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HOMEBREW Digest #1634
This file received at Hops.Stanford.EDU 1995/01/18 PST
HOMEBREW Digest #1634 Wed 18 January 1995
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Janitor
Contents:
COLD ALE FERMENTS (Charles Wettergreen)
Priming PETs, eisbocks are fun (Bob Paolino Research Analyst)
Brewing Techniques (TPuskar)
Re: Mexicali Rogue ("GLYN CROSSNO")
Extract brewpubs (Keith Frank)
RE: Mini-kegs (david lawrence shea)
Soda-pop recipies (Doug Lukasik)
New Brewery...First tasting (Rick Starke)
SA 3Bock (TM) (sic) ("NAME SEAN O'KEEFE, IFAS FOOD SCIENCE")
5 litre mini-kegs (Douglas R. Jones)
Fermentap problem/Refrigerator construction ("Crake_Kurtis_LT")
5 liter mini-kegs (George Danz (919) 405-3632)
ppm vs. mg/l ("geo")
Recipe: Black Gold Stout ("Joseph E. Santos")
acid rest/fermentation temp/water (Steve Robinson)
question about CO2 and equilibrium ("Brent A. Spoth")
Re: Stiegel Beer (Austria) (johne)
Licorice-y?/Dry Stout/Compost ("David Sapsis")
Oops, Re: New Brewery... (Rick Starke)
Chile Pequin/Chipotle/Thanks (Mark Thompson)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 95 07:56 CST
From: chuckmw@mcs.com (Charles Wettergreen)
Subject: COLD ALE FERMENTS
"Don" Put, replying to Spencer Thomas' post, wrote:
HH> Now, I'm sure there are some low temperature tolerant ale strains out there,
HH> but I'm not sure that they are included in the pure yeast strains available
HH> to the homebrewer (from Wyeast, Brewtek, etc.). Has anybody had any
HH> experience with acclimatizing an ale yeast strain to ferment at a lower
HH> temperature? It seems that it could be done if the temperature was lowered
Wyeast Scottish (#1728 I believe) ferments actively at very low temperatures
without any conditioning, as long as a large enough starter is pitched (lager
levels). By very low I mean that I have used this yeast to ferment as low as
40 degF with very little flocculation or cessation of activity.
As I noted in an earlier post, this yeast is an extremely vigourous fermenter
at ale temperatures, producing prodigeous quantities of heat. At these
temperatures, it also produces esters reminiscent of concord grapes.
Chuck
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
Chuck Wettergreen One beer at a sitting is OK. Two beers, maybe.
Chuckmw@mcs.com But anything beyond that number goes over the
Geneva, Illinois line of recreational drinking. Ann Landers
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/**/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/**/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
* RM 1.3 00946 *
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 1995 23:29:24 EST
From: Bob Paolino Research Analyst <uswlsrap@ibmmail.com>
Subject: Priming PETs, eisbocks are fun
Peter Williams comments on carbonating beer in PETs:
"I had to add a bit more priming sugar than I do in glass to compensate
for the volume increase of the container."
Huh?
I assume you're comparing a 12 ounce bottle to a 2l PET, and that the
difference doesn't have anything to do with the packaging material (..."to
compensate for the volume increase in the container."). But _MORE_ priming
sugar?? I think you ooopsed on the keyboard, because you would typically want
_less_ concentrated priming sugar in solution when using a larger package. You
certainly don't want to prime a kegged brew at the same rate as a bottled one.
Now if you're saying that you have to prime it more because of some property
of the PET compared to glass, then please clarify for us. Thanks.
I've noticed that commercial beers in PET bottles are somewhat more common in
Canada than south of the border (i.e., some are there; none here). I don't
know what you have there on the Atlantic, but on the other coast (the other
coast on the east-west dimension, anyway), I put aesthetic considerations aside
once and brought home a bottle of Nelson (BC) Brewery Traditional Ale in a 1l
PET and was greatly rewarded by a wonderful brew. Don't know what shelf life
would be, though--I shared it at a meeting within a couple weeks of returning
from that trip :-)
Dennis Davison says:
"I've had fun with eisbocks, hope you will also."
...And so have we, at least the ones who have been present on the occasions on
which Dennis has wandered across the room filling people's glasses from a 2l
PET of his eisbock :-) (Hi, Dennis!)
Now go have a beer,
Bob Paolino / Disoriented in Badgerspace /uswlsrap@ibmmail.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 06:20:58 -0500
From: TPuskar@aol.com
Subject: Brewing Techniques
Several references have been made to a publication called Brewing Techniques
or BT. My local brew supply houses don't carry it and were not very familiar
with it. Could someone post an address and subscription info. I'm sure
there are more of us out there who would like to find out about it.
TIA
Tom Puskar
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 07:21:57 CST
From: "GLYN CROSSNO" <CROSSNO@novell2.tn.cubic.com>
Subject: Re: Mexicali Rogue
"Rick Myers" <rcm@col.hp.com> says in HBD #1633
>Chiltepins, also called (Chilteqpin, Tepin, Bird's Eye) ARE tiny peppers,
>and quite hot, too. They are "wild" peppers and are generally not
>cultivated. They are round or slightly elongated and are pea-sized
>or a little larger.
My friend says this is the plant/bush he gave me. Size and heat are
as stated. I've found that 1 in a beer is about right for me. I
just score the skin and throw one per bottle in at bottling time. I
*try* to wash it first.
"Bar maid bring a pitcher, another round of brew." JB
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 08:53:42 -0600
From: keithfrank@dow.com (Keith Frank)
Subject: Extract brewpubs
I'd like any information available on extract based brewpubs - names,
addresses, phone numbers, or direct experience.
Texas has had the brewpub law for a little over one year now. Some
restaurants are curios about it, but don't have much room or capital for a
classic all grain set-up. I thought an extract system might be a good
alternative.
TIA,
Bruce DeBolt
Lake Jackson, TX
c/o keithfrank@dow.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 11:04:01 -0500 (EST)
From: david lawrence shea <dshea@ucs.indiana.edu>
Subject: RE: Mini-kegs
I have been using these for almost a year and a half now and they work
great. First of all, addressing the tapper issue with leaking CO2
cartridges, it was mentioned that a customer had to screw it in with
a lot of muscle. This in fact is what causes the problem. You need to
only screw it in gently until the major CO2 blast subsides. If you try
to "tighten" it further, you will chew up the plastic washer that holds
the cartridge in place. Once this washer is damaged you will have the
CO2 leaks mentioned.
Second, as to exploding kegs, does this mean that the bung is being shot
out or that the keg itself is damaged. If the bung just popped out, they
have to make sure that it is pushed in all the way. It is easy to leave
the bung just above the the lip where it needs to connected. This often
requires light pounding with a hammer or a different brand of bung
which will fit in more easily. If this isn't what is meant by exploding
kegs, overpriming is the cause. One half the priming sugar is required,
1/3 to 3/8 corn sugar for a 5 gallon batch. The customers who stated that
they didn't overprime, either miscalculated or didn't understand. I suppose
if the CO2 tap was left on all the time this could cause some problems.
There has been some misconception about the use of the tap and that it
should be left open all the time.
If you are conservative with your CO2, just using short blasts, one
cartridge could last you one to one and a half kegs. If you are more
liberal with it in order to produce a good head as you get near the
bottom of the keg, you might get less usage. Hope this helps
David L. Shea
Indiana University
dshea@ucs.indiana.edu
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 08:45:56 -0500 (EST)
From: Doug Lukasik <LUKASIK_D@sunybroome.edu>
Subject: Soda-pop recipies
I know that this is not strictly brew related but if there is anyone out
there with recipies for making soda-pop (birch beer, root beer, cola, etc.)
would you be kind enough to share them with me. I am trying to find
something to make for the kids and my better half since none of them drink
beer.
Private email at <lukasik_d@sunybroome.edu> would be appreciated.
TIA
Good brewing, better drinking,
Doug.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 95 11:24:43 EST
From: fastarke@rickstr.mawes.ingr.com (Rick Starke)
Subject: New Brewery...First tasting
Good day Brewfolks
Just a quick plug for the locals. If any of you folks get up here into the
New England area, and more specifically, Western Mass, there is a relatively
(under 6 months) new brewery called the Berkshire Brewery, located in S.Deer-
field. It was my pleasure to try their first bottled offering (that I've
seen) Steel Rail Pale Ale. Scored a solid VTS (Very Tasty Stuff) on the
Rickstr(tm) Scale. Standard disclaimers, not affiliated, blah, blah, blah.
(But if one of the principals reads this and wants to put me on his "Free
Samples" list, I'll be happy to change the disclaimer)
- --
********************************************************************************
*
Rick Starke * When I die, I want to go peace-
New England Customer Service * fully, in my sleep, like my grand-
Branch Support Analyst * father did; Not screaming like the
Phone: (508)836-1285 * passengers in his car were.
fastarke@ingr.com *
********************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 1995 11:19:43 -0500 (EST)
From: "NAME SEAN O'KEEFE, IFAS FOOD SCIENCE" <SFO@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu>
Subject: SA 3Bock (TM) (sic)
I tried SA 3bock last week and was truly disgusted. Some of the tasters
found "meaty" or "soy sauce" like flavors that competed effectively
with the "nice" flavors. Is this an unusual bottle or a flavor found
in all of the stuff? I'm asking because I have a few other bottles that
I will give away if I can expect the other bottles to taste the same.
I would be interested in tasting notes from others. ThanX
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 11:34:47 -0600
From: djones@iex.com (Douglas R. Jones)
Subject: 5 litre mini-kegs
I would like to offer a datapoint or two to this thread. I got my setup
for Christmas. It is the Frische (sp?) metal tap setup. I kegged up 2
on 12/28 of a Bock that i had ready. Upon advice from my local HB store
I primed with 3/4 cup of corn sugar. I did this since I also bottled
24 bottles from the same batch. The kegs sat in my pantry until I chilled
one last Saturday. The other is still in the pantry. I have seen no
distortion of the kegs.
The chilled keg was tapped Sunday for the Cowboy game. I agree that it
took a pretty hefty twist to get the cartridge seated and punctured. My
tap has a valve on it to control the CO2 flow. I initially allowed the
beer to flow under natural pressure. When needed I opened the tap handle
and then rotated the pressure valve to get the flow I wanted. This
seems to work but I have a lot of practicing to do! The keg was killed during
the course of the game. I found that it took about 1 full cartridge and
part of another to move all the beer. This amounts to two since there
doesn't sem to be a way to use just part of a cartridge.
At two cartridges/keg over the course of 3 hours I am not thrilled. This
gets pretty expensive! It also makes me wonder about what happens if a
keg is tapped and then it is consumed over the course of several days!
It is possible I have a leak at the cartridge connection point also. Someone
in the archives mentions using Vaseline or similar lubricant to try and
get a better seal. I may try this when I tap the next one.
I like the convenience but I am not crazy about the cost in CO2. My
local HB store gets $15.95/10 cartridges which is steep! Does anyone know
if there are other sources of the cartridges that are compatible?
I post again when I gain some more knowledge!
Doug
- --------------------------------------------------
'I am a traveler of | Douglas R. Jones
both Time and Space' | IEX Corporation
Led Zepplin | (214)301-1307
| djones@iex.com
- --------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 95 13:20:30 EST
From: "Crake_Kurtis_LT" <Crake_Kurtis_LT@hq.navsea.navy.mil>
Subject: Fermentap problem/Refrigerator construction
The Fermentap gizmo has been getting a bit of attention here
lately, and I thought my recent experience might be helpful to
any new users/potential buyers.
Santa left me one of these thingywhompers for Christmas, and I
was looking forward to giving it a try. I rapidly discovered
that an element critical to the assembly was, much like
batteries, not included. The piece-part in question was a
standard 3/8 inch OD plastic racking cane. "No problem," I
thought. "Just pick one up at the ol' homebrew supply." Well, I
did just that, but when I attempted final assembly of the device,
the tube didn't fit through the designated hole. A quick call to
the distributor/manufacturer revealed that at least one other
person had called with a similar problem. The gentleman I spoke
with suggested that my brand new racking cane might be out of
specification. I checked, and found that my new racking cane was
actually somewhere between 3/8 and 7/16 inch OD (limit of
precision on my yardstick). By this time, the homebrew supply
store was closed...but not Home Depot! I found a 30 inch 3/8 OD
wash basin standpipe rated for potable water service for 97
cents, which fit my Fermentap just right. Even came with its own
Teflon compression fitting. So, the moral of the story is: Take
your Fermentap valve body with you when you go out to buy your
racking cane.
Can't report yet on how the thing performs under the stress of
actual fermentation...If some useful info arises from my
experience, I'll pass it on.
----------------------------
There has also been some discussion of late about refrigerators,
freezers, and temperature control. I recently learned something
about how standard upright refrigerators (with the freezer on
top) are constructed that might help those who are trying to
control refrigerator compartment temperature with (or without) an
aftermarket expanded range temperature controller.
Most of these refrigerators have what appear to be two
temperature control dials; one for the fridge, and one for the
freezer. My refrigerator (and as I understand it, most typical
uprights) really only has one temperature control. The dial for
"Freezer" sets the temperature range for the freezer compartment.
The "Fridge" control regulates how much cold air from the
freezer compartment is allowed into the refrigerator compartment
to keep it cool in there. You may have noticed that if you crank
down the temperature for your freezer, things in the refrigerator
section will freeze even though you've made no changes to the
other dial setting. Changing one setting impacts the temperature
in both compartments, and the only way to really control the
system is by placing reasonably accurate thermometers in each
compartment, and making adjustments to only one "control" at a
time, then allowing several hours to assess the effect.
Kurt Crake
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 95 14:19:07 EST
From: danz@edasich.rtp.semi.harris.com (George Danz (919) 405-3632)
Subject: 5 liter mini-kegs
Yes,
Use only the large German made CO2 canisters with the German made taps.
Get some and carefully compare the ends of these "precision made" german
ones with the crappy grey ones sold by brew shops which don't know any
better.
The thing you'll immediately notice is that there is no consistency
relating the "depth" of the seal on the crappy ones. As a result, the
cylinder does not mate with the rubber seal in the tap as the screw cap is
being closed "before" the metal seal in the cylinder is breached. On the
quality cylinders, the metal seal is always recessed the proper amount to
allow the rubber seal in the tap to maintain a seal while the tap breaches
the metal seal in the cylinder. Now someone with a lot of mechanical
skill could fabricate a washer which would add enough depth to seal even
the sloppy cylinders prior to breaching the metal seal, but I have to
ask the silly question, WHY? The 16oz "quality" cylinders cost exactly
twice as much as the crappy 8oz. ones. You get twice as much gas with
half as much hassle for the same price per oz., so why screw with the
crappy 8oz cylinders?
Now that's the rest of the story.
George Danz
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 13:50:06 CST
From: "geo" <WOLFF@albert.uta.edu>
Subject: ppm vs. mg/l
Teddy Winstead asks about converting mg/l to ppm. The answer is that
the two are functionally equivalent. 1 litre of pure water weighs 1
kilogram at standard temperature and pressure (25C, 1 atm. pressure).
Thus, 1 milligram of any substance dissolved in 1 litre gives a
concentration of 1 part per million by weight. For brewing purposes,
variations in liquid density due to temperature fluctuations and
presence of fermentables can be ignored.
John Wolff
wolff@uta.edu
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 13:55:48 -0500 (EST)
From: "Joseph E. Santos" <jesantos@WPI.EDU>
Subject: Recipe: Black Gold Stout
Thank you all for clearing up the PET issue, now I feel guilty about my
lack of contibution! So, I'm going to share my most recent stout recipe
with all. If anyone wishes to try it please send me some of the data I
could not get due to a broken hydrometer. Many will recognize the
ingredients as a combination of some of the favorite recipes found in
various homebrew books. This stout was an experiment in blending flavors
to achieve the best of all things "I" desire in a stout.It is similar to
Mark Stevens "Black Cat Stout #1" with a few changes.
Black Gold Stout (A beer so rich its worth its weight in gold.)
6# M&F Dark Extract Syrup
1# M&F Dark DME
8 oz. Black Patent Malt
12 oz. Chocolate Malt
12 oz. Crystal Malt
1 oz. Chinook Hop Pellets (60 min)
1/2 oz. Northern Brewer Hop Pellets (60 min)
1/2 oz. Northern Brewer Hop Pellets (20 min)
1.5 tsp. Single Fold Pure Vanilla Extract
3/4 C. Freshly Brewed Espresso
EDME dry ale yeast
3/4 C. corn sugar for priming
Living in a region with poor public water supply has
unfortunately -or- fortunately forced me to use bottled water. For this I
used distilled water with 1 Tbsp. water crystals added. Steep specialty
grains then remove. Add vanilla,espresso,and extracts. Boil for an hour
and cool. Rack to primary and pitch yeast. Within minutes activity was
observed. Within 12 hours active fermentation, *WARNING* after this stage
you WILL need to use a blow off rig. The activity subsided after 2 1/2
days then racked to secondary for 12 days to ensure no bottle bombs!
Bottled with corn sugar and aged @room temp for 8 days. It is now 3 weeks
in the basement and better than ever.
Taste: It has a smooth, chocolaty, warm fuzzy flavor perfect for sitting
in front of the fireplace.
Q: anyone who gets the O.G., F.G., and % alchohol please send.
Enjoy,
DR J
Just another happy homebrewer!
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 95 15:37:03 EST
From: Steve Robinson <Steve.Robinson@analog.com>
Subject: acid rest/fermentation temp/water
The recent discussion regarding just how an acid rest acidifies the mash
prompted me to go look up the reactions involved. This is from Noonan's
BREWING LAGER BEER, p. 107:
Ca5Mg(C6H12O24P6*3H2O)2
Phytin
+
7H2O
|
Phytase
|
\ /
releases into solution:
C6H6[OPO (OH)2]6
Phytic Acid
C6H12O6
Myo-Inositol
and precipitates:
5CaHPO4*2H2O
Calcium Phosphate (Secondary)
MgHPO4*3H2O
Magnesium Phosphate (Secondary)
The pH of the mash is decreased by the phytic acid, the mineral content of the
liquid extract is increased, and the myo-inositol is a B-vitamin which
contributes to yeast growth.
=====
Spencer Thomas writes:
>In the most recent issue of The Malt Advocate (containing, by the way,
>articles relating a recent tasting of 25 years of Thomas Hardy's Ale: 8
>vintages from 1993 to 1968), the Homebrew column recommends fermenting
>ales at 60-65F, in order to reduce undesirable aromatic components
>(specifically, diacetyl, fusels, and excess esters). My feeling is
>that this is asking for slow, stuck fermentations, particularly at the
>low end of the range.
Actually, my usual procedure is to primary ferment ales at 60-65, followed by
a couple of weeks conditioning at 50-55. I pitch a healthy yeast starter and
aerate my wort well, and have never experienced a stuck, slow fermentation at
these temperatures. As I recently posted, I have a porter in progress now which
inadvertantly underwent primary fermentation at 50-55. The resulting
fermentation was slow (behaving more lager-like), but never became stuck even
at these low temperatures.
One of the things I've learned over the past year of reading the HBD is that
things I assumed were conventional wisdom ain't necessarily so. This post thus
caused me to go back to my library and see what others have to say about ale
fermentation temperatures. So, a couple of references that support my practice:
>From Terry Foster's PORTER, "The most important consideration in the primary
fermentation is that of temperature, with 60 to 68 degrees F (15.5 to 20 degrees
C) being the optimum range. . .Basically, secondary fermentation is best carried
out at 50 to 55 degrees F (10 to 13 degrees C), which is quite typical for an
English cellar."
And from Noonan's SCOTCH ALE, "At this period [the 1830s], when the usual
Scottish pitching temperature was 50 degrees F (10 degrees C), a typical English
brew began at 65 degrees F (18 degrees C). The flavor impact of the increased
esters produced at the higher temperature distinctly separates English ales
from those of Scotland."
=====
Teddy Winstead writes:
>Next, I really, really need some help from you chemist types out there.
>I've been using Kentwood spring water for some time now in my brews.
>I recenyly got a water analysis sheet from them, but all of the values
>are in mg/L and not ppm (parts per million). In an effort to correct
>the values to ppm, I did the following math --
>
>1. Compute number of moles of H2O per liter (55.3 mol/L).
>2. Compute number of moles of the given substance to the correct number
>of moles for that substance.
>3. Compute the ratio of the two, hoping it would produce the desired
>result.
>
>THIS DIDN'T WORK!
>
>What did I do wrong, and what is the correct way to convert between the
>two measurements?
By now, I'm sure your mailbox is full of messages pointing out that mg/L and
ppm are one and the same thing. In SI units, concentration (just like density)
is measured in g/mL. So:
1 mg/L * 1L/1000mL * 1g/1000mg = 1/1*10^6 g/mL = 1 ppm
Steve Robinson in North Andover, Mass.
steve.robinson@analog.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 1995 17:26:11 -0500
From: "Brent A. Spoth" <bas8v@dayhoff.med.virginia.edu>
Subject: question about CO2 and equilibrium
Joe Santos resently made a point that I had not considered in the
talks about O2 & CO2 diffusion in plastic bottles
Because the concentration of O2
is close to nil O2 WILLpermeate the plastic until equilibrium is
attained
between the concentration in the beer and the atmospheric
concentration
surrounding the bottle.
I have learned my chemistry lesson of the day!
BTW, If I understand this correctly the pressure in the plastic
bottle
would increase due to the excess O2 pressure. Could this be a
cause for
concern?
Even though the laws of diffusion say that there is a force to
equilibrate the concentration of each individual compound across
a barrier, the force created internally by the fermentation
reaction is greater. I would be surprised if the force due to
diffusion was great enough to burst or deform a container of
reasonable strength, so if CO2 Can't get out, but O2 can get in,
I would bet that true equilibrium would never be reached due to
the pressure constraint. Furthermore, if the O2 diffusion is
slow, the CO2 pressure will build up in a matter of days so that
the ability to uptake other gases would be greatly reduced in a
very short time, assuming of course that all seals are adaquate.
Brent
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 95 11:15:59
From: johne@execpc.com
Subject: Re: Stiegel Beer (Austria)
Greetings and Happy New Year to all!
I recently had the pleasure of tasting an Austrian brew by the
name Stiegel. I was (being but a novice) unable to figure out
the specifics of this fine brew. I am hopeful that someone else
has tried it and come up with a "clone" recipe for it.
Thanks a million and happy brewing!
John
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 95 15:01:21 CST
From: "David Sapsis" <dbsapsis@nature.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: Licorice-y?/Dry Stout/Compost
Spencer and Pierre both took me to task for describing something as unlike
itself, and guess what? they're right. I believe most people got my drift,
its just unfortunate that my hands didn't follow what my brain was saying.
What I meant was that brewers licorice tastes very different than licorice
candy, which as Pierre pointed out, is made largely from anise. Apologies
to those that were confused. Also, like Pierre, I feel that licorice has a
much softer flavor, and is thus better suited to beers. I have also used it
quite successfully in a mead.
******
A number of people requested information in regard to my attempts at dry
stout recipes ala Guinness, so I thought I'd post it to the digest:
Grain Bill (for 15 US gallons):
16 lbs Hugh Baird 2 row
5 lbs Flaked Barley (I use the stuff available at a Korean grocery store)
2 lbs Hugh Baird Roast (550 L)
Water treatment: 12 g CaCO3 (in grist)
When using UK pale malt, I forego any rest in the mash. The high protien
count in the flaked not only yields a creamy texture, it also contributes
to foam positive protiens that can be degraded by excessively long mashing
routines. If you do use dometic pale, I reccomend using the cereal grain as
the heating agent to up the mash to sach temperatures. Simply cook the
flaked in a pot with sufficient (read: lots) water to account for swelling
- -- 5 pounds of cooked flaked yields a volume of about 16 liters!
Presumably, many of you will be scaling the recipe down, so this should be
less of a problem. Please note however, that flaked does not require a
cereal cooking to gelatinize. Barley gelatinizes between 145-148F, thus at
normal sach temepratures takes care of itself. Typically, I mash at 154F for
one hour, Luater for 40 minutes at 168F. Target gravity of this beer is
1038-1040 (9.5-10 Plato). This is very important. If you want to have that
dry finish, you must restrain yourself. You may not have to though, given
the fact that in some lauter setups the high percentage of flaked causes
problems with extraction, but I have not found this to neccesarily hold.
I also reccomend grinding the roast separately with the mill spacing set
closer. This is to assure greater color saturation of the wort. It also
should be noted that if you use the lower lovibond roast widely available
you will not get the beer dark enough.
Hops should only be used for bittering, no flavor or aroma hops are present
in draft Guinness, hence none here. But it is a quite bitter beer, targeted
for 40-50 IBU. I favor the use of low and mid-alpha hops even for
bittering, and have found Willamettes to be a good choice. In my current
recipe, that calls for 160 g of 5 alpha hops. Again, my previous posts
about the vagaries of utilization rates apply: YMMV. However, this beer
certainly can be overhopped, and when in doubt, I reccomend erring on the
light side (believe me I have done both and you can simply swamp the
creaminess with too much bittering).
Amazingly, of all the styles of beer I have made, this is the most
yeast-insensitive. I have made good examples with Sierra, Mendocino, 1084,
1969, Fullers, 1098 and even 2036 fermented at 62F. The grain bill and
hopping are what I have had to tinker with, and the reputed Guinness yeast
(Wyeast 1084) does not seem to impart anything extraordinary. This is quite
surprising given the dramatic influence I have found yeast strain to impart
in other styles when experimeted with in A/B fermentations. Sometimes I
add a small amount of 88% Lactic Acid (<10 ml) to the fermented beer to give
a slight sourness as evident in Guinness Draft, but often the beer comes out
with a faint tartness of its own, thus elimiating that need.
Obviously, having a Nitrogen setup really help to develop the legendary
head. In lieu of that, go for very low carbonation (<1.5 vols. CO2) and do
what you have to to mix in air bubbles (in the glass!). All other
proceedures are relatively standard. Good Luck.
********
One private poster reccomended to me that compost makes for great mulch, and
that spent hops and grains etc. make great material for the hop yard. While
this is true for fully composted materials (and that is where my spents end
up) if you put your spent grains and other highly reduced organic materials
directly on your hop mounds you are asking for trouble. the reason is
temperature. Compost piles regularly reach in excess of 160F, and thats
plently to kill live plant tissues. You can get by putting spent hops
directly on your hops though, because what little substrate they offer for
decomposition is washed quickly into the soil profile. Make a separate
compost pile for grains and kitchen wastes and use that for building topsoil
in your garden after fully composted. Compost, having a very high content
of humus (mostly humic and fulvic acids) really helps assure regulated and
sustainable soil productivity.
cheers,
dave
**********************************************************************
David Sapsis dbsapsis@nature.berkeley.edu
Wildland Fire Research Laboratory
Dept. Environmental Science, Policy, and Management
U C Berkeley voice: (510)642-8053 fax:(510) 643-5438
"From fire everything is created, and in
fire everything ends up."
--Heracleitus (502 B.C.)
************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 95 21:06:14 EST
From: fastarke@rickstr.mawes.ingr.com (Rick Starke)
Subject: Oops, Re: New Brewery...
Hi again HBD'ers
I made an error earlier. The Berkshire Brewery beer I had was Steel
Rail Extra Pale Ale. Apologies, etc.
so much for the "free samples" list :-(
- --
Rick Starke
fastarke@ingr.com *
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 1995 00:22:10 -0600
From: mthompso@mail.utexas.edu (Mark Thompson)
Subject: Chile Pequin/Chipotle/Thanks
In HBD #1633 John Dodson wrote:
>For some reason, I was describing the 'Chile Pequin' pepper and not a
>'Chipolte' pepper.
I've had these little powerhouse peppers. My brewing partner has chile
pequins growing wild all over his yard. We've thought about using them in a
brew, but they may be a bit too hot.
John also wrote:
>Chipolte's are
>bought in small cans (4 oz?). They are packed with thick, red, smokey
>sauce.
Here in Austin, we can get fresh chipotles. I think I am going to try these
instead of the canned. This way I won't be adding anything extra that may
be in the sauce (vinegar?).
*******
I wish to thank everyone who responded either in private or in public to my
Mexicali Rogue/Chipotle question. Most suggestion were to make a chipotle
tea and add to the secondary or at bottling time, or to "dry pepper" in the
secondary.
Mark Thompson, Austin Texas
mthompso@mail.utexas.edu
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1634, 01/18/95
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