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


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Contents:
  Starters (Eric Schoville)
  oven priming / bottling equipment / warm lager pitch and dry yeast (Matt)
  RE: Underpitching ("Rick Garvin")
  Re: Beer Gun (Dylan Tack)
  Second Call for Judges and Stewards at the NHC (Don Ferris)


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Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 09:43:17 -0500
From: Eric Schoville <eric at schoville.com>
Subject: Starters

This whole conversation about lager pitching has got me thinking about 
general starter questions.

1) Are there any guidelines as to how far in advance a starter should be 
made?

2) Should a starter be constantly aerated?

3) What about using a mechanical stir plate?

4) Should you chill the starter, rack off the liquid, and pitch only the 
yeast solids?

5) If you have a large enough starter, is it really necessary to aerate 
the wort? 

6) For the above questions, does anyone know what professional brewers do?

Thanks!

Eric Schoville
Madison, Wisconsin
http://www.schoville.com/brewing.php


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Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 08:32:38 -0700 (PDT)
From: Matt <baumssl27 at yahoo.com>
Subject: oven priming / bottling equipment / warm lager pitch and dry yeast

All,

Last week I bottled a batch of beer using the oven-priming technique I
posted about earlier (prime bottles with sucrose and bake primed
bottles at 300F or lower so as not to melt the sucrose, 2.5 hours for
true sterilization at 300F if desired, allowing bottles to cool
overnight without opening the oven door).  It worked great and really
cut bottling time down since I bottled right out of the primary.  Also
reduced risk of oxidation/infection during the process, I think.  Takes
no time at all to prime 2 cases of bottles with a paper funnel.

There remains the question of what baking temperature/duration would be
suitable if priming with anhydrous dextrose.  My concern is that the
water in the sugar might lead to uneven bottle heating and thermal
stress that would eventually weaken bottles.  Is this a real concern?

- ---

If you are oven priming and you use 5/16" ID vinyl hose for bottling,
you may as well sterilize a 3/8" homemade copper racking cane and
bottling wand in the oven as well.  Makes things very easy.  You could
probably get some tubing that could go in the oven too, and then you'd
have no need at all for sanitizing solutions when bottling.

- ---

I realize people have favorite liquid strains, but if you are forced to
pick a new strain based on what is/becomes available (as it sounds like
AJ is), why not try a dry lager yeast?  (Or possibly even certain "ale"
yeasts at lager temps?)  A dry yeast would seem to be especially
advantageous given the extra concerns with lager starters (size, temp,
etc).  Have folks found that the Saflager strains are not good enough,
at least for certain styles?  What about Edme (S-33 I think) at lager
temps, as a former HBD contributor used to recommend?

Matt











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Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 13:45:38 -0400
From: "Rick Garvin" <rgarvin at garvin.us>
Subject: RE: Underpitching

This winter we were repitching our WLP #830 lager yeast across a succession
of Helles, Hellerbock, Pilsener, Kellerbier and Dunkel. Attenuation seemed
to be more a function of cell count.

We started the Helles with oxygen at 50F/55F ambient in a chest freezer with
a one gallon starter with two vials for 20 gallons for three days, and then
gradually reduced the fermentation temperature to 48F ambient. We do not
monitor the liquid temperature in the fermenter. Primary fermentation took
about 2 1/2 weeks.

Subsequent fermentations were done by repitching the thick slurry from the
primary fermenters. 8-12 oz of thick yeast slurry per 6 gallons at 45F will
certainly take a 1.050 wort to 1.010 in 7 days. The Dunkel was fully
fermented in 5 days.

I believe the yeast held up quite well. One side effect of the higher
pitching rates was that the Dunkel was more attenuated than normal for our
system - even with 100% Dark Munich malt, a 20 minute first decoction and a
40 minute second decoction. Still, its drinking well.

Cheers, Rick



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Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 14:33:43 -0500
From: Dylan Tack <dylan at io.com>
Subject: Re: Beer Gun

> Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 19:54:48 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Leo Vitt <leo_vitt at yahoo.com>
>
> I have done well with bottle conditioned beers in competitions, but
> poorly with keg filled with tubing.  I have not use counter pressure
> fillers because I hear stories about difficulties

I'm assuming by "keg filled" you mean after it's carbonated.  I've 
dealt with this problem by filling bottles from my draft faucet, but 
doing it prior to carbonating the beer.  Then I dose them with a small 
amount of sugar (primetabs, Cooper's drops, or pipetting sugar solution 
are all good options).

This gives you the best of both worlds - the convenience of draft beer, 
plus a few bottle conditioned beers for competition.  I also like to 
stash some away, so I can see how the beer ages long after the keg has 
run dry.

I will admit to being tempted by the Beer Gun, though.  I own a 
Therminator (one of Blichmann Engineering's other products), and it's 
awesome.

 -Dylan





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Date: Wed, 24 May 2006 18:39:56 -0400
From: Don Ferris <dbueller at bellsouth.net>
Subject: Second Call for Judges and Stewards at the NHC

Second Call for Judges and Stewards at the 2nd Round
of the National Homebrew Competition!

Held in conjunction with the AHA National Homebrew Conference
in Orlando, FL 22-24 June 2006
(lots of pre-conference events schedule fore 21 June!
See www.beertown.org for additional details)

Come be part of the largest Homebrew Competition in the World!

We still need more Judges and Stewards!

The AHA would like to have ~9 judges per category.
(Here is the preferred procedure: Split the 24-27 entries in
each category into three 8-9 beer flights, with three judge
panels per flight. Each panel will push 2-3 beers. Then the
senior judge from each initial panel will sit together and
determine the top three using a fresh bottle of each beer.)

Using simple math, that means there are 243 judging positions
and 81 stewarding positions that need to be filled
(9 judges (3 stewards) x 27 categories = 243 judging and
81 stewarding spots) just to determine the medal winners!

Pre-registration for judging/stewarding is essential as we are
trying to pre-assign flights to facilitate the process so do not delay!

Sessions will be held Thursday Morning, Thursday Afternoon,
and Friday Morning. (Again simple math, if we do 9 categories
each session then we need 9 x 9 = 81 judges per session!)

Preference to judging positions will be given to people
holding a BJCP certification. However, if not enough BJCP
judges are available, then individuals with judging experience
that do not have BJCP certification may be used. If this occurs,
no more than one (1) non-BJCP certified judge will be on any
three (3) judge panel, and at least one (1) National or higher
ranked BJCP judge will be part of that same three (3) judge
panel.

If you would like to Judge or Steward please send the following
information to Judges at flbrewer.org or stewards@flbrewer.org
respectively:

Last Name
First Name
Preferred Name or Nickname
BJCP # (if applicable, even if just planning to steward)
BJCP Rank (if applicable)
Categories eligible to Judge or Steward
Categories ineligible to Judge or Steward
(i.e., you have an entry in the 2nd rd of the NHC)
Categories you would prefer to Judge or Steward
Categories you would not prefer to Judge or Steward
Time periods you would prefer not to judge
(i.e. there is a presentation you would like to attend)
State you live in (Will be used to try and ensure each
panel has regional diversity)
Your homebrew club (if applicable, for statistical purposes
to see how many different clubs are represented)
email address (or other means of contacting you)

Also ensure you have registered for the National Homebrew
Conference to participate in other activities going on around
and after the judging/stewarding.

If you have already contacted us about judging or
stewarding, you are on the list!

Look forward to seeing you in Orlando!

Don Ferris
NHC 2nd Round Judge Coordinator
Judges at flbrewer.org

Dani Parris-Exline
NHC 2nd Round Steward Coordinator
stewards at flbrewer.org

Space Coast Associates for the
Advancement of Zymurgy (SAAZ)
www.saaz.org




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