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


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Contents:
  Hard Plumbing a Brew System ("Eric R. Theiner")
  Effect of Rasberries on ABV... ("Michael Eyre")
  Music To Brew By and Cider mill and press question ("Christian Layke")
  Yeast Flavor / Aeration (gornicwm)
  Re: has anyone used a coleman powerchill cooler? (Kevin\)" <krstiles@agere.com>
  RE: Music to Brew By (RiedelD)
  Correction - Valhalla - The Meading of Life Mead Competition ("David Houseman")
  ring around my fermenter (Jason Cochard)


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JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
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Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 8:56:45 -0500
From: "Eric R. Theiner" <rickdude at tds.net>
Subject: Hard Plumbing a Brew System

Noah asks about this subject matter, and I thought he
meant sweating or welding the system together... "bad
idea" I thought.  But the idea of simply using 
stainless (actually I use copper) with quick-disconnects 
is actually pretty normal among brew systems that I've 
seen.

My vessels all have polysulfone quick-disconnects 
(available from US Plastics-- they're expensive, but 
really good!) as well as a few extra placements to make
moving things to the sink pretty simple.  As I mentioned,
I use copper (and it's easy to bend), but SS makes sense 
as well.  

Rick Theiner
LOGIC, Inc.




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Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 07:22:51 -0700
From: "Michael Eyre" <meyre at sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Effect of Rasberries on ABV...

Hey fellows...

Made 6 gallons of a really nice wheat the other week, and racked it onto
5lbs of berries in a 6.5 gallon carboy for a few days. (Note: that
container was too small!) After cleaning up the resulting mess, I now
have a very red colored wheat that reads the same on the hydrometer now
as it did before I put it on the berries. Mostly for curiosity, does
anyone know what effect on the ABV 5lbs of raspberries will have? It was
5.1% prior... I'll even be happy with some educated guesses for what
she's at now. In addition, I noticed the flavor out of the hydrometer
was quite tart tasting... will this mellow out over time in the bottle?

Mike



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Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 12:52:07 -0400
From: "Christian Layke" <clayke at wri.org>
Subject: Music To Brew By and Cider mill and press question

Music to brew by:
At the risk of calling attention to my status as a true nerd, I find
biographies on tape addictive and often borrow them from the library for
long drives (much better at passing time than music!).  The unabridged
ones are so long it's virtually impossible to get through them.  So my
last bottling evening and brew day were accompanied by "No Ordinary
Time"--an accounting of FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt's actions on the home
front during the years leading up to and during WWII.  FDR appears to
have preferred cocktails to beer and Eleanor disapproved of alcohol
generally, but it was still a good listen while brewing.

Cider mill and press question:
My wife has expressed an interest in purchasing me an apple mill and
press for my birthday.  This is much appreciated despite being
self-serving on her part, since she can't drink my beer for the time
being because our baby has food sensitivities and because she has
admitted that, by purchasing a completed setup, she is trying to head
off any possibility that I will disappear into the basement to work on a
"project."  Has anyone purchased an apple mill and/or press that they
have been happy with?  I have read that a food processor is the best
mill available for home use, but that requires the dreaded "project."

While I'm on the topic of cider, has anyone ever tried to use the yeast
from a bottle of Normandy Cidre?  

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you may have.

Christian


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Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 12:53:00 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
From: gornicwm at earthlink.net
Subject: Yeast Flavor / Aeration

Hello Brewers.... a couple questions:

First, has anyone ever had experience brewing with generations of
yeast in which the first generation tastes good and subsequent batches,
using the slurry of past batches, tastes better.

I have heard some homebrewers, even some pros, state that subsequent
generations often have a better flavor signature than earlier batches.

Is this a myth or is it just the fact of utilizing a greater number of cells
in subsequent batches.  I have heard this was especially true of wheat 
yeasts.

Any thoughts???

Second, I am considering buying a aeration unit.  Is it worth it?  I know 
this unit would put my mind at ease when brewing a doppelbock or barley 
wine, but would the resulting beers be that much more amazing.

Is the only purpose of the aeration unit to put my mind at ease and drain 
my wallet or are the resulting beers worthy enough for me to consider 
purchasing a unit.



Bill Gornicki
CRAFT Homebrew Club
Michigan


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Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 13:33:58 -0400
From: "Stiles, Kevin R \(Kevin\)" <krstiles at agere.com>
Subject: Re: has anyone used a coleman powerchill cooler?

Mark L. writes:

 ... In the summer my basement gets too warm for 
fermenting (over 80F)  and in the depths of winter it gets to an unhappy

temp for either ales or lagers ( at 55F).

I can't comment on the chiller idea, but you could also choose
yeast/styles
that fit your basement temperature profile. Some suggestions were posted
here 
a while back for >80F fermentations. I can't comment on that (when I
lived in FL, 
I built a "brew closet" with a window AC for 65 - 70F ferments, but
that's another 
story), but I have had great experience with 3 yeasts at 55F, which is
where my 
current basement sits in mid-winter: Wyeast 1007 German Ale, 1728
Scottish Ale, 
and 2112 CA lager for a steam beer. 

Kevin Stiles
Allentown, PA [446.7, 102.3] AR




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Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 14:06:30 -0700
From: RiedelD at pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Subject: RE: Music to Brew By

I don't think it has been mentioned yet, but I play music appropriate to the
style being brewed.  Think of it as an added intangible to get your beer
just right.

English styles?  - The Who, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Jeff Beck, etc.
German styles?  - Beethoven, Mahler, Wagner
US styles?  - John Coltrane, Dave Brubeck, Bela Fleck, Jimi Hendrix
Irish styles?  - U2, Van Morrison, Cranberries
Canadian styles?  (What?? Other than cream ale variations?  Just anything I
make that I can't categorize...)
	- Rush, The Tragically Hip, Wide Mouth Mason, Big Sugar
Belgian styles?  This is a little tricky, but since I brew largely
Walloon-Belgian styles, I play French music
	- Francis Cabrel, Ravel, Debussey

Try it.  You may find your beers turn out a little more true-to-style.

Dave Riedel
Victoria, Canada



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Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 17:01:54 -0400
From: "David Houseman" <david.houseman at verizon.net>
Subject: Correction - Valhalla - The Meading of Life Mead Competition

My bad:  The Valhalla - The Meading of Life mead only competition requires
only the equivalent of two (2) 12-oz bottles, NOT three (3).

Thanks for the bandwidth.

Dave Houseman




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Date: Tue, 30 Aug 2005 17:09:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jason Cochard <jcochard25 at yahoo.com>
Subject: ring around my fermenter

Hi, I'm a beginning brewer doing my first 5-gallon
batch. It's been fermenting for about a week and I
opened the lid after about 6 days to find a ring of
trub around the bucket above all the beer. My question
is, should I scrape that stuff off and put it into the
beer to aid in flavoring, or is this the stuff that
shouldn't have been racked to the fermenter anyway,
and should be ignored?

Any help is great, thanks.

Jason



		


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