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HOMEBREW Digest #1767
This file received at Hops.Stanford.EDU 1995/06/28 PDT
HOMEBREW Digest #1767 Wed 28 June 1995
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Janitor
Contents:
hops and kegs? (Scott E. Bratlie)
Fridge vs Freezer/hard water/cactus fruit additions (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583)
Gordon Biersch, Diacetyl, etc. ("BARRON, GRAHAM LARS")
A weeks of beers -- Part I (John Adams)
A weeks of beers -- Part II (John Adams)
Dortmund 2x (A. J. deLange)
hop plugs (Farnsworth)
salvaging gushers (Lenny Garfinkel)
Re: Filling a Sankey (Aidan "Krazy Krausen Kropping Kiwi" Heerdegen)
BOWTIE /KIRK/MAGNETIC/"X"Files-HBD #1757 (CHARLIE SCANDRETT)
RE: carboy cooler (ESLINGER)
Vinegar/more Bowtie info (DCB2)
Grain bag sparging (" Robert Bloodworth ZFBTO - MT0054")
Welding Seattle Wise (Kathy Trost)
summmer heat (Evan_Still)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 17:48:56 -0600
From: bratlie@selway.umt.edu (Scott E. Bratlie)
Subject: hops and kegs?
>From: bratlie@selway.umt.edu (Scott E. Bratlie)
>Subject: hops and kegs?
>
>>To: homebrew@hpfcmi.fc.hp.com
>>From: bratlie@selway.umt.edu (Scott E. Bratlie)
>>Subject: hops and kegs?
>>Cc:
>>Bcc:
>>X-Attachments:
>>
>>>To: homebrew@hpfcmi.fc.hp.com (
>>>From: bratlie@selway.umt.edu (Scott E. Bratlie)
>>>Subject: hops and kegs?
>>>Cc:
>>>Bcc:
>>>X-Attachments:
>>>
>>> Can anyone help me with a hops growing problem? The problem (not
really much of one) is that I bought a hops plant at the local farmers
market. The people that sold it to me could not identify the varity, its
the only one I could find and wanted to get it established for next year.
They did tell me that it was hybridized about five years ago at washington
state university. What variety could I possibly have. I could not identify
by taste as I am a relitively newbie at brewing. Second set of questions.
I've been reading all the posts on kegging. And have seen five litter mini
kegs, pigs, and of course kegs of various types. What is the best setup for
a beginer, cost is a factor? I would eventially like to force carbonate
(maybe). What would be a resonable price for any of these setups? What are
there advantages and disadvantages? I brew one or two five gallon batches a
month. And these last me until the next is finished. Thats all I can think
of if you need more info ask.
>>>
>>
Scott Bratlie
"Know one is free if someone is oppressed."
Author unkown
------------------------------
Date: 26 Jun 95 17:21:00 -0500
From: korz@iepubj.att.com (Algis R Korzonas +1 708 979 8583)
Subject: Fridge vs Freezer/hard water/cactus fruit additions
Pat writes:
>I'm a fairly new brewer still, and am looking at a kegging system. My
>question is about fridges and freezers. I have access to an upright
>freezer, a 1-door type, which needs a new motor. Is there any reason to
>choose a fridge over a freezer for a garage-kept brewcooler, except that
>it's nice to have a separate fridge/freezer section so that you can store
>your hops in the freezer part?
A freezer with a new thermostat would work just fine, but my concern is
with the fact that it is an upright. You see, all of the upright freezers
that I have seen had cooling coils build right into the shelves and they
were not adjustable. If the shelves are far enough apart and strong
enough for your application, go ahead. There was a fellow on the HBD a
few years ago who was planning on bending the shelves of an upright
freezer. I don't recall if he ever posted on his results or if he went
ahead with the plan at all. You might check the archives for this thread.
I have a chest freezer and I'm really happy with it. It can fit an awful
lot of cornelius kegs as well as a lot of cases and/or commercial kegs.
You cannot conveniently add a faucet to the door (which looks cool) but
I chose to not do this since I was concerned about mould in the faucet
between uses.
****
Art writes:
>Next I-gotta-learn-the-hard-way experiment: Dark grains will lower the pH of
>the mash and can be used in hard water situtions to ensure good extraction
>rates. So they say. I plan to use untreated water and compare extraction
>rates of recipes that differ only in the pct. of dark grains. Advice please:
>Will swapping light crystal for dark crystal be a good way to do this? Thanks.
The answer to your question is: yes. Swapping light for dark crystal will
reduce the amount of acidity you add via the grain. I once did some
small-scale experiments with pH and grains and even the light crystals
lowered the pH considerably.
MORE IMPORTANTLY, I'd like comment on your statement: "in hard water
situations." Please, let us not equate "hard" water with "carbonate" water
or even worse "bad for brewing" water. Hardness (for the most part) is a
measure of Calcium and/or Magnesium in the water. There are two types of
hardness: permanent and temporary. Permanent hardness depends (mostly) on
how much Sulphate is in the water because both Calcium Sulphate and
Magnesium Sulphate are quite soluble. Temporary hardness is primarily a
measure of how much Carbonate/Bicarbonate you have in your water. When
you boil your water, if you have enough Calcium in the water and not too
much Magnesium, you will precipitate a significant portion of the Calcium
and Carbonate/Bicarbonate as Calcium Carbonate. "Hard water," if not very
high in carbonate, is quite *good* for brewing, actually, if you are trying
to brew Pale Ales and not Pilsners. So, to make a short story long, I
think what Art was trying to say was "in high-carbonate water situations..."
***
Russell writes (quoting Dominic):
>> B) once again how do I figure how much fruit to add?
>
>Get a recipe for any beer using fruit off the net. One you think you
>can trust. Maybe a couple different recipes. Take a bit of that fruit.
>Taste it. Taste the cactus fruit. How much "stronger" or "weaker" is
>the flavor of the cactus fruit? Twice as strong? Use half as much. <snip>
An integral part of fruit "flavour" is sugar. Many people who try to brew
fruit beers are disappointed initially since they expect a fruit flavour
when they actually get mostly fruit aroma. I hadn't thought about this
until Russ posted his suggestion. Consider this: fresh raspberries and fresh
black cherries both have quite intense flavours, but when you add them
to beer, 8 pounds of black cherries in a beer can be not enough, but 8
pounds of raspberries (in a subtile beer) can be too much. Why? Because
raspberries have so much more *aroma* than black cherries. I think that
you should not be *tasting* the raspberries (for example) versus the cactus
fruit but rather smelling purees. If the cactus fruit is quite aromatic,
you might not need very much at all.
Al.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 95 23:36:49 EDT
From: "BARRON, GRAHAM LARS" <GBARRON@MUSIC.CC.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Gordon Biersch, Diacetyl, etc.
Fellow homebrewers,
For those of you going to the Bay Area anytime soon, I thought I
would post a brief review of the Gordon Biersch brewpub in San Jose
(very brief, seeing this is not the Brewpub Review Digest). The place
is very nice, clean, open, but expensive in regards to food. The food
is good to very good, but overpriced. The beer is good and inexpensive.
I tried all four on tap, and here's a short review:
Export: A light, not all that flavorful interpretation of a German
pilsner. Not something to seek out.
Marzen: Better, but not rich enough or malty enough for my taste. Too
many hops in my view for the Oktoberfest/Marzen style, but a good beer.
Dunkles: Very good, rich, malty, more hoppy than most other dunkles
I've had.
Hefeweizen: This was my favorite; very fruity, lots of phenolics and
fruity esters. Great, unfiltered beer. Worth travelling miles for.
Anyway, enough of that. One thing I thought about while I was there,
though, was why all of their beers are German lagers, excluding the
weizen. Most brewpubs, micros, and homebrewers brew ales, and I was
just curious as to this discrepancy. This might be topic for further
discussion on the Digest if people are interested.
Finally, I'd like to solicit opinions from everyone about a good ale
yeast that will give me a firm but not overpowering diacetyl flavor.
I'm brewing up a big ESB or maybe its an IPA, but I'd like to produce
that great diacetyl one finds in a Fuller's or some such british ale.
Any good extract recipes or suggestions would be greatly appreciated
also. TIA,
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ Graham L. Barron | "If you drink beer, you die. If you +
+ University of Georgia | don't drink beer, you die anyway. So +
+ Athens, Georgia, USA | you might as well drink it." +
+ gbarron@music.cc.uga.edu | -- Roger Briess +
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 21:58:33 -0600
From: John Adams <j_adams@hpfcjca.sde.hp.com>
Subject: A weeks of beers -- Part I
The past week I vacationed in the Philadelphia area and attended 4 brew pubs,
Dock Street Brewing Company and Samual Adams Brew House in Philadelphia,
Valley Forge Brewery, and Lancaster Malt Brewing Company.
While all four were very good, two stood out as having excellent beer and
food. These being Dock Street Brewing Company and my favorite Lancaster Malt
Brewing Company.
Dock Street Brewing Company
2 Logan Square, Philadelphia, PA 19103
This brewery in downtown and offers both some very tasty food and equally
great beers. Their list included 10 beers 4 of which there were not serving
(Cream Ale, Schwartzbier, Brown Ale, and a Belgian White) which was really
unfortunate since the Schwartz and Belgian are something you rarely find
in a brewpub.
**Bohemian Pils
This beer has a slight fruitiness and a nice hop bitterness that
quickly mingles with a pleasant hop flavor. This beer was my
favorite of Dock Street's selection.
Dortmunder
Malty and bitter. This is somewhat higher in alcohol and not as hoppy
in flavor as the pils. but is more bitter.
Irish Red Ale
A nice roasted and toasted grain flavor. Low to medium bitterness
that finishes dry but not hoppy and slightly fruity.
*Porter
A nice roasted grain flavor. I detected some black patent which gives
it the nice coffee flavor and aroma. Very dark in color. This beer
was my second favorite.
Dunkelweizen
Not quite as dark and malty as I expected but it does have the malt
smoothness of a wheat. Not very bitter, which is good, and not as
alcoholic as I would expect from a Dunkel.
*Tripel
A very nice caramel taste and has the light maltiness of a Belgian.
High in alcohol content but not as carbonated as it should be. I
also picked up a slight sulphur taste. It also is a bit on the
bitter side for a Tripel but a very enjoyable beer.
Lancaster Malt Brewing Company
Plum and Walnut Streets, Lancaster PA, 17602
This place was a pearl, literally. I found a pearl in my seafood linguini!!
Excellent food only surpassed by their fantastic beers.
I had the chance to talk with the brewmaster as he was racking off the
Red Rose Amber to the fermenter. He has had 12 years of homebrewing
experience and for a brewery only been open for 3 months, he's making some
great beers. A *must* visit whenever you're in Amish country.
Golden Lager
Slightly malty sweet and not as hoppy as a pils. Finishes a little
dry with a subtle malty taste. Clean and crisp, very enjoyable.
Wheat
Served with a lemon so it was somewhat tart. Not a hoppy as an
American but also not with the clove spiciness. Seems to be
more of a light American or possibly a Weise. A nice bread-like
smoothness characteristic of a wheat.
Brown Ale
Nice malt character with a hoppy bitterness. Very smooth but not
quite enough chocolate malt. Finishes a bit dry but sweet and
balanced.
**Red Rose Amber
Nice toasted grain bitterness. Smooth and slightly dry but
balanced with the hop. A little on the bitter side but the hop
flavor is well emphasized.
*Porter
A nice roasted grain taste, smooth and almost a sweet stout
character. Excellent head retention and mouth feel. Finishes a
bit dry but doesn't lose the malt flavor.
Valley Forge Brewing Company
Gateway Shopping Center, Valley Forge, PA
This place only opened 4 weeks prior to my visit and was packed well after
the dinner hour. Seemed to more of yuppy hangout which needs to work out
some kinks in both their service and brews.
Kings Gold
Somewhat sweet but more from honey than malted grains. Finishes a
bit dry bit, not bitter or hoppy.
Red Coat Ale
Light red/orange in color from toasted grains. Low to medium
bitterness which finishes dry. Has a nice hop aroma and flavor.
Regiment Pale
Finishes slightly dry and clean. Not a lot of malt character. A
slight roasted grain taste which is what gives it a redish hue.
A slight caramel malt sweetness is also apparent.
George's Porter
A roasted coffee-like flavor. Also a caramelized sweetness probably
from crystal malts. Finishes dry with a lingering sweetness and
has a complex malt character.
Wheat
More of an American wheat except not quite hoppy enough. Probably
40% wheat malt, low hop bitterness and doesn't use a wheat yeast.
Finishes with a bready taste and a tad bit sweet.
*Raspberry Wheat
Raspberries and Strawberries are abundant in this part of the country
and are in prime condition right now as apparent from this beer. A
strong raspberry presence and slight reddish hue which seems to
otherwise be the same recipe as their regular wheat.
Samual Adams Brew House
1516 Samson St., Philadelphia, PA 19102
Interesting Samual Adams Brew House had Boston Brewery's Sam Adams logo on
there front door. I don't know if there are in any way affiliated but if
there are not I'm sure Jim Koch has something to say about it.
Ben Franklin's Gold
A hint of hop up front but more malty than bitter (both are subdued).
Fruity but almost has a lager crispness. Very enjoyable.
Poor Richard's Amber
Malty and caramelized sweetness. Low hop bitterness but it has a
hoppy flavor that finishes a bit dry. Has a lingering hoppy
aftertaste.
George Washinton's Porter
This has a nice sweetness up front. A touch of roasted grain and
honey. Complex character which reminds me of a true English-style
ale in the sweetness.
*Samsom Street Stout
This is hand-pulled and unfiltered. A very nice mouth feel with a
coffee/roasted character. Low bitterness and complex malt flavors
makes this an enjoyable beer.
Triple Bock
Mmmm nice heavy caramel sweetness (I'm guessing a finishing gravity
in the .025-.030 range) and alcoholic. Somewhat English-ale like
in the use of complex sugars but does have a hint of sulphur in the
finish. This beer is claimed to be 1 year old and will definitely
improve with age.
John Adams
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 21:58:52 -0600
From: John Adams <j_adams@hpfcjca.sde.hp.com>
Subject: A weeks of beers -- Part II
To top of a great vacation in Phideldia (see part 1), the weekend I returned
the 6th annual Colorado Brewer's Festival was held in Fort Collins. This
festival is one of the oldest in the state, second only to the GABF.
This year 47 Colorado brewers brought out their finest for a weekend in the
sun, good food, and live bands.
I focused my attention on Colorado's newest micro's (it seems we get a new
one about once a month) and new beers of old favorite breweries.
Bristol Brewing Company
4740 Forge Road, Suite 108, Colorado Springs, CO 80907
Laughing Lab Scottish Ale
Malty and somewhat bitter. Finishes dry and has a slight peated
malt taste. Slightly roasty and a little sweet up front but quickly
turns bitter.
Coophouse Brewery
2400 Industrial Lane #350, Broomfield, CO 80020
Bent Lager
Lightly hopped and low bitterness. Has a nice crystal malt sweetness
up front and finishes malty/bitter. Very refreshing for a heavier
lager (not a pils).
Dimmer's Brew Pub
742 No. College Ave., Fort Collins, CO 80524
Ali-Rae's Ale
Nice malt sweetness up front followed by a low bitterness. Feels light
in body. Finishes dry with no aftertaste.
Eldorado Canyon Brewing Company
6901 W. 117th Ave. Suite #6, Broomfield, CO 80020
Garth's Tail Waggin' Wheat
Has a nice clove sweetness but it's a bit too malty for a German-style
wheat. Possibly a bit too bitter in the flavor. This beer tastes
very much like some of my own wheat recipes that use less 50% wheat
malt.
Estes Park Brewery
470 Prospect Village Dr., Estes Park, CO 80517
Long's Peak Raspberry Wheat
A low to medium raspberry fruitiness in an gently American wheat. A
nice fruit foretaste that leaves a gentle raspberry aftertaste. After
having the Raspberry Wheat from Valley Forge Brewing Company this
just doesn't compare.
Il Vicino
136 E. 2nd St., Salida, CO 81201
Wet Mountain India Pale Ale
Bitter but malty. Finishes dry/bitter and leaves a nice hoppy
aftertaste. Not quite alcoholic enough for the style but a nice
IPA.
Mark's Brewing Company
225 Bunyan Ave. #B, Berthoud, CO 80513
*Amber Waves Ale
Malty sweet and finishes clean. The honey adds to the overall sweet
flavor. This is a very nice, quaffable ale.
Namaqua Brewing Company LLC
128 E. 4th St., Loveland, CO 80537
Darn Thirsty Cowboy Ale
Malty sweet up front and a low to medium bitterness. Finishes a
bit dry and clean. The gentleness of noble hops is evident.
Sharkey's Brewing Company
3231 Chelton Circle, Colorado Springs, CO 80909
*Dark Wheat Bock
A nice peated malt sweetness. The malt hits you first in the nose.
A very complex finish, a little dry and linger with the malt. My
personal favorite.
Steamboat Brewery and Tavern
435 Lincoln Ave., Steamboat Springs, CO 80477
Alpenglow Strong Ale
Malty and a medium bitterness. Finishes bitter/dry with a mildly
sweet peatiness. Tends to linger with hop flavors in the
aftertaste.
Tommyknocker Brewery & Pub
1401 Miner St., Idaho Springs, CO 80452
Red Eye Lager
Nice toasted malt sweetness and ruby red color. Finishes a tad dry
and clean. Very nice!
Union Colony Brewery
1412 8th Ave., Greeley, CO 80611
Old 8444 Alt
Complex malt character. Finishes a tad dry but very clean. Very
well balanced and a very nice Alt.
John Adams
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 21:58:58 -0500
From: ajdel@interramp.com (A. J. deLange)
Subject: Dortmund 2x
Dortmund 2X
You were expecting Dortmund 1 here but Dortmund 1 has problems
(one of which is I left the disk with the writeup at the office).
Before tackling them I'd like to clarify something Al Korzonis pointed
out. In the phrase "water which is ion free (distilled, ion exchanged, or
treated by reverse osmosis)" ion exchange does not refer to the typical
home softener installation but to the more elaborate systems which produce
ion free water. Home ion exchangers swap out cations and replace them with
sodium. Anions are not usually touched. In the lab systems cations are
replaced with hydronium and cations with hydroxyl.
Let's start by listing four profiles for Dortmund, two of which are in
our reference list.
Dortmund 1 Dortmund 2
Noonan Papazian Hardwick DeClerk
Ca 225 250 237 262
Mg 40 25 26 36
Na 60 70 65 -
CO3 180 550 174 -
SO4 120 280 120 280
Cl 60 100 53 107
All the calcium levels specified are within 8% of 243.5 ppm. The magnesium
varies a little more (i.e +26%, -21%) about its mean value of 31.7 ppm.
Sodium is not given by DeClerk but has an average value of 65 ppm with
the other two values being within 8% of that. Carbonate is the worst with
the largest specified value being a little over three times the smallest!
The two largest values for sulfate are the same and are more than twice the
smallest (which are also the same. The average for chlorine is 80 ppm and
the range of values is from +/- 34% relative to that value.
Thus we have great disparity in what constitutes Dortmund water with
the big discrepancy being in the carbonate. If I'm going to do a Dortmunder
should I go for the modest or monstrous carbonate level? Ordinarily we
would simply give formulations for Dortmund 1 and Dortmund 2 and let you
chose. But Dortmund 1 cannot be synthesized with the salts and acids that we
are using. This is demonstrated by adding up the total milliequivalents of
anions (Ca,Mg,Na) and comparing to the total of the mEq of the cations
(CO3, SO4, Cl). For cations the spec calls for 17.1 mEq/L and for
only 10.2 mEq/L of anions. For the water to be electrically neutral
anion and cation mEq must be equal. This is, if you like, an additional
constraint on our formulations. It is equally well a constraint on actual
Dortmund water and what this means is that either the anions in the profile
are unrealistically low or there is another anion (or anions) which don't
appear in the profile. We can only approximate the profile as it is given
by augmenting it with additional anions and this is the approach we take
in dealing with Dortmund 1 (which I'll post tomorrow).
In Dortmund 2 just the reverse is the case. There are more anions specified,
26.97, (dominated by the carbonate) than cations, 20.62, but the ratio is
smaller (1.3 as opposed to 1.7 for Dortmund 1) and we can synthesize a
reasonable approximation at pH 6.38 with external acid and we will
post the formulation in a day or so.
We are not very happy with either Dortmund 1 or Dortmund 2. The ion
imbalances mean that we don't have good or sufficient information. The
carbonate in Dortmund 1 seems unrealistically low and that for Dortmund
2 unreasonably high.The goal of this series is to try to give you
something you can use for each city so we suggest the comprimise Dortmund
synthesis of Formulation I.
Formulation I
n: 1037148 Temp: 0.000920 Energy (rms %): 22.632042
Dortmund 2X Desired Cations: 20.621 Anions: 26.974 mEq/L Ratio: 1.308
ION DESIRED REALIZED ERR, % SALTS AMOUNT
Ca 250.000 231.450 -7.42 NaCl 168.571
Mg 25.000 24.641 -1.44 Na2CO3.10H2O 0.000
Na 70.000 68.556 -2.06 CaCL2 0.000
K 0.000 0.000 0.00 CaSO4.2H2O 338.954
CO3 550.000 234.362 -57.39 CaCO3 380.952
SO4 280.000 286.491 2.32 MgCL2 0.000
Cl 100.000 102.239 2.24 MgCO3 0.000
H 4.560 0.000 -100.00 KCl 0.000
Na2SO4 0.000
MgSO4.7H2O 249.754
H2SO4 0.000
NaHCO3 8.232
HCl 0.000
Carbonic: 0.7550 Bicarbonate: 3.1475 Carbonate: 0.001507 mM
Total Required Hydronium: 4.5596 Sulfuric Hydronium: 0.0000 mEq
Hydrochloric Hydronium: 0.0000 mEq
4.5596 mEq additional hydronium required to maintain pH 7.00
Solubility Products - CaCO3: 8.70E-09 MgCO3: 2.60E-05
Ion Products - CaCO3: 8.70E-09 MgCO3: 1.53E-09
Alkalinity: 3.11 mEq; 155.50 ppm as CaCO3.
Temporary hardness: 7.81 mEq; 390.41 ppm as CaCO3
Permanent hardness: 5.77 mEq; 288.38 ppm as CaCO3
Formulation I is based on the Dortmund 2 profile but what we have done is
weighted the error in calcium at 5 times the error in each of the other
ions. What this means is that the salt selection is largely dominated
by the need to get the calcium correct. Fortuitously the cost of this
is all born in the carbonate which comes in at 234 ppm which is about
twice the Dortmund 1 level and a bit less than half the Dortmund 2 level
i.e. at a level which seems reasonable.
We suggest that this formulation be used for Dortmunder style beers. Note
that it is quite accurate for all ions except carbonate and it is implemented
with common salts. Exteranl acid is required.
A.J. deLange Numquam in dubio, saepe in errore!
ajdel@interramp.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 1995 23:22:01 -0700
From: Farnsworth@eworld.com
Subject: hop plugs
I have a little more data on this There are at least 2 plug manufacturers in
the UK.(and none in the US)They are made for dry-hopping cask- conditioned
ales.In my training in a Burton- on Trent - brewery in the 1970's ,leaf
Goldings were added to each cask, by hand after racking , just before the
bung was put in.This took 3 people!One to carry the hops,one to carry the
funnel, and one to carry the stick to poke the hops through the funnel(5 ozs
per barrel).When pelleted hops arrived the good ale brewers swore the aroma
of the pellets was not good enough, but the accountants wanted the reduced
cost of pellets.A compromise was the hop" plug", less crushed so better aroma
than pellets ,but not loose like leaf hops ,so storage and handling were
easier.Now the man who bangs the bung into the cask also can add 10 plugs
for dry hop.Hence the plugs are very good English aroma hops,good enough to
be used by UK real ale brewers !The US- type hops in plug form are a new
generation of pellet types, taken from US to UK, turned into plugs and
shipped back to US .The quality varies!In the US ,unless you buy your hops in
at least 5 kilo bales, sealed under vacuum, and keep them frozen, plugs are
better than anything else you can buy. They are not as good as the best
fresh East Kent Golding s leaf hops you get in Kent,but what is!
Paul Farnsworth
Univ. of Texas,San Antonio.
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 12:28:04 +0300 (IDT)
From: Lenny Garfinkel <lenny@zeus.datasrv.co.il>
Subject: salvaging gushers
Nicholas asked about salvaging gushers. I had one batch which I must
have bottled too soon. Gushed like Vesuvius. Well, I opened each
bottle, let it sit 40' on the counter, and recapped. They are still very
carbonated, but don't gush. Hope this helps.
Lenny
_________________________________________________________________
Dr. Leonard Garfinkel | Internet: lenny@zeus.datasrv.co.il
Bio-Technology General | Office Phone: 972-8-381256
Kiryat Weizmann | Home Phone: 972-8-451505
Rehovot, Israel | FAX: 972-8-409041
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Date: Tue, 27 Jun 95 19:35:59 EST
From: Aidan "Krazy Krausen Kropping Kiwi" Heerdegen <aidan@rschp2.anu.edu.au>
Subject: Re: Filling a Sankey
Full-Name: Aidan "Krazy Krausen Kropping Kiwi" Heerdegen
Fleming, Kirk, R. wrote:
| If anyone has been able to succesfully re-plumb a coupler to allow the
| filling of an assembled Sankey keg, or if anyone knows how it is done,
| or if anyone knows why it can't be done, I'd be most appreciative.
If they are the same as the Sankeys here (which I am sure they
are as Wayde Nie told me this info and it worked on my sankeys
and he is in the US) then the tapping mechanism has a small pea
valve. I'll let Wayde explain:
"Removing the valve is trivial. On my system you push the back
end of a pen through the center beer out port in the same
direction as the beer would normally flow. The rubber ball valve
and the piece of plastic that keeps it from flowing out the facet
pops right out. Your tapper is probably very similar"
In fact mine has a hard plastic ball and a small piece of wire
that stops it coming out, but they are easily removed.
You'll have to replace the ball again when you want to dispense
unless you get two tapping thingamies, and have one dedicated to
filling.
Thanks to Wayde for the original info. I took a 50L keg of what
could be best described as a British Mild to a party on the
weekend. Went down like a house-on-fire .. had a lovely caramel
nose and flavour .. and that was all! (bit unbalanced) No-one
seemed to mind to too much, and we drank the whole thing .. It
had been sitting in my garage for a couple of months (made for
another bash but we didn't drink it), and I was a bit worried
about it but it was fine.
Cheers
Aidan
P.S. Love the water chem series AJ .. would it be possible for
you to make the programme available, so that we could plug in our
local water chem?
- --
e-mail: aidan@rschp2.anu.edu.au,
WWW: http://rschp2.anu.edu.au:8080/aidan (includes AOB mirror site)
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Date: Tue, 27 Jun 95 21:06:46 +1000
From: CHARLIE SCANDRETT <merino@ozemail.com.au>
Subject: BOWTIE /KIRK/MAGNETIC/"X"Files-HBD #1757
I pray to the god Bacchus that there are some scientists out there!
How can the "Bowtie Effect" be magnetic?!
I hope your brews are non-ferrous?
Imagine the earth cut in half along the equator, I call this the "equatorial
plane of rotation". As an air mass moves away from the equator parrallel to the
horizon it is skewed by a slightly slower plane of rotation. This is because
the adjacent circumference is smaller than the equator and the effect is like
stepping from one moving walkway to another moving at a different speed. Thus
Cyclones(southern hemisphere) and Tornados (northern hemisphere) rotate in
different directions, as do bathtub whirlpools.
The effect is always at right angles to the "equatorial plane of rotation", but
as you move to say, the Tropic of Cancer, you horizon is at 45 degrees to this
plane. Thus as your CO2 bubbles move up, they move away from the equator and
are skewed parallel to the equator. The convection then settles into a
cylinder on a North- South axis, or near it as the velocity of the bubbles is
part of the vector. The more vigousous the fermentation, the further from true
geographic North would be the axis of the Bowtie. True North varies from
magnetic North by up to +or - 10 degrees in different parts of the world.
But you are fermenting with a horizontal axis of rotation in a vertically
circular fermenter. Our computor model (Bernouli's Theorem) suggests that for a
fairly flat fermenter, (side=diameter) the convection is fastest and tightest
at the centre, and slowest and broardest near the curved surface touching your
cylinder of convection. This then becomes two cones, joined at the apex.
On a two dimensional surface this looks like a Bowtie!
I enclose my original posting on the subject.
"The truth is out there somewhere", (Apologies to agent Mulder)
From HBD # 1759
I think Capt Kirk Fleming with the "bowtie effect fermenter" lives a long way
from the equator. The Coriolis forces that govern the direction of tornados in
the northern hemisphere and cyclones in our hemisphere, and also affect bathtub
whirlpools, are caused by the spining of the earth at its different
circumfrences of rotation and are greatest farthest from the equator.
Forget the math, it works vetically as well as horizontally, thus affecting the
convection currents started by rising CO2 bubbles. That is why I think the
stone crock behaved as it did, always convecting in one direction. The flat
bottom vessel's geometry seems to have set up two conical convection shapes
which you see as triangles on two dimensional surfaces(The bottom and the top)
.
The convection travels at different speeds and as it slows down at the bottom,
deposits trub like a commercial whirlpool tank, thus the different composition
of your residue. The convection is always the same direction relative to the
equator,(It would be a North- South bowtie axis, I think) which explains the
compass like movement of the bowtie when the vessel was moved.
I promise you it won't affect the beer, if it really bothers you move your
fermenter to Ecuador, South America, no Coriolis there!
Charlie (Brisbane, Australia)
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Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 4:16:28 -0600 (MDT)
From: ESLINGER@els232.ateng.az.honeywell.com
Subject: RE: carboy cooler
In HBD #1766 Mike Sinelli discussed how he
created a carboy cooler. Here in Phoenix the
temperature in my house average about
80 degrees F, so eventually the water in the
Totelocker would equalize into the 80 degree
range. I was successful in keeping a lower
temperature on my brew by:
1) Filling a Deep Tote with water
2) Setting up a fan to blow on the carboy
and the water.
3) Cycling 2L bottles of Ice in the water
until primary fermentation was complete.
Once the vigorous primary fermentation was
complete I found that I did not have to cycle
the 2L bottles. The average temperature
seemed to be about 10 degrees less than the
room temperature.
Greg Eslinger
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Date: Tue, 27 Jun 95 4:59:13 PDT
From: DCB2%OPS%DCPP@bangate.pge.com
Subject: Vinegar/more Bowtie info
In HBD #1766 Domenick Venezia says of Acid washing yeast:
>HBD. Yeast is acid washed in a pH 2.5 solution. Many acids could be used,
>like, phosphoric, hydrochloric, sulphuric, or nitric, just about any
>non-toxic acid. Generally these are mineral acids, but then I thought of
>acetic acid, i.e., vinegar. So I went to the cupboard and grabbed the
>ubiquitous bottle of white vinegar (Heinz) and stuck a pH test strip in it
>and guess what? pH damn close to 2.5.
>Also if someone knows why you shouldn't use vinegar to wash yeast please
>let me know that too.
I can only think of one reason. As you know, yeast is a fungus that converts
sugar to alcohol. Well, there's another bacteria (can't remember it's name)
that converts alcohol to acetic acid (vinegar). Some of that bacteria may be
present in *your* vinegar. It's possible that the vinegar has been pasturized
and the process, I believe, is an aerobic process but just the same, why
tempt fate? BTW, Wine has a low pH too.
Kirk Flemming says:
>2) In #1765 David Boe asked if the Bowtie Effect was magnetically
>influenced. The first batch done in twin fermenters had patterns
>aligned in parallel along a line about 10 deg clockwise from the local
>meridian, bit a subsequent 2-fermenter batch had non-parallel axes of
>symmetry.
Very interesting. More data. Perhaps your fermenter needs to be
degaussed<g>.
David Boe | A Wink's as good as a nod to a blind
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. | man, eh? I'd rather have a bottle in
DCB2@pge.com | front of me than a frontal lobotomy!
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Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 09:42:11 EDT
From: " Robert Bloodworth ZFBTO - MT0054" <debaydr9@ibmmail.com>
Subject: Grain bag sparging
Troy asked about using a grain bag in a lauter tun:
>I currently use a "Zapap" lauter tun (one bucket with lots of small holes
>drilled in the bottom placed inside another bucket). I am concerned with
>the volume contained beneath the false bottom. It is close to a gallon!
>Consequently, I am considering modifying my lauter tun to elimate this free
>space. The easiest mod would be to replace the inner bucket with a grain
>bag. I have heard reports of problems with channeling using this method.
>Does anyone have any direct experience ?
I've been using a grain bag in a bucket with a spigot for about 6 batches now.
I have tried both slow sparging and batch sparging methods with mixed results.
I now use the following procedure:
Pour the mash carefully into the grain bag. Drain as much of the first runnings
as possible, recirculating when necessary. Add 80? sparge water to cover the
grain and stir carefully. Allow to stand about 10 min. Drain slowly while
adding 80? water to the top of the grain bed. I sparge in about 40 min using
this method and get about 30-35 pt/lb gal depending on how patient I am. The
grain bag must fit snugly in the bucket when full to avoid channeling between
the bag and the wall of the bucket.
I like this method. It's easy, and I never have stuck sparges or clogged
manifods. Extraction efficiency is not my primary concern. I'm limited to about
18 lb of grain, but that's enough for a 25 liter batch of trappist ale :-)
On another note, I have a question about beer oxidation.
>From what I can get out of HBD discussions, HSA leads to carboard flavors.
What about oxidation of the finished beer? Is this a problem in homebrewing and
what are the effects?
I read a review article recently from an American Chemical Society Symposium on
the science of brewing and winemaking. According to this reference and others
cited in the article, yeast is an excellent oxygen scavenger. According to the
paper, certain types of oxygen scavenging caps even use yeast cells embedded in
a polymer. Since bottle conditioned beers contain more than a little yeast, I
suspect that a little aeration of the beer won't be that much of a problem for
most homebrewers. Perhaps someone with more experience could comment.
A l0ml of air space in a 1/2 liter bottle translates into about 2.5ppm of O2.
What kind of capacity does the conditioning yeast have to remove O2?
Bob Bloodworth
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Date: Tue, 27 Jun 1995 07:22:46 -0700 (PDT)
From: Kathy Trost <trostk@belnet.bellevue.k12.wa.us>
Subject: Welding Seattle Wise
I had my kegs converted at the "Brewers Warehouse" in the U
District. The do the best work in the Seattle area that I have SEEN.
They are however Brewers, and I don't think a six pack will cover the cost.
They have done kegs for many years and are able to do the sanitary
welding that one should desire for brewing. No connection just a VERY
SATISFIED customer..
Dave Lilly
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Date: Tue, 27 Jun 95 9:27 EDT
From: Evan_Still@vos.stratus.com
Subject: summmer heat
hi and thanks to everyone for all their
insights in to homebrew. Now that summer
is here along with the heat i need more
beer than ever. I'v been brewing in the
basement with my carboys on the cement
floor, but my thermometer reads 78f
which sits on the shelf next to the carboy.
During the few days that it got
to 95f the basement temp got to
be approx. 84. Could someone tell me
what the effects are to my beer. I just
brewed an ale and it seems much more
hazier now than when i pitched the wort.
PLEASE HELP A CONCERNED HOMEBREWER.
THANKS
E.S.
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #1767, 06/28/95
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