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HOMEBREW Digest #1930
This file received at Hops.Stanford.EDU 1996/01/09 PST
HOMEBREW Digest #1930 Tue 09 January 1996
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Janitor
Contents:
DO levels/slow 1056 (Jim Busch)
chest freezer taps, portable keg coolers (Jeff Myers)
Wyeast 1056;1st Batch (Michael Genito)
Apricot Ale (SGT James A. Torrie )
Bending Cu Tubing (Charlie Scandrett)
What's a good beer spot in San Francisco? ("Michael D. Fairbrother")
HBD is great stuff! (Bucket99)
New Wyeast Advanced Cultures ("William D. Knudson")
Wyeast 1028 -> Porter (Judith Morgan or Jerzy Niesytto)
Starter Gravity Calculations (John W. Braue, III)
Wort Chillers and Wort Chilling (John W. Braue, III)
Request: pH meter info. (Judith Morgan or Jerzy Niesytto)
Gushers (John Meredith)
Mini vs Corney Kegs (Richard Nantel)
Oxygenation (A. J. deLange)
Glycerol/Wyeast Cells/Diauxism (A. J. deLange)
Cheap Hop Scales (C.D. Pritchard)
Growing Yeast from slants (RORICK)
Fruit Beer Thanks ("Mountain, Glenn")
Using Lager Yeast Properly (Denis Barsalo)
I agree with J. Schmidling! (Charlie Scandrett)
Metabolism/pH Readings/Yeast Storage (A. J. deLange)
Beer Haze ("John P. Linton")
Fruit in Beer (KennyEddy)
Lautering using 3 vessel system (Rick Seibt)rseibt@apk.net
brewpubs in SF (NATEDA)
Chest Freezer Modifications (kbwalker)
re: Malt mill with concrete roller (C.D. Pritchard)
Re: (U) Natural Gas Connection Option (Jim Griggers)
Carbonation - Mixed size bottles (jcmas)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 5 Jan 1996 14:42:54 -0500 (EST)
From: Jim Busch <busch@eosdev2.gsfc.nasa.gov>
Subject: DO levels/slow 1056
Our expert experimenter, A.J. reports:
<If, in the
<course of oxygenation, the headspace becomes filled with oxygen and is then
<sealed off with a fermentation lock the amount of dissolved O2 will stay
<close to its value at the time the O2 was shut off. In the experiment which
<lead to the numbers above the DO level peaked at 14.2 mg/l (154% at 18.3C)
<and was found to be at 14.1 mg/l (158% at 20.2C) 22 hours later.
Of course, this is an experiment with water and no yeast. With yeast
pitched in wort the DO levels should rapidly decrease as the yeast
respires. A.J. knows this, I just wanted to point out that there are
little practical cases where the DO levels would be high many hours
after pitching.
Jim writes about 1056:
<While I cannot blame all my troubles with these batches on 1056 Wyeast, I
<can provide what seems to work for me. ( By the way in the end I was happy
<with all trubled batches). I recommend the following: 1) A one quart
<starter from the foil pouch for 6 gallons 2) Buy as fresh a date code as
<possible and do not store more than one month before starting (theoretically
<this should not matter but I am superstitous) 3) Aerate, aerate, aerate!!
< 4) Ferment at a minimum of 68 F, preferably in the low 70's.
I agree with 1-3, but Ive used this yeast an awful lot and never had
troubles with fermenting between 60-65F. In my opinion, a significant
factor in healthy fermentation is the generation of the yeast pitched.
I get my yeast from a local micro, and thus it is thick/dense slurry
that has been around the block a few times in the fermentation game.
Combine this with direct bubbling of O2 to reach A.J.'s numbers and
this yeast is quite active between 60 and 65F. BTW, 65F is also the
normal set temp that the local micro (Old Dominion) ferments this
yeast at. Provided one brews often enough, repitching yeast slurry
is the ideal way to get healthy ferments, and one of the keys to
successfully brewing very high gravity beers that attenuate well. Just
be sure to be careful with sanitation, as always.
Ive also heard that 1056 has a very large O2 requirement, so getting
as close to 8 mg/L is quite important when using this yeast. I doubt
that folks who have sluggish ferments actually pitch the optimum cell
count *and* achieve this DO level (not to mention the significance of
amino acids, or lack thereof, in extract based beers).
As for first wort hopping and the negative results with whirlpool
hopping: This agrees completely with the comments that Bavarian brewers
have told me with respect to late kettle hops. On many occaisons, Ive
been admonished to avoid late hop additions (no later than 15 minutes
before knockout) when brewing continental lagers. This includes Export,
Helles, Maerzen and Pils. The news about early hop action is certainly
a bit of a suprise.
Carrick asks:
<I am trying to find a cheap source for stainless steel valves and fittings.
Sorry but *cheap* and *SS fittings* cannot be used in the same sentence!!
Jim Busch
busch@daacdev1.stx.com
A Victory For Your Taste!
Festbier, Lager and IPA
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 05 Jan 1996 12:55:49 -0700
From: Jeff Myers <JMYERS@oss.oceaneering.com>
Subject: chest freezer taps, portable keg coolers
Martin Wilde asked (in HBD 1928) about mounting taps in a chest freezer,
without drilling holes in the side walls -
A year or so ago there was a posting in the HBD from someone who had a
solution for the mounting taps on a chest freezer problem. They had made
a wood "collar" that set on top of the chest edge, attached with silicon caulk
and at the original hinge mounting points with brackets. They then mounted
the lid, using the original hinges, to the top of the "collar". All of the taps
(and a CO2 line penetration) were run through the "collar".
I used a similar solution to make a cheap and portable 5 gal keg cooler. I
bought two cheap (plastic Igloo) 48 qt coolers. I took off both lids, and set
one upside down on top of the other with a collar made of 2x 10's (on edge)
in between, with a slot routed on the top and bottom edges of the collar to
mate with the cooler edges. This is just big enough for 2 kegs, with the
inside tall enough for my tallest kegs (with fittings). The CO2 in line went
through the existing drain plug hole of the upside down top cooler, and I
drilled 2 more holes in the front of that cooler for the beer out lines. I used
bungee cords to hold the coolers together, and tied the CO2 bottle to them
as well. This setup maintained ice around the 2 kegs for three Texas fall
days (88-90F day, 70F nights), and worked quite well. I bought 2 extra drain
plugs to put in the extra holes to be able use both coolers as coolers with
their tops replaced. If I was going to do it over I would use a plywood and
foam sandwich instead of the 2x10s, to keep it a little lighter.
Jeff Myers
Houston, Texas
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 5 Jan 1996 15:39:51 -0500
From: genitom@nyslgti.gen.ny.us (Michael Genito)
Subject: Wyeast 1056;1st Batch
First, my added $.02 on Wyeast 1056:
I brewed a batch of Pale Ale using Wyeast 1056. Did the whole bit - smack
the pack ahead of time (it swelled); cooled the wort and added it and the
yeast to the fermenter and air locked it. Went to bed. Woke up at ~65F - the
spousal unit had lowered the thermostat for night time. After 24 hours, no
activity! Seeing all the postings, it appears that room temp at 65F may be
too low. Experience has taught me to wait just a bit longer, and if no
activity occurs, repitch. We'll see...
Then, in HBD1928:
>From: "Douville, Lawrence F." <nop2689@dsac.dla.mil>
>Subject: 1st Batch of Brew
>Hi all,
> I got a homebrewing kit as a Christmas gift and am very anxious to
>start brewing but want to make sure that I do everything right. So I
>thought that I would post a message here for some advice.
> Larry Douville
Larry, Congratulations! Most important - don't worry! Keep everything clean
and sanitized. Let your ingredients boil for at least 30 minutes. Pitch your
yeast when the wort has cooled to 75F-80F. After bottling, let your bottles
sit at room temperature for about a week before you relocate (if you do) to
a cooler place such as a basement or refrigerator. Then let them age about 2
more weeks. Cream Ale is a great first kit.
>From: louisp@gladstone.uoregon.edu (ummmmm.......Fred)
>Subject: Wort coolers
>
> I am _almost_ ready to brew my first batch of beer. I can hardly
>wait! I try to read a bit on a subject before jumping right in. I have
>heard that wort coolers are important.
Wort coolers (chillers) aren't the important thing - cooling the wort is
important. Wort chillers make it convenient, especially if you are boiling
more than a couple gallons of wort. If you're just using extract or
specialty grains and extract, I've never had a bad batch adding the couple
of gallons of boiled wort to 4 gals cold water in the fermenter, the
resulting temperature being within the range that yeast can be pitched. I
disagree with Charlie P representing that it is better to buy than make a
wort chiller - it's very easy. To avoid kinking, you can either use a round
form, such as a small pot to bend the tubing around, or use a tubing bender.
You can buy a tubing bender from a plumbing supply, but many local hardware
or plumbing stores will lend you theirs or even bend your tubing, especially
if you tell them what you're doing with it. In fact - bribe them with a
homebrew, it works all the time.
> Also, I was wondering, doesn't the wort pick up any metallic taste?
>And, is the tubing sterilized upon immersion into the boiling wort (makes
>sense it should, but...) Thanks :]
I've noticed no metallic taste in mine. Immerse the chiller ~10 minutes
before the end of the boil, and it will be sanitized.
Michael A. Genito, Director of Finance, Town of Ramapo
237 Route 59, Suffern, NY 10901
TEL: 914-357-5100 x214 FAX: 914-357-7209
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 5 Jan 96 15:50:21 EST
From: SGT James A. Torrie <jatorrie@cbdcom.apgea.army.mil>
Subject: Apricot Ale
While in DENVER a couple of months ago I had the BEST Apricot Ale
I have ever had. Matter of fact it's the only one I have had.
If someone knows a good recipe or two I would like to try them.
Thanks in advance, Gasman Torrie
"Have the bugler sound the charge!"
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 1996 07:54:20 +1100
From: merino@cynergy.com.au (Charlie Scandrett)
Subject: Bending Cu Tubing
Louis P asked,
LP>I have heard that wort coolers are important. I saw one at a local brew
LP>supply house, and said to myself, "heck I could build one of those." I
went LP>to a local home improvement store and bought a twenty foot length of
copper
LP>tubing, and a few fittings. To get to the point, how can one bend the
LP>tubing without kinking it?
Fill it with sand.
Charlie (Brisbane, Australia)
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 05 Jan 1996 17:00:28 -0500
From: "Michael D. Fairbrother" <mdf@apollo.hp.com>
Subject: What's a good beer spot in San Francisco?
I be in San Fancisco on this tuesday night, a bit of a hike from
New Hampshire, but that's ok as long as there's a good beer spot in
town.
Michael Fairbrother
Derry, New Hampshire
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 5 Jan 1996 18:52:30 -0500
From: Bucket99@aol.com
Subject: HBD is great stuff!
As a new home brewer, it's extremely nice to have HBD to help me along.
I have found this digest to be invaluable in passing along information to
help all
home brewers. I found the 1st wort hopping information VERY interesting.
The only thing I would change is: Some Home brewers that post here seem to
take great pleasure in flaming others, and/or acting like snobs in general.
If you believe in this hobby, (And it is a HOBBY unless you are employed as a
brewer) then ALL homebrewers should try and further the participation of
other people in it! Not flame or put down other brewers. You CAN discuss the
merits of a position WITHOUT attacking the originator.
Anyway, remember the 11th commandment.
THOU SHALL NOT LET THY FERMENTER SIT EMPTY!
------------------------------
Date: 05 Jan 96 19:16:20 EST
From: "William D. Knudson" <71764.203@compuserve.com>
Subject: New Wyeast Advanced Cultures
Has anyone brewed with the new advanced culture series from Wyeast? Has anyone
got information as to commercial equivalents on these yeasts?
I have brewed with only one so far. It was the Abbey II. I made a 65 pt
Dubbel. It came OK. Much less estery and phenolic than the original which I
believe is 'Chimay'? This wasn't a great effort in that the beer was drier than
I wanted, (but that's an unrelated problem and another story)
In any case, NO BANANAS!
Private E-Mail OK, I'll post a summary of responses.
Bill
Ich kann besser Deutsch wenn ich ewtas Bier getrunken habe.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 5 Jan 1996 18:39:43 -0600
From: jm.jn@mail.utexas.edu (Judith Morgan or Jerzy Niesytto)
Subject: Wyeast 1028 -> Porter
>Date: Wed, 03 Jan 1996 10:31:32 -0500 (EST)
>From: GKING <GKING@ARSERRC.Gov>
>Subject: question re: Wyeast 1028
>
>Dear HBD Collective,
>
>I recently brewed a light-bodied bitter, using Wyeast 1028 London
>yeast for the first time. The resulting ale has a very yeasty flavor.
>While I like the flavor, it is on the strong side. In fact, the yeast
>flavor dominates the total flavor profile.
Greg - maybe you kept it in secondary fementer to short ?
1028 London is described as having medium flocculation.
It works pretty quickly though - I made "traditional" Porter (
partial mash and recipe from Dave Miller's book p228) -
it started fermenting 12hrs after pitching (OG 60)
(temp. ~75F) and I bottled it 9 days later (FG 11.5).
I kept it for about 1 mo before drinking and there was not much
of yeasty taste (and it is even better now - 2.5 mo later!).
Later,
JT
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 05 Jan 1996 20:00:53
From: braue@ratsnest.win.net (John W. Braue, III)
Subject: Starter Gravity Calculations
Simonzip@aol.com writes:
>As I understand it, when making yeast starters its a good idea for the stater
>to be roughly the same gravity as that the beer will be. That being the case,
>are there any formulas to accuratly determin the gravity of a starter without
>dropping a hydrometer into it? I currently put 5-6 tablespoons of dry malt
>extract into an Erlenmeyer flask with 400-500ml water, boil, cool, pitch,
>shake.
Well, the simplest method, of course, is just to make as a starter
culture a small fraction of whatever you intend to brew. Probably
doesn't work too well with all-grain, of course...
As I recall, 1 lb. of pure glucose dissolved in 1 gal (U.S.) of
water gives a solution with a gravity of 1.047. Assuming that all
sugars will be the same within a couple of percentage points, then
you can calculate:
OG = 1 + (.047 * % of fermentables * weight (in lbs.) of malt /
volume (in gals.) of water)
A reasonable metric equivalent would be:
OG = 1 + (.395 * % of fermentables * mass (in kg.) of malt /
volume (in liters) of water)
Purists will point out that density of solution is not a linear
function of amount of solute, and that there are differences in
densities of solutions of various sugars, but, what the heck, this
is not Stochiometry 442.
- --
John W. Braue, III braue@ratsnest.win.net
I prefer both my beer and my coffee to be dark and bitter; that way,
they fit in so well with the rest of my life.
I've decided that I must be the Messiah; people expect me to work
miracles, and when I don't, I get crucified.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 05 Jan 1996 19:48:42
From: braue@ratsnest.win.net (John W. Braue, III)
Subject: Wort Chillers and Wort Chilling
louisp@gladstone.uoregon.edu (ummmmm.......Fred) writes:
> I am _almost_ ready to brew my first batch of beer. I can hardly
>wait! I try to read a bit on a subject before jumping right in. I have
>heard that wort coolers are important. I saw one at a local brew supply
>house, and said to myself, "heck I could build one of those." I went to a
>local home improvement store and bought a twenty foot length of copper
>tubing, and a few fittings. To get to the point, how can one bend the
>tubing without kinking it?
Simplicity itself...almost. Method #1 is to fill the copper tubing
with beeswax or a substance of similar consistency, and let the
material solidify. You can then twist the pipe to your heart's
content.
Method #2 is to use a bending fixture, an item similar to a
half-die with a number of different radii. This can be expensive,
so you may want to bribe your friendly local plumber to let you
use his.
(A tip o' the glass (not too far, I don't want to spill the beer)
to my wife, ex-machinist, who suggested these two ideas. She also
had a third which, she determined, was not suitable for an item to
be used with a food product such as beer).
> Also, I was wondering, doesn't the wort pick up any metallic taste?
>And, is the tubing sterilized upon immersion into the boiling wort (makes
>sense it should, but...) Thanks :]
The wort doesn't pick up a metallic taste, because the copper will
be (if it's not already) instantly "passivated" by the formation
of a micro-layer of copper oxide. Given normal usage, this coating
will never be disturbed. Of course, if you have far more money
than I, you could get custom stainless tubing (definitely do *not*
attempt to bend this yourself). The coil will be sanitized by
immersion in the boiling wort.
The wort chill*er* is less important than wort chill*ing*. The
really sleazy method of chilling the wort, which I use, is simply
to immerse the whole pot into a sink of cold water, and let it sit
a while.
- --
John W. Braue, III braue@ratsnest.win.net
I prefer both my beer and my coffee to be dark and bitter; that way,
they fit in so well with the rest of my life.
I've decided that I must be the Messiah; people expect me to work
miracles, and when I don't, I get crucified.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 5 Jan 1996 18:59:29 -0600
From: jm.jn@mail.utexas.edu (Judith Morgan or Jerzy Niesytto)
Subject: Request: pH meter info.
Howdy - trying to keep my brewing on the scientific side
I decided to get a pH meter. I tried paper strips and they
seem notoriously inaccurate - I knew only that I was not
totally off (pH = 9 etc).
Does anybody have a positive/negative experience with
different models like eg. Checker or Phep3 ?
Is temperature compensation worth paying extra ?
Thanx,
Jerzy Niesytto
PS. I tried recently to carbon-filter all my brewing water
and
pH went from: >6.2 for tap water (strip being pink-purple)
to: <4.6 for filtered water (strip did not change color)
Any theory?
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 1996 11:50:54 -40962758 (CST)
From: John Meredith <johnm@byron.apana.org.au>
Subject: Gushers
Recently in one HBD (sorry - can't remember which), someone mentioned that
gushers were a result of a bacterial infection. Having had one brew where
nearly every bottle did indeed gush, I decided to pay particular attention
to sanitization with a honey-wheat beer. Now the problem is that my new
beer also gushes, but only when warm. When chilled the beer does not show
any signs of gushing. Any thoughts? BTW, both brews taste fine.
TIA.
Here's my honey-wheat recipe (extract). The yeast I used was cultivated
from a Fransiskaner Hefe-Weissbier. I'm unsure if this is a bottling
yeast, but the resulting beer has a light body and good head retention.
A nice drinkable summer beer (IMHO).In retrospect I'd be inclined to use 1
lb of a stronger honey (Australian blue gum ;-) and 1lb of dry malt extract
to give better body.
1 can Munton&Fison's Premiere Weizen
2 lbs Light honey (strawberry clover)
1 lb Dextrose
A suitable Weizen yeast (preferably liquid)
3/4 cup sugar or equivalent malt extract.
Procedure:
Boil honey, Weizen extract and dextrose for 15 minutes in 1.5 gal water.
Tip into fermenter, and add water to make up 5 gal. Allow to cool and
add yeast. Fermentation should be complete in around 3-4 days. Bottle
with priming sugar.
OG : 1.040
FG : 1.008
- --
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"A cynic is a person searching for an John Meredith
honest man, with a stolen lantern." Tel. ++61 369 1483
-- Edgar A. Shoaff Email: johnm@byron.apana.org.au
------------------------------
Date: 06 Jan 96 20:26:03 EST
From: Richard Nantel <72704.3003@compuserve.com>
Subject: Mini vs Corney Kegs
Forgive me if this has been covered. I'm new here. I'm too busy to bottle and
would like to begin kegging. I don't know whether to go with a cornelius or 5
litre mini-kegs. I brew mainly low carbonated English-type ales. Also, I only
drink one to two beers per day so a batch tends to last me about two months. Any
suggestions? Any pros and cons you'd like to pass on that may influence my
decision?
TIA
Richard Nantel
Private e-mail OK to 72704.3003@compuserve.com
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 1996 19:48:36 -0500
From: ajdel@interramp.com (A. J. deLange)
Subject: Oxygenation
Pat Babcock sent e-mail asking what level of oxygenation could be expected
from an aerating cane. I sacrificed an old racking cane to try this and had
one heck of a time getting it to work i.e. the hole size had to be just
right or I couldn't maintain the syphon. I did finally get one going and
found that deoxygenated water run through it came out at 14% saturation. A
more efficient injector or even a better made aeration cane would doubtless
have resulted in a higher level.
While at it I took the 14% water and poured it from counter height into a
pot on the floor with the following results:
No. Pours % Saturation
0 14%
1 49
2 71
3 82
4 91
5 96
This thus seems like a pretty good method of aeration but, of course, the
wort is exposed not only to the oxygen in the air during this process but
everything else as well.
A.J. deLange Numquam in dubio, saepe in errore!
ajdel@interramp.com
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 7 Jan 1996 12:46:33 -0500
From: ajdel@interramp.com (A. J. deLange)
Subject: Glycerol/Wyeast Cells/Diauxism
This was not picked up when posted yesterday so here goes again:
Glycerol, CH2(OH)CH(OH)CH2(OH) is not a sugar but is so close to the
trioses dihydroxyacetone CH2(OH)C(O)HCH2(OH) and glyceraldehyde
CHOCH(OH)CH2(OH) that we might overlook it if someone calls it a sugar.
Yeast make it by reducing and dephosphorylating dihydroxyacetone phosphate
which is an intermediate in the glycolytic pathway.
In # 1927 Rob Reed commented on the necessity for the use of a starter for
Wyeast packages. As I had often wondered about this I took an old Wyeast
2007 package, samcked it and immediately (i.e. before any multiplication
could take place) counted cells. I estimate that the package contained
4.6E9 cells. This is approximately 100E6/ml (the package contains 50 ml of
starter). As this post was not picked up yesterday (Saturday) I had time to
smack a fresh pack of the same strain and let it swell (to about an inch
and a half) over night. It yielded an estimated 2.1E9 cells i.e. about half
(but within an order of magnitude). Interesting that no multiplication
appears to take place. I suppose that this must be because the environment
in the package is anaerobic. On the other hand we could have a statistical
variation situation here.
Accepting that 10E6 (1E6 per degree Plato) is a nominal adequate pitching
rate the observed number of cells is sufficient to pitch 5 - 10 times the
package fluid volume of 50 ml or 250 - 500 ml. As a five gallon wort is
about 19 litres it is clear that use of the package alone results in gross
underpitching.
On the same general subject, Ken Schwarz asked in #1928 about the distilled
water technique with Wyeast products. I am speculating wildly but strongly
suspect that this may be exactly what they do. If you cut open a Wyeast
pack you will find the yeast suspended in a clear fluid (and a small
envelope of nutrient which you break to start things off). Is that fluid
distilled water? It should work. Everyone knows that Wyeast packages are
useable long, long after their expiration dates are past but that they take
longer to swell. This is consistent with the progressive loss of viabilkity
of the cells over time.
Acouple of ways to preserve Wyeast strains using the distilled water
technique come to mind.
1. Don't break the pack. Use sterile transfer techniques to remove some of
the liquid to a small sterile tube and store this.
2. Don't break the pack. Dilute the cells to the point where single cell
colonies can be grown on a plate. Transfer the colonies to tubes of
distilled water.
3. Smack the pack. Brew with it. Harvest the yeast. Wash and store some of
the cells under distilled water.
4. Single cell culture the yeast sediment from the brew etc...
The mysteries of the diauxic nature of yeast metabolism are now somewhat
less obscure thanks to Tracy Aquilla who e-mailed with a message containing
the magic word "acetate". In the generic bacterium/plant cell ethanol can
be used as a carbon source for respiration anaboolism. It is oxidized to
acetate in the cytosol and this combines with CoA to form acetlyl CoA which
enters the glyoxylate cycle. Succinate thrown off from this cycle then
enters the Krebs cycle (in the mitochondrion) and the rest of the pathway
is as in respiration of carbohydrate (which brewer's yeast don't respire).
This was all right there on p 587 of H,B,S & Y after all but it took
Tracy's note to make it click. He is doing a paper on all this and I'm sure
we are all looking forward to it. The remaining question is "Where does the
glyoxylate cycle take place?" Plants and bacteria have organelles called
"glyoxysomes" but no diagram of a yeast cell I have ever seen shows these.
A.J. deLange Numquam in dubio, saepe in errore!
ajdel@interramp.com
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 7 Jan 96 16:01 EST
From: cdp@chattanooga.net (C.D. Pritchard)
Subject: Cheap Hop Scales
$2.50- item# 10902 "Pocket Postal Scale" from American Science and Surplus @
800-934-0722. They have lots of other stuff for adapting to home brewing.
(No connection, ect, just a very happy customer.) The scale is about 3"x4"
and is packed in a flat "leather" case. It's made in Taiwan, gold
electroplated and goes from 0 to 4 oz. in 1/4 oz. increments. Use a baggie
hung from the alligator clip that's affixed to one end of the scale to hold
your hops for weighting.
For those familiar with the drug culture of the 60's- these gizmos were very
popular for weighting another herb.
C.D. Pritchard cdp@chattanooga.net
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 07 Jan 96 18:20:57 +0600
From: RORICK@imssys.com
Subject: Growing Yeast from slants
OK folks,
I have saved and used yeast slurry before, but never grown anything
from slant. Is there any consensus on a method to build up enough
yeast to pitch? Anyone know a source of information?
Thanks,
jim
_______________________________________________________
James T. Rorick rorick@imssys.com
http://www.cs.umbc.edu/~jtroric
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 08 Jan 96 08:56:00 est
From: "Mountain, Glenn" <mountg@post.crc.cra.com.au>
Subject: Fruit Beer Thanks
Thanks to all who replied to my post about problems associated with
producing a clear fruit beer. The consensus seemed to be that steeping the
fruit prior to the boil was my major problem and the pectin from the juice
was set by the boil. The suggestions were to add the fruit/juice after the
boil or to the secondary. The use of a pectinase enzyme was also suggested
(thanks Spencer, Dave, Tim) of which I had not known about..
Armed now with all the information recieved I will shortly attempt my third
fruit wheat beer.
Glenn Mountain
Melbourne, Australia
mountg@post.crc.cra.com.au
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 7 Jan 1996 22:25:01 -0500
From: denisb@CAM.ORG (Denis Barsalo)
Subject: Using Lager Yeast Properly
Hello you all,
I've been making ales and lagers for a while and I would like some
guidance on how to properly use lager yeast. This has been my procedure for
the last few lagers that I've brewed: I made a starter using 5tbs of DME
in 2 cups of boiling water and added a few pellets of Northern Brewer hops.
I left it at room temperature for a few days (68F to72F) until there was a
krausen. I then pitched it to my cooled wort and left it at the same room
temperature until there was a krausen in the primary. Once the beer seemed
well off and fermenting, I moved it to the cold room where the temperature
is closer to 40F to 45F. It stayed there until fermentation completed. I
then racked it to another carboy, and returned it to the cold room for
another couple of weeks. I then bottled the beer, left the cases at room
temperature 7 to 10 days, then back to the cold room for more conditioning.
(Minimum 7 to 10 days again) Even though the beers taste great with a nice
hazelnut and grain flavor, and the color is nice and clear, I think I can
improve my methods.
I want to know if I can pitch at a colder temperature? What about
the starter? Is the sudden temperature drop (from 68F to 45F) bad for my
beer and yeast?
Would the best procedure be to pitch a slightly lower temperature
like 55F and slowly drop the temperature as the beer starts to ferment? I
presently don't have the technology to do that, is that what all those
fancy fridge and freezer thermostat controllers are for? What would be the
best low-tech method to achieve a proper lager?
TIA
Not Worrying, Relaxing and Enjoying a Homebrew!
Denis Barsalo
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 1996 20:39:44 +1100
From: merino@cynergy.com.au (Charlie Scandrett)
Subject: I agree with J. Schmidling!
Jack posted that his best aroma came from this technique,
JS>The water was brought to a boil, hops added, heat
JS>turned off and allowed to steep for 10 min. This was added to the
JS>beer after the first week of fermentation.
JS>Guess what? It tastes and smells like European Pils.
JS>I have now concluded that the taste and smell I didn't like was the
JS>taste and smell of raw hops. It must be boiled to remove the grassy
JS>flavor and aroma but not long enough to lose the desired aroma.
JS>Furthermore, most or all of that aroma and taste are lost in long
JS>boil, cool down and primary fermentation.
I have a similar experience. I always steep the aroma hops for 20 minutes in
60-75C hot wort, then add 3-5 minutes before the end of the boil. I believe
1st wort method is similar but with an hour plus boil.(My reasoning was,
extraction time without destruction of volatiles, then sanitisation for 3-5
minutes) I may be right for the wrong reasons!
If we can just find what heat (not boiling) does to hop aroma compounds,
then we can understand how the same method can produce aroma compounds that
survive a long boil.
Perhaps my/Jack's methods might be a bit more econimical because I think a
90 minute boil is going to have a fairly high attrition rate on anything
called "volatile", I think that complex aromatics have a tendency to be
delicate.
MR. Fix? Any enlightenment?
Charlie (Brisbane, Australia)
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 1996 09:43:41 -0500
From: ajdel@interramp.com (A. J. deLange)
Subject: Metabolism/pH Readings/Yeast Storage
All WRT #1929: Thanks to Craig Amundsen for his comments on diauxism (I
think I invented a word). A couple of comments on his post:
While alcohol may be somewhat bacteriostatic, the reason that organisms
deprived of oxygen ferment is to produce NAD which is required in the early
steps of glycolysis. Thus energy (in the form of ATP) production from fuel
can continue absent O2. In the case of yeast, NADH is oxidized to NAD thus
reducing acetaldehyde and producing ethanol.
Brewing yeast only exhibit Crabtree effect (reversion to fermentation in
the presence of O2) when glucose levels are high (as far as I know). In the
presence of other fermentable sugars growth takes place when O2 is
available. Fermentation is much less efficient than respiration (which
brewers yeast don't do in the usual sense anyway) but the pathway is
simpler i.e. it is a reversion to an ancient pathway.
Finally, the reaction in which pyruvate is decarboxylated to acetaldehyde
is, for all practical purposes, irreversible. Thus when humans consume
ethanol it is oxidized (producing an excess of NADH which leads to all
sorts of problems) in the cytolsol of hepatic cells to acetaldehyde which
is oxidized in the mitochondria to acetate and disposed of from there. Much
of the misery of hangover is due to the toxic effects of acetaldehyde and
disulfiram (Antabuse (TM)), which wives used to be able to buy from catalog
adds which encouraged them to sneak it into their boozy husbands coffee,
enhanced this effect by blocking the metabolism of acetaldehyde.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dave Houseman asked about erratic pH meter readings. pH meters are simply
finicky gadgets at times. There are several things which can cause erratic
readings. Very low ion content in the water is one of them but you have
plenty of ions present. Are the buffer readings stable? The usual source of
error is fouling of the junction so you need to make sure that is clear.
Aspiration of fill solution through the junction with a bulb and
sandpapering of the junction represent drastic measures to clear it if
simple washing won't. In brewing, protein often clogs the junction (and
coats the sensing bulb as well). Enzyme based electrode cleaners are
available to remove this.
Eventually the sensing bulb glass becomes deactivated and the electrode
must be replaced. It can, however, often be rejuvenated. Try immersing on
0.1N HCl (hardware store HCl seems to be 8.7N and can be diluted 100:1 to
get 0.087N) for a few seconds. Then rinse and go into 0.1N NaOH (this is
now being sold in homebrew shops as part of a wine acid titration kit).
Rinse and go back to HCl. Back and forth a few times. If the electrode is
filled, try replacing the filling solution. See the instruction manual (or
sheet) that came with the electrode and follow their rejuvenation
directions if they conflict with what I have written. Unfortunately, a
couple of years is about all you can expect from even the best electrodes.
It may simply be time to get a new one.
Other possibilities for erratic readings are broken wires or loose
connections. If this is the case you should not be able to get a stable
reading from a buffer.
Prior to reading a water sample be sure that all buffer has been rinsed off
the electrode with distilled water (or extra water from the sample) and be
sure to move the probe around in the sample so that electrolyte doesnt
surround and shield the bulb. It may take 30 seconds for a reading to
stabilize.
Dave's water analysis is very typical of acidic well water run through a
neutralizer (i.e. over crushed limestone) and then through a cation
exchanger.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Pat Babcock asked 4 questions about the distilled water technique. I think
3 of them have been pretty well covered by Tracy's post in this number and
elsewhere but I will comment on the room temperature issue. I was told of
this technique by S.C. Jong of the ATCC who consults to several S.E. Asian
breweries. He was quite specific about room temperature storage because of
problems with contamination of the tubes in refrigerators (which are really
microbiological jungles). Furthermore, the published work I cited in an
earlier post was done at romm temperature. Thus it appears that room
temperature will work but I have to believe that reduced temperature would
result in enhanced viability. It seems to me that the tubes could be
protected from bugs by sealing in zip lock bags, dipping in beeswax or
somesuch. Nonetheless I am experimenting at room temperature as a "worst
case".
A.J. deLange Numquam in dubio, saepe in errore!
ajdel@interramp.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 96 10:33 EST
From: "John P. Linton" <0003726529@mcimail.com>
Subject: Beer Haze
What is/are the causes of hazy beer. I just tried a few bottles of
an all malt wheat extract and although the flavor and carbination are
fine, the beer is very cloudy. The haze is present in both the warm
and cold bottles. Any and all commects are welcome. Thanks in advance.
jl
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 1996 10:36:42 -0500
From: KennyEddy@aol.com
Subject: Fruit in Beer
While I have not (yet) made a fruit beer, I recently tasted a phenomenal
cherry porter which I would like to try my own hand at. The fruit part was
accomplished by first blanching (dipping briefly in boiling water) the
destemmed fresh cherries so as to kill any wild yeast and other bugs. The
cherries were then placed in a ziploc bag and frozen. The porter was made
and fermented about half way (with respect to gravity); the cherries were
then thawed and crushed in the bag, then dumped into the fermenter, skins and
all.
The brewer had sampled the brew every month for the first four months and was
disappointed; when I tried it it was six months old and the brewer was amazed
at the maturation that occurred in those two months. Time is important!
The 5-gal recipe was a pretty generic porter (1 lb crystal, 1/2 lb chocolate,
pale fermentables to taste [about 1.050 OG if I remember right], very lightly
hopped) with 6 lbs fresh cherries prepared as described. The balance between
the porter and the cherry flavors was *perfect*.
Ken Schwartz
El Paso, TX
KennyEddy@aol.com
Nancy Reagan at a "Just Say No" rally: "I didn't intend for this to take on
a political tone. I'm just here for the drugs."
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 1996 11:15:15 -0500
From: (Rick Seibt)rseibt@apk.net
Subject: Lautering using 3 vessel system
I am in the planning stage of my three vessel all grain brewery, and have found
HBD to be invaluable in assembling the hardware. I plan to use the level 3 keg
system with a pump(s) to move the liquids.
My questions are concerning the brewing process changes I need to make. I will
be mashing and lautering in the same vessel(#2) with #1 holding hot liquor and
#3 being the kettle. The usual configuration.
My questions are:
1) Do I need to change the mash water/grist ratio to account for the liquid
that will be under the false bottom (perf'd SS)?(I probably will recirculate)
2) When sparging, how will I pump the wort from the M/L tun to the BK? If I
turn on the pump, won't it "pull" the wort out, thereby decreasing efficiency?
3) Are there others that I will encounter once I get going?
Is there anyone using these systems that has addressed these problems, or should
I just relax? Private email is ok, I'd be happy to summarize.
Thank you
Rick Seibt
rseibt@apk.net
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 1996 11:20:35 -0500
From: NATEDA@aol.com
Subject: brewpubs in SF
I'm heading to San Francisco and Napa for a visit in a few weeks. Would
appreciate the names of brewpubs in the immediate area. Got to spend the
time constructively while my better half is in her meetings.
And if any of you hop heads are also into Country/Western dancing are their
any good dance places in the immediate SF area?
Thanks
Nate Apkon nateda@aol.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 1996 11:00:32 -0600
From: kbwalker@mmm.com
Subject: Chest Freezer Modifications
Y'all,
Martin Wilde wanted to know about how to install taps in a chest
freezer. Just as Martin suggested
<< Don't Drill Holes In The Side! >>
The tubing that carries the refrigerant is aluminum and part of the
chest wall. There is no way to repair it.
There is a way to install taps that I heard about recently, (from a guy
who has an unrepairable chest freezer with a hole in the side). This
involves minor carpentry nothing more complicated.
1. Remove the hinges from the side of the chest.
2. Build an extension for the side of chest freezer. You can use 2x4's
oriented with the 4" side vertically. This will be a simple frame
made from 4 pieces of wood. They sit on the top edge of the chest
wall where the top seals. You may want to attach the wood to the
chest wall with Liquid nails or some other glue/sealant.
3. Attach the hinges to the wood extension and run the taps through
the wood extension.
These are suggestions and a place to start (I heard about this second
hand). You could use fancy wood or carve hunting scenes or ... use your
imagination (which, among this bunch is considerable).
Hope my first post helps someone,
Kevin Walker
Brewing Walker's ESB* in Sugar Land, Texas
*Extra Special Bubba
My opinions are my own and not those of my employer.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 96 16:15 EST
From: cdp@chattanooga.net (C.D. Pritchard)
Subject: re: Malt mill with concrete roller
dludwig@atc.ameritel.net posted in #1928:
>On another subject, not to long ago, someone was experimenting with a
>concrete grain mill. How's it working?
I've put over 20 lbs thru it so far, including a couple of lbs of rather
hard crystal malt and 2 mashes with the milled malt- either stuck and the
efficiencies were pretty good but under what the recipe I used in Miller's
book. One was a RIMS with flow of 3/4 to 1 GPM. The mill works so well
I've abandoned the idea of making a 2 roller version.
I am going to connect a 1/2" drill to it and (picking up on the motorized
malt mill thread) explore the fatigue properties of the mill's 5/8" shaft
and the 7" concrete wheel 8->
C.D. Pritchard cdp@chattanooga.net
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 1996 15:48:22 -0500 (EST)
From: Jim Griggers <brew@devine.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM>
Subject: Re: (U) Natural Gas Connection Option
In HBD 1928 "Al Czajkowski" <usfmc8fh@ibmmail.com> writes about a
natural gas quick-connect manufactured by M. B. Sturgis Inc.:
> (no affiliation...blah blah, don't even have one, just have the flier!
> If any one has one, do you like it?)
I bought two of these hose kits. One is connected to a portable gas grill
that I converted from propane to natural gas. The second hose connects to
my home-built keg boiler. I only have one outlet, so I can't grill and brew
at the same time, but I see no problem with this.
I bought the hose kits at Home Depot in the grill section. Look for the
Char-Broil Natural Gas Hose Kit (made by M.B. Sturgis). I think it was
around $36. The 12' hose comes with a 3/8" flare fitting on one end and a
quick-connect on the other. The kit also includes the female quick-connect
fitting which attaches to a 3/8" NPT pipe.
It works about like plugging in an electrical appliance. The hose is made of
flexible metal (stainless steel I think) covered with a vinyl sheath. The
fittings are brass. The kit also has plastic caps and plugs to seal the
quick-connects when not in use.
The keg boiler I made uses a cast iron ring burner made for low pressure
gas. With the orifice that I selected, it puts out about 30K BTUH. (calculated
by timing the gas flow at the meter)
I like the idea of not having to worry about running out of gas during a brew
session, or having to take a propane tank to be refilled. (I do have a few
spare propane tanks)
I installed the gas outlet myself, but I have all the pipe cutting and
threading equipment. I also have taken a gas code class at a local
technical college, so I knew how to calculate pipe size and orifice
requirements.
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
|\/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/|
|Jim Griggers brew@devine.columbiasc.ncr.com Columbia, SC|
|______________________________________________________________|
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 08 Jan 96 11:19:43 CST
From: jcmas@searle.monsanto.com
Subject: Carbonation - Mixed size bottles
I've bottled a batch with 12 oz. 17 oz. and 22 oz. bottles. Will
they all carbonate at roughly the same amount of time?? If I test the
12 oz. bottles for carbonation, can I assume that the larger bottles
will be similarly carbonated??
Thanks!
John Mas
E-Mail address :: JCMAS@SEARLE.MONSANTO.COM
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #1930, 01/09/96
*************************************
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