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HOMEBREW Digest #0393
This file received at Mthvax.CS.Miami.EDU 90/04/06 03:24:11
HOMEBREW Digest #393 Fri 06 April 1990
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
*BIG* Blow-off (Steven Smith)
Re: *BIG* Blow-off (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583)
Digital Hydrometer
Re: uses for spent grains; honey (CRF)
tip tip (R_GELINA)
Charlie's Flames (LLUG_JI)
honey aroma and SOME wierd barley wine (florianb)
Send submissions to homebrew%hpfcmr@hplabs.hp.com
Send requests to homebrew-request%hpfcmr@hplabs.hp.com
Archives available from netlib@mthvax.cs.miami.edu
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Date: Thu, 5 Apr 90 09:55:08 EDT
From: gca!smith@uunet.UU.NET (Steven Smith)
Subject: *BIG* Blow-off
David
I always use a filled carboy as a primary fermenter, and almost always get
some amount of blow-off. I typically get a quart to a half-gallon, I have
never quite gotten a gallon out. Sounds like a pretty vigorous fermentation
you've got going there.
Examination of the blown-off liquid generally makes me pretty happy that
it is being removed from the beer I drink. A lot of the hop residue and various
oils tends to come out. As an experiment you may want to try a small taste
of the blow-off just once. (Only if there is no bleach or other sanitizer in
it).
Now as to topping off, no, I have never tried this. One thing I typically
do with ales is to skip secondary altogether. I find that fermentation is
typically done in one to two weeks, and I go directly to bottling from there.
With the vigorous fermetation you have I would not be surprised if your
fermention is done soon.
If you do rack and plan to leave it in the secondary a while my opinion
is that the air space is no problem as long as fermentation is still going
when you rack. The yeast will quickly produce a "blanket" layer of CO2 that
insulate the surface of the beer from oxygen.
If you do top off I have one word of caution. A friend of mine was once
trying to add an oak flavor to his beer. He boiled oak chips for a half hour,
discarded the chips and added the water to his mostly fermented brew and
replaced the air lock. As the water cooled it decreased the pressure in the
carboy, which sucked his airlock water back into his brew. As he had used
bleach in his airlock solution he was quite bummed and poured out the lot.
One last note on the topic of losing brew through blow off. I finally went
out and purchased two new carboys, one 7 gal and one 6 gal. I now start
my lagers in the 7 gal. carboy (just proportionally increase the recipes).
After primary I rack to the 6 gal. carboy. Between blow-off and discarding
the sludge at the bottom of the primary I usually completely fill the 6 gal.
secondary.
This technique has been very successful, with the benefit that I usually
get 2 1/2 cases per brew. The same approach could be used with a 6 gal.
primary and 5 gal. secondary.
Good luck,
Steve
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Date: Thu, 5 Apr 90 10:55:46 mdt
From: hplabs!hp-lsd.cos.hp.com!ihlpl!korz (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583)
Subject: Re: *BIG* Blow-off
Dave writes:
>now there's a large air (right now it's only C02) space in the top
>of my carboy. Is this a problem?
You've hit the nail on the head -- the operative "word" being CO2.
As long as you've got this blanket of CO2 on top of the beer, you
won't have oxidation problems as long as you keep the end of the
blowoff tube under water (or under blowoff liquid). I don't even
switch to an airlock till I go to the secondary. I suggest not doing
anything (except of course RDWHAH). When you transfer to the secondary,
the process of siphoning will release some dissolved CO2 and create a
new blanket (since CO2 is heavier than air).
>is this amount (almost a *GALLON*) of loss normal?
I usually get 1/2 to 3/4 of a gallon of blowoff, but higher SG batches,
higher temperatures, and different yeasts could easily produce more.
One thing that could cause an increase in blowoff is too small a blowoff
tube (diameter): if it begins to clog, the beer will pressurize, carbonate,
and could really foam up when the clog gets pushed through. Once, a clog
in my blowoff tube didn't get pushed through -- the one-hole stopper I
was using blew out. Too bad I wasn't there, if it had to happen, at least
I would have liked to have a photo of the 6 foot beer volcano (no kidding -
right up to the ceiling, judging from the stain). I've used a 1/2" I.D.
blowoff tube since that day...it hasn't even come close to clogging.
Al.
Al Korzonas - Hickory Hills (just SW of Chicago), IL
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 5 Apr 90 10:21:10 PDT
From: c9a-aa@dorothy.Berkeley.EDU (Todd Matson)
I submitted this file a couple of weeks ago, but I don't think it was
ever posted. I have talked to some large brewers, and they have been
responsive, but I am having trouble getting feedback from home
brewers. If you can not post it for some reason, please send me a note.
Subject: Digital Hydrometer
Researchers at UC Berkeley have developed a small, inexpensive sensor that
can measure the density of a liquid. I have learned that such a device
would be useful for home brewers to measure the specific gravity of a
fermenting wort or must. If home brewers are responsive, my group would
consider producing a digital density sensor and marketing it through home
brew shops and clubs.
The hydrometer will consist of a small box with a digital display that
contains the necessary electronics. A switch will select the active sensor
(the hydrometer will accept input from as many as four sensors). Each sensor
will be the size of a toothpaste cap and will be attached to one end of a
six foot wire (the other end of the wire will plug into the box). The wire
will be inserted into the carboy through the stopper. The sensor will remain
in the brew throughout fermentation and the display will be updated
continuously. Thus, measuring the density will be convenient and will
introduce no risk of infection. We anticipate that the hydrometer will be
sold with one sensor, and that additional sensors will be sold separately.
I would like some feedback: Are people interested in a digital hydrometer?
If so, please give me an idea of what you would pay for such a device. If I
get a good response from home brewers, my colleagues and I will certainly
proceed with the project.
Todd Matson / c9a-aa@dorothy.berkeley.edu
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 5 Apr 90 14:57 EST
From: CRF@PINE.CIRCA.UFL.EDU
Subject: Re: uses for spent grains; honey
Hi, All!
Chris Shenton writes in dig. #392:
>I don't have any cows, but I am trying to start a small garden in my small,
>urban yard. Can/should I use the spent grains as a mulch? If so, do I first
>have to let them compost?
I don't see why not; and yes, you would have to compost first. I think that
if you didn't, you might have problems once the grains started to decay.
Also: another consequence of boiling honey (apart from scorching it, which
ruins your wort) is carmelization. This can affect flavor and the entire
fermentation process.
Yours in Carbonation,
Cher
"The first cup of coffee recapitulates phylogeny." -- Anon.
=============================================================================
Cheryl Feinstein INTERNET: CRF@PINE.CIRCA.UFL.EDU
Univ. of Fla. BITNET: CRF@UFPINE
Gainesville, FL
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 5 Apr 90 16:27 EST
From: <R_GELINA%UNHH.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
Subject: tip tip
Here's a Q-tip cleaning tip: A Q-tip will fit nicely into the thin part of a
water seal (the part nearest the beer), so if you ever get grunge in the seal,
after you bottle the brew, soak the seal in warm water, and then go at it with
the q-tip. It worked great for me..... RussG.
- ---- I'm NOT getting kickbacks from Q-tips.........
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 5 Apr 90 12:15 EST
From: <LLUG_JI%DENISON.BITNET@CORNELLC.cit.cornell.edu>
Subject: Charlie's Flames
The Reasonable Majority
or
Homedrug Making and the Berlin Wall
Charlie Papazian
Not too far from where I live there is a computer company
engineer who was a homebrewer. His boss discovered his hobby
and in persuasive terms suggested that such avocation was
unbecoming of a company employee and that he should stop such
activity. The engineer sold his equipment and is no longer
brewing beer. On a brief vacation in the countryside of
Colorado I was enjoying a beer. A boy of eight or nine years
approached me and asked, "Hey mister, you gonna get drunk?" A
junior high school student from Wisconsin wrote me asking for
information to complete her social studies assignment: an
essay titled, "Why Does Alcohol Continue to be an Accepted
Form of Drug in American Culture?" In Michigan a child came
home with a worksheet. Question number three instructed:
"Circle the following pictures that are drugs." There were
several pictures including a hypodermic needle, a pile of
powder, pills, milk and a bottle of beer. He got that question
wrong because he failed to circle the bottle of beer. Sen.
Ted Kennedy recently introduced an amendment to the Drug-Free
Schools and Communities Act, making reference to alcoholic
beverages as a "gateway drug." Children are being taught that
beer can lead to cocaine and crack. So now we may be
considered homedrug makers. In a contemplative mood, I
imagined how great it must feel in Berlin these days. The Wall
has been torn down. The Wall that tried to keep so many things
hidden from an entire population. I read with uncomfortable
amusement how pieces of the wall have been brought to this
country as souvenirs. It seems to me that now another kind of
wall is being built around us and our children. I have mixed
feelings when children 'learn' their parents are drug abusers
for having an occasional beer. There is a lack of
discrimination here that alarms me. Are objectivity and
reality being distorted? Who is protecting whom? If walls
are going to be built, then how are our children going to
react years from now when the walls inevitably are torn down?
I don't believe many people are noticing what's going on and
what the consequences will be. Sometimes this interferes with
enjoyment of my beer. There is a battle being waged out
there, but it doesn't seem that one ever hears from the people
who make beer or enjoy it. We hear the beer industry's facts
supporting their legitimacy: 187,000 brewing industry jobs and
a payroll of $1.3 billion, $4.5 billion in taxes, $860 million
in rice, barley and hops, $4.5 billion in glass, steel and
aluminum. But really now, what is meaningful to the millions
of individuals who responsibly enjoy the pleasures of a glass
of beer? Whatever became of good old-fashioned quality of
life, friendships, memorable meals, good times, an enthusiasm
for enjoying life and respecting life with all of its
titillations? Whatever became of gut feelings? The arm you
would wrap around your buddy? The laugh? The stuff that life
and beer can be so much about? We're not all abusers. We're
not all alcoholics. Tell me, gang, are we a part of a
reasonable majority or am I a minority? I'd like to enjoy my
beer without feeling too unusual (somehow, I'd never feel
criminal, even if they outlaw it). About 20,000 people will
read this editorial. My guess is that 95 percent of you make
beer. You are brewers and have more respect for this stuff we
call beer than the rest of the American population. You can
have major impact by helping inform others that beer can be
respected and enjoyed. Be aware of what's going down. I'm a
brewer, too. The celebration and enjoyment of beer should not
be inhibited by ourselves; to do so would defeatist. The joy
is what we have going strongly for us. Our expressions of
responsibility, enthusiasm and pride are what will make a
difference. Let people know how you feel.
(This editorial may be reprinted with credit and without
permission.)
SPRING 1990 ZYMURGY
(uploaded by John Isenhour with apologies to Charlie for any
typo's)
<EOF>
------------------------------
Date: 05 Apr 90 17:45:39 PDT (Thu)
From: florianb@tekred.cna.tek.com
Subject: honey aroma and SOME wierd barley wine
In #392, Louis Clark says,
>The reading I've done on making mead indicates that is, indeed, something to
>lose by boiling honey. There are some light, aromatic compounds that are
>easily driven off by boiling. What these sources recommend is pasteurization,
Yes, I agree. Forgot all about those aromatics. They are what give different
honeys their characteristic flavors (I believe), like blackberry flowers,
for example.
Now here's a good one for the experts. My recent batch of barley wine
(og=1.090), fermented with Wyeast's champagne yeast, is almost due to
bottle, having terminated at 1.030. I followed the sg closely on this one,
checking about once per two weeks fo fermentation. It's been going for about
four months in the carboy (secondary). Under nearly constant temperature
conditions (Delta T = 5 degrees at most), the sg dropped to 1.025, then
climbed gradually up to 1.030 where it is holding constant at present. Can]
anyone speculate on how sg can dip and then climb up again under these
conditions? Can water evaporate out of an air-locked carboy?
Florian the puzzled, but relaxed.
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #393, 04/06/90
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