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


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Contents:
  Sparging (Bruce Fabijonas)
  Mash tun capacity (Fred L Johnson)
  Bottle Conditioning (Nathaniel Letcher)


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Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2012 23:51:34 -0400
From: Bruce Fabijonas <mathbruce at gmail.com>
Subject: Sparging

I know that there are strong opinions about fly sparging vs. batch sparging.
 Lately, I've been blending the two methods to speed up the brew day.  I
batch sparge the first runnings, and I fly sparge the rest.  That is to say,
after the first runnings have emptied, I refill the mash tun with water, stir
up the grain bed, vorlauf until the runoff is clear, and then I fly sparge
from that point forward.  I have not heard of anyone else doing this.  Is
there some obvious reason why no one does this and I've simply missed the
boat?  

Thanks.

Bruce Fabijonas

HOPS (Homebrewers of Philadelphia and Suburbs)

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Date: Sat, 7 Apr 2012 08:33:20 -0400
From: Fred L Johnson <FLJohnson52 at nc.rr.com>
Subject: Mash tun capacity

Keith wants to know how much he can mash in a quarter barrel keg. Assuming a
quarter barrel (US) is 31.5/4 gallons, i.e., 7.875 gallons, you already have
the total volume the tun will contain.	The amount of grain you can mash in
this will, of course, depend on the amount of water you mash with. I have not
performed the measurements myself, but what I have read is that grain can be
assumed to occupy 0.08 gallons/lb. If you have 19 lb of grain to mash, you
will be at the capacity of the tun if you mash with 1.337 quarts/lb. (You do
the math for other amounts of grain and for other amounts of water relative
to the grain.)

I am sure you do not want to completely fill your mash tun because it is
impossible to actually contain that volume with stirring, etc.	

Fred L Johnson

Apex, North Carolina, USA

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Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2012 07:22:52 -0500
From: Nathaniel Letcher <nathaniel.letcher at gmail.com>
Subject: Bottle Conditioning

Conventional lore suggests letting your beer sit for two weeks at room
temperature when carbonating in the bottle. This certainly works but
I was wondering whether it was necessary. How long does it really take
for the yeast to consume such a miniscule amount of sugar? Are we
waiting on them to produce the CO2? Or are we waiting all that time for
the CO2 to go into solution? I only know enough about chemistry/physics
to speculate, but I do know that the process of CO2 going into solution
is a function of temperature and the pressure of the vessel. Commercial
breweries that force carbonate their beer first chill it down to below forty
degrees Fahrenheit and then apply extra pressure to the tank. In the
case of bottle-conditioned homebrew, might it actually carbonate more
quickly in the refrigerator than at room temperature as the CO2 will more
readily go into solution at a lower temp? Has anyone tested this theory?

Nathan Letcher
St Louis, MO

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