Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
HOMEBREW Digest #1343
This file received at Sierra.Stanford.EDU 94/02/05 00:41:30
HOMEBREW Digest #1343 Sat 05 February 1994
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Canada Malt Statistics (GANDE)
Rolling Rock clone/Adding sweetness to meads (Ron McDowell)
SG readings from the carboy ("PETE ZINGELMAN,")
Search HBD with WWW (Spencer.W.Thomas)
Homebrew discussion group/idea exchange (evanms)
Stuck stout (Eric Wade)
Oak Flavor in IPA (James Thompson)
Psychedelic Brews ( was 'Buzz Beer' ) (Conan-the-Librarian)
Homebrewing BBS (Mitchell M. Evans)
Primates (WKODAMA)
HopRemoval/Aeration/from HBD 1341 (Doug Lukasik)
News Release Highlights (Elaine Boris)
hard cider, beer in Tampa (Tom Lyons)
The Beerhunter? (Brady Gaughan)
Durst malt (George J Fix)
printing PostScript (Chris Lovelace)
BJCP Exam Offered (Jim Liddil)
Spent Grain Baking Co. errors (Domenick Venezia)
pH Unit (Tom Leith MIR/ERL 362-6965)
Cannibis and Brewing.... (GANDE)
Re: Cask sources (bteditor)
Chimps, monkeys and humans (arne thormodsen)
Belgian Chocolate? (Michael Inglis)
Re: Lambic Digest on the Net (bteditor)
Hops, Glutaraldehyde, Others (Mark Garetz)
Little porta-keg thing? (drose)
Re: Dry-Hopping Advice (Jay Hersh)
Re: Oak Casks. Discussion of Worth! (Jay Hersh)
Vienna recipe and IBU help (Ulick Stafford)
What does that stand for, anyway? (dan_fox)
New Mexico FAQ (Joe Levandoski )
CHEAP CARBOYS (708) 938-3184" <HANSEN.MICHAEL@igate.abbott.com>
Send articles for __publication_only__ to homebrew@hpfcmi.fc.hp.com
(Articles are published in the order they are received.)
Send UNSUBSCRIBE and all other requests, ie, address change, etc.,
to homebrew-request@hpfcmi.fc.hp.com, BUT PLEASE NOTE that if
you subscribed via the BITNET listserver (BEER-L@UA1VM.UA.EDU),
then you MUST unsubscribe the same way!
If your account is being deleted, please be courteous and unsubscribe first.
FAQs, archives and other files are available via anonymous ftp from
sierra.stanford.edu. (Those without ftp access may retrieve files via
mail from listserv@sierra.stanford.edu. Send HELP as the body of a
message to that address to receive listserver instructions.)
Please don't send me requests for back issues - you will be silently ignored.
For "Cat's Meow" information, send mail to lutzen@novell.physics.umr.edu
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 3 Feb 94 20:04:29 GMT
From: GANDE@slims.attmail.com
Subject: Canada Malt Statistics
My posting yesterday described CM 2 row attributes and with a little
help from Spencer Thomas and a CM Chemist, heres what the stats mean.
Ext F or C, As is and Dry, this is extract or yield based on Fine or
Coarse crush and is expressed in percentage, with malt out of the bag
versus dried.
F/C is the percentage differential between crushes. It appears that
there is only a slightly higher yeild for fine crushes (1.4%)
Color is expressed in Degrees Lovibond.
DP is Diastatic power, both Alpha and Beta Amalyse, the grains
ability to convert starches to sugars.
AA is percentage Alpha Amalyse.
Malt and Wort Prot is is the level of protein in the malt and
subsequent wort.
FAN is Free Amino Nitrogen, expressed in parts per million or MG/L.
This is good for yeast growth and activity.
Assortment is the percentage of grains sized 5/64ths inch to 7/64ths.
Thrus is the percentage of grains that fell through the 5/64 sizing
screen.
I'm waiting for the remainder of the data sheets from Canada Malt to
arrive from Thunder Bay, I'll post them when they arrive.
+----------------------------------+-----------------+
| Internet: gande@slims.attmail.com| "640K ought to |
| Glenn Anderson | be enough for |
| Manager, Telecom. Facilities | anybody." |
| Sun Life of Canada |-Bill Gates, 1981|
+----------------------------------+-----------------+
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 1994 14:56:38 -0600 (CST)
From: rcm@hal.com (Ron McDowell)
Subject: Rolling Rock clone/Adding sweetness to meads
I've been asked to try to duplicate Rolling Rock in a batch of
homebrew. Does anyone have an extract or extract/grain recipe? I
think probably something like 4 lbs pale malt and maybe some rice
are in there, but I can't get a bearing on the hops at all. They
seem very muted, almost to the point of not being there.
On another topic, we made some Jamaican Blue mead, based on the recipe
posted here a while back. OG turned out to be 1.069 or so, and after
a couple weeks had dropped to 1.000. Naturally, not wanting to waste
a drop, we "sampled the sample" and found it to be extremely bitter
(i.e., _all_ the sugar fermented out). Mixing a teaspoon of honey
with the mead made it taste, well, heavenly! I realize this mead has
some serious aging to do, but I'm not sure the sweetness will come
back. So my question is: how can you add sweetness to something,
without having that sugar kick off another round of fermentation (or
is that what's really needed here)?
Thanks in advance.
- --
Ron McDowell - HaL Computer Systems, Austin, TX 512-834-9962 x5004 rcm@hal.com
------------------------------
Date: 03 Feb 1994 13:08:13 PST
From: "PETE ZINGELMAN," <ZINGELMA@EPRI.EPRI.COM>
Subject: SG readings from the carboy
From: PETE ZINGELMAN, Wisconsin Electric Power Co.
Subject: SG readings from the carboy
I use a glass turkey baster. It's easy to sterilize. Picked it up in a
local cookware store. Hope this helps...
(Insert clever quote here)
Pete Zingelman Point Beach Nuclear Plant
zingelma@eprinet.epri.com (414)755-6526 fax-6562
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 94 16:32:48 EST
From: Spencer.W.Thomas@med.umich.edu
Subject: Search HBD with WWW
Newly arrived at the "WWW Beer Page": thread searches of the HBD!
Haul out your favorite WWW surfer (e.g. Mosaic) and point it at
http://guraldi.itn.med.umich.edu/Beer. Then follow the link to
"Search Homebrew Digests". To avoid bringing my machine entirely to
its knees, you can only search one year at a time, but even that can
take a while (several minutes). I don't guarantee to keep the current
year totally up to date, either.
Note: if you're not internet-connected (can you FTP to the archive
site?), you can't use this resource. Sorry. This is a spare-time,
background activity for me, and I don't have the time to try to figure
out an e-mail server.
=Spencer
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 1994 15:31:02 -600 (CST)
From: evanms@lcac1.loras.edu
Subject: Homebrew discussion group/idea exchange
Hi to whoever: I'm new and nervous on the internet. Not exactly sure how
this works but decided to send an E-mail and find out. I'm a long time
homebrewer looking for a new source of exchange. Do I correspond by E-mail
or are there ongoing discussions/BBs/etc. Thanks! Still learning the
lingo. Mark E.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 1994 16:13:20 -0800 (PST)
From: Eric Wade <ericwade@CLASS.ORG>
Subject: Stuck stout
In HBD 1338 Jay Lonner wrote that his OG 1.052 stout using Wyeast #1084
Irish is stuck at 1.032. How coincidental that I currently have a
"Kitchen Sink Stout" using the same yeast OG 1.065 seems to be stuck at
1.025 after two weeks. I also brewed a pale ale (OG 1.050) the same
weekend using the new Wyeast Special London Ale and have been fermenting
both under the same conditions (approx 68 F). The pale at racking had
dropped to 1.014. If anything the stout was better aerated and had a
bigger starter than the pale. Seems curious given the recent raves about
#1084 being such a vigorous fermenter. I was expecting a slightly high FG
given all the junk I added but 1.025 seems a bit too high to me. Jay, did
you get any helpful advice?
FWIW, I was aiming at an imperial stout on the low end of the scale with an
OG of 1.072, however it was my first batch with my new mill (previously
used the champion mill documented in the Zymurgy gadget issue). My usual
yield dropped from about 29 or 30 pts/lb/gal to about 22. I crushed a bit
finer the next day for the pale ale and got a better yield.
Grain bill for the stout:
14 lbs english pale
.5 lb wheat
1.5 lbs munich
6 oz flaked barley
3 lbs various lovs crystal
1 lb choc
6 oz black
14 oz roast barley
2 hour mash @ 154 F
90 minute boil
Anyone have any clues or advice? Do I need to give it more time? There's
not much activity through the airlock.
Eric
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 1994 17:28:40 -0800 (PST)
From: James Thompson <sirjames@u.washington.edu>
Subject: Oak Flavor in IPA
In HBD 1341 M.VITA@sysb.ftc.gov wrote:
>How do you think India Pale Ale got its traditional "oaky" taste?
>It was from the oak barrels in which the beer was stored for
>shipment to India. Even today, Yorkshire brewers such as Sam
>Smith's and Theakston (makers of Old Peculier) use oak casks. They
>even have their own in-house coopers to make them. There may be
>other Yorkshire brewers who do this as well.
It so happens I was reading Terry Foster's PALE ALE (Boulder:
Brewers Publications, 1990) last night and read the following:
"In fact, 'oakiness' is not a characteristic of English IPA,
although the beer was and sometimes still is aged in wood.
You see, English oak is very different from its American
cousin, and imparts little or no flavor to beer stored in
casks made from it. Indeed, I remember a conversation with
one of Britain's few remaining brewers' coopers, in which he
said they would never use American oak, 'because it would
spoil the beer's flavor!'" (pp. 31-32)
So apparently oak flavor is not "officially" part of the IPA flavor
profile. Do any of the English brews mentioned above taste "oaky"? --
I haven't tried them. Talk of IPA, however, does lead me to a question that
probably belongs in Internet's alt.beer newsgroup, but I'll ask anyway, and
knowledgeable sorts can answer me via e-mail. In the paragraph
previous to the one I quoted, Foster mentions Ballatine India Pale
Ale. I had this once, several years ago, and I bought it through
Trader Joe's in LA, cheap! I wasn't quite the beer snob/freak/geek then that
I am now, but I was amazed at the interesting & complex taste of this
cheap beer. I never saw it again, so I figured TJ's had just bought
out the last batch, or something. Does anyone in HBD land know
about the fate or availability of Ballantine India Pale Ale?
Jim Thompson - sirjames@u.washington.edu
University of Washington
School of Law, Seattle, WA 98105
"Five things these Chestertonian youths revere:
Beef, noise, the Church, vulgarity and beer!"
-- Anonymous
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 1994 21:15:11 -0800
From: pascal@netcom.com (Conan-the-Librarian)
Subject: Psychedelic Brews ( was 'Buzz Beer' )
"As far as I know, hemp tea will not get you off ..."
< ahem >
I believe that mushroom tea, however, will.
That is, purely by happenstance, I became aware that psylocybe
mushrooms' active ingredient is water-soluable. It also, I've
been told, is quite stable up to past boiling temperature ...
though 'steeping' temperature is sufficient, and preferred.
What would happen if one were to place such a mushroom within
a 12 oz. bottle of ale is, well, intriguing ... although I, of
course, would shrink with fear and horror from anyone whom had
violated the temple that is their body with a < ghasp > drug,
reaching with faltering hands for the phone, to dial a desperate
911, before I became tainted ... then, of course, I would take
a stiff drink from the tankard of potent ale, at hand.
\-:
Not sure what the interactions would be between the two classes
of controlled substances, ethanol and psylocybin, but I do not
think there are any harmful interactions, I've never seen toxic
reactions en masse out in the parking lot after a Dead show. (-:
Sorry to the older generation for debasing this fine forum with
these base, evil and degenerate speculations. (-;
- -- richard
Ra is the sun god ... He's such a *fun* god ...
Ra !! Ra !! Ra !!
richard childers san francisco, california pascal@netcom.com
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Feb 94 20:14:39 PST
From: doc@brewing.cts.com (Mitchell M. Evans)
Subject: Homebrewing BBS
Howdy!
I am considering starting a Zmurgy BBS down here in San Diego, CA. I
was wondering, however, if the number of homebrewers down here warrants
a dedicated BBS. I'd like to ask folks the following:
1) If there was a homebrewing BBS in your town, would you support it?
(post messages, participate in get-togethers, etc)
2) What would you like to see on a BBS?
(Recipes, pictures of labels, Homebrew Digests, Scanned pictures of
the brewing process, etc)
3) Would you consider calling local long distance, intrastate,
or interstate?
Thanks! Thought this would be the best forum in which to get a feel
for how popular this idea would be.
Mitch
===========================================================================
doc@brewing.cts.com or crash!brewing!doc or ???????
"400 lines of code, and whaddya get? Another day older and deeper
in debt..."
===========================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 04 Feb 1994 08:50:27 -0500
From: WKODAMA@aba.com
Subject: Primates
>From HBD 1342:
> Date: Wed, 2 Feb 94 15:39 EST
> From: <GNT_TOX_%ALLOY.BITNET@PUCC.PRINCETON.EDU>
> Subject: Cannibis and Hops
> In HBD#1340 Spencer.W.Thomas@med.umich.edu writes that cannibis
> and hops are about as closely related as monkeys and humans.
^^^^^^
> Monkeys and chimps are 99% genetically identical. We're so
^^^^^^
Is it just me, or is this post equating humans and chimps?
Just wondering,
Wesman
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 04 Feb 1994 08:53:51 -0500 (EST)
From: Doug Lukasik <LUKASIK_D@sunybroome.edu>
Subject: HopRemoval/Aeration/from HBD 1341
In HBD 1341 Al writes in answer to Carl:
>unless you cool before pouring through the kitchen strainer, you will have
>some Hot-Side Aeration...
After 8 batches, all of which have been slowly poured through a funnel with
strianer (to remove hops, grain particles, etc) into 3 gals of cold water I
have never experienced any HSA (at least that I know of). I use a sanitized
saute pot for a laddle and at most the 2+ gals of boiled wort has not been
cooled any more than for a 15 minute steep (I would hate to drop the boil
pot on the way to cooling it and do not yet have an emersion cooler). I then
sparge the spent Hops, etc. with between 1/2 and 1 gal of boiling water; still
no HSA.
This is certainly not a flame (I don't know enough yet to flame) just some
major confussion (on my part) but how does one get HSA when the pot is no
longer on the flame or burner? I was led to understand that HSA would most
likely occur through overly strong stirring during the boil. What exactly
does HSA do to the taste of the beer? Mine all seem great (IMHO) if not a
lot hoppier than most would choose. Is the HSA a problem in the strainer
due to boiling the entire 5 gals rather than a concentrated wort such as I
am making?
TIA for any insight.
Doug. <lukasik_d@sunybroome.edu>
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 04 Feb 94 08:34:03 EST
From: Elaine Boris <EBORIS@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
Subject: News Release Highlights
Friday, Feb 4,1994 Front page of The Red & Black (An independent
student newspaper serving the University of Georgia Community):
"New beer, new look, import price
A new beer may be coming to your favorite bar as early as Monday, but
the higher price has some students skeptical about its success.
Zima billed as a 'clear malt beverage, in a category by itself,' met
favorable response at a private tasting on Thursday. (snip snip)
... and the brewer is counting on 'high volume male drinkers' to buy
the majority of the beer. (more snip snip)
...Participants in the taste test described it as 'interesting' and
'kinda Spritey.' ..." ('kinda Spritey'!?! YUK )
Thank heavens I am not a 'high volume male' and I like my beer more than
just 'kinda' malty, so I don't feel the least compelled to try this stuff.
Elaine Boris FSIS Access Services
Computer Services Specialist University of Georgia
706 542-0484 Athens GA 30602
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 1994 06:26:45 -0800 (PST)
From: tlyons@netcom.com (Tom Lyons)
Subject: hard cider, beer in Tampa
Greetings from Central Florida.
Does anyone know if the Hard Cider Digest still exists? If it does,
please let me know the address to request a subscription.
Now, the BIG NEWS for beer fans in Tampa and surrounding areas, as
well as anyone who visits. A new pub is opening in Ybor City (a local
Cuban community, wonderful food) called The Oak Barrel. 29 taps,
over 100 bottles, and none of them American megas! The 29 taps
include 4 hand-pulled engines.
Disclaimer, of course, is that I'm not connected with this operation
in any way other than being danged excited that it is opening. Anyone
who knows Tampa and searches for good beer understands that excitement.
See ya!
tlyons@netcom.com <- address at eom. you're welcome.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 94 09:55:05 EST
From: bgaughan@su19bb.ess.harris.com (Brady Gaughan)
Subject: The Beerhunter?
Hello:
I seemed to have missed out on something. What exactly is _The Beerhunter_?
>From previous posts, I can infer that it must be some sort of TV show or
a series of episodes (PBS or something?). Please enlighten me.
The only beerhunter I know is the game where you shake up one beer in a case
and the drinkers open each can or bottle in their face. Or I guess it could
be a take-off on the Christopher Walken (_The DEERhunter) movie with shaken
beers instead of pistols for Russian Roulette :)
Anyways, just wanted to know.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Brady E. Gaughan Internet:bgaughan@su19bb.ess.harris.com
Harris Corporation
Government Aerospace Systems Div. "They call me mister know-it-all,
Melbourne, FL I am so eloquent.
Perfection is my middle name...
and whatever rhymes with eloquent"
_______________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 94 09:16:39 -0600
From: gjfix@utamat.uta.edu (George J Fix)
Subject: Durst malt
Lee asked in HBD#1342 about German malt from Durst. In December Scott
Birdwell of DeFalcos in Houston sent me some of their Pils malt to
play around with. We made a Helles style lager (OG=1.054, FG=1.013)
with it using W-34/70 as the yeast strain. Samples tasted from cold
storage rang my bell. There was a deep malty flavor which fully
displayed those special Bavarian flavor tones. I am going to bottle it this
weekend, and if anything different results I will report it. At this
moment this malt seems to be very much the equal of Irek's malt, at a
fraction of the price.
I was unaware of the Durst Vienna malt until Lee mentioned it on HBD, but
I am certainly going to try some. Lee, thanks for pointing out that it
is available.
George Fix
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 1994 10:26:33 -0500
From: lovelace@pop.nih.gov (Chris Lovelace)
Subject: printing PostScript
In HBD 1342,Greg Bishop asks about printing the postscript version of Cat's
Meow on a Macintosh. I did it using Apple's Laserwriter Utility (ver. 7.1)
with an Apple Laserwriter. This program has an option under the Utilities
menu called "Download PostScript File...". You just have to make sure you
have a printer that supports Postscript (I think most Apple printers,
certainly the Laserwriters, do).
I downloaded the version of Cat's Meow that has all of the even pages in
one file and the odd pages in another file, allowing me to print the odd
pages, turn the paper over, put it back in the paper tray, and print the
even pages on the other side (thus saving paper). As long as one downloads
and follows the instructions, this works really well (took me a minute to
figure out, though).
Chris
_________________________________________________________________
Chris Lovelace LOVELACE@POP.NIH.GOV LOVELACE@HELIX.NIH.GOV
National Institute of Mental Health, Laboratory of Psychology and
Psychopathology
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Department
of Medical and Clinical Psychology
Bethesda, Md U.S.A.
_________________________________________________________________
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 1994 8:27:49 -0700 (MST)
From: Jim Liddil <JLIDDIL@AZCC.Arizona.EDU>
Subject: BJCP Exam Offered
The Old Pueblo Homebrewers will be offering
The Beer Judge Certification Program Exam
On May 7, 1994 at 10:00 am
The exam is tentatively scheduled to be offered at
2332 E. Adams St.
Tucson, AZ 85719
The fee is $50 for first time takers and $30 for retakes. The NON-refundable
fee must be recieved to the address listed above by April 1, 1994. Please make
checks payable to "Old Pueblo Homebrewers". If you have any questions feel
free to contact me via e-mail or call (602)881-8768.
jliddil@azcc.arizona.edu
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 1994 07:46:03 -0800 (PST)
From: Domenick Venezia <venezia@ZGI.COM>
Subject: Spent Grain Baking Co. errors
Yes, it does say, "Wholesome grains called English Two Row and Five Row..."
^^^^
They have been notified of this, as well as the fact that brewers "brew"
and eager yeast cells "ferment". Hey, I was in transcribe mode, where
you don't read what you type.
Domenick Venezia
ZymoGenetics, Inc.
Seattle, WA
venezia@zgi.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 1994 09:51:34 -0600
From: trl@photos.wustl.edu (Tom Leith MIR/ERL 362-6965)
Subject: pH Unit
Gary Kuyat asks:
>It is accurrate to .1 pH unit. (What the heck is that unit called anyway???)
The pH unit is called "pH". It is the inverse logarithm of the concentation of
hydrogen ions in the solution.
ie: if the solution is 4 ppm hydrogen ions, that is .000004,
log(.000004) = -5.398, so pH is the inverse of this (not the
recipricol), or pH = 5.4.
Note that the pH of *pure* water is 7.0. This is considered
"neutral". What is the concentration of hydrogen ions in
a sample of pure water? Well, that would be:
1 * 10 ^ -7 = .0000001 or 0.1 ppm, or 100 ppb
See? Try it yourself for values of 1 part per thousand (.001),
and for one part per billion (.000000001). Since we think of
"acidity" as something like "Are there more hydrogen ions in here
than in pure water?", you should have some idea which way the
numbers will go before you start.
And that's about all I remember about it from freshman chemistry. I *do* need
to review this...
Peace,
t
------------------------------
Date: 4 Feb 94 16:04:42 GMT
From: GANDE@slims.attmail.com
Subject: Cannibis and Brewing....
All of this talk about cannibis and beer has got me thinking,
particularly after reading Chuck Cox's posting yesterday. While I
have no problem with anyone using pot, I think it's important that if
anyone uses it as a "special hop" in beer, it should be identified to
the consumer prior to drinking, as I'm sure Chuck did with MJ.
What I'm getting at is that some people have an intolerance to THC,
causing a severe reaction. If one brews a "Brain Death Barleywine"
and submits it to a competion without clearly identifying "Contains
Marijuana" on the entry form, an unsuspecting BJCP judge with an
intolerance to THC may have a reaction serious enough to go to
the hospital.
I'm speaking from experience.
.......Glenn
+----------------------------------+-----------------+
| Internet: gande@slims.attmail.com| "640K ought to |
| Glenn Anderson | be enough for |
| Manager, Telecom. Facilities | anybody." |
| Sun Life of Canada |-Bill Gates, 1981|
+----------------------------------+-----------------+
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 04 Feb 94 11:54:09 EST
From: bteditor@aol.com
Subject: Re: Cask sources
I have been following the discussion on oak vs. stainless steel casks and
noticed a reference to the article on cask-conditioned ales in
BrewingTechniques (November/December 1993 issue). The article listed the
following sources for casks:
Alumase
Container Dispense Division
Burton Latimer
Northants NN15 5JP
United Kingdom
Tel. 011 44 536 722 121
(British-style casks in quantity; ask for Steve Hert)
H&JE Buckley
Park Road, Dunkinfield
Cheshire SK16 5LP
United Kingdom
Tel. 011 44 61 330 3677
Fax 011 44 60 343 2345
Rankin Bros. & Sons
139-143 Bernardsay St.
London SE1 3UR
United Kingdom
Tel. 011 44 71 407 0074
(Fittings, taps, and other hardware)
Sav-a-Barrel
4511 S. Ave.
Toledo, OH 43615, USA
Tel. 419/531-5347
(Reconditioned stainless steel kegs)
It also listed the following sources for information about casks and
cask-conditioned ales:
Association of Brewers
Institute of Brewing Studies
P.O. Box 1679
Boulder, CO 80306, USA
Tel. 303/447-0816
Ian Loe, Research Mgr.
CAMRA England
34 Alma Rd.
St. Albans
Hertfordshire AL1 3BW
United Kingdom
Tel. 011 44 727 867 201
Liberty Malt Supply
1418 Western Ave.
Seattle, WA 98101
Tel. 206/622-1880
Wyeast Laboratories
4785 Booth Hill Road
Hood River, OR 97031
Tel. 503/354-1335
Note also the comments from CAMRA's Stephen Cox ("Letters," BT
January/February issue):
"I was pleased to see
that you didn't lead people down the garden path over the use of wood. Wooden
barrels are ju
st too much hassle - even our most traditional brewers rarely use them
nowadays - and beer from nice clean aluminum tastes just as good. It would be
a shame if the use of wood died out completely, but there are dozens more
important issues surrounding beer quality. Don't make life more difficult
than it already is!"
Though CAMRA makes no mention of what kind of wood is used for wooden casks
(the spiles, for example, are made of various woods), I take it as
significant that one of the staunchest defenders of quality and preservation
of real ale (CAMRA) feels quite comfortable with stainless steel.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 94 09:30:33 -0800
From: arne thormodsen <arnet@kaibutsu.cup.hp.com>
Subject: Chimps, monkeys and humans
>Monkeys and chimps are 99% genetically identical. We're so damn
>close, I'm surprised they're not in suits along side us. Probably run
>most companies better than the bozos that do now.
As far as I know, chimps and HUMANS share 99% genetic material. The
monkeys branched off long ago. (Also consider that apes with greater
than 1% divergence in genetic material have been interbred using special
lab techniques and you have yet another reason to reach for a homebrew
:-)
- --arne
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 94 09:33:24 PST
From: mri10@mfg.amdahl.com (Michael Inglis)
Subject: Belgian Chocolate?
I recently brewed what was supposed to be an English Brown Ale. I used the
following grain bill:
6# 2-Row Klages
1# Light brown sugar
.5# Belgian Chocolate
.5# 60L Crystal
and fyi..
1 oz. Norther Brewer at 50 mins.
Total boil: 90 mins.
The result was a beer that ended up with a noticeable amount of oxidation (due
to a mashing process error), too much alcohol (OG 1.058, FG 1.012) and a very
biting roasty flavor more reminiscent of a stout than a Brown Ale. I
understand the oxidation and alcohol problems, but the biting roasty flavor
still has me stumped. I am wondering if "Belgian" Chocolate might give a
stronger flavor than say a "British" Chocolate. Can anyone comment on whether
or not this is correct? If not, then what could the problem be? TIA for
any info.
Mike Inglis
mri10@mfg.amdahl.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 04 Feb 94 11:49:46 EST
From: bteditor@aol.com
Subject: Re: Lambic Digest on the Net
The subscription-request address isx
lambic-request@longs.lance.colostate.edu
The March/April issue of BrewingTechniques will feature a major overview of
on-line information sources for brewers. I plan to include as many digests
and news groups as I can dig up.
I have confirmed information on the following:
Lambic Digest
Judgenet Digest
LiBeerty Digest
and am awaiting confirmation/further information about:
Mead Lovers
Cider Digest
Belgian Styles Digest
In addition, I know of the alt.beer and rec.crafts.brewing forums on
internet. The article will also discuss the various online services (AOL,
CIS, etc.) and the beer happenings specific to those services.
If anyone can provide leads to other digests/news groups, please send them to
bteditor@aol.com and I will pursue it for complete information for
publication.
Thanks-stephen mallery
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 94 10:48:48 PST
From: Mark Garetz <mgaretz@hoptech.com>
Subject: Hops, Glutaraldehyde, Others
Al Korzonas wrote a few digests ago, and then there were comments
about boiling to drive off the hop aromatics, and Al had mentioned
that if one could figure out a way to boil and not drive off the
hop aromatics, then one would be a hero.
In fact, it's been done. All it really takes is a covered boil.
This is not real practical for homebrewers, but it has been tried
on a commercial scale. This has a bunch of effects: It raises
the pressure, so raising the boiling point and increasing hop
utilization, and therefore allows shorter boiling times, a net
increase especially considering energy costs. ***BUT*** it has
not been adopted commercially. Why? Because the hop and malt
aromatics made decidely *BAD* beer. Tasters rejected it over-
whelmingly. Now this doesn't explain why late hops work, except
that maybe the aroma compounds are altered negatively by the long
boil times.
***
Jack Skeels asked if Red Tail yeast in the bottle was viable.
The answer is yes. When interviewing Sid Stafford, head of
brewing at Mendocino (makers of Red Tail) for my book, I asked
If a lot of homebrewers cultured the yeast from their bottle.
He replied that they did, but they preferred that homebrewers
didn't. My immediate reaction was that some of the Anchor-
yeast-paranoia had rubbed off, but then Sid went on to say
that the reason was they felt the yeast was too old by the time
a homebrewer got it. He then said they would rather a
homebrewer bring a sterile container to the brewery and they
would give them all fresh, viable yeast they wanted!
But if you don't live close to the brewery, the bottle yeast
will work fine. I've had many beers made with this yeast,
cultured from the bottle.
He also asks why it's clumpy. That's just the yeast. I'm not
sure if they use a fining agent, but I know the beer is filtered
prior to bottling. It is then kauesened with some beer from
one of the primaries going on and bottled.
***
Pete Zingleman asks how to tell if his hops are still any good.
Smell them. If you smell anything you don't want to come out
in your beer, don't use them.
***
There has been some discussion of oak flavors in an IPA and in
general for beer. It is my understanding that oak IPA casks
were lined with pitch, so no oak flavor will result. The same
is true of the wooden fermenters used (or used to be) for making
Pilsner Urquel. A-B boils the beechwood to make sure that it
doesn't impart any flavor to the beer. Oak flavors in IPAs are
reportedly a "modern" interpretation of the style, and the real
thing probably had no oak flavor at all.
***
Jeff Frane questioned Al K's assertion that barleywine was dry-
hopped. I can't say for any English barleywines, but the two
most popular US-made barleywines (Anchor Old Foghorn and Sierra
Bigfoot) are most definitely dry hopped.
Jeff also asked a long time ago why his responses that quoted
other posts were kicked back for being over 80 characters. It's
most likely because the carets (>) that are usually added to a
quote kicked the line length over. I didn't post this when he
asked because I felt sure someone else would respond, but I
don't recall anyone ever doing that, and this reminded me.
***
Now something of my own:
The other day I picked up at a book sale a book called
"Chemical Sterilization" for $1. I just had a quick look at
it this morning, and it mentioned what seems like a near
perfect sterilant: glutaraldehyde. It appears to also go by
the trade name Cidex. It purportedly kills much faster and
better than chlorine or iodine based solutions, rinses away
well, has low volatility and is completely non-corrosive.
Like I say, I've only looked at the data for a few minutes.
Glutaraldehyde is listed in my Fisher catalog but that's as far
as I've got. I'll look in my Merck Index tonight. But does
anyone else have any experience or data on this stuff?
Mark
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 1994 14:21:00 -0500 (EST)
From: drose@husc.harvard.edu
Subject: Little porta-keg thing?
Hello:
In this months Brewing Techniques in the new New Products
section, there is a product described that looks very interesting to me.
I can't remember the name of the device, but it is manufactured by a
company called Liquid Bread out of Florida. It is advertised as a device
for making mini-kegs out of 2 and 3 liter soda bottles. The description
says you fill your bottle with beer, put the device on the top, squoosh
out the air, fill the headspace with CO2, and that you can then force
carbonate the beer and pressurize it up to 30-40lbs. So it seems like it
attaches to a gas fitting, can take high pressure, and allows you to
dispense beer in some way. If I am understanding it correctly (which I
certainly might not be) is looks like it would be handy for taking
relatively small amounts of beer to parties, peoples houses, etc. My
question is, does anyone else have a more cogent understanding of how
this thing is supposed to work, has anyone actually USED one, and does it
work as advertised. I am sending in my handy Reader Service Card to get
more info but thought the net might provide a quicker response time.
thanks in advance.
Dave Rose
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 04 Feb 1994 14:39:07 EST
From: Jay Hersh <hersh@x.org>
Subject: Re: Dry-Hopping Advice
homebrew@lupulus.ssc.gov writes:
>Al Korzonas writes:
>>
>> Yes. There is no doubt that Czech Pilsner is dryhopped and it is
>> traditionally only dryhopped with Czech Saaz. I recomend whole or
>> plugs (cause they float).
>>
>I think this is incorrect. I believe that the Czech brewers achieve
>their hop character without any dry-hopping at all. In fact, according
>to DeClerq, the brewers at PU consider the hop aroma to be something of
>a defect -- an unfortunate result of their brewing process in their
>quest for other characteristics of the beer's flavor profile.
>If you can find a reliable source that credits the PU or Budvar brewers
>with dry-hopping, I'd like to see it.
I concur Jeff. In my tour of the Pilsener Urquell Brewery there was absolutely
no evidence nor mention of dry hopping going on. The tour was extensive taking
us through the mash and boil rooms into the fermentation cellars (we got a
picture down into the top of an open toppped fermenter) and then into the lager
cellars (great shot of me in front of the kegging rig). Never was any mention
or evidence of dry hopping apparent. Such dry hopping would have been evident
from the equipment and techniques if it had been done. My experience is also
seconded by Darryl Richman's fine article written following his tour of
the Pilsener Urquell facility as well.
JaH
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 04 Feb 1994 14:44:00 EST
From: Jay Hersh <hersh@x.org>
Subject: Re: Oak Casks. Discussion of Worth!
COYOTE says:
>* Well, time to disagree! Oak adds a character, a quality, that is much
>desired for a beer. Even the King (spud) uses Beachwood. Wood is a flavor
>that is much recognized in many QUALITY beers through antiquity. Watch
>that episode of the BeerHunter and you'll understand why.
>They look neat, and add tastes. Besides...it's fun tapping an OAK CASK.
>I don't have the biochemistry down, but I'd be inclined to think that the
>tannins from malt husks are different from the tannins in oak.
>(my un-biochemical taste buds tell me so, for one).
>There would not be a market, and references in various brew-texts to the
>use of oak chips, and oak essence were it not for a desirable quality
>imparted by oak. Check out Foster's Pale Ale book for a nice discussion
>(and favorable!) of the use of oak for an GENUINE IPA.
Prior to this diatribe I wish to state that many people have positive
experiences using wooden casks for storing/aging of their beer. That said
I wish to put forth my beliefs based on travel and readings...
This is a phalacy that folks have attempted to refute on more than one
occasion. Firstly there is a difference between American Oak and European Oak.
European Oak which is used in Belgium, Britain, Germany, is very neutral
and imparts little or no flavors even when not treated (more on this later)
while American Oak has a decidedly pronounced flavor that is sharp and fairly
acrid.
Mike Sharp of Lambic Digest fame found that he had to "break" in his Oak
cask made of American Oak to flavor it with Lambic and impermeate it with
his little critters as the tastes from the first batches (of which I tried
a few) were very sharp and unpalatable especially tasted side by side with
portions of the batch not Oak aged (which is not to say that those non Oak
aged early Lambics were astoundingly palateable, but they had a decidedly
different flavor).
The second factor is that at least in Germany all the wooden vessels are
lined with a flavor neutral pitch so in fact the beer never touches the
wood itself. I believe this was also the practice in Britain. Most European
brewers chortle at silly American homebrewers who add Oak Chips thinking they
are somehow making their beers more authentic when in fact they are quite
misguided.
A final refutation of the use of Beechwood in Budweiser's Beechwood aging is
that in fact it is neither for aging (contact times are rather short) nor for
flavoring. AB uses the Beechwood chips as a fining agent to help aid the
flocculation of their yeast. Of course this fact is rather contradictory
with marketing hype so for public consumption it is deemed "Beechwood aging"
Don't believe everything you read in brewing books. Something that appears
one way at face value (ie traditional use of wooden casks, esp. of say Oak)
has more to do with what materials were available and commercially used
(esp. for reasons of duraibility) than magic properties of the materials
themselves, and understanding the full manner of the practice of using them
(ie that they were almost always lined with pitch to seal them) is more
telling than the many naive assumptions still propogated regarding them.
JaH
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 94 14:36:54 EST
From: ulick@bizet.helios.nd.edu (Ulick Stafford)
Subject: Vienna recipe and IBU help
I intend to make a Vienna over the weekend using available ingredients (i.e.
ones I already have). Is there any suggestion as to how much crystal - of
unknown color, but probably the most common Briess I should add to a grain
bill of pilsener malt to get an appropriate color. Would 1.5lB be too little
or 2 lB too much? Anyone with experince of this type of recipe (or Fix' book).
DM in the latest BT poo-poos IBU formulae as being inaccurate and make my
rule of thumb - 1 AAU per 5 gallon (US) = 4 IBU's seem OK :-) (it's inaccurate
too!). Anyway can anyone email me any info regarding scientific methods
for measuring iso-humulone concentrations in beer, preferable an HPLC method.
A reference will do. I can find the paper.
__________________________________________________________________________
'Heineken!?! ... F#$% that s@&* ... | Ulick Stafford, Dept of Chem. Eng.
Pabst Blue Ribbon!' | Notre Dame IN 46556
| ulick@darwin.cc.nd.edu
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 04 Feb 94 15:07:59 EST
From: dan_fox@ccmail.GSFC.NASA.GOV
Subject: What does that stand for, anyway?
To the best of my knowledge, pH stands for percent Hydrogen. Why and
how, I don't know.
My question: What does the Cara- prefix mean about the malt it is
hanging off of?
dan fox "In cyberspace, no-one can hear you D'OHHHH!"
------------------------------
Date: 4 Feb 94 20:30:35 GMT
From: <@scuzzy.attmail.com@hpfcla.fc.hp.com> (Joe Levandoski )
Subject: New Mexico FAQ
Full-Name: Joe Levandoski
To: Mike Hall
Mike,
I could not reach you directly, my mail keep getting kicked back to me, so
hopefully you will get this request.
Please send me a copy of your New Mexico Brewing FAQ (the version without the
changes noted). I am in New Mexico about 3 times a year and can use the
info.
Thanks
Joe Lev
------------------------------
Date: 04 Feb 1994 14:57:00 -0600 (CST)
From: "Michael D. Hansen (708) 938-3184" <HANSEN.MICHAEL@igate.abbott.com>
Subject: CHEAP CARBOYS
Hi All!
I recently came across a good source for cheap(er) carboys in the Chicagoland
area. Waccamaw in Rolling Meadows has 5 gallon carboys for $10.99 (a bargain
since brew shops generally charge around $17). I don't know if other Waccamaws
in the area have them or not.
I don't work there, no affiliation, blah, blah, blah.
Brew on my friends!
Mike Hansen (HANSENMD@RANDB.ABBOTT.COM)
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1343, 02/05/94
*************************************
-------
