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


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Contents:
  wlp 300 ("Darrell G. Leavitt")
  Yeast in tubes/contaminated beer (Tom Puskar)
  Re: Yeast ("Greg 'groggy' Lehey")
  SKAcomp GABF Pro/Am Qualifier (Dion Hollenbeck)
  Re: SKAcomp GABF Pro/Am Qualifier (Dion Hollenbeck)


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Date: Sat, 8 Nov 2008 06:57:33 -0500 (EST)
From: "Darrell G. Leavitt" <leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu>
Subject: wlp 300

AJ;

 I will let the digest know how the final product tastes, in  a few weeks,
when it will probably be bottled.  I have used wl products for over 11
years, and brew once a week, and cannot remember systematic problems with
their yeasts.

The one that I did have, when I was just beginning brewing, had to do with
a growler of yeast (wlp lager) that I saved in the fridge for a few weeks,
but a neighbor (who was a food processing expert taster, and consutant for
breweries and cheeze processors) identified it for me when I described the
whole procedure.  I had forgotten to warm up the yeast, and was just
starting to chill the wort and remembered, so I put the growler into a vat
of warm water, and did not attend to, nor burp it for some time, then when
I did open it, it blew its top all over the kitchen, and I did not clean,
nor flame the edges of the bottle well, so he thought that the infection
could have happened at this time.

With this current batch, there may be a comparrison effect going on for
me. In other words, the previous batch (the second use of the yeast in a
rye hefe) smelled so wonderful; whereas this batch (the third use) smelled
a little bit "over the edge" for me, but it could be me, and the fact that
the house had warmed up considerably.  In addition, I had just tasted a
"hefe" from the "Alchemist" in Waterbury, Vt, that had nutmeg, vanilla
beans,and cinnamon in it (yes, seems odd, I know) and I was trying to
clone this, so it occurs to me that some of this could come from the odd
admixture of stuff in the fermenter ?

At any rate, I will report back to the HbD as to what it tastes like in a
few weeks.

Happy Brewing!

Darrell
    Plattsburgh,NY 44 42 32 N Latitude
                   73 24 16 W Longitude

 [544.9 miles, 68.9]Apparent Rennerian




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Date: Sat, 08 Nov 2008 11:01:45 -0500
From: Tom Puskar <tpuskar at optonline.net>
Subject: Yeast in tubes/contaminated beer

Thanks to all who responded.  It gives me some comfort to know that others 
have experienced similar issues.

BTW, I tossed the Octoberfest--tasted really phenolic and I doubt people 
would have had a second one.  I wouldn't!

I had brewed a second beer, an IPA, a week after the ill fated Fest beer.

All went well--I got good conversion (OG 1.055) and the primary started 
within about 8 hours.  I used a tube of American Ale yeast.

In the primary, the beer was a beautiful pale yellow and heavily hopped.  It 
looked a bit cloudy as I racked to the secondary but I figured that would 
settle.

WRONG!  Not only id it not settle, the beer turned brown--somewhere between 
a brown ale and a porter.  Never saw anything like that before.  It is also 
very cloudy with a near colloid like haze.

It still tastes good so I don't think it is contaminated.

I poured off about 12 oz thorough some cheesecloth to see if I could clarify 
it.  It wouldn't be worth the risk of contamination!

I think I'll bottle it in 1/2 gallon growlers to avoid all that bottling and 
take a chance it will settle more.

Anyone seen this before?  BTW, the grist was basically two row and a bit of 
crystal 60 L  for some color.

Thanks for any comments.

Tom in Howell, NJ 





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Date: Sun, 9 Nov 2008 14:01:17 +1100
From: "Greg 'groggy' Lehey" <grog at lemis.com>
Subject: Re: Yeast

On Friday,  7 November 2008 at  7:30:00 -0500, A.J deLange wrote:
> Two posts yesterday described essentially the same problem which was
> unwanted behavior in beers pitched from yeast supplied in tubes. I
> too have had some strange experiences with yeast in that form - a
> beer that wouldn't start requiring a second pitching and the other a
> Kolsch that never dropped clear (not that Kolschs really like to do
> that very much anyway) and just didn't taste very good. Both batches
> went down the drain as they both had a horrid phenolic taste. I
> assumed that it was my error in both cases (i.e. infection though I
> could find no bugs under the microscope) but in talking to people in
> my homebrew club, one professional brewer and my new local hombrew
> supplier I found that it is not that uncommon with this brand.

I've had this phenolic taste a couple of times, too, with normal
"smack pack" yeasts (in particular Wyeast 1275 Thames Valley yeast).
I also thought it would be an infection, but it didn't match anything
that I could find.  I've gradually come to the conclusion that it was
severe underpitching.  Could that be the issue with the tubes as well?

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


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Date: Sun, 09 Nov 2008 12:31:47 -0700
From: Dion Hollenbeck <hollen at woodsprite.com>
Subject: SKAcomp GABF Pro/Am Qualifier

Judges and Homebrewer's,

There is a new AHA/BJCP sanctioned homebrewing competition that is a
preliminary for the Great American Beer Festival's Pro/Am competition.  It
is a preliminary in pairing with the SKA brewing company in Durango,
Colorado.  The homebrew competition itself will be held during a local
Durango tradition of Snowdown, which is basically a week long party in
downtown Durango.  The online entry for the brewer's entry opens on
December 15th, 2008 and closes on January 15, 2009.  The online entry for
the Judges opens on November 9th, 2008.  The actual competition will be
held on January 31st, 2009 in Durango, Colorado at the SKA brewery.

Judges Save the date: January 31st, 2009

For questions contact Matt Morrow at
Memorrow at fortlewis.edu or call me at (970)764-7128.





- --
Dion Hollenbeck
Email: hollen at woodsprite.com    Home Page: http://www.woodsprite.com
Brewing Page: http://hbd.org/hollen  Toys: 98 4Runner, 86 4x4 PU



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Date: Sun, 09 Nov 2008 13:24:03 -0700
From: Dion Hollenbeck <hollen at woodsprite.com>
Subject: Re: SKAcomp GABF Pro/Am Qualifier

Sorry, forgot the URL for the competition:

http://hstrial-cmorrow8.homestead.com/index.html

dion

- --
Dion Hollenbeck
Email: hollen at woodsprite.com    Home Page: http://www.woodsprite.com
Brewing Page: http://hbd.org/hollen Toys: 98 4Runner, 86 4x4 PU



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