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


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Contents:
  Re: Mash Run-off Issue (Andrew Lavery)
  RE: Hops Offshoots ("Keith Anderson")
  traveling with homebrew (Marc Sedam)
  PBW, Effect of O2 on S.G. ("Kyle Jones")
  Schaerbeeck Belgian cherry substitute ("Steve Seeley")


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Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2006 19:39:44 +1000
From: Andrew Lavery <alavery at iprimus.com.au>
Subject: Re: Mash Run-off Issue

Craig S. Cottingham wrote:

> A couple of homebrews later, I'd figured out the problem. Phil's  
> Phalse Bottom is made of rigid plastic, but it's not perfectly rigid.  
> Warm it up to mash temperatures, and put 12+ lbs of grain on top of  
> it, and it will deform slightly. The brass elbow threaded through the  
> center of the false bottom protruded through about 1/8" or so, and  
> the false bottom was deforming enough that the elbow was bottoming  
> out in the cooler -- effectively sealing it off. I fixed it by  
> getting a few small stainless steel bolts, nuts, and lock washers and  
> building little legs for the false bottom that transfer the weight of  
> the grain bed directly to the bottom of the cooler. No more false  
> bottom deformation, and no more stuck mashes.
I had the same problem first time I used my Phil's Phalse Bottom.  It 
deformed to a wave profile, instead of the curve it starts as, almost 
eliminating the dead space underneath.  I was using it in a stand alone 
lauter and it did not like mash at ~75C.  I put some plastic bits under 
it to hold it up and it now works OK.

Cheers, Andrew.
Ballarat, Victora, Australia.


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Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2006 10:23:27 -0400
From: "Keith Anderson" <keithxanderson at gmail.com>
Subject: RE: Hops Offshoots

Dana writes:

"I have a question about hop growing. My hops are growing
like mad this year (2nd year) and are already up on my 2nd
story deck.  From my readings I have limited each plant to
2 or 3 strong shoots growing from the ground. However, I
now have several small off-shoots growing from the
half-way up to the top of vines. Should I trim these upper
off-shoots or are they okay? I don't recall these from
previous hop growing but I have never had such fast early
growth before."

I've read the same advice and tried both ways.  When I only let 2 or 3
shoots climb all year I only had one harvest of hops and then that was
it for the year.  When I let the 2nd and 3rd wave of shoots climb then
I've had a few batches of hops to pick and had more overall.  I think
the advice to let a few strong shoots climb is good to start off the
year but if you have a healthy plant and it isn't getting sickly from
the extra vines then let them climb.

I have three cascade plants that grow like wildfire but my problem is
the actual hops they produce.  Very bland and mild.  I've actually
given up this year because the last few year's hops weren't worth the
trouble of rigging a rope for them to climb.  I dried them and used
them and they had plenty of yellow power but next to no aroma or
flavor.  The cones were big and healthy also so I don't get the
impression it needs more fertilizer (it gets plenty of compost).
Maybe something missing in my soil.

Keith in Red Bank, NJ


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Date: Mon, 05 Jun 2006 16:44:19 -0400
From: Marc Sedam <alechemist at bellsouth.net>
Subject: traveling with homebrew

I have my own horror story on the way to the 2002 NHC in 
Dallas.  Short version is that all bottles were confiscated 
and not allowed to go on the plane.  I was asked to dump out 
the bottles in the bathroom...where I proceeded to drink 
several beers and bottles of mead.  No one said I couldn't 
dump them in my stomach!  I was, literally, drunk before 
boarding the plane--something I'm not totally proud about, 
yet it couldn't be helped.

If you're traveling, simply bottle the beer in already 
labeled commercial bottles.  It's still beer, in a proper 
container, no harm no foul.  Otherwise, like all airport 
security (unfortunately I'm on a plane practically weekly, 
these days) it's at the discretion of the TSA rep who has 
your stuff.  In my experience, you will not get anywhere 
trying to explain why it's OK to bring on board.



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Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2006 22:14:49 -0500
From: "Kyle Jones" <kjones1 at ufl.edu>
Subject: PBW, Effect of O2 on S.G.

I have two unrelated questions that arose during my latest brew this
weekend.
The first:  I have spent the last hour searching the archives, and it seems
there *might* be some evidence that PBW can be harmful/less than optimal for
copper.  
I soaked my mash tun (with copper manifold, which was gleaming after
spending an hour
in 155 degree acidic wort) in a cold PBW solution (hot water was 
too hard to get to) for 30-45 minutes.  After rinsing and drying, the
manifold
is a dull brownish-orange color (different from slightly oxidized copper),
and
has silver-ish spots with rainbow-like borders (sorry for the terrible
description).
Why the decidedly unappealing appearance of the manifold after it's
cleaning--something
to do with cleaning water composition or brewing water chemicals?

Also--I got all caught up in the first use of my Shirron chiller (which
worked
amazingly, I must say), and forgot to take my S.G. reading before
oxygenating my
wort with pure O2 via aeration stone for 60-90 seconds (at a rate to cause
some
decent foam formation).  Can anyone offer up an idea of how much this might
throw
off my gravity measurement (I'm assuming the wort was pretty much saturated
with
oxygen)?  My hydrometer reading (after foam settled) read 1.046 at 82
degrees (need to
slow down flow rate through chiller, although 82 degrees was after only 5-6
min with
81 degree tap water ran through a 30 foot prechilling copper coil in ice
bath), which
Translates into 1.049.  My target gravity was 1.050, and I missed my target
volume of
5.25 gallons, about .15 gallons short.  My spreadsheet I built for
calculations, along with
my efficiency numbers, have been pretty good to me, so it looks like the
dissolved O2 didn't
affect my gravity reading much at all, considering my wort of gravity 1.049,
when you 
account for the slight volume shortcoming--does this sound OK?

Thanks,

Kyle
Houston, TX






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Date: Mon, 5 Jun 2006 22:05:07 -0700
From: "Steve Seeley" <seseeley at hotpop.com>
Subject: Schaerbeeck Belgian cherry substitute

Hi all,

	I'm hoping someone can suggest a substitute for Schaerbeeck
cherries.   Schaerbeeck cherries are the cherries that Belgian lambic
brewers make Kriek with.  I think I remember someone suggesting a cherry
from Michigan?

Thanks,
Steve




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