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HOMEBREW Digest #1669
This file received at Hops.Stanford.EDU 1995/03/02 PST
HOMEBREW Digest #1669 Thu 02 March 1995
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Janitor
Contents:
motorizing Coronas revisted (FLATTER)
Re: A good scale (wegeng.XKeys)
RE: hop storage, Irish moss (Jim Dipalma)
Bock, Anchor (MATTD)
Looking for San Diego Brew Pubs and Micros (Dave Shaver)
Gott digest (R) & diacetyl rest (Q) (Mel E. Martinez)
Fermenter Questions ("Fleming, Kirk R., Capt")
Competition Announcement (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583)
hop storage/homebrewed vs. commercial/volume in IBU formulas (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583)
Re: Fermenter Questions (Eamonn McKernan)
Used Wort Chiller wanted (Bread and Circus)
Fiberglass fermenters (Kelly Jones)
dropping and mutant yeast/hop storage: don't use polyethylene bags! (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583)
Pitching rates for High Grav. Brews (Erik Speckman)
aging beer (Tim Bennett)
Hefe Weisen Yeast (JHojel)
RE:Controlling RIMs Motor Speed (tboyce)
RE:Controlling RIMs Motor Speed (tboyce)
RE:Controlling RIMs Motor Speed (tboyce)
RE:Controlling RIMs Motor Speed (tboyce)
Mississippi (Karen Barela/AHA President)
Petes Wicked Winter Brew / Aluminum (jack walter kennedy)
Harpoon Beer & The Sam Adams Brewpub ("Craig Sonis")
Is my S.G. too high? ("Shannon William Fleming")
Celis Merger (Robert Heynen)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 07:48:38 -0820
From: FLATTER%MHS@mhs.rose-hulman.edu
Subject: motorizing Coronas revisted
A while back I read an article about motorizing a Corona grain mill. It
suggested taking off the handle by replacing the screw that held it on.
The author [whose name I don't recall; sorry about that] suggested
cutting the head off a bolt and putting that in the chuck of a drill.
Well, I tried that. After several unsuccessful attempts, I finally
stripped the threads off enough to get a grip on the bolt. It required
periodic tightening as I ground my grain, but it sure beat cranking it by
hand.
This would a happy ending if it weren't for a mishap this weekend. All
that slippage eventually wore down the replacement bolt. Now I have a
better solution. I put a 3/16 bolt with a hex head in that spot
[WalMart-$0.78 for three plus 3 nuts]. Instead of cutting off the head,
I use a 1/2" nut driver in my drill [WalMart-$4.57 for Black and Decker
kit of 6-sided shank for drill to 1/4 drive male socket adapter plus 6
sockets w/ 1/4 drive holes].
This arrangement has several additional advantages. The drill can be
removed from the mill when refilling the bin. The bolt doesn't wear, and
it can be removed completely for storage. Best of all, I now have a
versatile nut driver set, and my wife didn't complain about me getting a
new tool set.
- --------------
Neil Flatter Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Chemistry - Math (CMA) Department of Chemistry Stockroom Manager
Novell Supervisor 5500 Wabash Avenue 73
(812) 877 - 8316 Terre Haute, IN 47803-3999
FAX: 877 - 3198 Flatter@Rose-Hulman.edu
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 08:19:31 PST
From: wegeng.XKeys@xerox.com
Subject: Re: A good scale
For small measurements (on the order of an ounce or two) I use a scale designed
for gun owners who reload their own shells. These scales measure weight in
grains rather than ounces, but converting from one unit to the other is easy,
and they are very accurate. You can buy one for around $25 from any gun shop.
/Don
wegeng.xkeys@xerox.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 11:13:19 EST
From: dipalma@sky.com (Jim Dipalma)
Subject: RE: hop storage, Irish moss
Hi All,
Regarding the recent thread on hop storage, Charles S. Jackson
writes:
>I have taken to using brown jars (ovaltine
>works nicely), purging w/co2 and freezing. Seemed to be a reasonable
>alternative to the cost of buying a heat sealer, o2 impermeable bags and some
>nitrogen.
>Anyway it would be nice to see/hear how other keep their hops.
A couple of years ago, I was given a large Ziploc bag stuffed with fresh
Cascade cones that had been grown by a fellow homebrewer. There were about
8 ounces in the bag, far more than I would have been able to use in a short
time. I stored most of them by stuffing them in mason jars, purging with
CO2, and storing them in the freezer. When I used up the last of them some
eight months later, they were still in very good condition.
I've stored pellets in this manner for as long as a year with no problems.
The key is to store them in the freezer in an oxygen impermeable container
that's been purged with an inert gas. I already had the mason jars and CO2
tank because of my yeast culturing and kegging activities, and couldn't see
the sense in buying a heat sealer, oxygen impermeable bags, etc., when I
already had all the equipment needed to do the job.
****************************************************************
Domenic Venezia asks about Irish moss:
>Does anyone have a rule of thumb they use, or experience that says to
>scale the amount of IM by heaviness of brew? Perhaps, (SG - 1.0)*10
>grams per gallon? Reality checks are welcome. In fact any checks are
>welcome.
FWIW, I use three level teaspoons in a 10 gallon batch, rehydrated for
at least several hours before use, and added for the last 15 minutes of the
boil. I don't adjust this amount for OG, brew everything from English milds
at ~1.035 to Wee Heavys at over 1.080 OG, and get large amounts of break
material and good clarity in the beers.
IMHO, I think the key to successful use of Irish moss is rehydration
several hours before use. I try to remember to rehydrate the night before
brewing. After the flakes have been sitting in water for a few hours, they
turn into a gooey, gelatinous mass. I've seen a lot of posts from brewers
who simply toss the flakes in dry, then report that they didn't notice any
difference using Irish moss.
Cheers,
Jim dipalma@sky.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 1995 09:46:50 -0700 (MST)
From: MATTD@UWYO.EDU
Subject: Bock, Anchor
I am interested in brewing an all grain, traditional, high gravity Bock.
The recipes I have are either extract or variations of a traditional. Does
anyone have the type of recipe that I am looking for. Also, I will be in San
Francisco in April. Does anyone know the touring schedule for the Anchor
Brewing company on a Friday or Saturday? Thanks. Private e-mail or HBD post
is fine.
Matt
Mattd@uwyo.edu
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 10:45:23 -0600 (CST)
From: shaver@healthcare.com (Dave Shaver)
Subject: Looking for San Diego Brew Pubs and Micros
I'm looking for brewpubs and micros in the San Diego area---I'm willing
to drive up to an hour if the place is great. In looking at the
publist database, I've put together the list below. I'll be in the
area for over a week, but I probably can't hit all of these places.
Let me know which ones I should NOT miss.
I would love to learn about additional places I should not miss.
Please e-mail directly and I'll summarize to the list.
Does anyone know about tours of micros in the area?
Brewski's Gas Lamp Pub
Callahan's Pub & Brewery
Hops! Bistro and Brewery
Kitayama Cafe
Mission Brewery
Old Columbia Brewery and Grill
Old Pacific Beach Cafe
Pacific Beach Brewhouse
Pizza Port
Prince of Wales
San Diego Brewing Co
Two Docks
/\ Dave Shaver
\\ Plano, TX
\/ Internet: shaver@healthcare.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 11:48:41 -0500
From: mem@rowland.pha.jhu.edu (Mel E. Martinez)
Subject: Gott digest (R) & diacetyl rest (Q)
At 1:01 AM 2/27/95, homebrew-request@hpfcmi.fc.hp.com (Request Address Only
- No Ar wrote:
>Subject: Gott digest confessions
>
>To all the people who requested the Gott digest that I put together, I
>really screwed this job up. You probably noticed that the digest was an
>attachement that was encoded with BinHex. This probably put you in a mild
>panic and caused you to curse my name and so forth. I must apologize for
>this.
>
>The digest got bigger than I thought and it wouldn't fit onto my e-mail
>document. Therefore, I just sent it as an attachment as a text document.
>However, my e-mail program (Eudora) automatically encodes attachments with
>BinHex, which is a Mac program. People with Macs (either with BinHex or
>Eudora) I guess had no problems. Everyone else on non-Mac machines was
>left in the dark. In addition, America Online users (and other online
>service users) probably just got a bunch of digital gook on their e-mail
>which is no help.
>
Chris,
You can turn off the automatic binhexing of Mac document attachments by
Eudora by going to the Special:Settings... menu item, go to Attachments and
turn off "always include Mac information".
With this settings, Eudora should not binhex TEXT files that are attached.
It will still encode binary documents.
Also, make sure that your text document to be attached has Type "TEXT".
That is, from whatever editor you use, make sure you SAVE as Plain Text.
Note that some Mac apps use TEXT as their fyle type, but do include other
info in the resource fork. If you attach and mail such a file as plain
text without binhexing, the additional info will be stripped. This is not
generally a problem unless you did want to send the whole of the file to
say, another mac user. In that case, you can either turn the option above
back on or use the pop-up menu in the Eudora button bar (not all versions
though). Or you can pre-binhex files manually using any of several binhex
tools available.
If this does not work, let me know or simply send a message asking for help
from Qualcomm - they should have an alias pre-installed in your nicknames
list and are very responsive and helpful. You usually get a response
directly from Steve Dorner himself.
[I apologize for posting this decidedly non-brew info to HBD but I can't
always get mail into panix accounts so I thought it would be useful to post
the reply.]
Ob Brew - I'll try to make up for it by just telling everyone how
incredibly good my current batch of 'red' ale is comming out! Awesome. I
doubt much of the batch will survive St. Pat's day... Also, I plan on
cultivating my own hops this year (rhizomes from FreshHops in OR,
503-929-2736) and hopefully next year I'll be able to do some
homegrown-homebrew!
Next, a Question: I'm going to try my first attempt at a 'pilsner' style
brew this weekend. I'm starting the yeast starter tonight because I like
to pitch it big and will be saving some of the starter as well. I plan to
let it ferment about a week in the primary at ~55-60 F and then move it to
the secondary and let it sit between 40-55 F for several weeks (I mostly
want this for summer so I won't be in a hurry with it). I can't control
the temp much closer than that, but the basement is pretty damn cold well
into spring. One question that I still haven't nailed down about making
this style is the 'diacetyl rest' I've heard reference too. I've read
Miller's book which is where I first heard of it but, typically, he is very
unclear about just what it is and how/whether to do one. If I understand
it correctly this 'rest' is performed by moving the primary, after the
initial fermentation is over, to a warmer environment for a few days to
increase diacetyl (buttery) character. I have seen this vaguely referenced
in several pilsner discussions but have been unable to nail down the exact
procedure. (What temp == warmer? How long?)
So, have you pilsner experts out there got any tips/info/corrections?
Cheers,
Mel Martinez
The Johns Hopkins University
Dept. of Physics
mem@pha.jhu.edu
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 10:06:00 MST
From: "Fleming, Kirk R., Capt" <FLEMINGKR@afmcfafb.fafb.af.mil>
Subject: Fermenter Questions
>In #1667 Will Self asks about fermenter design:
Here's what we've done, Will. Cut the top out of a Sankey keg and had a
3/4" NPT pipe coupling (cut in half) welded thru the center bottom of
the keg. From the outside, screwed in a 3/4" NPT to 3/4" copper coupling, a
copper nipple, and a brass/stainless 3/4" ball valve.
This design suffers exactly the problem of the carboy--slope at the bottom
is insufficient. I sent away for a catalog from one of the Zymurgy
advertisers selling 1/2 bbl cylindroconical fermenters, but did not get the
info I needed (price). Based on the average price of $400 for a 20 gal
stock pot in stainless, I'm confident a fermenter would be more.
My thought was to cut the keg at the weld joint at the lower chine,
then fabricate a cone from stainless sheet and have it Heli-arc'ed to the
bottom of the keg. Sanitary welding is what's needed--it won't be a
pressure vessel.
For the top I now have a Pyrex lid from a Dutch oven, thru which I drilled a
hole for an airlock. I'd now go go with a SS pan lid (the hole in my
fermenter is 10" dia) which can be easily modified at will with flanges,
etc., to accomodate airlocks, aeration plumbing and all that. Of course,
there is a school which advocates simply leaving the lid on without worrying
about seals and airlocks--a semi-open fermentation concept. I think this is
a solid idea.
Finally, the current unit (and any future one) is mounted on a painted
wooden stand which supports the bottom of the keg at about 48" off the
floor. The stand looks much like a giant four-legged barstool with a
4" hole in the middle of the seat to accomodate the drain valve. We
pump from the tank we chilled the wort in directly into the fermenter, which
has the benefit of high aeration. We can easily drop the brew
from the fermenter into the keg when it's time.
Can't speak to the chemistry of fiberglass resin--but whenever I've tried
to acquire the materials for fairly substantial fiberglass projects,
found the cost was prohibitive. Your sources/results may vary. For me,
stainless is actually much less expensive--even with the cost of having
the welding done. It would be *very* important to ensure the inside
surface of the fiberglass tank was inclusion-free for sanitation. Not
having built anything from 'glass, a smooth interior seems like a big
obstacle.
Your idea for a bottle under the tank drain valve sounds good--provided it's
a completely closed system like the oil-jars you may have seen on ancient
industrial equipment. OTOH, I would just open the airlock, then crank open
the ball-valve on the bottom of the tank. A slug of yeast sediment should
come out, followed by clear beer. A little training and one should be able
to minimize losses yet still get the trub out of the unit. After closing
the ball valve, the pocket of the valve exposed to the atmosphere should be
spray-flushed with a sanitizer to prevent bacteria growth, preparatory to
final racking. Anyone knowing commercial practice in this area should
please contribute!
Kirk R Fleming
-flemingkr@afmcfafb.fafb.af.mil
------------------------------
Date: 27 Feb 95 11:47:00 -0600
From: korz@iepubj.att.com (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583)
Subject: Competition Announcement
Ok, the last announcment:
March 25, 1995 is the date for the 1995 Brewers of South Suburbia
competition to be held in Lockport, IL (South-suburban Chicago).
Entries are due between March 10th and 17th. Over $600 in prizes
have been pledged for 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each category plus 1st,
2nd and 3rd BOS. For more information and/or entry/judge/steward
registration packets, please send email or call me at 708-430-HOPS
(evenings, Fridays, weekends or leave a message).
Judges and Stewards needed!
Al.
korz@iepubj.att.com
------------------------------
Date: 27 Feb 95 14:18:00 -0600
From: korz@iepubj.att.com (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583)
Subject: hop storage/homebrewed vs. commercial/volume in IBU formulas
Charles writes:
> In a year of reading the digest I have not seen a discussion of the
>proper/best way to store hops. I have taken to using brown jars (ovaltine
>works nicely), purging w/co2 and freezing. Seemed to be a reasonable
>alternative to the cost of buying a heat sealer, o2 impermeable bags and some
>nitrogen.
I have a heat sealer, so I just re-seal the O2-barrier bags the hops came in,
but I've recommended to those who don't to fold the corner of the opened bag
a couple of times and then keep it closed with a butterfly clip (one of those
black, old-fashioned clips for big stacks of paper). You don't have to get
Nitrogen to flush the package -- CO2 is inert and will purge the O2 out of the
package just as well as N2. I think that your method seems good assuming the
jar has a good seal. Even if the rubber/soft plastic seal of the jar is not
made of O2-barrier plastic, remember that the permiability is a function of
area (proportional) and thickness (inversely proportional). The seal of the
jar will have a small area and a relatively large thickness. Incidentally,
you can buy small heat sealers at a place called Service Merchandise around
here for (I believe) $29.99.
********
Richard writes:
>1) How does the "best" homebrew compare with the the "best" commercial beer?
>"Best" is difficult to determine, but can any generalizations be made with
>respect to the beer produced by homebrewers versus commercial brewers, once
>a reasonably high level of competence is attained?
Some of the best beer I've tasted was homebrewed. Once you get a handle on
this hobby, you can really brew some very, very good beer. I've tasted beer
from one homebrewer, who on her 10th batch or so, was making beer that would
put most commercial breweries to shame. Perfect balance, wonderful flavours,
complexity... excellent beer.
>2) How do the raw materials used by commercial brewers differ from those
>used by commercial (micro) brewers? I would imagine that the malt is quite
>similar, the yeast more varied, and have no idea about the hops.
It depends on your supplier. The raw ingredients that enter the wholesale
homebrew supply stream are the same ones that are used by micros. How well
the suppliers handle and package the ingredients has a lot to do with how
good the supplies will be when you use them. Personally, I'd insist on
Oxygen-barrier packaging for hops and, ideally, CO2- or Nitrogen-purged.
Grain should be stored in sealed containers, like buckets or thick plastic
bags. Grain stored in paper or open containers will go stale (as quickly
as a few days if the humidity is high). There are literally hundreds of
strains of yeast available to homebrewers now from Wyeast, The Yeast Culture
Kit Company, Head Start, Brewer's Resource. The quality of these yeasts
is as good as what the pros use (and, in many cases, ARE what the pros use).
>3) Finally, how much of largescale brewing is art vs. engineering, or asked
>another way, could many other micro breweries produce a copy of, say an
>Anchor Liberty Ale or a SN Celebration Ale, if it were in their business
>model to produce such a product? If money was no object, and a brewery wanted
>to produce a five star beer, using the best ingredients and state of the art
>equipment, could most brewers pull it off or are there still lots of
>intangibles left which translate into a disparity of results.
I would imagine that on a microbrewery scale, it might be a little more
difficult to produce a clone of another beer, mostly because there are
equipment limitation (either you are set up to do decoction or you aren't;
either you have a grant or you don't; either you have a hopback or you don't),
but for a skilled homebrewer it should not take more than three or four
iterations to get quite close. The key is really the yeast. You can always
get similar grain and similar hops, but the yeast has a far bigger effect on
the final flavour than a slightly different hop variety or a different
maltster's grain.
*******
Mark O. writes:
>Perhaps it is common sense, but none of the texts I have read has
>made a distinction about the *proper* volume to use [for IBU calculations].
>Most of us would
>be inclined to say *fermenter*, correct? I would argue that the final
>kettle volume is the right one, since a gallon of unusable wort is still
>one gallon of wort. Some brewers may not lose a gallon in the
>process, as I do, but accurate calculations must have accurate measurements.
I agree with you. The concentration of isomerized alpha acids will be
dependent on the volume of the wort at the end of the boil *including*
the break (and, as we read recently, perhaps a lot more dependent on the
amount on the break than we had previously thought!). There is another
factor (gravity) that needs to be taken into account. Let's say you
start with 8 gallons of wort at 1050 and end with 5.5 gallons of wort at
1073. So what's the boil gravity? What I do is calculate the average
gravity _during_the_time_that_the_hops_are_in_the_boil_. So, let's say,
I first let the wort boil down to 7 gallons (which would be about 1057)
and then add the hops till it boils down to 5.5 gallons (at 1073). The
average boil gravity would be about 1065, which is what I would use in
Rager's gravity adjustment formula.
>Since I am a late comer to the IBU debate, I presume that the
>disparaging of Garetz's approach to IBU calculation is with utilization
>rates, not the formula itself.
No, it's not just the utilization percentages that I feel are incorrect,
but also the additional compensations (altitude, hop aging, high IBUs,
etc.) that are suspect. I say this because I've compared the hop additions
recommended by Garetz's formulas against beers that were brewed with the
Rager formulas and then subsequently tested at the Siebel Institute. See
my review of Using Hops in the latest issue of Zymurgy for all the data.
Al.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 13:43:30 EST
From: Eamonn McKernan <eamonn@rainbow.physics.utoronto.ca>
Subject: Re: Fermenter Questions
Will Self wants to re-design fermenters.
I wish you the best of luck. Right now, most homebrewing equipment is
primarily designed for other purposes, and we learn to build/apapt these
things to our purposes. Though things are slowly changing for the better.
And of course, anyone with enough money can get custom made parts.
Some possible problems with your proposed design: Plastic is oxygen permeable,
so in that sense it is not really "generally accepted". It might be closer to
the truth to suggest that it is grudgingly accepted by some of us. Though
I don't know the permeability of fibreglass.
A sloping bottom on a fermentor will still have trub stick to it, so a
collection jar at the very bottom won't catch all that precipitates. You'd
do much better simply suspending the racking cane above the trub if you don't
want to siphon it. If you're brewing in 12-15 gallon batches, then this
does not represent any significant loss of precious beer. Or with your
brewcap you similarly rig it to only collect beer above a certain height in
the fermentor.
If you don't mind using plastic, you could probably modify a bucket to have
a sloping bottom by using some kind of filler (I can't think of what kind
of material would be suitable for this. Maybe that fibreglass stuff). Then
make sure that its lid is a tight fit, and you're set. Drill as many holes
in it as you want, install a valve at the bottom, and a bit of racking cane
sticking up from the bottom to above the level of the trub. If you don't want
trub to fall into the cane, bend it so that it faces downwards. But
realistically, you'd probably have to made things out of metal for an
ideal setup.
A question to people with buckets with lids: How tight a fit are the lids.
I know alot of them are ok, but have never seen one with a true airtight
seal. Any special modifications that someone's tried?
Also, if you put a tap at the bottom to collect samples during fermentation,
would it be sanitary? After taking one sample, the outside would get covered
with wort, which airborne beasties would latch onto by the time you wanted
to use it again. Or is this not true? In fact, even if it were sanitized
when you started fermenting, a few days of contact with outside air would
be enough to cover them with bacteria.
Just some thoughts. Can't wait to hear what you eventually build.
Eamonn McKernan
eamonn@rainbow.physics.utoronto.ca
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 13:55:21 -0500 (EST)
From: Bread and Circus <kfitzger@abacus.bates.edu>
Subject: Used Wort Chiller wanted
Hello,
I'm prepairing to go all grain and trying to minimilize costs. I'm
looking for a cheap wort chiller and/or grist mill. Please let me know if
you can help me out.
Thanks,
Pat FitzGerald
kfitzger@abacus.bates.edu
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 12:18:03 -0700
From: k-jones@ee.utah.edu (Kelly Jones)
Subject: Fiberglass fermenters
Will self asks about fiberglass fermenters. This is an interesting idea.
One criterion you left out was the ability to hold pressure. This way the
beer could naturally condition itself in the fermenter. Could a fiberglass
vessel be engineered to withstand a few atmospheres of pressure?
Also, if Fiberglass is not a suitable beer-contact material, what about
lining the vessel interior with a form-fitted "condom", made out of PE, PP,
or some other safe material? This would only need be a few mils thick, like
a garbage bag, and could be disposed of after one or more brews.
Kelly
------------------------------
Date: 28 Feb 95 14:03:00 -0600
From: korz@iepubj.att.com (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583)
Subject: dropping and mutant yeast/hop storage: don't use polyethylene bags!
Brian writes:
>> This raises another question: shouldn't this be done prior to the yeast
>> going anaerobic?
>
> I think the idea is that the yeast that is actively working in
>suspension is the "master race" and that it is only when this yeast is
>in full working order that you want to drop in order to discard the initial
>head and whatever has sunk to the bottom of the fermenter.
Well, perhaps. In any yeast population you will have healthy yeast and
unhealthy yeast, even if all were from a single cell culture. From private
correspondence with George Fix a few years ago, if I have this right, my
understanding is that there are various types of mutants that can occur.
Some of the typical mutations are: 1) the loss of the ability to ferment
some kinds of sugars, 2) the loss of the ablility to respire (respiratory
deficient or RD mutants), 3) the losss of the ability to reabsorb diacetyl,
and, the most important to our discussion, 4) the loss of the ability to
flocculate.
The reason that so many British brewers harvest their yeast from the top of
the ferment is because this tends to select the strong flocculators and
leaves behind the poor flocculators. If you have a strong top flocculating
yeast and you leave most of it behind during dropping (or, for that matter,
if you use the blowoff method with this kind of yeast) you can be selecting
the poor flocculators and leaving the strong flocculators behind. The same
argument can be made for bottom cropping (harvesting yeast from the bottom
of the fermentor) of yeasts that have a strong tendancy to flocculate at the
bottom.
So where does that leave us? Well, as I see it, it means that it is important
when "dropping" to include a significant portion of the yeast on the top, no?
Excluding *all* the kraeusen (ok, so it's a German word) will increase your
chances of increasing the percentage of poor flocculators. Let's recall that
it's the dirty head (that dark brown gunk) that we're trying to get rid of,
NOT the creamy white yeast cake.
*****
Gary writes:
>Fred Waltman (or was it Norm Pyle?) brought up hop storage. I put
>my hops in zip-lock freezer bags and suck the air out of them
>before closing. I put all the backs together in a big "Tupperware"
>tub, and freeze them. Does that sound like poor practice?
The "tupperware" is probably what's saving your hops. As I posted yesterday,
the permiability of a container is proportional to the area and inversely
proportional to the thickness. Since the "tupperware" is quite thick, the
permiabilty is quite a bit less than the plastic bags. All the plastic
"tupperware" I've seen is either high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density
PE (LDPE) or polypropylene (PP). All three of these are pretty permiable to
oxygen, the enemy of hops. The "tupperware" *helps* preserve the hops, but
is not ideal -- glass would be better. The zip-lock bags by themselves are not
much protection from oxidation at all. One day in a polyethylene bag (your
typical ziplock sandwich or freezer bag) allows as much oxygen to permiate
into the bag as 250 days in the O2-barrier bags that I use for hop storage!
If you bought your hops in oxygen-barrier bags to begin with, you would not
have to worry about them -- just re-seal the corner of the bag as well as
you can. Oxygen-barrier bags are available to all retailers, so your retailer
should not have any excuse for not using them -- they cost more, but brewing
predictable beer with variable quality hops is difficult if not impossible.
And predictable bittering is not the only issue -- when exposed to oxygen
hop aromas quickly go bad (Fuggles, for example, go "cheezy" -- Hallertauer
go "piney.")
Al.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 12:55:54 -0800
From: especkma@halcyon.com (Erik Speckman)
Subject: Pitching rates for High Grav. Brews
Capt. Kirk R. Fleming was wondering about the rational behind the
reccomendation that pitching rate be perportional to wort gravity.
I think it is because the soluability of O2 is perportional to wort
gravity. More yeast cells must be provided to ensure a sufficient
population peak because it is beleived that yeast reproduction depends on
the availability of O2 for aerobic respiration.
This is also the reasoning behind reccomendations that extra care be taken
to aerate higher gravity brews.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 16:59:11 CST
From: Tim.Bennett@amd.com (Tim Bennett)
Subject: aging beer
Any input as to the "proper" method of aging beer? That is,
those styles of beer which improve with age, a la barleywine.
Refrigeration? Cellar aging? Is it advisable to deactivate the
yeast? Where do I get that much refrigerator space? I live
in Austin, Texas...we don't have cellars.
I've let beers (not barleywines) age for about three months at room
temperature, and when opened they were like soda-water...no taste at all.
We played a dirge as they were poured down the drain. On the other
hand, I've let beers go a long time (6-12 months) in refrigeration,
and they were SUPERB.
Any thoughts?
- --
regards
Tim.Bennett@amd.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 18:56:08 -0500
From: JHojel@aol.com
Subject: Hefe Weisen Yeast
I'm in search of a yeast strain (other than the usual: Wyeast's Weihenstephan
strain) to brew a fruity Hefe Weisen. Does anyone happen to have such a
strain that they are willing to share?
JHojel
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 16:37:16 -0700
From: tboyce@ibm.net
Subject: RE:Controlling RIMs Motor Speed
> THIS IS A MESSAGE IN 'MIME' FORMAT. Your mail reader does not support MIME.
> You may not be able to read some parts of this message.
- --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014
Content-ID: <14_57_1_794007439>
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit
Content-Description: <none>
Thank you to:
Bruce, Lance, Stuart, Evan, Dion, Tim, Louis,Don,John
Whom replied to via e-mail to my motor-pump speed control question.
To Sumarize;
1. Will a light dimmer work to control motor speed?
Yes and no. Or more approprietly maybe. Zymurgy gadgets issue has a fix to
a dimmer switch if your inclinded to try it, although your dimmer may not be
like the unit in the article.
2. What works? A fan motor controller is compatible with most a/c motors and
alot of the respondents where using them with great success. They do not
handle low speed torque. Their inexpensive and available anywhere.
3. Home built circuits. Router speed controller.
Something to satisfy all levels of electronics tinkerers. Seems theres a real
intrest in RIMs in HBD lately. I can hardly wait for the steam injection Gott
vs. RIMs debates.
Special thanks to Lance.
Bruce if you did'nt receive my e-mail, respond and I'll resend.
Todd
tboyce@bohemia.metronet.org
tboyce@nyx.10.cs.du.edu
- --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014
Content-ID: <14_57_1_794008955>
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit
Content-Description: <none>
- --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014--
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 16:37:16 -0700
From: tboyce@ibm.net
Subject: RE:Controlling RIMs Motor Speed
> THIS IS A MESSAGE IN 'MIME' FORMAT. Your mail reader does not support MIME.
> You may not be able to read some parts of this message.
- --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014
Content-ID: <14_57_1_794007439>
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit
Content-Description: <none>
Thank you to:
Bruce, Lance, Stuart, Evan, Dion, Tim, Louis,Don,John
Whom replied to via e-mail to my motor-pump speed control question.
To Sumarize;
1. Will a light dimmer work to control motor speed?
Yes and no. Or more approprietly maybe. Zymurgy gadgets issue has a fix to
a dimmer switch if your inclinded to try it, although your dimmer may not be
like the unit in the article.
2. What works? A fan motor controller is compatible with most a/c motors and
alot of the respondents where using them with great success. They do not
handle low speed torque. Their inexpensive and available anywhere.
3. Home built circuits. Router speed controller.
Something to satisfy all levels of electronics tinkerers. Seems theres a real
intrest in RIMs in HBD lately. I can hardly wait for the steam injection Gott
vs. RIMs debates.
Special thanks to Lance.
Bruce if you did'nt receive my e-mail, respond and I'll resend.
Todd
tboyce@bohemia.metronet.org
tboyce@nyx.10.cs.du.edu
- --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014
Content-ID: <14_57_1_794008955>
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit
Content-Description: <none>
- --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014--
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 16:37:16 -0700
From: tboyce@ibm.net
Subject: RE:Controlling RIMs Motor Speed
> THIS IS A MESSAGE IN 'MIME' FORMAT. Your mail reader does not support MIME.
> You may not be able to read some parts of this message.
- --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014
Content-ID: <14_57_1_794007439>
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit
Content-Description: <none>
Thank you to:
Bruce, Lance, Stuart, Evan, Dion, Tim, Louis,Don,John
Whom replied to via e-mail to my motor-pump speed control question.
To Sumarize;
1. Will a light dimmer work to control motor speed?
Yes and no. Or more approprietly maybe. Zymurgy gadgets issue has a fix to
a dimmer switch if your inclinded to try it, although your dimmer may not be
like the unit in the article.
2. What works? A fan motor controller is compatible with most a/c motors and
alot of the respondents where using them with great success. They do not
handle low speed torque. Their inexpensive and available anywhere.
3. Home built circuits. Router speed controller.
Something to satisfy all levels of electronics tinkerers. Seems theres a real
intrest in RIMs in HBD lately. I can hardly wait for the steam injection Gott
vs. RIMs debates.
Special thanks to Lance.
Bruce if you did'nt receive my e-mail, respond and I'll resend.
Todd
tboyce@bohemia.metronet.org
tboyce@nyx.10.cs.du.edu
- --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014
Content-ID: <14_57_1_794008955>
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit
Content-Description: <none>
- --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014--
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 95 16:37:16 -0700
From: tboyce@ibm.net
Subject: RE:Controlling RIMs Motor Speed
> THIS IS A MESSAGE IN 'MIME' FORMAT. Your mail reader does not support MIME.
> You may not be able to read some parts of this message.
- --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014
Content-ID: <14_57_1_794007439>
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit
Content-Description: <none>
Thank you to:
Bruce, Lance, Stuart, Evan, Dion, Tim, Louis,Don,John
Whom replied to via e-mail to my motor-pump speed control question.
To Sumarize;
1. Will a light dimmer work to control motor speed?
Yes and no. Or more approprietly maybe. Zymurgy gadgets issue has a fix to
a dimmer switch if your inclinded to try it, although your dimmer may not be
like the unit in the article.
2. What works? A fan motor controller is compatible with most a/c motors and
alot of the respondents where using them with great success. They do not
handle low speed torque. Their inexpensive and available anywhere.
3. Home built circuits. Router speed controller.
Something to satisfy all levels of electronics tinkerers. Seems theres a real
intrest in RIMs in HBD lately. I can hardly wait for the steam injection Gott
vs. RIMs debates.
Special thanks to Lance.
Bruce if you did'nt receive my e-mail, respond and I'll resend.
Todd
tboyce@bohemia.metronet.org
tboyce@nyx.10.cs.du.edu
- --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014
Content-ID: <14_57_1_794008955>
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7Bit
Content-Description: <none>
- --PART.BOUNDARY.0014.794009014--
------------------------------
Date: 28 Feb 95 19:05:59 EST
From: Karen Barela/AHA President <75250.1350@compuserve.com>
Subject: Mississippi
Here's an update to the situation in Mississippi. The bill has passed the
House Ways and Means Committee and it now needs to pass the Full House. We
would like to see it pass the Full House soon, before the group who opposes
this bill has a chance to mobilize and gather support against the bill. We
hope to see it pass within the next couple of days.
Anyone who is interested in helping to pass this bill should call as soon as
possible, Tim Ford, Speaker of the House and/or Glenn Endris, Representative
and offer your support for Senate Bill #2097. If you live in Mississippi it
would help if you stated the district you are in and direct your support to
your districts representative. Written letters from interested individuals
have a strong impact!
The phone # is (601) 359-3770
The Fax # is (601) 359-3728
I'll update everyone with additional information when it becomes available.
- Karen
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 19:39:14 -0500 (EST)
From: jack walter kennedy <kennedyj@dekalb.DC.PeachNet.EDU>
Subject: Petes Wicked Winter Brew / Aluminum
Hi All,
My wife absolutely adores Petes WWB. I obviously need the recipe.
I find that a good way to maintain marital bliss is to supply
what she wants %^)
On another note, how about hard anodizing aluminum pots? Is it
safe for food? I think it is the process used by Calphalon.
TIA for any help.
Jack Kennedy
kennedyj@dekalb.DC.PeachNet.EDU
------------------------------
Date: 28 Feb 1995 20:01:00 U
From: "Craig Sonis" <craig_sonis@phcteam.com>
Subject: Harpoon Beer & The Sam Adams Brewpub
Greetings:
This is my first post to the HBD so bear with me (I try not to waste
valuable bandwidth). I currently do not brew, none the less know how to.
But, I do find the HBD conversations quite interesting, educational and I
guess that's what keeps me coming back. But, in a short time I think I'll be
making the plunge into homebrewing and asking for tons of advice & questions
in the end. Either way here's some local Boston, MA - Beer News that I've
come across.
=-=-=-=-
Hot off the press from my Harpoon Beer Newsletter (the classic Boston Brew
- And before everyone writes, "I Don't work for Harpoon").
1) Harpoon Brewery
"Harpoon's Annual St. Patrick's Day Bash"
- --Where: At the Brewery, out on the docks near the World Trade Center of
Boston.
- --When: Saturday, March 11, 2-11pm
- --Admission: $7 Admission includes a free Harpoon Party Pint Glass (sorry
beer is extra) I believe $2.75/pint.
- -- For more info call the Event Hotline @ 617-574-9551 x22
This is one of the 5 Events that the brewery puts on during the year. It's a
great time, speaking from experience. I went to the Octoberfest 1994, beer
music and fun. The October event pulled in an attendance of 10,000 (Yes! Ten
Thousand) over a 3 day weekend. The other events are as follows:
Harpoon Mardi Gras Party - Mid February
Harpoon St. Patrick Day Party - Saturday b/f St. Patrick's Day
Harpoon Brewstock - Second weekend in June
Harpoon Summer Bash - Mid August
Harpoon Octoberfest - First weekend in October
Harpoon Holiday Party - The first Saturday in December
The colder temperature events are actually held in the brewery - band and
all!
I'll post when I remember as when the party's are
=-=--=-=
2) Samuel Adam's Brewpub (We knew it had to happen sometime!)
The pub will be opening on March 6 in the Lenox Hotel on Boylston Street
(near the Boston City Library). Also, could someone please tell me I'm not
hearing rumors, but I am being told by a buddy of mine told me SA now isn't
even brewed in Massachusetts? What?
Either way the ads running for the brew pub are great w/ the copy reading
on the each of them:
- "No Norm. No Cliff. No Carla. Just Sam"
(ed.: I can hear the Cheers Lawyers talking now!)
the other ad
- "He drank to freedom. He drank to liberty. He drank to independence.
Let's face it, the man would drink to anything!"
Craig Sonis, beer enthusiast
craig_sonis@phcteam.com
Boston, MA
"I drank what?" %-)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 21:32:29 -7700 (EST)
From: "Shannon William Fleming" <flemings@student.msu.edu>
Subject: Is my S.G. too high?
This is my third batch *newbie*. The first batch we followed the directions
and put in 3.5 lbs. light malt extract + 1.0 lb corn sugar *cringe*...
but we had an OG up near 40 and a final around 06. The last two batches...
1) 3.5 light malt extract + 1.0 DME OG=1.045 FG=1.018 (4 gallons water)
2) 4.0 DARK Irish Stout + (nothing) OG=1.056 our first hydrometer measure
FG=1.024 (4 gallons water) it's back in the fermenter now.
using Cooper's dry yeast pitched to starter
temp around 70-75F
first batch bubbled consistently for a week then stopped.
two and three went like hell for 2 days and stopped (_real_ slow)
Too little Oxy?...Need yeast nutrient?...More yeast?...Is this normal?
thanx,
flemings@student.msu.edu
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 28 Feb 1995 21:11:15 -0600
From: robert@i-link.net (Robert Heynen)
Subject: Celis Merger
After months of denying rumors about Miller buying out Celis, Pierre Celis
announced today in Austin the merger between Miller Brewing and Celis
Beers. Miller will have majority ownership of Celis Beers while Pierre
will remain in control of the brewing process. They have plans for
expanding production and distribution of Celis beers, although the brewery
will remain at its present site.
Lets hope Miller doesn't put too much pressure on Pierre to cut expenses
and quality of his beer.
Robert
robert@i-link.net
* * * Listen to the wind carefully. It beckons you to faraway
places.* * *
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1669, 03/02/95
*************************************
-------
