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HOMEBREW Digest #0377
This file received at Mthvax.CS.Miami.EDU 90/03/14 03:32:24
HOMEBREW Digest #377 Wed 14 March 1990
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Re: Homebrew Digest #375 (March 12, 1990) (shoeless joe)
Homebrew Digest #376 (March 13, 1990) (Vicki.Borah.*)
Houston brew pubs (Wayne Allen)
All wheat extract (ROSS)
RE: AHA Hail-to-Ale Competition (Mike Fertsch)
Wyeast yeast (Mike Fertsch)
Re: BEER IN WATER COOLER (a.e.mossberg)
RE: BEER IN A WATER COOLER (Barry Cunningham)
AHA National Conference (David Baer)
Re: Syrian beer (Dave Johnson)
Re: BEER IN WATER COOLER (Robert Tillman)
Syrian beer (John Bates)
Re: Sumerian beer (Terry Noe)
Mammoth Lakes Brewing ("MR. DAVID HABERMAN")
Re: Vagabond Ginger Ale (Dru Nelson)
Sumerian beer (Dave Suurballe)
Homebrew Digest #376 (March 13, 1990) (Mark Freeman)
Hops; brewing history (CRF)
Club COmpetitions (Jay S Hersh)
John Bull Stout (Max Newman x6689)
My homebrewing plan of attack... ("Gary F. Mason - Image Systems - MKO2-2/K03 - 603884[DTN264]-1503 13-Mar-1990 2000")
Trappist monk ales (cohen)
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
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 07:40:37 EST
From: shoeless joe <DTG@UMD2.UMD.EDU>
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #375 (March 12, 1990)
The last issue of ZYMURGY which I received was the "special" yeast
issue. I haven't received the winter 1990 or spring 1990 issues, if
such issues exist. Does anybody else ha ve the same problem?
Profound quote of the day: Make a little birdhouse in your soul.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 07:33:24 CST
From: Vicki.Borah.*@wucs1.wustl.edu
Subject: Homebrew Digest #376 (March 13, 1990)
please take me off of this list. The address which is subscribed is
vicki@theory.lcs.mit.edu
Thanks.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 07:38:01 CST
From: wa%cadillac.cad.mcc.com@MCC.COM (Wayne Allen)
Subject: Houston brew pubs
Gary F. Mason writes:
" Does anyone know of any (brewpubs) hiding out there (in Houston)?"
There's a Rover's pub in Pasedena, not a brew pub, but are 200+ brands
are enough? (There's also a Rover's in Austin, thank God!) I
understand there's something down by Rice U. Call the helpful folks at
DeFalco's Homebrew supplies: (713)5238154. If anyone would know, they
would.
wa
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 08:48 EST
From: ROSS@mscf.med.upenn.edu
Subject: All wheat extract
Date sent: 13-MAR-1990 08:45:49
I am getting ready for some more brewing and would like to buy a
can of ALL WHEAT extract. I remember seeing a manufacturer's ad for the
product awhile ago.
Doesn't anybody know of a mail-order supplier that sell this
extract? If so, could you please include their address.
Many thanks.
--- Andy Ross ---
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Mar 90 17:23 EST
From: Mike Fertsch <FERTSCH@adc1.adc.ray.com>
Subject: RE: AHA Hail-to-Ale Competition
Ed Sieja asks about the AHA club contests...
> Has anyone heard the outcome of the AHA "Hail to Ale" club contest?
> Is the AHA just slow?
The AHA is extremely slow about returning results and score sheets on its
club competitions. You would think that for $5 per entry they would make
an effort to get results out.
I called up Daniel Bradford at AHA three weeks ago. Yes, the competition
did occur and the winners were picked. Dan told me the winning club was
the San Andreas Malts, followed by the Barley Bandits and the Troy
Homebrewers. The winning beer received a score of 49 out of 50, and must
have been superb. 47 entries were sent in from clubs around the country.
Dan promised that he would return the rating forms the folowing week. So
much for promises from the AHA...
The AHA is historically bad about announcing the results of these
competitions. I brewed the "Bock-is-Best" winner three years ago, and did
not hear ANYTHING until I got my score sheets back three months later.
With my score sheets was a press release, stating that I was the winner.
Our club won other club competitions, and never received any direct
notification from the AHA; friends who called the AHA for info called us to
tell us the news.
I suggest that everyone who sent in an entry to the club competitions call
Dan Bradford at (303) 447-0816 gripe and ask for the results. If enough
people call, maybe he'll send out the winner's list and score sheets!
PS - the 1990 Club "Bock is Best" deadline is the end of April; plan your
Bock-offs now!
Mike Fertsch
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 12 Mar 90 23:28 EST
From: Mike Fertsch <FERTSCH@adc1.adc.ray.com>
Subject: Wyeast yeast
I'm planning my next batch of beer, and I just started a pack of Wyeast
liquid yeast. I'm pleased to notice that the pack is larger - it now
contains 50ml of starter solution, rather than the 40ml that earlier
packages contain. Hopefully, the increased volume will result in shorter
lag time after pitching in worts.
Wyeast lists all of their yeast cultures on the package; the appropriate
one is checked off. There are now 13 styles listed; Byron Burch (in last
winter's special Zymurgy issue on yeast) gives good descriptions of 12 of
them. Zymurgy does not speculate on the origins of these species. I've
made of matrix of Wyeast yeasts, their names, and my guess as to
commercial beers which uses these yeasts. Can anyone help complete the
chart?
Ales -
# Name on Name in Special Issue Commercial example
package of Zymurgy (my guess)
1007 - German German Ale ---
1028 - London British Ale ---
1056 - American Chico Ale Sierra Nevada Ale
1084 - Irish Irish Stout Guinness
1098 - British British Ale - Whitbread Whitbread
1338 - European German Altbier ---
3056 - Bavarian Wheat Weizenbier ---
Lagers
# Name on Name in Special Issue Commercial example
package of Zymurgy (my guess)
2007 - Pilsen St. Louis Lager Budweiser
2042 - Danish Danish Lager Carlsberg
2206 - Bavarian Bavarian Lager ---
2308 - Munich German Lager Weihenstephan
2035 - American New Ulm Lager August Schell
2142 - Bohemian ---- ---
I am most curious about 2142 - might this be a real Czechoslovakian/Pilsen
yeast?
- Mike Fertsch
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 14:30:12 GMT
From: aem@mthvax.CS.Miami.EDU (a.e.mossberg)
Subject: Re: BEER IN WATER COOLER
In digest <1990Mar13.083011.4580@mthvax.cs.miami.edu> card@APOLLO.HP.COM writes:
> Does anyone have any experience with transfering beer to a water
> cooler?
> The thought was instead of bottling, transfer to another carboy, along
> with 3/4 cup corn sugar. Waiting for the right carbonation level and
> then directly onto the water cooler. Maybe great for parties.
An explosive party! Carboys are not designed to handle pressure. If you try
to use it under pressure it will likely crack or explode. Water Coolers are
not designed to handle liquids under pressure either, and you will probably
destroy the seals in the unit, and perhaps even the faucets.
Bad idea.
aem
- --
a.e.mossberg / aem@mthvax.cs.miami.edu / aem@umiami.BITNET / Pahayokee Bioregion
The way in which people make love may tell us more about them than any searching
analysis could. - Maurice Nadeau
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 08:45:09 EST
From: abvax!calvin.icd.ab.com!bwc@cwjcc.INS.CWRU.Edu (Barry Cunningham)
Subject: RE: BEER IN A WATER COOLER
In Homebrew Digest # 376 card@APOLLO.HP.COM asks:
> Does anyone have any experience with transferring beer to a water cooler?
While I don't have any experience with beer in a water cooler, I'd just as
soon miss it I think. I don't think most water coolers are designed to with-
stand any serious internal pressure, which means that the floor could get
rather sticky while waiting for the right carbonation level. Also, most water
coolers that I am familiar with would bubble air into the carboy after the
internal pressure dropped, which, as I said, I think would be soon. That means
you better drink up the brew real soon. And then afterwards you would have to
clean out the cooler's dispensing mechanism to prevent infection (or throw it
out). Is this supposed to be a labor saving device or what? I'd just as soon
skip this experiment if you don't mind. Let me know if you have better luck
than I anticipate (maybe because you have a spiffy hi-tech water cooler that
is different than I imagine).
-- Barry Cunningham
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 06:49:30 PST
From: dsbaer@EBay.Sun.COM (David Baer)
Subject: AHA National Conference
I read in the California Celebrator
that this year's AHA's National Conference
is in Oakland (home of the Raiders) June 13-16.
Anybody have an agenda for the proceedings?
Dave Baer
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 08:18:30 mst
From: Dave Johnson <davej@hpdml90>
Subject: Re: Syrian beer
Full-Name: Dave Johnson
> I saw a glimpse of the Sacramento BEE newspaper about a week ago. They said
> that a San Fransisco based brewery (I think ANCHOR) was able to decipher
> hieroglyphics from an anchient Syrian writing which had a beer recipe!
> I think United Press did the story. Did anyone else see this?
> Apparently it was a pretty good beer, but had to be used quickly, as there
> were no hops in it as a preservative. Apparently the Syrians hadn't found
> out about hops at that point in time. I've been trying to find the article
> again, but hav'nt been successful.
>
> The short time for which this beer is drinkable brings up a interesting
> comment. It is my understanding that hops originated as a preservative.
> Today it is used for flavoring more than anything else. But, can any
> brewery really say they use NO preservatives. It seems that by todays
> standards, that MAY be possible. But, technically, this is a false claim?
>
> RobertN.
> robertn%fm1@sc.intel.com
I believe that I have this article at home. However, I am 99%
sure that they did not have a recipie in the article, but I will
check again. If I can remember correctly, the Syrians used bread
as their "malt". I'm not sure what yeast they used.
Dave Johnson
davej@hpdml90.hp.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 09:46:56 MST
From: hplabs!mage!lou
In digest #376 S. Koza writes:
> In response to a recent posting inquiring about making gingered
>beers: I recently concocted a batch of Gingered Lager, loosely following
>Papazian's Vagabond Ginger Ale recipe, which came out rather delightful.
>In the recipe it is suggested to use 2-4 oz. of fresh grated ginger root
>and I overzealously went to the upper limits. I felt that the ginger was
>overpowering unless the beer was served very cold and when I make this for
>the next holiday season I'll cut the amount of ginger in half.
I've made three batches of "Rocky Raccoon's Crystal Honey Lager" (CJoHB p.180)
using 6-8 oz of fresh ginger. The ginger is indeed overpowering for the first
2-3 months after bottling but it mellows out eventually. You can still tell
that it's there but it balances out.
Also in digest #376 RobertN. writes:
>I saw a glimpse of the Sacramento BEE newspaper about a week ago. They said
>that a San Fransisco based brewery (I think ANCHOR) was able to decipher
>hieroglyphics from an anchient Syrian writing which had a beer recipe!
>I think United Press did the story. Did anyone else see this?
>Apparently it was a pretty good beer, but had to be used quickly, as there
>were no hops in it as a preservative. Apparently the Syrians hadn't found
>out about hops at that point in time. I've been trying to find the article
>again, but hav'nt been successful.
I tasted some of this in November (forgive me for being a little fuzzy on some
of the details four months later); Charlie P. brought a few bottles to the
Boulder homebrew club meeting. As I remember the story, this was a special,
one-time only, not-for-sale "beer" which was brewed as part of their 100th
anniversary celebration (or some such celebration). Using the original(?)
technique, they baked bread of barley and other grains, then added water to
et it ferment. The beer was then served at their party using a large plastic
(so much for the original technique) jug in the center of each table (~10-15
people/table) with straws going out to each seat (c.f. "Brewing Mead", R. Gayre
with C. Papazian, figs. 2 and 3, p.31).
Presumably this was pretty good when fresh or Charlie wouldn't have brought it
for us to try. Unfortunately, by November it was awful and most of it was
tossed out. I also suspect that a certain amount of the story you read and the
story I heard was PR hype and should be treated accordingly.
>The short time for which this beer is drinkable brings up a interesting
>comment. It is my understanding that hops originated as a preservative.
>Today it is used for flavoring more than anything else. But, can any
>brewery really say they use NO preservatives. It seems that by todays
>standards, that MAY be possible. But, technically, this is a false claim?
I think you're splitting hairs here. Sugar is a preservative in the right
concentrations, so is alcohol. These days, the word preservative is used for
chemicals added to food in addition to the "natural" ingredients.
Louis Clark
reply to: mage!lou@ncar.ucar.edu
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 11:51:09 est
From: rt@lexicon.com (Robert Tillman)
Subject: Re: BEER IN WATER COOLER
Alas, I believe that most water cooler designs cannot keep their
contents at anything over atmospheric pressure. Come to think of it,
the stuff in the bottle is probably at a little less than atmospheric
since ultimately it's air pressure holding it in there to begin with.
If you put beer in the bottle the release of CO2 would likely force
out the beer and quickly overflow the little reservoir under it.
It is an interesting idea, though. It would make those office parties
more enjoyable if you had a nice porter within easy reach! Maybe if
we could rig a couple o' gaskets....
Cheers!
Bob Tillman
rt@lexicon.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 10:16:00 MST
From: bates@rossby.Colorado.EDU (John Bates)
Subject: Syrian beer
Regarding Robert N.'s question about Syrian beer, Charlie Papazian brought
some of it to one of the Boulder homebrew meetings several months ago.
There was definately no preservative and by the time we tasted it there
was a zoo of wonderous organisms growing in the bottles. It was really sour
and everyone thanked Charlie for destroying their taste buds for the
evening. I think the original idea was that the Syrians left unbaked
bread outside in containers in the rain. This way of using yeast will
definately lead to contamination. I believe with proper sterilization
and uncontaminated yeast is is possible to brew with no preservatives.
For more info on Syrian beer, you might try writing to Charlie at AHA
J. Bates (Norman's evil twin)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 7:55:11 PST
From: Terry Noe <terry@hpsadpe.hp.com>
Subject: Re: Sumerian beer
Full-Name: Terry Noe
In HBD #376, JEEPSRUS <ROBERTN%FM1@sc.intel.com> says:
> I saw a glimpse of the Sacramento BEE newspaper about a week ago. They said
> that a San Fransisco based brewery (I think ANCHOR) was able to decipher
> hieroglyphics from an anchient Syrian writing which had a beer recipe!
> I think United Press did the story. Did anyone else see this?
> Apparently it was a pretty good beer, but had to be used quickly, as there
> were no hops in it as a preservative. Apparently the Syrians hadn't found
> out about hops at that point in time. I've been trying to find the article
> again, but hav'nt been successful.
>
I had a chance to try this beer last November when I toured the
Anchor brewery in San Francisco. According to them, they got the
recipe from an old Sumerian tablet that contained a hymn or poem to
Ninkasi, the Sumerian beer goddess.
The process they used to make it, as I recall, was roughly this: Bake a
few thousand of loaves of barley bread. Chop up a bunch of dates. Dump
it all in a bunch of water and wait. No hops, as you noted, were used.
The end result of this was pretty interesting. The taste was
somewhere between that of beer and raisin bread. The taste of the dates
was very noticeable. The baking of the grain into bread was also very
evident in the taste of the product- much different than you might get
from using a dark malt in a more conventional brew. "Ninkasi", as they
called it, was definitely worth trying once, but I can't honestly say
that I'm filled with an overwhelming desire to go back and buy a few
cases of the stuff.
Terry Noe
terry@hpsadpe.hp.com
------------------------------
Date: 13 Mar 90 09:51:00 PDT
From: "MR. DAVID HABERMAN" <habermand@afal-edwards.af.mil>
Subject: Mammoth Lakes Brewing
While we're on the subject of snow and skiing:
I recently spent a weekend skiing at Mammoth Mountain California and went to
the Mammoth Lakes Brewing Company at Brewhouse Grill a couple of times. They
serve their own Dogtown Ale (and amber beer) and Bodie Bold (a porter). I
found the beers a little swwet for my taste, although one of the owners says
that they sell a lot of the amber. The beers are made from Austraalian light
malt and Telford dark malt. They use only the extract in the boil, no adjunct
grains are added. I don't recall the bittering hops, but Cascade hops are
used for flavor. According to fellow Maltose Falcon Darryl Richman, the sweet
flavor may be due to low hop utilization due to the low temperature of the
boil at a high altitude (8,000 ft.). Not doing a full wort boil can also
under use the hops. They due a primary fermentation and then place it in the
serving tanks where the beer is primed and aged. There are no filters used
and the hot wort is run through a heat exchanger before going into the primary
fermentor. It is basically a giant version of what the beginning extract
brewer has at home. The beer was of good quality although I found them a
little lacking in body. Since I have been using adjunct grains in my home
brewing, I can tell the difference.
No brewpub is complete without food, and theirs is very good. They make their
own wurst and also serve excellent chili, chicken, hamburgers, and appetizers.
I think it is a worthwhile place to visit when in Mammoth.
Re beer in a water cooler:
Beer obtains its carbonation after priming by pressure either through capping
bottles or sealed in a keg. Putting it in a water cooler would not put
carbonation in the beer, it would just ferment away into the air.
David
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 13:54:30 EST
From: Dru Nelson <dnelson@mthvax.CS.Miami.EDU>
Subject: Re: Vagabond Ginger Ale
Howdy,
Is that some kind of ginger ale or a beer with ginger in it?
- --
%% Dru Nelson %% Miami, FL %% Internet: dnelson@mthvax.cs.miami.edu %%
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 10:42:44 PST
From: hsfmsh!hsfdjs!suurb@sfsun.West.Sun.COM (Dave Suurballe)
Subject: Sumerian beer
Yesterday RobertN. mentioned an article in the Sacramento Bee.
I know a lot about the beer in the article. It's Anchor's "Ninkasi", from
a Sumerian recipe. They brewed it for last year's Microbrewers Conference
here in the Bay Area. It's made from a mash of barley malt, date syrup,
and some kind of flat Sumerian bread. Anchor hired an entire bakery for
a day to make the bread, bake it, then cut it up into strips and bake them
again. They threw this into the mash tun with the other stuff. They feel
now that they should have used less malt and more bread, but at the time
they were afraid that the bread wouldn't work out too good, so they
hedged their bets with the malt.
I'm motivated to write this, because RobertN. reports that the beer was
consumed quickly because it had no preserving hops. This is only half
true. The beer was consumed quickly because it was not boiled, and
therefore not made sterile before pitching, and therefore even less
sterile at bottling.
I have the highest admiration for Anchor for undertaking this huge project.
They only made one batch, but it took months to get the recipe figured out,
and obviously they didn't do it alone. They had a lot of help from other
researchers of the ancient world. I don't remember off-hand who they are
or where they study, but I have this information at home.
Anchor likes to make "retrospective" beer styles that nobody else is
brewing, and I think it's wonderful that they make the investments
and take the risks that other breweries are afraid to make or cannot
afford to make. In almost every case, other brewers have followed their
lead and started brewing beers in the same style. Anchor's
"Steam Beer" is the best known; it's an old West Coast style of beer, a
warm-weather lager. And by warm-weather, I mean brewed warm. Their
current series of christmas beers are wassails, traditional spiced ales, and
after they took this lead, a bunch of other microbreweries followed and
now make spiced ales. Anchor's "Liberty Ale" was introduced in 1976; it's
an IPA, and there weren't any IPAs anywhere in this country. Now a lot
of people brew them; hops are very popular now. Anchor's "Wheat Beer"
was the first commercial wheat beer that I know of in this country, and
their "Old Foghorn" barley wine was the first of that style, too. What
have I left out? "Porter". This isn't so unique, except that it hasn't
always been such a popular style, but they've been brewing it forever.
Anchor's product line is varied and substantial, and each beer represents
an interesting tradition.
I seem to have gotten off the track here. I was writing about "Ninkasi",
the Sumerian beer. I think it's really fascinating that they didn't boil it.
It's hard to imagine a modern brewer not boiling; it's such an important
part of the process, for lots of reasons, as we all know. However, the
Sumerians didn't boil it, so Anchor didn't either. Cool, huh?
"Ninkasi" is the name of the Sumerian goddess of brewing.
Anchor had six different labels designed and printed for the Sumerian beer.
The labels show various aspects of the process. Right now I can only remember
two. One shows what I think is a malting floor where two people are
sprinkling the grains, and there are two guard dogs fiercly guarding.
The other shows two people seated with a large earthen jug between them.
They are sipping liquid through reed straws inserted into the jug.
(I suspect that the beer was fermented in and consumed from the same vessel,
and that there were solids floating on the surface, and the straws poked
through the gunk into the fermented liquid below.)
They spent an incredible amount of money on this project. Can you imagine
producing six different labels for one batch of beer?
On an unrelated subject, the local brewing club is "The San Andreas Malts"
named after the infamous San Andreas Fault, and the Hail to the Ale
competition was won by Chuck Artigues from the Malts.
Suurb
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 10:20 PST
From: Mark Freeman <MFreeman@VERMITHRAX.SCH.Symbolics.COM>
Subject: Homebrew Digest #376 (March 13, 1990)
Date: Mon, 12 Mar 90 09:12:29 EST
From: card@APOLLO.HP.COM
Subject: BEER IN WATER COOLER
Does anyone have any experience with transfering beer to a water
cooler?
The thought was instead of bottling, transfer to another carboy, along
with 3/4 cup corn sugar. Waiting for the right carbonation level and
then directly onto the water cooler. Maybe great for parties.
/Mal Card
card@APOLLO.HP.COM
The idea has crossed my mind, but there are a few problems.
For example, what to do about the yeast sediment? When you turn
the bottle over to put it on the dispenser, the sediment will
flow down and turn the beer cloudy. You could leave it on the
dispenser while it's carbonating, letting the sediment flow down
to the opening, but then the sediment will come out first, and
I'm not sure if the mechanics of the dispenser will like that.
Finally, I keep thinking about those big air bubbles that glug
to the top of the fluid as it's being drained out of the bottle.
Is that going to turn the hard-earned homebrew into a foamy
mess? Has anyone ever actually tried this?
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 14:29 EST
From: CRF@PINE.CIRCA.UFL.EDU
Subject: Hops; brewing history
Hi, Everybody!
Robert N. recently wrote:
>I saw a glimpse of the Sacramento BEE newspaper about a week ago. They said
>that a San Fransisco based brewery (I think ANCHOR) was able to decipher
>hieroglyphics from an anchient Syrian writing which had a beer recipe!
>I think United Press did the story. Did anyone else see this?
>Apparently it was a pretty good beer, but had to be used quickly, as there
>were no hops in it as a preservative. Apparently the Syrians hadn't found
>out about hops at that point in time. I've been trying to find the article
>again, but hav'nt been successful.
While I didn't see the specific story Robert did, I have read something about
this. Last year there was a major archeological find of some Syrian cuneiform
tablets. Wonderfully for historians, much of the material on the tablets
related to everyday household life, and commercial trade. Included in the
material was a cookbook.
Such a cookbook would automatically include recipes for such fermented
beverages as ale, as just about any and every household would have to make
ales for every-day drinking purposes. The water wasn't often potable.
The reason for the barley brew being short-lived goes beyond the lack of hops,
to overall lack of quality control, period. Brewing back then was very much a
hit-or-miss thing. However it came out, though, one drank it anyway. Until
the cultivation of specific brewing yeasts began (if I remember correctly) in
the 8th century BC, brewing went hand-in-hand with bread making. The same
yeasts did all the work. Once the ability to maintain a yeast culture was
discovered, brewing took a big leap forward.
To give further background (assuming the lot of you are interested-- which I
hope you are!): extant records document brews back to ancient Sumer.
Apparently, as much as 40% of the Sumerian grain crop-- principally barley--
went into the making of brews. Brews were also big in Egypt, where about 8
styles were commonly available commercially.
Btw-- the reason I'm using the word "brews" is twofold. First, there are the
historical changes in grains used. Second, in an historical context, "beer"
has traditionally referred to an hopped brew, and "ale" to an unhopped brew.
The relationship of these two terms to fermentation styles is extremely
recent.
Malting also came along surprisingly early. Unfortunately, I'm writing this
at work, and so don't have my resources to hand. If I remember correctly,
though, malting came along shortly after the turn of the millenium.
Hops's as a medicinal herb may have been behind the original addition of hops
to brews. This led to the discovery of its preservative properties, and in
turn to its widespread cultivation. Use of hops in brewing grew in the 12th
and 13th centuries (again, if I remember correctly). By the 14th century,
beer was popular in Europe, and the Dutch introduced hops into Britain at
about this time. The British, however, viewed hops as possibly poisonous, and
it was several centuries before beer supplanted ale in popularity there.
I can address this topic further, and/or in greater detail, if anyone is
interested. Just ask, and I'll do my best.
>But, can any brewery really say they use NO preservatives. It seems that by
>todays standards, that MAY be possible. But, technically, this is a false
>claim?
I think it's a false claim any which way you look at it! As we no doubt all
know, truth-in-food-labeling laws leave much to be desired. And, indeed,
bills are currently pending in Congress.
>By the way, Cher, Snow balls??? :-) That was a great one!!! A few people
>around here were rolling on the floor when I told them that!
Glad you enjoyed it! Please see below...
Yours in Carbonation,
Cher
Have you heard about the new car on the market? It's called the "Noriega,"
and it comes in 2 styles: Manuel, and Semi-automatic. Also, it runs on
cocaine: when it goes down th road, all the white lines disappear!
=============================================================================
Cheryl Feinstein INTERNET: CRF@PINE.CIRCA.UFL.EDU
Univ. of Fla. BITNET: CRF@UFPINE
Gainesville, FL
------------------------------
Date: 13 Mar 90 15:42:56 EST
From: Jay S Hersh <75140.350@compuserve.com>
Subject: Club COmpetitions
Hello There,
In case anyone thinks that all I like to do is rag on the AHA I
thought I would like to commend then on the success of the club
competitions. If you remember last years discussions on the AHA
sanctioned competitions you may remember the proposed tiered
competition system in which beers would go from winning ranks in
local club competitions to regionals then on to Nationals. The
club competitions seem to be sort fo a compromise on that. I heard
that 47 clubs entered the last one. Thats great!!
It seems that these competitions and styles have become fixed
to a sort of seasonal beer and the times for each competition are
becoming relatively settled. I would suggest making these dates
permanent (say Pale Ales due in March 1 or something like that)
so that all clubs know when their entries need to be in. I suggest
this because the comment I have heard in the past was that people
didn't have enough lead times to brew, judge and submit their clubs
entries. It would also be nice to see an expansion of the number
of styles available.
I myself am laying of beer brewing for a while. A nasty house
bacteria in my latest apt. has made many turn bad. Of course all
the meads have been coming out excellent. I guess the higher acidity
and alcohol make them more resistant to the nasty bug. Now if I can
only develop sufficient patience to let them really age!!
- Jay H
(Not the fattest beer judge by a long shot!)
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Date: Mon, 12 Mar 90 10:03:58 PST
From: maxn@intermec.com (Max Newman x6689)
Subject: John Bull Stout
r 6
Has anyone made the john bull stout, the instructions contain quantities
of sugar to add to all john bull kits except stout. Does the stout use
no sugar? Would it be improved by adding some dry extract?
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Date: Tue, 13 Mar 90 17:02:57 PST
From: "Gary F. Mason - Image Systems - MKO2-2/K03 - 603884[DTN264]-1503 13-Mar-1990 2000" <mason@habs11.enet.dec.com>
Subject: My homebrewing plan of attack...
Hello Homebrewers -
Many years ago, I used to imbibe mass quantities of brew in various forms. I
stopped (for no particular reason), and then had two back to back once every
three months or so. Last year I went to England, and fell in love with bitter.
Having found it very inconvenient to acquire any here without an hour's drive,
I decided to start brewing my own. I have read Charlie's book, and will get
Miller's Handbook as well. I have read the last 14 months of these archived
newsletters (which I find to be a gold mine - thanks), and have formulated my
approach. I am including it here for comments, if you would be so kind. It
has been designed to make life easier, and keep risks to a minimum. It also is
expected to serve me for many years.
(Editorial note: I am detail oriented and somewhat impulsive. I usually go
into something new with both feet, and very seldom regret it. That has been
my attitude with homebrewing, which I hope to enjoy for a long, long time.)
I will do mostly bitters, with various ales from time to time - no lagers.
I have decided to start out assuming that I will do all glass, two stage
fermentations after full wort boils. I figure that one five gallon and one
seven gallon carboy are the right choices. I will be building a wort chiller
right off the bat (immersion). I am going right to a Cornelius keg system,
with CO2, and not messing with bottles at all.
I would like to use all grain, but will start with partial grain or extracts
just to see if it really works 8^) We have a KitchenAid with grain mill
already (for breads, etc.) - I assume that I can use it for grain. I plan to
culture my own yeasts after a while (at least propagating batch to batch).
So - ambitious yes, but a fair set of design goals?
Thanks for listening...Gary
------------------------------
Date: 13 Mar 90 18:40:44 EST (Tue)
From: cohen@xybion.allied.com (cohen)
Subject: Trappist monk ales
I am interested in brewing an ale in the style of trappiste, and am
having a great deal of difficulty locating any information about it.
I have two or three specific problems. The first problem is finding
anything that even remotely discusses formulations for these ales, and
the second problem is getting a yeast that is appropriate for this
type of brew. I am hoping that someone out there has some information
about this for me.
I have looked through several books, and have found nothing about
formulations for these ales. I have found everything I could ever
want to know about Belgian altbiers and lambic ales, but nothing
about Trappist monk ales.
As for the yeast, I am currently trying to start a culture from the
sludge in a bottle of Orval. Has anyone (on this list) ever
successfully cultured this stuff? If not, has anyone ever
successfully cultured *any* Trappiste yeast? I think that there is
more to it than yeast as the taste seems to have a winey tinge to it.
I think that there is some lactobascilus involved, much like a lambic.
Please mail any information that you have about either formulations or
yeast cultures to me, and I will summarize them to the list. Thanks
in advance for your help.
Steve.
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #377, 03/14/90
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