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HOMEBREW Digest #2019
This file received at Hops.Stanford.EDU 1996/04/24 PDT
HOMEBREW Digest #2019 Wed 24 April 1996
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Bottle ? / Dayton, OH Brewpub ? (Terry N. Traver)
BUZZ competition in July! (Joe Formanek)
priming (Wallinger)
Ingredient Tamarind and Copyright (zentner)
Reverse Osmosis (KennyEddy)
Chill Haze ("Robert A. Tisdale")
Skunked Beer / Samuel Smith (Dave Benson)
Art's Carbonator Problem (SSLOFL)
Re: All-grain recipe (Dave Whitman)
Hoenninger's All-grain (Domenick Venezia)
Mashing Crystal/2 strange fermentations/ball-lock or pin-lock (Algis R Korzonas)
dextrins in the mash (BEERISH)
First all grain batch (anwswers to questions) (Bob Wysong)
Final Results (Ray Brice)
ginseng beer (Tracy Thomason)
wild rice beer / Guinness screen saver ("Keith Royster")
Two-Day Mashing Report (Michael Owings)
Competition reminder: B i g & H U G E !!! (Robert Paolino)
The Smell of New-Mown Hay -- SUMMARY (Michael Owings)
Yield Increase (David and Carol Smucker)
Freezer temp control (Denis Barsalo)
Carapils / Dextrin ("Norman C. Pyle")
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 96 05:21:37 MDT
From: ar117@rgfn.epcc.Edu (Terry N. Traver)
Subject: Bottle ? / Dayton, OH Brewpub ?
Hello to the collective. I have been silently observing for a
while now and have finally decided to ask for some input.
First - I would like to get thoughts on the PROS/CONS of using
champagne bottles for my brew besides the obvious larger amount
to drink once opened.
Second - I will be traveling to Dayton, OH next month and am
intersted in information on recommended brewpubs worth a visit.
Any and all information is appreciated. Reply by private email
is fine. I will post a summary of private responses for others
to read.
Thanks again and Happy Brewing,
Terry Traver
ar117@rgfn.epcc.edu
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 07:22:12 +0800
From: jformane@students.uiuc.edu (Joe Formanek)
Subject: BUZZ competition in July!
Greetings!
This is a follow-up to my post a few weeks ago about our 2nd Annual
BUZZ Boneyard Brewoff to be held in Champaign, IL.
The date is definitely set to be July 20th, and it will be held at
Joe's Brewery, the best (and only!) brewpub located in lovely downtown
Champaign. The competition will be sanctioned through the BJCP, as it was
last year.
Details are not finalized yet, but judging will start in the
morning (~9AM or so) and should be finished by late afternoon. For those of
you who had partaken in our BUZZ hospitality last year, we hope that you
had a great time and that you would like to make it again this year. For
those who didn't, let's just say that you wouldn't be disappointed if you
make it down here to judge this year! Plan a full weekend! We'll be getting
more details out in the next month.
Cheers!
Joe
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Joseph A. Formanek President, Boneyard Union of
580 Bevier Hall Zymurgical Zealots (BUZZ)
U of Ill--Urbana/Champaign 2nd annual Boneyard Brewoff!
(217) 244-2879 July 20, 1996 at Joe's Brewery!
Grad student, Professional and Home Brewer, BUZZ president....
What else can I get myself into?????
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 07:01:50 -0500
From: Wallinger <wawa@datasync.com>
Subject: priming
>I recently read, I think in Cider Digest, someone say that the =
recommended=20
>dosage for priming beer is 6 oz for 5 gallons. (I always use 3/4 cup, =
but
>I always pack it the same, and so forth.) If this is correct, and my=20
>calculations are accurate, this will raise the SG of your beer by about =
.003
>or so...
>-Russell Mast
That was me. The 6 oz by weight does work out to about 0.003 on the =
gravity. This number comes in handy when you prime before taking a =
gravity reading. I had a problem with uneven carbonation from batch to =
batch when measuring priming sugar by volume, so I switched to measuring =
by weight. (Now I keg, eliminating this step altogether :-) ) By the =
way, the 6 oz is the all purpose number which gives you about 2.5 =
volumes of CO2 (if memory serves). It would be appropriate to use a bit =
less for British beers.
Wade Wallinger
Pascagoula, Mississippi
http://www.datasync.com/~wawa
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 07:58:04 +0500
From: zentner@combination.com
Subject: Ingredient Tamarind and Copyright
Hey,
I tried putting some tamarind in a brew that a group of us did one day. It
was the "paste extract" you get in a eastern food store. The beer is great,
but that could be due to any of the other weird things in it (including fig
jam). Next, I would like to try adding this to a lighter beer to see if any
of the sourness comes through. Has anyone else tried this?
Just my opinion, but what's all this brewhaha about copyright? So what if
some guy makes a little cash on publishing these notes on CD (which, again,
in my opinion is nearly worthless unless it's hyper-linked somehow). If what
you have to say is so valuable to you, don't say it. Legally, a poster may
have a copyright. But practically speaking, you don't tell your best secrets
in public, do you? (It's like these militant bicyclists I know who insist
they have the legal right of way, but won't acknowledge that that does them
little good with respect to the laws of physics).
AS ALWAYS, my FREE, DISTRIBUTE AS YOU LIKE wort chiller plans (counterflow)
are available to anyone who emails to me asking for them. If you publish them
somewhere, just mention where you got them - but I won't sue you if you don't.
Mike Zentner
zentner@combination.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 09:40:14 -0400
From: KennyEddy@aol.com
Subject: Reverse Osmosis
Jeff Jones wants to know:
> Can someone with appropriate knowledge tell me what ions are removed
> and/or added in the reverse osmosis filter process.
Don't know about the "appropriate knowledge" part, but I'll tell you what I
think I know (maybe AJ's response is in the next article...)
The shop I get my water from boasts of their "seven-step process" which goes
somehting like this (minus a couple steps perhaps): coarse filtering for
sediment, charcoal filtering for chlorine and other chemicals (pesticides?),
softening, and finally RO filtering (puny-small holes in a membrane that are
supposed to remove *everything* else). The "dissolved-solids-o-meter" trick
they play shows about <10 ppm TDS after processing (several hundred before);
I suppose it might be residual sodium from the softening process, or perhaps
just a little bit of everything. Neither of the two owners could give me a
"true" analysis, but from the foregoing, I suspect it's close to ion-free.
BTW they make a good (if salesmanlike) point about distilled water -- lotsa
stuff (volatile chemicals) gets "distilled" along with the water, so even
though you're removing dissolved solids, you may still be picking up some
chlorine, pesticides, etc. However, the water will not become skunked until
*after* the RO process. Any comments?
Ken Schwartz
KennyEddy@aol.com
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 22 Apr 1996 21:05:19 -0600
From: "Robert A. Tisdale" <rtisdale@entomology.msstate.edu>
Subject: Chill Haze
Can someone please tell me how to eliminate chill haze?
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 07:10:55 -0700
From: dbenson@mail.wsu.edu (Dave Benson)
Subject: Skunked Beer / Samuel Smith
Doesn't Samuel Smith Brewery (and probably other breweries) use clear bottles?
Why wouldn't these "skunk?"
-Dave
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 09:52:11 -0500
From: SSLOFL@ccmail.monsanto.com
Subject: Art's Carbonator Problem
In HBD #2017, Art writes:
>I used the carbonator the other night to fill two 2 liter soda bottles,
>and took them to a soccer game to share with the team -- you know how
>thirsty you can get :^) Well, the beer was drinkable, but not as
>carbonated as I would have liked it.
<snip>
Did you fill the bottles with CO2 and take them with you on the
same night? If so, you didn't allow enough time for the CO2 to totally
dissolve into the liquid. Try doing this a few nights in advance.
Shake the heck out of them with the CO2 line on it, then let it sit for
a few days with the CO2 pressure still on it. That seems to work real
well for me. I don't have a Carbonator yet, but I use cornys - its the
same basic concept.
He also says, (which is a good point I might add):
>Problem is at $10-12 a carbonator, it gets too expensive to think about
>filling these soda bottles to give to friends ...
I am interested in getting a Carbonator for 2 L bottles of homemade
rootbeer to give to friends, and was thinking of the same thing. I have
not tried this yet - but am pretty sure it should work. If anyone else
would like to add to this, please feel free.
1 Fill the 2 L bottle and attach Carbonator as usual, chill in the
refrigerator
2 Attach to CO2, shake like h*ll for about 10 minutes
3 Let sit for 1 or 2 days at 30 psi (high CO2 on purpose)
4 Chill again. (For those with keg friges, this could have
stayed it the frige and would already be cold)
5 Slowly unscrew Carbonator, letting pressure out easy to prevent
loss of contents.
6 Quickly screw on original 2 L bottle cap.
You want to over carbonate a little in step 3 in order to make up
for the loss of CO2 in step 5. Because it is cold (step 4), enough of
the CO2 will stay in solution while the cap is being replaced.
There you go, a carbonated 2 L bottle of homemade goodies with the
original cap instead of an expensive carbonator. Art, after reading
your post - I might be interested in playing soccer. However, only if I
can be on your team! :)
Shane
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 13:04:40 -0400
From: dwhitman@rohmhaas.com (Dave Whitman)
Subject: Re: All-grain recipe
In HBD2018, George Hoenninger asks:
>Any suggestions or modifications to the recipe would
>be welcome. Here is the recipe:
> Ingredients: (5 gal.)
> 10 lbs. British Pale Ale Malted Barley
> 1 lb. Roasted Unmalted Barley
> 1 lb. Flaked Barley
> 2 lbs. Flaked Oats
> 1 lb. Chocolate Malted Barley
> 1 lb. Crystal 40L
> 1 lb. Black Malted Barley
> 2 lbs. Dark Malt Extract (For an X-tra kick)
> 3 oz. Centennial Hop Pellets (Boiling)
> 1 oz. Tettnang Hop Pellets (Finishing)
> #1028 Brewers Choice London Liquid Yeast
>
> OG 1.096 FG 1.024 Alcohol Content about 9.5%
>
>Also, how much will step mashing improve the overall product? Is it worth
>doing?
This looks like a pretty bodacious stout.
I think step mashing would be beneficial, given the large amount of
unmalted barley and oats. Was your sparge really sluggish? Try a rest at
about 140F. This would help break down beta-glucans and excess protein.
Personal preference: my stouts aren't quite so stout; I shoot for about
1.060. Presumably you wanted it this big though, since you added the
extract.
Personal preference: since this looks like a stout to me, I'd be inclined
to substitute EK Goldings or Fuggles or another British finishing hop for
the Tettnang.
- ---
Dave Whitman
Rohm and Haas Specialty Materials
dwhitman@rohmhaas.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 08:30:26 -0700 (PDT)
From: Domenick Venezia <venezia@zgi.com>
Subject: Hoenninger's All-grain
From: George Hoenninger <george@smarts.com>
>I recently tried my first all-grain batch and the results were very
>disappointing ...
>... Any suggestions or modifications to the recipe would be welcome.
>Here is the recipe:
>
> 10 lbs. British Pale Ale Malted Barley
> 1 lb. Roasted Unmalted Barley
> 1 lb. Flaked Barley
> 2 lbs. Flaked Oats
> 1 lb. Chocolate Malted Barley
> 1 lb. Crystal 40L
> 1 lb. Black Malted Barley
> 2 lbs. Dark Malt Extract (For an X-tra kick)
> 3 oz. Centennial Hop Pellets (Boiling)
> 1 oz. Tettnang Hop Pellets (Finishing)
>
> OG 1.096 FG 1.024 Alcohol Content about 9.5%
First, where's the kitchen sink?!
Second, if you include 2 lbs of extract (for that extra little kick)
then this is NOT an all-grain recipe.
Thirdly, I am in awe of your chutz-pah.
But more seriously, I'd say this recipe is a little bit busy, especially
as it is only your second all-grainer (unless the first had extract in it
too, in which case this could be your first all-grainer). Getting the
process down is much more important than the recipe at this point in your
brewing career. The question of why you would want to brew a 9.5% beer
for your second batch comes to mind? More bang for the buck? Anyway, my
suggestion is to drop the extract, the flaked barley, the flaked oats, the
chocolate and the black malts. You end up with 10 lbs of pale malt and 1
lb of crystal (you might use a darker crystal). You still get a
respectable 1.052 ish OG, then cut your hopping rate in half and you will
have a fine palatable brew.
The resultant recipe is simple and will let you evaluate the results more
easily. A beer you can see through will help you evaluate the color and
clarity. A beer that you have an idea of the flavor will help you
evaluate the contribution of your process. A normal alcohol level will
let you actually taste the brew and better evaluate the results. In
general a more subtle brew will let any problems stick out and be
noticeable rather than mask them in a deafening cacophony of alcoholic,
dry, burnt, bitterness.
In answer to your question about step mashing, forget it until you have
mastered the single-step infusion. Mash at 152F and forget it until you
have 5-10 successful brews under your belt.
Domenick Venezia
Computer Resources
ZymoGenetics, Inc.
Seattle, WA
venezia@zgi.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 96 13:54:21 CDT
From: korz@pubs.ih.att.com (Algis R Korzonas)
Subject: Mashing Crystal/2 strange fermentations/ball-lock or pin-lock
Bill writes:
>Carapils malt or Dextrin malt is suppose to add unfermentables and
>dextrin to the finished product. I can see how this works when added as
>specialty grains to an extract-based beer since there's no enzymes to
>break the dextrin down. However, when doing an all-grain mash, do the
>enzymes break the dextrin down into simpler sugars (depending on mash
>temperature, of course)? Or, do the dextrin chains remain intact (would
>also apply to caramel and dark roasted malts), and if they do, why?
Firstly, Carapils and Dextin malts are very light caramel malts and yes,
indeed this whole discussion does apply to all caramel (a.k.a. crystal)
malts as well as dark malts.
If you mash caramel malts at the low end of the amylase temperature range,
you will break down dextrins into fermentables, decrease the final gravity
a bit and increase the fermentability of the finished beer. I asked this
very question of George Fix back in 1992, I believe, and he said that he
controls the fermentability of the wort with the mash temperatures and adds
crystal malts for their flavour contributions rather than for any increase
in dextrins (as one might do in an extract batch).
So, while you could do a mash where you rest at 149F for an hour and then
raise the mash to 158F, add your crystal malts and dark malts, rest at
158F for 30 minutes and then mash out, it would be far easier to simply
mash for a shorter time at 149F and longer at 158F and add the crystal and
dark malts along with the base malts. In other words, control the
fermentability with the mash temperatures and not with late additions
of crystal and dark malts.
***
Dave writes about a Barleywine he made by pouring wort directly onto the
yeast cake from an IPA (Wyeast #1098). At first it dropped suddenly from
1.095 to 1.060, then did nothing for a few weeks and now seems to have
started fermenting again.
It's a good thing you mentioned the yeast variety. It has been posted
here before that the old Whitbread yeast was a three-strain mixed culture
yeast. The first was a fast starter, but had poor alcohol tolerance.
The second was a slow starter, but had good alcohol tolerance and the
third was there just to help one (or both) of the first two flocculate.
There has also been a rumour bandied about that Wyeast #1098 is the
Whitbread yeast. So, taking these two things together with the performance
of Dave's fermentation may indicate that the fermentation with a lull
in the middle may be due to a mixed strain of yeast. Sound plausable?
Comments?
***
TBrouns writes:
>I started a wheat beer--dunkelweizen, actually, using an Irek's 6.6# can and
>another # of DME--on 29 March, using a 10g packet of GlenBrew "secret"
>brewer's yeast. Never tried this type before but it's a typical dried yeast.
Further reporting that the yeast fermented quickly for a couple of days but
now, several weeks later is still fermenting slowly and is at 1.008 with a
bubble every minute or so.
I faintly recall somewhere that this "Secret" yeast contains amylase enzyme
which would explain your odd fermentation and low FG. I suggest waiting
till the bubbling slows to about 1 every 2 minutes and then bottle, perhaps
priming to the low end of the range, just in case.
***
Stephen asks: ball-lock or pin-lock?
It depends.
If all your friends use one type, get that kind so you can bring kegs over
and easily plug into their draft system.
If there are a lot of one type of used kegs available at your store or
scrap metal dealer, get that kind (in some communities all you find are
one type).
If your fridge would fit more of one type than the other (ball-lock are
slightly taller and thinner than pin-lock), then get that kind.
If one is cheaper than the other, get the cheaper one.
If you plan to later buy 3-gallon or 10-gallon kegs, get ball-lock.
If you plan to use a Carbonater(tm) on PET bottles, you may want to get
ball-lock if you don't want to have to have both types of connectors on
your CO2 side.
If any of these above reasons conflict, assign importance and calculate
the "score" each type gets. Dnn't forget that you can always get more
connectors if you decide that you later want to have some kegs of the
other kind.
Al.
Al Korzonas, Palos Hills, IL
korz@pubs.att.com
Copyright 1996 Al Korzonas
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 15:51:06 -0400
From: BEERISH@aol.com
Subject: dextrins in the mash
This is for Bunning W Major (I guess thats your name) regarding dextrins in
the mash.
To paraphrase, he asks why all grain brewers can add dextrin malt and
cara-pils without
having the dextrins broken down further by the enzymes.
There are 2 types of starch chains in the tun that the enzymes break down.
Amylose
is a straight chain starch and amylopectin is a "bushy" starch.
While amylose can be broken completely down to fermentables, amylopectin
cannot
due to the branch points encountered by the enzymes. Amylopectin branch
points occur
about once in every 25 sugars, and about 25% of the sugars in amylopectin
will be tied up in "limit dextrins".
That said, consider the composition of dextrin malt. Most of the sugars
produced during
the stewing process are not fermentable, so it seems that many won't be able
to be broken down due to the enzymatic action in your tun. I haven't read
anything that says 100% of the alpha and beta glucans will be passed on to
the finished beer( coming from the crystal malts used) but that is the art of
mashing. You are in control of the fermentability of your wort, based on what
temperatures are in your mash profile. I can't say that 100% of the dextrins
coming from the xtals will be passed on any more than I can say that 100% of
the starch coming from the base malt will be modified to fermentables. What I
CAN say is that if I want a less fermentable wort, more body, mouthfeel,
ect., I will add xtal malts, mash at a higher temperature ect. It's a
relative thing. There are enzymes that break down branches in amylopectin
(A-glucosidase, limit dextrinase, pullulanase) by cleaving the linkages at
their branching points, but how technical do we want to be? We are making
beer, not rockets!
I hope I have answered your question, and raised a few others. If anyone can
add to this or correct\modify my posting, feel free! That is what HBD is
for, right?
Don the Beer Guy. BEERISH@AOL.COM
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 96 16:12:09 EDT
From: bob@ocs.com (Bob Wysong)
Subject: First all grain batch (anwswers to questions)
Thanks to all who answered my questions in HBD #2015 concerning my 1st all
grain batch.
I'll summarize the responses:
I had asked:
> 1. Does the adding of acid change the PH immediately, or only after a wait
> period? (Why the sudden change after the 3rd tsp of phosphoric acid?)
Almost everyone informed me that once the buffering capacity of the
water is used up, any additional acid goes into solution and causes a
dramatic drop in PH. (*Now* I remember reading this. Never was too good
in chemistry) Lesson: Expect this and be careful when adding acid.
> 2. Any reason for such a low OG?
(I had an OG of 1.032 for 6 gallons, which consisted of 6 lbs Klages,
1 lb crystal, and 1 lb of light DME.)
Most people said that my extraction rate of about 63% on my first attempt
wasn't too bad for my first batch and increase the grain amount next time.
The general consensus was that Miller's projected extraction rate of about
90% is unattainable by the average home brewer.
There were a surprising number of people who didn't like the
sparge-bag/false bottom sparging method (which Miller uses), saying this
is also could be a reason for low extraction. Some liked the E-Z masher,
and some liked the copper manifold. Is there anybody out there using
this sparging method who gets extraction rates anything close to
Miller's 90% ?
>3. What could cause of the krausen falling?
(There were lots of bubbles while fermenting, but no head)
Just about everyone said not to worry about it. I noticed in Miller's
book that one cause of no body is overcleaving the proteins. What does
*that* mean?
One more thing:
In HBD #2016 Jim Dipalma says:
> I *strongly* advise that you obtain a water analysis, and post it here.
> There are some folks here that are very knowledgable about water chemistry,
> I'm sure they can help.
So here it is:
My water (in Gaithersburg, MD) comes from the Potomac Water Filtration
Plant. An analysis from 3/3/95 shows:
Parameter Unit of Yearly Max Monthly Min Monthly
Measure Average Average Average
Alkalinity mg/L* 62 89 40
Hardness mg/L 140 168 103
pH Units 7.4 7.6 7.3
Calcium mg/L 43.7 52.6 33.5
Chloride mg/L 47.0 119.6 25.8
Chlorine mg/L 2.9 3.3 2.7
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
-Bob
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 13:36:50 -0700 (MST)
From: Ray Brice <ray@hwr.arizona.edu>
Subject: Final Results
FINAL CONTEST RESULTS
3rd Annual Naked Pueblo Homebrew Competition - 1996
CATEGORY BREWERS BEER
NAME NAME PLACE
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------
BARLEY WINE
KEN GAY OLD DARK 1
RANDY DRWING BARLEY WINE 3 2
KENDALL HEAD BARLEY WINE 3
BELGIAN & FRENCH ALE
SAM SCOTT SOIE DE VIVRE 1
ROBIN WIGGINS BROOVY BRAND CRU 2
SHANE BALDWIN BLACK BEAGLE BELGIAN WHITE 3
BELGIAN LAMBIC
JOHN EICHMAN DRAGONFLY 1
MILD & BROWN ALE
RICK DRAKE NO NAME 1
UWE BOER ETNA BROWN 2
BRUCE JOHNSON MESQUITE HONEY BROWN 3
ENGLISH PALE ALE
RICK DRAKE NO NAME 1
DOUGLAS BYARS VERONICA'S IPA 2
NAT ROWELL PUSCH RIDGE PALE ALE 3
ROBIN WIGGINS LEAPIN DAISY PALE ALE 3
AMERICAN PALE ALE
JOHN ADKISSON TUCSON PALE - 2ND BEST OF SHOW
JOHN MARE PENGUIN PALE 2
CUBBY LASH AMERICAN PALE #1 3
ENGLISH BITTER
DIANE & AMY FUGGLES SPECIAL BITTER 1
MIGUEL PADILLA ESB II 2
DOUGLAS BYARS VERONICAS ESB 3
SCOTTISH ALE
NAT ROWELL SON OF ZED - 3RD BEST OF SHOW
DAVID HOLT STUBBORN SCOTCH ALE 2
CUBBY LASH SCOTCH ALE 4 3
PORTER
UWE BOER DUBLIN PORTER 1
BRUCE JOHNSON PORTER 2
MIKE SPENCER SIERRA NEVADA PORTER 3
ENGLISH SCOTTISH STRONG ALE
JOHN EICHMAN PRELUDE TO MADNESS 1
JOHN FRANCISCO SPLIT DECISION 2
KEN GAY BY GEORGE 3
STOUT
GREG SCHARRER DRY STOUT - 1ST BEST OF SHOW
DAVID HOLLE DEEP DARK 2
KENDALL HEAD STOUT 3
BOCK
RICK & JOHN LEVITATOR 1
PAUL LACHMANEK HOW I SURIVED LENT 2
KENDALL HEAD BOCK 3
GERMAN DARK LAGER
MARK ROBERTSON BOILOVER DUNKEL 1
GERMAN LIGHT LAGER
DAVID HOLLE NATURAL PASTIME 1
CLASSIC PILSENER
KENDALL HEAD PILSN 1
RANDY DRWINGA PILSNER II 2
RICK DRAKE NO NAME 3
AMERICAN LAGER
KENDALL HEAD KENDALL BREW 1
ROBIN WIGGINS 1ST TIME LAGER 2
JACK MITCHELL JAX LAGER 3
GERMAN STYLE ALE
NAT ROWELL VW ALE 1
PAUL LACHMANEK DESERT DOG 2
GERMAN STYLE WHEAT BEER
ARTHUR MOORE BALONEY WHEAT 1
RICK DRAKE NO NAME 2
JOHN GLASER WILD AND CRAZY 3
SMOKED BEER
JOHN FRANCISCO PECAN RAUCH PORTER 1
FRUIT AND VEGETABLE BEER
DAVID HOLLE RAZ BEAR EEE 1
CHRISTIAN SMERZ MIDNIGHT BERRY 2
KAREN COLLINS PRICKLEY PEAR PORTER 3
HERB AND SPICE BEER
KEN GAY MIKES DARK WHITE 1
SPECIALTY BEER
TOM FORGEY CHRISTMAS CHEER 1
CALIFORNIA COMMON
KENDALL HEAD RED OAK LAGER 1
JOHN ADKISSON SONORAN STEAM 2
JOHN MARE BAY BRIDGE BEER 3
FRUIT MEAD
JOHN EICHMAN OUT OF WOODWORK 1
KEN GAY LABOR OF LOVE 2
RANDY DRWINGA MEAD III 3
HERB SPICE MEAD
RANDY DRWINGA MEAD IV 1
BRIAN KERSHEN TUCSON SUNRISE 2
CIDER
GREG SCHARRER DRY SPARKLING CIDER 1
CHRISTIAN SMERZ SLOTH FROTHS APPLE TREE 2
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 96 20:41:01 GMT
From: tracyt@llano.net (Tracy Thomason)
Subject: ginseng beer
A friend asked me about brewing a ginseng beer. Does anybody know
anything about a beer like this or have a recipe?
Thanks,
Tracy
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 17:14:40 -0500
From: "Keith Royster" <keith.royster@ponyexpress.com>
Subject: wild rice beer / Guinness screen saver
A friend of mine recently asked me to search the net for information
on brewing with wild rice. Apparently he has a friend from up north
that will be visiting him soon and they are bringing a big bag of
it, so he is looking for info on how to use it in a brew (should he
boil it first, etc..) I did a search of past HBD and found nothing.
The only reference I found in Cats Meow was for a partial mash
recipie in the Pale Ale section that used 1/2 wild rice and the
author stated that he would use more next time. Anybody out there
have any suggestions?
Also, I just downloaded a Guinness Stout screen saver from the wwweb.
It's absolutely great! It's taken from a TV ad where this goofy guy
dances around his glass of Guinness. There is even music and sound
effects. Point your browser to:
http://www.itl.net/Guinness/GUINNESS.EXE (1.28megs!)
and then just run the program to install it.
Keith Royster - Keith.Royster@ponyexpress.com
@your.service - http://www.wp.com/@your.service/
Web Services - Starting at just $60 per YEAR!
Voice & Fax - (704) 663-1098
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 13:53:27 -0500
From: Michael Owings <mikey@waste.com>
Subject: Two-Day Mashing Report
I have recently begun moving to decoction mashes in an attempt to brew some
of my favorite bavarian styles of beer. While relatively straight-forward,
even a single decoction mash program seems to take significantly longer that
an infusion session. Since I find it relatively difficult to devote a full
8+ (or even 6+) hour day to making beer, with my last batch (a dunkel) I
decided to break up the brewing session into two days. My approach was
based on the assumption that a large volume of wort can be stored under
refrigeration PRIOR TO BOILING for at least 12 hours without becoming so
infected that the final product will be marred. I also assumed that a 60+
minute (typical) boil time would put a stop to any infection that did manage
to gain a foothold during storage.
day 1
- -----
On the first day, I did my mash and sparge. I used a 3 rest, single
decoction program. During one of the rests I filled a singe 7 gallon
bucket with idophor solution and let it soak. I also sanitized some tubing
in the bucket, and the bucket top.
At sparge time, I emptied the idophor solution into another container; the
solution would be re-used later. I then began lautering, collecting the
run-off via the sanitized tubing from my mash tun spigot (I use an
EASYMASHER (tm)) into the collecting bucket. I used aluminum foil around
the tubing and top of the bucket to keep the top of the bucket somewhat closed.
After collecting 6.75 gals of sweet wort in the bucket, I secured the top
onto the bucket and refrigerated the wort in my lagering fridge for use the
next day.
Time (including cleanup): about 4 hrs.
day 2
- -----
I removed the now cold bucket of wort from the refrigerator. I visually
inspected and smelled the wort for obvious signs of contamination. None
were discernable. While I doubted botulism would be a possibility, I
nevertheless refrained from tasting the unboiled wort just in case.
I the boiled and fermented as usual. Time (including cleanup): about 3 hrs.
Fermenation proceeded normally. When the resulting beer was tapped two
months later (yesterday!) the beer, while far from perfect, exhibited no
off aromas or taste, and was, in fact, pretty damn OK. The beer _may_
have slightly elavated DMS levels, but it is difficult to say for sure.
All in all, I would call this experiment a success. I will certainly try to
do all of my batches this way in the future, as it's lots easier on the
spouse and kids, and gives me extra time to experiment with the mashing
process.
Next time, I will sanitize one of my narrower immersion chillers in the
collection bucket, and run it during the latter part of the sparge to
pre-cool the wort. This should help lower the possibility of significant
infection, and be a lot easier on my lagering fridge's compressor. It is
also possible that failure to cool the wort before overnite storage could
result in high levels of DMS in the finished beer, even after a long boil
(comments?), especially if the recipe called for LOTS of pale lager malt.
It would also be interesting to see how this technique might be extended to
store the unboiled wort for longer periods, say a week or a month.
As always comments and suggestions would be appreciated. -- mikey.
P.S. The recipe was as follows:
1 # wheat malt
4 # Ayinger Pilsener malt
5 # Ayinger Munich malt
1 # DC CaraMunich.
2 oz Hallertau for 70 minutes (AA% unknown).
Mixed Wyeast 2124 Bohemian Lager and BrewTek E. European Lager culture in a
3 litre starter. Force-carbonated in keg.
This beer came out a tad too light; Next time I shall use all munich and a
darker caramel in place of the CaraMunich. A double decoction instead of a
single would have been a good idea. It was also very slightly
under-attenuated (OG 1056, FG 1018).
=============================================================================
Michael Owings Chief of Operations
Uncle Leroi's Hazardous Materials Storage and FemtoBrewery New Orleans, LA
=============================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 17:48:57 -0500 (CDT)
From: Robert Paolino <rpaolino@execpc.com>
Subject: Competition reminder: B i g & H U G E !!!
Here's a reminder of the upcoming 10th Annual Big and Huge homebrew
competition, sponsored by the Madison Homebrewers and Tasters Guild.
When: 11 May 96 (entries or preregistrations due May 4)
Where: Angelic Brewing Company, MadCity, Weirdscowsin
What: BJCP-registered competition for higher gravity beers (Big=1.050-
1.060; Huge=1.060+), plus meads and ciders
Awards: Three tiers--by style, by big ale/big lager/huge ale/huge lager,
and Best of Show. Winners receive ribbons and ingredient/equipment prizes.
For rules and entry form, send your request to rpaolino@earth.execpc.com.
Snailbox requests (include SASE) to MHTG, Box 1365, Madison, WI 53701-1365
GET HUGE!
JUDGES!!
If you'd like to join us for a day or a weekend in the Beer Capital of
the Midwest, home to a number of craft breweries, brewpubs, and other good
beer, sign up to judge and we'll send you the details. (same addresses
listed above)
Now go have a beer,
Bob Paolino
Madison rpaolino@earth.execpc.com
You may now go back to your regularly-scheduled beer
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 12:12:00 -0500
From: Michael Owings <mikey@waste.com>
Subject: The Smell of New-Mown Hay -- SUMMARY
I recently posted a message regarding the lack of a certain something in my
Bavarian-style lagers. A certain "Bavarian-ness" , to be exact. It seemed
to me that a sulfury note was missing. Here is a brief summary of responses:
1) A number of you suggested DMS as the missing component. As I should
have mentioned in the original post, however, the missing flavor
element is most certainly _not_ the corny, grainy DMS. DMS has
been present in adequate (and in one case, even offensive) amounts
in my beers. My malts have all been from D-C or Ayinger (last
batch, a dunkel). The missing note, which is particularly
noticable in the nose of Paulaner Salvator, is distinctly
_sulfury_. In larger quantities, it would probably smell of rotten eggs;
this has led me to suspect trace amounts of hydrogen sulfide.
2) Some agreed that the missing note was probably due indeed to the
lack of hydrogen sulfide produced during fermentation. Some
suggested switching yeast strains to Wyeast 2308 or the Czech Pils
2278. One respondent thought that inadequate aeration might have
been the culprit.
Thanx for all responses -- mikey
=============================================================================
Michael Owings Chief of Operations
Uncle Leroi's Hazardous Materials Storage and FemtoBrewery New Orleans, LA
=============================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 20:18:54 -0400
From: smucker@use.usit.net (David and Carol Smucker)
Subject: Yield Increase
>From: Marty Tippin <martyt@sky.net>
>Subject: Explain My Extract Yield Increase!
>
>I've now done about 6 batches in my converted keg "pseudo-RIMS" system and
>have gotten consistently higher extract yields from the grain than my old
>system. I'm wondering if others with similar systems have seen the same
>sort of increase or if I'm just getting lucky...
>I'm interested in any ideas or comments as to whether the recirculation of
>the mash really causes the higher efficiency, and what implications this
>might have for others - perhaps it would be a good idea (if one were
>interested in increased yield) to stir the grainbed constantly or otherwise
>find some way of recirculating the wort.
I get your the type of yield (34 points) but simply mash for 15 gallon batch
in a
half barrel keg and transfer to a 60 qt. cooler for a lauter tun. (With a
slotted
copper manifold.) I too like Dr. Fix's 40C - 60C - 70C mash schedule. I don't
think it is the recirulation that has improved your yield.
I stir my mash only while heating i. e. going from 40C to 62 C, going from
62C to
68C and once during the 68C rest (for about a minute) to boost the
temperature from
67C back up to 68C and then at mash out going from 67C to 76C. My typical
times
are 20 min at 40C 15min to go from 40C to 62C 30 min at 62C. Then 4 min to
go from
62C to 68C and 60 to 90 min at 68C then 5 min to 76C and transfer to the
lauter tun.
(I use the old fasion scoop method.)
What else have you changed? Batch size is one.
What about quality of grind? Are you really doing that the same?
Things which I think effect my yield are: 1.) The quality of the grind or
cracking
of my malt. I almost always use 2 row British pale ale as my base malt.
2.) The age of my malt from the time it is ground or craked to use. (Too old
and
I lose some yield.)
3.) The speed of my sparge. (Too fast and I lose some yield.)
At the end of the day the yield is not so important as is knowing your system
and knowing what you expect to get from batch to batch.
Dave Smucker
David E. Smucker, Mech. Engr., Carol J. Smucker, Nursing
Knoxville, Tennessee, USA <smucker@use.usit.net>
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 23:55:45 -0500
From: denisb@cam.org (Denis Barsalo)
Subject: Freezer temp control
Brewers,
Summer is coming and I would like to use my empty freezer to
ferment lager in. I seem to remember something about a device called the
Hunter thermostat. Can I use this with my freezer or is only for fridges?
Is it a *good* quality product, and is it worth $40.US plus
whatever shipping it's going to cost me to get it to Montreal?
Do you have any advice on wether this is my only option? Is it or
is there something else available from a Canadian source?
*Any* advice is greatly appreciated!
Denis
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 23 Apr 1996 22:44:04 -0600
From: "Norman C. Pyle" <hophead@ares.csd.net>
Subject: Carapils / Dextrin
Bill Bunning wrote:
> I can't believe with the combined knowledge of the collective that I
>can't get a response. If you take that as a challenge, it is!
I'll take that challenge...
>Carapils malt or Dextrin malt is suppose to add unfermentables and
>dextrin to the finished product. I can see how this works when added as
>specialty grains to an extract-based beer since there's no enzymes to
>break the dextrin down. However, when doing an all-grain mash, do the
>enzymes break the dextrin down into simpler sugars (depending on mash
>temperature, of course)? Or, do the dextrin chains remain intact (would
>also apply to caramel and dark roasted malts), and if they do, why?
> Inquiring minds want to know.
Dextrins cannot be fermented by typical brewing yeasts. Call them "not
easily fermentable". Some wild yeasts and bacteria can get to them, of
course, but we try to keep them out of our wort, right? As far as the
mash goes, they have already been mashed (in the husk), and were not
broken down. The beer-making mash should not break them down either,
though some brewers like to add them at mash-out for a variety of reasons.
So, all-grain, partial-grain, or extract+grain, they can be considered the
same. I'm rusty at this HBD thang, so correct me if I'm wrong (I know you
will!) oh great and wonderful HBD-collective!
Hope this helps,
Norm
** Check out my brewing web page: http://www.csd.net/~hophead/brewing.html **
------------------------------
End of HOMEBREW Digest #2019, 04/24/96
*************************************
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