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


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Contents:
  Dry Hopping with Fresh Hops (Mark Prior)
  Cocoa Liquor/Paste? (Alexandre Enkerli)
  RO Water and Salts ("Keith Christian")


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Date: Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:20:09 -0400
From: Mark Prior <priorm at hotmail.com>
Subject: Dry Hopping with Fresh Hops


Last week I brewed an American IPA with freshly picked 
Cascade hops.  I plan to pick some more and dry hop 
with them.
  
Typically, I add hops directly to the keg in a hop bag
or a tea ball.  I don't remove the hops and they remain
in the keg as the beer is consumed.  I don't feel that
I get excessive grassiness from this method, at least
when using Cascade hops.
 
However, all of my experience is with dried hops.  Does
anyone have any experience with dry "wet" hopping?  Does
dry hopping with freshly picked hops impart a particularly
grassy flavor or aroma (or any other flavors or aromas)?
What quantity and variety did you use?  What was your 
experience?
 
Thanks for your insights,
Mark Prior


Return to table of contents


Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2009 17:47:55 -0400
From: Alexandre Enkerli <enkerli at gmail.com>
Subject: Cocoa Liquor/Paste?

Has anybody brewed with cocoa liquor or cocoa paste? A friend who
roasts chocolate at home read a blogpost of mine about beer
experiments and may be able to get me some cocoa liquor. It includes
some cocoa butter, which is a potential issue in terms of head
retention, but I'm really not that worried about that, as long as I
can have fun in the process and, hopefully, get something tasty.
Because of the characteristics of the cocoa varietal I might use and
because I'm something of a sourhead, these days, I'm thinking about
doing a cocoa-based Oud Bruin with at least some of the cocoa liquor.
I might also add some homeroasted coffee and use oak chips in the
fermenter.
Have you ever used cocoa liquor? If so, how did you use it?

Cheers!

- --
Ale-X in Laval, Qc
ARC [888km, 62.5]
http://enkerli.com


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Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2009 20:34:51 -0700
From: "Keith Christian" <keithchristian at roadrunner.com>
Subject: RO Water and Salts

Hi,

I have been struggling for a few years since I moved into my new house
to brew good beers.  The mash does not give me very good efficiency, hop
utilization is low,  and the beers are usually taking a few months to
clear.  I am pretty sure it is my water.  I have been brewing off and on
for 20 years and the beers are suffering.  In turn, I am brewing less.

My water is really bad here in Anaheim CA so I use RO water.  Some beers
come out OK with RO water but they take a long time to clear.  I have
tried blending water from my tap with the RO water and that has been hit
and miss.  
   
What I would like to do is put together the salts that would help me
make a few decent styles.  Promash has a calculator that looks like it
will give me what I want.  For now, I'd be happy brewing IPAs, stout,
and occasional pilsner.  Can I assume that the RO water has 0 of each of
the salts to get me in the ball park?  I know the RO unit does not
completely strip the water.

Once I get the amounts of salts to use together, is there a recommended
method of introducing them to the RO water?  I recall  a discussion in
the past about using CO2 to  dissolve the salts.

I'd be interested in any suggestions or salt combinations that work well
for IPAs and stout.

Thanks,

Keith



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