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HOMEBREW Digest #0867
This file received at Mthvax.CS.Miami.EDU 92/04/20 10:45:49
HOMEBREW Digest #867 Mon 20 April 1992
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Carboy cap & hop growing (Ed Westemeier)
RE>fermenters and seals (Bob Hettmansperger)
Re: Homebrew Digest #866 (April 17, 1992) ("Ken Schriner" )
Re:Killer Head (nnieuwej)
all grain (florianb)
national competition (dave ballard)
Re: Homebrew Digest #866 (April 17, 1992) ("DARRYL L. DAVIDSON")
Spoiled Brew?? (Jason Ari Goldstein)
Re: Cat's Meow 2 - How do I keep my printer from exploding? (Dave Coombs)
Shipping Beer Across America ("DARRYL L. DAVIDSON")
Relaxing, not worrying, and having my first all-grain... (Nick Cuccia)
CO2 & Yeast Cell Walls (David William Bell)
Re: Source for Liquid Yeast (David Van Iderstine)
Alt (Todd Enders - WD0BCI)
RECIPE--Grizzly Peak Pale Ale (Nick Cuccia)
Jack Schmidling's NA Beer (very long!) (Scott Bickham)
Michael Jackson's book "The Gret Beers of Belgium" (Ray Peck)
Send articles for publication to homebrew@hpfcmi.fc.hp.com
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**Please do not send me requests for back issues!**
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 92 08:16:09 EDT
From: homebrew@tso.uc.EDU (Ed Westemeier)
Subject: Carboy cap & hop growing
> I've noticed that with the orange cap, I get a good
> seal probably about 1/2 the time.
I have always been told that the standard orange 2-spout
carboy cap is made specifically for the 5-gallon carboys
marked Made in Mexico. It works well on my three. But
I have another one made in Canada, and it doesn't give
a good seal. Drilled rubber stoppers definitely seem to
be the way to go for anything but the 5-gal Mexicans.
It's not too late to plant hops for this year in northern NJ, but only just.
Plant your rhizomes (order from any decent supplier, such as those who
advertise in Zymurgy), but make sure you keep different varieties at
least 6-8 feet apart. Those roots really spread out under the surface
and before you know it you might not be able to tell which shoots are
coming from which variety of root!
Plenty of sun seems to work best.
------------------------------
Date: 17 Apr 92 09:26:36
From: Bob Hettmansperger <Bob_Hettmansperger@klondike.bellcore.com>
Subject: RE>fermenters and seals
RE>fermenters and seals
I just bought an orange cap for my carboy (I like the idea of having two
openings during blow off). I checked the seal by putting it on the carboy and
trying to blow as much air as I could into the carboy through one of the holes
in the cap. I wasn't able to force any air to leak out the sides, so I'm
assuming I can get a decent seal. We'll find out after this weekend...
-Bob
P.S. Thanks to all those who responded to my temperature problem. I'm going to
try the T-shirt trick this time (fingers crossed).
------------------------------
Date: 17 Apr 92 08:46:22 CST
From: "Ken Schriner" <KENS@saturn.uark.edu>
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #866 (April 17, 1992)
> >Irish Ale. Fruitier. Tangier. Darker (a little.) It seemed like a
> >variation of the Pale Ale. I wouldn't give this to non-home brew
> >friends, its taste is a little farther from their palatte path than
> >they be willing to accept, or appreciate. Was great after a pale ale.
> >A little drier than the pale ale.
>
> Beer across america sent this one out last month, and it's been my
> favoritve so far. Quite malty, not overly hoppy. I thought it was
> kind of sweet, but I didn't drink it after one of their pale ales.
> I want more!
What is Beer Across America. If they send out stuff like Boulevard
Brewery's Irish Ale, I'm definitley interested. If you could give us
an idea of what it is, the quality of the beer, addresses, phone
numbers, etc. I know I am real interested.
In reference to Boulevard Brewery Bully Porter, Brian Bliss says:
> A friend gave me a bottle of their porter a few months back. Kind of
> weak, but tasty. Neat label (has a bulldog on it). If it was twice as
> strong...
I guess I've always been confused about this. What is the standard
for porter?
Ken Schriner BITNET ks06054@uafsysb
University of Arkansas Internet kens@saturn.uark.edu
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 92 11:09:59 -0400
From: nnieuwej@pooh.bowdoin.edu
Subject: Re:Killer Head
>Date: Thu, 16 Apr 92 11:43:39 EDT
>From: lconrad@wilko.Prime.COM (Laura Conrad)
>Subject: Killer head!
>> 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.
I had a batch with some gushers but no apparent infection. After
repeated sampling :-) I noticed that while some gushed, many others had
little or no carbonation. Casting my thoughts back to a frenzied
exam-week evening of bottling I came to the conclusion that my priming
sugar had probably not been evenly distributed through the beer; some
bottles got too much sugar and some got too little.
-Nils
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 92 08:49:53 PDT
From: florianb@chip.cna.tek.com
Subject: all grain
A couple of days ago I wrote about going all-grain. I received this
message directly and thought it worth answering on the digest:
>From: john@warped.phc.org (John A. Palkovic)
>Date: Thu, 16 Apr 92 07:36:32 -0600
>Message-Id: <a612defd@warped.phc.org>
>X-Mailer: Fernmail 1.1
>
>In HBD #864 you write:
>
>>It is not expensive to go all-grain. It only takes a larger boiler
>>(I use a big porcelain pot), a picnic cooler, some length of 1/2"
>>copper tubing, a smaller pot for stovetop mashing, and that's it.
>
>What about a scale to weigh the grain? And a grain mill? I live out in
>the boonies and mail order almost all my ingredients. I would have to
>get a grain mill. How do you get by without these two pieces of
>equipment?
I also live out in the boonies. In fact, the area I live in in Central
Oregon is called "Boonesborough." It's half-way between Bend
and Redmond. The water here comes from a deep well and is perfect
for lager.
I found both the balance and the grain mill (Corona) at second hand
stores. The balance cost $7 and the mill $15. It takes some looking
around. Sorry, I should have mentioned these also. Still, even if
you have to buy them new, you will win in the long run. A half-case
of regular store-bought US beer is about $7 now. A six of micro is
at least $7. Considering you get over two cases of 12 oz bottles
from 5 gallons, home brewing makes up the difference really fast.
The equipment cost is trivial compared to six-months worth of
buying commercial brew instead of all-grain brewing.
------------------------------
Date: 17 Apr 1992 13:25 EDT
From: dab@dasher.cc.bellcore.com (dave ballard)
Subject: national competition
hey now- received this in the mail from the aha today, though you
might be interested...
dab
=========================================================================
dave ballard "Life may not be the party we hoped for,
dab@dasher.cc.bellcore.com but while we're here we should dance."
=========================================================================
WORLD'S LARGEST HOMEBREW COMPETITION SETS TONE
FOR 1992 NATIONAL HOMEBREW CONFERENCE
Boulder, Colo.-- The American Homebrewers Association today announced
that the National Homebrew Competition, the world's largest
competition of its type, broke all previous records for participation.
To accommodate the vast number of entries, more than 2,200 in all and
635 more than last year's 1,565 entries, the National Competition was
broken into four regional first round judging sites for beer and
one site for sake and cider. The competition was hosted in the West by
Anchor Brewing Company in San Francisco, Calif., in the Rockies by
Boulder Beer Company in Boulder, Colo., in the Midwest by Goose Island
Brewing Company in Chicago, Ill., and in the East by Boston Beer
Company in Jamaica Plain, Mass. Sake and cider, both first time
categories at the National Competition, were judged at F.H. Steinbart
in Portland, Ore. and Boston Beer Company in Jamaica Plain respectively.
"The host breweries make the whole Competition possible," said Karen
Barela, AHA vice president. "If the breweries didn't open their doors
to us and support homebrewing as much as they do, the size and interest
in the National Competition would be much more limited. The really provide
an incredible amount of support for homebrewing."
The National Competition provides an opportunity for homebrewers to
receive unbiased feedback on the quality of their beers, mead, cider
and sake from a panel of trained judges certified in the Beer Judge
Certification Program. Beers, meads, sakes, and ciders are judges
according to style. In the beer judging alone there are 24 different
categories and 57 different subcategories.
With 2,200 beers, meads, ciders and sakes distributed across the country
and ready for judging, entrants eagerly await the May 8 announcement
of which entries have been selected to go on to the second round. Both
the second and final rounds will be judged at the AHA National
Homebrewers Conference June 9 to 13 at the Marc Plaza Hotel in
Milwaukee, Wis.
National Competition winners as well as the Best of Show (single best beer),
Ninkasi Award (brewer who receives the most points) and the Club High
Point Award (homebrew club that has entered the most winning entries
throughout the year), will be awarded at the National Homebrewers Conference
Grand banquet and awards ceremony on June 12, 1992.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 14:10 EST
From: "DARRYL L. DAVIDSON" <D_DAVIDSON%UVMVAX.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest #866 (April 17, 1992)
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 14:13:15 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jason Ari Goldstein <jg3o+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Spoiled Brew??
Hey now,
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.
A quick response would be greatly appreciated becuase if we are going to
bottle we need to do it tonight. Thanks in advnace.
Later...
Jason A. Goldstein
___________________________________________
Over, Finished, Gone, Done, Out. (Finally)
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 92 14:24:34 -0400
From: coombs@cme.nist.gov (Dave Coombs)
Subject: Re: Cat's Meow 2 - How do I keep my printer from exploding?
>> Is there anyway I can break up the Cat's Meow 2 recipe book...?
psrev might do it on unix systems if cat's meow is conformant
postscript (ie, each page is self-contained).
dave
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 15:19 EST
From: "DARRYL L. DAVIDSON" <D_DAVIDSON%UVMVAX.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
Subject: Shipping Beer Across America
In HBD 866, bliss@csrd.uiuc.edu (Brian Bliss) mentioned:
>...Beer across america sent this one out last month, and it's been my...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I don't know if I dozed off during some earlier mention of these folks on
HBD, but I 'accidentally stayed awake for it' this time. Faster than
this Vermont weather(*) changes, I've discovered the following:
- --B.A.A. is (indeed) to beer what BOMC and POMC are to books and lingerie.
- --The monthly cost is $13.75 plus $3.xx s/h in Illinois, and $7.xx s/h to
the rest of the USA (oops, forgot to ask about canada, etc).
- --Each month, a six-pack each of two beers show up on your porch via UPS.
- --Their phone number is 800-854-BEER, (854-2337), and yes, they'd gladly
send me a brochure.
NOTE!! Twice I've mentioned interstate shipping of beer. Since there seemed
to never be a full resolution on that problem here on HBD (or I've missed that
text, too), I asked the guy at B.A.A. about how they work with UPS.
They ship via some small-packet airfreight carrier (I forget the name) to
the state of the addressee, to a UPS drop point. Then UPS carries it to
the door. This way, UPS doesn't cross state borders with beer. While I'm
curious about how flying 34000 feet above the stateline succeeds where UPS
ground fails, this does suggest alternatives for shipping beer, doesn't it?
- --Darryl the younger ------------------------------- D_Davidson@uvmvax.uvm.edu
Disclaimer: if a disclaimer becomes necessary, I will INSIST this was fiction.
In the interim, I hold no economic interest in B.A.A. or the Women's Christian
Temperance Union.--(*) we rec'd 2" of snow last night in Burlington :-( -----
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 92 19:13:11 -0700
From: Nick Cuccia <cuccia@eris.berkeley.edu>
Subject: Relaxing, not worrying, and having my first all-grain...
Last month I decided to go for it. Here's my recipe for Blackout Brown Ale
(named after the storm-related blackout that happened while making it):
5 Gallons
7# Klages Malt
1/4# Chocolate Malt
1/4# Patent Malt
1/2# 80L Crystal
1 oz Willamette Hops (3.8% alpha) (one hour boil)
4/5 oz Perle Hops (8.5% alpha) (30 min boil)
1/2 t Irish Moss (15 min boil)
1/2 oz Willamette Hops (3.8% alpha) (dry hopped)
Wyeast English Ale yeast
3/4 c Corn sugar (priming)
I used Papazian's temperature-controlled mash:
30 min @ 122 F
90 min @ 155-145 F
sparge @ 170 F
Total boil time was one hour.
3/22 Cooled; pitched yeast. Initial gravity: 1.042
3/28 Racked and dry-hopped. Intermediate gravity: 1.012
4/6 Primed and bottled. Final gravity: 1.008
One word: Mmmm! I was aiming for an English mild, and missed--too dark and
too hoppy a nose for style. Nice body, with a good balance between the malt
and the hops; the first thing that hits you, however, is the Willamette nose.
Looking back at the process, I'm surprised at how easy it was (even with
thunderstorms and blackouts while it was going on--thank your choice of supreme
being for gas stoves).
Cheers!
- --Nick
===============================================================================
And Little Sir John with his nut brown bowl, and his brandy in the glass.
And Little Sir John with his nut brown bowl proved the strongest man at last.
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nick Cuccia
cuccia@mica.berkeley.edu
===============================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 92 21:59:51 CDT
From: David William Bell <bell@convex.csd.uwm.edu>
Subject: CO2 & Yeast Cell Walls
Hi All,
I'm not an experienced enough brewer to do more than
speculate, but:
The idea of having all of the pressure build up in the
fermentor because the CO2 may be a good thing leads me
to ask:
Wouldn't this break the yeast cell walls? I mean the
argument for using a hydration step in water rather
than in wort is because of cell damage. So, wouldn't
the pressure be as bad for the yeasties as tossing
them straight into wort for hydration purposes?
. . . Unless its because once in the wort and reproducing
they grow stronger - being already hydrated an all . . .
Just a thought,
Dave - bell@convex.csd.uwm.edu
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 18 Apr 92 09:55:55 EDT
From: orgasm!davevi@uunet.UU.NET (David Van Iderstine)
Subject: Re: Source for Liquid Yeast
|> I read your post in the Homebrew listserv with interest. I've been getting
|>the same 'off flavor' you describe. I haven't been able to find liquid
|>yeast. My local Homebrew supply shop doesn't stock it or sell it. Where
|>do you get your yeast? If you need to mail order it, could you provide
|>me with an address I can order from?
I often get my liquid yeast mail order from The Frozen Wort, at P.O. Box 988,
Greenfield, MA. 01302. The phone number is (413)773-5920. The guy who runs it
is Charlie Olchowski, a very nice guy. He's also head of the Valley Fermenters,
the homebrew club for the Connecticut River Valley area (in Mass.). I phone my
orders in & he bills me with the shipment. He stocks all the Wyeast varieties.
Another potential source for liquid yeasts is Sierra Nevada beers. Buy a six,
pour off all but the bottom into a pitcher, and then pour the bottom slurry
from the bottles into a sterilized vessel. Add some pre-sterilized starter
wort (say 1 cup extract in 1 qt. water), an air-lock, and let that go for a
couple days. Once the bubbling slows down or stops, it can be pitched in
your full batch. A friend does this regularly; the Sierra Nevada yeast is
actually the same as one of the Wyeast varieties.
Of course, any commercial beer that has yeast on the bottom can be prepared
this way.
===========================================================================
== Dave Van Iderstine Senior Software Engineer ==
== Xerox Imaging Systems, Inc. ==
== UUCP: uunet!pharlap!orgasm!davevi davevi@pharlap.com :INTERNET ==
==-----------------------------------------------------------------------==
== "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate." ==
===========================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1992 13:03:25 -0500
From: Todd Enders - WD0BCI <enders@plains.NoDak.edu>
Subject: Alt
Although I can't quite claim that this is an "authentic" altbier recipe
(wrong yeast), it *is* good, and it would probably be just as good with
Wyeast #1007 (German). Enjoy!
4# US Two Row (Klages/Harrington)
3.25# 10L Munich
4 oz. 80L Crystal
8 oz. Wheat Malt
1/2 oz. Black Patent (just for color :-)
1/2 oz. 5.5% alpha Willamette (boil)
1/2 oz. 6.1% alpha East Kent Goldings (boil)
1 oz. 2.9% alpha Hallertauer (finish)
Wyeast #1056 (American Ale aka Sierra Nevada) yeast
2/3 C. Corn sugar (for priming)
Mash in: 11 qt. water @ 137F pH 5.2
Protein Rest: 30 mins. @ 131F
Conversion Rest: 60 mins. @ 155F
Mash out: 5 mins. @ 168F
Sparge: 5 gal. @ 170F
Boil: 90 mins.
Hops: 2 additions, 45 & 10 minutes before end of boil.
OG: 1.047
FG: 1.012
This is a well balanced brew. To be closer to authentic, you should age
it for a month in the fridge after bottling and waiting for the brew to
carbonate. It's also quite nice aged at room temperature.
The bittering hops were just what I happened to have on hand (I didn't
have enough Willamette :-). If one were to worry about the hops they were
using, one could use a heap of Hallertauer for bittering, but I can think of
better uses for such a fine hop. Perle would serve nicely for bittering. Of
course, for finishing/dry hopping you could go nuts with various combinations
of Hallertauer, Tetnanger, Saaz, etc.
===============================================================================
Todd Enders - WD0BCI ARPA: enders@plains.nodak.edu
Computer Center UUCP: ...!uunet!plains!enders
Minot State University or: ...!hplabs!hp-lsd!plains!enders
Minot, ND 58701 Bitnet: enders@plains
"The present would be full of all possible futures,
if the past had not already projected a pattern upon it" - Andre' Gide
===============================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 92 11:42:53 -0700
From: Nick Cuccia <cuccia@eris.berkeley.edu>
Subject: RECIPE--Grizzly Peak Pale Ale
My second all-grain batch is a variation on Jackie Brown's Summer Pale Ale
(Cat's Meow 2, p.1-6, HBD#134):
5 Gallons
8# Klages Malt
1# 20L Munich Malt
1 c Cara-Pils Malt
1.5 T Gypsum
1/2 t Irish Moss
3.5 oz Kent Goldings Hops
3/4 c Corn Sugar (priming)
Wyeast Chico Ale yeast
Used Papazian's temperature-controlled mash:
30 min @ 130-120F
120 min @ 155-145F
Sparge @ 170F
Boiling/Hopping schedule:
0:00: 1 oz Kent Goldings
0:30: 1 oz Kent Goldings
0:45: 1 oz Kent Goldings
Irish Moss
1:00: Cooled; strained off of trub; pitched yeast. OG: 1.043
Racked after six days; primed and bottled after seven more. FG: 1.008
Heavenly KG aroma; big mouthfeel; nice malt and hop flavors up front, with a
good hop bite going down. Definitely not Lawnmower Brew.
For those who haven't tried mashing: give it a go. It's not hard; in fact,
I'm posting this while mashing a wheat beer.
Time to go stir,
- --Nick
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 92 15:37:43 EDT
From: bickham@msc2.msc.cornell.edu (Scott Bickham)
Subject: Jack Schmidling's NA Beer (very long!)
Saturday, Jean Hunter ran a Dr. Beer seminar in which several Ithaca
Brewers' Union members were able to taste a standard beer that had
been doctored by adding food grade flavors or by fermentation/storage
conditions. After we had finished, we had the opportunity to taste
Jack Schmidling's NA homebrew, as well as Freeport NA "brew". My
analysis of these two NA beers appears below, along with a listing of
some of my judging qualifications.
Judging and Brewing experience: I have been a homebrewer for 3 years,
primarily of ales due to the temperature stability of my basement
at 60F. I am currently doing partial mashes; however I will start
doing full mashes with a RIMS unit in the fall. I will not take the AHA
Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) Exam for another week; however
I already have 5 judging points from 3 AHA-sponsored competitions
(including 3 from judging the first round of the 1992 AHA Nationals
at Boston). Disclaimer: I have no bias towards Jack Schmidling as a
result of any so-called "flame wars", and am no way affiliated with him
or the brewers of Freeport NA.
Freeport NA: The color is golden to amber, very clear, and conditioning
is sufficient to produces a moderate head. The aroma and taste are
predominately piney or woody in character, and the finish is very
clean. I found the flavor profile to be somewhat short, yet
surprisingly complex for a NA brew.
Jack's NA: The beer was in a clear Corona bottle, which enabled us to
see a small colony (about 1/4" in diameter) floating on the
surface of the liquid. Jean Hunter remarked that the colony
was there when she received the bottle in the mail. The color
was pale, however it was very cloudy. The bottle had been
refrigerated, so it could have been chill haze; however I didn't
let the beer warm up to test this hypothesis. The conditioning
level was similar to the Freeport. The aroma was faintly herbal,
but phenolics were also detectable. The taste was also herbal,
with some phenolic astringency in the finish. The flavor profile
of this brew lasted longer than the Freeport; however it seemed more
like an herbal tea than a beer. As for the alcohol level, Jean
has not yet checked this on the chromatograph, so the question
of distillation efficiency remains unanswered.
Conclusion: I found both of these brews lacking in the qualities necessary
to define them as beers. I haven't tried any other commercial versions of
this style and I don't know of any AHA description of this style. However
if I assign a 29 out of 50 to Freeport (which puts it at the high end of the
good range), then Jack Schmidling's beer would be a 24 (the high end of the
drinkable range). Both brews suffer from having one-dimensional flavor
profiles, while Jack's loses points in aroma, appearance, flavor, and
overall impression.
Jack, I recommend that you be extra careful with sanitation, since more
microorganisms can exist at the lower alcohol level (as you are no doubt
already aware of). Also, since your brew still contains isomerized-hop
and sulphur compounds, you are taking an unnecessary risk of photochemical
damage by using clear bottles. Hopefully the reason you sent this bottle
to Jean is because you are trying to get rid of it :-)
Cheers,
Scott Bickham
=========================================================================
C-17 Clark Hall, Cornell University | bickham@msc.cornell.edu
Ithaca, New York 14853-2501 | bickham@crnlmsc2.bitnet
=========================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 92 20:30:27 PDT
From: rpeck@pure.com (Ray Peck)
Subject: Michael Jackson's book "The Gret Beers of Belgium"
I mentioned this book a while back on HBD and the lambic list, since it was
something I was sure many here would be interested in. I picked up a copy
in Belgium, and have never seen it here. It was available in both English
and Flemish (I didn't see any in Waloon, though I'd expect it to avaiable in
that, too).
A number of people asked for the ISBN and other info. What number, you ask?
I don't remember. But here it is:
The Great Beers of Belgium, A Complete Guide and Celebration of a Unique
Culture, by Michael Jackson
Edited by: Media Marketing Communications nv
Frankrijklei 111 - 2000 Antwerp - Belgium
ISBN 90-5373-003-6
Copyright MJ, 1991
I bought it in Brugge at this shop:
de reyghere boekhandel
Markt 12 B-8000 Brugge
tel, 050/33.34.03
Needless to say, it's a fantastic book. 269 pages.
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #867, 04/20/92
*************************************
-------
