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HOMEBREW Digest #0994
This file received at Sierra.Stanford.EDU 92/10/20 00:26:33
HOMEBREW Digest #994 Tue 20 October 1992
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Czech malt e. (Theodore B. Samsel)
Pilot batch, unhopped (Rob Bradley)
Reynolds Tapper - info? (The Ice-9-man Cometh)
8-to-10 gallon boiling kettle ... ("C. Lyons")
Priming with molasses (David_O'Neill.Wbst129)
"sweet gale" (Chip Hitchcock)
Re: Red Mtn Ale (Guy D. McConnell)
Pressure cookers (G.A.Cooper)
Oops! -Lager yeast goof.. (Michael Howe)
sake recipies? (Will Leavitt)
Brewpubs in Vancouver/Portland? ("John Cotterill")
Snobbery, Pretension, and American Wheats (Jon Binkley)
RE: Santa Cruz brewpubs... (wolfgang)
will california lager yeast handle a ferment at RT? (Paul Matulonis)
Stuck fermentation? (GREG PYLE)
Extract Astringency (SynCAccT)
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Date: Monday, October 19, 1992 08:01:03
From: TBSAMSEL@qvarsa.er.usgs.gov (Theodore B. Samsel)
Subject: Czech malt e.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 08:54:55 -0400
From: bradley@adx.adelphi.edu (Rob Bradley)
Subject: Pilot batch, unhopped
Just before the Yarrow thread began, I got a notion I'd like to
brew some unhopped ale. I made a half-gallon pilot batch yesterday
while brewing up a regular (5 gallon) batch of porter. My experience
may illuminate Chris Cook's question in HBD992 about brewing 5 x 1 gal
batches and the responses by Brian Schuth and Al Korz.
With 8-10 lb. of grist, UK malt and a hanging bag sparger I get
a pretty consistent 30-33 pt/lb. I mashed 1 lb. Munton & Fison pale
ale malt and sparged in a large strainer (arranging the grains to
follow the shape of the strainer -- a flattened hemisphere -- with
uniform thickness) with the usual amounts of mash and sparge water
scaled down to 1 pound. The result was 1/2 gallon at 1048, a
miserable 24 pt/lb :-(
In a few weeks I'lll let the list know how this unhopped ale tastes.
Is the lack of hops likely to affect the fermentation in any way?
Cheers,
Rob (bradley@adx.adelphi.edu)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1992 8:32:37 -0500 (CDT)
From: SMITH@EPVAX.MSFC.NASA.GOV (The Ice-9-man Cometh)
Subject: Reynolds Tapper - info?
hey folks.
This past weekend I acquired a 2 1/2 gallon mini-keg called a "Reynolds
Tapper." It has a built-in tap (labeled "Falstaff" which I assume is some
cheap Yankee beer :) and is barrel-shaped, meant to lie on its side, cask-
style. It is filled from one end, and the sealing cap has some funky
valves and a gas cylinder in it. It looks like the idea is, you fill this
with beer, stopper it, and charge the cylinder with enough CO2 to dispense
the brew. Neato.
So, the question: does anyone know where to get specs, info, replacement
parts etc. for this thing? Are they still in use north of Mason-Dixon
somewhere? Can anyone tell me what sort of tools/fittings are necessary
to open and close the stopper, and fill the cylinder? The valves are truly
weird looking and the HUGE snapring holding on the stopper is a real pain.
This little keg would be great to keep in the fridge with half-a-batch of
HB, or to take to parties sans CO2 setup, if I could just get it refurbished.
| James W. Smith, NASA MSFC EP-53 | SMITH@epvax.msfc.nasa.gov |
| "Come with us, we'll sail the Seas of Cheese!" -- Les.Claypool@Primus |
| Neither NASA nor (!James) is responsible for what I say. Mea culpa. |
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 09:21 EDT
From: "C. Lyons" <LYONS@adc1.adc.ray.com>
Subject: 8-to-10 gallon boiling kettle ...
I have now made three all-grain batches and it has become clear
to me that a larger kettle would be helpful. I currently have a
5 gallon kettle and find myself having to evaporate the wort down
to add more of the runoff. Does anyone have any recommendations
on a place which sells 8 to 10 gallon kettles at a reasonable
price. I do have one restriction ... my stove has a flat
heating element and the bottom of the kettle needs to be flat to
contact the heating element. I was able to find a 33 quart kettle,
but it had a concave bottom and would not contact my heating element.
I would like to get past this problem and try out several recipes
in mind. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Christopher Lyons
LYONS@ADC1.ADC.RAY.COM
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1992 07:31:22 PDT
From: David_O'Neill.Wbst129@xerox.com
Subject: Priming with molasses
Hi-
I'd like to prime with molasses. Papazian suggests 1 cup/5 gallon batch.
Unfortunately, he doesn't specify the type of molasses. As many of you have
guessed, the beer is Yorkshire's Old Peculiar and the list of fermentables
includes 2#s dark brown sugar.
I have 12oz. of Brer Rabbit dark `full flavor' molasses I'd like to use. The
question is, how much?
Dave O'Neill
Xerox Corp.
716-422-1224
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 09:47:52 EDT
From: cjh@diaspar.HQ.Ileaf.COM (Chip Hitchcock)
Subject: "sweet gale"
Summary of info from a cooking fan with a large library: myrica gale,
known as sweet gale, bog myrtle (cf HULTINP@QUCDN.QueensU.CA in #993) or
meadow fern; deciduous aromatic shrub, grows throughout northern
hemisphere, leaves and branches are used in England to season ale. No
indication of any additional names the prepared leaves or bark would be
sold under.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 9:58:26 CDT
From: guy@mspe5.b11.ingr.com (Guy D. McConnell)
Subject: Re: Red Mtn Ale
Douglas Behm asks:
> What happened in the fight for control of this company ? When I read the post
> that control had changed so did the taste of the beer. I must be highly
> susceptable to suggestion or did the beer change ?
I tried all last week to contact Lee Nicholson, co-founder and original
Brewmaster at Birmingham Brewing, but was unable to reach him. I called the
brewery and talked to John Zanteson, who is the current brewmaster. Lee had
hired John, who came from Mendocino in Hopland, when he was still with the
brewery. Anyway, John said that Lee had been in arbitration hearings all last
week over his status with the brewery and his lawyer partner. No decision has
been returned by the arbitrator yet. Lee may be reinstated in the end but I
think that John is more than capable of brewing a quality beer, as long as the
lawyer will let him.
As for the taste changing, I'm not sure. The Red Mountain Red Ale was
first brewed for the City Stages festival in Birmingham. Lee said that they
tweaked the recipe for that brew after the first run but I don't think it has
been changed since. The Gold Ale and Golden Lager were both shipped on the
first brewing run, one of Lee's major complaints against his partner. Lee
felt that they should brew a test batch of each before putting it into the mass
market in order to fine-tune them and get them right. The lawyer won out and
the gold lager we got briefly here in Huntsville (on draught) was cloudy.
They may have been fine-tuning these brews in the field so to speak. We just
got the Red Mountain Red in bottles here last week and it tastes quite good.
It is still better on tap at Dugan's in Birmingham but I'm glad to have the
bottled version in town. I don't think they've shipped the Gold Ale or
Golden Lager up here in bottles yet. They also brewed a wheat beer but they
only brewed a single run and it is almost gone according to John. They have
not yet decided whether to brew it again. I also asked about the possibility
of them brewing a Christmas beer but John said that the packaging costs for a
special brew were prohibitive at this time. He said they plan to "do some
specialty brews" starting in the spring. I'll post more after I talk to Lee.
- --
Guy McConnell guy@mspe5.b11.ingr.com
"All I need is a pint a day"
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1992 16:38:52 +0000
From: G.A.Cooper@qmw.ac.uk
Subject: Pressure cookers
>> First a question: My neighbor just got hold of a 5-gallon pressure cooker.
>> We wanted to use it for brewing (extracts and specialty grains). Has anyone
>> out there in network land ever brewed this way? Do you reduce boiling time
>> due to higher temperatures? What about adding hops, etc. Will the higher
Carl J. Appellof replied
>I wouldn't do it. Pressure cookers come with instructions that tell
>you never to cook stuff that will foam up a lot. The foam can block
>the pressure valve and cause a big boom if things get overheated. As
>we all know, the initial stage of boiling wort is about the foamiest
>thing known to mankind. If you think stories of exploding carboys are
>bad, just wait until that aluminum grenade goes off on your stove.
In practice, however, it doesn't happen. I know a few people who use
pressure cookers all the time without ay problems. The biggest hazard
is getting a hop seed stuck in the valve (they fit quite nicely) which
results in the safety valve blowing (and the ceiling of your brewery gets
re-decorated). Construct a gauze filter around the pressure valve inside
the lid to prevent that happening (Another use for that window screen stuff
you have over there?).
With pressure cooking, boiling time can be reduced (15 mins at 10lb might
be enough for some beers).
However, you don't get as much reduction in volume so you cannot sparge
as long and then rely on the boil to get the volume back down. Sparge
efficiency is therfore more important, but that might not be a bad thing.
Also you don't get as much DMS boiled off, so it might be best if you
stick to normal kettles for beers where DMS is a problem. Otherwise, try
it and let us know how you get on. Meanwhile I shall relax ...
Geoff
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1992 09:12:23 -0600
From: Michael Howe <howe@gp_sparc45.gwl.com>
Subject: Oops! -Lager yeast goof..
Hello,
My roommate and I have a concern and thought this might be a legitimate
forum to ask about it. We are relatively new to all grain brewing.
Yesterday, we were happily brewing up our Christmas/Holiday offering.
We were brewing a brownish ale with all of the obligatory holiday spicings
(including nutmeg,cloves,cinnamon,etc). Everything was going find until
it was time to add the yeast. As I was about to pour it in, I noticed that
it was lager yeast instead of ale yeast. Being the wild and crazy guys that
we are (not to mention, the stores were closed and we couldn't get more yeast),
we decided to go ahead and put it in anyway. Now the problem, as I see it,
is that we should allow fermentation to take place in a cooler environment
for the yeast to be able to do it's thing( is this correct?). We do not
have an environment to do so. Are we wasting our time allowing it to
ferment at room temperature (about 68 F.) or not. Does anyone see any
problems that are going to arise from this situation. If so, is there
anything we can/should do at this point to save our beloved holiday beer.
Thank you very much in advance,
Michael Howe
howe@gwl.com
Englewood, Colorado
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 12:44:10 EDT
From: leavitt@mordor.hw.stratus.com (Will Leavitt)
Subject: sake recipies?
I just started up a batch of Amer Ale yesterday. Mmmmm!!!
Now for something completely different. Does anyone have
a recipe for sake, or a good source for ingredients? I've
read the recipe in Cat's Meow, 2ed., but it seems questionable.
Will Leavitt
Stratus Computer
leavitt@mordor.hw.stratus.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 10:00:41 PDT
From: "John Cotterill" <johnc@hprpcd.rose.hp.com>
Subject: Brewpubs in Vancouver/Portland?
Full-Name: "John Cotterill"
I will be in the Vancouver/Portland area on business next week. Would someone
be so kind as to pass along a list of brewpubs in the area. When I'm not
working you can guess where I'll be!
Thanks,
JC
johnc@hprpcd.rose.hp.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 11:05:28 -0600
From: Jon Binkley <binkley@beagle.Colorado.EDU>
Subject: Snobbery, Pretension, and American Wheats
Darryl Richman sez:
>But to denigrate a brewery for attempting find competitive niches is
>counterproductive. After all, it's not as if Anchor or Red Hook
>stopped producing some of their other, more distinctive products in
>order to make room for these. Such an attitude can also smack of
>snobbishness, which can turn off a lot people who might otherwise be
>interested enough to try "different" styles of beer.
Well, I've never attempted to defend myself against charges of being
a beer snob, and I'm not going to start now ;-)!
But what bothers me more than either snobbery or bland taste is
unwarrented pretension. I consider Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout
a snob's beer. It's WAY overpriced, and I refuse to buy it
for that reason, but it is definitely great beer and the snobbery
is justified. At the other end of the spectrum is the bland
mega-brewery products we all love to bash. Sure they're tasteless,
but they're also cheap and rarely pretend to be anything they aren't;
I tend to avoid them, but their existance doesn't bother me.
In between are the pretentious beers- little better in quality
than the tasteless stuff, but priced like a snob beer- and this stuff
bugs me. Into this category I lump Carona, most mass market
Euro imports, most mass market Canadian beers, and, getting back
to the subject, American Wheat Ale (of course there are a few
exceptions to the rule, like Grant's and Schell's; the stereotype
I'm bashing is exemplified by Anchor Wheat or Wheat Hook).
Hey, if Anchor and Red Hook charged $3.50 a six pack for their
wheat beers I'd have no complaint, and would even buy some for
lawn mowing purposes. Lowering their prices they'd also sell
more to the masses, supporting the production of their good beers
and introducing more people to their well made beers. Charging
the same price as they do for Liberty Ale or Ballard Bitter is
down right offensive, and reeks of UNWARRENTED snobbery to this
accused and confessed beer snob.
Jon Binkley
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 10:36:08 -0700
From: wolfgang@cats.UCSC.EDU
Subject: RE: Santa Cruz brewpubs...
Sorry for spreading misinformation. In my last post about efficient wort
chilling, I mentioned that Santa Cruz has 3 brewpubs. There are only 2
brewpubs in Santa Cruz - Seabright Brewery and Santa Cruz Brewery/Front St.
Pub. The third I was thinking of is Boulder Creek Brewing Co. Boulder Creek
is a little town just outside of Santa Cruz. Many people sent me e-mail
about this, so I figured I'd better post something before my mailbox fills
up. :-) Sorry!
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 92 14:12:27 -0400
From: Paul Matulonis <paulm@sci.ccny.cuny.edu>
Subject: will california lager yeast handle a ferment at RT?
I'm about to brew up a steam beer and was wondering....does any one
have any experience with this yeast at room temp? I'd like to get a
little more mileage and was thinking of doing up one of my generic ales
and use some of the cal. lager stuff (wyeast 2112) after I cook up
the steam beer. I've got room in the cool box for only a single
carboy at a time and the second batch would have to ferment at
room temps (around 70-77 F depending upon how the building screws
around with the heating system).
(If no one gets around to responding by tomorrow night I'll just have to
wing it and let all _you_ know.)
Thanks.
pm
paulm@sci.ccny.cuny.edu
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1992 17:45 EST
From: GREG PYLE <S1400067@NICKEL.LAURENTIAN.CA>
Subject: Stuck fermentation?
I have acquired 2 15 gallon carboys for brewing beer. I have used them for
three batches now and I have had problems with each one. Each time I have
brewed in them, I simply took a 5 gal recipe and multiplied all of the
ingredients by 3. After the secondary fermentation, the specific gravity
would be about 1.020. This would normally mean stuck fermentation. I can
usually get the fermentation going again if I stir up the bottom vigorously.
I have been told that if you multiply a recipe by more than two, stuck
fermentation is unavoidable because the centre of the carboy has a much higher
temperature than the sides of the carboy thereby damaging active yeast. Is
there anyone who knows how to avoid these problems for brewing batches over 5
gallons?
Greg Pyle
Laurentian University
Sudbury, Ont.
------------------------------
Date: 20 Oct 92 03:35:59 GMT
From: SynCAccT@slims.attmail.com
Subject: Extract Astringency
I'm halfway through the starch conversion on a batch a Kolsch and
have some time to kill so I flip open Miller's TCHoHB into the
"MASH" section. Reading the steps for the 400th time I note that he
mentions that mash out in a picknick cooler requires removing a
portion of the mash and boiling it, then return to the mashtun to
raise to mashout temps. This seems to me to be a sort of
pseudo decoction mash, and got me wondering about the whole thing.
I use the stove pot - insulated box nethod for mashing and
I've never done a decoction mash, always infusions. I assume that
sparging above 168F is not good because of tannins creating
astringincy and other negative effects will result. My question for
the decocters in the crowd is; why does boiling a portion of the
grist not extract tannins during a decoction?
....Glenn Anderson
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #994, 10/20/92
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