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


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Contents:
  Re: Homebrew Digest Request (August 10, 2005) ("Greg 'groggy' Lehey")
  Easement Credit Repository  5b1.d ("Conner Ricky")
  Re: Decoction Mash:  Tools and Techniques? (stencil) (Paul Waters)
  Sensory Deprevation Kit ("Fred Kingston")
  RE : Czech Ale (Steven Parfitt)
  Reuse of bottles from bottle bomb batch? ("Brian Schar")
  Re: Czech Ales (Matthew Beck)
  Making Hop Plugs - To Dry or Not? (mrmike656)
  FOAM Cup Homebrew Competition Tulsa, OK (philosophersstone)


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Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 14:00:25 +0930
From: "Greg 'groggy' Lehey" <grog at lemis.com>
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest Request (August 10, 2005)

On Wednesday, 10 August 2005 at 0:23:45 -0400, AutomagicalMailResponder wrote:
> Your article sent to homebrew is being rejected. The reason:
>  --Contains  line(s) greater than 80 chars in length --
>
> On Wednesday, 10 August 2005 at 0:17:15 -0400, AutomagicalMailResponderwrote:
>
>> Your article sent to homebrew is being rejected. The reason:
>>
>>  -- Article submitted as a multipart. We cannot handle this. --
>
> *sigh*
>
>> You wrote:
>>
>> On Monday,  8 August 2005 at 11:53:45 -0400, stencil wrote:
>>> I'm determined to run some decoction mashes this Fall, but I've
>>> reached an age when I have made so many mistakes that I'm afraid
>>> of using up my dwindling allotment, and thought it best to click
>>> on the 'discretion' button and select 'ask advice' from the
>>> dropdown.
>>
>> Denny Conn will probably have some input on this.  I know he's
>> currently working on publishing the results of his Great Decoction
>> Experiment, though that won't directly relate to your questions.
>> You should read the results, though, in particular to decide
>> whether you really want to decoct or not.  My own results are at
>> http://www.lemis.com/grog/brewing/decoction.html, but you'll
>> probably find Denny's summary more useful.
>>
>>> How do *you* perform a decoction?  How many vessels do you use,
>>> and what are their sizes?
>>
>> Two vessels.  They're both aluminium pots.  The larger one is the
>> pot I normally use for (multistep infusion) mashing, and is about
>> 16 litres in size (3.6 or 4.2 gallons).  The other one is the one I
>> use for the decoctions, and it's about half the size.
>>
>>> How do you heat them,
>>
>> Gas.
>>
>>> and how are they deployed on your work surface or surfaces?
>>
>> Not sure I understand this question, but hopefully the other answers
>> will clarify.
>>
>>> What utensils do you use to move the decoction from the main mash
>>> and back again, and what are their sizes and shapes?
>>
>> I use a small saucepan to scoop out of the big pot into the small one.
>> I pour back directly from the small pot into the big one.
>>
>>> How do you measure the volume or mass of the decoction, and gauge
>>> its consistency?
>>
>> I put the small pot on scales and weigh out the amount I need.  I
>> haven't had too much of an issue with consistency; I just take what
>> looks like an average of the existing mash.  This is an area where
>> people differ in opinion, though.
>>
>>> What tools do you use to stir the main mash, and to stir the
>>> decoction, and how do you handle them?
>>
>> I use a kitchen spatula (egg slice) for both.

Greg
- --
Finger grog at lemis.com for PGP public key.
See complete headers for address and phone numbers.


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Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 08:40:41 -0400
From: "Conner Ricky" <roxannee at homeoweb.net>
Subject:  Easement Credit Repository  5b1.d

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Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 06:52:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: Paul Waters <pwaters3 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Decoction Mash:  Tools and Techniques? (stencil)

This is the 1st time I have posted i hope this works.

http://www.stpats.com/grainins.htm

This is the resource I used for the 1st deccoction
that I did. and it went well. The only issue I didnt
take into account was the heat loss in the mashtun
with the reduced volume left in the mashtun, so my
final temp was about 5'F degree low

St. Pats no longer does beer stuff but the info they
have on thier site is excellent.

I also found it useful to use a digital thermometer
that has a remote probe for the rest stages.   I have
found them at Target and Walmart in the kitchen tools
area for around $10-$15

It does take a large pot, I used my 1st boil pot that
came with my 1st brew kit, a 5gal SS pot.

Dont stop stirring and watch your flame intensity

Paul
Mad Cow Brewing


		


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Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 09:58:50 -0400
From: "Fred Kingston" <Fred at kingstonco.com>
Subject: Sensory Deprevation Kit

 I've been charged by my local club to find one of those "make your beer
taste bad so you know what you did wrong" kits... Any pointers links etc
to folks that might have them available???


Fred Kingston
fred at kingstonco.com
AKCCorp.com 
skype: fredkingston




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Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 07:06:27 -0700 (PDT)
From: Steven Parfitt <thegimp98 at yahoo.com>
Subject: RE : Czech Ale

Bob Tower 
is searching for info on Czech Ale

>Does anyone have any information on indigenous Czech
>ales? Presumably  there were many prior to 1842. A
>search on HBD for "Czech Ale" and  "Bohemian Ale"
>revealed nothing. The same searches on Google turned 

>up quite a number of hits but once I began following
>them they all led to lagers.

The only Czech Ale I have heard of is Rebel Garnet:

http://www.alcoholreviews.com/BEERS/rebelgarnet.html

However it is not mentioned on the Rebel web page.

http://rebelbeer.com/

Good luck.

Steven



		


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Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 08:23:26 -0700
From: "Brian Schar" <schar at cardica.com>
Subject: Reuse of bottles from bottle bomb batch?

For the first time in 10+ years 
of brewing, I made bottle bombs.  
I brewed 10 gallons of wort, then 
fermented 5 gallons in one 
fermenter with Wyeast saison 
yeast and 5 gallons in a different 
fermenter with White Labs saison 
yeast.  The Wyeast had a lower 
FG of 1.009, as compared to the 
FG of 1.015 for the White Labs, 
but it was the Wyeast batch that 
blew up a couple of bottles.  
Given the clear demarcation 
between tasty, non-exploding 
beer from the first fermenter 
and dangerous, exploding beer 
from the second fermenter, I 
trace the problem back to bad 
sanitation in my yeast starter 
or in the second fermenter.  
My bad.

Only two bottles exploded.  
I mentioned to my wife that 
I thought one might have blown 
up, due to a beery aroma in my 
closet, and to put an exclamation 
point on my sentence, the second 
one exploded as we were talking.  
That part was kind of funny.  I 
only had 12 of the bad saison 
left, so I carefully wrapped 
each one in a thick towel, took 
it to the kitchen, and popped 
the cap in the sink.  I was left 
with 12 empty, safe bottles.

My question is whether those 
bottles are safe to reuse, or 
if they have been stressed to 
the point where I should just 
throw them out.  I'm not familiar 
with the yield curve of glass, 
and frankly it's been so long 
since I did any actual stress 
analysis I thought I'd just 
put this out to the group.  
Any thoughts?

Brian Schar
Menlo Park, California





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Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 10:12:44 -0700
From: Matthew Beck <mcbeck at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Czech Ales

 Bob,
  
  At the risk of creating a shameless promotion, I do carry a kit for
a czech-style ale at my HBS.  It can be found at
http://www.becksbrews.com/servlet/Detail?no=148 and may/may not help
in your search for a Czech Ale.  The recipe was formulated by a former
employee (retired) who has left about a dozen popular recipes on my
shelves.  I don't know his research methods, but I will try to find
out more from him.  All kit ingredients are listed on the site, so
czech it out to see if it conforms to what you expected.
  
  Hope that helps!
  
  Beck
  becksbrews.com



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Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 13:25:32 -0400
From: mrmike656 at aol.com
Subject: Making Hop Plugs - To Dry or Not?

I've been using my own homegrown Cascades for years now. I used to dry 
them with a dehydrator, vacuum seal them, then freeze them. Then I 
started making plugs from the dried hops. I fill a cigar mold (I think 
it's a double corona size...) with the dried cones and tamp it down 
with an appropriate size dowel. After an hour or two, the oils have 
stuck the compressed cones into a plug. Once vacuum sealed, they've 
kept well even after two years. At the recent AHA Homebrewers 
Convention in Baltimore, I spoke with someone from American Hop Plugs, 
who are making hop plugs from American hops in North Carolina. He said 
that they don't dry the hops - they ship them right from the growers, 
put them in a press and plug 'em fresh.

Well, this years' crop is looking big and ripe. I'm considering not 
drying - just pickin', plugging, sealing, and freezing. Since dried 
hops are much lighter than non-dried hops, how should I adjust recipes? 
Would it logically follow that an ounce of dried, compressed hops would 
be more concentrated since there are more cones per ounce?

Mike Maimone


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Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2005 13:18:38 -0500
From: philosophersstone at GBRonline.com
Subject: FOAM Cup Homebrew Competition Tulsa, OK

The Fellowship of Oklahoma Ale Makers (FOAM) invite you to
enter FOAM Cup 2005, our 7th annual homebrew competition. We
will accept your entries between August 26 and September 2,
2005. Judging for FOAM Cup 2005 is scheduled for September 9
and 10 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. FOAM Cup is an AHA/BJCP
sanctioned competition.

We will be using the 2004 BJCP Style Guidelines and will
judge all BJCP categories for beer and mead (Categories
1-26). We will not judge any ciders or perries (BJCP
Categories 27 or 28), but we will drink them if you send
them. We ran a well-attended BJCP study course this year, to
improve our judging skills and to increase the number of
certified judges in the club. And we have lined up several
great sponsors and prizes. All category and BOS winners
(1st-3rd) will receive our very popular FOAM Cup medallions,
plus other goodies. Check the web site for all of the
details. Individual and club points earned at FOAM Cup will
count toward the 2005 High Plains Brewer-of-the-Year and
Club-of-the-Year awards. 

FOAM is offering on-line registration for the first time
this year. You will pay only $6 per entry when you register
on line, $7 per entry if you do not. All brewers with 5 or
more entries will pay only $5 per entry, regardless of how
you register. We require two (2) bottles per entry. Whether
you want to register on line or download the entry forms,
please go to the FOAM web site at www.alemakers.com. Click
on the FOAM Cup link and follow the directions from there. 

Once again, the fantastic folks at the Mecca Coffee Company
have agreed to accept your FOAM Cup entries. Ship or deliver
your entries to:

FOAM Cup 2005
c/o Mecca Coffee Company
1143 E. 33rd Place
Tulsa, OK 74105
Telephone: (918) 749-3509

The entry window opens Friday August 26, and closes one week
later at 6:00 p.m. CDT on Friday September 2. We will judge
all entries September 9 and 10. Persons wishing to judge or
steward should contact Organizer Jeff Pursley at
philosopher at alemakers.com. To get all of the details,
download the official rules and forms using the FOAM Cup
link on the FOAM web site, www.alemakers.com.

Jeff Pursley, Organizer
FOAM Cup 2005


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