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


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Contents:
  Re: ACS HCl ("Greg 'groggy' Lehey")
  Re: old wort (Alan Semok)
  Tart Cherries ("Tom Clark")
  Re: All Grain in two day brew schedule ("Greg Brewer")
  Re: All Grain in two day brew schedule (Brew)
  Re: Old Wort (Laura Conrad)
  Robert's looking for Sour Cherries... not same as tart Montmorency cherries ("Steve Laycock")
  Results of the PSBO8 ("H. Dowda")


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Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 15:47:06 +1030
From: "Greg 'groggy' Lehey" <grog at lemis.com>
Subject: Re: ACS HCl

On Monday,  4 December 2006 at  7:32:57 -0500, steve.alexander wrote:
> Once again the hbd delivery has dropped off ...
>
> Greg Lehey says ...
>
>> On Wednesday, 29 November 2006 at 14:19:09 +0000, A.J deLange wrote:
>>> Made curious by Steve's post I looked at the lable on a jug of ACS
>>> hydrochloric acid. To my surprise heavy metals were listed at less than
>>> 1 ppm and arsenic at .01 ppm.
>>
>> That doesn't surprise me in the slightest.  I thought at the time that
>> Steve was misunderstanding.  My experience of decades ago was that
>> analytical chemicals are generally an order of magnitude more pure
>> than pharmaceutical quality.
>
> I don't think that's the issue Greg; it's not the qty of impurities
> (alone) but the type.

Of course.

> I do not have a copy of the ACS standard but many ACS grade
> chemicals have statements that the purity is >= 99.5% or >= 99.7% or
> whatever.

This sounds very much like quantity :-)

I don't know the term ACS; I assume it's American, and I thought it
was related to analytical chemistry.  From my chemistry days, there
were two different standards, pharmaceutical and analytical chemical.
The latter were always much purer.

> So we know that total impurities are less than 3000ppm or 5000ppm,
> and we also know that heavy metals are under 1ppm or whatever.

This is *much* higher than anything I've seen.  A.J's values seem much
more in line.

> So what are the other <4999ppm of impurities ?  Are they
> carcinogens, or is it water ?

In the case of hydrochloric acid (which is what we're talking about)
the water would be over 600,000 ppm.

> Food grade chems may well be less pure than ACS reagent grade BUT we
> are assured that the impurities are safe enough for consumption.

That's a valid point.  I'm guessing that they are.  There are unlikely
to be any organic impurities in the acid, and I contend that the
inorganic impurities of any interest to humans are also of interest to
analytical chemists.

>> I occasionally put a few drops of commercial HCl in my brews to adjust
>> pH.  HCl is probably less dangerous than bleach, though you need
>> appropriate care with both.
>
> I have no clue what you mean by "commercial HCl",

The least pure grade, used in commercial processes.  Also called
"technical".

> except to think you are adding swimming pool/driveway-cleaner
> muriatic acid to your beer.

Pretty much, though I've never heard of using HCl in swimming pools.
Round here it's NaOCl.

> Whether it's swimming-pool acid in beer or draino crystals in
> pretzels - I'm not fan of using these in food.  Perhaps this
> explains "haha man, why your weenie is so small??"  ;^)

It certainly hasn't had that effect yet.  We can wait and see :-)

Greg
- --
Finger grog at lemis.com for PGP public key.
See complete headers for address and phone numbers.


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Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 00:54:45 -0500
From: Alan Semok <asemok at mac.com>
Subject: Re: old wort


On Dec 4, 2006, at 11:45 PM,  "Amos Brooks" <amosbrooks at gmail.com>  
wrote:

>  I am a bit of a procrastinator and
> have let my poor oatmeal stout sit for about a month or two in the  
> secondary
> fermentor.


A month or two?
If your sanitation is good, don't sweat it!  I just racked off a  
strongish porter (7.7%ABV) that has sat in secondary since June...and  
it tasted great as I was transferring it.  It'll now spend another  
four months on Scotch soaked oak chips in a corny keg.

The most important thing I've learned in 35 years of homebrewing  
(aside from sanitation) is patience.  Except for the occasional  
quickie bitter, it is the norm for most of my brews to sit in  
secondary or tertiary glass for anywhere from two to as much as 5  
months.  If it's clean, there's no worries, and generally the time  
factor is your friend (especially for the  stronger beers).    
Hell...I have meads not yet bottled that have been in glass for more  
than 10 years.

For the last 20 years at least, I have endeavored to brew  far more  
than I could  drink,  and as a result have the luxury of letting the  
aging process work its unexplainable magic...   try it...you'll be  
amazed at the result.  Getting decent age on a brew can change your  
whole perception.  Trust me on this one!

That's my story and I'm sticking with it...
cheers,
AL

"Brew often, brew strong, keep quaffing, and age long!"
(V. Signposte, 1971)


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Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 09:23:52 -0500
From: "Tom Clark" <rtclark555 at charter.net>
Subject: Tart Cherries

Robert Marshall asked if anyone knows a possible source of cherries.

The bulk food store in Sugarcreek, Ohio used to sell frozen tart cherries.
I believe the name is Dutch Valley Foods.
Look on line.


Tom Clark




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Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 08:24:19 -0600
From: "Greg Brewer" <gbrewer1 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: All Grain in two day brew schedule

djb from Lockport IL wonders "if any one else has split the all grain
process up into 2 days?"

Yes!  This is the only way I brew.  I mash and sparge at night, then
boil and pitch the next day.  I leave the wort in my covered kettle on
my stove top for the typically 8 to 12 hours before I boil.  Storing
the wort at 40F will buy you a longer dwell.  The boil destroys any
contamination that might set in, and I have never detected any sort of
off flavors either prior to or after the boil.  It does take longer to
raise the cooled kettle to a boil, but it is a small price to pay to
allow you to brew.  I think you will find this method quite
accommodating.

Cheers,

Greg
Chicago


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Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 06:51:23 -0800 (PST)
From: Brew <kristbigfoot at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: All Grain in two day brew schedule

Be very careful to avoid/prevent mash souring (unless,
of course, this is desired).
Cheers.
Kraig


 


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Date: Tue, 05 Dec 2006 12:11:07 -0500
From: Laura Conrad <lconrad at laymusic.org>
Subject: Re: Old Wort

>>>>> "Amos" == Amos Brooks <amosbrooks at gmail.com> writes:

    Amos> Is brewing faster than you drink a common problem?

Yes, it means you need more beer-drinking friends.  Preferably the
kind that will make you good meals in return for you bringing the
beer.

- -- 
Laura (mailto:lconrad at laymusic.org , http://www.laymusic.org/ )
(617) 661-8097	fax: (501) 641-5011
233 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139


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Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 11:15:51 -0800
From: "Steve Laycock" <slaycock at discoverynet.com>
Subject: Robert's looking for Sour Cherries... not same as tart Montmorency cherries

"Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2006 23:50:33 -0800
From: Robert Marshall <robertjm at hockeyhockeyhockey.com>
Subject: Source for sour cherries??

Hello all!

Was wondering if anyone had a suggestion for sources for sour cherries
at this time of year?

I've got an inkling to make a Quelque Chose nockoff, but it needs sour
cherries, which I can't find locally."


Robert askes the age old question of where to find these fabled sour
cherries.

As I remember, this discussion surfaces every fall when these great brewers
are thinking about winter drinking stock.  And from what I've gathered is
that the Sour Cherry variety is next to impossible to find in this country.

The sour cherries and tart Montmorency's are of 2 different variety's.
Has anybody ever used the Montmorency Tart Cherries as a substitute for the
Sour Cherries (variety?)??
And if so what has the final product tasted like?  Is it even close, is it
worth trying?

I have a source for fruit juice concentrate from brownwoodacres.com that are
truly great tasting concentrate's   (It wont freeze in the deep freeze, but
simply get thick)
 1 tablespoon of this concentrate is equivalent to 1 cup of fresh berries.
(if you do the math, its actually pretty cheap compared to buying the raw
fruit)
I'm about to use it for a raspberry wheat beer that a friend and I have
brewed up for the Christmas celebration
(Brownwoodacres have raspberry, cranberry,montmorency cherry, pomegranate,
blueberry, grape concentrates.)
 My family use's them for the health benefits of the fruit.  I not a big
wheat beer fan, but enjoy them in limited doses with fruit added, and I
couldn't resist adding different concentrates to wheat beer.

Steve n KC
Highwater Brewhaus





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Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2006 17:22:37 -0800 (PST)
From: "H. Dowda" <hdowda at yahoo.com>
Subject: Results of the PSBO8

Results ae posyed at:

http://www.sagecat.com/psbo8/psbo8results.htm

Congratulations to out winners. There were 432 entries.


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