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


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Contents:
  Stone IPA Hops (Bob Tower)
  pH changes during the process ("Fredrik")
  Palmer's nomograph (Fred L Johnson)
  beer (and rum) in Puero Rico ("Peter A. Ensminger")
  Syracuse water ("Peter A. Ensminger")
  Cold conditioning before bottling (Christopher Burian)
  Palmer pH ("A.J deLange")
  Results of the E.T. Barnette Homebrew Competition (Scott and =?iso-8859-1?Q?Ch=E9rie_Stihler?= )


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JANITORs on duty: Pat Babcock (pbabcock at hbd dot org), Jason Henning,
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Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2006 20:35:06 -0700
From: Bob Tower <bob at constructotower.com>
Subject: Stone IPA Hops

Grant Stott asked:

If anyone knows we would like to know what hops are used in Stone IPA &
Full Sail IPA as we couldn't quite figure it out & have been
unsuccessful in our brief search on the web.

A sales rep at Stone once told me (if memory serves) that they bitter  
their IPA with Columbus and finish and dry hop with Centennial. They  
make a big deal about NOT using Cascade.

Hope that helps.

Bob Tower / Los Angeles, CA


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Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 10:49:56 +0200
From: "Fredrik" <carlsbergerensis at hotmail.com>
Subject: pH changes during the process

I don't always take pH readings throughout the process but some
brews ago I did. I have a very simple pH meter, but "semi scientific"
as it may be, FWIW here is what I found...

First, based on the receipe and my alkaline water, I calculated the amount
of lactic acid addition I needed and added it all at once. My
calculated target was ~5.7  at  roomtemp, and while I don't remember
the details I think I mashed in for maybe 5-10 mins or so because
taking a check. The pH (as measured) was 5.6  at  roomtemp. This was
close enough so I made no further adjustments.

At the end of the mash (pre-boil) the wort pH was 5.4  at  roomtemp.

So it seems it dropped 0.2 unis from 5 mins into the mash, to pre-boil.

(I made not attempts to resolve how much of this has to do with
intrisic proceses, or what has to do with lautering water, neither do
I at this point rememeber if I acidified the lautering water further or not.
I usually use a thinner mash, and less sparge water.)

At the end of the boil, the wort pH was 5.3  at  roomtemp.

Then then final beer pH after fermentation is around 4.3 which is the case
for most of my all malt beers. (The clear exception I've found is that
*large amounts* of sugar tend to lower the beer final pH.)

 /Fredrik 


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Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 06:46:27 -0400
From: Fred L Johnson <FLJohnson52 at nc.rr.com>
Subject: Palmer's nomograph

John Palmer clarified for me how to use his nomograph.

The nomograph is an estimate of your mash pH, at room temperature, if 
you were mashing Base-Malt-Only. The color scale is an indication of 
the beer styles you should brew, based on your base malt mash pH. If 
your water gives you an RA of 100, then you should brew a dark beer to 
get the mash pH to turn out in the proper 5.1-5.5 range. The RA and the 
dark malts balance to create the right mash pH. If your RA was -20, 
then you need to brew light beers because dark malts will make your 
mash pH too acidic, dropping you below the ideal mash pH range of 
5.1-5.5.

Fred L Johnson
Apex, North Carolina, USA



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Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 10:45:31 -0400
From: "Peter A. Ensminger" <ensmingr at twcny.rr.com>
Subject: beer (and rum) in Puero Rico

Greetings,

Just returned from a trip to Puerto Rico. Several HBD'rs advised me to 
avoid the beer (unless I like "Medalla Light" and its ilk) and go for 
the "Ron del Barrilito 3-Star" rum.

Well, I picked up a bottle of 3-Star ~1 hr after arriving for a mere 
$15. I'm not much of a rum drinker, but I really enjoyed the stuff. 
Bought another bottle before leaving for home so I can enjoy it here in 
Syracuse.

In addition to all the light beer, there's also a relatively new brewpub 
in Old San Juan: Old Harbor Brewery and Steak House (opened in Aug 
2005). They have a glitzy web site at: 
"http://www.oldharborbrewery.com/intro.php"

I had a 5-beer sampler. Here are my impressions:
Munich Helles: very good
Pilsner: very good
Pale Ale: excellent
Stout: very good
Belgian Golden (seasonal): underwhelming

Overall, I would suggest a visit to this brewpub for a meal and a few 
beers next time you're in the San Juan area.

Cheers!
Peter A. Ensminger
Syracuse, NY
Apparent Rennerian: [394, 79.9]



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Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 11:50:09 -0400
From: "Peter A. Ensminger" <ensmingr at twcny.rr.com>
Subject: Syracuse water

Greetings,

I just got a water report for Syracuse, NY. Our water comes from nearby 
Skaneateles Lake. In case anyone is interested, here is the relevant data:

Total Dissolved solids: 160 mg/l
Sodium: 8.5 mg/l
Alkalinity: 100 mg/l
pH range: 7.15-8.15
Total hardness: 120 mg/l
Sulfate: 11.75 mg/l

Cheers!
Peter A. Ensminger
Syracuse, NY
Apparent Rennerian: [394, 79.9]



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Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 17:28:46 -0400
From: Christopher Burian <cburian at burian.net>
Subject: Cold conditioning before bottling

Hi,

On Saturday (three days ago) I bottled the first batch
of ale that I've cold conditioned.  After 1 week in the
bucket at 70F and two weeks in the carboy at 70F, I put
the carboy in a refrigerator at 42F for two weeks, for
clarifying.

I used 5 oz bag of 'priming sugar' boiled in a pint of
water in bottling bucket (first time for sugar, I
usually use Kreamyx).

After three days, I have no silt at all in the bottom
of the bottles.  Normally by 48 hrs I've got a pretty
good layer in the bottom.  This could be from using
sugar instead of Kreamyx, but the lack of anything is
a surprise--I thought that silt was yeast, not Kreamyx.

Anyway, I will crack the first bottle two weeks from
now and see if it's fizzy, but curious about this issue.
Gotta pour a homebrew and stop worrying...

Also with lagers, is this going to be a problem, esp.
since they are bottom-fermenting?  Do lagers have to
be re-pitched at bottling time with champagne yeast
(as I think I've read somewhere on the internet)?

Oh, and besides the cold-conditioning first, it was
also my first batch that I dry-hopped, with 2 oz of
whole leaf cascade.  Ouch!  I was only able to siphon
out about 3.5 gallons from my carboy out of 5.  That
hurt!  I will only use pellets in the future, and I'm
surprised that I never read any warnings from anybody
that a third of my beer is going to stay stuck in the
carboy, soaked up in the petals.   :(

Thanks,
Chris


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Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 22:35:50 +0000
From: "A.J deLange" <ajdel at cox.net>
Subject: Palmer pH

I haven't seen the book but this is what John was intending to say on 
the subject as of last January:

"Let me state the goal right up front: for best results, the mash pH 
should be 5.1 to 5.5 when measured at mash temperature, and 5.4 to 5.8 when 
measured at room temperature. (At mash temperature the pH will measure 
about 0.3 lower due to greater dissociation of the hydrogen ions.) When 
you mash 100% base malt grist with distilled water, you will usually get 
a mash pH between 5.7 to 5.8 (measured at room temperature)."

I hope he will forgive me for chiming in here but I know he is in the 
middle of moving and perhaps not getting or reading HBD but more 
probably is simply to busy to respond right now. The 0.3 offset comes 
right out of DeClerck.

And yes, I think most of the published data are measured at laboratory 
temperature simply because when brewers started doing pH measurements it 
was necessary to transport the sample back to the laboratory where the 
cumbersome, delicate equipment required to measure pH was located.

I would advise everyone to do it this way simply because the stresses on 
you pH electrode are very much reduced if the shock of going from room 
to mash and back to room temperature can be avoided and your electrode 
will last longer.

As to what the proper pH should be remember that the Catholic University 
at Louvaine (where DeClerck taught - his son runs the "DeClerk Chair" 
which organizes these things) held a 3 day conference entitled "The pH 
Paradox" about 2 years ago. In case anyone misses the point the paradox 
is that there is no single ideal pH value.

A.J.



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Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 15:44:04 -0800
From: Scott and =?iso-8859-1?Q?Ch=E9rie_Stihler?= <stihlerunits at mosquitobytes.com>
Subject: Results of the E.T. Barnette Homebrew Competition

Please join me in congratulating Rob Beck for winning the Best of Show
prize of $500 in this year's E.T. Barnette Homebrew Competition!

His American Pale Ale was a wonderful example of the style.

There were a total of 54 entries from 14 states. Entries came from as far away
as Hawaii, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.

For complete details regarding this event please go to the following URL:
http://www.mosquitobytes.com/Den/Beer/Events/ETB2006/ETB2006.html

I'd like to once again congratulate Rob Beck for a job well done!


Cheers,

Scott Stihler
Fairbanks, Alaska


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