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


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Contents:
  Re: what happened to my fusels/harshness? ("Bob Devine")
  RE: Old Malt (Steven Parfitt)
  Spllit Rock HB Competition (hazan)
  fusels vs esters ("Peter A. Ensminger")
  fusels, ethynol acetate, and brewing and dying... ("Michael Kolaghassi")


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Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2006 22:25:00 -0700
From: "Bob Devine" <devinebob at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: what happened to my fusels/harshness?

Peter A. Ensminger asks:
> Both fusels and ethyl acetate are described as having "harsh" and
> "solvent-like" flavors. Apparently, I can't tell the difference. Can a
> more experienced beer taster can describe how these differ?

Peter, we never met but I suspect you don't really need help,
based on your many years of informative posts.  But I'll
jump in with some of my opinions assuming "experienced"
just means "old".

I don't consider ethyl acetate as having a harsh flavor, in moderate
and low levels it has a fruity aroma and low taste.  Some food
processors actually use it as a flavorant (think strawberry or
even pineapple).  Some of the big coffee companies use it
in the decaffeination process so a stray neuron in my brain
wonders what would happen in a stout that has both fruit
and coffee...

Fusel alcohols are the common name for the grab-bag of amyl
alcohols and random fatty acids.  This motley collection can be
rank and nasty (I've been told that "fusel" is old German for
"bad booze", can anybody help/confirm?)

For me, excessive fusel alcohol has a hot/fiery, oily mouth-feel
but principally it is the smell of cheap, distilled hooch that
identifies it.  Do a slow,cool fermentation to minimize its production.

So, I don't think that ethyl acetate tastes like fusels.

Bob Devine
(just settling in in southeast Washington, where it's grape harvest time)


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Date: Tue, 3 Oct 2006 05:42:00 -0700 (PDT)
From: Steven Parfitt <thegimp98 at yahoo.com>
Subject: RE: Old Malt

Ian Watson found a lost bucket of already ground malt:
>Hi all
>
>I discovered I have a pail of milled pale malt that 
>must be about 8 months old.  It's been in a plastic 
>pail with a tight fitting lid and smells fine. 
>Is it worth brewing with?
>
>Thanks
>
>Ian

Given that it has been stored cool and dry for eight
months, I see no problem. 

I purchased several bags of pre-ground malt from a
local micro that went under several years ago. At the
time the malt was probably a year old. I (and members
of the LHBC) could detect no oxidization in the
resulting beer the first year I used it. Two years
after I got it, I started to detect slight oxidization
and switched to using it only for starters. I still
use it for starters after three years. The only
detectable off flavor is slight oxidization. Some of
my starters are 3 to 5 gallons.

Steven 

Steven, -75 XLCH- Ironhead Nano-Brewery  http://thegimp.8k.com
Johnson City, TN [422.7, 169.2] Rennerian 

"There is no such thing as gravity, the earth sucks." Wings Whiplash - 1968



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Date: Tue, 3 Oct 2006 16:23:11 -0000
From: <hazan at ptd.net>
Subject: Spllit Rock HB Competition


This is the second announcement for the homebrew competition to be held on 
Saturday, November 18th, at the Split Rock Resort in Pennsylvania's Pocono 
Mountains, which is held in conjunction with their annual Micro Brew 
Festival. 

This is a sanctioned competition judging all beer, mead and cider styles.  
Entries should be shipped to the Resort at Split Rock, One Lake Drive, Lake 
Harmony, PA 18624, Attention: Shelly Kalins Lutz, for receipt from November 6 
to November 17.

Entry fees of $5 per entry, will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.  
By simply entering, you will be helping this charitable organization help 
others.  Checks should be made out to The Resort At Split Rock.  

Two (2) brown or green bottles with no markings are required. Please use 
rubber bands to attach bottle labels.  No tape please.  Any standard entry 
forms identifying the brewer and the appropriate entry category/subcategory 
are acceptable.  The 2004 BJCP Style Guidelines will be used for this 
competition.  Get this from the BJCP web site at www.bjcp.org.

Judges are needed and they should contact me to secure a position.
Judges and Stewards can hand carry their entries if they pre-register with 
payment.  All judges and stewards are required to be present by 8:30 so we 
can get started promptly at 9am.  Judges will receive an entry to the beer 
festival or entry to the beer dinner for their efforts and need to indicate 
which they wish when they commit to participate.  

The BOS winner will receive a complementary weekend for two at next year's 
Split Rock Beer Fest as well.  

More information will be available at the Split Rock web site: 
http://www.splitrockresort.com/beerfest/.   Or contact them at: spevents at 
splitrockresort.com.

Al Hazan
Competition Organizer
hazan at ptd.net




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Date: Tue, 03 Oct 2006 23:28:17 -0400
From: "Peter A. Ensminger" <ensmingr at twcny.rr.com>
Subject: fusels vs esters

AJ deLange suggested that I forward his email to the HBD ...

Esters are generally fruity with ethyl acetate being somewhat of an 
exception if it is present in any appreciable concentration in which 
case it smells like nail polish remover no doubt because nail polish 
remover generally contains a fair proportion of it. Alcohols, OTOH, tend 
to smell sweet, more like flowers than fruit.

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



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Date: Wed, 04 Oct 2006 07:18:23 +0000
From: "Michael Kolaghassi" <kolaghassi89 at hotmail.com>
Subject: fusels, ethynol acetate, and brewing and dying...

Hey guys,

Im new to this and was just wondering if anyone can think of any fatal or 
serious incidents that involved the drinking of homemade fermented beverages 
(not distilled)?

Can, for instance, I die of botulism from my Joe's Ancient Orange Mead since 
I had oranges in it and maybe some vicious bacteria got in it?  Can mold 
grow in the drink and I would die from it or have a severe allergic reaction 
since I'm allergic to penicillin?

All this talk of fusels and ethynol acetate are things I'm not familiar with 
and are new to me.  Are those things harmful to health and comparable to 
drinking nail polish remover and killing waaaay more brain cells than 
regular alcohol from the beverage?  And can a batch of something get way 
more of that than it normally should?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to understand some harmful or 
fatal risks if there are any besides just having a ruined bad tasting batch 
of beer/wine/mead.

Thanks for any help,
Michael K.



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