HOMEBREW Digest #56 Mon 23 January 1989
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
THANKS (Seattle info) ("Anthony M. Giannone")
Papain and Demerara Sugar (Andy Newman)
Zymurgy phone # correction (Dick Dunn)
RE: Big Brewer Blowoff (Roger Rose)
Re: Psychoactive Beers (Oh Mary, Mary Jane! Come and have a beer with me!) (a.e.mossberg)
Crushing grains, blow-off and cherries (hplabs!amdahl!uunet!ingr!gja!gja)
Send submissions to homebrew%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com
Send requests to homebrew-request%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com
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Date: Mon, 23 Jan 89 16:31:00 EST
From: "Anthony M. Giannone" <giannone at ccm.bbn.com>
Subject: THANKS (Seattle info)
Thanks to all who responded to my request for info on Seattle
brewpubs. It looks like this business trip isn't going to be
so boring after all.
tony g (Townsend, Ma)
giannone at bbn.com
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Date: Mon, 23 Jan 89 14:54 EST
From: Andy Newman <NEWMAN at Venus.YCC.Yale.Edu>
Subject: Papain and Demerara Sugar
Greetings:
Two notes/queries for the week:
1) My last batch of bitter had a disturbing chill haze in
it. Presumably this had to do with excess tannins in the
fermenting wort (so I'm told). Over the weekend when I was
in the brew store I picked up a packet of Burton water
salts. I normally use my own mix of Epsom and Gypsum salts
that I buy in bulk. What attracted me to this little 40
cent packet was the fact that they listed Papain as an in-
gredient and stated that it discouraged chill haze. If
memory serves me correctly, papain is the enzyme used to
remove protein deposits from soft contact lenses. Any know
(or wish to guess) it's action in fermenting beer?
2) Dave Line's book The Big Book of Brewing has many recipes
that call for Demerara sugar. Since I'd never been able to
find this stuff at the supermarket, I ignorantly assumed it
to be merely a British name for some other common household
sugar. Today I saw a (roughly) one pound bag at the market
selling for (gasp!!) 4.75 cents. It was next to the 69 cent
bags of brown sugar. Does anyone know what this outrageously
priced stuff is? Why is it so expensive and what is a useful
substitute for making the beers listed in Dave Line's book?
Cheers,
Andy Newman
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Date: 22 Jan 89 19:35:39 MST (Sun)
From: hplabs!utah-cs!cs.utexas.edu!raven!rcd (Dick Dunn)
Subject: Zymurgy phone # correction
Just happened to notice this--Roger Locniskar said Zymurgy [AHA] is at:
> (303)477-0816
That should be 447-0816
^
---
Dick Dunn {ncar;ico;stcvax}!raven!rcd (303)494-0965
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Date: Sun, 22 Jan 89 16:12:01 MST
From: stcvax!rlr at hplabs.HP.COM (Roger Rose)
Subject: RE: Big Brewer Blowoff
> ...
>
> I agree with the thinking of many with regard to the blowoff method of
> fermentation. ...
> What do the big brewers do? ...
>
> I must conclude that either a) the unseparated krausen foam does NOT detract
> from the taste or the beer, or b) there are other ways of separating the
> wort from the bitter resins. Any comments?
>
> Mike Fertsch
My understanding is that a number of the centrifuge the beer before
bottling.
-roger
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Date: Mon, 23 Jan 89 18:28:08 EST
From: a.e.mossberg <aem at ibiza.miami.edu>
Subject: Re: Psychoactive Beers (Oh Mary, Mary Jane! Come and have a beer with me!)
|I was wondering about this. Since hops are somewhat related to other green
|leafy substances, I'm sure that at some time somebody had tried it. I've
|just never heard anybody talk about it before. (I can't imagine why! :-)
|Does it need to be a real heavy beer like stout to balance the fairly
|strong flavor and aroma of the vegetation?
|I think it would be interesting to try this. Strictly for scientific
|purposes, you understand.
I have seen recipes for such beers in copies of articles from High Times
and some biker magazine. If you're actually interested, I'll try to get
copies of them.
aem
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Date: Mon, 23 Jan 89 21:15:23 -0500
From: hpfcla!hplabs!amdahl!uunet!ingr!gja!gja
Subject: Crushing grains, blow-off and cherries
Full-Name:
First some quick responses to some recently discussed topics:
1. Grain crushing
I too have had the unpleasant experience of using a rolling pin or
other tedious method for crushing grain. Without a grain mill the
easiest method I have encountered is using a blender. BUT WAIT
there is a better way!!! Some of the suppliers of fine brew supplies
such as Alternative Beverage out of North Carolina (1-800-356-BREW)
will crush the grain for you for an additional 15 cents per pound.
This may not be the way to go if you are a die hard masher but if
you mash infrequently and prefer not to purchase a grain mill it
seems to be convenient and affordable. (If you estimate a grain mill
to be $45.00 you would have to purchase and CRUSH 300 pounds of grain
before the savings are realized.)
2. Blow-off Method
I am also an advocate of the Blow-off method. I use a hose that is
slightly larger than the diameter of the mouth of a carboy (I believe
approx 1.25"). One end of course being inserted into the mouth of the
carboy and the other inserted into a pot of water. Not only does this
size tube reduce drastically the possibilities of any type of clogging
but this it is very easy to clean. I have even used a bottle brush to
clean it out. Alternative Beverages is who sold me on the idea and I
have lived happily ever after.
Finally I have a question about brewing beer with fruit namely cherries.
I have recenlty brewed a Cherry Bock using about 7.5 lbs. of pitted sour
cherries. I steeped the cherries after boiling and hopping the wort and
poured the wort and all into the primary. I did not remove the cherries
until the beer was moved into the secondary. My question is for those how
have brewed with cherries before (or heard through the cherry vine). Have
you brewed with different types of cherries such as dark sweet, etc. and what
are your impressions of the results as well as any comments on comparisons of
having used different types.
Gerry Attilio uunet!ingr!b17c!gja!gja
205-772-1510 b17c!gja!gja at ingr.com
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