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


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Contents:
  18th Century Measurements ("Phil Yates")
  Subject: hydrometers - bah humbug ! ("Martin Ammon")
  RE: hydrometers - bah humbug ! (Steven Parfitt)
  RE: Dilution during fermentation ("Oswald John PA US")
  RE: Odd Final Gravity ("Stewart, John")
  aged grain (Craig Agnor)
  RE: Oxidation in bottles and Co2 with Carboys ("Meyer, Aaron D.")


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JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
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Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 21:43:07 +1100
From: "Phil Yates" <phil.yates at bigpond.com>
Subject: 18th Century Measurements

After several paragraphs which do not at all present our hydrometer in a 
favourable light, Steve finally concludes:

>Yes a hydrometer is vintage 18th century technology.

This is certainly something most of us have accepted for a long time, even 
without all the scientific mumble jumble offered by Steve to prove his 
point.

Which brings me to the point, just what is your point Steve?

I thought your post was inspired by "bad hydrometer readings". I'm thinking 
here, all the scientific information you've provided would also suggest we 
should never have any faith in an ordinary tire (Ozzies read "tyre") 
pressure gauge.

Well so what? For most of us it's good enough. 



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Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 07:35:02 -0600
From: "Martin Ammon" <SURFSUPKS at KC.RR.COM>
Subject: Subject: hydrometers - bah humbug !

Gee whiz my head hurts thinks me will have a beer.

As a fellow brewer once stated

Its just Beer.

But thank you for the information

Swagman
Its never too early only Late



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Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 05:49:52 -0800 (PST)
From: Steven Parfitt <thegimp98 at yahoo.com>
Subject: RE: hydrometers - bah humbug !

So, why not use a pipet and pull 10ml of liquid.
Transfer the liquid to a 50ml flask, and weigh it with
a digital scale that had it's zero set with the dry
flask?

The reading divided by 10 is the weight of one mL of
liquid, and the specific gravity (gr/mL).

Using 10mL instead of 1mL reduces the error by a
factor of 10. 10mL pipets are readily available, and
can be verified by simply taking a 10mL sample of
water and weighting it via the same procedure.

Steven Parfitt 


	
		


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Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 09:34:00 -0600
From: "Oswald John PA US" <john.oswald at cibasc.com>
Subject: RE: Dilution during fermentation


Thanks for the reply David
My hunch was that this was OK
But why shoud I avoid O2? <<<You want to use de-aerated water however so
as not to
introduce oxygen into the beer.>>>
I don't actively airate the dilution water or partially green beer, but
I thought the oxidation problem was when the wort was hot? Hence I was
puzzled in recent posts about the keg of "oxidized" beer.
Is there a subsequent danger for oxidation when the yeast is taken out
of the picture as the result of filtration prior to kegging? If so does
the same hold true for bottle priming?

john



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Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 10:11:36 -0600
From: "Stewart, John" <johns at artesyncp.com>
Subject: RE: Odd Final Gravity


"David Houseman" <david.houseman at verizon.net> wrote:
> Low saccharification temperature is often the cause of low 
> final gravities since there are fewer unfermentable dextrins
> remaining.  Since this has occurred in several beers, have
> you checked your thermometer(s)?  You may think you are at
> 152 when you are really at a much lower temperature.
> Calibrate them to boiling water and freezing water.  This has 
> happened to me.   Boiling water at sea level is 212oF; lower
> at higher altitudes.  Make a slurry of crushed ice and water
> to check at the low end.  98.6 is another reference point.

Be careful with the 98.6 body temperature. We've grown to accept this as
normal body temperature, and expect some exactness due to the level of
precision (out to three significant digits).

In truth, human body temperature varies quite a bit and it can be quite
normal for a healthy person's body to be higher or lower by some amount.

So why the exactness of 98.6? When the averaging of the "normal" temerature
was done, the average was only done to two significant digits... 37 degress
Centigrade.

Convert 37C to F and you get... 98.6.

http://tinyurl.com/aaxxh
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=lang_en&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=convert+98
 .6+fahrenheit+to+celsius&btnG=Search

johnS


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Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 10:12:34 -0800 (PST)
From: Craig Agnor <cagnor at pmc.ucsc.edu>
Subject: aged grain


Hello,

I've recently come into some aged grain from a friend who has cut back 
his brewing efforts.  Included in this booty are 1-sack German pilsner, 
1-sack UK Maris Otter, one open but mostly full 
sack of german munich and some light munich malt of unknown origin. 
The age of the grain ranges from 1-2 years to 'at least' a 
couple years old.  They've been stored in a garage for most of that time 
with ambient temperatures of ~60-70F.

I'm wondering how the flavor of the grain may have changed during storage 
and how to best use this grain.

Does the flavor contribution of malt to beer change as the 
grain gets older (say at ages 6-months, 1-year, 2-years, ...etc)?  If so, 
how does the flavor change?

Does the `quality' of flavor deteriorate over time?  If so, are there any 
techniques (e.g. oven toasting) for refreshing the flavor?  If not, are 
there styles where this grain quality is masked (e.g. do hoppy high 
gravity or dark roasty beers mute any deterioration in malt flavor?)

Thanks for your help.

Cheers,
Craig
Santa Cruz, CA


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Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 13:11:10 -0600
From: "Meyer, Aaron D." <Aaron.Meyer at oneok.com>
Subject: RE: Oxidation in bottles and Co2 with Carboys

>Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 08:20:30 -0600
>From: "William C. Tobler" <wtobler at houston.rr.com>
>Subject: Making Oxidized Beer
>
>I could use some advice on a project I'm doing for a research friend.  
>He is doing some research on preventing oxidation in beers.  They 
>already make a product that is used in Soda pop.  (Apparently oxidation

>is a big problem >in soda making.)

I would suggest only half filling 12oz bottles. This should leave more
oxygen in the bottle than the yeast will metabolize during priming. You
should use just a little more than the usual 2/3tsp table sugar per
bottle of priming sugar - 3/4tsp might work well. The extra sugar is so
that the yeast produce enough co2 to bring the bottle pressure to the
desired priming level since there will be more headspace to pressurize
than usual.
[3/4 cup sugar = 36 teaspoons; 5 gallons = 640 ounces or 640/12 = 53.333
12oz bottles; So 36tsp sugar / 53.333 bottles = .675tsp (~ .666 or
2/3tsp) sugar per bottle for normal carbonation.] Outside of this, I
think the safest way to oxidize some beer without worries of
contamination is to use your pure oxygen setup. Split the batch in 1/2
before bottling, oxygenate one with just a second or two of gas, then
bottle at will. This should keep your oxygen per bottle more consistent
than if you oxygenated each bottle on it's own.

And for those who want to move beer from glass carboys under co2
pressure - be VERY careful. Even a small scratch on the glass can create
a fault point, you carboy may hold the pressure today and blow up on you
tomorrow. This is NOT safety glass. If you insist on doing this (Yes I
have done it..) try to find a bucket you can put the carboy in while
doing the transfer - an no matter what - wrap the glass vessel in towels
or sheets. The wrapped cloth should keep the glass from flying out so
violently if / when the vessel ruptures.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Cheers!



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