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


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Contents:
  American Amber Ale (more like English Strong in taste) (leavitdg)
  Re: Topical Iodine for Sanitizing ("David Houseman")
  RE: Erlenmeyer Flasks (WRT flat surface stoves) (Steven Parfitt)
  steeping carapils (Pat Casey)
  Re: Yeast Bank Vials (Jeff Renner)
  Yeast ranching (Chris Kafer)
  Yeast vials (Signalbox Brewery)


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JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
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Date: Thu,  9 Jun 2005 06:15:56 -0400
From: leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu
Subject: American Amber Ale (more like English Strong in taste)

I recently made what I intended to be in the direction of an American Amber 
Ale, and it came out tasting, to me. more like an English Strong Ale.  I 
believe I use(d) too much biscuit and amber malt (Chad Stevens: you told me so, 
some time ago!).  Anyway, here is the recipe, and I plan next time to cut the 
biscuit and kilnAmber in half.  Any other suggestions would be welcomed.

8 lb Pilsner Malt
1 lb Wheat Malt
 .5 lb biscuit malt
 .5 lb KilnAmber malt

2 stage infusion (145F, then heated and recirculated to 155, then mashout at 
170F)

first run was 1.084
boil grav was 1.046
90 min boil (low btu stove)
orig grav was 1.052
final grav (using Wyeast 1056) was 1.010
%avb was 5.5

hops were 1 oz cascade at FW 
 .25 Yakima Goldings at 60
same at 30
 .50 Yakima Goldings at 15
1.0 Yakima Goldings at 5
IBUs were 33.6

Again, this tastes very good, but I think I overdid the dark malts. And, it 
tastes like it is higher in alcohol than it is.

Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated.

Happy Brewing!



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Date: Thu, 09 Jun 2005 07:57:37 -0400
From: "David Houseman" <david.houseman at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: Topical Iodine for Sanitizing

Stuart,

The percarbonate itself would unlikely contribute directly to excess
tannins.  You could taste some automatic dishwasher solution to see.  But I
would imagine that the sodium percarbonate raises the pH of the water
considerably so if it's not rinsed well it potentially could raise the pH of
the mash to the point that you would extract more tannins than desired.
However, it would seem to me to require quite a bit of sodium percarbonate
solution residue!  Rinse any cleanser well but look elsewhere for the tannin
causing culprit.

David Houseman





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Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2005 06:36:28 -0700 (PDT)
From: Steven Parfitt <thegimp98 at yahoo.com>
Subject: RE: Erlenmeyer Flasks (WRT flat surface stoves)

"David Houseman" Responded:

>One point of using these flasks on the stove: They 
>can sit directly on a gas flame.  But on an electric
>element, a diffusion ring should be used because
>the uneven heating of the electric element can cause 
>uneven heating stresses on the glass and cause it to 
>crack.  I used a ring used for heating glass
>coffee pots on electric elements.  Worked fine.
> David Houseman

This is true if you place a flask directly on the
heating element. 

However, the flat surface stoves seperate the heating
element from the top ceramic surface. (All three makes
I have seen do this, ymmv.)

The biggest issue with using a flat surface stove is
the method of heat control. The one I have cycles on
and off at a variable rate with a very slow duty
cycle. This leads to surge boiling.

One must be very careful of the power level to achieve
a boil without boiling over.

They also suck for cooking food. I will never own one
again. 

Not enough heat to properly fry food without
overheating the pan before putting the food in. I
can't make a good plate of Gambas Al Ajillo without
digging out the cajun fryer and cooking out on the
deck.

Stupid stove.

Steven, -75 XLCH- Ironhead Nano-Brewery  http://thegimp.8k.com
Johnson City, TN [422.7, 169.2] Rennerian 

"There is no such thing as gravity, the earth sucks." Wings Whiplash - 1968



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Date: Thu, 09 Jun 2005 23:48:46 +1000
From: Pat Casey <pat at bmbrews.com.au>
Subject: steeping carapils

There shouldn't be any problem with the Weyermann Carapils, so long as 
you keep in the 60 -70 deg C  band. I've played around with it using 
iodine tests and have found that when you first infuse it  there is some 
colour reaction, but after about 20 minutes it tests negative  So I 
guess that starch conversion is not complete during its  production, but 
low kilning temperatures mean that it carries more than enough enzymes 
to convert whatever residual starch there may be.

Pat

Blue Mountains Brewing Supplies
Shop 2, 7-9 St Georges Cr Faulconbridge NSW, 2776
(02) 4751-4292
www.bmbrews.com.au
Wed to Sat 9:30 - 5:30
Sun 9:30 - 1:30



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Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2005 10:04:11 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <jsrenner at umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Yeast Bank Vials

"Stovall, Chris" <stovall.c at thomas-hutton.com> wrote:

> Our homebrew club is looking at starting a yeast bank.  Anybody have a
> good location for buying vials (a la White Labs) in quantity (say
> 100-200)?  Or another idea for keeping?  In the past I've just kept a
> strain or two going in a beer bottle but looking for something easier
> (smaller) to maintain in large quantity.

My understanding is that the WhiteLabs vials are nothing more than  
unblown two-liter soda bottle blanks.  So I suppose that a local soda  
bottling company might have them.  I don't know how YOU'D get them,  
though.

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***



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Date: Thu, 09 Jun 2005 12:36:32 -0500
From: Chris Kafer <ckafer at icsmail.net>
Subject: Yeast ranching

Hey all.  Back into brewing after a very long hiatus (~13 
years!).  Wondering if many out there have cultured yeast from bottles of 
commercially available bottle conditioned beers.  I've cultured and used 
the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale strain recently.  I remember once trying from a 
bottle of Chimay Red as well...don't remember the results, however.  Are 
these strains the same ones used in the primary fermentation?

Yes, of course, there are many pure strains available from Wyeast etc. 
which is probably the "safe" way to go....but that's not nearly as fun!



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Date: Thu, 09 Jun 2005 20:33:24 +0100
From: Signalbox Brewery <signalbox.brewery at ntlworld.com>
Subject: Yeast vials

Chris asked for a source of White Labs style yeast vials.

Can't help with a source, but it may help you to know that
these are PET lemonade (US: soda?) bottle blanks.

David



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