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HOMEBREW Digest #0874
This file received at Sierra.Stanford.EDU 92/05/01 01:15:33
HOMEBREW Digest #874 Fri 01 May 1992
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
re: Pepper experience (TSAMSEL)
Sterilizing Solutions (Steve Davis)
Extra Bottles ("Rad Equipment")
Extra Bottles Time:7:35 AM Date:4/30/92
Dandelion wine (John Freeman)
First time kegging. (Kenneth Haney)
Non-animal-based finings (korz)
Homebrew Digest #873 (April 30, 1992) (Laura Conrad)
Re- Homebrew Digest Request ("Brett Lindenbach")
re:hops (Carl West)
re roasting peppers (Chip Hitchcock)
Brewery questions (Daniel Roman)
Fermentation lag time. (D.R.) Brown <DRBROWN@BNR.CA>
Iodophor ("Emily Breed")
BRFWARE from mthvax (chris campanelli)
books by de Clerk (chris campanelli)
BRFWARE from mthvax (chris campanelli)
CompuServe Beer Judge Study Guide (Edward C. Bronson)
Send articles for publication to homebrew@hpfcmi.fc.hp.com
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**Please do not send me requests for back issues!**
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1992 7:20:57 -0400 (EDT)
From: TSAMSEL@ISDRES.ER.USGS.GOV
Subject: re: Pepper experience
Ah yes the lovely acrid fumes of roasting poblanos. If you have
an industrial grade ventahood over the stove, the problem is minimal.
Also a hand-held propane torch, tongs and gloves can be used to do the
same thing. I usually use the bbq pit though.
Any one ever try a Habanera or Scotch bonnet in an ale? Yowwee!!
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 09:13:49 GMT-0500
From: sdavis@laforge.ksc.nasa.gov (Steve Davis)
Subject: Sterilizing Solutions
Greetings...
A local brew shop carries a bag of white crystalline powder that is
simply labeled "Sterilizing Solution Mix". Supposedly, you just mix
a few teaspoons per gallon of water, and you can sterilize anything
instantly. We tried this stuff with our last batch, which has just
passed the bottling stage. The wort tasted normal at this point, so
there doesn't seem to be any contamination yet.
Does anyone have any experience with this stuff, or know what it
might be? We've been using bleach and water up until now, but that
required soaking for a day or more for proper sterilization. Other
than speed, what are the advantages/disadvantages of the two?
Steve Davis
Kennedy Space Center, FL
sdavis@laforge.ksc.nasa.gov
------------------------------
Date: 30 Apr 92 07:40:09 U
From: "Rad Equipment" <rad_equipment@rad-mac1.ucsf.EDU>
Subject: Extra Bottles
Subject: Extra Bottles Time:7:35 AM Date:4/30/92
In HBD #873 Al writes:
>I don't know exactly what happens to the extra bottles if
>brewers send three instead of one to the first round.
We drink 'em!
RW...
Russ Wigglesworth CI$: 72300,61
|~~| UCSF Medical Center Internet: Rad Equipment@RadMac1.ucsf.edu
|HB|\ Dept. of Radiology, Rm. C-324 Voice: 415-476-3668 / 474-8126 (H)
|__|/ San Francisco, CA 94143-0628
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 10:06:26 CDT
From: jlf@palm.cray.com (John Freeman)
Subject: Dandelion wine
>
> Here is what we came up with:
>
> 4 gallons dandelions
> 4 gallons water
> 8 lemmons
> 4 lb raisins
> 10 lb sugar
I would recommend using white grape juice instead of raisins. Just
my two cents worth.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 09:15:02 MDT
From: haney@soul.ampex.com (Kenneth Haney)
Subject: First time kegging.
Hi all,
Well it's me again with another question for the more experienced.
I've got everything I need to start kegging in Cornelius kegs, and want
to try carbonating with C02 instead of priming. How much pressure do I
need to put on the keg and how long do I need to leave it on the keg?
Once carbonated can I remove the C02 setup and let the keg set on it's
own until I'm ready to tap it? How much pressure do I use to dispense
the beer? If need be can I unhook everything and tap another keg before
the first one is done?
Well thanks in advance for any and all replies, I haven't had a chance
to check into any of these things and want to keg the batch that is in
the fermentor.
By the way, don't discount garage sales and flea markets to pick up your
kegging supplies. I got my C02 cylinder, three 5 gal. soda kegs, one
2.5 gal soda keg, regulator, lines and quick disconnects all for $19.75.
This is why I want keg so bad and don't have any info on it, I couldn't
pass up all great deals and would like to try it.
Thanks again,
Ken
haney@ampex.com
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 11:16 CDT
From: korz@ihlpl.att.com
Subject: Non-animal-based finings
Andy asks for non-animal-based finings.
Polyclar is a trade name for a fining made from (I believe) polyethylene.
It is to be used just like geletin or isinglass. Another alternative
may be to use Irish Moss, which is made from a type of seaweed, and is
added to the last 15 minutes of the boil. On the other hand, if your
boil is good and long (at least an hour) and you let it clear in the
keg for a two weeks (like I do), you shouldn't need finings. If you
still get cloudy beer from your Pilsener, maybe your protein rest is
at the wrong temperature or not long enough.
Al.
P.S. The AHA can be reached at 303-447-0816. They publish Zymurgy.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 12:23:54 EDT
From: lconrad@wilko.Prime.COM (Laura Conrad)
Subject: Homebrew Digest #873 (April 30, 1992)
Jack Schmidling says:
>> I think the whole thing is a conspiracy. It seems like dandelion wine
is to
>> wine what Bud is to beer.
What I've always guessed is that it's like the nail soup. Obviously
you can make wine by adding enough raisins and sugar. The
dandelions probably don't have much to do with it.
Laura
------------------------------
Date: 30 Apr 1992 11:31:49 -0600
From: "Brett Lindenbach" <Brett_Lindenbach@qms1.life.uiuc.edu>
Subject: Re- Homebrew Digest Request
Mail*Link(r) SMTP Re: Homebrew Digest Request
Microbiology for the Home: A Primer on Yeast Culturing
by: Brett Lindenbach
(brett_lindenbach.microbiology@qms1.life.uiuc.edu)
After quaffing a good yeasty beer I thought to myself, "Why
throw away the yeast that's stuck to the bottom of the bottle,
especially when I have to pay four bucks for a Wyeast culture?" And
so, with this do-it myself attitude, and some training in microbiology,
I set out to construct my own library of yeast strains. Let me tell you
how I did it.
A WORD ON SANITATION First of all, to have success in
manipulating microorganisms, you must have an appreciation of
sterile technique. It is one thing to pitch an active culture into
fresh
wort, and quite another to revive a yeast that has been sitting
happily in alcoholic dormancy for months: the chance for
contamination are at least ten-fold. A good thing to bear in mind at
all times is that microbes are everywhere: on your hands, in the air,
your countertop, you name it. I am amazed at my roommate's brewing
technique (he's an engineer). He will sanitize something by swishing
it around in our bucket-o-bleach water, and promptly set it in the
kitchen sink! So, when dealing with sanitary/sterile things it is
important to work quickly, but to not get sloppy. Soak things in
bleach water at least 5 minutes. Wipe down the area you in which
you plan to work with a bleach based sanitizing solution.
Contamination can be common until you are well practiced in sterile
technique. If you have access to an autoclave, by all means, learn
how to use it. If not, the next best methods are boiling all
ingredients, which does not guard against spores but will suit most of
a homebrewer's needs, and sanitizing all equipment with bleach
solution. Also, it would not be a bad idea to check out a book on
microbiological techniques (1,2) from your library for this all
important concept
MAKING MEDIA The next thing to do is to prepare some media to
grow and keep the yeast on. I decided to use agar plates for storing
my yeast. The advantages of this method are that it is easy; single
colonies can be isolated, thus allowing you to "purify" yeast away
from contaminating organisms; and that cultures can be kept for
months in a refrigerator with a properly stored plate. To do this
requires getting some pre-sterilized disposable plastic petri dishes
(Fischer Scientific 711 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15219 ). The
best buy is cat#08-757-14G, p.683 ($50/ case of 500). Also needed is
some agar. The best is from Difco Laboratories ( P O Box 331058
Detroit, MI 48232 1-800-521-0851) and it is called Bacto-Agar. Start
by buying 1/2#, which should run about $37. Also, we will need
some DME, and a source of hop oil (any flavor). A good pot to use is
one that has a handle, a tight fitting lid, and preferably a lip for
pouring on the side. It should be big enough to avoid boil-overs, yet
small enough for handling with one hand. Mine is 12 quarts. Start by
boiling up 3 cups of water. Throw in a good amount of DME (up to 1
cup) or pure maltose, (if you can get it), stir to dissolve, and
continue boiling for 15 min. Keep the lid on loosely, to allow steam to
escape
and "steam sanitize" the lid. Add 18 IBU's of hop oil. Use oil. We do
not want to have to strain this mixture. The hops, as any casual
reader of Papazian might know, is to act as a microbicide, thus
helping to select for our hop-tolerant yeast. Then slowly add 1/2
teaspoon of agar, stirring constantly to avoid boiling over. Watch it
carefully, and continue boiling for another 20 minutes. When done,
remove from heat and put the lid on tightly. Allow to cool. Do not use
a wort chiller, or similar device. Agar melts around the boiling point,
and solidifies at around 50 degrees Celsius (your body temp is 37 C).
While you are waiting, crack open a sleeve of plates. Take out 10 and
put them on your freshly scrubbed-down counter in two piles of 5,
with the lids on top. Do not take the lids off. When the pot is still
very warm, but within handling temp., quickly flame the lip you plan
to pour out of by passing it over your stove burner (for people with
electric ranges, see below under "other equipment"). Now, with one
hand tilt the lid, and the stack of plates above it, off the bottom
plate.
Pour the media in to fully cover the bottom of the plate, but only go
about 1/2-3/4 of the way up the sides. Try not to mar the surface
with bubbles. Replace the lid and stack of plates, and proceed to the
next highest plate, etc. Let the plates sit undisturbed for 45 minutes
to an hour. You will know the agar has solidified when the media
color lightens to a buff, and the media stays when tilted. When you
are sure the agar has solidified, turn the plates upside down, and
store them that way to avoid dehydration, in a cool area, like a
cupboard, away from air currents. If your plastic sleeve wrapper is
empty, slide it back on the stack of plates before flipping, and seal
with a twist tie. These can be stored for weeks at room temp., and
longer if you wrap them and refrigerate.
OTHER EQUIPMENT Other things you will need include a source of
flame, for sterilizing. A gas stove does the trick for me. Also good is
a
small alcohol lamp. Do not use an oil lamp. A disposable lighter works
in a pinch. We also need to construct a loop. This consists of a
straight
piece of wire, a little longer than a long neck bottle, with a handle
on
one end. The other end is twisted around into a circle, about 10 mm
dia., to form a loop. A good handle would be one of those twist-to-
clamp X-Acto knives, minus the blade. The more inert the loop
material, the better. A good bacteriological platinum loop is probably
out of the price range of most homebrewers. Try stainless or regular
steel, about .5mm dia. Fischer (see above) also sells pre-sterilized,
plastic, bad-for-the-environment loops for those so inclined. Also, a
source of Parafilm, a wax-like wrapping paper for the lab, will be
helpful in extending the life of your plates. Finally, find a good,
dark
spot in your house, preferably away from air currents, where the
temperature is consistently around 30-37 C. This will be our
makeshift incubator. I use this spot on our range above the pilot
light, and keep a bowl over my plates to shield from air, light, and
grease. Keep this area especially clean.
MAKING A PLATE Okay, so we've made it this far, let's start to
collect yeast. Take a bottle of beer with a good amount of yeast on
the bottom. Allow it to settle in your fridge overnight. Carefully pop
it open and slowly decant the brew. Set this aside. Be sure not to lose
too much yeast pouring. It is best to leave that last bit of beer/yeast
slurry in the bottle. Flame the lip of your bottle and the business end
of your loop. Insert the loop into the bottle. If the loop is still
hot,
touch it to the inner bottom of the bottle, so as to dissipate the
heat.
Scrape up some yeast sediment or swish the loop in the yeast slurry
to fill the loop. Taking care not to touch the loop to anything,
withdraw your sample. Grab a plate and remove the lid. Pick up the
plate and streak the loop back and forth across the plate. Do not
press too hard, or you will ruin the agar surface. To get nice isolated
colonies, confine your streaks to one region of the plate. Flame the
loop, and poke it into a spot of the agar to cool. Pull the loop
through
the streaked region twice and streak in a new region. Repeat this
dilution technique again. Replace the lid, and put this plate upside
down in your incubation zone. With practice comes speed, which is
important for avoiding contamination from airborne nasties. Within a
few days you should see signs of growth. Yeast colonies should be
round, white-to-brownish bumps on the surface, in the pattern you
have streaked. Hopefully your plate will not sport any contaminants,
which could look like almost anything. Contaminating wild yeasts are
hard to discern, but usually look slightly different than what you
have spread. Look carefully, but remember not to open up the plate.
To store your plates, cut a small strip of Parafilm (1 cm x 5 cm), if
you plan to use it. Holding it to the sides of your plate with a thumb,
pull it around the lid/bottom edges of the plate, taffy-like, to seal
the
sides. Sanitize a Rubbermaid container, big enough to hold plates, and
lid. Store the plates in your fridge.
CHOOSING BEERS Not all commercial beer has yeast in it. When
scouting for yeast in the liquor store, I hold the bottle up to the
light
and check for sediment. Also, beer yeast with high attenuation may
be hard to revive. They may have literally drowned in their own
alcoholic poop. Try as I might, I cannot seem to culture Old Peculier
Ale or Duvel's Belgian yeasts. Other yeasts will have simply run out
of food, and settled down for a nice nap in the bottom of our bottle.
These are the ones we want. So, choose a beer without too much
alcohol and a good amount of yeast. German lager yeasts come up
nicely, as do Weiss yeasts (note: many Weissbiers use two yeasts,
and you can see two discrete colony types). Ales can be had too: try
Chimay. Why not start out with one of your own? This is a good way
to keep a free culture of Wyeast on hand. Additionally, the re-use of
a yeast culture (assuming good maintenance) will make a yeast your
own. It will get used to your brewing methods by selecting for
variants that grow well in with your setup. This is how all the
different yeasts used in brewing came about in the thousands of
years B.G. (before genetics).
MAKING A STARTER Well, thats just great. We've got our yeast on
this little plate of agar. But let's not forget our reason for doing
all
this: to make better beer. So, we need to make a starter for these
critters, so we have something to pitch. Start by making the above
recipe, but leave out the agar. When cool, aliquot into very sanitary
beer bottles, about 1/4 volume and cap. Flame your loop and an open
bottle of starter wort. Tap the loop on agar surface to cool, and
scrape
up a single colony. Swish it around in the starter to get the yeast in
suspension. Cap the bottle with an airlock, and store in a nice warm
place. The yeast should be ready to pitch within a few days.
MAINTANING YEAST STOCKS The main reason a plate will go bad is
a contaminating organism may appear. If so, pick a clean yeast
colony with a sterile loop and streak onto a new plate. If you are safe
from contaminants, plates will go bad from dehydration. When a
stock plate shows signs of this, it is good to streak a fresh plate.
FURTHER READING
1. "Manual of Methods for General Bacteriology." Gerhardt, et al.
American Society for Microbiology, Washington, DC. 1981
2. "Microbiological Methods." C.H. Collins. Plenum Press, New York, NY
3. "Methods in Yeast Genetics" F. Sherman, et al. Cold Spring Harbor
Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY 1979
DISCLAIMER I have written this to introduce homebrewers to some
principles of microbiology. I make no claims about the use of this
information, nor my expertise in this area. Additionally, I am aware of
other methods of yeast culturing. I only describe what has worked for
me. Please distribute this document freely.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 10:56:39 EDT
From: eisen@kopf.HQ.Ileaf.COM (Carl West)
Subject: re:hops
>...3 lines, with 2 shoots on each...
One author on the subject (name forgotten, article not at hand) says
`let 'em grow, I get a fine harvest that way' (paraphrase) but goes on
to admit that he has never tried culling the shoots, so he wouldn't
know if it's better to do so. Other authors recommend culling. One
suggestion I like is letting three go, when they're a third of the way
up the support, let three more go, repeat. I plan to try this.
>...making a plant split into 2 main branches by snipping off the top...
The plant won't necessarily split at the `snip point', but snipping
will encourage side branches to grow.
Carl
WISL,BM.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 11:41:14 EDT
From: cjh@diaspar.HQ.Ileaf.COM (Chip Hitchcock)
Subject: re roasting peppers
In A BOWL OF RED (one of the earliest books devoted to chili worship)
Frank Tolbert says to roast peppers \in the oven/; moving anything from
oven to stove-top is a good way to overdo unless you have a \lot/ of
experience cooking things gently (e.g., can you do a \white/ white
sauce, or a welsh rarebit, on a burner instead of a double boiler?).
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 12:18:20 EDT
From: tix!roman@uunet.UU.NET (Daniel Roman)
Subject: Brewery questions
Part of my vacation this year will be taking me to the Green
Bay/Milwakee area. I unfortunitely can't make it to the conference,
timing just wasn't right but I would like to know if there are any
breweries (micro or otherwise) that are worth a visit.
Anybody know where in Pittsburgh the Pittsburgh Brewing Co. is? I'll be
stopping there and heard that they make a few high quality custom brews.
Do they have tours?
- --
______________________________________________________________________
Dan Roman | /// Internet: roman_d@timeplex.com
Timeplex Inc. | \\\/// GEnie: D.ROMAN1
Woodcliff Lake, NJ | \XX/ Only AMIGA! Homebrew is better brew.
======================================================================
------------------------------
Date: 30 Apr 92 14:10:00 EDT
From: David (D.R.) Brown <DRBROWN@BNR.CA>
Subject: Fermentation lag time.
I brewed an all-grain IPA last weekend using "British Ale" Wyeast (1098),
After bursting the inner pouch, the Wyeast packet expanded before I was
ready to use it. I tried to buy some time by pitching the contents into a
1/2 gal, 1.020 SG starter of corn sugar and water.
Two days later I was ready to pitch the starter, but its SG had only reduced
by a couple of points. I pitched anyway but after three days there was
no sign of fermentation. A lag time of three days seemed a bit excessive,
so I decided to dump in a package of dried yeast. Now the fermentation is
in full swing.
I now realize that the starter should have been made with malt extract, NOT
sugar. Still, why did the yeast lose its spunk after it hit the sugar water?
Did I induce the dreaded Crabtree effect in my starter culture? If so, why
didn't the yeast recover after three days in the wort?
Even though I used a wort chiller, a considerable amount (~1/2") of material
precipitated out after the yeast was pitched. Is it also possible that falling
trub took some yeast out of suspension, burying it in the bottom of the
carboy? It seems to me that this would contribute to the lag time.
Any thoughts or suggestions?
- Dave
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 12:27:25 PDT
From: "Emily Breed" <embreed@vnet.ibm.com>
Subject: Iodophor
My brewpartner and I have been using an iodine-based sanitizing product that
we bought at Great Fermentations of Santa Rosa - I'm not sure if it's
Iodophor or not. The proportions that were recommended on the bottle
are 3 T iodine solution to 5 gallons water. So far, we haven't had any
problems with infection, and I'm *delighted* not to finish a brewing session
with little bleach spots all over my clothes! :-)
(It also works great to kill unwanted greenery in the garden....)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 15:32 CDT
From: akcs.chrisc@vpnet.chi.il.us (chris campanelli)
Subject: BRFWARE from mthvax
Anyone trying to download BRFWARE.EXE or BRFWARE.EXE.UUE from mthvax MUST
specify "BIN" for binary transfer.
chris campanelli
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 15:29 CDT
From: akcs.chrisc@vpnet.chi.il.us (chris campanelli)
Subject: books by de Clerk
Does anyone know where I might find any de Clerk books for purchase?
chris campanelli
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 16:18 CDT
From: akcs.chrisc@vpnet.chi.il.us (chris campanelli)
Subject: BRFWARE from mthvax
For those of you out there (and you know who you are) who are running
into problems trying to run BRFWARE.EXE or BRFWARE.EXE.UUE and you got
your copy from netlib@mthvax, here are some helpful hints. Please make
sure you specify "BIN" for binary transfer. If you don't and you try to
run the copy you will experience problems. Also, the software will not
run in a "stacked platform" environment. Why? I dunno. You would be
better off asking the people at Microsoft although I don't recommend it
as their "help" line is $2.00 per minute. If you continue to have
problems after all this, please contact me as I would like to hear about
it.
chris campanelli
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 92 18:29:05 -0500
From: bronson@ecn.purdue.edu (Edward C. Bronson)
Subject: CompuServe Beer Judge Study Guide
I am looking for study guides relating to the AHA Beer Judge
Certification Program. The AHA's guide is being updated and
is currently out of print. There is at least one guide available
from the CompuServe Beer Forum. I do not have access to CompuServe
right now but I understand that the file is called JUDGE.BRU and
is most likely in Area 14 (LIB 14). The Beer Forum operates as a
part of CompuServe's Bacchus Wine Forum (WINEFORUM).
Any assistance in getting this file (or other study guides) and/or
comments about the AHA Beer Judge Test would be very much appreciated.
Thanks and good brewing!
Ed Bronson
h: (317)742-8206
w: (317)494-4988
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #874, 05/01/92
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