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HOMEBREW Digest #1437
This file received at Sierra.Stanford.EDU 94/05/31 00:30:15
HOMEBREW Digest #1437 Tue 31 May 1994
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Scotish Ale Yeast (John Robinson)
Co2 tanks (David Divalerio)
Decoction/infusion mashing (EKTSR)
Liberty Malt (Domenick Venezia)
Re: Questions on fermentation ("Mark B. Alston")
Oxygenating wort (Dion Hollenbeck)
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Date: Mon, 30 May 1994 10:03:56 -0300 (ADT)
From: robinson@orbit.acrso.ns.ca (John Robinson)
Subject: Scotish Ale Yeast
Greetings all,
I did a scottish ale a couple weeks ago. Lots of pale malt,
lots of crystal and some munich malt. SG was 1.084. I used the
new scottish ale yeast from Wyeast, and when all signs of
ferentations ceased I kegged it. That was last weekend. FG was
1.030, which seemed a little high to me, but not out of line
considering the style and the SG.
This being the first time I used this particular yeast, I
started checking around to see if I could locate any attenuation
numbers. No luck. I checked the yeast faq, and while it is
full of interesting and useful information, none of the new
yeast strains had any attenuation percentages.
Does anyone know what the attenuation of this yeast is? I'm
also curious in the others (Czech Pils, Special london ale [a
killer yeast strain IMHO], and the others).
- --
John Robinson Internet: robinson@orbit.acrso.ns.ca
Systems Manager
Atlantic Centre for Remote If it is worth doing, it is worth
Sensing of the Oceans doing wrong until you get it right.
DOD #0069
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 May 1994 03:41:00 -0500
From: David.Divalerio@f165.n260.z1.fidonet.org (David Divalerio)
Subject: Co2 tanks
I have a pseudo brewing related question. I found used - what look like CO2
tanks - at a junk store. They are empty but the owner has no idea what was in
them previously or what they were used for. My question - is there any chance
whatever was in these before can ruin my beer or me. Is there any way to tell
what was in them or should I not worry and just buy them? Anybody have any
ideas? Thanks
David DiValerio
Orchard Park, NY
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 May 94 10:20:57 EDT
From: EKTSR@aol.com
Subject: Decoction/infusion mashing
decoction
To all: yup, the recent discussion around all grain have made me look at
"making the move". BUT.... a bit o' terminology I just can't figure out.
What is a decoction mash?? a single step infusion mash?? or any other type
of mashes?? and why would one use one type over the other??
TIA-private e-mail okay, might be good general interest post
Stan White, ekstr@aol.com
"the way to BE is to DO"--Lau Tsu
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 May 1994 07:56:40 -0700 (PDT)
From: Domenick Venezia <venezia@zgi.com>
Subject: Liberty Malt
- ------------------------------
Wes Neuenschwander mentions Liberty Malt as a recommended supplier, I
have some comments.
>malts. For those interested in the real thing, Liberty Malt, 1418
>Western Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101 stocks a selection of the actual
>Ayinger malts, including some really unique specialty malts. Definitely
>pricey stuff - but still a lot cheaper than buying the beer (which
>incidentally is imported by the same group). They also import the Crisp
>Malting Co's Maris Otter english malts, which is used in their Pike Place
>Brewing's ales (another subsidiary). Phone number is (206)622-1880.
Liberty has a very good selection of imported malts. I can not speak to
their mail order business but I do have some comments about their on
premises malt handling. Their malt is stored in 55 gallon carboard shipping
barrels unsealed. I believe I once got some VERY old carapils there, as
I was literally scraping the bottom of the barrel. My guess is that it
took a long time to sell that barrel of carapils. Secondly, unless they
have recently purchased a new mill DO NOT have your grains crushed (ground)
on the premises as their equipment really rips up the husks and creates
ALOT of flour which I assume is both kernel and husk dust. In the past I
bought my grains there and would have them crush it, but I no longer do so,
and I will not until I have my own mill. I once asked to see their
equipment as it is "in the back" but I was politely refused.
If someone knows what LM uses to crush I would be very interested to
know.
Domenick Venezia
ZymoGenetics, Inc.
Seattle, WA
venezia@zgi.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 May 94 09:43:00 MDT
From: "Mark B. Alston" <c-amb@math.utah.edu>
Subject: Re: Questions on fermentation
Melissa Asks:
I pitched one packet, but I'm wondering if I
should pitch two? Will that help the body of the beer?
No, It would simply decrease the lag time before the start of
fermentation. However, those dry yeast packages (I assume you are
using) contain enough yeast that only one package is needed. See
elsewhere for info on using liquid yeast and yeast starters. This is
probably the area that will allow you the greatest improvement on your
beers with the smallest expense.
You list the following as your recipie:
3lb Amber Malt extract
1lb Crystal malt
1lb Chocolate Malt
1oz Cascade for boiling
1oz Williamette for finishing, and then 2 cups of corn sugar for priming;
However, we need to know the batch size. I will assume that you are
making a 5-gal batch, if not then adjust my response as needed.
Yet the beer is near flat and as light as Meiser Brau
Not surprising with only 3 lbs of extract. In a five gallon batch
this recipie should give you a O.G (original gravity; what you measure
with the hydrometer you don't have) of about 1.026. This is only
slightly above a decent final gravity for such a recipie. You
probably want an O.G of around 1.050 or so. Thus, adding 3-4 lbs of
pale malt extract will get you much closer to what you are after.
Adding 4 lbs will put you at an O.G of 1.055. Much more respectable.
It fermented like crazy for about 2 1/2 days, then stopped.
no wonder, there were almost no fermentables in it. The yeast simply
fermented what was there and went to sleep.
(Has anyone else tried brewing with just one fermenter before?)
Almost everyone started by brewing with only one fermenter. There are
many advantages to a two-stage fermentation; however, I would suggest
some other steps before going to two-stage fermentation. First, get a
hydrometer to check your gravities. This simple measurement will tell
you a lot about what is going on in you brew. Secondly, if you are
not already, start using high quality yeast (liquid) and use a yeast
starter to build it up into pitching volumes. A good quality yeast
can make the difference between day and night. You will start saying
"so that's where thos odd flavors were coming from." It is truly
amazing.
Keep on brewing,
Mark Alston
(c-amb@math.utah.edu)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 May 1994 08:57:33 -0700
From: Don Put <dput@csulb.edu>
Subject: Mashmixer data point
>Rich Larsen <richl@access1.speedway.net> wrote:
>Subject: Stirring the mash
<some good thoughts on the subject snipped here>
>My main concern would be the break up of the husks durring the mash. If
>this happened, the possibility of a stuck run-off is real.
This is a good, valid point, Rich. I did experience a slower lauter than
I normally get (usually I have to close the valve to limit the flow, but
this time I had the valve wide open. I use a 10 gallon Gott cooler with
a copper manifold that covers a large percentage of the bottom. There
are ~200 slots cut in the bottom half of the copper pipes. However, I'm
not sure the stirring was the culprit here because I changed one other
variable in my setup for the test of the LAZYMASHER(tm). I know, this is
real poor scientific method, but I didn't think about it ahead of time.
I changed the gap on my MM to give me a finer crush, and while I doubt
this alone caused the slower lauter, it could have contributed to it.
Next test run I'll set my mill back the the normal setting I have used
with repeated success and use the LAZYMASHER(tm) in the same way.
Hopefully, this will give me a bit more data to pass on to you.
Also, I ran the mixer full-time during its maiden voyage, something I most
likely will not do on subsequent batches. I'll only use it to mix while
I do the steps/decoction additions, and then momentarily at regular intervals
during the rest mash, just enough to hold a near constant temperature
throughout the mash.
As you all can see, Jack has also been testing a mixer he has constructed.
It seems that his fan blade arrangement is a much easier paddle design to
acquire and use. It sure beats the heck out of the fabrication I did!
Anyway, if any of you are thinking about doing something like this, you
might want to try his arrangement; it may be a whole lot simpler to
construct.
>I guess we'll just have to wait for a report back from "The Paddle Masher"
>for the results.
If you mean me, see my long two-part post in Monday's HBD. I hope you folks
are interested in this; it's been a lot of fun for me.
A question about sending articles to the HBD:
Because I live in a rural part of So. Cal (yes, there are some rural parts
in So. Cal), I have to write most of my posts off-line to save on the
phone bill. You'll notice that even though I put a "Subject" line at the
beginning of each post, they don't appear in the "table of contents" at
the top of each HBD. The program will not accept a post without a subject
line. When I write it using the unix mail utility, the subject line appears
just fine. For some reason the posts are accepted, but the subject line
gets "scrubbed off" in some manner. Rob, or anyone, what can I do to
insure that the subject gets into the table of contents when I write my
posts off-line?
don
dput@csulb.edu
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 30 May 94 07:40:06 PDT
From: hollen@megatek.com (Dion Hollenbeck)
Subject: Oxygenating wort
Well, I have done two batches with a new method of oxygenating wort
which I thought I would pass along since it seems to be working so
well. As some of you may already know, I ferment in SS soda kegs with
a blowoff hose. Therefore, if you do not, you may have to adapt this
method slightly. After all the talk of oxygenating wort and after
seeing my local brewpub inject pure oxygen into the wort while passing
it through the counterflow chiller, I was determined to do something
like that. Well, I took a Quick Disconnect liquid fitting and hooked
up a short length of hose to it, and clamped the tip of my
Oxy-Acetylene torch into the hose. While the wort was flowing out of
my kettle and into the keg, I slowly bubbled oxygen up through the
liquid dip tube. Then I sealed up the lid and pressurized it up to 20
psi with O2 and shook it up vigorously. I then de-pressurized,
pitched the yeast and re-pressurized to 20 psi. I let it sit that way
for 4 hours and then let the pressure off, changed to valve body with
no poppet and put on my blowoff hose. I got frequent and large CO2
blowoff within 30 seconds. For all of you out there having troubles
with sanitizer creeping back up your blowoff hose, this is the ticket.
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #1437, 05/31/94
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