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HOMEBREW Digest #1055
This file received at Sierra.Stanford.EDU 93/01/14 00:34:59
HOMEBREW Digest #1055 Thu 14 January 1993
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
5 gallon plastic mashing bins w/electric heating element (relic)
re: boiling,skimming and hopping (Jim Busch)
Cold Plates (David Van Iderstine)
Sparging with initial drain off. (Dominic Ryan)
Re: CABA info (Robert Schultz)
AHA judging sheets (Chris Thompson)
Beginners questions (I've Faulted... and I can't spin up!)
Misc. Stuff (John DeCarlo)
Mead (Paul Ray)
lab grade again (Jon Binkley)
Re: Diminishing yields (Jeff Benjamin)
Rickard's ("Mark Rich-mpr8a@acadvm1.uottawa.ca")
Bier Haus Hopped Extract (Scott Bickham)
ZYMURGY IMPROVEMENTS (Charlie Papazian/Boulder)
mead (Alexander Samuel McDiarmid)
Can I use this keg? (Mark Lundquist)
Floating Coins ("Chauncey T. Griggs")
Sparge-O-Matic (CCASTELL)
cleaning carboys (BadAssAstronomer)
desperately seeking help (Peter Maxwell)
HDPE--Kill it dead? (Bruce Mueller)
Physics, surface tension, and bubbles ;-) (Greg Jesus Wolodkin)
Cold Plates (Jack Schmidling)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 13 Jan 1993 09:22:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: relic <JMULLER@SSCvax.CIS.McMaster.CA>
Subject: 5 gallon plastic mashing bins w/electric heating element
i am currently looking at going to full boils and/or full mashes, and was
wondering how useful it would be to have this particular sort of heating unit
(i.e. a five gallon plastic brewing bin, with a heating element, basic pot for
power (not thermal) control, and a spigot. given that it is not likely i am
going to be able to set up a gas unit/copper kettle for some time 8-), is this
an adequate substitute, or should i forego such a piece of hardware and wait
for my gas system to materialize?
so, i am asking for anybody's advice and/or experiences with such machines.
your consideration would be greatly appreciated...with my thanks, and possiblyl
a threat to compile this information (if it isn't already on a FAQ or other
file).
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 10:06:21 EST
From: Jim Busch <busch@daacdev1.stx.com>
Subject: re: boiling,skimming and hopping
In the last digest Jack asked for some clarifications
of my comments:
from: Jim Busch <busch@daacdev1.stx.com>
<From: arf@ddsw1.mcs.com (Jack Schmidling)
<Add half of your hops as soon as boiling begins. Save one
<forth for the end and the remainder at regular intervals
<during the boil.
>This is not recommended for infusion mashing.
<I accept the recommendation but what does it have to do with the method of
<mashing?
A decoction mash will break down the larger proteins and gums into
easier to handle products. These substances will be less detrimental
to the brewing process, and will be less capable of coating the hops.
>The wort should be boiled a minimum of 30 minutes prior to the first
hopping. This is due to the need to break down and make floc large
proteins that carry over into the kettle.
<Don't understand this as it is already in the kettle if one is boiling.
You are doing the right thing to begin boiling the wort as soon as
possible. In my process, the sweet wort will begin to boil just as I
am ready to add more runoff. This will of course, cool the wort to
below boiling. This procedure repeats until the kettle is full. Each
time the wort comes to a boil, more of the proteins will floc and
coalesce. You can skim these off with a standard strainer. Once the
kettle is full and brought to a boil, it is still a good idea to boil
30 minutes prior to the first hopping. You can reduce this time if
you have been boiling and straining during the kettle filling process.
If you employ a decoction mash, all of this is less important. The
breakdown of the large moleculer weight proteins that occur during a
decoction mash is also why this technique is important for trouble
free lautering of wheat beers.
Jim Busch
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 09:42:15 EST
From: orgasm!davevi@uunet.UU.NET (David Van Iderstine)
Subject: Cold Plates
I've had some experience with these things, which was not good. I made the
mistake of adding ice over the cold plate before I had beer running through
it. It seems that ice crystals formed *inside* the plate's tubes, with the
result being incredibly foamy beer at the tap that did not go away for
days (it was a looong party! :-). The advise I was given (I'm afraid much
too late!) was to get the beer running first, then chill the plate down.
Dave VI
===========================================================================
== Dave Van Iderstine Senior Software Engineer ==
== Xerox Imaging Systems, Inc. ==
== UUCP: uunet!pharlap!orgasm!davevi davevi@pharlap.com :INTERNET ==
==-----------------------------------------------------------------------==
== "I haven't got time for instant gratification!" ==
===========================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 10:40:50 -0500
From: ryan%phmms0.mms.smithkline.com@smithkline.com (Dominic Ryan)
Subject: Sparging with initial drain off.
I would like to again compare sparging with chromatography where there is
a tradeoff between speed and efficiency. If one uses a very tightly
packed support for the column (i.e. the grain bed) then one will use less
'sparge water' and get better efficiency. However the tradeoff is that it
can take a *lot* longer unless forced under pressure.
Another factor that lowers efficiency and ends up requiring significantly
more liquid is letting the bed drain, even partially. The problem is that
air channels develop in the bed and these can take a lot of 'sparging' to
close up. This will sometimes more than double the amount of liquid
required to get all the desired materiel out of the bed. I would
therefore not expect draining the wort off of the bed initially to be a
good thing. Getting as tight a bed as you can afford to spend time
sparging will get you the best sparging efficiency with the least amount
of sparge water used and therefore the minimum in husk astringency.
As others have pointed out keeping the grain bed hot is essential, this
will really improve flow through the bed and solubility of the sugars in
the water. Getting the grain bed heated up properly should be happening
with mashout at 75-80oC and then dumping it all into the sparge bucket. I
find that I must keep the initial runoff at least that hot if it is to be
recirculated, after all that is the sparge 'water' initially. I also do
not sprinkle water on top of the bed. I pour the water onto the inside of
a big spoon as I move the spoon around the top of the bed. I do this with
almost no liquid on top of the bed until there is really no extractable
sugar left at the top of the bed. After that I fill up the top of the
sparge bucket to the lip with water only a little hotter than ideal, say
80oC. Others have pointed out correctly that sprinkled water will cool
significantly. Rather than heating to boiling and guessing at the
temperature of the resulting sprinkle just pour carefully and you will
have no trouble. Finally, I keep the bottom of the sparge bucket in a hot
water bath. That seems to have the greatest effect on sparge speed,
presumably because the bottom would otherwise be cooling fastest.
There can be too much of a good thing with a tight grain bed, my
recent 5 hr sparge was just a little too tight for liking by about
2:30AM...:-) That one was my own fault though.
M. Dominic Ryan SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals
(215)-270-6529 internet: ryan%phmms0.mms@smithkline.com
------------------------------
Date: 13 Jan 1993 09:42:50 -0600 (CST)
From: Robert Schultz <SCHULTZ@admin1.usask.ca>
Subject: Re: CABA info
Bruce Givens (Attention Canadian Brewers):
The following is an address I received through the HBD of the CABA
Hope it helps.
Robert Schultz
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm going off half-cocked? I'm going off half-cocked? ...
Well, Mother was right - You can't argue with a shotgun." - Gary Larson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: IN%"71601.3357@CompuServe.COM" "Paul Dickey"
CABA is a Federally Incorporated, non-profit organization whose purpose is
to promote homebrewing as an enjoyable hobby through educational
publications, events and other activities.
Our Newsletter comes out every two months, we have up to three contests per
year, a conference and seminars - unfortunately not west of Ontario to date.
This March we are having an event in Montreal and hope to reach out to other
regions as time goes on.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 11:21:20 -0500
From: Chris Thompson <christ@sci.ccny.cuny.edu>
Subject: AHA judging sheets
Can someone please post/email/tell me where I can find a copy of the sheets
AHA uses in beer competitions? Thanks,
Chris Thompson
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 09:43:44 PST
From: I've Faulted... and I can't spin up! <fecich@csoa1.enet.dec.com>
Subject: Beginners questions
Could someone explain to me how to decode "beginner.Z" and other Z files
in the homebrew repository?
Thanks,
Larry Fecich DEC CS
------------------------------
Date: Wednesday, 13 Jan 1993 13:20:24 EST
From: m14051@mwvm.mitre.org (John DeCarlo)
Subject: Misc. Stuff
1. Temperature of water as it goes into the grain.
Basically speaking, the temperature of the water on the stove doesn't
make a bit of difference--it is the temperature it is when it goes
into the grain. So if you carefully pour or siphon water in, it
won't change temperature too much. If you splash it through the air,
into a bowl, where it then splashes through the air *again*, before
hitting the grain, it wouldn't surprise me too much to find that the
temperature of the water entering the grain has gone from 212F on the
stove to 180F or less.
The point being that different methods *can* produce different apparent
results.
2. Someone recommended I start skimming as soon as appreciably thick foam
started forming on the boiling wort, *then* add the hops. I have
switched to this method and it seems to result in better hop
utilization and much reduced opportunity for boil over (I no longer
have to *stop* a boil-over in progress). Caveat-I haven't measured
anything here, especially not hop utilization.
Internet: jdecarlo@mitre.org (or John.DeCarlo@f131.n109.z1.fidonet.org)
Fidonet: 1:109/131
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 10:39:02 -0800
From: Paul Ray <paulr@delilah.ccsf.caltech.edu>
Subject: Mead
Hi,
I am about to brew my first batch of mead in a couple weeks.
Does anyone have any hints that might help? I have
a couple of specific questions as well.
I don't have any "acid blend" which is called for (but
optional) in my recipe (which I am getting from the New Joy of Homebrewing).
Do I need it and does anyone know how to get it?
Also, what is a good source for 15 pounds of honey? I don't want
to squeeze 300 little plastic bears into my pot :-> What honeys
have people used and does the type of honey make much difference?
Thanks for any help. I hope my first batch of mead turns out as
well as my first batch of beer (which I love).
- -- Paul
Paul S. Ray Internet: paulr@caltech.edu
206-49 Caltech Internet: paulr@delilah.ccsf.caltech.edu
Pasadena, CA 91125 Bitnet : paulr@caltech.bitnet
(818) 356-2911
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 11:46:58 -0700
From: Jon Binkley <binkley@beagle.Colorado.EDU>
Subject: lab grade again
Ulick Spaford apparently knows exactly how much heavy metals you can
consume safely (knows more about it than the Evil Government Agents
who are out to subvert and control our lives, anyway). This is fine
for him, and for anyone else willing to put in the years of research
necessary to find out such information.
For myself, I'm still going to stick to the food grade stuff, and
stick to my recommendation that homebrewers not motivated enough
to be as much an expert on the subject as Ulick obviously is to
also avoid reagent and lesser grade chemicals as food additives.
Ciao,
Jon Binkley
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 13:03:05 MST
From: Jeff Benjamin <benji@hpfcbug.fc.hp.com>
Subject: Re: Diminishing yields
In HBD #1052, Mike Travis was disappointed that his extract rates were
steadily dropping for his first three all-grain batches. He himself
brought up the issue of sparge temp, so all the discussion has been
about that.
However, I usually make batches using anywhere from 8-10 lbs of grain,
and I don't see any difference in extract rate even though I sparge
with the same temp water. I don't think that 2 lbs of grain will
create enough difference in the sparge efficiency (all other variables
being the same) to cause a 7 pts/lb/gal decrease.
I think James Dipalma got closer when he addressed Mike's extract rate
problem and someone else's question about storing pre-crushed grain in
the same post (HBD #1053). He mentioned the anecdote that some brewer
would increase the grain bill 10% if the crushed malt had to sit even
overnight.
That 10% seems a little extreme. However, if Mike bought a large
quantity of pre-crushed malt and used it to make his three batches
several weeks apart, it might degrade enough to account for the loss in
extract.
Also, make sure your later grain bills didn't include disproportionately
high percentages of specialty malts like Munich or crystal. If you
don't have enough pale malt, you won't get enough enzymatic activity to
get a full conversion. (Try the iodine test next time if you're not
sure -- a drop of iodine in a bit of mash liquid will turn purple/black
if there are still unconverted starches.)
Just a couple more thoughts on the problem.
- --
Jeff Benjamin benji@hpfcla.fc.hp.com
Hewlett Packard Co. Fort Collins, Colorado
"Midnight shakes the memory as a madman shakes a dead geranium."
- T.S. Eliot
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 16:08:18 EST
From: "Mark Rich-mpr8a@acadvm1.uottawa.ca" <MPR8A@acadvm1.uottawa.ca>
Subject: Rickard's
Here in Ottawa there is a fine brew to be had called "Rickard's Red". It
is by far my favorite quaff. Does anybody out there know where it comes
from? Who makes it? and the big question... How to make it? I have only
seen it in certain bars on tap. It does not seem to be available in bottles.
Thanx
For those of you who do not know this brand... it's a Deep-Amber/red colour
with a rich creamy head that's slightly beige. Smells a bit sweet/flowery; and
tastes sort of sweet with a slight bitterness in the after-taste. I highly
reccomend you try it.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 18:35:27 EST
From: bickham@msc2.msc.cornell.edu (Scott Bickham)
Subject: Bier Haus Hopped Extract
Recently, I was given a 4.75 lb. can of Bierhaus Continental
Amber Hopped Extract. Note that this is not the Bierkeller brand.
The ingredients are listed as: "wort (malt, barley, corn syrup, hops)",
and it was imported from England for Bierhaus of Erie, PA.
I don't like the idea of using an unknown quantity of corn
syrup, so I'm planning to use the can along with a mash to brew something
roughly in the Old Ale style. My question is: does anyone on the net
have any idea what the hopping rate is? I'm guessing something in the
range of 20 IBU's - does this sound reasonable?
Thanks,
Scott
- --
=========================================================================
"Bosnia has been cleansed," said Tom acerbically.
- Geoff Miller
Scott Bickham |
LASSP and Materials Science Center | bickham@msc.cornell.edu
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 | bickham@crnlmsc2.bitnet
=========================================================================
------------------------------
Date: 13 Jan 93 19:08:44 EST
From: Charlie Papazian/Boulder <72210.2754@compuserve.com>
Subject: ZYMURGY IMPROVEMENTS
Howdy 'all,
I thought I'd drop in to express some encouragement to some of you who have
seemed pretty dissatisfied with zymurgy as of late. I haven't caught the whole
thread, in fact I only came across one comment from A. Dietz from Morristown,
NJ, but I'm assuming (maybe I'm assuming a bit too much, if so let me know)
that there was considerable discussion about disatisfaction regarding the
contents of the magazine.
I was thinking about this and we have really benefitted in the past from
people like yourselves when you have directed your disatisfaction to us
directly, so we can consider doing something about it. But perhaps much more
importantly, we know there are a lot of people like A Dietz who know far more
than the average homebrewer and could really offer the membership some good
information by perhaps contributing some technical articles themselves. A.
Dietz and others are just the kind of guys (or gals) we're looking for as your
knowledge goes way beyond the content of what zymurgy is able to presently
offer. Why not help us help you and others like you and give us some outlines
and ideas on some technical subjects that, perhaps, we have not covered in the
past 2 or 3 years. We'd really appreciate that.
As a matter of fact all of the growth and improvements that we've been able
to offer over the years have come from people more knowledgeable than the
average homebrewer.
I understand that there has been some concern that we have rejected several
good technical articles. If you folks could be more specific that would help
us solve this problem, if indeed it is a problem. Elizabeth Gold (Editor) and
I review all the manuscripts and ideas that are submitted. Neither of us are
recalling any incidences where we rejected quality, accurate technical
articles. But if we have done so inadvertantly or otherwise, please drop us a
note and we will look into things.
Thanks for listening and keep up the [constructive] griping.
Fermently,
Charlie P.
p.s. I can be reached at my CIS address, though after january 20 you should
direct any messages to James Spence at the AHA at 70740,1107, as I will be on
vacation for a couple of weeks and won't be checking my e-mail.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 18:33:00 -0500 (EST)
From: Alexander Samuel McDiarmid <am2o+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: mead
does anyone out there have a recipie for mead?
actually I want a fast recipie, the one I have requires six months and
one year is suggested.
thanks
-A.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 12:57:53 -0800
From: mark@verdix.com (Mark Lundquist)
Subject: Can I use this keg?
My brother inherited an empty beer keg from some college roommates, who
moved out without returning their keg. It just didn't seem right to
throw the think away, so he's had this beer keg in a shed in our folks'
back yard for a couple of years now, probably with a bunch of other
stuff that it just didn't seem right to throw away.
Anyhow, the other day he thought of me, thought of that beer keg, and
gave me a call. So we visited Mom and Dad.
Much to my disappointment, the keg (a quarter barrel) was a
"one-holer". From what I have heard, these aren't suitable for
homebrewers, because you have to have a special machine to wash 'em
out.
Is there any way that I can adapt this thing for home use, or am I
stuck with a worthless piece of junk?
It seems like the filling and cleaning issues could be taken care of
by cutting a bung hole, *except*...except I'd still need a way to
clean out the internal plumbing of the keg. Any ideas?
Also, the keg is aluminum so any fittings that I might need would have
to be TIG welded.
Thanks for any help!
- --Mark
PS This keg was actually not empty, it was "almost empty", in that
special way that only an almost-empty keg can be after a couple of
years! Phew!!
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 18:18:45 -0600
From: "Chauncey T. Griggs" <grig0009@student.tc.umn.edu>
Subject: Floating Coins
In HBD#1054, arf@ddsw1.mcs.com (Jack Schmidling) writes:
>I didn't have a silver dollar handy this afternoon but I had no problem
>floating a Costa Rican 25 Centimos piece on a glass of the World's Greatest
>Beer.
Is that anyting like a wooden nickel??? :^)
Chauncey Griggs (grig0009@student.tc.umn.edu)
- ----------------------
Science is just facts; just as houses are made of stones,
* ^^ * so is science made of facts; but a pile of stones is not
*^^^^^^*** a house and a collection of facts is not necessarily science.
* ^ ^* * -Henri Poincaire'
* :^) * *
* > < * * My opinions are purely my own (unless somebody agrees with me).
* ***
******** Chauncey Griggs (grig0009@student.tc.umn.edu)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 15:37
From: CCASTELL.UNIX11@mailsrv2.eldec.com (CCASTELL)
Subject: Sparge-O-Matic
I was wondering if anyone has tried Sparge-Magic from Scientific Brewing
Systems. It's your typical two-bucket-with-grain-bag system EXCEPT that
the hose coming out the bottom of the bucket goes to a carboy stopper.
The stopper also has a hose running to a gizmo (pardon my use of technical
jargon) that connects to a faucet which creates a vacum in in the carboy.
The wort is essentially "sucked" out of the grain rather than allowing
it to slowly flow using gravity. Alledgedly, this method allows one to
use sparge water with no concern about temperature.
I've used it five times with varying degrees of success. Does anyone
have any comments on such a system (based on experience, common sense,
gut feel, conventional wisdom, or folk lore)? Should such a system
produce better extraction rates (as claimed)? Would it tend to suck
things out of the grain that would be best left where they were?
Thanks.
Charles Castellow
ccastell@eldec.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 15:30:41 -0600 (CST)
From: STOREY@fender.msfc.nasa.gov (BadAssAstronomer)
Subject: cleaning carboys
Hi
I'm looking for some cleaning suggestions for carboys etc. My last
3 batches of brew have had a acidic flavor in them. I have been
gradually been getting into all grain brewing in these last few
batches, and I attributed the off-flavor to this change.
Everything else I do has remained pretty much the same. A friend
suggested that maybe I wasn't cleaning things well enough. I just
sorta brushed it off, until I started thinking about it. Maybe I'm
getting a little lazy in my cleaning etc. I have used clorox since
I started brewing. Also, I read that sometimes cleaning with
clorox can add "flavor" to your brew.
Anyone out there want to take the time to let me know how they
clean their brew equipment. I would especially be interested in
cleansers other than clorox.
thanks ahead
scott
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 1993 18:01:24 -0800 (PST)
From: Peter Maxwell <peterm@aoraki.dtc.hp.com>
Subject: desperately seeking help
Dear brewing experts,
I'm desperately searching for what I'm doing wrong in my extract brewing. The
trouble is beer which (I think) develops a strong flavor after being in the
bottle for a short while. I never had this problem while brewing using kits,
where I never boiled anything, just dumping the kit directly into the
fermenter.
My latest problem is a batch which I bottled 11/30 last year and tried last
night, to be very disappointed in the strong flavor. It's hard to describe
but is similar to one which I dislike in another brew in which I used amber
extract, crystal and chocolate malts. I thought I'd used too much chocolate
malt that time. The peculiar thing is that this flavor was not apparent at
bottling time. I think my sanitation is good, by soaking all the bottles in
bleach overnight, and the caps also. The flavor is kind-of burnt, but there
were no black marks on the inside of the boiler.
This latest batch was originally brewed in a 3-gallon batch using M&F light
extract, although the final product is far from light. I used 3.3 lbs and
boiled this in 1.5 gallons of water for 60 minutes with 1/2 oz of Pride of
Ringwood hops. The yeast was Nottingham Ale.
Can anyone give me pointers to any possible problems? Can beer oxidize in a
month to produce a strong flavor? What other things can result in beer
apparently changing so much. Is it maybe subjective that it's changed and the
original tasting when it was flat and with cloudy yeast in suspension sort of
disguised the flavor? If the wort was caramelized during the boil would this
show up as a strong flavor?
Is 60 minutes too long for a "concentrated" extract boil? Should I try
reducing it to 30 minutes and use more hops? The one thing this beer and
the other dark one have in common is a 60 minute boil. Is an electric
element and a stainless steel stock pot a risky combination?
Any advice would be much appreciated. I've had so little luck with migrating
from kits that I'm almost ready to return to them, but somehow that smacks of
a retrograde step and a defeatist attitude.
Yours desperately,
Peter
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 19:04:07 PST
From: Bruce Mueller <mueller@sdd.hp.com>
Subject: HDPE--Kill it dead?
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 19:49:46 PST
From: greg@bandit.Berkeley.EDU (Greg Jesus Wolodkin)
Subject: Physics, surface tension, and bubbles ;-)
In reading Papazian's book (I paid for my copy ;-) I came across a
statement in Appendix 9 (p.375) that made me curious. To quote,
"A big explosive bubble feeling in the mouth is due to the use of
fermentable ingredients other than barley malt. A beer made with
all barley malt will tend to have a smaller (almost a creamy
sensation) bubble feeling in the mouth. This phenomenon can be
explained in terms of physics, surface tension, and bubbles, but
need not be gone into here."
This reads as if it should have a few smileys at the end of it.. is
there any truth to this statement? Any comments/explanations? While
I have a strong physics background, I don't see how one can separate
malted barley from malted wheat, corn sugar, honey, or in general from
the myriad of other fermentables in terms of the bubble size which
will be produced in the finished beer.
As I read it, this statement has nothing to do with priming (i.e. the
common corn sugar vs. malt extract vs. gyle controversy) as far as I
can tell, but seems to refer to the entire grain/adjunct bill. So
Charlie, if you're reading this, explain away ;-)
Best wishes,
Greg Wolodkin greg@bandit.berkeley.edu
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 13 Jan 93 21:20 CST
From: arf@ddsw1.mcs.com (Jack Schmidling)
Subject: Cold Plates
>From: Tim Norris <71650.1020@compuserve.com>
Subject: Re: COLD PLATES leave me cold.....
>Cold plates are the most amazing things I've ever seen for serving ice
cold beer from warm kegs in the middle of a Chicago August.
> BEWARE: They are not a great alternative to proper longterm/everyday
serving and refrigeration of precious homebrew.
I see no reason why they are not a great alternative to everyday serving but
I do agree that a caveat is in order regarding long term storage. Ageing and
storing beer in a refrigerator is not the same as aging and storing at room
temperature. I have no personal experience with what difference it makes but
I am sure the experts have many. My only concern is that the beer not spoil
in Summer and thus far I have had no problem but I never seem to be able to
keep a keg for more that a month or so and it has never spoiled in that time.
I think the issue would only be the characters of a true lager. I have been
bottling a sixer of each batch and storing them in the fridge so that in a
few months I will have some properly aged to compare with my keg stuff.
>At recent 'all draft' beer tasting/competitions here in The Windy City,
we've had the darned things freeze up on us and it seems that the only
temperature the beer comes out at is 'ICE COLD'.
Not to doubt your anecdotal experience but there is nothing in my physics
books that would explain how that could happen unless someone thought you
were making ice cream and put salt in the ice.
It do however, make very cold beer but there is no law that says you have to
put a ton of ice on it. For a two glass serving, I use about two cups of
cubes and about half are still there after drawing the beer in winter. In
Summer they are just about gone.
> #1 reason not to use cold plates:
> Much too difficult to decorate with refrigerator magnets.
Don't want to be flamed for a commercial but I have a special this week on
aluminum magnets and they are designed to work best on horizontal surfaces.
#10 reason TO use cold plates:
You never have to lift a full keg off the ground.
JS
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #1055, 01/14/93
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