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


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Contents:
  Ozapft iss (Thomas Rohner)
  An essay on homebrewing ("Peter A. Ensminger")
  Fourth SRM ("A.J deLange")
  Mead (Ken Schramm)
  oikonomikos (leavitdg)


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Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2006 14:00:13 +0200
From: Thomas Rohner <t.rohner at bluewin.ch>
Subject: Ozapft iss

Hello all

i'm just watching the bunging of the first barrel in Munich's 
Oktoberfest. (on the bavarian TV-Channel)

Hell, i'll probably go there this year again. (If you like to go, go on 
a sunny weekday not too late, noon is cool, then have a Mass a 
Weisswurstand and a Brezen(aka Pretzel in the US). Around 17:00 it will 
get crowded on weekdays. Be shure to have a nice seating by then!)

Today we'll go to pick our hops, with my brewbuddies. Nice weather, 130 
miles away from Munich.

Dave, i will try to translate the hop pruning instructions. Maybe Greg 
Lehey will help a little bit, i sent him the instructions in german. 
(It's called "The green leaflet" this is the german hopgrowers annual 
publication)

I will send the pdf to you anyways. Since pictures say more than words.

Cheers and noamol oas. (Bavarian for one more, or another one)

Thomas



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Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2006 08:34:52 -0400
From: "Peter A. Ensminger" <ensmingr at twcny.rr.com>
Subject: An essay on homebrewing

Inspired by some recent hbd posts that seemed like gibberish to me (and
another hbd'er), I played a joke by submitting some gibberish of my own.

I used this little program at www.EssayGenerator.com and typed in
"homebrewing". The result was posted: 
http://www.hbd.org/hbd/archive/5059.html#5059-8

My apologies to the janitors.

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




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Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2006 14:15:31 +0000
From: "A.J deLange" <ajdel at cox.net>
Subject: Fourth SRM

I measured my Summer Weizen last night, got a pretty good result and 
learned a lesson. I did the dilutions using a graduated cylinder and got 
a very good fit (r=.9989) but the estimated SRM was 4.41 and the 
spectrophotometer reported 6.5. Uh-oh. A look at the entire spectrum 
quickly revealed what the problem was. The absorbtion at the red end was 
high which is an idicator that the beer was turbid. That's why the SRM 
method want's the second check reading made at 720 nm. This is a turbid 
Hefe Weizen so I centrifuged it. When I returned the centrifuge tube to 
vertical after pouring off the 25mL of sample for the photo I evidently 
disturbed the pellet in the bottom. A quick recentrifuge of the 
remaining liquid in the tube got the instrument reading down to SRM 5.1. 
This is off by 0.7 SRM which is the worst agreement of the 4 we've 
measured but still not bad.

Fred Johnson wrote offline asking for details on the filter being used 
which suggests that he misunderstood but also suggests a possible 
improvement to the method. There is no external filter. I am using the 
color separation filter IN the camera. Most cameras still have 3 sensors 
for R,G,and B whether they be 3 separate chips with filters in front of 
them as in the case of fancier video cameras (which is what I am using) 
or a Bayer mask (little tiny red, green and blue filters lain over a 
single CCD chip). That's the scheme used in most still and video 
cameras. Some manufacturers are producing cameras with more than 3 color 
channels and, I assume, matrixing to R, G and B. I don't know whether 
these would work or not. The 3 channel cameras, though, all have filters 
with responses like the one whose specs I posted the other day.

Using an external filter is, however, a good idea! With a narrower 
filter the response of a spectrophotomer would be better approximated 
(though one problem with this is that very narrow filters don't pass 
much light and you might need a really hefty source and long exposure).

Part of the beauty of this technique is that it seems pretty robust 
using the camera's own filter but that doesn't mean it can't be 
improved! This is because of the similarity in shape of beer spectra 
(which is also why the SRM measurement does convey information about 
actual color).

And that brings up another point for anyone that want's to try this. 
Turn out room lights so that the only light reaching the camera lens 
comes from the light table.

Cheers, A.J.


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Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2006 10:19:19 -0400
From: Ken Schramm <compleatmeadmaker at wowway.com>
Subject: Mead

Wow, step away from the computer for a few days and all heck breaks 
loose.  Sorry I haven't responded to this earlier.

If you want to make a mead that will be drinkable in 6-7 weeks, here 
are my comments:  Go with the staggered nutrient additions that were 
outlined earlier.  Fast, healthy fermentation is paramount.  Al did a 
very good job of encapsulating that.  I'd also shoot for a sweeter 
mead, as it will be drinkable much sooner.  71B-1122 is the yeast. 
Next, use 10-20 lbs of cherries or a berry fruit.  They clear 
quickly, and the big aroma, mouthfeel and body from the fruit 
character masks off aromas or flavors.  It may not be the crystal 
clear, classic traditional that they might have had in their minds 
eye, but hey, they didn't leave you a lot of options.  21- 28 days in 
fermentation, rack off yeast for ~2 weeks in glass, and give it two 
days in the keg or bottles.

Steven Parfitt;

Your recipes are for very low gravity meads, using a yeast that is 
groomed for high  gravity musts.  At those finishing gravities, the 
phenolic and/or higher alcohol character you are describing will take 
a while to age out.   All hope, however,  is not lost.

If you sweeten them up, you could have a good shot at making them 
enjoyably drinkable. I don't know when your fermentations ceased, but 
I'd be tempted to add another couple of pounds of honey to each of 
them to see if they get going again.  If they do, I'd add another 
four-six pounds, and a teaspoon of DAP.   I'd shoot for FG 
1.015-1.020 to make them palatable for the event.

So what it they don't restart?  I'm hoping you have kegging gear. 
Hit them with .5 tsp potassium sorbate per gallon.  Wait a day.  Then 
sweeten them up to about 1.020, and force carbonate them in a keg. 
Meads are harder to force carbonate than beers, but it can be done. 
Refrigerate the keg at the serving location a couple of days ahead of 
time to encourage as much clarity as you can manage.

Another suggestion:  Lots of fruit character generally goes over 
pretty well with a general public audience, like a wedding crowd. 
You could find a source for blueberry juice concentrate, and mix that 
in to taste (add small increments until you hit the level your 
daughter likes) after the sorbate has done its job.  That will help 
hide the edges, too.  If your daughter doesn't care, you can turn it 
into a fruit bomb.  You may think it's cheating, but those in 
attendance will just think it tastes good.

On the traditional, you might want to try some pectic enzyme to see 
if it will clear.  I don't know why it works, but it has worked for 
me in the past, it's fast (24 hours) and you don't have the risk of a 
big sediment that you get from bentonite.  Polyclar might be a good 
alternative.

If you are dead set against tampering with the trad, I understand, 
but If not, there are lots of ways you could doctor that with fruit 
or spices to make it tasty by the big day.  Drop a line off the 
digest and we can sort that out.

I hope this helps.

Ken


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Date: Sat, 16 Sep 2006 15:50:39 -0400
From: leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu
Subject: oikonomikos

Peter is right!  There is an economic benefit to homebrewing.  The other day I
stopped by the local mom and pop store, and picked up 2 six-packs of microbrew.
One was Magic Hat's Fat Angel, and the other was Lake Placid's Ubu.  The total
bill was nearly 18 bucks!

When I got home, I punched the numbers (which I will share if anyone wishes to
see the "higher math" imbedded).  When my wife got home, I told her that I
cannot afford to stop brewing.  If I were to purchase all that I brewed, at
that price, I was SAVING $4,000.00 per year!  I can't stop!

Economics indeed!
Darrell



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