Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
HOMEBREW Digest #0802
This file received at Mthvax.CS.Miami.EDU 92/01/15 04:16:03
HOMEBREW Digest #802 Wed 15 January 1992
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
1" i.d. tubing (dave ballard)
Weiss vs. Weizen? (Anthony Rossini)
oldest brewery (dave ballard)
RE: Homebrew Digest #801 (January 14, 1992) (DAVID)
Munching hops (Jeff J. Miller)
Warm Beer (Tom Quinn 5-4291)
two new wyeasts (Tony Babinec)
Bavarian style Pils (charlto)
Zapap lauter tuns (dbreiden)
Re: Carbonating in SS Kegs (key)
Re: Trihalomethanes and brewing water (larryba)
Re: fermentation times vs vessel size (John DeCarlo)
Microwave Sanitizer (Chris McDermott)
7gallon vs. 5gallon (korz)
Re: Honey (korz)
Byron and Charlie (George Fix) (George J Fix)
pure water ("KATMAN.WNETS385")
info on the yeast bank (Frank Tutzauer)
Getting Hoppy (Robert Millette)
Re: Long Tall Lauter Tun (Chris Shenton)
Easy Label Glue! (joshua.grosse)
homebrew dig (Tim Nickles)
Unholy carbonation (coors story) (Douglas Allen Luce)
Air Infusion System (martin wilde)
Freezing yeast cultures (Dennis J. Templeton)
Malt Mill, Crystal Malt (Jack Schmidling)
Freeeze Shield (C.R. Saikley)
Anchor -- Nierra Sevada Porter/Bigfoot (Douglas Allen Luce)
Sterilization using radiation (Michael L. Hall)
Repair crack in keg? (Nick Payton)
Send submissions to homebrew@hpfcmi.fc.hp.com
Send requests to homebrew-request@hpfcmi.fc.hp.com
[Please do not send me requests for back issues!]
Archives are available from netlib@mthvax.cs.miami.edu
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 14 Jan 1992 7:23 EST
From: dab@pyuxe.cc.bellcore.com (dave ballard)
Subject: 1" i.d. tubing
Hey now-
I need help locating 1" i.d. plastic tubing. I wanna use it for a blow-off
tube (I'm gonna buy some for Oz too) but I can't find it anywhere. I've
already checked about a half-dozen plumbing supply shops and similar
places. Even _The Home Depot_ doesn't have it! Anybody know of a
reliable source where I can get about 15'? I live in central NJ but
am willing to order from anywhere...
thanks
dab
========================================================================
dave ballard
dab@pyuxe.cc.bellcore.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 07:50:16 EST
From: rossini%biosun2@harvard.harvard.edu (Anthony Rossini)
Subject: Weiss vs. Weizen?
Well, I used to think they were different, but on a trip to Germany
(Muechen) to visit a friend in grad school, he claimed that Weisse and
Weizen BOTH described the same thing. So did most of his friends at a party
we went to (at Universitaet Muechen). He did admit that there was this
nasty habit of adding syrup that the Berliners picked up. He also made a
snide remark about needing it to mask inferior beer :-) :-).
-tony
- --
Anthony Rossini - rossini@biostat.harvard.edu
Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health
677 Huntington Ave, Boston MA 02115 617-432-1056
------------------------------
Date: 14 Jan 1992 8:08 EST
From: dab@pyuxe.cc.bellcore.com (dave ballard)
Subject: oldest brewery
Charlie P. mentioned in his posting that he was going off in search of
"the oldest brewery in the americas." Anyone have any idea what that
may be? I _think_ that Jackson's book says that Yeungling (sp), in
Pottstown, PA, is the oldest in the US. I assume that "the americas"
means both continents. Which do you think has the older brewing history,
north or south america?
iko
dab
======================================================================
dave ballard
dab@pyuxe.cc.bellcore.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 1992 8:31:42 -0500 (EST)
From: POORE@SCRI1.SCRI.FSU.EDU (DAVID)
Subject: RE: Homebrew Digest #801 (January 14, 1992)
Please remove me from the list.
For the second time...
David Poore
poore@gw.scri.fsu.edu
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 8:43:37 CST
From: jmiller@anubis.network.com (Jeff J. Miller)
Subject: Munching hops
In HBD #801 Paul Ford asks:
> I don't recall seeing any mention of eating hop shoots in the digest.
> Anyone ever tried 'em?
I heard about eating hops from some other source and tried to harvest some
from my hop plants last spring. Unfortunately I didn't have a clue as to
when to harvest. I waited till the shoots were almost 6 or 8 inches in
length above the ground and then harvested. The shoots were still green
but they were rather tough. They also had an almost thorny nature about
them on the stems.
Anyway, since I didn't have any idea as to how to prepare them, I steamed
them and was going to eat them like asparagas. The end result wasn't all
that good but I think the problem was created by improper harvesting rather
then the hop or the preparation. I'm going to try again this spring only
I'll harvest sooner. Thanks for the recipes.
BTW: I was eating tatenger.
- --
Jeff Miller Network Systems Corporation
Internetwork Group 7600 Boone Avenue North
jmiller@network.com Minneapolis MN 55428 (612)424-4888
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 09:21:30 CST
From: quinnt@turing.med.ge.com (Tom Quinn 5-4291)
Subject: Warm Beer
First off, after nearly a week in our new house I finally had a chance to
brew last night. Now its starting to feel like home!
Now to my question: yesterday a friend and I stopped in at a local store
which reputedly has a large selection of imported and micro-brewed beers.
That reputation seemed justified, as there was quite a large selection,
albeit pricier than I'd seen elsewhere. What caught my eye was the
selection of Sierra Nevada brews, including their Pale Ale, Stout, and
Celebration Ale. I'd been keeping my eye out for the Pale Ale both to
taste and as a source of yeast to culture, but I was quite surprised to see
_lots_ of these beers stacked out on the floor, right next to the Bud! Of
course, my own brews were often stored at room temperature, but never for
too long.
Is there any reason to expect these beers to be less suitable for
consumption or yeast culturing? I wasn't able to find any date code on the
bottles (is there one?) so I don't know how old they may be.
Thanks,
Tom
===========================================================================
Tom Quinn ||
Consultant at || uucp: {uunet!crdgw1|sun!sunbrew}!gemed!quinnt
G.E. Medical Systems || internet: quinnt@gemed.ge.com
Milwaukee, WI 53201-414 ||
===========================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 9:29:19 CST
From: tony@spss.com (Tony Babinec)
Subject: two new wyeasts
Does anyone have information from Wyeast or anywhere else about the
two newest yeasts in the line, namely, "Belgian" ale and "California"
lager? They are supposed to be arriving in the homebrew shops soon.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 09:42:53 CST
From: charlto@ccu.UManitoba.CA
Subject: Bavarian style Pils
Hi all. I'm making a Bavarian style pils on the
weekend and I'd like a little advice. I seem to
have mislaid all my brewing books and I'm not sure
how much hops to use. I'm thinking of making the
gravity about 1050 and using all pale lager malt
(Canadian 2 row, I think). I'll be using a triple
decoction (a la Noonan). Can anyone give me some
advice for a hopping schedule (I'll be using all
Saaz). Also can someone give me the typical AA
percentages for Saaz this year (my supplier still can't
seem to get this information, no matter how much I
plead).
Thanks in advance,
Mike
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 10:59:57 -0500
From: dbreiden@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
Subject: Zapap lauter tuns
I've read that some people don't like the two-plastic-bucket lauter tun
design put forth by Papazian, but from what I've read and what I've heard
from friends, it's the only way I can go at this point in my life.
I once put a hole in a 7 gal bucket in order to install a spigot. I used
a hole saw, but it was tough cutting! Much harder than I thought it would
be. I'm wondering it putting a bizzilion 1/8" holes in the bottom of one
of these things will take me much longer than 3 weeks!! Any comment on
how long it takes??
Secondly, I've seen it suggested that putting slots in the bottom of the
bucket -- using a hot knife to cut -- is a "better" way to go. I'd like
to know why, and I'd also like to know if it's any easier to construct.
Thanks,
Danny
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 11:31:07 EST
From: key@cs.utk.edu
Subject: Re: Carbonating in SS Kegs
>From what I've read on the HBD, most keggers seem to naturally
carbonate their beer. What you're describing (with the shaking,
etc) sounds like artifically carbonating the beer, which is
what I've done.
With the grand total of one (1) soda keg (lots o' bottles, though)
of homebrew under my belt, artifically carbonating worked fine.
I followed the advice of Ron Downer (Brewhaus in Knoxville, TN)
and after chilling for 12 hours, I looked up the pressure to use
on a chart he gave of CO2 volumes at a given temp. Cranked up the
pressure, sat on the floor with the keg between my feet, and shook
for 15 minutes while listening to the CO2 go into solution. It
was a breeze (and actually I didn't hear anything go into solution
the last 5 minutes). The beer was the weakest homebrews I
ever made, 1.8KG Ironmaster Canadian kit with 1/2lb Clover honey
(the MiCoBud crowd loved it) which I thought would be one of the
hardest to carbonate. Hardest part was knowing how long to
wait for the head to go down before venting the excess pressure
out the gas port - sure glad I had that towel handy :-)
BTW, Ron has a quick disconnect on his CO2 with both a gas and
a liquid connector on the ends. When carbonating, he hooks up
to the liquid and bubbles the CO2 through. I took the cheaper/lazy
approach.
For What Its Worth,
Ken Key (key@cs.utk.edu)
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville - CS Dept.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 08:33:28 PST
From: larryba@microsoft.com
Subject: Re: Trihalomethanes and brewing water
If boiling supply water will drive off residual Cl and the reaction
product, then boiling the wort should do the same, right? If so, then
why bother boiling the supply water?
I have noticed that hot water from my tap usually comes out effervescent and
never smells clorinated, unlike the cold water which sometimes smells
clorinated - Usually near the end of summer when supplies are low.
Two things: the effervescent water is caused by the dissolved gasses coming
out. That probably explains why there is no Clorine smell. The water
usually clears within 3-5 minutes. Also, perhaps, the dissolved clorine
is coming out in the tank and reacting with the sacrificial anode? Anyone
know?
I have heard that using Hot tap water is bad for brewing. However,
it looks to me that using hot tap water is the way to go since it gives you
much of the advantages of boiling w/o the time involved.
BTW I do all grain and full wort boils. I avoid bleach whenever possible,
using boiling water for sanitization (except for the glass carboys...). In
essence I am boiling all my water eventually, although not specifically to
drive off nasty chemicals.
Comments, Suggestions or Data Points?
- Larry Barello
------------------------------
Date: Tuesday, 14 Jan 1992 11:53:07 EST
From: m14051@mwvm.mitre.org (John DeCarlo)
Subject: Re: fermentation times vs vessel size
>From: Chris Shenton <chris@endgame.gsfc.nasa.gov>
[re 5 gallon batch in 7 gallon carboy fermenting in one week,
while the one in the 5 gallon carboy is in its third week]
I personally wonder about aeration of wort in these cases. The
only time I fermented in a 5 gallon carboy with blow-off I had to
be much more careful in filling the carboy, resulting in much
less aeration (with highly visible foaming and the like) than
when I poured into the 7 gallon carboy. I have foam that takes
an hour or more to subside just from pouring the cool wort into
the 7 gallon carboy. I don't see how you could get that effect
in a 5 gallon carboy.
Internet: jdecarlo@mitre.org
(or John.DeCarlo@f131.n109.z1.fidonet.org)
Fidonet: 1:109/131
------------------------------
Date: 14 Jan 1992 12:10:24 -0500
From: Chris McDermott <mcdermott@draper.com>
Subject: Microwave Sanitizer
Microwave Sanitizer
After reading James Smith's post on using UV light to sanitize water, I've
decided to ask about something that I've been wondering about for a while.
Wouldn't a microwave make an effective equipment sanitizer? Of course I know
that there are size limitations, like your carboy surely wouldn't fit. But for
quickly sanitizing your turkey-baster/wine-theif, thermometer,
fermentation-lock, etc., it might just work very well. I would guess that the
'wave would cook the beejezus out of any little buggers on your stuff without
even heating up your delicate plastic equipment (at least not much). What's
the consensus?
Chris McDermott, [homebrew, not just for breakfast anymore]
<mcdermott@draper.com>
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 11:07 CST
From: korz@ihlpl.att.com
Subject: 7gallon vs. 5gallon
Chris writes:
>>>cpstnd3.alliant.com (Chris Shenton)
>>> I've done a few wheat beers semi-recently and noticed something odd in
>>> the last 2-3 batches. I did 10 gallon batches, then split into two
>>> carboys, one a 5-gallon, the other a 7-gallon. The larger one -- which
>>> was not filled all the way to the top -- finished in a week or so as
>>> usual. The smaller, filled all the way up to the neck, is on it's
>>> third week.
>>
> [some responses deleted]
>
>I now remember (I haven't been home for a few weeks) another difference in
>the two fermenters. The 7 gallon had an airlock, while the 5 used a 1"
>blowoff hose into a jar with about 3 inches of water. Could the larger back
>pressure from the latter inhibit fermentation?
Ahhh! I think I might have the answer. Wheat beer, right? Top fermenting
yeast, right? The 5 gallon carboy used the blowoff method, so it blew-off a
lot of the yeast that would have dropped back into the beer when the
krauesen fell. Maybe that is a significant amount of yeast and thus,
fermentation subsequently went slower? I would be interested in the
difference in flavor of the two "batches." I had noticed longer fermentation
times since I switched to the blowoff method, but I had attributed
that to the heavier gravity beers I started making at the time and the
switch to Wyeast, also around the same time (I used to use M&F and Edme
which have both been hailed as explosive fermenters in the HBD).
Al.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 11:39 CST
From: korz@ihlpl.att.com
Subject: Re: Honey
Richard writes:
>Beer making news .... I'm just bottling my first batch. Thinking about
>dosing it with a tablespoon of honey per five gallons to see what it will do,
>but I don't know if it's the wise thing to do, and it's too early to relax
>and have a homebrew ...
I think one tablespoon of honey in a five gallon batch would not affect
the flavor enough to notice. I've read of using honey to prime, but
could not find the recipe. Honey tends to be slow to ferment, sometimes
unpredictable and I would advise against using it at priming time.
You're obviously a beginner, Richard... soon you'll discover it's never
to early to relax ;^).
Al.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 13:10:51 CST
From: gjfix@utamat.uta.edu (George J Fix)
Subject: Byron and Charlie (George Fix)
It is sometimes a good thing when two accomplished brewers get into a
brew ha-ha, because interesting things on the technical side tend
to shake out of such spats. Moreover, bruised egos are quick to heal.
The dispute in question is between Byron Burch and Charley Papazian.
At issue is Byron's eccentric Munich Helles formulation. In effect,
Byron is recommending that highly alkaline water be used for this pale
beer. When I first saw Byron's analysis in the GF newsletter in early Dec.,
I promptly called him to get more information. What emerged was more questions
than answers. Also based on test brews started at that time it has become clear
that there are some interesting issues that go well beyond a particular recipe
and indeed a particular beer style.
Gerald Stoker has asked me to give a presentation at the Homebrew Festival
in S.California in April. If I ever emerge from the current fog about the above
issues, then I will talk about them. In particular, any input from others
about pale beers (ale or lager) brewed with highly alkaline water (say with
alkalinity of 200 mg/l or more) would be welcome. In order to directly
compare them with those I am preparing, some or all of the following would
be of interest:
1. Yield (e.g.,weight of grains, volume of brew, and starting gravity
achieved)
2. pH at the end of the mash
3. pH of the last runnings from the sparge
4. final pH of the chilled wort
5. amount of water used in the mash as well the sparge
6. type of mash system used (infusion or decoction)
Also of interest would be your evaluation of the malt character as well as the
hop character of the beers. What is desired here is not a data base to
establish general scientific results, but one that directly pertains to
homebrew. I would of course acknowledge the source of any data used in a public
presentation or publication, both of which would be confined to a not for
profit situation like the Homebrew Festival or publications like HBD and Zymurgy.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 18:11 GMT
From: "KATMAN.WNETS385" <6790753%356_WEST_58TH_5TH_FL%NEW_YORK_NY%WNET_6790753@mcimail.com>
Subject: pure water
Date: 14-Jan-92 Time: 12:54 PM Msg: EXT02642
Hi folks,
Water Purity:
Jack S. mentions Trihalomethanes as one poison class that results from
interaction of Chlorine and water and other substances found in water. I don't
know if Dioxin is a Trihalomethane, but it is one common name people should
recognize (remember Love Canal?). It comes from Chlorinated water too.
James Smith mentions alternatives for getting rid of chlorine such as letting
your water sit out overnight for evaporation or in the sun for UV destruction
of the bad compounds. We used to let our fish water sit out overnight to
evaporate, and none of the fish died (unlike what happens usually if you put
goldie in with tap water). There was an interesting segment of 60 minutes, or
20/20 or one of those shows on alternative water use, and one part was on UV
water purification. Almost everything (and they put some really icky stuff in)
got broken down into H2O, CO2 or some other safe compound.
Wayward Posts:
I subscribe to another digest (SCA) and we often have posts recycle. I think
sometimes some machine gets backed up somwhere, waits a few months, then spits
out some old posts. I noticed that they were old posts and figured that had
happened. It is absolutely incredible to me that someone would take annoyance
with Jack that far, to make it look like he was still on about things like back
in October. Besides, if someone wanted to make him look bad, wouldn't they make
the header show a recent post date? Do not attribute to malice what can be
attributed to computer error.
Lee Katman == Thirteen/WNET == New York, NY
=Do not= use REPLY or ANSWERBACK, I can not receive mail in that fashion.
Please send all mail to
INTERNET katman.wnets385%wnet_6790753@mcimail.com
OR
MCIMAIL EMS: wnet 6790753 MBX: katman.wnets385
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 1992 15:02 EST
From: Frank Tutzauer <COMFRANK@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu>
Subject: info on the yeast bank
Yow, lots of requests about the yeast bank. Where did I get it, how much,
what does it come with, etc. Rather than responding individually, I'll
post this summary instead.
I got it from Alternative Beverages in North Carolina. There number
is 1-800-365-BREW. You can ask for a catalog (free), or if you only
want to order the yeast bank, the order number is Y-BANK. It costs
$5.95 (US) plus UPS shipping for 1.5 lbs from North Carolina to you.
Extra culture tubes and Freeze shield are available. The order numbers and
costs are, respectively, CUL-TUBE, $0.50, .1 lbs, and FRE, $1.75, .3 lbs.
The $5.95 kit comes with the following: 5 culture tubes, 4 oz. of
Freeze Shield, a storage container, an eye dropper, and directions. The
storage container is nothing but a 1-quart generic plastic storage
container with a sticker saying "Yeast Bank" stuck to it. You can get
the container at most grocery stores. When I saw it, I realized I
already owned 7 or 8 of them (I use them for storing soups, stock,
broths, gumbos, etc., in my freezer)--although mine, of course, don't
say "Yeast Bank" :-)
The directions say that they (the autorhs) have successfully kept yeast for
over 1 year. One cool thing about the tubes is that they come pre-
sterilized in plastic wrapping, so you can open them and use them
immediately without separately sanitizing them.
Hope this helps,
- --frank (a satisfied customer)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 12:25:50 PST
From: millette@ohsu.EDU (Robert Millette)
Subject: Getting Hoppy
More Hops Talk:
Hop cones (strobili) make a nice smoking substitute. The smoke
the smoke smells like cannabis because it is. Some people
report a mild effect. Hops (Humulus lupus L.) is a member of the
Cannabaceae family. Maybe if hops had been bred for smoking instead
of beer making, they would cost $900 a pound, be grown under lights
in basements and be the source of much discussion, but the beer
would be great.
Jay Allen
Hop Head
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 15:34:21 EST
From: Chris Shenton <chris@asylum.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Re: Long Tall Lauter Tun
I've been doing 15 gallon step infusion mashes in my clothes washer:
use warm wash (protein rest) and hot rinse (starch conversion)
selections; I turn up my water heater the night before to get the
higher temperatures I need.
The agitation insures that all the temperature distribution is even
(like the AutoMash). The final rinse and spin gives me a fantastic
sparge due to the grain bed compaction and the fine spray of hot water
over the grain. The wort is pumped out the output hose right into my
boiler. Simple, easy, and less expensive than AutoMash; it does a good
job on clothes, too.
#### ####
###### ######
######## ########
######## ########
######## #######
#### ####
##
##
##
##
##
##
##
##
##
##
##
##
##
##
##
#
### ###
######## ########
########## ###########
################# #################
################################################
#############################################
######################################
############################
######################
------------------------------
Date: Tuesday, 14 January 1992 4:03pm ET
From: joshua.grosse@amail.amdahl.com
Subject: Easy Label Glue!
Milk. That's right, the stuff you get from squeezed cows. Pour a small
amount onto a plate, and dip the back of your plain paper label into the milk.
Stick it on your bottle, press in place with your fingers, and presto! It
dries and stays stuck to the bottle, and any milk that got on the front of the
label dries clear. I got this little tip from another member of the Ann Arbor
Brewer's Guild at one of the meetings, but I didn't have a need to try it
until last night when I was packaging up some gift bottles. I used 1/2%, but
I doubt that it would matter much.
Also, in honor of the "Hail to Ale" AHA club competition next month, I've
included a little stanza to my signature (just for today) that you might
enjoy.
=================================================================
Oh many a peer of England brews Josh Grosse
Livlier liquor than the Muse, jdg00@amail.amdahl.com
And malt does more than Milton can 313-358-4440
To justify God's ways to man.
Ale, man, ale's the stuff to drink
For fellows whom it hurts to think.
=A.E. Housman=
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 14:45:23 -0700
From: Tim Nickles <tnickles@beagle.Colorado.EDU>
Subject: homebrew dig
please cancel my subscription
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 1992 16:48:36 -0500 (EST)
From: Douglas Allen Luce <dl2p+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Unholy carbonation (coors story)
Does anyone have any thoughts on "natural" (yeast-fart) carbonation
vs. "artificial" (from a cylinder) carbonation? I hear a lot
of marketing hype about the "fine, tiny bubbles" introduced by natural
carbonation. Does this imply that artificial carbonation puts huge
wonking bubbles into the brew? I've got a carbonation system, and
haven't noticed much a difference in quality or taste.
- ----
On my way to the Anchor tour this winter, my mother told me a story
about a clause in the union contracts of Coors brewery employees in
the mid 1960's.
Apparently, for each employee at the brewery, 5 gallons of brew had to
be on tap in the lunchroom. Each employee was allowed 4 beer breaks a
day. How did they get any work done?? (A brewer at the Anchor told
me that the rules there was "no beer until you've worked 4 hours...")
Bottoms up, heads down!
douglas luce
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 21:55:51 GMT
From: martin@daw_302.hf.intel.com (martin wilde)
Subject: Air Infusion System
I have been thinking of ways to build an Air Injection System
for my "garage" brewery.
Since doing the "lambada" with 5 gallons of wort is not the
most exciting thing (my wife gets a chuckle), I thought there
must be a better way. I know the commercial breweries inject
oxygen into to the lines carrying the chilled wort to the
fermenters, but bottled oxygen is expensive.
So here is my idea...
+--------+
| Wort |-----------+-------------|
| Chiller| | +-+
+--------+ | +--+ +--+
| | |
| | |
+---+ | |Carboy |
| |--+ | |
+---+ | |
Aquarium Air Pump +-------+
The only problem I can think of is how to I get "clean" air
into the air pump?
Thanks, martin
martin@daw_302.hf.intel.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 17:05:12 -0500
From: djt2@po.CWRU.Edu (Dennis J. Templeton)
Subject: Freezing yeast cultures
In response to a recent posting about freezing yeast cultures, I'm posting
the methods that we use in our research lab for freezing and recovering
yeast. I have used similar methods for a while to culture ale yeast (1028)
and I don't see why it should not work for nearly all organisms of
importance to brewing. Translating the methods from the lab to the kitchen
is another issue, and has been dealt with occasionally here.
We grow yeast in a rich medium, that can be substituted in the brewery with
a simple wort: 1-2 tablespoons DME in a cup of water. In the lab we
autoclave to sterilize the medium; in the kitchen I have found that making
the wort up in mason jars with lids works well; I boil the jars and all in
a covered kettle (better still a pressure cooker) for 45 minutes.
To freeze your favorite culture, make up two different jars with medium: 1
with DME in water, the other with DME in water:Glycerine (glycerol) 4:1
(i.e. 20% glycerol in water) Sterilize both. Inoculate the water culture
with your _best_ culture source; ideally, this will be a single colony from
a petri dish (another topic altogether) using a sterile loop (or a long
thin wire heat sterilized). Grow the culture for a few days at room temp,
until it is distinctly cloudy. I don't worry about excluding air, since
the culture is nearly absolutely sterile. If your innoculum is less
certain (i.e. the dregs from your last bottle) there is a chance that
you'll have other beasties in with your yeasties.
When the culture is dense, but before it's sat around too long (i.e. it is
as healthy as it can be) pour the glycerol medium into the culture bottle,
and mix. I dispense this into sterile vials using a sterile pipette.
Now, what to do in the kitchen. For sterile vials, I would recommend small
glass vials, maybe 1/2 ounce with black bakelite caps. These can be
sterilized in the oven (try one first) maybe 400 degrees F for an hour.
Any small jar that seals well and can be heated should be ok. You might be
able to boil them to sterilize, but this seems awkward. For a sterile
pipette, you could boil a medicine dropper. Pharmacies sell these for
giving medicine to kids, and they should be boilable. Fill the vials about
half way.
Now, we store our cultures in the lab in an ultra-low freezer; -80 degrees
C. I have kept these cultures at -20 (my home freezer) with good results,
but the liquid doesn't seem to freeze reliably. My 6 month old cultures
have ice at the top and a brown liquid layer at the bottom, where most of
the yeast are.
To use the culture, you CAN just dump it into the starter, since the
glycerol (10% of 1/2 ounce (15 ml)) is less than a half teaspoon (1.5 ml).
Better, though, is to simply take a small innoculum from the vial. Take
the vial out of the freezer and warm it until it just starts to thaw.
Sterilize your loop (or wire) on the stove, and while hot, stick it down
the side of the vial, to the bottom where the yeasties are. Then either
streak your loop onto an agar petri dish for colonies, or dip it into a
sterile jar of medium (wort) for your starter culture. Put the vial back
into the freezer. This way, a few vials should last eons, as long as the
vials are not fully thawed each time. I don't know the lifetime of the
yeast in a kitchen freezer, but it is indefinite in the lab freezer.
Microbiologists know the advantages of working from single colonies, in
that rare mutations are removed from the culture at the beginning of each
experiment. I would highly recommend for those who maintain your own
cultures learning how to streak for single colonies. I may offer
suggestions for this in the future if it seems useful.
good luck-- dennis
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 14:52 CST
From: arf@ddsw1.mcs.com (Jack Schmidling)
Subject: Malt Mill, Crystal Malt
To: Homebrew Digest
Fm: Jack Schmidling
From: pencin@parcplace.com (Russ Pencin)
Just a few comments of a non commercial nature.
> This should say "one of the rollers is 'bearly' driven by an under-powered
motor". If I had it to do over again, I'd buy the hand crank unit and spend
the extra money on a 1/4 horse motor and pulleys.
I hooked it up to a 1/2 HP motor from my belt sander and it scared the hell
out of me. If one got his finger in, it MIGHT stop at the shoulder, but I
doubt it.
I have chosen a different approach. Another set of pullies and another belt
reduces the speed to about 70 RPM and increased the torque just enough to do
the job with the "under-powered motor". It also eliminates the splatter of
grain.
> The asthetics of the unit leave alot to be desired. Externally, the whole
thing looks like something out of junior-high woodshop.
An artist I aint.
>The hopper is made from press-board mounted on two triangles of 'fake-wood'.
The "fake-wood" is not a cheap substitute for wood but a rather expensive but
eco-friendly substitute for plastic. It is made from recycled milk bottles.
>There is no exit chute for the grains, so they tend to 'implode' in a
pretty wide area around the bottom of the unit.
Speed reduction solves this problem.
> The hopper suffers from 'lack-of-slope' and capacity.
I took the cue and widened the slot on the bottom to eliminate grain jamming
but now fingers can get in and I had to add a safety screen.
>I hope Jack will consider just selling the business part of the mill and let
the buyer decide to do the finish work.
I have given this a great deal of thought but come up with no solution to the
product liability problem.
>I understand Jack's concern for safety - but it kinda feels like the helmet
law, the seat belt law, the warning label on alcohol, etc.... Just sell me
the parts with a disclaimer that this unit is sold as a paper-weight, the
seller accepts no responsibility for any other application.
Let me tell the story of the farmer and the ladder manufacturer and you will
understand the dilemma......
Once upon a time there was a farmer who was painting his barn. It was a very
cold day in Northern Wisconsin and said farmer could see no reason not to set
his nice new ladder in a frozen cow pie and lean it against the barn. Well,
as the sun came out and warmed up the pie, the ladder slipped and the farmer
fell and injured himself.
The farmer successfully sued the ladder manufacturer for $80,000 because
there was no warning on the ladder about frozen cow pies.
I saw this story on 60 Min and the ladder in question was almost totally
covered with warnings because of previous, idiotic lawsuits. That is was
America is all about and I am not about to risk my cosy life over a grain
mill.
From: Mike Sharp <msharp@cs.ulowell.edu>
>ARF -- ??why??
Still more bubbles.
>FWIW, I did like the review of your grain mill. sounds like an interesting
unit. Did you make the supporting castings yourself or were they left-overs
from something else?
All of the castings are custom designs, sand cast by me. I use my brew
kettle burner as a foundry furnace. Or was it the other way around?
>Did you wind up using stainless for the rollers or some form of tool steel?
The rollers are aluminum. Yeh I know, Alsheimers from the aluminum flaking
off into my malt. Even I can be practical sometimes.
BTW, I tried making pasta with it. Forget it!
From: korz@ihlpl.att.com
Subject: Re: crystal + BODY
>It is my understanding that, well-made crystal malt will contain little
starch. The benefits of crystal malt are: its characteristic caramel
flavor, it adds caramel color, it adds body, and it increases head
retention. It has no active enzymes.
I think you missed the most basic reason for using crystal malt. All of the
above can be achieved through other means but only crystal malt can be dumped
into a simple extract brew and boiled for a few minutes to add the (some?)
character of "fresh" malt.
What makes crystal malt unique is that it is essentially mashed during the
kilning process. Other malts are bone dry before going into the kiln but
crystal goes in at about 50% moisture content and is held at low temps until
bone dry, then elevated to finish temp. The pseudo mashing occurs while the
moist grain is in the low temp range.
I learned this by accident at the local home brew shop. When I tasted his
malt, I discovered that only the crystal tastes like the stuff I make and
demonstrate in my video. A little research pointed to the fact that by
putting the grain in the oven when "dry to the touch", I was making crystal
malt.
This also happens to be the most efficient method of producing nitrosamines
and even the hardliners like Breis, make crystal malt by the indirect
process. That is, by kilning it in such a way that it is never exposed to
the combustion products of a gas flame. This also led me to stop making malt
in my kitchen oven.
js
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 14:54:03 PST
From: grumpy!cr@uunet.UU.NET (C.R. Saikley)
Subject: Freeeze Shield
Frank Tutzauer asks about reviving yeast from the freezer :
>But when you're ready to wake up the yeasties, you thaw, and
>dump it into a new starter. The directions don't say explicitly, but it sure
>seems like you're supposed to dump the whole thing--Freeze Shield and all--
>into the starter wort.
I don't have a yeast bank, so I'm speculating here, but I tend to
agree with Frank. You probably don't want to dump antifreeze into
your beer. One way around this is to :
1. Make up a small starter from the frozen sample, antifreeze
and all.
2. When your starter is active, "plate it out" to isolate
single cells. (A tight sphincter is essential here!)
3. Identify a healthy culture on your plate, and inoculate
a small starter with that.
4. Successively pitch starter into larger batches until you
have enough to pitch into a full batch.
This will not only assure that you've gotten rid of the antifreeze,
but building the starter from a single cell will help ensure the viability
of your starter.
Cheers,
CR
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 1992 16:36:33 -0500 (EST)
From: Douglas Allen Luce <dl2p+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Anchor -- Nierra Sevada Porter/Bigfoot
Hello all!
This Christmas I did the Anchor Tour; (I had made the reservations a
month and a half in advance, and am told I just made it in!) highly
recommended to all!
I also noticed the grant, and asked the tour guide what it was for; he
said it pretty much wasn't used, but could be used for determining
when (or if) a particular part of the lautering bed had been spent,
and the grains should be shuffled around to increase the efficiency of
the sparge. When I was there, it was kicking up quite a bit of foam.
Across the hall from the fermenting vessels was a setup to cool and
aerate the wort, and (I think) some device to separate out the trub.
I remember the guide saying something about swirling wort; there was a
cannister about 8 feet tall, maybe 8 feet in diameter that was being
gestured to during the description. Is this supposed to work
similarly to swirling the wort around in the brewpot?
At the end of the tour, the guide made sure that all the participants
were offered a sample of all the varieties on tap (Weiss, Steam,
Liberty, Porter, Christmas '91, and Foghorn, wow!). Good thing I
wasn't driving! Fat chance I can get kegs of a good barleywine like
Foghorn in Pittsburgh (unless we see a Budweiser release...nah,
they've already got King Cobra "good buzz fast" malt liquor.) I gave
a little bit of thought as to how one might get a half-barrel to the
airport check-in counter.
- ---
I did, however, smuggle back a couple of bottles of Sierra Nevada.
One was a porter, from which I captured the yeasties and now have them
slaving away on a nice thick porter of my own. (Aside: what does one
get when they dry-hop a porter?? Is this a recommended procedure?)
The other bottle was the Bigfoot ale. Does anyone know anything about
what yeast is in this thing? Is it different from the Pale Ale
strain? Would it be suitable for a high-gravity brew or barleywine?
Bottoms up, heads down!
douglas luce
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 16:51:39 MST
From: mlh@cygnus.ta52.lanl.gov (Michael L. Hall)
Subject: Sterilization using radiation
I hope this doesn't stray too far from the beer topic, but there were
some additional questions about sterilization using radiation. There
are several items on the market that are sterilized using gamma
radiation. Some that I can think of include "Top Shelf" (a kind of
"frozen" dinner that doesn't need to be refrigerated) and those
cardboard juice containers that come with their own straw. I don't know
if they do this to beer, but it is certainly plausible (and, in my
opinion, preferable to pasteurization).
There seems also to be some confusion about what the different types of
radiation are. Here is a table of the most common forms of radiation:
Common name "What it is" Mass (AMUs) Charge
alpha particles helium nuclei (2 protons + 2 neutrons) 4 +2
beta particles electrons .0005 -1
gamma rays photons (electromagnetic radiation) 0 0
neutrons neutrons 1 0
X-rays photons (electromagnetic radiation) 0 0
For sterilization, gamma radiation is most commonly used. This is
because alphas and betas wouldn't go very far into the sample (because
they're charged), neutrons might activate the sample (make it
radioactive itself), and X-rays would not be strong enough. The only
difference between an X-ray, a gamma ray, visible light, and radio
waves is the wavelength (and therefore the energy). Somebody just chose
a certain wavelength range and gave it a name.
As far as how the sterilization using gamma rays actually works, I
don't really know. My guess is that the radiation causes random
screw-ups in the DNA of the bacteria, and hence prevents the replication
necessary for reproduction. Is there a biologist/radiation specialist on
this list?
We now continue with the brewing discussion, already in progress...
Mike Hall
hall@lanl.gov
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 92 20:31:43 NST
From: Nick Payton <payton@mrspock.nwafc.nf.ca>
Subject: Repair crack in keg?
Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix a small crack in a plastic
keg?
I have a Edme Brewcraft plastic pressure barrel which has developed
a small crack near the recessed handles used for lifting the keg. The
crack doesn't leak until I put it under pressure which causes the barrel
to expand and open up the crack and release beer or CO2.
I tried using epoxy but when I went to test the seal the slight
expansion of the keg caused the brittle epoxy seal to fail.
I am also concerned that the compound used for sealing has no ill
effects on the taste of my beer and/or my health.
Cheers
Nick Payton
payton@mrspock.nwafc.nf.ca
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #802, 01/15/92
*************************************
-------
