choices due to a grainy harshness they impart (even the > well-regarded European varieties) (pp.35-36) That fine book was written in 1991, and within even five or six years, that advice was no longer valid. George himself said so. I suspect you can find something from him to that effect on the HBD archives. A second edition was on George's list of things to do. You can brew with up to 100% German Vienna or Munich malts with no worries. I have brewed a wonderful, easy drinking golden lager with 95% Durst Vienna and 5% carapils. My standard Dunkel has been 100% Durst dark Munich, but for my last brew, I used about 30 Pilsner malt and a touch of debittered chocolate. I did this to get a little more fermentability from the Pilsner malt. I would think that you could make your Oktoberfest with a large percentage of Munich and the balance Pilsner. Choose the proportions based on color. Be sure not to overbitter it. It should shout MALT! and whisper (hops). Jeff - --- Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, jsrenner at umich.edu "One never knows, do one?" Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943 ***Please note new address*** Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 13:41:33 -0500 From: "Berggren, Stefan" <Stefan_Berggren at trekbikes.com> Subject: McMaster Carr Orders With regards to shipping for the sight glass material, As them to cut it in half ( as you can still work with that length) And your shipping costs will fall dramatically.... Cheers, Stefan Berggren In taberna quando sumus, non curamus quid sit humus. When we are in the tavern, we spare no thought for the grave Return to table of contents
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 21:13:43 -0400 From: Ricardo Cabeza <expunged at gmail.com> Subject: Re: Festbier base malt help Two suggestions regarding your question: 1) You could decoction mash. Decoction mashing will extract more color from the grain, allowing for the use of more lighter malts and less 'harsh' kilned malts. All of this stuff about the 'harshness' of kilned malts is of course opinion and should be taken with a grain of salt. I understand that decoction mashing isn't usually practical. This 'harshness' theory is the number one argument I can see in favor of decoction mashing in modern times. Supposedly, malt these days is well modified enough so that decoction & multi-step infusion mashes aren't usually required for the traditional reasons of undermodification, temperature control, etc. (except in the case of wheat malt). 2) You could use the Munich malt, but mash at a lower temperature than usual, maybe in the mid - 140 F range. You could also batch sparge at lower temperatures than usual too. This should help minimize extraction of the grainy flavor you're concerned with. Batch sparging should theoretically extract less harsh components from the grain. Since Munich malt is naturally higher in dextrins / flavor compenents, you theoretically shouldn't require the action of alpha amylase to provide a beer with more flavor. I personally have never noticed the 'harsh effect' of kilned malts, but I guess I haven't really tried too either. Given that you already have the Munich Malt, I would go with option #2. Best of luck with your brew! -Ricardo Cabeza Return to table of contents
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