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


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Contents:
  Hop Storage (Fred Johnson)
  Parkwebonly's oxidized beer ("Dave Burley")
  darkening in the keg ("Jay Spies")
  Re: Lager darkened  in keg (Jeff Renner)
  Odd final gravity ("Alex MacGillivray")
  weld-b-gone switcheroo ("nephi polder")
  Big Brew in San Diego ("Chad Stevens")


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Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 06:57:59 -0500
From: Fred Johnson <FLJohnson at portbridge.com>
Subject: Hop Storage

Considering that hops are generally harvested only at one time of the 
year--please correct me where I'm wrong--and considering that 
commercial breweries use lots of hops, I assume these breweries, 
especially the best ones that take care to obtain the best ingredients 
and maintain consistency, have a standard method of storing their 
year's supply of hops to maintain their freshness until the hops from 
the next season come in.

Do they package their hops in small amounts? Do they purge the storage 
container with an inert gas? Do they simply freeze them?

(I always find myself ordering at this time of year and often buy more 
than I'l actually use until next season. I keep them in a -15-20 C 
freezer in their original oxygen barrier bags, but it is really 
impossible for me to keep air out of the bags after they've been 
opened.)

Fred L Johnson
Apex, North Carolina, USA



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Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 08:38:11 -0500
From: "Dave Burley" <Dave_Burley at charter.net>
Subject: Parkwebonly's oxidized beer

Brewsters:

Parkwebonly's (FYI we use our real names in this digest) experienced a
darkening and oxidation of his coorsBudmillors on putting it in a keg. Sound
like serious oxidation to me.

Here's the solution to that. Fill your keg full of water and push the water
out with carbon dioxide.  Then fill your keg with your beer and pressurize
it. I invented this method many decades ago when I first had your experience
and it has never failed me. Don't believe that you can just blow in some
carbon dioxide and remove all the oxygen. That takes about 100 kegsfull of
carbon dioxide, as you get perfect mixing in such a small vessel.

Keep on Brewin'

Dave Burley



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Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 10:15:18 -0500
From: "Jay Spies" <jayspies at citywidehomeloans.com>
Subject: darkening in the keg

All -

"parkwebonly" laments the darkening of his homeade megaswill (remove tongue
from cheek) in the keg...

Sounds like what you have here is some oxidation, my friend.  Oxidized
beers, especially light lagers, can produce some maillard browning when left
over time, and one of the characteristic flavors of that process is
pineapple, perhaps contributing to that sickly sweet flavor.  When I judged
pilsners at the NHB Conference in June, we had several samples so affected.
Hate to say it but not much will clean it up.  Really watch your transfer
technique to avoid O2 pickup.  I try to jumper between purged kegs.  (Fill
receiving keg all the way up with sanitizing solution, then push it out with
CO2, then liquid out to liquid out to move the beer into its lagering keg).
Virtually eliminates O2 pickup.  Oxidation may be somewhat less noticeable
for a larger or more heavily colored beer, but you made the proverbial
kleenex nightgown of beers - nothin to hide behind....  Hope this helps,

Jay Spies
Head Mashtun Scraper
Asinine Aleworks
York, PA



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Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 11:17:54 -0500
From: Jeff Renner <jsrenner at umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Lager darkened  in keg

"parkwebonly" <parkwebonly at austin.rr.com> wrote from an  
undisclosed location:

> Brewed a basic BudMillerCoors American Lager that I've done a few  
> times
> before. Everything was fine going into the keg - golden color and  
> the taste
> I expected. After 3 weeks lagering in my kegerator I sampled it  
> this evening
> and the beer has noticeably darkened and tastes very different.  
> Hard to
> describe - bitterness going down but with a sickly sweet aftertaste.
>
> Any ideas on what could have happened?

The darkening is highly suggestive of oxidation.  There are many  
sources of oxidation, and many flavor results from it (one of them is  
a honey-like taste - perhaps this is yours).

Very pale beers are more susceptible to this for several reasons -  
first, no dark malts which act as anti-oxidants, and second - no big  
flavors to cover up oxidative flaws.

There is nothing to be done at this point, but you need to review  
your procedures to avoid introduction of oxygen at all stages of your  
brewing, from mashing in (if you are doing a mash) to kegging.  A  
campden tablet in your mash can help, be sure not to stir the mash  
too vigorously, rack to a full secondary as soon as primary  
fermentation has nearly stopped, avoid splashing at all stages, and  
purge your keg with CO2 before filling, then purge any top space.   
Natural carbonation of the keg by priming or kraeusening will help, too.

Good luck.

Jeff

- ---
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, jsrennerATumichDOTedu
"One never knows, do one?"  Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943
***Please note new address***




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Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 11:52:05 -0900
From: "Alex MacGillivray" <Sockeye at kpunet.net>
Subject: Odd final gravity

I don't want to call this a problem because it's really not. I'd just like  
a little feedback from the community.
The last several batches of beer I've made, including an oatmeal stout,  
have fermented all the way down to 1.010. I've been sticking to Wyeast
2112 and 1056 mostly, although other yeasts have produced the same effect.  
Five years ago I did a Trappist with an OG of 1.084 and it also
fermented out to 1.010.
There are no off flavors and the finished product is also a pleasure to  
drink.
I make 14.5 gallon batches at a time and normal fermentation time in the  
primary is 2-3 weeks and secondary fermentation until I feel the FG is
reached. That may be as long as 2 months or more.
Anyone else have this experience?

Alex

- -- 
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/


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Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 17:10:20 -0800
From: "nephi polder" <nefipoda at hotmail.com>
Subject: weld-b-gone switcheroo

Brewers,
Does anybody know if the weld-b-gone spigot can be switched between two 
kettles that are drilled?  I'd like to convert, but I have two kettles (big 
and small) that I use depending on batch size, and I don't want to have to 
buy two spigots if I love the thing.  The only concern I have is if the 
silicone o-rings get permenantly mushed on to the kettle or otherwise 
deformed due to the repeated heatings.  On a related note, if I do this to 
my 15 gallon stainless kettle ($$$), is there any type of plug that can take 
the place of the spigot? I'm thinking of something smaller and less 
expensive, should I ever try to recover the cost of the pot by selling it to 
a non-brewer (perish the thought).
Thanks,
Nephi
Brewing much less often than desired in Fullerton, CA



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Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 19:36:09 -0800
From: "Chad Stevens" <zuvaruvi at cox.net>
Subject: Big Brew in San Diego

Oggis' Pizza-Mission Valley (San Diego) will be brewing Jon Peterson's
Schwarzbier (America's Finest City Homebrew Competition BOS Beer) Saturday,
December 3rd.  Anyone who cares to drop by is welcome.  Mash-in will be
around 9-ish; done by 2 or 3 in the afternoon.

And let this serve as a reminder, AFC 2006 is just around the corner.  We'll
be accepting on-line entries in January.  The competition is February 17th
and 18th (we need judges as always!).  Visit www.quaff.org in the near
future for details.

Thanks,

Chad Stevens
Quaff
San Diego



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