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


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Contents:
  pH Meters vs. Strips ("A.J deLange")
  Re: Pumpkin Ale (Scott Alfter)
  Re: Beer Lacking Crispness (le Man)
  Beer lacking crispness (Calvin Perilloux)
  Re: Beer lacking crispness ("Martin Brungard")
  13th Annual Music City Brew-Off - Nashville, TN ("Stephen Johnson")


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Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:15:51 -0400
From: "A.J deLange" <ajdel at cox.net>
Subject: pH Meters vs. Strips

Strips require you to subjectively judge color. The color you see 
depends on things like the color of the wort you are measuring, the 
quality of the illuminating light and whether you are color blind or 
not. Strips are, thus, of limited utility as in brewing you are 
concerned with changes in pH of well less than a tenth of a point. You 
would like to be able to read to about .01 or .02 and that is goint to 
require a meter and a reasonably good one. Fortunately technology has 
advanced and decent pH meters are within reach though they are still not 
inexpensive. Meters under $100, any one that only reads to 0.1 pH or 
cannot be calibrated or does not have automatic temperature compensation 
(ATC) are pretty useless in brewing (IMO).

A meter should be calibrated each time it is used (once per day). Many 
of the newer meters store the last calibration and report offset and 
slope at each calibration so you can see how your probe is ageing. If 
the ageing rate is really slow you may decide you don't need a new cal 
every but it is good practice to do one whenever the meter hasn't been 
used for more than a few hours.

Probes now last a lot longer than they used to especially if treated 
right. I had a simple gel filled one that lasted about 2.5 years which 
is quite a contrast to when I started measuring pH and got maybe 1.5 
years from elaborate, expensive, double junction free flow electrodes. 
Probably the most important part of "treating right" is cooling the 
sample to room temperature before taking a reading. Protecting the 
delicate sensor glass from the stresses of plunging into and taking out 
of hot mash and wort seems to do wonders for longevity (and I think the 
probes are better made these days). All the professional literature 
assumes that pH is measured at lab temperature and there is a shift in 
true pH (this is not what the ATC is for - that compensates for the 
probe's response to temperature change) as the wort cools. As long as 
everyone does it the same way there is no problem but in the HB lit. if 
you see pH 5.3 you often don't know if that was at wort or room temperature.

For the ultimate in durability and long life ISFET probes are now 
readily available (but I note that the only one of those I ever tried 
failed quicker than most gel-filled electrodes).

A.J.


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Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 08:20:39 -0700
From: Scott Alfter <scott at alfter.us>
Subject: Re: Pumpkin Ale

Josh Knarr wrote:
> It is time to discuss my two favorite things - Pumpkins and Ales!
> 
> Stuff I've liked in pumpkin ales:
>     * Pumpkin pie flavor
>     * toasted and roasted notes
>     * Little hops
> 
> Stuff that's ruined ales for me in the past:
>     * No actual pumpkin in the beer (all spices)
>     * Pumpkin was put in raw (raw pumpkin is disgusting)
>     * Tastes like vegetables
>     * overspiced
> 
> I have come up with the following recipe which I'm looking for input
> on. Similar has been posted to beer advocate and midwest brewing, this
> is my take on what should seem right.

6 lbs. seems like a huge amount of pumpkin for a 5-gallon batch, and I'd think 
that adding it to the boil would introduce lots of starch without any chance of 
converting it to something fermentable.

I cobbled together this recipe last year:

http://www.nevadabrew.com/twiki/bin/view/Recipes/PumpkinAle

It worked well for me...ended up having to brew a second batch in May to send 
some to the NHC 2nd round.  I'm waiting for pumpkins to show up in the stores 
before I make it again...canned worked OK for batch #2, but it's easier to get 
a good roast on fresh pumpkin than canned.  I put it in the mash so that some 
of it might convert, and the spices only get added at kegging time.

Scott Alfter
scott at beerandloafing.org




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Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 18:47:18 +0100
From: le Man <hbd at thebarnsleys.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Beer Lacking Crispness

> From: Jim D

> the beer
> tastes soft, as in the flavors can't easily be singled out.  What I
> am looking for is crispness, where the malt and the hops can
> easily be separated when tasting.

I think these figures give us a clue as to what can be happening here

> Water:  Total Hardness as CaCO3: 120 ppm,
> Total Alkalinity as CaCO3 77
> Na = 13 ppm, Ca = 33 ppm, SO4 = 9 ppm, Cl = 50 ppm.

Nice water, best described as soft, I think the issue is that you need 
to increase your Sulphate, which should give you that crispness you 
desire, but to be careful with it as it is all too easy. Your calcium 
levels are also a bit low (But mine is 16 and I get away with it ;) ), 
so could do with boosting . . . . I would suggest adding some Gypsum to 
the mash and boil to raise the levels of Sulphate up to around 150ppm, 
and leave the calcium where it falls. Try 1 tsp to start with and see if 
that results in your beer flavour going in the direction you want

- -- 
Aleman
Mashing In Blackpool, Lancashire, UK
www.ukhomebrew.info - Yet Another Brewing Forum




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Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:23:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: Calvin Perilloux <calvinperilloux at yahoo.com>
Subject: Beer lacking crispness

This looks like a gimme:

Jim D reports that his beers taste "soft", and he very
helpfully proved the exact details we need regarding his
brewing water:

> Total Hardness as CaCO3: 120 ppm,
> Total Alkalinity as CaCO3 77
> Na = 13 ppm, SO4 = 9 ppm, Cl = 50 ppm

That's a VERY low sulfate level for styles like English Bitter,
and the chloride seems a little bit high considering the dearth 
of other minerals.

Sulfate accentuates the hop bitterness; chloride is said to 
moderate it and lend just a bit a sweet, round fullness.
The former (dryness) seems to be what you're looking for.

I'd recommend adding gypsum (CaSO4) to your water,
anywhere from 1 to 3 grams per gallon of water, and 
that will take care of the sulfate shortage as well as 
increase the calcium level.

Also, I didn't notice mash temperatures in there.  You
didn't mention sweetness, only "soft", but make sure 
you're not too high on mash temperature (and make sure
your thermometer is accurate).  A high mash temp along
with crystal malt can result in a dull, cloying beer.

Calvin Perilloux
Middletown, Maryland, USA



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Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:45:40 -0400
From: "Martin Brungard" <mabrungard at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: Beer lacking crispness

I see from Jim's water report that the Residual Alkalinity (RA) is about 50 
which is pretty much the upper limit for brewing pale beers. This water will 
be fine for amber and brown beers and would probably require even more 
alkalinity for dark brown and black beers. Since Jim is having problems with 
his pale ales, I'll work from there.

With the supplied information, I found that the magnesium concentration is 9 
ppm, which is just about as high as you would want to go for most brewing 
applications. Adding Epsom Salt would not be desirable for this water. The 
overall ion balance that Jim provided did work out for the water report, 
which was confidence inspiring.

The alkalinity data indicates that the bicarbonate concentration is about 93 
ppm. To brew good pale beersc my calculations suggest that Jim could either 
harden his water with gypsum or calcium chloride to decrease the RA, or he 
could acidify his water slightly to decrease the alkalinity (again reducing 
the RA). But, I'm betting that the lack of crispness that Jim complains 
about is due to two factors. The first is the excessive alkalinity of his 
water and the second is probably due to the low sulfate concentration.

In the case of pale ales, increasing the sulfate concentration via gypsum 
addition could provide the results he seeks. It appears that he could add up 
to about 2 grams of gypsum per gallon to bring the RA down into the negative 
range. For most brewing waters, the lower desirable RA limit is around -50. 
The 2 gm/gal gypsum addition will keep Jim's brewing water within the 
desired ranges for Ca, SO4, and RA.

If Jim is brewing another pale style that doesn't depend on hop character, 
he could go with up to 1.5 gm/gal of calcium chloride to harden the water 
and bring the RA down. This is going to add almost 200 ppm of chloride, so 
that would need to be considered to see if its desirable for the style. 200 
ppm is pretty high, so I would not really recommend this rate of 1.5 gm/gal 
CaCl.  I would suggest that a maximum of about 0.8 gm/gal would be better to 
limit the chloride concentration. Slight acidification might still be 
required to help the mash fall into the desired range.

As I mentioned above, acidification is always an option for reducing 
alkalinity and lowering the RA. For the alkalinity level that Jim's water 
report provides, the amount of 88% Lactic that would need to be added to his 
water would be on the order of 0.4 ml per gallon of water to bring the pH of 
his sparge water to around 5.7. That is a minuscule amount and won't have 
any taste impacts. This amount of acid is good for your sparge water, but 
you would use less if he wanted to just 'take the edge off' of his mash 
water and improve the RA. Since every grist is different, the amount will 
vary. I suggest that roughly half (0.2 ml/gal) might be a good starting 
point for a mash where the water wasn't hardened as suggested above. 
Avoiding the hardening might be a good idea if Jim was going to brew a Cz 
Pils.

Overall, it looks like Jim's water is pretty good and could form the 
starting point for a number of beers. Well, these recommendations will help 
Jim to improve his brewing results. Hopefully, you will find some use in 
this message too!

Martin Brungard
Tallahassee, FL



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Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:50:18 -0500
From: "Stephen Johnson" <sjohnson3 at comcast.net>
Subject: 13th Annual Music City Brew-Off - Nashville, TN

Hello from Nashville, TN - Music City USA

1st call for all judges and homebrewers to participate in the 13th annual
Music City Brew Off(MCBO) homebrew competition sponsored by The Music City
Brewers, from Friday September 26th through Sunday September 28th, 2008.
AHA/BJCP sanctioned for all styles of beer, mead and cider per the 2008
style guidelines, entries will be received from September 1st through the
13th.
 
Friday night beer dinner will be held at Blackstone with presentation from
special honored guest Jamil Zainasheff, author and past AHA Homebrewer of
the year. Final round judging, Best of Show judging and awards ceremony on
September 27th, 2008  at  Boscos Nashville, lunches for all judges and stewards
courtesy of Boscos. Music City Pub Crawl to follow awards ceremony.
Brew-n-Brunch on Sunday, if you are still able, this year we will be brewing
the beyond famous 228 HopGod Beer.  Once again the MCBO is the final
competition in the MidSouth Homebrewer and Club of the Year Series.  
For rules, online registration and other contest details go to our
competition website http://www.musiccitybrewers.com/brewoff.php  
For possible entry pick up arrangements please contact me at
hoptyrant at gmail.com we will try to make some beer runs to help mitigate
shipping costs.

Until then,
MTHBWY
Tom Vista
Competition Organizer





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