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HOMEBREW Digest #0211
HOMEBREW Digest #211 Wed 26 July 1989
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Ageing in wood (ROSS)
200 gallon batches ("Allen J. Hainer")
John Courage, grain bags, brewpubs, etc... (Dave Sheehy)
Mailing homebrew (or taking it on a plane) (Alex M. Stein)
Send submissions to homebrew%hpfcmr@hplabs.hp.com
Send requests to homebrew-request%hpfcmr@hplabs.hp.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 89 08:31 EDT
From: ROSS@mscf.med.upenn.edu
Subject: Ageing in wood
Date sent: 25-JUL-1989 08:26:34
Concerning ageing in wood, I tried something that was suggested in
Joy of Homebrewing. That is the addition of sanitized wood chips to the
primary fermenter. It worked very well for me. Of course the results are
very subtle, I mean who would want to drink a glass of beer that tasted like
wood. Anyway, I bought a bag of these chips from Kraus which sells
by mail order. I believe that they are available in different "flavors".
It also seems a lot easier than trying to take care of real wooden kegs.
--- Andy Ross ---
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 89 10:55:12 EDT
From: "Allen J. Hainer" <ajhainer@violet.waterloo.edu>
Subject: 200 gallon batches
I just went on a short tour from the brewmaster of our local brewpub (Lion's
Pub, Waterloo, Ontario). They usually have six beers on tap ranging from
a very dark English Ale (excellent) to a "Dry" (I think they even beat Labatt's
at producing the first Molsen Dry clone ;-)
I was impressed by the efficeincy of the whole operation. Alone, Kelly
was able to keep up with a demand of approx. 450 gallons/week. I was
also surprise at how simular the proceedure was to what I do at home (except
for the fact that the beer was produced in 200 gallon batches). He was
even brewing mostly from extract! The extract he was using had grains
mixed in which were all thrown into the boil. From the size of the coarse
filters he was using, I would say that no more than a few pound of grains
could be used per batch without having to empty them several times when the
wort was transfered. He was able to remove all the tannins produced from
boiling the grains by finer filters. This raises a few questions that
maybe someone could answer:
Do most small brewpubs brew mainly from extract like this?
Is there a noticable difference in quality?
Of the winners from the AHA competition, are any/some/most from extract?
I also had an interesting conversation about yeasts with Kelly. According
to him, the major difference between dry and liquid yeasts is the way they
are started. Dry yeasts are usually pitched directly into the wort. Because
of the packaging, liquid yeast is usually started before being added to the
wort. If dry yeasts are started before being added in, they will perform
as well as liquid yeast (he still used liquid yeast). This is because
most of the unwanted flavours are produced by the yeast in the first hour
or so. This seems to agree with Papazian who says that the yeast produces
esters only at the beginning of fermentation.
Can anyone comment on the validity of this?
Kelly also told me that culturing yeast from one batch to another was very
important. From his experience, the yeast actually improve after three or four
batches. This is because the stronger yeasts are the ones that survive. He
has been able to keep some yeasts going for up to fifteen batches before
mutations start to detereorate the quality of the beer (producing sulphers).
Well, I guess I've gone on long enough. I suggest that as soon as any of you
get the chance, to phone your local brew pub and ask for a tour of their
facilities. Who better to learn from that someone that makes and sells
200 gallon batches of "homebrew"?
-al (ajhainer@violet.waterloo.edu)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 89 10:16:28 PDT
From: Dave Sheehy <dbs@hprnd>
Subject: John Courage, grain bags, brewpubs, etc...
John Courage
============
John Courage is a bitter brewed by the Courage brewery. However, the
John Courage that's available at a local British style pub isn't very
bitter, in fact it's very slightly sweet and smooth with some body to
it. I found a recipe for John Courage and brewed some up and it is quite
bitter. Is the John Courage served in the U.S. just not fresh anymore? It's
seems odd that a bitter should not correspond to its namesake so I
suspect the freshness of the brew I'm being served is suspect especially when
the recipe intended to duplicate this beer comes out so differently. I've
read that imported beer loses alot on the trip over but this is quite a
dramatic difference (I realize that in a sense I'm comparing apples to
oranges since I'm comparing a copy to the real thing but the difference is
really extreme). What are people's experiences with comparing the same beer
as sold in the U.S. as compared to how it tastes in the country where it's
made. John Courage is a keg beer and doesn't have a big market in the U.S.
as far as I can tell so I don't think Courage changes the recipe as is done
with Guiness.
Grain/hop bags
==============
I always use a bag when steeping adjunct grains prior to the boil. I just
make sure to prod and knead the bag while its steeping to encourage all
the good stuff to leave the grain. This seems to be the easiest way to do
it and I've always done it this way with extract recipes without any problem.
Brewpubs in Sacramento
======================
There are two brewpubs in Sacramento who brew and serve
their own beer, both are in the downtown area. The first
is The Rubicon brewing Company located on Capitol near
20th. They usually serve 3 beers (sometimes 4). The India
Pale Ale and the Amber Ale have always been on tap every
time I've been there. The third beer (and fourth) tends to
be a roamer and in the past has been Ol' Moe Porter, Irish
Stout and a Winter Wheat Ale. The atmosphere is very Yuppie
but the beer is quite potable. They do serve some food like
sandwiches and appetizers. The Hogshead is the second brewpub
and is down in a basement in Old Sacramento (sorry I can't get
any more specific but Old Sac' is pretty small only a few streets
so it shouldn't be hard to find). No fancy names for the beers here
just pale lager and dark lager (and maybe one or two ales). To my
palate the dark lager is just wonderful, it is sweet and fruity (in
a good sort of way) and it is dangerous because once I start drinking
it I don't want to stop :-). The Hogshead is more what I visualize an
old pub to look like, wooden booths and tables, one wall is the exposed
brick foundation of the building (lots of character!).
Who the hell is Elbro Nerkte?
=============================
Elbro Nerkte Brown Ale is a extract recipe from Papazian's
book. In the text of the recipe Papazian says that if you
ever see him you can ask him who Elbro Nerkte is? I happen
to be rather partial to this particular recipe and so have
been wondering, Who the hell is Elbro Nerkte? Does anyone
happen to know?
Dry versus Liquid Yeasts
========================
The consensus seems to be that liquid yeasts are better in general
than dry yeasts. Does anybody know why this is? Are dry yeasts
composed of lower quality yeast strains? Does the dehydration/rehydration
of the yeast affect its performance? What's going on here?
Malting your own barley.
========================
Just out of curiosity, has anybody out there ever attempted to malt
their own grain? Is it even possible to do (and do a reasonable job that is)
without extremely special equipment?
Dave Sheehy
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 24 Jul 89 09:34:40 PDT
From: rutgers!retix.retix.com!alexs@hplabs.HP.COM (Alex M. Stein)
Subject: Mailing homebrew (or taking it on a plane)
I'd like to mail some homebrew to a friend across the country.
Are there any legal issues I need to be aware of? Any practical
hints about packaging homebrew (e.g., types of packing material,
etc)?
What about taking homebrew on an airplane? Do I need to worry
about the increased pressure? Does carry-on vs. checked luggage
matter?
Thanks in advance.
Alex Stein
alexs@retix.com
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #211, 07/26/89
