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HOMEBREW Digest #1799
This file received at Hops.Stanford.EDU 1995/08/04 PDT
HOMEBREW Digest #1799 Fri 04 August 1995
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Bad Beer Recovery (Chris Strickland)
Dry Hopping with pellets (DCB2)
Iron in Brewing Water (Russ Brodeur)
Brewpubs/Micros in Mississippi (Jeff Foley)
Immersion Chillers - One mo' time ("mike spinelli")
Polyclar and Fining (Rob Reed)
Brewer's Gold (Alan Folsom)
Aerating (gravels)
Counterpressure filling (Jim Busch)
2-step all-malt? (Russell Mast)
Re: Counterflow Wort Chiller (Per Brashers)
Mashout sans sparge as inducement to all-grain wanna-trys? ("Fleming, Kirk R., Capt")
More Ranting on CPBFs/Modified Foxx Filler ("Fleming, Kirk R., Capt")
Re: Stirring with Immersion Chiller (Richard Stueven)
New & Improved Aeration process (kdschida)
Lost temp control info?/Veggie gelatin? (Benjamin T Drucker)
Aeration equipment sanitizing (John W. Carpenter)
Stirring the Chill / Sparge Storage (Rich Larsen)
NOTE 08/03/95 16:13:29 ("THOMAS STOLFI")
Colorado Brewpubs ("THOMAS STOLFI")
No bubbles in bottles (Rolland Everitt)
California Lager Yeast (DragonSC)
Sparging is a waste of time. Don't do it. (Ken Willing)
Re: Low $$ Thermostats (Jack Stafford)
re:Gelatin fining... ("Matthew W. Bryson")
CP Bottle Filling (Tim Laatsch)
Re: pellet dry-hopping (PatrickM50)
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Date: Wed, 2 Aug 1995 17:55:15 -0400
From: cstrick@iu.net (Chris Strickland)
Subject: Bad Beer Recovery
I had a bad batch of beer (smelled like rotten vegetables). I re-boiled it
(covered to minimize alcohol loss), added 4 cups of corn sugar (5 gallon
batch), then a package of dry yeast (don't remember the brand). Refermented
(actually I was just trying to get good yeast for natural carbonation).
When I bottled the smell was gone, I've tasted the bottle. It's not my
best, but it's still better than Bud (not saying much).
Cost:
20 minutes to boil and put in fermenter.
~70 cents for yeast
corn sugar was cheap (10 lb bag).
Probably spent less than $1.50 to recover the beer. Again, I'd rate it
about half between Bud and my typical homebrew.
- --------------
Chris Strickland
cstrick@iu.net
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 95 4:27:14 PDT
From: DCB2%OPS%DCPP@bangate.pge.com
Subject: Dry Hopping with pellets
In HBD #1798 Pat asks:
>Has anyone tried to dry hop with pellets? What should I do to ensure that
>contamination will not be introduced into the lagering carboy? I don't
>want to boil the pellets since that will defeat the purpose of the dry
>hopping.
Yes, I do it with my "Pride of Milford Bitters" all the time. What I do is
take a cup or two of water and bring it to a boil. As soon as it's boiling I
remove it from the heat and dump in the hops. This acts to pasturize them
and doesn't boil out the aroma. I let it steep for 5-10 minutes then dump
the slurry into the fermenter. When bottling time comes the hops have
settled out with the yeast quite nicely. Just rack the beer off the yeast,
prime and bottle. I've heard that the hops can just be dumped in but I guess
I'm a little AR about sterility :-).
David Boe
David Boe | "Having some wattery tart hand you
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. | a scimitar is no basis for the
DCB2@pge.com | formation of a government!"
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 95 08:46:46 -0400
From: r-brodeur@ds.mc.ti.com (Russ Brodeur)
Subject: Iron in Brewing Water
I recently moved to SE Mass from central PA and have noticed a big
difference in the water. My spring water in State College was very hard
(~250 ppm) and had a relatively neutral pH (7.1) whereas my town water in
Franklin is rather soft and acidic (30.5 ppm & pH 6.7).
I detect a "metallic" taste in the water here in Franklin, and found its Fe
level was 0.18 ppm. The low pH also seems to dissolve some copper from the
pipes, yielding a pretty blue precipitate in my sinks and showers.
My question is: is 180 ppb a detectable iron level, or is the metallic
taste due to something else (Cu maybe)? Is there an easy way of reducing
the iron level? (that's two questions)
I want to brew a pilsener with this water, but will resort to bottled water
if I need to. I have a bitter and a wit under my belt up here, although I
haven't tasted the wit yet. The bitter's pretty good, IMO, although the
"hoppiness" seems to be reduced dramatically relative to others I've brewed
with much harder water.
Any advice from the water Gurus would be greatly appreciated.
TTFN
Russ Brodeur (r-brodeur@ds.mc.ti.com)
------------------------------
Date: 03 Jan 00 23:16:14 -0500
From: Jeff.Foley@f1.n309.z1.fidonet.org (Jeff Foley)
Subject: Brewpubs/Micros in Mississippi
I am new to the homebrew scene(still have not brewed my first batch). I am in
the process of getting info together and so forth. My job as a government
contractor, is sending me to Southern Mississippi(Hattiesburg) For 3 weeks.
I was wondering if anybody knew of any brewpubs or micros in that area
I could check out.
TIA
Jeff
jeff.foley@f1.n309.z1.fidonet.org
jeff.foley@aatwbbs.usa.storm.net
... DOS=HIGH? I knew it was on something...
*** BBS and Fax: (520)459-2412
[Exported by the Internet Connection 2.1/Registered 08-02-95 16:11:03]
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 09:46:03 -0400 (EDT)
From: "mike spinelli" <paa3983@dpsc.dla.mil>
Subject: Immersion Chillers - One mo' time
Brew dudes,
Since everyone's talkin' about stirring w/ immersion chillers, I just HAD to
throw in my 2 cents.
o Made chiller outta 50 ft. of 1/2" copper
o Made a pre-chiller out of 30 ft. 1/2" copper which sits in an ice bath
to chill tap water before it gets into the main 50ft. chiller.
o Drilled 2 holes into a 20 qt. SS lid. One hole in middle to hold
one of those 2 ft. long white plastic paddles, other hole to drop
in a 18" long 3" dial candy thermometer.
At 10 mins. before end of boil, throw the 50 ft.
chiller in the boiling keg. At end of boil, turn of propane, Insert
sanitized paddle in keg and up through hole in SS lid (I had to cut off the
very end of handle to fit in hole). Close lid down. You'll have gap on
side where chiller tubes enter and exit. Put aluminum foil around gaps.
Drop thermometer thru other hole, connect all hoses to pre-chiller and main
chiller, then let'er rip. Paddle handle can be rotated thru lid to keep
wort moving. Dial thermometer stares you right in the face so you can
watch temp. drop as you're stirring. When dial reads below 80 F. you're
done. 'Bout 20 mins.
Mike
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 08:57:25 -0400 (CDT)
From: Rob Reed <rhreed@icdc.delcoelect.com>
Subject: Polyclar and Fining
Erik Larson asked about fining with Polyclar:
>I used to regularly add a teaspoon or two of Polyclar to either
>my secondary (at the midpoint of my standard two-week
>conditioning period) or to my bottling bucket just prior to
>bottling. However, I frequently noticed a rather funny
>plastic-type aftertaste in my bottled product.
I have used Polyclar for several years in quantities of
2 tsp/5 gal to 2 tbl/5 gal without any off-flavors. I formerly
added Polyclar at racking, but due to occasional foaming, I
now add to 2ndary when airlock activity is minimal. I wouldn't
advise adding Polyclar to your bottling bucket. Polyclar
is effective for fining polyphenols from your brew; it
doesn't do a very good job on protein or starch haze.
>My experience has been that two packets of Knox gelatin,
>dissolved in 1 pint of 160 deg. F. distilled water, does a better
>job than Polyclar at removing particulates from the conditioning
>beer.
I think you are using too much gelatin. I believe Noonan prescribes
1/8 tsp./gal, no? I use 1/2 tsp to 3/4 tsp / 5 gal. and obtain
good results in a 14 day secondary cycle. I have found more is not
better with gelatin; the excess gelatin doesn't settle very well in
my experience.
A good fining agent for protein haze is bentonite slurry - prepared
a la Miller - or Silica Gel (I believe Williams in CA sells it).
Rob Reed
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 07:57:58 -0700
From: folsom@ix.netcom.com (Alan Folsom)
Subject: Brewer's Gold
In the May-June issue of Brewing Techniques Pete Slosberg says that his
Wicked Ale is dry-hopped with Brewer's Gold. I'm planning on trying to
produce something similar, but wonder about this. Garetz' book on hops
opines that Brewer's Gold is not a good aroma hop. Has anybody out
there ever used it for that purpose? What are your opinions? Any
comments, or suggestions for a replacement to make something similar to
Wicked Ale would be appreciated.
Thanks - Al F.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 03 Aug 95 11:08:30 EST
From: gravels@TRISMTP.npt.nuwc.navy.mil
Subject: Aerating
>Kinney Baughman writes about aerating with a wand
I saw the same posting on aerating wort the easy/cheap way,
sometime ago, and I have been doing ever since. When the wort is done
boiling I carefully pour it into my primary fermenting bucket.
(collective gasp!) I know, I know, but it works for me with no
adverse effects. I then add cold water to the 5 gal. mark (can you
say "newbie chiller", can't wait to get my 8 gal. brewpot!) and then
cool using my emersion chiller. When the wort is cooled I attach my
aerating wand, (made by heating up a heavy duty sewing needle (a thin
nail will do) until red-hot and poking 12-16 holes 2" from the end of
a straight plastic racking cane) to the valve of the primary bucket.
I then let gravity do it's work and splash the wort into my bottling
bucket. You must make sure that the end of the cane doesn't go into
the wort or you will have a beer sprinkler on your hands and this
could irritate the boss,:^O not to mention the increased cleaning
time. The next step is to start transferring the wort back to the
primary in the same manner and at the same time add the starter. This
distributes the yeast evenly through the wort and gets them into
suspension faster. I've used this method on the last three batches
and have had pretty good luck so far.
I know that some of you will ignore this method because it doesn't
include any neat techno-gadgets. I like gadgets too, but I can't
justify the cost of purchasing an airstone (and sanitizing hassle) or
an oxygen tank.:^) I hope this helps someone out there, it sure
helped me.
Hoppy brewing!
Steve
"Homebrewing, it's not just a hobby, it's an adventure!"
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 11:41:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: Jim Busch <busch@eosdev2.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Counterpressure filling
Kirk asks:
<After having read subject review I drew the following conclusions:
<1) There is no apparent correlation between the price of the various
<counterpressure fillers and the amount of air they introduce into
<the bottle
I think this might have been related to operator error, to a large
degree.
<3) By far the best performance in limiting introduced air into
< solution is obtained with the $.20 tube-in-the-faucet solution
I find this to be a highly controversial finding.
<Finally, I again raise the question of the value of the bottle oxygen purge.
<Assuming flow into the bottle is not turbulent at the surface OR that the
<surface of the beer going into the bottle is covered with a foam head, how
<could purging the bottle of air be of any value whatsoever?
Turbulent flow and loss of some saturation levels are inherent in all
bottling operations, be they a $1/2 million dollar Krones or a tube
in the bottle. Top filling Krones lines actually have significant
turbulent flow, and this why complete removal of O2 in the bottle is
essential prior to filling. Long stem fillers have much less turbulent
flow and this is the way homebrewer fillers work. It still exists and
therefore any bottle that will be stored or shipped for days should
be evacuated as well as possible.
I strongly believe in both methods where needed. I routinely fill 2L
bottles with the hose off the tap for homebrew meetings and then use
em within a few days. For longer term shipping and competition a
counterpressure filler makes perfect sense.
Jim Busch
busch@mews.gsfc.nasa.gov
"DE HOPPEDUIVEL DRINKT MET ZWIER 'T GEZONDE BLOND HOPPEBIER!"
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 10:47:34 -0500
From: Russell Mast <rmast@fnbc.com>
Subject: 2-step all-malt?
> From: 00bkpickeril@bsuvc.bsu.edu (Brian Pickerill)
> Subject: Sparge now, boil later? /Best Corny $ /When order extract?
> So, I was wondering if it would be possible to
> get a decent brew by sparging one night and boiling the next.
Sounds like a great way to get an initial lactic ferment to make a sour
beer. Seriously, you might be able to get it to work without an infection,
but if you _do_ want to make a soured beer this way, just toss a little bit
of (unmashed, unpasteurized) malt husks in there and let'er rip. Either way,
you'll be boiling the next day, which will halt any infection or souring
process in its tracks, so whatever sourness (etc) you may have will be as
much as you're likely to get, unless you reinfect it.
If you're going to do this, be very careful with sanitization, and I suggest
you start with a beer that won't be devasted by a little sourness, like a
wheat or a stout, for instance.
> Maybe I should just stick to extract until the kids are older.
Maybe you should find a thirstay baby-sitter who'd watch the kids for a few
beers.
> - --Brian K. Pickerill <00bkpickeril@bsuvc.bsu.edu> Muncie, IN
Muncie's too far for me, though. :-)
-R
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 08:51:14 -0700 (PDT)
From: per@hydrogen.CChem.Berkeley.EDU (Per Brashers)
Subject: Re: Counterflow Wort Chiller
<clipped>
There's got to be a formula, but none of my books get that specific. Any ideas,
suggestions? TIA!
<clipped>
Disclaimer first, I am not a chemist. Nor do I know what I am saying. :-}
I have recently gone through the effort of building a counterflow chiller.
In fact it was so recenly that I have not tested it yet. But here's what I
learned..... Water is THE standard. That is it has a thermal capacity of
1, so the formula looks like this 1:1. The time slope therefore is 45 deg.
that is to say the way to cool any wart is to make sure your volume of cold
water is _at_least_ the same as the volume of the wort. So if you use a small
space betwene the inner tubing and the outer tubing the flow will have to be
great. To calculate it all out just figgure out how much wort you have, and
how many gpm your tap is set to (use a 5gal bucket and a timer /5) and adjust
from there, the volumes should match pretty closley, with in 25 percent *over*
Keep in mind that it is 1:1, so the more the flow, the more the
waste, you won't be able to over ride physics with pressure. ;-)
Well that's my 2 cents on the matter.
Per Brashers
Network Services, CChem Domain
per@cchem.berkeley.edu
Home brewer for the last 4 years.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 03 Aug 95 10:03:00 MST
From: "Fleming, Kirk R., Capt" <FLEMINGKR@afmcfafb.fafb.af.mil>
Subject: Mashout sans sparge as inducement to all-grain wanna-trys?
In #1798 Eamonn made a tongue-in-cheek about the problem of having
extra time on your hands if you skip the sparge, and also cited my
comments regarding the cost of not sparging. I hope to clarify my
comments in #1797 before a big flamefest starts among the experts.
The reason for my post was really two-fold: to provide a comparison
between two ways to do the same brew (Spencer's example and mine),
and also to expose the way I compute volumes in preparation for a
mash (trolling for feedback?).
In hindsight, the cost issue of having to use some extra grain may
be of interest to non-grain brewers who remain so due to concerns
about equipment requirements. I mentioned that skipping the sparge
could reduce the need for tankage and reduce brew time. If you
haven't noticed, many brewers indicate they haven't tried mashing
yet because of a perceived big equipment and time requirement. I
hate to see folks miss out on the enjoyment unecessarily.
I think the calculations given by Spencer and me indicate one could
do a full mash, save some time, and still spend less on the ingredients
than with extract. NOTE: I'm not implying Spencer agrees with my
viewpoint here, but just pointing out what his results suggested to
me. Eamonn is right: I don't plan to drop the sparge. However, if
I know in advance of a brew session that I'll be short on time, for
example, Spencer has provided info that can be used to shave 30-60 min.
KRF Colorado Springs
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 03 Aug 95 12:23:00 MST
From: "Fleming, Kirk R., Capt" <FLEMINGKR@afmcfafb.fafb.af.mil>
Subject: More Ranting on CPBFs/Modified Foxx Filler
RE: #1798 (Counterpressure filler review data)
I said there was no apparent correlation between the cost and
performance of the various fillers tested. Actual numbers are:
Correlation between cost and introduced air: ~0.5
Correlation between cost and retained CO2: ~0.5
Correlation between introduced air and retained CO2: ~0.37
No big deal, I just think this means you can't predict performance
based on cost, nor can you draw any conclusion about one kind of
performance based on the other. Nothing earthshaking here. Regarding
the Zymurgy article data I found that:
1) The most expensive unit introduced nearly the most air into the
beer (a tie with one of the low-priced units) (Zahm & Nagel)
2) Two of the three least expensive units did the best at keeping
air out of the bottled beer. (Beverage People and Braukunst)
3) The 2nd cheapest unit had the best overall performance (Braukunst)
This to me implies some manufacturers either don't know what the design
requirements are for good performance, price their products arbitrarily,
or incur wildly varying production costs.
What's the source of the introduced air when using the CPBFs? In use,
they are virtually closed systems. After the bottle is purged there
should be NO source of air at all (except the air in the neck of the
bottle after the CPBF is removed). Where's the air coming from? And
why would a $370 filler introduce over 50% more air into your bottled
beer than a 20 cent plastic tube?
NOTE: North Brewery Supplies in Wisconsin (414-761-1018) resells
the Foxx CPBF refitted with high-quality, comfortable valves, and
all hoses/fittings needed to bottle from ball- or pin-lock Cornies.
Price is about $60 roughly. Since the Foxx unit took its biggest
hit on its valves, Brian North deserves credit for refitting with
real valves and a complete hose 'harness'. Usual disclaimer applies.
KRF Colorado Springs
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 11:20:59 -0700 (PDT)
From: rstueven@netcom.com (Richard Stueven)
Subject: Re: Stirring with Immersion Chiller
I recently worked out a way to suspend my immersion chiller so that
it's mostly near the top of the kettle rather than sitting on the
bottom. This cut my chilling time by about 25%. No stirring
necessary...let convection do the work!
have fun
gak
- --
Richard Stueven rstueven@netcom.com
============ gak & gerry's garage brewery & hockey haven =============
====================== castro valley california =======================
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 95 11:44:36 PDT
From: kdschida@vines.dsd.litton.com
Subject: New & Improved Aeration process
First of all, thanks to everybody who sent me info./help concerning
shelf life of bottle conditioned beer and also for those holiday
recipes, they all look much better than last year's kit.
Yesterday I had a BRAINSTORM!! (or maybe it was a brain-"fart",
you decide after reading my idea) With all this talk lately about the
importance of aeration (to be quite honest I've never done this yet...
I'm so ashamed), has anybody thought about or tried adding food
grade H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) to the wort prior to pitching yeast.
I mean, it's only oxygenated water. I don't know if it would be better
to add it during the boil, or just add it to the fermenter after the
cooling stage, but it would seem you'd save a lot of time & hassle.
Comments please.
One more thing on this though. While checking out "CatsMeow3"
home page on the internet, I saw & read Jack Schmidling's article titled
"WORT AERATION PRIOR TO PITCHING" dated Aug 14, 1993. His
test involved four 500ml samples which were all aerated different ways.
(#1 = Control: no aeration, #2 = siphon simulation, #3 = pumped and
"squirted" into fermenter, #4 = aerated w/ aquarium pump & fine mist
airstone) Out of the four test worts, he found no difference between the
lag time from pitching yeast to start of fermentation nor rate of ferm. Is
this aeration stuff for real, or just a bunch of hog-wash?? What is this
supposed to do anyway (ie. enhance flavor, let you spend more time
drinking while brewing, etc.)? Please inform me... I'm a 1 year novice &
would like to improve my brewing prowess.
Kurt Dschida,
from Antelope Valley, CA where 100+ temps. are common during the
summer months. Good thing I'm not brewing right now; It's a better
thing I have some homebrew to enjoy!!
kdschida@vines.dsd.litton.com
76132.733@compuserve.com (or 76132,733 in C-Serve)
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 03 Aug 1995 12:05:23 PDT
From: Benjamin T Drucker <benjamid@pogo.WV.TEK.COM>
Subject: Lost temp control info?/Veggie gelatin?
To the person who posted the info about a cheap ($7) temp control unit
on the Aug 3rd digest: I killed your article before I wrote down the
phone number! Ow! Would you repost or send me mail, please?
Sorry about that.
GELATIN!
Does anyone out there use veggi gelatin? Do any professional brewers
use it? If it's just as effective as horse hoof gelatin, I would like
to try it. Thanks.
ben
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 95 16:31:20 EDT
From: jwc@med.unc.edu (John W. Carpenter)
Subject: Aeration equipment sanitizing
In #1797 TimRields@aol.com says that because of his airstone, he finds it
impossible to dry out the hose, which could lead to contamination.
What I do is get a syringe and attach it to the other end of the hose
and pull ethanol through the airstone and hose. This will sanitize the
airstone and hose, and it doesn't matter if it remains wet. Nothing is
going to grow in ethanol. --
__________________________________________________________________________
| John W. Carpenter | |
| Department of Biochemistry | |
| UNC School of Medicine | Never trust a brewer with an inseam |
| Chapel Hill, NC 27599 | larger than his waistline. |
| CB# 7260, (919) 966-6781 | |
| email - jwc@med.unc.edu | |
|__________________________________________________________________________|
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 15:47:33 -0500
From: rlarsen@squeaky.free.org (Rich Larsen)
Subject: Stirring the Chill / Sparge Storage
On Stirring the chill, I have always stirred, with the cover off, and have
never (kok kok knocking on wooden head) had an infection since I started
chilling.
I simply drop the chiller in the boil along with the spoon I'm going to stir
with 15-30 minutes before the end of the boil. I'll drop the temp from
boiling to around 70F in 15 minutes. BTW, I'm using 50 ft of 3/8 copper
coil. Probably only about 45 feet are the actual cooling coils, the other
five feet are the riser and hose connection.
_________
00bkpickeril@bsuvc.bsu.edu (Brian Pickerill) asks about storing the sparge
for 24 hours.
I wouldn't recommend storing it for this long. There are all kinds of
Lactobacteria and other nasties hanging out on the grain that will probably
get a pretty good foothold and sour the extract in that time frame.
__________
=> Rich <rlarsen@squeaky.free.org>
________________________________________________________________________
Rich Larsen, Midlothian, IL. Also on HomeBrew University (708) 705-7263
Spice is the varity of life.
________________________________________________________________________
------------------------------
Date: 03 Aug 1995 16:13:16 GMT
From: "THOMAS STOLFI" <OBCTS@CWEMAIL.ceco.com>
Subject: NOTE 08/03/95 16:13:29
cancel article Aug03,12:41,14927
------------------------------
Date: 03 Aug 1995 16:13:16 GMT
From: "THOMAS STOLFI" <OBCTS@CWEMAIL.ceco.com>
Subject: Colorado Brewpubs
Hello All:
I will be attending a seminar in Denver next month and will have a few
extra days to hit some Micro/Brewpubs. If anyone has any info on
places to go in the Denver/Colorado Springs/Fort Collins/Boulder area
please send me private email at OBCTS@CWEMAIL.CECO.COM. Thanks in
advance.
Tom Stolfi
OBCTS@CWEMAIL.CECO.COM
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 17:42:44 -0400
From: af509@osfn.rhilinet.gov (Rolland Everitt)
Subject: No bubbles in bottles
I just bottled my first batch, and am concerned at the lack of
any apparent activity in the bottles. O.G. was 1.040, yeast
was RTP London Bitter Ale yeast. Fermenting temperature was
70 F (in my basement - coolest place in the house these days).
Fermentation was rapid, dropping to 1.014 in about four days or
less. I racked to the secondary, and after one more day,
fermentation had apparently all but stopped. I bottled at
1.004, priming with corn sugar direct to the bottles (yes, I
know it's not the best way). I am confident in my sanitary
conditions, and the amount of priming sugar was adequate (8.9
grams / 1.5 liter bottle). I see no bubbles. The haze in the
bottles is slowly settling. Am I too impatient? Is there
still hope? What went wrong?
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 19:08:10 -0400
From: DragonSC@aol.com
Subject: California Lager Yeast
In a message dated 95-08-02 03:58:15 EDT, you write:
> Wyeast 2112 is supposed to work best at 58-68 degrees. Is the usual room
>temperature of my place (about 75 or so) going to ruin my beer?
>Should I even bother trying to do a lager? Any advice?
I made an 11 gal. batch on Memorial Day and fermented it in high 60s-low 70s
using Wyeast California Lager. Transfer to secondary one week later seemed
normal, but at bottling a week after that where temps were consistently in
the low 70s, I tasted a slight smokiness. A month later still there, but
stronger. I have determined that it is not my RIM system burning the wort,
but actually phenols from the yeast (probably due to autolization)! It takes
a half bottle of thinking about rauche bier before the taste buds get used to
this one! I would say it will ruin your beer. Stick to ales in this heat!
Steve Dragon
Stark Road Brewery (a division of D & S Industries)
Worcester, MA
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Aug 1995 09:09:44 +1000 (EST)
From: Ken Willing <kwilling@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au>
Subject: Sparging is a waste of time. Don't do it.
Why sparge?
Eamonn's point seems to be that since we shoot so much time on the rest of
the hobby, why not shoot a few additional hours on sparging too? Fair
enough, I guess, if you have an overriding devotion to brewing as a "hobby".
But personally, my motives are more mixed than that. I happen to live in
Australia where it's next to impossible (and horrendously costly) to get
*any* decent beer... For me, more than 50% of the reason I brew is simply
to get beer I can drink. And I don't mind cutting a few corners (i.e.
"cheating"), if I can still end up with a respectably drinkable product. I
hope there's room in this hobby for people who have pragmatic motives.
But be that as it may. The fact is, you get a much better product by not
sparging. So don't do it.
Think of the malt grain as like an onion, with outer layers and inner
layers. (The malt, once it has been crushed into particles, doesn't *quite*
fit this picture, but the geometry of what I'm about to say remains
essentially the same.):
The complex carbohydrates that make for what we call "maltiness" are
concentrated in the outer layers of the grain in the first place. Then,
during kilning, these flavor elements are changed and enhanced tremendously
(melanoidins, etc.). -- It's the scorching/heat-alteration of the outer
layers that contributes by far the majority of these good chemicals.
When you put the grain in water and enzymatically convert some of the
carbohydrates, you don't end up with a completely undifferentiated mush.
What you get is still little blobs of fibrous grain. By the end of the
mash-out, the outer layers tend to have gone into solution. But the inner
layers still cohere. The substances that have come off the grain *first*,
outermost layers first (like peeling an onion), is what you're getting in
the "first runnings".
When you start washing more water through those little blobs, though, what
you are getting a higher and higher proportion of is just simple sugar
molecules. Hence the more you sparge, the more you're diluting flavorful
maltiness and merely tapping off sugar which will get fermented.
So: Use a little more grain (about 1/3 more), and obtain your intended OG
with first runnings alone. You'll get a much maltier beverage. Simple as
that. If you're a malt freak, like myself, give sparging away.
PS -- WARNING: The above opinions are those of a total non-
expert. The results are as indicated, but
the explanation may well be fanciful. If
anybody can tell me it's wrong, I'll be
happy to hear it.
Ken Willing <kwilling@laurel.ocs.mq.edu.au>
Sydney, Australia
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 95 17:10:37 PDT
From: stafford@alcor.hac.com (Jack Stafford)
Subject: Re: Low $$ Thermostats
I've been using my refrigerator's thermostat.
The settings go from 0 to 6. Right now it is set at 1.5 to
achieve a very steady temerature of 48 degrees F.
Food seems to spoil a tad sooner but the lagers it puts out
are fantastic. In April I made the Rocky Racoon's Lager in
the NCJoHB (Papazian). It fermented for over 5 weeks in the
'fridge. Now I know why they say this brew is award winning.
Right now I have a Honey Maple Bock fermenting away. I used
a Wyeast culture (Bavarian lager) and racked it last weekend.
It still has a way to go to completion, but I'm in no hurry.
The hydrometer sample was very tasty and read 1.034 mmmm :)
In my case the thermostat in the fridge is workin' just fine.
BTW its a 16cu ft Sears that you defrost yourself.
Jack. stafford@alcor.hac.com
Yeast of Eden Homebrewers
Costa Mesa, CA USA
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 95 21:29:03 EDT
From: "Matthew W. Bryson" <MWBryson@LANMAIL.RMC.COM>
Subject: re:Gelatin fining...
Erik Larsen mentioned that he had switched form polyclar to Knox
unflavored gelatin because of a plastic taste. Having never used polyclar,
I can't comment on its effectiveness. However, isinglass is very difficult
for me to come by, so I've been using gelatin for about 2 years with great
success. YMMV.
Matthew W. Bryson
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 04 Aug 1995 00:23:34 -0400 (EDT)
From: Tim Laatsch <LAATSCH@kbs.msu.edu>
Subject: CP Bottle Filling
Hey All,
I agreed wholeheartedly with KRF (kirk?) regarding the counterpressure bottle
filler (CPBF) review article in Zymurgy. I decided to give the $0.20 CPBF a
try. To recap, it consists of a short siphon tube attached to the picnic tap
of your corny keg. I tried dispensing the chilled brew to chilled bottles at
2,3,4,5,7, & 10 psi and experienced excessive foaming at all levels and lost a
good bit of beer in the process. I could only fill the bottles to about 7/8
the normal level, with the remainder being foam. I found the ideal level to
be around 5 psi, which would have worked well if I had several bottles ready
to fill and executed bottle-to-bottle transfers perfectly without any
stopping. Every time I stopped filling, the brew ran out of the dispensing
tube all over the counter and the restart was foam city. Does anyone else
have a different experience? And can anyone suggest the optimal dispensing
pressure? Thanks for any help.
Bones
*=============================================================================*
| Timothy P. Laatsch | email: laatsch@kbs.msu.edu | Aspiring |
| Graduate Student-Microbiology | biz phone: 616-671-2329 | All-Grain |
| Michigan State University/KBS | fax: 616-671-2104 | Homebrewer |
| Kalamazoo, MI (Home of Bell's) | obsession: American Pale Ale | & Scientist |
*=============================================================================*
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 4 Aug 1995 01:29:31 -0400
From: PatrickM50@aol.com
Subject: Re: pellet dry-hopping
In a message dated 95-08-03 06:18:15 EDT, Pat Humphrey writes:
>Has anyone tried to dry hop with pellets? What should I do to ensure that
>contamination will not be introduced into the lagering carboy? I don't
>want to boil the pellets since that will defeat the purpose of the dry
>hopping.
I've successfully dry hopped my last three ales with pellets in the secondary
fermenter and have a few suggestions:
1) Put the pellets into a loose-woven cheesecloth bag, or "hop sack" and
weigh it down with 20 - 30 sanitized marbles per oz. of pellets. Some hop
"dust" will still get out of the sack and float to the top, but it's not
enough to worry about.
2) Allow a little extra room in the carboy for the pellets to expand in the
sack.
3) Ignore the millions of champagne-like bubbles that will start developing
after 12 hours or so. Seems the pellets are evidently releasing CO2 from
solution through some magic of science and not really contaminating or
causing an unwelcome fermentation as it appears! ( I could be wrong about
the actual cause of the bubbles, but all three brews turned out great!)
Don't wait for the bubbles to stop - just go ahead and bottle whenever you
think the hops have had their desired effect.
My last batch was a Cream Ale that was still a little too cloudy for me after
2 weeks of dry-hopping - no doubt due to the constant upward activity of the
tiny bubbles. So I racked it off the hops to a tertiary glass carboy
fermenter and 95% of the bubbling went away. It was perfectly clear at
bottling time a week later. Hope this helps.
Pat Maloney
4) Try to curb your frustration at trying to get the bag of marbles and hop
debris out of the narrow neck of the carboy after you siphon the beer into
your bottling vessel. Just take your time. Another homebrew helps at this
point.
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1799, 08/04/95
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