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HOMEBREW Digest #0868
This file received at Mthvax.CS.Miami.EDU 92/04/21 03:10:04
HOMEBREW Digest #868 Tue 21 April 1992
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
New Amsterdam Ale recipe? (STEVE TYNOR)
Re: Killer head! (Norm Pyle)
orange carboy caps (mcnally)
clear bottles (sherwood)
Epson/LaserJet version of Cat's Meow (mbcnpjq)
Re: Spoiled Brew?? (korz)
Smart Caps (tm) (Frosty D. Snowman)
Microwaves and Mashing (mbcnpjq)
Micro-Mashing
AHA subcategories (korz)
Dry hopping (korz)
Time to brew a pepper beer...help (SHERRILL_PAUL)
odd ingredients (ZLPAJGN)
floaties (C05705DA)
Candy sugar (korz)
spent grains and rumination (florianb)
MALTMILL MOTOR (Jack Schmidling)
Sierra Nevada Ale yeast (Ken Giles)
BRF email address (chris campanelli)
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**Please do not send me requests for back issues!**
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Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 10:21:03 -0400
From: tynor@prism.gatech.edu (STEVE TYNOR)
Subject: New Amsterdam Ale recipe?
Can anyone recommend a recipe (hopefully extract, but I'll take whatever
I can get) that will duplicate New Amsterdam Ale (New Amsterdam Brewing
Co., Utica NY)? Barring that, can someone at least tell me what style
of beer it is?
My relatively uneducated guess is that it is some sort of pale ale. I'm
just a lowly extract brewer with only three batches to my name -- my
first and only IPA attempt has been (so far) somewhat dissapointing.
[Will the oak flavor subside as the beer ages? It's only been a week,
but all I can taste is oak! In reviewing Papazian and the Cat's Meow, I
see that oak is very optional for IPA's -- next time I'll probably leave
it out! But I digress...]
According to the label: "New Amsterdam Ale has a rich malty flavor with
a pleasently bitter aftertaste. Whole hop flowers are added after
fermentation in a process called `dry hopping' to provide the wonderful
spicy and fruity aroma". I'll go along with that. It's the spiciness
and fruitiness that distinguishes this ale from others I've tried. Is it
simply a matter of taking a common pale ale recipe and dry hopping with
the proper variety of hops?
So:
1) can someone suggest an extract recipe? all-grain?
2) what style does it most closely resemble?
3) Even w/out a recipe, can you suggest what sort of hops are used?
Is there a book similar to Dave Line's "Brewing Beers Like Those You
Buy" (which I understand deals strictly with british brew), but focusing
on US beers?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Eschew Obfuscation.
Steve Tynor
Georgia Tech Research Institute
tynor@prism.gatech.edu
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 09:07:55 MDT
From: pyle@intellistor.com (Norm Pyle)
Subject: Re: Killer head!
lconrad@wilko.Prime.COM (Laura Conrad) writes:
>>> Date: Mon, 13 Apr 92 14:34 CDT
>>> From: korz@ihlpl.att.com
>>> Subject: Re: Killer head!
>>>
>>> 1. bottling too soon,
>>> 2. infection, and
>>> 3. too much priming sugar.
>>>
>>> If the beer is only correctly carbonated during weeks 2, 3 and 4
>>> after bottling, then I suspect either reason #1 or #3.
>
>Also, if some bottles have the gushing problem and others don't, it's #2.
>
> Laura
This is not necessarily true. If some bottles gush and others don't it
could very well be improper mixing of the priming sugar.
Norm
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 08:13:16 -0700
From: mcnally@wsl.dec.com
Subject: orange carboy caps
Why would you want to use an orange cap instead of a stopper and airlock?
Even if you use a blow-off tube, the diameter of the orange thing is too
small (unless you like plugged tubes and carboy bombs).
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Mike McNally mcnally@wsl.dec.com
Digital Equipment Corporation
Western Software Lab
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 08:56:09 -0700
From: sherwood@adobe.com
Subject: clear bottles
With all the junk I have read about clear bottles here in the HBD over the
last couple of years, I finally decided to throw my two cents into the mash.
I keg now, but I bottled for many years. I far preferred clear (Miller)
bottles to anything else because they showed off the color of the beer so
well. Oh, Heresy!! (quick, repeat the mantra: "clear, bad; brown, good" until
he goes away...:-). Okay, clear bottles plus beer plus light gives problems.
Fine. I was not in the habit of storing my beer either in the sun or under
flourescent lights. When I got the bottles I also got these great light-tight
bottle holders (I think they call them "cases" :-)) that the bottles came in.
Once I bottled the beer, I put it into the case (just in case there are some
who don't know what I mean, when long-neck beer bottles are sold by the case
they come in heavy cardboard boxes with split tops that fold together to make
a nice-stackable unit) to condition and age. Since it is inside the case, the
color of the bottle is irrelevant. When I got ready to drink it, I placed it
into the refrigerator, another notably dark environment. So unless you plan
on placing your beer on grocery store shelves or out in then sun don't worry
about the color of the glass. And clear bottles are prettier. So there.
Geoff Sherwood
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 17:28:06 BST
From: mbcnpjq@hpa.ph.man.ac.uk
Subject: Epson/LaserJet version of Cat's Meow
I wanted to print out the postscript version of the Cat's Meow but
I had a small problem. My postscript printer was down. Since
I did have an HP Laserjet handy, I used Ghostscript 2.4 to create
a version that would print on the HP. For 'fun', I also made a version
that should work with the Epson dot matrix printers. Unfortunately,
the laserjet file was very large, but the Epson file came out to be
about 10 MBytes, 2.5 MBytes when compressed 3.4 MBytes when uuencoded.
If anyone with an Epson would like to see if this will print out
I'll break it up and email it to you.
Cheers,
John
- --
John Quintana Voice Phone (in UK): 061-275-4161
Department of Physics 061-275-4059
Schuster Laboratory FAX Phone (in UK): 061-275-4149
University of Manchester UK Country Code: 44
Manchester M13 9PL
UNITED KINGDOM
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 11:41 CDT
From: korz@ihlpl.att.com
Subject: Re: Spoiled Brew??
Jason writes:
>Me and a pal brewed a batch of beer 2 weeks ago (today) unfortunately we
>have not had a chance to bottle it. Now we are wondering if we spoiled
>the batch. Should we bottle it anyway? Should we dump it? Should we
>bottle it and then give it as gifts to our enemies? Etc.
By all means bottle it! At the fermentation temperatures I use, 57F to
68F (depending on where in the basement I put the carboy), my Wyeast-powered
brews take at least a week to ferment-out and some (like my Orval clone)
take much longer. If you use dry yeast at 80F, it can ferment-out in 24 hours
(albeit making all kinds of higher alcohols in the process), but there's no
problem having the finished beer sitting around for a week or two. If you
know it will be sitting around longer than two weeks, you should rack it off
the trub and dead yeast. Even if the finished beer was to sit around for
four or six weeks, you should bottle it anyway -- the worst thing that will
happen is your beer may develop a slight "yeasty" flavor -- certainly not
bad enough to dump the batch!
Al.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 11:48:09 -0500
From: frosty@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Frosty D. Snowman)
Subject: Smart Caps (tm)
Hello all.
Just wondering if anyone has any solid info on smart caps. The theory makes
sense to me, but has anyone bottled the same batch with and with out.
If so, what were the results?
Thanks a lot.
Frosty
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 18:16:46 BST
From: mbcnpjq@hpa.ph.man.ac.uk
Subject: Microwaves and Mashing
This showed up in rec.crafts.brewing. I thought this was a neat
trick and might even be useful for
partial mashes for those of us with electric stoves.
Reprinted with the author's permission.
- ------------------------------------------------------------------
From: jlmoore@cats.ucsc.edu (Jamie Lewis Moore)
Newsgroups: rec.crafts.brewing
Subject: Micro-Mashing
I have been brewing all-grain for about three years now with good
results, but my interest in experimenting with new recipes has led me
to brewing 3 gallon batches. Needless to say this is a lot of work to
go to for such a small batch.
I have come up with a solution that is easy and saves me a lot of
worrying (sorry Charlie). So I will pass on this mashing technique to
the rest of you for comments and such.
1) Cut off the bottom 6 inches off a plastic 5 gallon bucket with a
saber saw or hand saw (don't use a shipping knife, too dangerous).
2) Make sure it fits into your micro-wave oven!
3) Pour in enough water for 5 lbs of cracked malt (about a quart per
pound of grain or slightly more).
4) Set your micro-wave to 70-80% power setting and set the timer for
about 25 minutes (assuming a 600-700 watt oven).
5) Stop the oven every 5 minutes and stir the mash well. Also
check the temperature rise to estimate the amount of time to reach the
first rest point.
6) When the temperature hits 118-122 F stop the oven and let sit for 30
minutes in the oven with the door closed. This is a very important
step if you want haze free beer that ferments well. Something to do
with breaking down long chain proteins and freeing up nutrients for
the yeast. I have never experienced chill haze with or without irish
moss as long as I do a good protein rest.
7) start up the oven again and continue to stop every 5 minutes and
stir well.
8) when the mash hits 155 F stop the oven, stir well and then let rest
for 10 minutes.
9) The temperature will have fallen a few degrees so run the oven for
another few minutes and let rest for 10 minutes.
10) Continue this process for 45 minutes or until the mash passes the
iodine test.(I just wait out the time, the iodine test is a little
tricky to interpret correctly and makes me worry!)
11) Run the oven on full power and stop to stir and check temperature
until the 170 F point has been reached. Let rest for 10 minutes. This
step is also very important because the elevated temperature kills off
enzyme activity that would shift your sugar to dextrins ratio and give
your beer a thin body with a high alcohol content. I forgot this once
and my wort fermented over night to completion. Tasted a little bitter
due to low dextrin content and was thin. On the positive side the beer
was very clean due to the rapid ferment.
12) Sparge as usual and so on ...
Let me know how this works for you, I have used it two times with
consistent results.
Jamie Moore
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
- --
John Quintana Voice Phone (in UK): 061-275-4161
Department of Physics 061-275-4059
Schuster Laboratory FAX Phone (in UK): 061-275-4149
University of Manchester UK Country Code: 44
Manchester M13 9PL
UNITED KINGDOM
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 12:16 CDT
From: korz@ihlpl.att.com
Subject: AHA subcategories
Steve writes:
>You can enter this beer in any AHA category you think is appropriate. Many of
>us have brewed targeting one style and ended out with a beer that was closer
>to another. While AHA rules prohibit multiple entries in the same category/
>subcategory in a competition, there's nothing to prohibit you from entering
>the same beer in two completely different categories.
I read and re-read the AHA Competition rules a half dozen times (just to
be on the safe side) and I've come to the conclusion that you can enter
a beer in each subcategory. The reason for my re-reading was because I
brewed a stout in January and it was (in my opinion) halfway between a
dry and a sweet stout, but very good. So, I entered it in both the
Foreign Stout (stronger version of dry stout) and Sweet Stout subcategories.
Since I was a judge at the Midwestern Regional, I had the opportunity to
look into my stout's progress. After completing my flight of Traditional
German Bocks, I wandered over to the stout tables. Alas, neither of my
stouts had made the cut, but both had scored 38.5 (from two *different*
judging teams -- talk about judging consistency!). I didn't get a chance
to see the score sheets, but I suspect one beer got: "a bit too sweet to
be a Foreign Stout" and the other: "a bit too dry to be a Sweet Stout."
Oh well, back to the old drawing board.
By the way, since the judging was over, I did get a chance to taste
the three Midwestern Stouts heading for the Second Round in Milwaukee.
They *were* measurably better than mine and deserved the 40+ scores they
got. Heavenly!!!
One final note. I am convinced that the quality of *all* the beers at the
Second Round of the AHA Nationals will be better than 95% of the commercial
beers in the world and par with the other 5%. I'm proud to be associated
with Homebrewing, as we all should be. Charlie, take a bow.
Al.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 12:25 CDT
From: korz@ihlpl.att.com
Subject: Dry hopping
Brian asks:
I have noticed lately that many of the subscribers to this
digest extoll the virtues of dry-hopping. What are the realtive
advatages/disadvantages of dry-hopping vs. adding flavor hops
late in the boil ?
No question in my mind -- the room-filling hop bouquets some beers have
are not possible without dryhopping. Dryhopping is much more efficient
at adding bouquet than adding hops in the last minute of the boil.
Flavor hops are a bit different (in my opinion) than finishing hops. I
add flavor hops in the last 15 minutes of the boil. 15 minutes will boil
off most of the bouquet, but will add hop flavor. Finishing hops are
usually added in the last 1 to 5 minutes of the boil.
The disadvantages to dryhopping are:
1. marginally increased chance of infection,
2. slightly more troublesome racking (leaf hops float -- I suggest using
them), and
3. you lose a bit of beer (that which is trapped in the hops) when racking
to the priming bucket.
Al.
------------------------------
Date: 20 Apr 92 10:34:00 -0700
From: SHERRILL_PAUL@Tandem.COM
Subject: Time to brew a pepper beer...help
Hi folks,
I plan on brewing a serrano pepper beer this week and I need to
know the best way to introduce this into the beer. I had a pepper
beer at the last Small Brewers Festival in CA that was excellent.
The brewer mentioned using serranos and I think making a tea out of
it.
My first guess is to make the tea and pour it in with the
finishing hops during the steep. My second thought is to add it
upon racking into the secondary or possibly with the bottling
sugar at bottle time. Any suggestions?
Send to me at SHERRILL_PAUL@tandem.com
thanks paul
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 12:45 CDT
From: ZLPAJGN%LUCCPUA.bitnet@UICVM.UIC.EDU
Subject: odd ingredients
Dear Brewers,
I have a couple of questions (So what else is new, right?!)
First of all, with all of the advise this network sends, there has
been none so valuable as: "What ever happens, never throw out a batch,
unless it turns out to be utterly impalitable (which is, of course, up
to the individual brewer's tastes). So, my latest lager - that highly
gingered and spruced flavored batch of terpentine - is still sitting
on my back porch in two 1 gal jugs. However both are acting completely
differently from eachother. One, which is filled to the neck, is
bubbling and forming a kreausen-like foam (this, after the initial
kreausen fell in the primary and I rached into these 1 gal. secondarys).
but the lock is not passing bubbles!! (?) There's nothing wrong with
the lock, either. Finally, the brew is still a familiar milky white-ish
and yeast is still 'swimming' throughout.
The other 1 gal secondary is filled about 3/4 full, but is clearing
and seems healthy enough, with bubbles steadily passing through the lock
and a normal amount of bubbles collecting at the surface. So, I guess
the question I have about this batch (did I mention that the 1 gal. jugs
contain the same brew - racked from a primary) is, "What gives?" Why is
one the fuller jug sluggish, and the less-full one behaving? Could this
result from improper cleaning (although I tend to be maticulous about
cleaning, but this one jug was a *bitch* to clean!)
Ok, now for the second set of questions..
Has anyone used or know about using hearts of palm as an ingredient
in a wort? Now, before y'all laugh yourselves blue, let me try to
briefly explain: For about 10 years now my brothers, close friends and
I have been getting together in the Everglades every Christmas for an
all-night campfire and acoustic jam session (we're all acomplished
musicians to various extents). So, what I want to do is try to capture
in a beer (preferably a lager, but that may prove difficult during the
summer months) that flavor of a campfire in the 'Glades. So I'm
thinking about a HINT of spruce (not like what's in my present batch)
and a bit of liquid smoke (again, only a hint) and possibly those
palm hearts, reminescent of the palmetto palms in the 'Glades. So,
if anyone knows anything along these lines, I'd appreciate your
experience and advise. E-mail me personally if you don't want to
be exposed on the network!!
Thanks!!
John (of "Monstrocity Ale" fame!!)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 13:08:40 CST
From: C05705DA@WUVMD.Wustl.Edu
Subject: floaties
I had a first occurance with my last batch. After the primary was com-
pleted, all the yeast foated to the top, instead of sinking to the
bottom. What went wrong? I tried my best to get the yeast out; but,
some got into my bottles anyway. Will this pose a problem?
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 14:25 CDT
From: korz@ihlpl.att.com
Subject: Candy sugar
While cleaning out my hb directory, I found the following question
from Russ:
>What is the "candy sugar" that is used in some Belgium recipes?
As close as I can tell, it is like rock candy made from (I forget
now, I believe it was) beets. When I made my Lambic (still fermenting)
I used, what I thought was, the closest sugar I had in the house:
refined cane sugar. My theory was, that candy sugar was sucrose.
I don't remember where I read about the candy sugar (Guinard maybe)
but I think it was white. Comments?
Al.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 12:51:28 PDT
From: florianb@chip.cna.tek.com
Subject: spent grains and rumination
Brian Bliss sez:
>Ruminants (cattle, sheep) should be able to get something out of it
>(and are probably the only ones that would eat it). Their complex
Clearly, Brian, you have never met my Labrador Retriever. This dog will
eat anything. Spent grains? Ha! how about rotten Halloween jack-o-lanterns?
Deer antlers, turnips, cabbages from the garden and anything the cat
forgets to bury. This weekend I put out pieces of a coconut for the
chipmunks out on the woodpile. The Lab got up on the woodpile and ate
stole the coconut. While I grind the grains outside, she stands underneath
and licks up the malt that spills. But what does she like best of all?
Of course! The finished product!
Florian
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 12:41 CDT
From: arf@ddsw1.mcs.com (Jack Schmidling)
Subject: MALTMILL MOTOR
To: Homebrew Digest
Fm: Jack Schmidling
>From: harrism@dg-rtp.dg.com (Mike Harris)
|> >Also by by stepping up to 1/2 hp, one could start the mill with grains
in the hopper.
> If the initial load is the problem, and 1/6 hp will sustain operation
then a capacitor start motor may do the trick. They're designed
for high torque start up. Perhaps a small one from a dead fridge
or other suitable donor could be used.
Just so there is no confusion here, the initial load is not a problem on just
about any motor larger than the one supplied with the MALTMILL. The 1/30th
HP motor supplied is INTENDED to stall under a load sufficient to cause
personal injury. I do not want to lose my house over what started out as a
hobby.
As shipped, it will mill forever if fed grain at the same rate as it comes
out. It beats cranking and is adequate for the home brewer. The high
volume user might wish to put on a larger motor but that forces HIM to assume
the liability for personal injury.
BTW, there was one very important feature left off of the recent comparison
between three malt processors.
The MALTMILL is the only one made in America by Americans.
The Corona is made in Columbia and the Marcato is made in Italy.
Every MALTMILL purchased, keeps one American employed for one day.
And that includes not only yours truly, but lumberjacks, machinists, screw
manufacturers, tool factories, box manufacturers, telephone and
communications workers, UPS and a host of other AMERICANS.
js
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 17:55:06 PDT
From: keng@ic.MENTORG.COM (Ken Giles)
Subject: Sierra Nevada Ale yeast
I've seen numerous remarks on culturing the yeast from a bottle of Sierra
Nevada Pale Ale under the assumption that it's the same as Wyeast 1056. When
I toured their brewery, the guide mentioned that they repitch yeast at bottling
time in order to achieve the bottle conditioning. I asked if it was the same as
the brewing yeast. He said that it was a different, more flocculant strain
which stuck well to the bottom of the bottle. Given that their conditioning
temperatures are in the 40s (Farenheit), it would also seem to be a lager
yeast (I didn't ask this).
Anybody have information to the contrary?
kg.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 92 21:14 CDT
From: akcs.chrisc@vpnet.chi.il.us (chris campanelli)
Subject: BRF email address
My email address as listed in the Beer Recipe Formulator is
incorrect. Please make a note of the correct address. Sorry about the
mixup.
chris campanelli
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #868, 04/21/92
*************************************
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