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HOMEBREW Digest #0090
HOMEBREW Digest #90 Thu 02 March 1989
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Clever Hack to Mash Grain (Dr. T. Andrews)
bbeginners book ( CHAVEZ)
Re: brewing kettles (Dwight Melcher)
Mead and pH: recipes (Michael Bergman)
Yeast Engergizers and Nutrients (Mike Fertsch)
Send submissions to homebrew%hpfcmr@hplabs.hp.com
Send requests to homebrew-request%hpfcmr@hplabs.hp.com
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Date: Tue, 28 Feb 89 22:21:14 EST
From: Dr. T. Andrews <tanner@ki4pv>
Subject: Clever Hack to Mash Grain
This evening, in order to add a little extra gravity to a canned
mix, I mashed a couple of pounds of grain. The standard
procedure to start: make hot water, mix with grain; stir; check
temp.
Now, it takes a certain amount of time for the starch conversion
to take place, and I was more interested in eating supper than in
stirring and fretting over a pot of grain on the stove.
Solution: stick the mess in the oven, which was still warm from
supper. Set the oven for about 150\(de. Eat supper. I got a
good conversion, according to the iodine test, and in good time.
Allow a little extra time to clean dishes.
Dr. T. Andrews, Systems
CompuData, Inc. DeLand
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 89 12:22:31 EST
From: gcs08724@zach.fit.edu ( CHAVEZ)
Subject: bbeginners book
Mr Rob Gardner
I was wondering if you have any suggestions for a good book
on home made beers. This is the first I will be attempting
this task, so it would be nice if there is a good easy to follow
instruction on this.
Thank you,
Reuben Chavez
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 89 08:56:43 MST
From: hplabs!utah-cs!boulder!akelei!crispy!dwight (Dwight Melcher)
Subject: Re: brewing kettles
The 33 qt. ceramic on steel pots are also sold as "canners". That is,
big pots that you can use for canning fruits and vegetables. In Boulder,
even the expensive places sell them for around $25. I'm sure they can be
had for less if you can find them at a big "everyday low price" store.
I've been using one for awhile now and haven't had any problems. It's
really great not to have to mess with two 5gal pots when doing a full wort
boil!
Dwight Melcher
boulder!akelei!dwight
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 89 10:46:21 est
From: Michael Bergman <bergman%odin.m2c.org@RELAY.CS.NET>
Subject: Mead and pH: recipes
OK. My book is called "Making Mead" and is by Bryan Acton and Peter
Duncan. They have this to say:
"Honey and water alone represent a very poorly balanced "must", which
is why meads made from these two ingredients alone ferment very slowly
and mature rather poorly; such mead requires perhaps 8 years before it
is drinkable. There is no need to mature mead for so long if the must
is first adjusted to conform to the basic rules of modern mead
making."
They then go on to say that the necessary elements are:
good yeast
acid
tannin
good quality honey
yeast nutrients
water
Apparently magnesium salts are one of the trace elements necessary--they
say that there can be problems using distilled water due to their
lack. They say (assume from now until I say different that all
"facts" are attributed to this book) that insufficient acid can cause
the yeast to produce "peculiarly flavored substances" that spoil the
mead, and make it taste "like cough-mixture". "Meads should contain no
more than 2.5-3.5 parts per thousand acid (sulphuric acid standard).
Pure meads must therefore need only 1/2 to 3/4 oz acid per gallon."
They go on to say that melomels (fruit juice/honey water mix) and
other honey drinks in which honey is not the only sweetener should be
treated like regular wines as regards acidity. Citric acid is the
traditional acid used and "many like the flavor it imparts", however,
they recomend 1/3 tartaric acid to 2/3 malic acid for "superior
meads".
Nutrients: (per gallon)
Ammonium Phosphate 1 tsp
Vitamin B1 2.5 mg
or Marmite .25 tsp
Epsom Salts (Magnesium sulphate--mentioned earlier) .25 tsp
potassium phosphate .25 tsp (2 grams)
"Meads that lack astringency lack character." 1/15th or 1/20th of an
ounce grape tannin per gallon.
They also give "beginners additives" as follows:
per gallon
juice of two lemons
1/4 tsp Marmite
pinch of Epsom Salts
1 tsp Ammonium Phosphate
1 Tablespoon very strong tea
"Advanced mead maker's additives"
4 gms Ammonium Phosphate
2 gms Potassium Phosphate
1 gm Magnesium Sulphate
1/2 5-milligram vitamin B1 tablet
2 gms Tannic acid
6.5 gms Tartaric acid
10.5 gms Malic acid
3.5 gms citric acid
They suggest multiplying these quantities by 20, mixing with two pints
water, then using 2 ounces of the mix with each gallon of must, and
keeping the mix in the fridge.
They recomend sedimentary white wine yeasts for the average brewer,
although "Tokay yeast" is good but requires fermentation at 95 degrees
farenheit. They particulary recomend Sauternes and Steinberg for
beginners.
It should be noted that the object of the authors is to produce a dry
white wine sort of mead--they do admit the existence of sweet meads
but produce them by using the same recipe and racking it earlier to
slow the fermentation. Since the yeast is bottom dwelling, racking
has a rather significant effect.
Most of the mead-makers I know are not always so patient as to age
their meads for the minimum two years Acton and Duncan recomend, and
divide meads up into two categories: "quick", or "light" or "small"
meads, and "great" mead. I believe that there is some historical
justification to this, but don't have documentation at hand. I'll ask
around. The quick meads can be drunk after as little as a few days,
and are probably more like a ginger ale or root beer than a true wine,
although they can be considerably stronger. Usually the quick mead
recipes call for less honey, as the yeast will not be given time to
ferment it all.
I seem to have wandered away from the original question of how much
acid to add to the must to keep the yeasties happy, as well as gone on
at length. I will add one more recipe; jackie brown didn't say what
kind of fruit s/he had ready, so I will pick one at random.
Peach Melomel:
6 lbs peaches 1/30th ounce tannin
3/4 pt elderflowers nutrients (as above)
2 1/2 lb acacia honey Graves yeast
water to make one gallon 1/4 ounce tartaric acid
1/4 ounce malic acid
Press the peaches (after removing pits). Dissolve the honey is 4
pints warm water, blend in the peach juice along with acid, tannin,
and nutrients. Add 100 ppm sulphite (2 Camden tablets). After 24
hours, add the yeast starter, allow to ferment for 7 days before
adding the elderflowers. Ferment on the flowers for 3 days then
strain them off and top off to one gallon with cold water. Ferment
untilthe specific gravity drops to 10, then rack. Rack again when the
gravity drops to 5, and add 1 tablet. Then proceed with the "basic
procedure"
Basic procedure (for any mead)(according to Acton and Duncan)
rack again as soon as a heavy deposit forms or after 3 months,
whichever is sooner, and add another campden tablet.
rack again every 3-4 months, adding a tablet after every second
racking.
Mature.
Drink.
Note that they say that melomels can be drunk sooner than meads, after
only a couple of months, and reach full maturity at about 2 years.
They advocate campden tablets rather than boiling to sterilize the
honey because they feel that after boiling for a long time most of the
essences of the honey that make it honey are gone.
Disclaimer: I have not used these recipes myself. Furthermore,
neither has my employer.
The book is published by "Amateur Winemaker", South St., Andover,
Hants, England. I got my copy at a local winemaking shop.
--mike bergman@m2c.org
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 1 Mar 89 14:40 EST
From: Mike Fertsch <hplabs!uiucdcs!meccad.RAY.COM!FERTSCH>
Subject: Yeast Engergizers and Nutrients
I've seen recipes for mead (and sometimes beer, too) which call for YEAST
ENERGIZER or YEAST NUTRIENT. I assume that these are the same, but just
what do they do? I think I read somewhere that these powders contain lots
of amino acids, and that amino acids act like little yeast vitamins. Is
this all they are, or do they also adjust the pH of the must/wort? Are
they really needed in beer, mead or wine?
I don't use yeast nutrient/energizer in my beers. My reasoning is that wort
usually has lots of proteins and amino acids from the malt. When I mash, I do
a 'protein rest' (30 minutes at 122 degrees F) to help break down large
proteins into smaller amino acids. I've been lead to believe that the
increased amino acids help the fermentation and the reduced proteins reduces
the haze in the finished beer. Am I right, or should I use this 'magic
powder' in beer? Will increased nutrients decrease the initial lag time
of the ferment?
I've also seen ACID BLEND. What is this, and how does it affect the beer or
mead?
mike fertsch
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End of HOMEBREW Digest
