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HOMEBREW Digest #1820
This file received at Hops.Stanford.EDU 1995/09/01 PDT
HOMEBREW Digest #1820 Fri 01 September 1995
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Killer chiller, thermistors, bad alcohol (dludwig)
Filter hops and break (Philip Gravel)
Vasectomy and Homebrew ("Kevin A. Kutskill")
re: Brewing in the Middle East (Nir Navot)
Extraction efficiency ("RUCKER, WILLIAM G.")
Homebrew shelf life / beer engine (Eric Bender)
Is my refrigerator ruined? ("Jeff M. Michalski, MD")
Cats Meow (Mark Stevens)
Moravian 2-Row barley malt - sources? (LT Alan D Czeszynski)
unsubscribe Digest (Bernhard Huber)
Tap Tower (Junius Adams)
New siphon tool (claytonj)
Adios Amiegos Cervacia (ELQ1)
W. Coast Brewpubs ("Wes Neuenschwander")
Wyeast Eurpean Ale Yeast ("Robert Marshall")
Re: counter pressure bottling foam/RTP Yeast in SF Bay Area? (hollen)
filtering beer/wine/mead (Chuck Wettergreen)
organically grown ingredients (Jim Larsen)
Sparging Techniques Poll - RESULTS (Nir Navot)
Aerating Stones / Real Ale Fest (Dennis Davison)
sour mega lager yeast wheat scum (Russell Mast)
Soda Kegs in LA area (Mario Robaina)
re: scum skimming (SPEAKER.CURTIS)
RE: using lactic acid (MClarke950)
Hop Plug Utilization? (MClarke950)
Re: Lag time in yeast (SoarMoose)
Re: Brewing Stand (BixMeister)
All-Wheat Mash Schedule (Nicholas A. Franke)
Strawbeery Teaser (BF3B8RL)
replacement taps (DONBREW)
The Hunter fix (DONBREW)
Re: Freshness Peaks in Beer (Jeff Renner)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 22:06:35 -0400
From: dludwig@atc.ameritel.net
Subject: Killer chiller, thermistors, bad alcohol
Ahhhh! I can finally post!. I have been chomping at the bit on this one and
am finally able to post, belated as it may be. Immersion chillers can work
well without stirring. Contrary to popular belief, the wort does not
necessarily have to be static (in the absence of stirring) in an immersion
chiller. When I built my chiller, I wanted to keep the lid on while cooling
the wort to keep bugs, dust, cat out of the wort while maximizing free
convection. In other words, no stirring. Before turning on the cooling
water, I usually give the wort a couple of good stirs, put the lid on and go
for it without further stirring. But after reading several recent posts, I
decided to chill a 7 gallon batch with no stirring what so ever. The wort
temperature went from boiling to 76 deg F in 18 minutes. Data as follows
(time:temp): 0:200, 1:160, 2:138, 3:125, 4:117, 5:109, 6:103, 7:97, 9:90,
10:87, 11:85, 13:82, 14:80, 15:78, 16:77, 17:76, 18:75. Here are the conditions:
-tap water temperature (chiller inlet temp) - 66 deg F
-ambient temperature - 75 deg F
-flowrate through chiller - didn't measure but water is supplied by a
typical submersible well -pump in the back yard
-7 gallons of wort in 33 qt enamel-on-steel canning/crab! pot with lid
-50 ft garden hose to the chiller and 25 ft of exit hose
I think chiller construction is the key. We've heard talk about forced
convection(stirring) and natural convection(no stirring). I constructed a
double coil out of 34 ft of 3/8 copper. Read Kirk Flemings post in #1809.
His chiller sounds similar. The outer coil is 12 in diameter and the inner
is 7.5 in diameter. My reasoning behind this design was to develop
reenforcing circulation cells (sorta donut shaped) in the pot. I initially
tested the design with two water boils. Through refraction in the water, I
could see the currents generated during the cooling. Pretty amazing to
watch. Two tests yielded 16 and 18 minutes from boiling to 75 degrees F with
no stirring and the pot lid on. Now I have no idea whether this is an
optimum configuration, but it works good enough for me. Out of 5 batches,
all but one have chilled from boiling to 75 deg F in less than 20 minutes
with no stirring other than an initial stir before chilling. One batch went
from boiling to 75 degrees in 29 minutes which really had me puzzled until I
discovered the washing machine was running and in the rinse cycle so I guess
there was some reduction in flow rate through the chiller. One thing I
noticed when sweating copper joints; it's easy to overdo it and get an
excessive amount of solder inside of the tube. I discovered the opening in
one joint nearly half blocked by solder. In a chiller, this would
substantially reduce the flowrate through the chiller and the efficiency
along with it. May be why some chillers don't perform well. Then again,
maybe I'm the only one who has done this. The other thing you might consider
when building a double coil chiller, or a single coil for that matter, is
keeping the tubes well alligned over each other. I used my shop vac for
forming the outer bank and a paint can for the inner bank. Because the
convection flow of wort over the tubes is reenforcing, I think that neatly
stacked tubes is better than haphazardly stacked tubes where you probably
get lots of small eddie currents around the stack upsetting the circulation
effect. Your chiller will look like Mr. science and not like a Snuffy Smith
still. Just a thought and not intended to be an established truth (how about
that for a sign off line!)
On another subject, someone recently asked about a source for thermistors. I
purchased several from radio shack for less than two bucks apiece (blah). I
constructed a temperature probe as follows: 1) 1 inch long thin walled brass
tube (3/16 dia) and crimp one end, 2) Solder leads to the thermistor, 3)
fill the tube with epoxy and insert thermistor w/leads (intent is secure
thermistor in the tube and insulate the exposed wires), 4) slide the wire
leads through a length of flexible tubing and slide the tubing over the open
end of the brass tube, 5) clamp the flexible tube around the brass tube with
chromium iron wire (safety wire for those in the aviation business). You now
have a temperature probe that you can use in your mash or boiling pot. I use
a digital multimeter that, within the resistance range of the the
thermistor, reads to the nearest 1/10 ohm. These thermistors have
calibration data on the back of the packaging. I generated a calibration
curve with this data and use that to monitor temperature. I actually use two
curves, one for the range of mash temperatures and one for the
boiling/chilling temperature range. I satisfied myself as to the accuracy by
checking the readings in an ice bath and boiling water. I also always do a
sanity check by comparing to my standard thermometer. Works great and cheap
too if you neglect the cost of the multimeter. Of course we use them for
other things too, right?
What does fusel alcohol taste like? Got's me worrying now, what with my
rocky racoon's fermenting away happily in my unused basement sump pit at a
very steady 68 deg F.
Dave Ludwig
"From the land of pleasant living"
Southern MD
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Aug 95 21:14 CDT
From: pgravel@mcs.com (Philip Gravel)
Subject: Filter hops and break
===> David Mercer asks about filtering out hops and break material:
> But there's
>one basic I still haven't figured out yet: How best to filter out the hops
>and break when siphoning to a counterflow chiller.
[snip, snip, snip...]
>I boil in an 8 gallon enamel/steel pot and chill using a counterflow chiller
>with a copper siphoning cane. One suggestion I've heard is sticking a
>copper scrubbing pad on the end. But it seems to me that this would get
>clogged pretty quickly.
Filtering out the break material is difficult at best. Your best bet
is to siphon away from it and not worry too much if some gets into the
fermenter. The same holds true if you're using hop pellets. A copper
pad is good if you're using whole hops or hop plugs. The pad doesn't
get clogged at all in my experience.
- --
Phil
_____________________________________________________________
Philip Gravel Lisle, Illinois pgravel@mcs.com
------------------------------
Date: 29 Aug 95 23:13:08 EDT
From: "Kevin A. Kutskill" <75233.500@compuserve.com>
Subject: Vasectomy and Homebrew
Catching up on old digests, and ran across the post by Ray Ownby on
brewing and vasectomy. I recently did the "Big V", did not brew beer, but
instead taught my wife how to draw a draft form my kegging setup in the
basement. Funny how she forgot how to do this for me after I recovered!
<g> The doctor gave me a prescription for Tylenol #3's, but I found that a
homebrew every 1-2 hours did a much better job!
Just in case anyone else has to make the "Great Sacrifice"!
Kevin A. Kutskill ("Dr. Rottguts")
Clinton Township, MI
"A homebrew a day keeps the doctor happy"
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 08:25:02 +0200
From: diagen@netvision.net.il (Nir Navot)
Subject: re: Brewing in the Middle East
in HBD 1817 Chris Eykamp asked:
>Subject: Brewing in the Middle East
>Has anyone done it?
I am doing it!! and a few others do too.
But my guess is you are talking about an arab country. Well then, if you do
not intend to malt your own grain and grow your own hops, you will have to
bring them over from europe or the US. However, if you could visit Israel
from time to time, you could do your shopping for brewing supplies here.
The Middle East - Where the Desert Beer was born.
Now let's talk about pitching temperatures...
Nir Navot, Rosh Ha'ayin, Israel
"WeBrew in HeBrew!!!"
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Aug 95 07:00:28 EDT
From: "RUCKER, WILLIAM G." <ruckewg@naesco.com>
Subject: Extraction efficiency
Dear Digest,
I have just completed my first attempt at all grain brewing. I am
curious about how to find my extraction efficiency. I have seen
several posts on this in the past but as I wasn't brewing all grain
they were passed over. I hate to ask the same questions over and over
but can someone provide me with a usable formula and hopefully a brief
description of how it all goes together? I would really appreciate it.
By the way, the beer seems to have turned out just fine!
Thanks for the toleration!
Cheers,
Bill
brewzer@peanut.mv.com
ruckewg@naesco.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 07:54:50 EDT
From: uscgc2r3@ibmmail.com
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: MarbleTtun
I haven't built my Brewhaus yet, but I've been going over a lot of plans in my
head. Regarding a false bottom fo the mash tun, does anyone see a problem with
using a couple of inches of marbles to support a layer of window screen (and
maybe a one-deep layer of marbles on top of that to keep it in place).
In my head, this is cheap, easy, and a breeze to wash up after. I've no desire
to walk into a disaster though if an experienced masher can point out some
obvious flaws. Thanks
Wallie Meisner
1800 334 9481 x-2410
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 08:01:32 -0400 (EDT)
From: Eric Bender <benderec@ttown.apci.com>
Subject: Homebrew shelf life / beer engine
Steve Schultz writes:
<I am noticing a definite pattern: My beers often taste very good after
<2-3 weeks in the bottle, but after not much more than 4-5 weeks, they are
<in decline.
Sorry Steve I can't offer any suggestions since I experience the exact
opposite. In Papazian's CJOHB he always says the beer should be ready to
drink in 3-4 weeks, but I have found no matter what the style of beer
I've made, the beer does not even begin to come into its own until after
2-3 MONTHS! and remains very good at least up to 8 months (never any left
after 8 months). The only suggestion I do have is my beers regardless of
style benefit (taste wise that is) from a lagering period in the fridge
for 2-3 weeks after they have been bottled and sitting in my basement for
2-3 months.
On another subject, I tried the suggestion in the current issue of ZMRGY
of using a 10 cc syringe as a beer engine. I must say this did more for
my homebrew than I thought it would. I poured 12 ozs. (flat) into a
buldge pint, withdrew 10 cc and than with moderate pressure shot the 10
cc back into the glass. The beer "rained" in my glass ala Guiness and
emerged with a thick creamy head that stayed there until the last drop.
An already fine ale seemed to be rounded out better and even possibly
perfected. I tried it on two ales, one an English Old Ale (O.G. 1.075) &
an American Pale Ale (O.G. 1.047). The engine did more for the higher
gravity beer? but did help both beers! Comments please.
Eric Bender
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 95 08:27:14 -0500
From: "Jeff M. Michalski, MD" <michalski_jm@rophys.wustl.edu>
Subject: Is my refrigerator ruined?
Yesterday Donbrew posted this message:
>Subject: Hunter fix and defrost clock
> On a related note. I certainly hope that everybody who uses a
>refridgerator for fermenting/lagering has remembered to either use an old
>fashioned "defrost it yourself" fridge or disabled the defrost clock. If you
>explore underneath the fridge, probably near the back side you will find a
>little "black box" with a knob on it and two wires plugged into it, this will
>probably be the clock. Just short the two wires and voila, no more auto
>defrost cycle. BTW this clock is in my limited experience the most common
>cause of a "dead" refridgerator, they tend to break in the off cycle.
I've been using a Hunter airstat on my refrigerator for about a year. It is a
frostless variety. "Is my refrigerator ruined?"
What is a defrost clock, how does it work, how can I recognize it beyond a
doubt and what would happen if I didn't disable it?
JEFF M. MICHALSKI
michalski_jm@rophys.wustl.edu
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 95 09:23:19 EDT
From: Mark Stevens <stevens@stsci.edu>
Subject: Cats Meow
Been a couple messages about Cats Meow in the last couple days...
The Cats Meow 3 is currently available through the world wide web
at http://alpha.rollanet.org/cm3/CatsMeow3.html
What you see there is a working draft of the recipe collection.
Recipes are available via the web as soon as we fold 'em in, but
stable FTP'able versions aren't ready yet (couple more months).
When Cats Meow 3 is ready, it will be available through usual
FTP channels in ASCII and PostScript formats, plus there will
probably be a version in Acrobat PDF form, and a LaTeX version
if enough people are interested in that.
As for the question about Access, Karl and I have never been keen
on supporting any specific commercial product's format. We'll
provide generic, platform and software independent format files
and if you want to pull it into your favorite word processor,
spreadsheet, database, or whatever, that's cool, but we're not
going to support a gazillion different files for everyone's
favorite commercial software.
Cheers!
- ---Mark Stevens
stevens@stsci.edu
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 09:37:40 -0400 (EDT)
From: LT Alan D Czeszynski <czesz@nadn.navy.mil>
Subject: Moravian 2-Row barley malt - sources?
I want to brew more authentic German lagers and have decided to start by
switching to Moravian 2-row vice domestic 2-row. The problem I have run
into is that most HB supply stores advertise their malts as German or
Belgian, Pils or 2-row, but not specifically as Moravian. (And
amazingly, the proprietors don't know the difference). Are these
malts Moravian, and specifically, are the Pilsner 2-rows produced by DWC
and Gambrinus Moravian? Also, if any of you know of a good supplier of
Moravian I'd like to know.
TIA
Alan
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LT Alan Czeszynski, USN | czesz@greatlakes.nadn.navy.mil
|
Department of Naval Architecture, |
Ocean and Marine Engineering | voice: 410-293-6436
| fax: 410-293-2219
U. S. Naval Academy Annapolis, MD | DSN: 281-6436
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 23:10:18 +1000
From: anarchie@zeta.org.au (Bernhard Huber)
Subject: unsubscribe Digest
I want to unsubscribe from the Homebrew Digest mailing list, please...
it's great but clogs up my mailbox too much. Thanks for great brews....
bernhard Huber
anarchie@zeta.org.au
Bernhard Huber
10 Shepherd St Marrickville NSW 2204
AUSTRALIA
Tel.: +61 2 560 7780
e-mail: anarchie@zeta.org.au
http://www.zeta.org.au/~anarchie/Home
**************************************************************************
"He who has diarrhoea knows the direction of the door without being told"
(Proverb from Uganda)
**************************************************************************
"Bill Gates' plan for interactivity is to make people stupid. Subordinate
them to technology by way of interactive shopping."
Noam Chomsky 1995
**************************************************************************
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 10:03:30 -0400
From: Junius Adams <AdamsJ@gwgate.nhlbi.nih.gov>
Subject: Tap Tower
Hi all,
I have been lurking long enough. I have a question for the collective. I
have recently gotten into kegging and will never bottle again. Since the
soft drink companies are going to plastic containers, one can get great
deals on corny kegs.
My question is that I have recently set up a 24" wide, 24" deep, and 36"
high refrigerator that will hold 3 corny kegs and a 5 lb C02 cylinder. I
currently have a single tap tower with a single tap on top. The tower is
the garden variety chrome plated brass kind. I would obviously like to go
to a triple tap tower, but am interested in something a bit out of the
ordinary (e.g. antique). I have absolutely no idea where to begin my
quest. I would be most grateful for any information in this area. Private
E-mail (ja33m@nih.gov) would be ideal.
TIA
Jay Adams
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Blood Diseases Program
Health Scientist Administrator and Resident Brewer
"They gave William IV a lovely funeral. It took six men to carry the beer.
From "Anguished English" by Richard Lederer
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 09:44:50 -0400
From: claytonj@cc.tacom.army.mil
Subject: New siphon tool
Brewers,
This is an update to a post I made earlier this year where I
proposed making a dyke to hold back hops and break material while
siphoning cooled wort from the boiler. Due to house painting and
other chores, I've just now been able to FINALLY brew a batch and
here is the result.
My original plan was to take a soup can and cut out the bottom and
top, slit the side, bend tabs to fit the radius of the kettle, and
drill a bunch of 1/16" holes. Due to the aforementioned chores, I
was unable find the time to make the original design. So with brew
day fast approaching, I decided to leave the can whole, cutting out
the top and bottom and drilling it with holes. As it turns out, I
think a much better design.
I used a 16 oz size can (baked beans) with a laser welded seam
approximately 4 3/8 inches high and a 3 inch diameter. While
brewing a batch of house ale, I used a center punch and a narrow
piece of wood to lay out eight rows of holes approximately 1/4 inch
apart vertically and horizontally. I ended up with 28 holes per row
by 8 rows for a total of 224 holes. The first three rows were
drilled with 1/16 bit, the next two rows with a 5/64 bit and the
last three rows with a 3/32 bit. The reasoning for the different
size holes was, besides the fact I was having a good time ;-), that
the smaller break and hop particles would be at the bottom and need
more filtration, but I didn't want to restrict the flow into the
cylinder too early. In fact I was having such a good time making
this I had my first major boil over right after adding the bittering
hops (DOH!!!). I wonder if the homebrews may have had anything to
do with the disaster? Naaaaa. Anyway, I used a rat tail file to
smooth the inside of the can and clean out the holes and tossed the
can in my bucket of sanitizer (B-brite) along with a copper scrubby
to be used as the filter at the base.
I chilled the wort with my immersion chiller and whirlpooled with a
2 x 4 block under one side of the pot to get the hops and break
material to pile up at one end of the pot. I began to siphon using
just the racking cane until I started getting into the cloudy wort.
I then took out the can and scrubby, rinsed it, and put the scrubby
into the bottom of the can and placed it on the high side of the
kettle. I removed the wood block and placed the racking cane into
the can and continued to siphon. It worked unbelievably well! I had
to slow down the siphon only when the level of wort went below the
level of hops/break material. I was able to tip the pot up and
collect all of the wort without having break or hops clogging up my
racking cane. The hop/break bed was so compacted, I was able to tip
the kettle up on its side and pour the last little bid of wort out
of the can area into the fermenter. This was the first time I've
ever been able to successfully siphon all the wort from my kettle
without having the siphon tube clog and lose the siphon.
The thing works great and I may never have another stopped siphon again (I
know, I probably just jinxed myself) and it's a lot easier to build than
the copper ring thingy.
Can ASCII:
|----------| Cut out top and bottom of the can.
| |
| |
| |
|..........|
|..........|\
|..........| * actually 8 rows with copper scrubby installed in
|..........|/ the bottom portion.
|----------|
A couple of other things:
Do any of you Mac users out there know how to convert Excel for
DOS/windows files to Excel for Macintosh (version 3, I think). I have
a PC at work and a Mac at home and I'd like to be able to use some of
the PC based Excel brewing spreadsheets at home without having to
construct them myself.
To the guy who said it's possible to brew with toddlers around: Do
you want to trade toddlers until I get my beer stock back up to where
it should be? :-)
See ya,
Joe C.
Joe's garage and basement pico brewery, Farmington Hills, MI
ak753@detroit.freenet.org (preferred) or claytonj@cc.tacom.army.mil
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Aug 95 11:24:26 PDT
From: ELQ1%Maint%HBPP@bangate.pge.com
Subject: Adios Amiegos Cervacia
Its been 2 very educational years of reading the HBD, the little tricks
learned, the passionate charactors, the unending drivel threads that seem
go longer than some of my lager fermentations. So, as I pack up my alter
ego, Danny Dumps Jr. and move outta this office and into one up town, I
will hopefully be able to re-subscribe and again look forward to morning
coffee and the HBD. Thanks Spencer, John P., Al, Rich, Coyote, Kirk, etc.
I have learned a lot, and if anyone will listen, I'll pass it on!
Ed Quier ELQ1@PGE.COM 707=444-0718
Brewing Lagers Live! from behind the Redwood Curtain, Eureka! Ca.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 08:29:19 8
From: "Wes Neuenschwander" <wesn@eskimo.com>
Subject: W. Coast Brewpubs
I'm planning on driving through the Oregon and California coasts over the
next few weeks, hoping to find some nice little brewpubs along the way.
In the past I've been pleasantly surprised with both the quantity and
quality of the breweries. However, I've invariably discovered that I've
overlooked some of the newer, perhaps smaller and more out of the way,
places in these sojourns. Are there any listings of Oregon and/or
California brewpubs that anyone on the list is aware of? I promise to do
my darndest to provide updates, comments, etc. upon my return. Thanks.
-Wes
Wes Neuenschwander
Seattle, WA
wesn@eskimo.com
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 1995 09:13:05 -0800
From: "Robert Marshall" <robertjm@hooked.net>
Subject: Wyeast Eurpean Ale Yeast
I have used this three times and have had long lag times every single
time. Granted, I don't use a starter, but I still think it is the
yeast because I have used other Wyeast strains, which have moved
faster from the start.
Best Wishes,
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 29 Aug 1995 07:56:59 -0700
From: hollen@vigra.com
Subject: Re: counter pressure bottling foam/RTP Yeast in SF Bay Area?
>>>>> "Robert" == Robert Marshall <robertjm@hooked.net> writes:
Robert> Cannot help you with the Braukunst prduct since I don't use one, but
Robert> I will repeat something I read elsewhere:
Robert> Don't practice on beer!! For heaven and beer's sake, use tap water
Robert> and make yourself some fizzy water for the kids.
Sorry to contradict you, but while I agree that fizzy water is a place
to start practicing, it certainly does not mimic beer. There are a
lot of components in beer which will make it foam quite differently
from fizzy water and the final test, IMHO, *must* done on beer. I
have communicated with the original poster with some suggestions to
solve the foaming problem.
dion
- --
Dion Hollenbeck (619)597-7080x119 Email: hollen@vigra.com
Senior Software Engineer Vigra, Inc. San Diego, California
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 12:38:07 -0500
From: chuckmw@mcs.com (Chuck Wettergreen)
Subject: filtering beer/wine/mead
Anyone out there filtering beer/wine/mead on a regular basis? I checked "The
Brewery" web page and didn't find any useful info. I'd like to know the
different types of equipment and supplies available, pros and cons of
different methods, and sources of supply. E-mail preferred and I'll
summarize fot the Digest.
TIA,
Chuck Wettergreen
Chuckmw@mcs.net
Geneva, IL
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
Chuck Wettergreen
chuckmw@mcs.com
Geneva, Il
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 14:19:24 -0500 (CDT)
From: Jim Larsen <jal@gonix.gonix.com>
Subject: organically grown ingredients
Ive been requested to brew a beer using only organically produced
ingredients. While the term has not been precisely defined (What do you
mean the malt was packaged in polyethylene!?), Im trying to line up
appropriate ingredients.
If anyone has information regarding such products, please let me know.
Jim
jal@gonix.com
larsen_jim@tandem.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 22:51:34 +0200
From: diagen@netvision.net.il (Nir Navot)
Subject: Sparging Techniques Poll - RESULTS
The Sparging Techniques Poll is done and the results are:
A unanimous vote (10 out of 10 responses) for sparging while keeping the
level of the liquid above the grain. The alternative - collect wort, then
sparge, is used by some brewers making special brews with a very high SG.
Thanks to all the responders.
Nir Navot
Rosh Ha'ayin, Israel
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WeBrew in HeBrew!!! (and ascii)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 16:29:10 -0500
From: ddavison@earth.execpc.com (Dennis Davison)
Subject: Aerating Stones / Real Ale Fest
Aerating Stones:
Digester and Digetites, I'm looking for various sources of aerating
stones. Currently I have the Liquid Bread and soon to have the Brewers
Resource, plus I have an el cheapo that I picked up from my surplus store.
I'm looking for other sources. These will be used in a comprehensive study
on aerating and I need as many sources as possible to verify differences.
Real Ale Fest:
Sorry to one and all. Plans for the fest fell by the wayside last
spring when we had numorous other projects in the works. At the beginning of
summer my time was taken up and is still being taken up with the BJCP, so
RAF has had to take another back burner. We do have hopes of bringing it to
life next year, so stay tuned. We want to do it right, not half baked.
Dennis Davison ddavison@earth.execpc.com
BJCC Midwest Region
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 16:42:23 -0500
From: Russell Mast <rmast@fnbc.com>
Subject: sour mega lager yeast wheat scum
> From: howe@shemp.appmag.com (Aubrey Howe)
> Subject: Irish WYEAST Bombs?
> Now for the real question: Will the bottles be OK? Did I just
> create two cases of bombs? Is this why they call the 22 ounce bottles
> "Bombers?"
I had a batch ferment clean through so fast that I was convinced it had
gone dormant and I just let it sit for a month or so. It's the best
stout I've made. What were your OG & FG?
> From: dipalma@sky.com (Jim Dipalma)
> Subject: Re: scum skimming, pumps
> Haven't noticed any negative effects on head retention from doing this. My
> beers are fine in that regard, and I've developed great 3-point range!
You're sick, Jim, I like that. I'll have to try skimming scum next time.
I've always let it fall back in, but I don't often have clarity problems.
> From: Jim Busch <busch@eosdev2.gsfc.nasa.gov>
> Subject: Wheat extract
> Actually, wheat malt has the highest extract potential. The difficulty
> arises in getting this extract out of the mash and lauter tun and
> into the brew kettle. Thats why in practice 70% wheat is generally
> accepted as the upper limit where one can still have acceptable
> lauter results.
We've talked this out a bit in private e-mail. Maybe someone else who's
done 100% wheat batches can back me up on this, but I did _not_ get full
conversion with 100% wheat malt. Not sure how much starch was left, but
there was enough to blacken my iodine. I did not do any protein or acid
rest, and didn't crush the stuff very thoroughly, all of which Jim mentioned
might contribute to incomplete conversion.
Despite that, I can't recommend 100% wheat highly enough. Yum!
> From: kuebeler@PICARD.tamu.edu (Mark Kuebeler)
> Subject: Wyeast 1338 European Ale yeast
> the wort may have gotten down below
> 60^F for the first six hours. Could this have caused the yeast to go
> dormant or slowed them down, even with a higher pitching rate?
It might have slowed them down a bit, but probably wouldn't knock them out.
I used this yeast once and I recall it as having been a bit slow, but it
was pretty tasty in the end.
> From: "Lee A. Menegoni" <lmenegoni@nectech.com>
> Subject: RTP yeast cultures
> I have no financial intrest in the venture though I would like to see it be
> successful.
Perhaps if you passed on an address or a phone number . . .
> From: rapaport@srvware.serviceware.com
> Subject: Lagering Advice Please
>
> Anybody know what the right way to do it is?
I don't know "the" right way to do anything, but I'd be more inclined to
believe your book. I'm paranoid about esters in my lagers, so I wouldn't
let the temp ever go above 60.
> Also -- I think the warmest I can get my refrigerator is 44 degrees.
> Will this work?
Slowly, very slowly. But, I'd bet it will turn out worth the wait.
> From: Benwrtr@aol.com
> Subject: Re: Mega Craft Breweries
> So megas like A-B will gladly leave the actual brewing operations of the
> micros alone, as long as they can siphon off their share of the profits.
But, if they begin to worry about the profits, they'll be much quicker to
reduce the quality than your neighborhood microbrewer. Still, as long as
consumers have money to spend on quality beer, someone will have quality
beer to sell.
> From: rjbourc@nmia.com (Roy Bourcier)
> Subject: Sour Mash Beer Recipes?
> Cool to 90=B0F and stir in yogurt culture
Where do you get yogurt culture? Any truth to Papazian's claim that the husks
of malted barley are chock full of usable lacto bugs?
-R
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 14:55:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: sprmario@netcom.com (Mario Robaina)
Subject: Soda Kegs in LA area
Subject says it all, except for the fact that I'm looking for them, not
offering them. Anyone know a cheap (read FREE or close to it) source of
soda kegs in the Los Angeles area? Just made the jump to a draft system
and am looking to expand the brewery already. Will travel.
Here's a possible offer: if someone can find me a good deal on 3-4 kegs,
I'll return one full of homebrew... Any takers?
-John Girard
(masquerading as sprmario@netcom.com)
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 11:00 EDT
From: CSS2@OAS.PSU.EDU (SPEAKER.CURTIS)
Subject: re: scum skimming
I think I have to disagree with Jim Dipalma regarding scum skimming:
I always skim the scum off my mead, but never beer. If these high-MW proteins
have been denatured (cooked) and form scum, they most likely will end up in
your hot/cold break and will not contribute significantly to protein haze in
your beer. I have made some suprisingly clear beers without skimming the
scum; irish moss does help, however.
Just another data point
Curt
css2@oas.psu.edu
"Life's too short to drink cheap beer!"
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 19:43:53 -0400
From: MClarke950@aol.com
Subject: RE: using lactic acid
Curtis (css2@oas.psu.edu) wanted to know about lactic acid:
>I received some pure (well 88%) lactic acid the other day by mail
>order and suddenly realized that I'm really not sure how much or
>how to use it.
<snip>
>* how much? a teaspoon? a tablespoon? an ounce? no clue....
>* when to add? during boil? post boil? at bottling?
The following has been copied from Phil Seitz' series on Brewing
Belgian Beer:
>> Mild acidity is a classic feature of a good white beer. The
>>brave can attempt a lactic fermentation, but there's an easy
>>shortcut: add a very small quantity of 88% lactic acid to your
>>beer at bottling time. Amounts between 5 and 15 milliliters per
>>5 gallons work well. Be aware that the acid will need some time
>>to blend with teh other flavors. This usually takes 1-2 months.
>any help would be appreciated. FWIW, I'm trying to make a Flanders
>Brown and want the sour, lactic character in it without adding yogurt
>(not in my beer, thank you) or doing a sour mash.
Flanders Brown has a very complex taste, you will be able to sour it
following the above method, but it might not give you everything
you need. Aeoubrau or Yeastlabs might have some cultures that might
be closer to the mark.
Cheers,
Mike
Mike Clarke
Seattle, WA. USA
Email: MClarke950@aol.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 20:06:55 -0400
From: MClarke950@aol.com
Subject: Hop Plug Utilization?
Greetings!
I've been brewing mainly with whole hops in the past and just recently
started using hop plugs (compressed whole leaf hops). The reason for
the switch was to use traditional (British and German) hop varieties
in a fresh form. The compressed hops are supposed to oxidise slower,
because being compressed there is less of the hop mass is exposed to
air. Similiar to pellets, but still have whole leaves in the kettle.
Now the question, has anyone gotten lower alpha acid utilization from
this type of hop? How about aroma? I was un-impressed in both of these
departments. One thought that made sense had to do with the amount of
time it took for the plug to break down into individual leaves or cones,
during that time not all the hops are in contact with the beer. Anyone
have any experiences with plugs for boiling/taste/aroma additions.
Comments welcome.
Cheers,
Mike
Mike Clarke
Seattle, WA. USA
Email: MClarke950@aol.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 20:36:57 -0400
From: SoarMoose@aol.com
Subject: Re: Lag time in yeast
In a message dated 95-08-30 04:15:04 EDT, you write:
>
>Has anyone else experienced long lag times with this yeast? The first
>time I used it, I just pitched the contents of the smack pack and it
>took almost 36 hours for signs of fermentation to appear. I used this
>yeast again, this time pitching from a 1 quart starter that was
>prepared the day before. It's been 24 hours since I pitched from the
>starter and nothing has happened yet.
YES YES YES...I had the same problem. I grew it up in a starter the second
time and got it to kick in about 20 hours (slowly at first) but it just
didn't work as well as I liked. I figured I was just spoiled because the
yeast I usually use is so vigorous. I'm glad someone else has this problem
too.
I pitched at about 72 degrees (F) andI grew my second starter for 2 days. I
think it's just slow yeast and I'll probably give it more time to grow up
next time before I pitch it (probably about 4 days or until I get some major
signs of activity)
-Chris
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 23:41:23 -0400
From: BixMeister@aol.com
Subject: Re: Brewing Stand
I'm in the midst of building a 3 tier brewing system. Does anyone have any
suggestions for building the stand. I already have one burner for boiling
with its own stand. The remainder burners will have to be incorporated into
the 1st and 2nd tiers.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 95 22:37:20 PDT
From: NAFRANK@pop03.ca.us.ibm.net (Nicholas A. Franke)
Subject: All-Wheat Mash Schedule
In a prior issue of HBD, I responded to a post by Bill
Bunning regarding all-wheat beers by posting my grain bill for
a nearly all-wheat hefeweizen that I made. In HBD #1817
(August 29), Steve Alexander responded and asked me to post
the mash schedule for that beer. Here it is:
GANZ HEFEWEIZEN
7.25# German wheat malt
2.5# Canadian wheat malt
.75# German caramel malt (10L)
1# Wheat flakes
4 qts. Rice hulls
SINGLE DECOCTION MASH
MASH-IN: Grain added to 13 quarts of water at 100 F
and held for 5 mins.;
PROTEIN REST: Mash raised to 128 F in 17 mins.; rest
for 25 mins. at 128 F;
DECOCTION: Thick, 5 quart decoction pulled; raised to
160 F in 12 mins.; starch conversion rest for 25 mins.;
brought to boil in 6 mins. and boiled for 30 mins.; returned
to main mash;
STARCH CONVERSION: Mash brought to 148 F and held for
10 mins.; raised to 160 F and held for 25 mins.;
MASH-OUT: Mash raised to 170 F and held for 10 mins.
Steve Alexander pointed out that the extraction
efficiency was only about 70%. While the extraction
efficiency was low (actually about 75%), it needs to be put
into perspective. I don't want anyone to be put off of
all-wheat grists by my misleadingly low extraction efficiency.
At the time I made this beer I was only getting an
extraction efficiency of about 85% even with a "normal" barley
malt mash. Therefore, the 75% efficiency I experienced with
this all-wheat grist was only about 11% less than what I
normally obtained.
I have since corrected my extraction problem, which
was caused by draining the wort from the lauter tun too
quickly. For an excellent discussion of this dynamic, which
helped me to cure my problem, see the article by John J.
Palmer and Paul Prozinski, "Fluid Dynamics--A Simple Key to
the Mastery of Efficient Lautering," in the July/August 1995
edition of Brewing Techniques magazine (vol. 3 no. 4).
I have not had the opportunity to use an all-wheat
grist since correcting my lautering problem. However, I still
believe that an all-wheat mash is going to have a slightly
lower extraction efficiency (approximately 11% in my case)
than a mash contaning significant amounts of barley. IMHO,
the difference in the beer well-justifies the use of a little
more grain.
NAF.
nafrank@ibm.net
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 08:18:35 -0400
From: BF3B8RL@TPLANCH.BELL-ATL.COM
Subject: Strawbeery Teaser
Hope my description of this low FG beer lives up to its teasing:
STRAWBERRYS N' CREAM ALE (5 Gallons):
1.5# Clover Honey
1.0# Munton & Fiston Extra-Light Malt Extract
1.5# Pilsner Malt
1.0# Klages malt
1/2# Belgian Biscuit Malt
2.5# Pale malt
1/2# Cara-Pils Malt
1.0# Corn Flakes
3/4c Corn Sugar (Prime)
Ozs Hop Variety
1.00 Willamette (4 HBUs, 15 IBUs)
1 t Irish Moss
1 pkg American Ale Wyeast w/ 6oz starter
10# Pureed Frozen Strawberrys (in secondary)
pasturized at 160-67 for 1hr.
1.5oz Strawberry extract at bottling
Pectic Enzyme in secondary to clear
2/3# Lactose at bottling
OG = 1.049 FG=0.999
Boil Corn Flakes for 30 minutes in 5Q; Protien rest Grains for 30
minutes @ 126 in 5Q; Combine for Infusion Mash @153 for 40 minutes;
Raise to 156 for 50 minutes; Sparge with 8Q @ 170.
Please note that 10# of pureed berries is about 1.5Ga of slurp! Use the biggest
fermenter you can find. You lose about 1.5-2 Ga of liquid (remember you added
1.5 already) racking the beer off the slurry. This beer had a harsh character
after a month, but is very nice now after about 3 mos. The berry aroma is
strong, but the flavor is delicate and only a little pink color comes through.
- Chas Peterson
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 08:37:25 -0400
From: DONBREW@aol.com
Subject: replacement taps
Roger Deschner writes:
>Go to your local hardware store and get a "sillcock", which is an
>ordinary garden faucet, made of brass. You want the kind without the
>flanges*, and which has a 1/2" (inside diameter, "standard trade size")
>male connector on its rear end. Then you need a brass 1/2" size locknut,
I would suggest using a boiler drain rather than a sillcock. The
difference being the sillcock has a soil trap and the drain is straight thru.
Some stores carry these made out of cellulose, CPVC, vinyl as well as brass.
Also, if you can't find brass nuts, go to the electrical dept. at the
hardware store and get galvanized conduit nuts. I have been using galvanized
parts inside my tun and boiler for a couple of years now and am still alive,
the only trouble is some of the really cheap ones will rust after awhile.
Don
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 31 Aug 1995 08:37:29 -0400
From: DONBREW@aol.com
Subject: The Hunter fix
Wallie writes:
> (unrelated topic) I wouldn't mention this obvious (to me) fix for the
>Hunter thermostat units, but I've seen so many failure reports.......Why not
>return them to the store? It's obviously not fit for the purpose for which
it
>was intended, the implied warrantee that goes with every consumer good sold
in
>this country. If mail order, or some other problem, then return them to
Hunter.
The quick and dirty answer is: They are no longer manufactured, for a
couple of years.
Don
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 31 Aug 95 08:48:57 -0400
From: Jeff Renner <nerenner@umich.edu>
Subject: Re: Freshness Peaks in Beer
Steven W. Schultz <swschult@cbdcom.apgea.army.mil> says
>
> I am noticing a definite pattern: my beers often taste very good
> after 2-3 weeks in the bottle, but after not much more than 4-5
weeks,
> they are in decline.
To which Russell Mast <rmast@fnbc.com> adds
> All of my beers follow this pattern, also, but not with
> the same timing. In fact, the vast majority of my
> beers, IMO, peak at about 6 weeks, and aren't "losing
> it" until 8 or 10. I do notice the hops starting to
> peter out, but I'm not much of a hophead, so that may be
> some of the difference.
While it is normal for lagers to peak and fall off, my experience is
that ales, especially medium to high gravity ones, will evolve and
improve. They often get drier and more carbonated as the slowly
fermenting sugars do ferment. They will lose some hop bitterness and
aroma but gain in mellowness and what wine drinkers call "bottle
complexity."
It sounds to me like Steven especially may have some problems with
oxidation - either hot side aeration (HSA) and or handling oxidation at
racking/bottling. Attention to these may improve the situation. I have
enjoyed ales that were years old.
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan c/o nerenner@umich.edu
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1820, 09/01/95
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