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HOMEBREW Digest #2009
This file received at Hops.Stanford.EDU 1996/04/12 PDT
HOMEBREW Digest #2009 Fri 12 April 1996
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Rob Gardner, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Homebrew Digest #2008 (April 11, 1996) -Reply (DENNIS WALTMAN)
mault and lager (Stetson)
EBC to Revise Language (GSHUTELOCK)
converted keg brewing system (shelby & gary)
Sierra Nevada Porter (Gregory King)
Malt Extract as "Distinctive Food" (David C. Harsh)
Gravity, Wyeast 1968 ("Kirk Harralson")
Deal... (RUSt1d?)
Glow-in-the-Dark Labels ("Kirk Harralson")
Skunks (Pierre Jelenc)
Diluting to Lower Gravity / Light-Struck Outdoor Brewing? (KennyEddy)
re:DC & Williamsburg (MSMHRN01.RADAMS01)
Re: Barley Flakes (Mark E. Thompson)
Watney's/canning wort/skunking & possible remedy??? (Brian K. Pickerill)
Abita beer (guym)
Homebrew Submission (MSMHRN01.RADAMS01)
Fermentaps, Oats, and Molasses (HuskerRed)
THANKS TO ALL! (CHRISTOPHER DIIORIO )
BOTTLE BAKING (Mike Spinelli)
Dead Skunks/Gravity Adjustment (Algis R Korzonas)
Fairfax,VA /Water Testing/Gluconate (A. J. deLange)
Frugal All grain brewing (Brian K. Pickerill)
Spigots (DONBREW)
RE:keeping my cool (KDDrakes)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 04:16:31 -0400
From: DENNIS WALTMAN <PDWALTMAN@sablaw.com>
Subject: Homebrew Digest #2008 (April 11, 1996) -Reply
I will not be in the office 4/11/96.
If you have a rush or emergency please call the Help Line at 8773
or 404-853-8773.
I should be back in the office by 9:30 am on 4/12/96.
Dennis
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 06:32:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: Stetson <stetson@globalone.net>
Subject: mault and lager
Hello, I am a blind homebrewer and just did my first lager this past
Monday. Because I am blind, I rely on my wife to read me the labels when
I am logging my recipes/procedures/ingredients on my computer.
When she was reading the mault can to me, she happened to look at the
bottom of the can, and it was stamped with
October, 1994. I immediately aborted the process so I could call someone
the next day seeings though this was my first dealing with an old can of
mault. I called around to some supply stores and got the following answers:
if the can isn't buldging, its fine
you'll probably get a cardboardy tase from it
bring it back immediately
the hop additives are dead, but the mault is fine
Could someone please give me some more imput on this matter?
Also I just obtained a new refrigerator, thats why I'm doing my first
lager, and I can only get the temp up to 42-44 degrees.
Is this temp alright, just longer fermentation, or should I try to
find another means of lagering?
Thanks in advance!
Eric
stetson@global1.net
happy brewing!
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 08:58:17 -0400
From: GSHUTELOCK@aol.com
Subject: EBC to Revise Language
In what amounts to a sweeping reform of the brewing industry, the European
Brewing Convention (EBC) has announced that it has chosen English as the
standard language for the European brewing industry. The EBC has
commissioned a feasibility study on ways to make communications between
member countries more efficient.
Although endorsing English as the new standard, EBC officials have pointed
out that English spelling is unnecessarily difficult - for example, cough,
plough, rough, through and thorough. What the EBC feels is clearly needed
is a phased program of changes to iron out these anomalies. The program is
being administered by a committee staffed by respected brewers from
participating countries.
In the first year of implementation, the committee has recommended using 's'
instead of the soft 'c'. Sertainly, brewers in all sities will selebrate on
resieving this news. Then the hard 'c' would be replaced by 'k' sinse both
letters are pronounsed alike. Not only will this klear up konfusion in the
minds of klerikal workers, but typewriters and komputers kould be made with
one less letter.
Assuming there would be growing enthusiasm when in the sekond year, it kould
be announsed that the troublesome 'ph' would henseforth be written 'f'.
This would make words lik 'Fil's Filler' twenty per sent shorter in print.
In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to
reash the stage where more komplikated shanges are possible. The European
Brewing Konvention would enkourage the removal of double letters which have
always been a deterent to akurate speling.
We would al agre that the horible mes of silent 'e's in the languag is
disgrasful. Therefor the EBK would drop thes and we kould kontinu to read
and writ as though nothin had hapend. By this tim it would be four years
sins the skem began and peopl would be reseptive to steps sutsh as replasing
'th' by 'z'. Perhaps zen ze funktion of 'w' kould be taken on by 'v', vitsh
is, after al, half a 'w'. Shortly after zis, ze unesesary 'o'kould be dropd
from words kontaining 'ou'. Similar arguments vud of kors be aplid to ozer
kombinations of leters.
Kontinuing zis proses yer after yer, ve vud eventuli hav a reli sensibl riten
styl. After tventi yers zer vud be no mor trubls, difikultis and evrivun vud
fin it ezi tu understand ech ozer. Ze drems of the Uropn Brurs Konvenzun vil
finali hav kum tru.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 10 Apr 1996 02:24:55 -0400
From: shelby & gary <gjgibson@ioa.com>
Subject: converted keg brewing system
I really appreciate the time and effort Marty Tippin put into their =
write ups on the converted keg systems at the brewery. They have been a =
great help in planning my own system. I would like to explain my future =
system and see if you find any problems. I am trying to do this as =
cheaply as possible, so I am cutting many corners in the process. I =
plan on buying two cajon cooker style burners and switch one back and =
forth from the hot liquer tank to the boil kettle. This will be an all =
gravity fed system. This will be acheived by making a "swing set" style =
frame out of four by fours. I will place a pully above each kettle and =
have a steel cable which can be switched to any of the kettles. This =
cable will be attached to a crank and mounted to the frame. When ever I =
want to transfer liquid, I crank the kettle off the ground and gravity =
feed.
Where I am running into problems is deciding on the type of false bottom =
to use. The microbrewery here uses one of these systems to do test =
batches. His false bottom is an old SS bowl with holes punched into it. =
He says it works great and spending money on such a product is not =
worth it. My mom has an old pot that has a 9 inch lid to it that looks =
great. If she will not let me have it, I am sure one can be bought for =
less than fifteen dollars. What diameter would work best with the =
sankey kegs and how would you get a good seal between the lid and the =
keg, or will the weight of the grain and water be good enough?
For the boil kettle, should this same false bottom be used. I sometimes =
use hop pellets. Should I convert to only whole hops and use this =
system or fabricate a easymasher type system. I understand that =
scorching is a problem with easymasher setups. For this reason, should =
this setup be avoided?
What precautions should be taken to prevent rusting where the kegs have =
been drilled, cut, welded, etc? =20
Thanks for the help,
Shelby
Asheville, NC
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 09 Apr 1996 18:10:48 -0500 (EST)
From: Gregory King <GKING@ARSERRC.Gov>
Subject: Sierra Nevada Porter
Hello Fellow Homebrewers,
I was wondering if any of you have come up with a Sierra Nevada Porter
clone? Post here or e-mail as you see fit.
TIA,
Greg King
gking@arserrc.gov
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 09:19:45 -0400
From: dharsh@alpha.che.uc.edu (David C. Harsh)
Subject: Malt Extract as "Distinctive Food"
Greetings, Collective-
I was interested to hear that old cans of malt extract have been
labelled as food additives. A good friend of mine has a prohibition-era
picture of Crosley Field, where the Cincinnati Reds played before
Riverfront. One of the storefronts visible has a large sign advertising
malt extract and hops with a subheading along the line of "so you can make
IT!" Similarly, one of the major reasons that there are still 100 year old
Zinfandel vines in California is that many vineyard owners would fill
wagons up with their harvest and go into the Italian sector of San Fran.
and sell the grapes to the populace. I'm sure that the 'home grape juice'
hobby was common in many areas as well as the preparation of 'distinctive
foods'.
Dave
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 96 09:48:05 EST
From: "Kirk Harralson" <kwh@smtpgwy.roadnet.ups.com>
Subject: Gravity, Wyeast 1968
Ken Schwartz writes:
<snip>
>If we want a 1.075 OG (75 points) in 5 gallons with 36-point grain and 80%
>efficiency,
>POUNDS = (75 x 5) / (36 x 80/100) = 13 pounds
>This is the 5-gallon FINAL RECIPE gravity; your 6-1/2 gallon BOIL gravity
>will be lower since it gets more concentrated as it boils off the water. The
>BOIL gravity is
>BG(POINTS) = (RECIPE GAL / BOIL GAL) x RECIPE OG(POINTS)
>BG(SG) = 1 + BG(points)/1000
>For the 1.075 OG wort, we'll look for 5/6.5 x 75 = 58 points (1.058 SG) in
>the boiler just after sparging 6-1/2 gal wort. Remember that most
>hydrometers are calibrated at 60 degrees F so chill the sparge sample before
>reading, or consult a correction table.
This approach is almost identical to mine, with one exception. In my setup, I
lose between .75 and 1 gallon in "sludge" (hot break, spent hops, etc.). I plan
on either a higher final kettle volume than I want in my primary, or a higher
final gravity in the kettle to which I can add boiled and chilled water to hit
both target gravity and volume. Of course, YMMV.
=============================================================
Al Korzonas writes:
>Walter writes about his experience with Wyeast London ESB #1968:
<snip>
>>when I got a copy of the Wyeast yeast profiles pamphlet which says that 1968
>>is so flocculant that additional aeration and agitation is needed.
<snip>
>The Wyeast pamphlet is wrong about the aeration. Aeration is not required,
>just rousing. If you swirl the carboy to get the yeast back into suspension
>that should be sufficient. As long as you don't remove the airlock, the
>headspace will be all CO2 and you won't be aerating.
The only time I used 1968, I had to wait a couple of extra days between popping
the Wyeast pouch and pitching into a starter. When I snipped the pouch and
poured into my starter, I noticed the liquid was brown as usual, but very clear.
After aerating the starter, I cut the pouch open out of curiosity -- most of the
yeast was caked onto the inside of the pouch! I had never seen anything like
this before. I doubt I will ever use this strain again, but if I do, I will
shake the %#%^& out of the pouch before I pitch it.
Kirk Harralson
Bel Air, Maryland
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 08:48:51 -0400
From: RUSt1d? <rust1d@swamp.li.com>
Subject: Deal...
>beer. Direct sunlight will skunk hops in short order; flourescent lights
Why don't hops on the vine get skunked? I think it's the isomertized alpha
acids in beer that skunk. I left my whole hops in zip lock bags in the sun
for 3 hours or so while mashing and did not notice any off tastes. What
gives?
I had a dream that I quit my job and became a professional brewer. Then the
next afternoon, out of the blue, I get offered a 100 gallon stainless steel
kettle from the dairy industry for $125. I bought it. The thing even has a
stainless valve at the bottom so it could be used as either a boiling
vessel or a mash tun. If I could get a couple more of these I'd be in
business.
Can any of the pro-brewers out there send me info on what steps are
necessary to get licensed and legal? Thanks.
Anyone using my homebrew recipe calculator/database? I have recieved
no feedback good or bad, except from those people who had problems
downloading it.
John Varady
Boneyard Brewing
http://www.netaxs.com/people/vectorsys/index.html
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 96 10:03:02 EST
From: "Kirk Harralson" <kwh@smtpgwy.roadnet.ups.com>
Subject: Glow-in-the-Dark Labels
Ever so often, people ask about labelling ideas for homebrew. Well, I wouldn't
exactly call this labelling, but it turned out pretty cool anyway. My daughter
had some fabric paints left over from a craft project. These are available in
fabric/craft stores, WalMart, etc.. They are very durable and must be
waterproof (they make it through washing machine temps and agitation easily).
Just for grins, I took the "glow-in-the-dark" bottle and labelled a few
homebrews before a party. This was X-files Ale (the good beer is out there --
you just may have to make it yourself), so an appropriate X was all I drew. The
glow in the fridge when it was opened was quite a site. I don't have a light in
my beer fridge, which helped a lot.
Kirk Harralson
Bel Air, Maryland
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 96 10:39:10 EDT
From: Pierre Jelenc <pcj1@columbia.edu>
Subject: Skunks
In HOMEBREW Digest #2008 KennyEddy@aol.com says:
> The hops can be light-struck either before OR
> after brewing (or both, I suppose), so be sure your hops are stored out of
> the light (wrap in aluminum foil for light-tightness) and so is your bottled
> beer. Direct sunlight will skunk hops in short order; flourescent lights
> supposedly can too but it takes longer. If you are already taking these
> steps, complain to the store that sold you the skunky hops.
Hops cannot be skunked. Only the ISO-alpha acids, which are obtained by
isomerization during the boil from the alpha acids present in hop resin,
have the proper structure for light-induced cleavage.
Pierre
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 11:03:49 -0400
From: KennyEddy@aol.com
Subject: Diluting to Lower Gravity / Light-Struck Outdoor Brewing?
Tim Martin asks:
> Would someone out there please help? I would like to
> reduce the O.G. from .60 to about .45. I would like to do this
> at priming time. I have about 2.75 gal. of beer in the 'boy
> now fermenting. I'm thinking of adding a half gal. of
> sugar/water at bottling but this is only a guess. Can
> someone send more accurate calculations?
Dilution is the answer (duh) and here's the drill: To take GAL gallons (or
any volumatric units) down from gravity SG1 to gravity SG2, add enough clean
plain water to make a total volume VOL of
VOL = GAL x (1-SG1)/(1-SG2)
In your case you want 2.75 gal to go from (I assume) 1.060 to 1.045. So add
enoug water to make a total of
VOL = 2.75 x (1 - 1.060)/(1 - 1.045)
= 3.67 gal total
Note that this is the *total* of the wort and the makeup water, not the water
itself.
****************
There's been some discussion of light-struck hops here recently. I was just
wondering whether you brewers who brew outside with your gas-fired systems
ever have any problem with light-struck hops? A hour or so exposure while
boiling would seem to be asking for trouble, yet no one seems to have this
problem. Any thoughts?
Ken Schwartz
KennyEddy@aol.com
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 11:20:47 -0400
From: MSMHRN01.RADAMS01@eds.com
Subject: re:DC & Williamsburg
On Tue, 9 Apr 1996 07:50:59 -0400, Bob McCowan writes:
>
>We're heading to Williamsburg and DC in a couple of weeks and I'd like
>advice on good micros and brewpubs to try.
>Thanks
>Bob
>bob.mccowan@cfrp.varian.com
There are several - hope you have a couple days. I can only vouch for the DC
area. In the district, there are 2 Brewpubs: Capitol City Brewing & Dock
Street Brewing. I was just at both last week and are very good. The food
recommendation seems to be Capitol over Dock at the present time - but be
sure to ask the price of any lunch specials. I got burned for $26 on a pair
of crab cakes for lunch! The most expensive item on the menu is $15 -
sandwiches around 5-7. Capitol has about 6 beers pouring; Dock St. has
about 7 or 8 plus a hand-pulled cask-conditioned item that changes. Last
week was a delicious Dark Mild. I thoroughly enjoyed Capitols Amber Waves -
malty & hoppy.
There are many beer bars, the most notable being The Brickskeller at 22nd &
P Streets, at DuPont Circle (Embassy Row area). Over 500 bottled beers from
everywhere.
A bit out of town in Arlington is Bardo Rodeo - a place you must experience
at least once! Maybe 15 or so of their own beers, each as unique as the
place itself. An old car dealership turned bar, it offers huge seating,
happy hour pints @ 1.80 + tax, 30-40 pool tables, and wall murals that
create nightmares! Nearby Bardo is Blue-N-Gold Brewing, but I've not been
there yet.
If you've the time, a tour of one of, if not THE east coast's best
microbrewery, Old Dominion Brewery is a definite hit. It is located in
Ashburn, VA, about a 30 minute drive out the Dulles toll road (85 cents).
Every beer produced here is a winner. It is unfortunate that their
Dominion Brown Ale has disappeared by now - a classic Belgian Brown with
candied sugar was like having "local" Corsendonk Monk's Brown ! Also right
down the road from Dominion is Potomac Brewing in Chantilly. A bit smaller,
but they produce a nice Red and a good Porter.
Details:
Capitol City Brewing: 202.628.2222, 1100 NewYorkAve, next/behind the
Convention Ctr.
Dock Street: 202.639.0403, 1299 Pennsylvania Ave, under Warner Thtr, about 3
blks from above.
Brickskeller: 202.293.1885, 1523 22nd St. NW @Dupont Circle/Embassy Row.
Bardo Rodeo: 703.527.9399, 2000 Wilson Blvd. 1 blk East from Courthouse
Metro Stn.
Virginia Beverage: 703.684.5397, new brewpub in Alexandria/OldTown.
Blue-N-Gold: 703.908.4995, 3100 Clarendon Blvd, Arlington/Clarendon.
Old Dominion: 703.689.1225, Ashburn behind big post office.
Potomac River: 703.631.5430, about 5-7 miles from Dominion - same trip.
Steamship: 804.623.3430, in Norfolk, SE of Williamsburg.
Cheers,
Rick Adamson
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 8:16:24 PDT
From: Mark E. Thompson <markt@hptal04.cup.hp.com>
Subject: Re: Barley Flakes
Full-Name: Mark E. Thompson
From: "Braam Greyling" <ACG@knersus.nanoteq.co.za>
> Subject: Barley flakes
>
> Hi beerboys (oops! and beergirls)
>
> I am going to brew my 4th all grain batch soon. I got some barley
> flakes from the guy who supply me with grain. I am not sure what
> quantities I should use. I also have some wheat malt, chocolate malt
> crystal malt and Cara-Vienna malt.
> I only do infusion mash. All my malts are fully modified, I think !
> What quantities of the flakes should I use ? What effect will it have
> on my beer ? How will it influence the taste, body, colour and head ?
> Can I use it with infusion mash ?
> I brew 5 gallon batches.
You didn't say what type of beer you are making so i'll speculate that you
want to make a stout. Here's what i did on my last one that i thought
came out nicely. 65% Brit. Pale Ale (could have been american) 25% Flaked
Barley 10% Roasted Barley. I mashed at around 150 and added the roast
at mash out rise. In retrospect i would have added the roast half at
mash in half at raise. What the flaked barley did was to give it the most
incredible moosey head. I think that single infusion is fine. I use
health food store flakes (cheaper). I don't know about the taste because
i have never done a side by side comparison. I have also used flaked
barley (8-10%) in german pilsners.
Mark Thompson
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 10:44:59 -0600
From: 00bkpickeril@bsuvc.bsu.edu (Brian K. Pickerill)
Subject: Watney's/canning wort/skunking & possible remedy???
William D Gladden <W_GLADDEN@Mail.Co.Chester.PA.US> asked in HBD 2007
about a Watney's red barrel clone. I have no recipe for it, but would be
interested. I was shocked to hear someone write a while back that it was
not considered a good beer in Britian. I know there is some stiff
competition, but I always enjoyed Watney's when I had the opportunity...
- ---
paa3765@dpsc.dla.mil (Steve Adams) asks, also in 2007,
>I'm interested in canning wort for the usual reasons. Does anyone have some
>handy instructions and tips on how to do this?
I don't think you will find wort listed in the Ball guide to canning...
Too bad. Whenever I've done it, I have always played on the safe side
though, preferring to pressure cook for 1 hour rather than risk deadly,
tasteless, odorless, botulism toxin. It's worth repeating that botulism is
extremely dangerous. Probaby less time in the pressure cooker would be
enough, but I don't want to bet my life on it.
- ---
in HBD 2008 Ray Cooper said:
[snip]
>I ended up throwing these two batches out as I still have never seen any
>>information as to how to get rid of that flavor [skunk] once it's
>affected your >beer.
Funny, I remember reading here very recently where someone said that
extended lagering (perhaps just storage--literally, maybe not necessarily
cold storage as we commonly think of lagering) will get rid of it or help
get rid of it.
That was intriguing, and no one challenged it (as I recal) so perhaps it
could work. It would be worth an experiment. Skunk 2 or more bottles on
purpose, open and taste one to make sure it is skunked, then lager the
other one(s) and try them after various periods of (dark!) storage. I'm
very skeptical though, since it seems that once that chemical is produced
it would not likely get absorbed or changed back into a non-offensive
flavor. Then again, stranger things happen to our beers.
For most of us, it's not a problem after we learn about skunking initially.
The other thing is, for me at least, it was a LOT easier drinking skunked
beer before I knew about the phenomenon! I know I drank many skunked
Grolshes in my pre-brewing days. Now, I doubt if I could handle half a
bottle. Damn, I wish I'd have saved those bottles...
- --Brian Pickerill, Newsletter Editor, Muncie Malt Mashers, Muncie, IN
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 96 14:33:11 MDT
From: guym@Exabyte.COM
Subject: Abita beer
Daniel Goodale writes:
> Last weekend a friend and I took a trip
> to New Orleans to catch the scene around Easter.
> On Saturday, we went to Abita Springs to catch the
> Abita Brewery tour. I can easily get Abita here in
> Texas and was about all I drank while working in
> Alabama <snip>
A shame that you didn't try any of Birmingham Brewing's beers while
you were in Alabama. Well, actually, you may have. ;-)
> Free samples flowed from the tasting
> room/employee lounge/latrine. <snip>
> The beer was all excellent, however
> I was a little disappointed in the TurboDog, it
> seemed to have a lot more hop aroma when
> I drank it in Anniston Alabama.
The reason for that is what you drank in Alabama may very well have
been brewed much closer to Anniston than New Orleans.
--
Guy McConnell /// Huntersville, NC /// guym@exabyte.com
"I passed out in my hammock and, God, I slept 'til way past noon..."
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 14:58:44 -0400
From: MSMHRN01.RADAMS01@eds.com
Subject: Homebrew Submission
On Wed, 10 Apr 96 10:21:00 PDT, Ray Robert <RayRobert@bah.com> writes:
>1. I use my bottling bucket to hold my sparge water. You know the type
>white hdpe bucket with standard plastic spigot. The problem I have is that
>is leaks like a sieve when I put hot sparge water in it. I've gone through
>5 of these in the last year and a half. The cost is not an issue (they are
>only about 3 bucks) but trying to sparge and clean up 170 degree water off
>the kitchen floor is not fun. Any recommendations as to a solution for
>this. I would like to maintain the same arrangement.
Find yourself a Drum Tap at your homebrew shop - it should fit perfectly in
the same hole that the standard tap uses. The drum tap withstands the high
temp and you dial/turn a knob, not twisting the lever. The drawback is the
output side of the drum tap is bigger in OD - you'll need to 'step-down'
your hose(s). What I have found to work in the meantime is to take a small
1-hole stopper (I forget the number; used for airlock on the white plastic
primary lids) and insert the small end (tightly) into drum tap output. Then
push the hose you were using into the bigger end of the stopper (now
pointing down). I use this setup for bottling all the time.
>2. Had a request for any brewers in the Fairfax VA area: How is the water
>in this area and does it require treatment. I hope to avoid a nut roll
with
>the local water authority (much like the recent experiences on the HBD).
> Also any recommended homebrew stores in the area would be a help
Can't help with the water, but BrewAmerica in Vienna is a big help to the
whole area. They are on Church St., next to the Red Caboose that sits on the
W&OD Trail - in the basement. Worth finding!
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 15:24:42 -0400
From: HuskerRed@aol.com
Subject: Fermentaps, Oats, and Molasses
Hello Friends,
I asked a month or so ago for some Fermentap reviews, I got a few
responses and requests. Now saw someone asking about them again so I will
summarize. Don't bother. They clog up with trub and are hard to get
unclogged and they are difficult to get sanitized.
What is the difference between oatmeal and flaked oats? Also, when should
molasses be added?
Cheers,
Jason Henning
Big Red Alchemy and Brewing
They who drink beer will think beer -- Washington Irving
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Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 16:36:16 -0400 (EDT)
From: CHRISTOPHER DIIORIO <pher@acc.msmc.edu>
Subject: THANKS TO ALL!
Re: Skunky brew
I got so many responses to my "Skunky beer" problem that I thought the
best place to reply would be here. I am very grateful for all the advice
I have gotten!
The consensus was that I was most likely leaving the beer exposed to
sunlight. As it happens, this batch has been fermenting in a different
spot than my others (since I had wanted to keep it cool I put it on my
enclosed back porch). The porch is pretty dark but, to be sure there is
no sun, I checked every hour or so. I discovered that early in the
morning a good beam of light hits the fermenter for about 2 hours. I'll
be covering future batches for sure.
The Porter that had a similar smell was fermented in my dark closet, but I
store my bottles in the same area on my porch. It's very possible that
the same thing happened to them.
I'm going to go ahead and bottle anyway, and let it sit for a month (IN
THE DARK) to see how it tastes. I'll pass the results along.
Other ideas included:
The "nasties" that could have infected it when I waited 5 days for
activity to start.
The yeast not performing well at 54 deg.
The amount of time it has been fermenting (not long enough).
I appreciate all I have heard. I've decided to skip dry yeast all
together (except in DIRE emergencies), so none of the possible
circumstances can repeat. I'm also building a show rack for my wife
(leaving me more room in MY closet). :)
Cheers!
and Happy Brewing
P.S. I'd like to know more about making starters. I tried one a while
back, but haven't had much success. Does anyone have a simple way to make
and store a starter for a lowly extract brewer such as myself?
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Date: Thu, 11 Apr 96 17:33:15 est
From: paa3983@dpsc.dla.mil (Mike Spinelli)
Subject: BOTTLE BAKING
HBDers,
I've started a new procedure to combat the drudgery of bottle washing.. Up 'til
now, I've been using bleach and rinsing with a jet washer on bottlimg day.
Since I triple rinse the bottles as I drink them, then place upside down to air
dry, I figured the HELL with bleach!! I'll just bake their asses in the oven.
So for the last batch, I inspected 40 clean bottles for any visible bad shit,
then covered the tops with a little sqaure of foil. Took out the racks in the
oven, placed all 40 in, then heated to 260 deg. F for 1 hour. Turned off the
heat and left them in til the follwing night when the wife and I bottled.
What a breeze it was! No bleach water, no sprayin' the ceiling and no hassle.
Just pull the foil off the tops and fill.
So far, none of my bottles have gushed or exploded, so I figure the heat killed
any crap that may have beeen in there.
So now, as I dring the beers, i triple rinse the bottles at the sink, turn
upside , air dry then cap with foil. By the time the next batch is ready to
bottle, All I'll have to do is bake 'em for an hour and they're done.
Does anyone know of a downside to this technique.? If so, you'll be ruining my
day.
Mike in Cherry Hill, NJ
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Date: Thu, 11 Apr 96 13:33:25 CDT
From: korz@pubs.ih.att.com (Algis R Korzonas)
Subject: Dead Skunks/Gravity Adjustment
Ken writes:
>The hops can be light-struck either before OR
>after brewing (or both, I suppose), so be sure your hops are stored out of
>the light (wrap in aluminum foil for light-tightness) and so is your bottled
>beer. Direct sunlight will skunk hops in short order; flourescent lights
>supposedly can too but it takes longer. If you are already taking these
>steps, complain to the store that sold you the skunky hops.
Absolutely not. Only *isomerized* alpha acids will react in response to
light to create skunky aromas. Therefore, you only need to protect your
wort from light after you begin boiling. Think about it... hops aren't
grown in the dark...
***
Tim writes:
>Would someone out there please help? I would like to
>reduce the O.G. from .60 to about .45. I would like to do this
>at priming time. I have about 2.75 gal. of beer in the 'boy
>now fermenting.
I'm sure you mean .060 and .045, but what the heck...
The way to do this is to figure out how many points you've got and
how many gallons you need to get the points you want:
(60pts * 2.75 gal)/45points = (165)/45 = 3.67 gallons
3.67 gallons - 2.75 gallons = 0.92 gallons
So you want to add just under a gallon.
Al.
Al Korzonas, Palos Hills, IL
korz@pubs.att.com
Copyright 1996 Al Korzonas
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Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 18:19:28 -0500
From: ajdel@interramp.com (A. J. deLange)
Subject: Fairfax,VA /Water Testing/Gluconate
I was about to respond to the discussions about water authorities using
Fairfax County, VA as an example when Ray Robert's request for info on that
very jurisdiction (#2008) came up. The Fairfax County Water Authority is
not part of the county government but rather some sort of
quasi-corporation. Their personell are helpful on the phone and in person
(headquarters is on Rte 50 near the beltway), will put you in touch with
their chemists, etc. and seem genuinely interested in serving their
customers. They operate 2 processing plants and will furnish a report from
either (or both) upon request. The report contains 54 items all of which,
except Total Organic Carbon are inorganic or physical parameters. The
average for each parameter as well as the minimum and maximum and number of
tests that went into the average are included. If the EPA has a primary or
secondary stasndard for the parameter, it is listed. The only problem with
the reports is that they represent data collected over several months and
the maximum alkalinity, for example, may be three times the minimum over
that time period and while the statistics tell you in general what the
water is like (good for brewing: no treatment required except charcoal
filtration to remove chloramine which most people don't bother to do), they
don't tell you about what is coming out of the tap on a particular brew
day. The report is perhaps more extensive than most but compare with
Stephen Palmer's which is also quite complete. This, with other
correspondence I have had (including Bob Talkiewicz's post in #2009), leads
me to believe that thorough reporting and cooperation is the norm and that
the bad experiences of a few people the exception. To return to Stephen's
water and the subject of a previous post for a moment, note that his
bicarbonate concetration is 61/50 times his total aklakinity
If a brewer wants detailed timely water information he has a couple of
options. One is a lab and the other is to do it himself. There are numerous
water testing labs both local and national. Look in the yellow pages. They
may charge $50 - $100 but you will get a good report at a rate of much less
than $10/item. The typical manual test today is done by meauring about 25
mL of water into a cuvette to which a packet or two of premeasured
chemicals is added. The cuvette then goes into a spectrophotometer which
measures the color produced by reaction of the chemistry with the test ion.
As Joseph Spears pointed out (also in #2008), these methods are not those
of EPA's "Methods for Chemical Analysis of Water and Wastes" but the
manufacturers have, in many cases, obtained approval from EPA to use these
procedures for reporting purposes (not that brewers typically care about
this). The larger labs are able to obtain economy of scale by automating
the meaurement processes.
The brewer can do most of the water analysis he needs himself. The major
parameters of concern are pH, alkalinity, and total hardness. He would also
like to know chloride,chlorine, chloramine, and sulfate. Test kits for all
these parameters, except sulfate, are available at costs which are not
totally absurd. Hardness and chlorine/chloramide test kits can be obtained
from pet stores; the others from water testing suppliers like Lamotte, Hach
and Cole-Parmer.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Paul Sovcik asked if I had any ideas about what might happen to gluconate
in beer. I don't even know what happens when it is administered to humans
but would guess that this form is chosen for calcium administration because
the gluconate is easily metabolized and it seems likely therefore, that the
pathway is the hexose monophosphate (pentose phophate) pathway. Yeast are
capable of utilizing this pathway so I am guessing that the fate of
gluconate in a wort would be the same. This pathway is used mostly to
supply the building blocks of anabolism although glyceraldehyde 3-phophate
is formed and this can, presumably, lead to ethanol and CO2.
A.J. deLange Numquam in dubio, saepe in errore!
ajdel@interramp.com
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 17:12:18 -0600
From: 00bkpickeril@bsuvc.bsu.edu (Brian K. Pickerill)
Subject: Frugal All grain brewing
KennyEddy@aol.com said:
>If you can do this for $300 we'd like to learn how! I've got my wife trained
>to appreciate homebrew and fine imports so as long as I keep the incremental
>costs down I can get away with "making beer cheaper".
OK, this probably won't help anyone, but the digest has been a little on
the slim side lately anyway. I didn't to this to save money on brewing
really, but becuase I couldn't stand to wait any longer. It took me over a
year to collect all the stuff. I'm on a real tight budget, and the wife
has never even tried the homebrew (I know I should leave her :) so I'll
illustrate what a desperate man might do: Total cost: $98--just over half
what I've spent on kegging, and none of which cut into the the damned
budget.
Brinkman Cooker: $48 at Meijer. (I'd have gotten it at the hombrew shop had I
known it was there at the time.) I got this
for my birthday, so I didn't have to justify
it as an extra expense.
Coronna Mill: $38 at Homebrewery of IN. This was another gift. Christmas this
time. Actually, I got 2 of them. One
of them my good buddy at the Home
Brewery took back on exchange.
**Shameless plug** send an order to Kurt
at the Homebrewery of IN and you won't
go wrong. How these guys can stay in
business with brewers like me is a
mystery, but I hope they do.
Old Coleman 48 qt cooler: $0. I already had that in the attic. Copper pipe
fits the spigot perfectly, no mods necessary.
Racking hose also fits the inside of the spigot
perfectly. Poke around a bit, and you may fine
serendipity.
Coper pipe for the Coleman mashtun: $2 I already had some of the elbow and
tee pieces, or it would have been a
couple extra bucks. NOTE: You can
often pick up spare brewing stuff at
the hardware store so long as you are
going there to pick up home improve-
ment stuff all the time anyway. I get
stuff like saw blades, files, etc...
for brewing all the time when I go
there for home improvement projects.
(Insert grunts like Tim the toolman
Taylor!)
Beaten up Keg: $6 deposit. Yes, this was legal, I got it at the distributor.
They were happy to get the $6 for it. The bottom
chine was a bit of a problem in that it didn't fit
on the ring type burner I got (I'd recommend the
other style). But, me and the ole ball-peen
hammer worked it out. (Insert more grunts here.)
MISC: $4 pH test strips (homebrewery shop) & Iodine (only like .89c).
Also, I'm only out $6 for stuff that has no use with extract batches! I
cut the top of the keg out with a regular jigsaw. That was a royal pain,
(most grunting of all) but hey, it worked. Folks here tell me that I
should cut the top completely off with my circular saw. Maybe someday. A
much bigger priority is getting the spigot installed. At this point I'm
still racking from the keg, which is a real drag, but it hasn't stopped me
from trying all grain.
I already had a chiller--it only cost about $12 to put together, and (you
guessed it) the wife didn't even know I tacked it onto another project.
What the hell, when I do $600 bottling room (kitchen?) improvements for
$75, what's an extra $12 for the wifey to complain about? She knows better
than to say a WORD about that!
Cheers, (and thanks for the bandwidth...)
- --Brian Pickerill, Newsletter Editor, Muncie Malt Mashers, Muncie, IN
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 22:44:22 -0400
From: DONBREW@aol.com
Subject: Spigots
Ray Robert <RayRobert@bah.com> sez:
>1. I use my bottling bucket to hold my sparge water. You know the type
>white hdpe bucket with standard plastic spigot. The problem I have is that
>is leaks like a sieve when I put hot sparge water in it. I've gone through
>5 of these in the last year and a half. The cost is not an issue (they are
>only about 3 bucks) but trying to sparge and clean up 170 degree water off
>the kitchen floor is not fun. Any recommendations as to a solution for
>this. I would like to maintain the same arrangement.
Well, what I would do is go to the local mega hardware store and get a
"boiler drain", some conduit nuts and a neoprene (or such) gasket. Take one
of those white gaskets that come with the bottling spigot with you to make
sure you get the right sizes (1/2"?).
You will probably need to put one conduit nut on the outside of the
"boiler drain" to provide enuf shoulder for the gasket. If I remember
correctly one of the plastic nuts from your old bottling spigots will fit on
the inside, or you can be adventurous and use a conduit nut (I do).
There is a difference between a "hose bib"/faucet/spigot and a "boiler
drain". The "boiler drain" lets the water flow straight thru while a "hose
bib" has a silt trap in it. If you look hard enuf you may be able to find a
drain made out of "cellulose" instead of brass. Oh yeah, maybe it is not
obvious but make sure you get one with a male fitting (I think all "boiler
drains" are of the male variety). Then get fittings to make your hose fit .
Don
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Date: Thu, 11 Apr 1996 22:58:56 -0400
From: KDDrakes@aol.com
Subject: RE:keeping my cool
I'm just catching up after a trip out of town; apologies for being behind.
In #1998 Clay Crenshaw asks about keeping his wort cool. If you have Web
access, go to The Brewery and look for plans for a fermentation cooler. It's
made from 2" foam insulation and keeps a carboy full of fermenting wort cool
using ice in milk jugs, a fan and a common heat/cool thermostat. I built one
using spare parts (I bought the foam new for $10); all new will run about
$60. It has worked ok so far, the Oklahoma summer will be the real test. If
you're Web deficient, E-mail me and I'll send you a copy of the plans.
Kerry Drake
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #2009, 04/12/96
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