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HOMEBREW Digest #1159
This file received at Sierra.Stanford.EDU 93/06/09 00:12:40
HOMEBREW Digest #1159 Wed 09 June 1993
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Keg experiences (was Re: Foam With Kegs; Forced Carbonation) (Bob Clark)
William's Temperture Controller ("Joe Stone")
Hop Boil and New Utilization Table (Mark Garetz)
Malt and Hops (CHUCKM)
Strawberry Ale (U-E68316-Scott Wisler)
Recipe Request (WAUTS)
FULL SAIL ALES (John Brooks)
Foam with kegging (John Landreman X1786)
RE: Stuck Run-off (James Dipalma)
Microwave for sterilzation (W.R.) Crick" <heybc@bnr.ca>
Brewpub in Michigan. (John E. Greene)
Re: Yucky Stovetops (Richard Stueven)
Calculating Proper Dispensing Pressure (Cisco)
Sanitizers (korz)
Are stouts really thick? (Bryan Kornreich)
"fermented" beans/american beer/headaches (Jonathan G Knight)
Stratefied Homebrew (arne thormodsen)
Dry Hopping 100 IBUs? (Mark Garetz)
Re: Kegging Alternatives (Drew Lynch)
More on Black Beans (still no beer) (Jeff Frane)
Miller reserve (Hi-keeba!)
victory malt? (wayne_clark)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 93 10:23:50 PDT
From: Bob.Clark@Eng.Sun.COM (Bob Clark)
Subject: Keg experiences (was Re: Foam With Kegs; Forced Carbonation)
My 3-tap fridge is based on 1/4" tubing, and ball lock cornelius kegs.
Maximum liquid line length from disconnect to tap is about 4 feet.
My artificial carbonation techique is to put the keg in the fridge, and
hook up the CO2 at about 30 psi once a day. About half a week of this,
and it's carbonated. I'm trying a new technique right now of keeping the
keg continuously connected at 30 psi - don't know how quickly this will
work.
When carbonated, I just hook the keg up to my fridge CO2 supply, which
is somewhere around 8-10 psi, continuously connected (if I don't have
any leaks at the time!). Since I have individual check valves for
each of the three potentially connected kegs, overpressure in one or
more of the kegs is not a problem. I just start pouring, and live
with the extra foam until everything reaches equilibrium, which doesn't
take too many pints. If I have not sufficiently carbonated the beer,
another week or so at my normal dispensing pressure is sufficient to
carbonate it properly.
As far as moldy taps go, I just disconnect the liquid line from the
keg, and take the tap off. This is easy, since there is a knurled
collar and thread system which connects the tap outside of the fridge
to the beer shank , which is the pipe that runs through the sidewall of
the fridge. I take apart the whole tap, and do a little boiling and a
little rinsing to clean out the mold.
I'll clean a tap if it's been a coupla weeks, or if there are some folks
coming over. If I get a little lazy, I just never bring up the subject
of mold with company, and they've never noticed anything ;-)
Bob C.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 93 20:40:41 PDT
From: "Joe Stone" <JSTONE@SJEVM5.VNET.IBM.COM>
Subject: William's Temperture Controller
Darren Evans-Young was happy with the temperature controller
from William's. Does anyone else have any comments regarding this
unit? Does this unit have a solid state sensor or the "capillary
tube" sensor? Is the four degree differential too inaccurate or is
this actually equivalent to the Hunter and Johnson?
Joe
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 93 23:28:54 PDT
From: Mark Garetz <mgaretz@hoptech.com>
Subject: Hop Boil and New Utilization Table
Someone, sorry but I can't find my note, asked about adding hops before
or after the hot break:
I think the most important thing is the boil time, not worrying about when
the break occurs. Your utilization will be more affected by the boil time
than any supposed break material coating the hops. Besides, it doesn't
matter a whit what coats the petals (aka, but wrongly, leaves). It is the
stuff in the little yellow lupulin glands that counts. I've never seen any
stuff on the petals in my wort anyway. There is also the argument that
having the petals and/or hop particles from pellets thrashing around in the
boil is helpful in getting a good break to happen.
Bob Jones commented about the work that Glenn Tinseth is up to taking
a new cut at Rager's numbers:
Glenn and I have corresponded on the subject relative to incorporting his
results in my book. Until the results are in (which could take a while),
I have taken a stab at modifying Rager's utilization chart. My revised
figures are based on inputs from many brewers (thanks, BTW, to those from
HBD that responded to my request for comments on Rager's numbers), reviews
of the literature and my own estimates. The following should not be
considered as an absolute (there aren't any in brewing) but more as a
"work in progress". The chart is about to be published in my catalog,
but in the spirit of Bob's note and the input HBDers have provided,
I'm willing to share it with all.
The chart lists Rager's original numbers, and three different columns of new
numbers. The first column is Rager's, the second lists numbers for yeast
with "average flocculation", the third column for yeast with fast
flocculation and the last for yeast with slow flocculation. Besides the
boil time and wort gravity, the effect of the yeast on the bitterness is
probably the next most important factor and that is why I've included it.
The reason for the three figures is that the faster the yeast settles, the
less time it will be suspended (duh) and therefore has less opportunity to
absorb alpha acids, so the utilization is adjusted upwards. It follows that
yeast dropping out slowly will absorb more alpha acids and therefore the
utilization should be adjusted downwards. Also, you can see that I've
discounted any alpha utilization at low boil times.
Boil Time Rager's Average Yeast Fast Yeast Slow Yeast
Number Flocculation Flocculation Flocculation
< 5 min 5% 0% 0% 0%
6-10 min 6% 0% 0% 0%
11-15 min 8% 1% 1% 1%
16-20 min 10.1% 4% 5% 3%
21-25 min 12.1% 6% 7% 5%
26-30 min 15.3% 11% 13% 9%
31-35 min 18.8% 13% 16% 11%
36-40 min 22.8% 16% 19% 13%
41-45 min 26.9% 19% 23% 15%
46-50 min 28.1% 20% 24% 16%
> 50 min 30% 21% 25% 17%
I'm sure that I don't have to ask for comments :-) and of course, YMMV.
BTW, for those who don't know what we're referring to, we're talikng about a
chart and formulas published in the Zymurgy special issue on hops. Also, the
complete formula is published in both Glenn's and my catalogs. And for those
that don't know, the original article had a formula error in the gravity
adjustment. It should have read:
GA= (Boil Gravity - 1.050)/0.2.
Also, the example shown is wrong. It should be:
GA= (1.096 - 1.050)/0.2 = 0.23.
Mark from HopTech
------------------------------
Date: 08 Jun 93 06:59:09 EDT
From: CHUCKM@PBN73.CV.COM
Subject: Malt and Hops
Hello All....
1. What is the difference between caramel and crystal malt. When
would I use/not use them.
2. The lower leaves of my Centennial (and Mt. Hood to an extent)
hop vines are turning a yellowish color. Can anyone help out
here as to what is happening, is it bad, and how do I stop it.
I live in the Boston area.
Thanks for your help
Chuck
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 93 8:23:49 EDT
From: U-E68316-Scott Wisler <swisler@c0431.ae.ge.com>
Subject: Strawberry Ale
After reading all the articles on fruit beers over the past month, I
decided to some strawberry ale. Fresh picked raspberries will have to
wait for mid-summer. I had a 38 OG, 28 IBU pale ale in clearing in
a secondary secondary fermenter. I bottled 4 gal, then added 1.5# of
chopped and mashed up strawberries to one gallon remaining in my carboy.
After about a week, I strained/racked off the beer with a grain steeping
bag stretched over my racking tube. The beer, which was once very clear,
now has the appearance of fresh-from-the-farm apple cider (golden brown
and opaque). It is now in a one gallon glass secondary in the
refridgerator 'clearing'. I have become curious about the absence of
strawberrys in the previous HBD discussion, or any brewing literature for
that matter. Strawberries are more pulpy than raspberries, but I really
never expected the cloudy final product. If anyone else tried this,
another data point would be nice.
BTW, I aquired a 3 barrel SS 'vat', for lack of a better term, that
overwhelms my small scale. (10 gal takes up 3" in the bottom). It is
36" high by 31" diameter. It has a drain in the bottom with a sanitary
fitting, a lid with a slot for a mechanical stirrur, and is on a heavy
duty 3 wheel stand. My eyes got a bit greedy before my brain realized
just how big it was. Anybody close to Cincinnati interested can private
email me.
Scott Wisler
swisler@c0431.ae.ge.com
------------------------------
Date: 08 Jun 1993 09:52:09 GMT
From: WAUTS@CWEMAIL.ceco.com
Subject: Recipe Request
Does anyone have a good recipe for a low gravity traditional bitter,
similiar to that served in England. I don't have a cask but I will be
using an authentic beer engine :-) . Please respond via private email
if you can help me out. Thanks.
Tom Stolfi
wauts@cwemail.ceco.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1993 07:54:04 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Brooks <jbrooks@u.washington.edu>
Subject: FULL SAIL ALES
I am a big fanof Full Sail (brewed in Oregon), especially their Amber Ale.
Does anyone have any information about recipes for either their Amber or
Golden Ales? [malt types, O.G., hop varieties, IBU's, etc.] Please post
or reply to private e-mail. I will be glad to compile responses and post.
John (jbrooks@carson.u.washington.edu)
- ------------------------
"Don't Worry, Be Hoppy!"
- ------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 08 Jun 1993 09:00:42 MDT
From: John Landreman X1786 <jlandrem@atmel.com>
Subject: Foam with kegging
In HBD #1158 Darren Evans-Young writes the following.
> I had exactly your same problem. The main cause of foaming
> is dispensing with too low a pressure. However, since a higher
> dispensing pressure causes more agitation of your beer, it also causes
> the CO2 to come out of solution and foam. So the trick here is
> to increase dispensing pressure but slow down the flow. How do you
> do that? Use a smaller diameter dispensing hose so that it takes
> more pressure to push the beer through the smaller hose. I changed
> all my tubing from 1/4" to 3/16". The out connector and the cobra
> faucet take 1/4" hose, so you have to have short pieces for connection
> plus 2 hose unions that change from 1/4" to 3/16".
I have been able to attach both the cobra tap and disconnect to 3/16" hose
by heating the end of the hose in hot water. This softens the hose enough
to get it on the barbed fitting with out too much effort.
John
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 93 11:30:24 EDT
From: dipalma@banshee.sw.stratus.com (James Dipalma)
Subject: RE: Stuck Run-off
Hi All,
In HBD#1158, Riccardo Cristadoro asks about using kegs as fermenters.
Some time ago, I obtained some free pin-lock kegs from a friend who
owns a restaurant. I had an existing ball-lock setup, bought some pin-lock
hose barbs and used the new kegs for awhile, but eventually amassed enough
ball-lock kegs that the pin-locks fell into disuse. Recently, I've been
using them as secondary fermenters for lagers with great success.
I removed the pickup tubes, and cut about 1/2" off the end. Prolonged
secondary at 40F produces a fairly thick yeast sediment, shortening the
tube allows me to transfer from these kegs without picking up the sediment.
I put a ball-lock hose barb on one end of a short length of pressure tubing,
and a pin-lock barb on the other, which allows me to connect a ball-lock
keg directly to the pin-lock via the liquid out fittings. When the beer
is ready, I put the CO2 tank on the gas in fitting on the pin-lock, and
transfer the beer under pressure from the secondary to a ball-lock keg
that has been purged of oxygen. The entire five gallon batch is transferred
from one sealed, sanitized, oxygen-free container to another sealed,
sanitized, oxygen-free container in about two minutes. No worries about
starting a siphon, keeping my mouth off the siphon tube, no oxidation, no
exposure to airborne micro-nasties.
The best part is that pin-lock kegs take up much less space than carboys,
I can fit three batches of lager in the same fridge that won't take two
carboys at once.
*************************************************************************
Also in HBD#1158, Riccardo writes about a stuck sparge:
>My first wheat beer coincided with my first stuck run-off
>during the sparge.
.
.
>I should also mention that I used a infusion type mash w/o a mash
>out. Do I need to mash out when I use that much wheat malt?
Wheat contains a lot of high molecular weight proteins, sparging a wheat
mash is somewhat more problematic than one that contains 100% barley.
Stuck mashes are a fairly common occurence with wheat.
You didn't mention whether or not you did a protein rest, but I would
*strongly* advise using a protein rest in the future, particularly if
you're not going to use decoction mashing. Eric Warner recommends a
staggered protein rest in his Classic Style series book, that is, brief
rests at 117F, 122F, and 126F. At each of those temperatures, a different
class of peptidase (protein reducing enzyme) is activated. The point is
to break down as much high molecular weight protein during the mash as
possible, in order to reduce the chances of a stuck sparge later.
>I'm
>not even sure what could cause a stuck run-off except for too fine
>of a crush on the grains.
Lack of heat in the tun is another classic cause, and this relates to
your question on mash-out. When mashing-out, the temperature of the mash
is raised to ~170F, and held for 5-10 minutes. Adding heat to the mash
not only stabilizes enzyme activity, it is very helpful in avoiding
a stuck sparge. Highly recommended for wheat mashes.
One other little pointer. When mashing barley, most brewers use a
water to grist ratio of roughly 1 - 1.5 quarts/lb. When I brew a
weizen, I use 1.5 qts/lb for the mash itself, as a thick mash protects
protein reducing enzymes better than a thin one when the mash is heated.
At mash out, I add quite a bit more water than I typically use for barley
mashes. Since the mash is finished, enzyme activity is irrelevant, and
the extra water thins the mash and helps keep it from setting during
lautering.
Cheers,
Jim
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1993 11:59:00 +0000
From: "Bill (W.R.) Crick" <heybc@bnr.ca>
Subject: Microwave for sterilzation
Ralph Palmer asked about sterilizing in the mircowave.
At a microwave cooking class that came with my microwave, they
said DO NOT DO ANY CANNING<, JAMS, or PRESERVES IN THE MICROWAVE.
They said stick to boing it on a canner on the stove.
I don't know why, but suspect that there could be an issue
with the microwave not sterilizing well enough?
I have boiled wort in the microwave
in a beer bottle, with a loose cap, and
then capped it while hot, for yeast starters. It seemed to work OK,
with no obvious growie things in the bottles after a
few weeks in the fridge. The starter I made, and the beer seemed
healthy
Bill Crick Brewius, Ergo Sum
PS: If you have temp probe microwave, you can easily mash a
few pounds of grain in the microwave. Just program the temps,
powers, and times you want, including a mash out, and go cut the
lawn or something. It beeps when its time to sparge;-)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 93 09:07:23 PDT
From: johng@adx.la.ca.us (John E. Greene)
Subject: Brewpub in Michigan.
>Date: 7 Jun 1993 13:36:01 -0500
>From: "Daniel F McConnell" <Daniel.F.McConnell@med.umich.edu>
>Subject: brewpub opens in Michigan
>
>> Subject: Time:12:48 PM
> OFFICE MEMO brewpub opens in Michigan Date:6/7/93
>GREAT NEWS FOR THE STATE OF MICHIGAN!!!!
>>
>Well folks, it's finally happened. Michigan's first brewpub, The
>Eccentric Cafe, will open its doors at noon, Friday June 11, 1993.
>Located in downtown Kalamazoo, the brewpub is adjacent to The
>Kalamazoo Brewing Co. Congratulations and thanks to Larry Bell, president,
>mover and shaker.
>
>Larry brews a fairly long and interesting, some would say eccentric
>line of brews that range from the refreshing (Bell's Beer) to the
>massive (Explorer Stout). I don't have a clue as far as which brews
>will be offered in the pub. Some of us will be traveling from Ann
>Arbor to Chicago this Friday for the national competition. Hummmmm
>isn't Kalamazoo on the way? The usual report will follow....
>
>DanMcC
The last I heard (Jan, 93) it still isn't legal in Michigan to brew beer and
serve it in the same place. Maybe I am just picking nits here but a brewpub
it a pub where the brewery is part of the pub, no? Sounds to me like Larry
Bell opened a pub ajacent to his brewery in which he will sell the beer brewed
in his brewery. Not the same thing as a brewpub.
So either the Law in Michigan has changed in the past 6 months and I don't
know about it or what it being described here is not actually a brewpub.
I would like to know because there is a lot of interest in opening one in
Traverse City should this law ever be changed. :)
-john (yoosed to be a yooper) greene
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1993 09:27:12 -0700
From: Richard Stueven <gak@wrs.com>
Subject: Re: Yucky Stovetops
>Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1993 09:43:02 -0700
>From: Bob Konigsberg <bobk@NSD.3Com.COM>
>
>2) Spills that get burned into place.
>CURE: Clean up spills right away, even if you have to turn off the
>heat and slide the pot to the side for a bit. They will never get
>easier to clean up, only more difficult.
Not at all! A wire brush attachment on your electric drill will do
wonders cleaning up a burned-on mess. Of course, you'll have to forego
your stove's enamel finish, but you'll end up with a nice burnished
steel finish instead.
have fun
gak
Richard Stueven, Castro Valley CA
gak & gerry's garage, brewpub, hockey haven and pinball palace
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 08 Jun 1993 08:56:16 -0700 (MST)
From: Cisco <FRANCISCO@lan.ccit.arizona.edu>
Subject: Calculating Proper Dispensing Pressure
There has been enough talk about dispensing pressures for cornelius
keg systems so I thought I'ld throw in some logic on how to calculate
dispensing pressures. I have been kegging for over ten years and
learned a lot by trial and error until I had the luck to run into the
individual who sets up most of the draft systems here in Tucson.
Believe it or not there is some logic to all this and your elevation
from sea level must also be taken into consideration.
Optimum dispensing pressure is 12 lbs. at 36 to 40 degrees. For every
2000 feet above sea level you must add 1 lb. Tucson resides at 2400
ft above sea level so I need to add 1 1/4 lbs to 12 lbs to get a
total of approximately 14 lbs(13 1/4) total dispensing pressure. I
have a chrome tower draft column which will offset 3lbs pressure,
leaving me with 11 lbs(14-3=11) that must be taken up with hose. How
much hose will I need to offset 11 lbs? That depends on the inside
diameter. A hose of 1/4 id. has a 1 lb drop for every 18 inches, so I
would need 198 inches or 16 1/2 feet. That's a lot of hose! A hose
with 3/16 id has adrop of 1 lb for every 4 inches, so I would use 44
inches or 3 ft 8 in. This is what I use.
After you have calculted and assembled your system you can fine tune
the way your system pours a beer by adjusting the pressure no more
than 1 lb above or below the calculated pressure. My CO2 pressure is
set at 13 1/2 lbs and I get a beautiful creamy head about an inch
thick.
One last point is that you should keep your CO2 tank at room
temperature - not in your cooler. If you keep the CO2 tank in the
cooler the CO2 can not form a gas and remains in a liquid state
feeding into your beer and eventually it will overcarbonate it. Read
the dial that states internal tank pressure and when it is stored in
a cooler you'll notice that the dial indicator is in the red zone,
take it out and let it sit at room temperature and the dial will move
above the red zone indicating that the CO2 is allowing gas to form
from the liquid.
My draft system is in an old freezer with a Johnson type controller.
The Hunter airstat just couldn't get the temperatures I wanted.
The new magazine Technical Brewer is great! Keep up the good work!!
The short blurb on dispensing pressures was nice but it left out some
of the fine points of calculating proper pressure.
John Francisco
Francisco@lan.ccit.arizona.edu
May your homebrew always give you good head!
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 93 11:37 CDT
From: korz@iepubj.att.com
Subject: Sanitizers
As an offshoot of the Bleach/Iodophor/SS discussion, Ulick and I have
exchanged some private email, the last of which had a few points of general
interest:
U>I guess that is the best solution. I use bleach for
U>sanitizing everything - but the only stainless I use
U>is a spoon. It does corrode my wort chiller (Cu) and steel
A>I have a copper immersion wort chiller and I don't use any
A>sanitizer on it -- I wash it with water immediately after use,
A>store it in a large plastic bag between uses and sanitize it
A>by dunking it in boiling wort for a few minutes.
U>spoons I use for skimming if I leave them soaking a while.
U>I don`t see why anyone would want to use any chemical
U>when stainless kegs can be boiled anyway.
A>Yes, but the kegs I have, have rubber tops and bottoms, not to mention
A>the rubber seals throughout the beer path (8 seals if you include the
A>large one -- I just reconditioned two kegs... I know) which would probably
A>survive several bouts with boiling, but would eventually lose elasticity
A>and not seal anymore. Boiling water is a good sanitizer, but is also
A>more dangerous. Bleach and Iodophor only harm you if you get them in
A>your eyes or mouth -- boiling water will mess you up anywhere it hits
A>you!
Al.
P.S. This last statement is probably of some general interest. Do you
mind if I post the above email? Or you could just post it, I don't care.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1993 13:22:42 -0400 (EDT)
From: Bryan Kornreich <bkornrei@pennsy.med.jhu.edu>
Subject: Are stouts really thick?
Hi All,
In response to Paul Labrie's comment that his friends labelled his
not-so-thick stout as a thick beverage, I think I may have an idea what's
going on with them:
When I first started drinking beer--not too long ago, since I'm only
22-- I also tended to call stouts "thick". And in fact, I still call that
Guiness stuff in the bottle (though not so much the draught) "thick".
I guess I can speak from a tiny bit of medical/physiological authority
since I'm a medical student, but I don't know if that's necessary.
I think the reason is threefold:
1. It has to do with the strong flavor and bitter aromas of a stout in
comparison with a pilsner, or even an ale. The burnt chocolate malt and
other strong/bitter flavored ingredients give a greater input into the
bitter taste receptors of the tongue but especially to the olfactory
receptors in the nose. Don't forget--all this burnt grain stimulus is in
addition to the bitterness of the hops. And in an ale, the predominant
odor is fragrant hop--in a stout, burnt grain/coffee/chocolate odors
predominate--and these are bitter aromas. So even though your stout may
not taste as bitter as some ales, the bitterness of the stout is
multimodal (taste and smell), so it may seem to be more bitter overall.
This bitterness may be manifest as a much more potent and "thicker" input
to the brain.
It's not at all unlike strong coffee (especially since stouts often
have coffee-type aromas and flavors). A strong batch of coffee or
expresso will seem thick, even though the liquid itself isn't syrupy--and
indeed they are thick, with flavor.
2.The visual cues of a dark stout, (during the cerebral phase of digestion
for those picky readers) prepare the mind and the gut for receiving a
thick liquid. In nature, dark liquids (eg: mud, honey...) are often
thick, so the brain associates dark liquids with thick/viscous liquids,
and clear/light colored liquids (eg: water, salt water) with thin liquids.
3.Stouts typically have a thick creamy head, which will make one
subconsciously think that the beverage beneath is itself thick and
creamy--like a milkshake.
Of course, as experienced beer drinkers, we all know that dark colored
beers are not all thick, though some may be thick tasting. Just look at
Michelob dark--Michelob with brown food coloring--or here in Baltimore, we
have National Bohemian Dark, which is an even poorer imitation of Michelob
Dark.
I hope I haven't bored you to death,
Cheers,
Bryan
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 93 12:14:23 cdt
From: Jonathan G Knight <KNIGHTJ@GRIN.EDU>
Subject: "fermented" beans/american beer/headaches
Thanks to Jeff Frane for the info re: "fermented" (not) "black" (not) beans.
Seems like I'll either have to go to the Asian market in Des Moines or find
someone who knows how to make the suckers.
The postings in the latest HBD from George Fix and "thutt" re: American mega-
brews reminded me of an interesting experience I had this weekend. A friend
of mine (who appreciates my homebrew very much) offered me a Coors Extra Gold
to try. So, I said, what the hell. I was actually pleasantly surprised - the
stuff actually tasted like it had something to do with malt! So, I had
another.
Now, at this point I actually hadn't had a budmilloors in months. So I am
wondering if other HBD reader concur with me that this is a slight cut above?
I suppose I could be enterprising and give myself a blind tasting of
megabrews to see if I could pick out the Extra Gold from among them, but hey,
let's get real - when there's homebrew around, why should I torture myself?
The other reason I don't want to do this - and the reason I stopped after two
Extra Golds - was that I got something I don't remember getting in a long
time: a headache! Now, I normally just have one homebrew a night. Helps me
sleep well, and makes me get up on time when I have to go to the bathroom.
On occasion I have indulged in two or more homebrews at a time, and I have
gotten warm fuzzies, or even been a little drunk - but no headaches. (I
don't think I can compare my experiences with really "good" commercial beer,
because it tends to be so expensive I consider it a waste to overindulge in
it - I hardly ever have more than one at a time).
Does anyone else have experience comparable to this? Anyone get headaches
from homebrew? Is my non-headachy homebrew due to my use of the blow-off
method (that ought to be good for some lively dialogue!) or is it common for
homebrew not to cause headaches anyway? Could I be allergic to the
preservatives in commercial beer? At any rate, now I remember why back in my
youth (creak) I had such a hard time getting drunk on beer. Two or three
bumilloorses and that was about all I could stand. Of course, maybe even
back then my palate was crying out, "no, not that swill, please -- get me
some real beer you dolt!!"
Jonathan Knight
Grinnell, Iowa
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 8 Jun 93 10:37:12 -0700
From: arne thormodsen <arnet@kaibutsu.cup.hp.com>
Subject: Stratefied Homebrew
>Date: 7 Jun 1993 10:53:44 U
>From: "Westemeier*, Ed" <westemeier@pharos-tech.com>
>Subject: Wheat beer puzzle: 2 layers?
>
>One of our local club members reported a puzzling result from his
>latest batch. Since no one here could positively identify what
>happened, I thought the collective wisdom of the HBD could at least
>offer some plausible theories.
>
>The situation:
>A German wheat beer, about 60% wheat, mashed and boiled normally,
>and pitched with Wyeast wheat yeast. Fermented at 75 to 80 degrees
>Fahrenheit to get the most spiciness, and racked to a secondary
>after 3 days. Fermentation stopped after 10 days, and when he
>looked at it, it seemed to be in two layers. The top half of the
>carboy was dark, and the lower half was much lighter. Thinking
>that it was a case of the yeast simply taking a while to settle
>out, he peered through the carboy, using a flashlight. No, the
>top half was definitely much darker, and there was a distinct
>dividing line in the middle, separating the layers.
I had exactly the same thing happen with a steam beer. The only common
element seems to be the high temp ferment. I never racked off, and
after a couple of days I began to dump ice on the carboy because it was
getting up to 90 in my apt. Within a few days of starting with the ice
two distinct layers developed just as you described. I don't know what
caused it, I eventually stirred up the whole mess and bottled it. A
month later I flushed 50 bottles of beer down the toilet, which should
speak for itself :-). I think you've had better luck.
- --arne
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Date: Tue, 8 Jun 93 12:06:43 PDT
From: Mark Garetz <mgaretz@hoptech.com>
Subject: Dry Hopping 100 IBUs?
Peter Maxwell writes:
>Summary:
Hop pellet residue that got into my bottles seems to be making the beer
progressively more bitter and undrinkable.
>My first try at dry hopping resulted in some suspended pellet material
getting into the bottles. At first the beer was delicious, with a lovely
fresh hop aroma but 6 weeks later the beer is becoming undrinkable. Is this
likely to be due to continued extraction of bitterness? I am under the
impression that hops must be boiled to extract bitterness. Is an infection
likely? There's no unpleasant taste, just this very bitter characteristic.
I suspect what has happened is this: A significant amount of beta acids got
into your beer either from the dry hopping or the boil. In the bottling,
racking or some other process, you also introduced a lot of oxygen which
has caused the beta acids to oxidize. Normally, the beta acids are not
bitter, but when oxidized they become bitter.
I would doubt that you have an infection. I would also doubt that the
suspended hop particles are the actual culprit, unless we're talking about
*lots* of them. If there are really a lot, you might now be extracting
tannins, which you might be interpreting as bitterness. But this is highly
unlikely. Usually you get this effect *first* and then it mellows into a
nice hoppy aroma.
Next time you should use a hop bag to get rid of the pellet particles and
see what you can do about reducing O2 introduction.
Mark from HopTech
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Date: Tue, 08 Jun 93 16:13:16 -0700
From: Drew Lynch <drew@chronologic.com>
Subject: Re: Kegging Alternatives
> On page 6 of BREWING TECHNIQUES, there is an ad for a 5 liter Mini Keg Syste
m.
> I am not interested in 5 gallon Cornelius keg systems at this time, but ther
e
I currently "keg" in the 5 litre minikegs. Absolutely unbeatable for
ease of use. Simply rinse them, pop them in the oven at about 250 for
half an hour, rinse the outside to cool, fill and plug. I have two
kinds of tap, a pump, and a CO2 cartridge type. The CO2 tap has a
valve to shut off gas flow, and I have found that I can store the tap
for two months without losing pressure, simply by turning off the
valve. Each cartridge will dispense 1.5 5l cans. I use the hand pump
when reasonably sure that the beer will get consumed rapidly. If you
are ordering from the place in Pa, they have converted to the smaller
US CO2 chargers. I don't know how long they will last.
As I understand it, the outfit in Pa. has a limited supply, as they
purchased the leftover stock of a defunct brewery. I am considering
going into business selling cans and taps. My cost is about $5.50 a
can, and $15-$20 for the tap depending on type. These prices would go
down if I was able to order more from the importer. Supposedly, the
original mfg of the cans was in the US, but is now exclusively in
Germany. It would be great if we could get them made here again.
Drew
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Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1993 10:08:00 -0700 (PDT)
From: gummitch@techbook.com (Jeff Frane)
Subject: More on Black Beans (still no beer)
I checked on those fermented black beans last night. As I remembered,
they're actually soybeans, and they are first innoculated with a special
fungus, then dried, and occasionally salted. These are apparently the
oldest form of what we now know as soy sauce (brown bean sauce is the
intermediary step in soy sauce evolution). But, anyway, fermented
they're not, at least in the sense that we use the term as brewers.
- --Jeff
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Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1993 20:03:32 -0500 (CDT)
From: Hi-keeba! <BIRMINGH@FNALV.FNAL.GOV>
Subject: Miller reserve
Prof. Fix says:
>One final point. It is my belief that Miller Reserve is made exclusively
>from malted barley, and in particular no raw barley is used. I would be
>willing to bet that the phrase "100% Barley" was chosen by their marketing
>people and not by their brewers.
I may be able to shed a little light on that subject, actually.
About two years ago, I took part in a marketing taste test, the product
being Miller Reserve Amber Ale (let's just say that I couldn't avoid
the guy with the clipboard in the mall, and when he offered me beer, I
didn't want to.)
Anyway, I was given several little cards with the names of beers
on them, and told to rank them (I could stack cards to indicate that I
thought certain beers were more or less interchangeable.) I forget the
names of all the beers; Samuel Adams was one, the rest were
undistinguished beers. I don't remember if there were any imports in
the list, and I wouldn't have recognized most microbrewery products
then.
After I ranked the beers, I was given a sample of the ale, then
told to insert it into my ranking. I put it between the 'premium' megas
and Sammy's.
The surveyor then asked several questions, and had me fill out a
questionnaire. The word "barley" came up several times, but since I was
not yet a homebrewer, the word "malt" did not. I knew about the
Reinheitsgebot, however, and thought I should stress "barley good, corn
and rice bad."
I'm not saying that I skewed their statistics or anything, but
considering that I liked the beer and therefore am one of the people
they want to reach, my words might have been more heavily weighted.
Also, it's conceivable that there were lots of other people who knew that
barley malt makes good beer, but didn't know how important the
difference between raw and malted barley can be.
So, anyway, this is possibly part of the reason that the Miller
marketing types use the phrase "Barley" and not "Barley Malt."
Phillip
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Date: Tue, 8 Jun 93 20:47:08 CDT
From: wayne_clark@SEMATECH.ORG
Subject: victory malt?
From: NAME: Wayne Clark
FUNC: 230
TEL: 512-356-3994 <CLARK.WAYNE@A1@VAXEN>
To: "homebrew@hpfcmi.fc.hp.com"@INTERNET
Last week I was in the beer section of the n. Austin Whole Foods
Market picking up some supplies for my next batch of homebrew. I
came across a package of "victory malt" from St. Patricks. Can
anyone tell me what this is, and what style of beer it would be
used for?
Just curious -
Wayne
wayne_clark@sematech.org
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #1159, 06/09/93
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