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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Re: Oak chips (Alan Semok)
  Re: Airation in meads. (Christopher Bartlett) ("Eric Wescott")
  what happened to my fusels/harshness? ("Peter A. Ensminger")
  Re: Airation in meads. (Mail Box)
  Re: Taste and Gender (Mail Box)
  Looking for source for Cargill Caramel 60 ("Dave Humes")


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Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2006 02:51:18 -0400
From: Alan Semok <asemok at mac.com>
Subject: Re: Oak chips


On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 14:13:48 -0400, "Kevin Gray" <kevin.gray at  
gmail.com> wrote:

> ...could you conceivably use JD barrel chips in a beer to simulate  
> a whiskey
> flavor? And if so, how would you first ensure that you weren't
> introducing some undesired micro-organism?


You could indeed
 ...my 2006 Christmas Strong Ale has been aging away for a few months  
now in bulk,  on bourbon oak.

As far as keeping the brew clean, you could steam the chips then soak  
them in whiskey...or nuke 'em in the ol' microwave.  I can't imagine  
that any baddies would survive that (input from a microbiologist  
member would be most welcome here!!)

Just don't overdo the oak...I've tasted quite a few potentially great  
homebrewed beers virtually ruined by too much "wood".  Really good  
beer is all about BALANCE.

By the time it is considered ready, my holiday brew (10 gallons, OG  
1.079) will have spent  about 5 months aging with a total of just  
under 3 tablespoons full of a combination of bourbon barrel oak and  
toasted Hungarian oak chips.

cheers,
AL



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Date: Mon, 25 Sep 2006 08:30:08 -0400
From: "Eric Wescott" <eric.wescott at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Airation in meads. (Christopher Bartlett)

Yes - Aerate the heck out of meads at start!  Pump with O2 if you
want.  The same tricks to get a big healthy yeast colony in beer are
good for mead.

I would not pump it with air or O2 after about 1 day of fermentation
(unless something went wrong, and I was trying to fix it).  Assuming
you have an active ferment, I would rely on that iniital aeration and
perhaps one additional stir at +12 to +24 hours.

The staggering of nutrients is also a great way to create a complete
fermentation.  Since many meads go to the ABV limit of hte yeast,
those last 2% can take 4 times as long as the first 10-12%.  SNA helps
to keep the yeast fed and energized and to reach the finish line.

- --EW


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Date: Tue, 26 Sep 2006 00:25:41 -0400
From: "Peter A. Ensminger" <ensmingr at twcny.rr.com>
Subject: what happened to my fusels/harshness?

Greetings,

On August 7, I posted www.hbd.org/hbd/archive/5042.html#5042-5 and 
received several replies (www.hbd.org/hbd/archive/5043.html#5043-4, 
www.hbd.org/hbd/archive/5043.html#5043-5, 
www.hbd.org/hbd/archive/5043.html#5043-7, 
www.hbd.org/hbd/archive/5044.html#5044-4) regarding a braggot I made 
that was very harsh. My BJCP-trained tastebuds interpreted this as due 
to the presence of fusel (higher) alcohols.

Following your responses, on Aug 18 I added 2 oz of "heavy toast oak 
chips" (Crosby & Baker) to my 5-gal corny keg of braggot. The keg has 
been maintained at ~42 deg F throughout and had some residual Nottingham 
ale yeast and Red Star Champagne yeast present.

Well, I just had some of the braggot tonight (Sept 25) and it was 
wonderfully drinkable. It was just a bit "hot", but not offensive for a 
~12% beer. There was no oak character. Since there was no "control", I 
cannot attribute the improvement to the oak chips. But this experience 
makes me wonder:

Q1: Was the harshness (present 5 weeks after pitching) really due to 
fusels? [I don't have HPLC/GC/MS in my kitchen, so have to rely on my 
limited experience in drinking cheap whiskey, whose extreme harshness is 
attributed to fusels.]

Q2: What exactly happened to improve my braggot? Did the yeast play a 
role? Was it the oak chips? Anyone care to speculate?

TIA for your feedback!
Peter A. Ensminger
Syracuse, NY
Apparent Rennerian: [394, 79.9]



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Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 06:09:45 -0400
From: Mail Box <mail-box at adelphia.net>
Subject: Re: Airation in meads.

 > From: Christopher Bartlett <bridgeweaver at khanfusion.net>
[snipped]
 > I have a couple of
 > questions, specifically about aeration.
 >
 > So, should I airate my mead at pitching time?  If I'm going to
 > experiment with the incremental nutrition regime mentioned earlier
 > this week, (could someone provide me a reference where I can read
 > more about this) should I airate at each addition of nutrient?


Chris,

You should definitely aerate your must at pitching.  I can't comment on 
your incremental nutrition regime, since I haven't read it, but some 
folks do divide the nutrient into 2-3 additions and add it over the 
first 2-3 days.  I don't practice that method, but I do aerate at 24 and 
48 hours (no fancy O2 set up, just about 5 minutes of stirring with a 
hand held kitchen mixer).  At this point there is no danger of 
oxidation, as the yeast are still utilizing it and the CO2 production 
will strip any excess.  Oxidation is a concern with mead as it is with 
wine and beer, but not at this point in the fermentation process.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,
Ken


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Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 06:44:13 -0400
From: Mail Box <mail-box at adelphia.net>
Subject: Re: Taste and Gender

 > From: "Alexandre Enkerli" <enkerli at gmail.com>
[snipped]
 > It was never my intention to generalize and I was explicitly trying to
 > get away from the stereotypical "girlie beers" (wheat and/or fruit).
 > As it so happens, this stereotype seems well known among this group,
 > which is quite telling. This stereotype is not at all universal.
 >
 > My intention was to get some "success stories" from people who have
 > gone beyond the stereotype and have been able to brew a beer that
 > would convince someone that there is more to beer than what they
 > thought before.

Alexandre,

I'll weigh in late.  :)

I went through the process you describe with my wife.  When we met she 
wouldn't consider a beer.  But she is an open minded person and is 
willing to try new tastes, and also supports my hobbies.  And so while 
she might not order a beer, she was very willing to sip various kinds of 
beers that I made or ordered out.  This was more of an adventure than a 
religious conversion, to try to put in the proper context.  I wasn't 
trying to get her to like beer so much as I was sharing my hobby and my 
enjoyment of beer with her.  Now she occasionally will order a porter, 
or lacking that (and we find that while nearly every microbrewery has an 
IPA, not all microbreweries make a porter) a stout.  She likes a 
chocolate "stout" (quotes since it is a 23 rather than a 13, being 50/50 
wheat/barley and with cocoa powder) I brew, but no others.  The specific 
flavor profile she enjoys is the roasty flavors, coffee and/or chocolate 
notes, very low hop bitterness and no sourness (Guinness clones or 
stouts with a soured addition are right out).

As has been stated several times in this thread and as you acknowledge, 
while there may be a stereotype about womens preferences in beer, not 
every individual will fall into that stereotype.  It's certainly not 
just women who enjoy wheat and fruit beers.  I love apricots, and every 
spring when Pyramid releases their Apricot ale, I buy a case.  Without 
the apricot flavor, this is not a beer I would typically enjoy at all. 
Belgian wheat beers are just lovely, and some of the more intense 
banana/clove 15As really suit my tastes as well.

Cheers,
Ken


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Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2006 14:29:30 -0400
From: "Dave Humes" <dhumes001 at comcast.net>
Subject: Looking for source for Cargill Caramel 60

I'm looking for a source for Cargill Caramel 60.  I've used it for years in 
a ESB recipe and have been able to order it from my local supplier.  But, 
they've had to order a whole 55lb bag and hope to sell what I don't 
purchase.  I only want 5-10lb, and don't want my supplier to get stuck. 
Anyone know of a supplier that's selling smaller quantities?

Thanks.

- --Dave 




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