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


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Contents:
  Re: Fermenting dextrins ("Greg 'groggy' Lehey")
  diacetyl: Middle Ages and Sackett's Harbor ("Peter A. Ensminger")
  Re:Half coupler on my boil kettle ("MARTIN AMMON")
  Overflow ("Mike Racette")
  Beer Rescue: An Update ("Peter Garofalo")
  Re: Overflow (Signalbox Brewery)
  Sulfur-onion-shallot smell? (Richard Lynch)


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Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2007 16:03:21 +1030
From: "Greg 'groggy' Lehey" <grog at lemis.com>
Subject: Re: Fermenting dextrins

On Sunday, 14 January 2007 at 14:56:31 +0000, Signalbox Brewery wrote:
> Chaps
>
> In his book 'Home Brewing - the CAMRA Guide', Graham Wheeler
> asserts that there is no need to prime 'properly brewed' bottled beers
> as fermentation of residual dextrins will provide sufficient condition
> after four to six weeks. (He is talking about British ale styles, of course).

"Sufficient" is in the eye of the beholder.

> My experience has been different. Beers that end up flat stay flat
> if re-opened and yeast is added, but condition if opened and
> primings are added. Can anyone definitively assert or deny the
> fermentation of dextrins by yeast, and if so provide a reference?

I certainly can't provide references.  But some months ago I made a
Wei<replace with forbidden German ss symbol>bier which, despite all
intentions, was a little flat.  Today I drank another bottle after a
couple of months and found it well carbonated.  This was batch primed,
and though that doesn't mean that it's completely uniform, I wouldn't
have expected this much difference.  Even before your message, I was
wondering if a long-term additional fermentation had taken place.

This was with Weihenstephan W86 (Wyeast 3068), not exactly your
prototypical British Ale yeast.  But it's certainly saccharomyces, and
very certainly top-fermenting.

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


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Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2007 01:19:07 -0500
From: "Peter A. Ensminger" <ensmingr at twcny.rr.com>
Subject: diacetyl: Middle Ages and Sackett's Harbor

Regarding diacetyl ... http://www.hbd.org/hbd/archive/5127.html#5127-1

I last visited Sackett's Harbor Brewpub (upstate NY) 5+ years ago. I 
don't remember the diacetyl, but I do remember drinking a sampler. Every 
beer was very strange (sorry, but I don't take notes so can't give 
details). Never been back.

Not sure, but I think that Sackett's Harbor bottles are contract brewed 
in Saratoga Springs (north of Albany, NY). After my experience at the 
brewpub, I've never bought the bottles.

Despite the somewhat excessive diacetyl (IMHO) in Middle Ages beer 
(Syracuse, NY), they seem to have loyal customers and are prospering. 
God bless them, everyone!

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



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Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2007 07:03:59 -0600
From: "MARTIN AMMON" <SURFSUPKS at KC.RR.COM>
Subject: Re:Half coupler on my boil kettle

If its a 1/2 NPT size you might take a 1 inch long by 1/2 nipple and slip a
length of soft 1/2 copper pipe into it and solder it.  The copper will fit thru
the coupler into the pot.  Than you can configure what you want in the pot.  I
would use compression fitting from the length of copper so  you can take it a
part.

I myself have found false bottoms to be the way to go.  I buy bulk material from
Mc Nichols Co.  1/16 hole on 1/8 center SS 18 gauge.  Yes they are a little
expense to bare but they give you more area, they won't wear out, easy to clean.
The phone number to Mc Nichols is 1-800-237-3820.  I use a plasma cutter with a
circle attachment and it cut's like a hot knife thru butter.

Hope this helps
God Bless

Surfsupks




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Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2007 09:51:58 -0700
From: "Mike Racette" <mike.racette at hydro-gardens.com>
Subject: Overflow

No need for an airlock or blow-off tube in early fermentation with a carboy.
For a 5 gallon batch I use a 6.5 gallon carboy and cover the opening loosely
with aluminum foil to keep things from falling in and then go to an airlock
as soon as things subside a little. As others have pointed out, nasties
can't really get in while that much CO2 is coming out. An airlock is really
unnecessary until much later.



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Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2007 09:51:47 -0500
From: "Peter Garofalo" <pgarofa1 at twcny.rr.com>
Subject: Beer Rescue: An Update

About a week ago, I posted my story of an oatmeal stout that had been in the 
keg for over a month and had a large diacetyl presence. I am happy to report 
that my crude kraeusening experiment seems to have gone very well.

Less than a week after pitching about a pint of starter directly into the 
keg (and warming to about 68 F), I took a sample of the beer. I was pretty 
sure there would be no diacetyl, as there was no buttery aroma when I vented 
the keg. There was no diacetyl aroma or flavor in the sample (and I am very 
sensitive to that characteristic). I went one step further to see whether 
there was any AAL (diacetyl precursor) left in the beer. I used the method 
recommended by my friend George de Piro (check out 
http://www.professorbeer.com/articles/diacetyl.html for a description), and 
discovered that there was no issue there, either.

I have placed the keg in a refrigerator at around 40 F, where it can settle 
for a few days. I plan to transfer it to a clean keg in a week or so, and 
have a taste of a toasted oatmeal stout, sans rancid butter.

I was amazed at how well (and quickly!) this worked, and would highly 
recommend the method to anyone with a similar problem. Pete Ensminger can 
stop by for a taste any day.

Cheers,

Pete Garofalo
Syracuse, NY 



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Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2007 16:57:49 +0000
From: Signalbox Brewery <signalbox.brewery at ntlworld.com>
Subject: Re: Overflow

Steve Alexander mentions Bass's overflow problem:

 >  Somewhere I tripped across some old 1930s era
 > photos of Bass employees sweeping foam overflow
 > out of the streets in front of the plant.

A well-respected British regional brewery changed its
yeast strain for this reason. While it didn't bubble out
into the street it regularly escaped from the fermenter.

As recently as the mid-1990s they did some contract
brewing with somebody else's yeast which behaved better.
The beer, needless to say, has not been the same
since.

Quasi-open fermenters are the dominant type in the UK
for home brewing. As commercial brewers separate into
monsters and minnows the former are going for conicals
and the latter for open.

David Edge, Derby UK



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Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2007 09:59:24 -0800 (PST)
From: Richard Lynch <rlny7575 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Sulfur-onion-shallot smell?

Hey everybody, here's my latest predicament:
Brewed a belgian on Sunday.  3.5 Gallons has been
chugging along happily at 64F. Gravity is 1.010 now
(Tues). I planned on stepping up the gravity and
volume with a second addition of DME and candi sugar
wort soon.
This is my first time brewing a Belgian-style ale, and
also using T-58 yeast, as well as Styrian Goldings.
My problem is:  I have this funky onion-shallot,
sulfur smell wafting out of the airlock for about a
day now!  I pulled a little out to sample and I could
still taste and smell a "normal" pleasant malty-pils
flavor, but there's this hint of acidic, cocktail
onion sort of smell/flavor on top.
I definitely could have contaminated this batch -
while fumbling with my immersion chiller I
accidentally splashed about an ounce of tap water into
my boil pot while cooling.
Could this be a source of contamination?  Or is it
something else possibly - maybe sulfur produced by the
yeast fermenting at a low temp?  
I'd love to see this turn out good, but I don't want
to waste another few pounds of DME on a lost cause.
Any thoughts are appreciated, Thanks!
Rich


 


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