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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Re: Correct amount of hops for full-boil (Christopher Burian)
  Ascorbic Acid as anti-staling agent in beer ("Rich Lynch")
  Stirbars (Glyn)
  Extract Lagers ("Brian Dougan")
  Re: English Mild recipe help... (Jeff Renner)
  Wyeast West Yorkshire (1469) (gornicwm)
  Brewing in Austin, TX? ("Alexandre Enkerli")


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Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 01:35:23 -0500
From: Christopher Burian <cburian at burian.net>
Subject: Re: Correct amount of hops for full-boil

"Tim R" <tim.runnette at gmail.com> writes:

> I believe Ray Daniels also addresses this topic in Designing Great Beers.  I
> like ProMash (http://www.promash.com/) for simplicity.  I've heard Beer
> Tools (http://www.beertools.com/) is also good according to this month's
> BYO.  

I use the online version of beertools, I like it because it allows
you to use the hops utilization formula of your choice, and will
average the results of all of the ones you care to choose.

Utilization can be calculated using:
BeerTools Basic Rager Garetz Mosher Tinseth Daniels

With modest gravity, they all come out within 20% of average,
but with high gravity wort, such as with a partial boil, the
methods vary by over 40%, with the greatest estimate more than
twice the lowest estimate.

I use Tinseth because his method gives the lowest estimate
for a concentrated wort.  Garetz' method seems to ignore
boil SG.  Mosher's formula will go haywire at very high
gravities and give you negative IBU.  None of them seem to
take iso-alpha acid concentration/saturation into account
for small boils, even though Daniels discusses it in his book.

I use the late extract method, so my boil gravity is from
the partial mash sugars plus some dry extract added to get
pH down and gravity up for the boil.  I've considered using
however much dry extract is necessary to hit a boil gravity
of 1.040 for my boil volume which is always 2.25 gal. 1.040
seems to be the baseline for hop utilization calculations.
It would tend to lessen the differences between the various
formulas, giving me a better feeling that the estimate was
somewhat reliable.

Regards,
Chris



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Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 11:07:17 -0500
From: "Rich Lynch" <rlny7575 at gmail.com>
Subject: Ascorbic Acid as anti-staling agent in beer

Does anyone know much about this?  Is it good, bad, neither?
I bought an ounce or so from a local HBS back when I was still real
new at brewing.  I've since read on Leeners, I think, that this is not
advisable for beer, but okay for wine.  I think the idea is that it
can be added at bottling along with priming sugar as an anti-oxidant,
thereby reducing the deleterious effects of any oxygen not scavenged
by the yeast in conditioning beer.  Am I asking for trouble using this
stuff?
Any input is appreciated, naturally.
Rich


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Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 11:41:52 -0800 (PST)
From: Glyn <graininfuser at yahoo.com>
Subject: Stirbars

Okay, I only want one or two, not ten. Anyone want to split
 an order?
Anyone got a couple to spare? What is the 
optimal size for half gallon
and gallon jars?

Thanks,
Glyn
So. Middle TN




 


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Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 19:01:48 -0500
From: "Brian Dougan" <dougan.brian at gmail.com>
Subject: Extract Lagers

Elston,
  Morebeer has a handful of options available for extract lagers.  I
have not personally tried any of these kits, but I do like doing business
with them, they have always been quite helpful.  They list a California
Common, a Pilsner, a Bock, and Amber and two Munich Helles.  I hope this
helps, stay warm and happy brewing!

 -Brian


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Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:25:44 -0500
From: Jeff Renner <jsrenner at umich.edu>
Subject: Re: English Mild recipe help...

Michael Eyre <meyre at sbcglobal.net> writes that his mild has:

> a bit of a
> 'tang' out of it that I'd rather not have, sorta like the Guinness
> taste. I'd rather it was more mellow than it is. Here's the layout:

He used 15% 2.25lbs Dark Crystal 150L plus 0.4lbs Chocolate, and says

> it's that tang I get in the flavor
> that I'm not digging totally. Is that par for the style?... I'  
> guessing it's the Dark
> crystals that are doing this, but I'm not sure. Any ideas?

Oc course, without actually tasting the beer, it's hard to say just  
what you mean by the "tang,"  I'm guessing since you compare it to  
Guinness that it's a bite from dark grains.  And I think i that case  
that your guess about all the dark crystal in the likely answer.   
150L Crystal has a lot of almost burnt-tasting melanoidins.  Just  
chew on a couple of kernels.

While I've tasted some British milds that have a sharp, roast/burnt  
component, they are in the minority, I think.  (Not that I've tasted  
all that many - they are hard to find, and while I drink every one I  
find when in the UK at pubs or beer festivals, I've probably tasted  
only a dozen).

I find that that sharp, burnt flavor takes away from a beer's  
drinkability, which is important in a mild.

Using that much crystal (15%) of whatever color is probably not a  
good idea.  If you check the ingredients in the Real Ale Almanac,  
you'll see that professional British brewers, as a rule, use far less  
crystal than we homebrewers do - perhaps 5% at the most, although  
there are exceptions.

I think our love affair with crystal comes from two related factors -  
when homebrewing in North America was beginning in its modern  
incarnation (25-30 years go, although I started further back than  
that), crystal was about the only grain we could get to augment malt  
extract.  And even now, it's the easiest grain for beginning extract  
brewers to use to pep up that extract brew.  So we often overdo it.

Although it's not traditional, I like to use a portion of Munich malt  
in a mild, along with some crystal and Briess Extra Special Malt,  
which I suppose is similar to Special B.  The Munich gives a chewy,  
malty flavor and body that keeps a low gravity beer from being too thin.

Here is a favorite recipe of mine:

Lucky Penny Mild

7.75 gallons/29 liters
OG 1.039 FG 1.014, 3.2% v/v (2.5% w/w)
19 deg L
26 IBU (or maybe a bit lower in actuality)

5 lbs Crisp Maris Otter
4 lbs Durst dark Munich (20L/40EBC)
1 lb. Belgian biscuit malt 20L (amber would work)
8 oz. Crisp crystal 45L
4 oz. Durst crystal 60L/120EBC
4 oz. Briess Extra Special Malt 130L
4 oz. Crisp chocolate malt, pulverized to a powder

75% mash efficiency

16 gallons moderately alkaline well water (not all used) plus 5 grams  
CaCl2

Mash 153F with Campden tablet as antioxidant
Mashout 170F, then sparged with boiled and decanted water (to reduce  
alkalinity).

Collected 7-1/2 gallons, topped to 9+ gallons with excess sparge water.

Hops:

1.0 oz. Challenger at 7% (seemed lower) 60 minutes for target 16 IBU
0.2 oz. Challenger at 7% for target 3 IBU
1.0 oz. Willamette at 5.9% for target 7 IBU

8 gallons wort in fermenter (10 gallon stock pot with plastic wrap  
cover)

Pitched 3/4 cup thick yeast solids from previous batch - WhiteLabs  
WLP022 Essex (this is my favorite English ale yeast, one which I had
an English friend bring from England.  It's a great top cropper and  
is seasonally available January and February, so get some now).

This is reprinted from a previous post of mine at http://hbd.org/hbd/ 
archive/4513.html#4513-4.  It has more background on this recipe.

Jeff

- ---
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, jsrennerATumichDOTedu
"One never knows, do one?"  Fats Waller, American Musician, 1904-1943




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Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 14:39:49 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
From: gornicwm at earthlink.net
Subject: Wyeast West Yorkshire (1469)

Hey Brewers!!!

Wyeast has a new strain out and I was wondering what others
think about it.  The Wyeast West Yorkshire yeast is purportedly
good for bitters and milds and I have used it with some great
success.

In a pinch I had to use it for an IPA, as Wyeast claims that the yeast 
is good for up to 9% ABV, and I was VERY pleased with the results.

I find it to be a light, clean, fruitty yeast, meaning that it could be a 
very versatile yeast strain.  

Personally, I find it as clean as the White Labs California 
(which I use for all of my IPA), but it has some other light fruitty esters 
(Peach / Apricot?) that I don't get from the California.

I would also like to know if others have experienced a "problem"
with the krausen.  I have used this yeast for 3 batches and every
time it finishes primary, the krausen refuses to fall.  I would think
this would be a bonus for you top croppers out there.

A little help here......
I am not a top cropper, but what would I do?  Simply scoop the yeast off
of the top of the beer and jar it.  Typically, I just use my dregs.

I am very happy with the performance of this yeast and I would
TOTALLY recommend it for those that are into brewing bitters, pale, and
IPA.  Sorry, I've never used it to ferment a dark beer...maybe I'll brew
a porter this week-end.  :-)  

This yeast is "Limited", so go get your hands on some soon.

Just my $0.02

Bill Gornicki
CRAFT Homebrew Club
Michigan


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Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 21:51:46 -0500
From: "Alexandre Enkerli" <enkerli at gmail.com>
Subject: Brewing in Austin, TX?

Fellow HBDers,

My wife just learned that she was offered a position at UT starting
January 2008. Which means that we'll move to Austin in the
not-so-distant future. As beer tends to be my favorite way to adapt to
a new environment, I'm looking for more info about Austin's brewing
scene. I just sent a request to join the Austin Zealots mailing-list,
which should be perfect for my needs. But since the list is relatively
quiet, I thought I'd post something here...
Anyone here from Austin? Or people who visited Austin? Do you have
insight to share about the Austin beer and brewing scene?

One of my first concerns is fermentation temperature. James Spencer on
Basic Brewing frequently mentions methods to control temperature in
those hot climates but what have people from warm climates have been
doing? Actually, a friend tells me that most houses have air
conditioning down there. Does AC completely solve the problem?

Anyhoo... Will probably have to chat up with the Zealots while waiting
for the big move to Austin.


- -- 
Alexandre (currently in Montreal, Qc)
http://enkerli.wordpress.com/


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