Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
HOMEBREW Digest #2231
This file received at Hops.Stanford.EDU 1996/10/15 PDT
Homebrew Digest Tuesday, 15 October 1996 Number 2231
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Mike Donald, Digest Janitor-in-training
Thanks to Rob Gardner for making the digest happen!
Contents:
Re: water treatment (Regan Pallandi)
brewing small batches (Anton Schoenbacher)
How to remove bungs from used 5L mini kegs ((Robert Marshall))
Bergamots - vermin! ((John (The Coyote) Wyllie))
C-c-c-c-old fermentation finally finishes! (slick)
brewing MBAs (bob rogers)
re: Hard Cider ((Dick Dunn))
Dateline et. al. (m.bryson2@genie.com)
Maris Otter, IPAs (Michael Newman)
Bragget; bragot (Kathy Booth )
RE: Cooling wort ((George De Piro))
RE: DATELINE..... (Joe Rolfe)
re: Wild Hops Recap ((Ken Jucks, ph # 617-496-7580))
PH for extract (Michael Mahler)
Redhook/Dateline /Xmas spices ("Starke jr, Frederick A")
Converting the swilling infidel ((Cory Chadwell))
Dateline / Cool Immersion Chiller / Water for Bohemian Plz (KennyEddy@aol.com)
Dateline ("Thomas K. Simacek")
Wedding Bash/Bash, Bash, Bash! (Bill Rust)
Sherry Yeast (Geza T Szenes/IPL)
More on calcium ((Bill Giffin))
For SUBMISSIONS to be published, send mail to:
homebrew@aob.org
For (UN)SUBSCRIBE requests, send mail to:
homebrew-digest-request@aob.org
and include ONLY subscribe or unsubscribe in the BODY of the message.
Please note that if subscribed via BEER-L, you must unsubscribe by sending
a one line e-mail to listserv@ua1vm.ua.edu that says: UNSUB BEER-L
If your address is changing, please unsubscribe from the old address and
then subscribe from the new address.
If your account is being deleted, please be courteous and unsubscribe first.
For technical problems send e-mail to the Digest Janitor,
homebrew-digest-owner@aob.org.
OTHER HOMEBREW INFORMATION
http://www.aob.org/aob - The AHA's web site.
http://alpha.rollanet.org - "The Brewery" and the Cat's Meow Archives.
info@aob.org - automated e-mail homebrewing information.
ARCHIVES:
At ftp.stanford.edu in /pub/clubs/homebrew/beer via anonymous ftp. Also
http://alpha.rollanet.org on the web and at majordomo@aob.org by e-mail.
COPYRIGHT:
As with all forums such as this one, copyrights are retained by the
original authors. In accordance with the wishes of the members of the
Homebrew Digest, posts to the HBD may NOT be sold or used as part of a
collection that is sold without the original authors' consent. Copies
may ONLY be made available at no charge and should include the current
posting and subscription addresses for the HBD.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Regan Pallandi <reganp@iris.bio.uts.EDU.AU>
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 11:50:06 +1200 (EST)
Subject: Re: water treatment
G'day all - just a couple of quick questions about salts and acids.
First, I have found a jar of dried CaCl2 (not a hydrated form) on our lab
shelves. It is stable in air (ie doesn't turn to slush when exposed to
air) and has a MW of 111. Is there any reason not to use it to add Ca to
brewing water? Second, can nitric acid be used to acidify mash/sparge
water? Or is there some particularly hideous taste associated with it?
Cheers, Regan in Sydney
------------------------------
From: Anton Schoenbacher <aschoenb@eecs.wsu.edu>
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 96 19:34:04 PDT
Subject: brewing small batches
I have finally come to my senses. Up until I discovered
this list I was living in the dark, I can see now.
I have been brewing for about two years now, and up until
about a two weeks ago I never would have considered brewing
all-grain. I'm not sure what I was thinking, why would anyone
want to go through all that work ? Hmmm, I think I have caught
the bug. About a week ago I did my first partial mash and
I am NEVER going to do it again. Why you ask, because I am
going to brew all grain from now on. I tasted my partial
brew after about 8 days of fermenting and it actually tasted
like beer instead of homebrew, I amazed myself. Thanks to
everybody who gave me info and helped me get my courage
up, I really appreciate it.
I have some questions ...
I think I want to brew smaller batches so I can do it
more often (like 2-3 gallons) any body have advice pertaining
to this, anybody like brewing small instead of large or vice
versa, let meknow.
Whats the smallest batch anybody has done ?
- --
*****Anton Schoenbacher*****aschoenb@eecs.wsu.edu*****
------------------------------
From: robertjm@hooked.net (Robert Marshall)
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 02:37:28 GMT
Subject: How to remove bungs from used 5L mini kegs
We have purchased some of the 5L mini kegs, as well as one which came
prefilled.
My question is this:
How does one remove one of those bungs from the top of the keg after
it is emptied? It seems like I could used pliers but I don't want to
damage the keg. Or, I could cut it off, but I don't want to do that if
the bungs are reusable.
Anyone have any ideas?
later,
Robert Marshall
robertjm@hooked.net
homepage: http://www.hooked.net/users/robertjm
- ----------------------------------------------
"In Belgium, the magistrate has the dignity of a prince but by Bacchus, it is
true that the brewer is king."
Emile Verhaeren (1855-1916)
Flemish writer
- -----------------------------------------------
------------------------------
From: ccoyote@sunrem.com (John (The Coyote) Wyllie)
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 20:47:50 -0600
Subject: Bergamots - vermin!
Ok- so I'm a little outdated, but I couldn't pass this up...
Dan Goodale asks:
> One of my favorite teas is Earl Grey (if it's
>good enough for CPT Picard.......) and I have got it
>in my mind to brew something with that flavor.
>2. Will oil just sit on to in the fermenter? (I didn't
>notice any oil slick on top of my tea)
>
>3. Found the oil in a catalog, but was listed as
>"aroma therapy grade." Is this for external use
>only?
>6. What is a bergamot anyway; some animal?
>
I love this! You betcha! You've heard of Marmots I spose. Well,
Bergamots have longer fur and less marm, more burr- hence the longer fur.
They are truly moutainous creatures, hence the name BERG- german for
mountain. BTW They LOVE beer! Being german by origin. They were brought
to america in the early 1700s when they found their way to the bottom of
casks of fest beers and passed out, when dormant for a time, and re-emerged
once arriving in america. They enjoyed the american- preprohibition ales
so much that they stayed, found the mountains, and learned about moonshine.
You will occasionally hear their shrill whistles as they duck off into the
rocks on hillsides, they have also been known to frequent mountain lodges
and raid ski resorts in the off season stealing the next seasons beer
supply and hoarding it in their dens for later consumption. They are often
mistaken for marmots, but truly they are bergamots we see most of the time!
Ok- reality check. The other bergamot is also known as Bee balm, a
perennial flower/herb. The flowers come in various shades of red/purple
and look much like Dr Suess characters- mopheads if you will. They are a
favorite of butterflies, hummingbirds and birds. (I'd have to check my
references, but I seem to remember that...) they are known to have
anasthetic qualities, or antiseptic. I'm pretty sure they fall into the
calming/soothing category of herbal medicines, hence Picards desire for a
relaxing cup of tea. Both the flowers and leaves can be used in salads.
* Ok- Reference check: "The New Age Herbalist" Richard Mabey sez:
'Bergamot is named becuz of its fragrance, which resembles the aroma of
bergamot orange.... The oil is sometimes used in perfumery...but should
not be confused with the oil of the similarly smelling bergamot orange- an
important aroma therapy oil and ingredient of /EARL GREY TEA/. Because of
its distinctive fragrance and because of the nectar its flowers secrete it
is a popular flower with bees, hence its popular name of bee balm.'
As for that oil, I would definitely NOT use it for brewing, unless you
have an ingredient list. Aroma oils are extracts of fragrances from
certain plants that can contain who knows what else. The oils used are
intended for potpourri or external use, or bathtubs, or perfume, NOT for
consumption. They should say so on the label. There are oil/extracts
which are designed to be added to foods, but they should have a clear
identification as being intended for ingestion.
Aroma oils are generally NOT in that category.
You could make your own oil extract from a plant using a known oil like
vegetable oil, or olive oil, but still- its not good for brewing. Oils
interfere with head retention, and are not miscible with the aqueous
solution of beer. An alcohol extract would be a better way to go, just
dont use rubbing alcohol! Vodka, or grain alcohol would be your best
choice. Oil contribution is a frustrating factor in certain brews- nuts,
chocolate as examples. But enough crystal and you can still get good head.
A perhaps better alternative than using the tea bags themselves (the ratio
of bergamot fur, I mean flavor, to tea tannin would probably not be
favorable) would be to make a tea from the plant itself. if you have a
health food store in town you might look for bergamot, bee balm dried. Or
plant some and grow it yourself. Its a pretty flower, and as mentioned
attracts lots of garden friendly creatures. I could probably send you some
of mine when I cut it back (pretty soon as frosts are on their way!). Youd
either want to toss it in the boil like hops, or make an infusion, or tea
and add that to the carboy after vigourous primary fermentation is done (if
its the aroma you want) or at bottling/keggin/casking time.
Well- with the actual reference in hand I see that bee balm is more of an
imitation of the actual plant, to which I have no reference (sorry) so you
can imitate the aroma with bee balm, or you can go for the actual thing
through the Earls grey. If you can find a source of bergamot orange itself
you might be better off. It originates from the Oswega District near lake
Ontario. It was used by the Oswega Indians, so if you know any, they might
be of help. But really, if you have access to a store which sells natural
tea components (leaves) you might give them a try. (remember that store I
referred to that roasts coffee and happens to sell beer supplies, they sell
tea components too- I'll check with them....)
As for style- medium to light in color, low hopping (at least low on the
finishing hops), and you'd probably want to avoid too heavy of aroma malts
also. Certainly wouldnt want to go for a dark stout. Would certainly
obscure the herb.
GOOD LUCK, LET US KNOW HOW IT WORKS OUT!
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
/// John- The Cosmic Coyote -Wyllie\\\ ccoyote@sunrem.com
'As long as he's got 8 fingers and toes, he's ok by me!' H.J.S.
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
From: slick <slick@no.inhale.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 19:53:25 -0700
Subject: C-c-c-c-old fermentation finally finishes!
Well, as usual, I relaxed, didn't worry, and drank homebrew ;^) My Dopplebock
turned out fantastic -- 2 weeks in the primary
at 40 degrees F, then two weeks in the secondary @ 40F, then 2 more weeks
lagering at 30F (!) after which I bottled, and am
now in the process of conditioning. The leftover beer (~4-5oz) tasted very
malty, ('prolly due to the Wyeast Bohemian yeast)
with good hop bitterness (~22 IBU's), and no perceptible hop flavor or aroma.
Now for something completely the same -- I just
acquired a corny keg system, and when I first powered (sic) it up, only got a
hair above 500# on a 5# bottle. I force
carbonated some cream soda for the kids as a test, and now after two days am
down to almost no CO2. There are no leaks, even
under water, and yet I don't see how I could get so little CO2 from a 5# bottle
which *theoretically* should have well over
1500# of pressure on a full cylinder. Perhaps it was filled on a hot day, and
being in my lagering chest (a converted 16 cu.
ft. Hotpoint fridge) at 40F, the net results are to be expected...any ideas?
TTYAL, God Bless, ILBCNU!
The Doctor
mjbrown@teleport.com
------------------------------
From: bob rogers <bob@carol.net>
Date: Mon, 14 Oct 1996 23:22:35 -0400
Subject: brewing MBAs
>ake good beer. What I find suprising is that it took so long for the MBA's
>that run these outfits to realize that good beer is good, and people will
>drink it. I look forward to Bud labeling each beer to it's specific brewery
>of origin as well, not just a litany of each of their breweries on the
>label. Hopefully, one day, they will produce vast quantities of beer that
>tastes good. Wow.
>
>BTW, Bud's date of birth advertising is kinda catchy, isn't it? It ain't
>enough to make me buy one, though.
>
>cheers
>GuyG4@aol.com
>Guy Gregory
hey! i resemble that remark... three points:
1) not all MBAs like bad beer.
2) the "great beer revival" began with american breweries brewing better beer.
3) the mega breweries have handled the situation quite well. compare them to
the automobile giants, the airline giants, the copier giant, the computer
giant, etc. the mega-brewers have responded market pressures _before_ an
impact on bottom line! that is a major acomplishment for one company in an
oligopily, let alone four of four.
here's a question: is it possible to produce great beer in a large brewery?
if it is, then i think we can expect mega-brewers to brew to the market. as
long as A-B 45% of the domestic market (91MM Bbl), why would they want to
change? otoh, big brewers have shown that if there are people willing to pay
for better ingredients, (instead of better advertising), then they will be
willing to produce better beer.
What does this have to do with homebrewing? spread your homebrew far and
wide! teach friends and others what great beer tastes like. eventually,
there will be great commercial brew in the grocery store for me to enjoy
when i'ts 110 degrees in the shade and i can't brew!
bob: brewing in the heart of the bible belt
MBA 91 university of tennessee (go vols!)
finalist: 1991 SDSU invitational business plan competition:
tennessee mountain brewing company
bob rogers bob@carol.net
------------------------------
From: rcd@raven.talisman.com (Dick Dunn)
Date: 14 Oct 96 22:17:08 MDT (Mon)
Subject: re: Hard Cider
FelixTKatt@gnn.com (Mark Andrizzi) writes:
> I know that this is a brewing digest and that I am asking about
> cider but I figured that this is the best forum for just such a
> question (at least for my purposes).
(There is a digest for cider discussions. Info or subscribe requests
go to cider-request@talisman.com. Now is the season.)
> ...I got a wild hair to make hard cider this fall (for the
> first time) and was wondering as to a "best recipe" that a fellow
> homebrewer may have used in the past...
Cider "recipes" don't fit quite the same mold as beer recipes do. The
essential cider recipe for 5 gallons goes something like this:
Ingredients:
5 gallons apple juice
Procedure:
Let it ferment. Rack when rapid fermentation subsides;
rack again when it starts to clear. Bottle.
OK, that may be a bit too simple, although it's how a lot of good commer-
cial cider-makers do it.
The key to cider is the apples. You cannot make a really good cider with
mediocre apples. You need at least some fair amount of tart apples to get
the total acidity up, and you need some bitter apples to get tannin. You
can patch around lack of these by adding acid and tannin, but it's a hack
at best. Better to get tannin by adding some fraction of crabapples, which
will also add acid, and better to get the acidity up by going for sharp
apples in the blend.
You need to un-learn a brewing habit or two. Cider benefits from slow
fermentation...the business of "a large vigorous starter" as you use for
beer will result in a cider that ferments out so dry and harsh, it'll leave
tooth-prints on the outside of your lips...or it will strip out the char-
acter of the apples to the point that you end up with a minimalist apple
soda. Go for a cool fermentation, and try not to push it. If you want to
add yeast, look for a low-alcohol ale yeast.
Many cider makers don't add yeast at all; they use the natural yeasts on
the apples. The reason for this is that those yeasts are weak relative to
commercial strains; they ferment slowly and quit while there's a bit of
residual sugar. It takes some care to ferment this way and not end up
with a whole lot of cider vinegar, but it's worth the result.
Which reminds me...DO NOT attempt to make hard cider from juice which has
any added preservative--sorbate or such. Look at the label. If it's got
preservatives, forget it. If there's no label, ask. If you don't get a
sound "absolutely no preservatives" answer, forget it.
- ---
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Boulder County, Colorado USA
------------------------------
From: m.bryson2@genie.com
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 96 03:45:00 GMT
Subject: Dateline et. al.
It's hard for me to believe that Dateline still calls itself a news
program since the truck/rocket fiasco. Lo and behold, they were uncovering a
horrible scam being pulled on the unsuspecting public. Their tone of voice
seemed to indicate a couple of things:
1) We are so gullible and stupid that the only reason we buy "microbrews" is
because we don't know the horrible truth about whose fermenting vessels tehy
sit in. If we knew, we would go right back to drinking Budweiser. Shudder.
2) We should thank our lucky stars that Dateline is on our side.
The only problem with these ideas is that most people that I know are
aware that Samuel Adams contracts brewing time from A-B. And that a lot of
breweries do it. The beers also tend to be much higher in quality than teh
stuff being brewed by, say, A-B. I also think that tehy could have followed
up their 1st question to A-B about fearing competition. It was unfortunate
that the "micro" representative taht they talked to was Jim Koch. My guess
is that some of the other interviewees( say, good old Wicked Pete) did not
allow them to portray A-B as such a victim of those mean old micorbrewers,
and thus ended up on the cutting room floor.
Look, I don't disagree that point of origin on a bottle is a bad thing,
but I don't remember the beer brewed in WIlliamsburg, VA listing that city
as its origin for A-B products.
Somehow I started/finished in rant mode on this subject. I tjust ticked me
off at the extraordinarily biased reporting. OF course, this was Dateline,
so I don't know what I woudl expect.
Sorry for the bandwidth venting. Back to brewing.
Matthew W. Bryson
------------------------------
From: Michael Newman <100711.2111@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 15 Oct 96 07:22:46 EDT
Subject: Maris Otter, IPAs
Expat. American Andy Anderson says British IPAs are useless. As a British beer
drinker of many years I have to agree. The descriptor IPA is used without any
regard for its historical meaning and truthfully I suspect most drinkers are
unaware what the term means anyway. In my opinion if you want to sample the
best
of British bitter beers stick to the ordinary bitter (ie OG 1038-44ish). They
tend to be less sweet and hoppier and you don't get hopelessly drunk as
quickly!. There are of course many exceptions to this rule and if your in the
Wiltshire are we can go on a pub crawl to find what they are.
Brian Krause asks about Maris Otter Pale Malt. (Only one r). Maris Otter is a
breed of barley introduced in the 1960s for brewing purposes. At that time it
was the new wonder barley but of course since then new and easier to grow (ie
cheaper) barleys have appeared. Many brewers, especially microbrewers, still
consider it the best and many of the larger companies still use a proportion of
it in their grist make up. I think you will find a web page about Maris
Otter(http://breworld.com/malt/maris/html) at BreWorld (full of lots of useful
information). It is the malt that I use and I am sure that it will be
successful
in any infusion mashed brew. Of course you may be able to find a more suitable
malt for a Scotch ale from one of the Scottish maltings but I can't help you
there.
MICHAEL NEWMAN
------------------------------
From: Kathy Booth <kbooth@waverly.k12.mi.us>
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 07:37:37 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Bragget; bragot
According to the AOB's "Dictionary of Beer and Brewing"
p 30; braga. 1. A mild mead made in Russia in the Middle Ages. 2.Romanian
millet beer.
bragget. Honey-sweetened spiced ale or a mix of meade and ale. Etym:
Because it was drunk ceremoniously on Bragget Sunday, the fourth Sunday in
Lent in 19th century England.
bragot. An ancient Welsh drink consisting of beer, honey, cinnamon and
"galingale". It also was known as heroe drink.
I'm still open to suggestions about the historic name for cider and ale.
Anybody know Charlie P's email so we can ask him about his source for the
mead book?
Cheers, jim booth, lansing, mi correct email address
kbooth@scnc.waverly.k12.mi.us (*&%$#@ server address is still wrong)
------------------------------
From: George_De_Piro@berlex.com (George De Piro)
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 08:39:20 -0700
Subject: RE: Cooling wort
Hi!
Phil Wilcox asks about cooling his partial-boil batch. He wants to
know if it is faster to let the 2.5 gallons of hot wort cool, then add
it to the cold water, or if he should add the hot wort to the cold
water and cool the entire thing.
This just happened to be a question on a physics exam I had as a
freshman in college (except the liquid was coffee, not wort. The
Prof. had no imagination!).
It's faster to cool the 2.5 gallons of hot wort, then add it to the
cold water. The greater the temperature difference between the wort
and the cooling media, the faster the temperature change will be.
Another reason to add the cooled wort to the water, rather than adding
hot wort to the water, is to avoid Hot Side Aeration (HSA). For
example, adding 2.5 gallons of 212F wort to 2.5 gal. of 65F water will
lower the temp to 138F, still too warm for me to want to splash it
around.
Have Fun!
George De Piro (Nyack, NY)
------------------------------
From: Joe Rolfe <onbc@shore.net>
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 09:45:27 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: RE: DATELINE.....
i personally was glad to see this - truth in labeling
is something that would benefit all consumers....
like bottled on date AND best before estimates....
in addition to plant of manufacture, in addition
to the brewers name and address,
the cfr 27 (atf bible) mentions this for label approvals
and it must have take many a lawyer to read between the
lines...in regards to origins of the product. the date
info is all voluntary....god help us if the fda gets more
involved as they are with the copper issues...
the dateline program was indeed part of the *known* info for most
commercial brewers and hard core/die hard micro drinkers. for the most
part the general public does not know, nor do i think they care.. if the beer
is good they drink it, why should they (the consumer care)..
as for the why they should care, if it false or misleading marketing that gets
the consumer to buy it, that is wrong...and probably unethical.
as for the price the consumer pays - being a commercial brewer - charge what
the market will bear, as in any industry. if some one is willing to
by stroh's for $5/12pack and sam adams for $7/sixpack so be it.
i can not and will not bash any brewer/brewery - we are all in the same boat
although the boat may be springing a leak due to the amount of people
in the boat. the big question down the line is who has the lifepreservers.
well enough, back to work....
joe
------------------------------
From: jucks@cfaft4.harvard.edu (Ken Jucks, ph # 617-496-7580)
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 09:55:04 -0400
Subject: re: Wild Hops Recap
jander@wasatch.com writes about his experiment with using a wild
hop in a batch of beer. I have done this twice now (the second batch
is about to get bottles).
The hops I used were picked and dried by a friend who did some research
and decided that they may be a varient of Clusters. These hops were
growing along an old RR right of way that is now a bike path in Arlington
Mass, just outside of Boston. Upon tasting my first batch, he and others
in my brew club agreed with his conclusion. They also agreed that it was
a very interesting beer.
This beer an IPA using a mix of the wild hop and EKG at 10 and 1 minute
left in the boil. As Jim said in his post, there was a real *stink*
upon first addition, that did blow off. My batch also had a very
grassy taste to it that toned down alot after about 2 months.
Jim, I suggest that you let it sit for a while, it will bet better.
I had entered my first batch in a competition, and it scored quite
well!!!
Ken jucks
jucks@cfa.harvard.edu
------------------------------
From: Michael Mahler <mmahler@shiva.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 10:24:05 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: PH for extract
I was reading the help file in BrewWater 2.0 (GREAT program
by the way) and since I'm an extract brewer, I was wondering
what the preferred PH is? Is it preferred to measure the
PH of the wort and then adjust or to start with the preferred
PH of the water and then just let the PH be what it is when
the male is added?
TIA,
Michael
mahler@shiva.com
------------------------------
From: "Starke jr, Frederick A" <fastarke@ingr.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 09:23:15 -0500
Subject: Redhook/Dateline /Xmas spices
Gregory Guy writes:
*Red Hook is brewed by the Red Hook Brewery in Seattle. I think their
*building another one back in the non-cascade hop east somewhere...
Yes, in New Hampshire. I used to have some details about it in my head,
but I could not even tell you if they are in production yet.
Regarding the current Dateline thread:
I was not able to see the piece, (I was being a Dad) however, I have
discussed it with people who have, and read enough of the thread to be
able to confidently add the following:
I agree that labels should state the place of brewing/bottling of that
particular beer. Years ago, Piels beer (remember that one) was brewed
just down the street (1/2 mile) from where I lived, along with somewhere
in PA(?) and maybe one other place.. I was a kid at the time. Anyway, I
recall my grandfather saying that, if you bought Piels, make sure you
got the one brewed in Willimansette because that had the best taste. How
much of that was due to freshness, or local pride, I don't know, like I
said, I was just a kid then.
As far as AB, are they pitching the "Born On" ad campaign hot -n-
heavy right now or what? I will say, the first beer I *heard* of
pitching that line was none other than Jim Koch himself. (We all
remember the smashing bottles commercials, don't we) Those were the 1st
bottles I recall with the notch in the month to "ensure freshness". Is
AB's "new" campaign all that new? I think not. Is it a response
acknowledging microbrews popularity? Judge for yourself.
Me? If AB could make a good IPA and sell it at a competitive price, I'd
buy it to see if I liked it, and if I did, I'd buy more. I don't care
who brews a good beer, as long as it is a good beer, I will drink it.
On a homebrewing note.. my cousin and I plan on cranking out Xmas brew
this weekend. We are leaning toward a Wee Heavy a touch of cranberry.
Any suggestions on spices. Private email preferred.
Thanks for the bandwidth and any ideas.
Rick Starke
fastarke@ingr.com
------------------------------
From: cory@okway.okstate.edu (Cory Chadwell)
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 09:45:14 -0700
Subject: Converting the swilling infidel
Hey all,
Myself and a friend are in the middle of brewing a couple of batches
of beer for a good old fashioned "come over and taste the goodies till
you get silly party". My problem is that the majority of my friends
have never strayed from the watery delights of bud-bliss. I would
like to have a nice mix of beer that will open the door to taste for
them without scaring them to badly. We currently have bottle
conditioning a typical micro-style copper, a fairly dark ale, and a
stout. I would appreciate suggestions on one or two more styles that
have done well for you in the past with new tasters.
Also
I am converting my keg fridge from a commercial keg fridge to a soda
keg fridge ,for my own brew. I have the soda kegs, CO2 tank and
regulator but I need info on mail order companies that can provide
fixtures for the tanks and a inline filter to go between the first and
second tank.
All help in much appreciated.
THX, CDC
------------------------------
From: KennyEddy@aol.com
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 10:46:11 -0400
Subject: Dateline / Cool Immersion Chiller / Water for Bohemian Plz
"BTW, Bud's date of birth advertising is kinda catchy, isn't it?" -- Guy
Gregory
Yeah, but what does this date represent? Brewing date? Bottling date? Just
when is beer, BEER? How about some TRUTH IN LABELLING, folks (no -- please,
no!! don't start *that* thread again!!)
I'll chime in, in general agreement that present labelling is incomplete at
best, but I agree too that listing every possible place the beer was made can
be cumbersome for those who subcontract the job to many places. How about a
simple statement such as "Brewed by or under the direction of Belchenpuke
Brewing Company"? It isn't real specific, but so what? Does the average
consumer care exactly *where* a beer was made, or is it more important that
they just know it could've been made somewhere other than that "little red
brick building in Boston"?
*****
Ken Sullivan designed an immersion chiller:
"The design
uses 50' of 1/2" copper pipe. I started by winding 4 spirals
of copper pipe that would just fit into my 5 gallon SS pot.
Each of the spirals connects to a manifold pipe for both the
water in and water out." <etc>
So you basically have the four spirals operating in parallel, so that each
coil gets fresh cold water? Interesting idea.
You say you used 50' of 1/2" copper *pipe* - - as opposed to soft tubing?
How did you bend the pipe?
*****
Alex Santic says:
"For my first lager, a Bohemian-style Pils, Ive been planning to
start with distilled water and add calcium chloride to bring Ca up
to 50 ppm."
This will put your Chloride at a high 89 ppm which may (or may not) be
detectable as a "salty" taste. Just my own empirical datapoint, but I have
found that at least with M&F pale ale malt I need about 25-30 ppm Ca to get
the pH in line. "Lager malt" may or may not react differently. Some have
raised a question as to whether that's an adequate concentration for
stabilizing enzymes; don't know but my conversion tests & efficiency tell me
that I'm about where I want to be. Anyway, for your Pilsner, you might want
to back off a bit (50%?) on the CaCl. And adding a few drops of lactic or
phosphoric acid if necessary isn't that tough and might better preserve the
delicateness of the brew. And as has been suggested, an acid rest can do the
trick naturally if you have the time.
*****
Ken Schwartz
El Paso, TX
KennyEddy@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/kennyeddy
------------------------------
From: "Thomas K. Simacek" <c22tks@icdc.delcoelect.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 09:51:13 -0400 (CDT)
Subject: Dateline
I have happend to watch the dateline brew show.
It again reinforced my opinion about those programs as a lot of crap!
It is quite common everywhere that somebody else is manufacturing
stuuff for other people - e.g. Sears appliances and tires, supermarket
brands, dozens of silicon fabless fabs etc. etc., it would be a very long list
indeed. So why pick on beer? Making beer in most cases is not exactly black
magic
requiring special places (lambic and PU being an exemption). The problem is
not who makes the beer, but what receipe do they use and how much do they
try to save on ingrediences. As a mather of fact,
I would expect Stroh's making better Boston beer than the one on Boston -
they definitelly have better equipment and better expertise.
If Budweiser just stopped whinig and started making some good tasting beer,
I surely would appreciate that!
Tom Simacek
------------------------------
From: Bill Rust <wrust@csc.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 96 11:02 EDT
Subject: Wedding Bash/Bash, Bash, Bash!
Good morning Beer Guys.
Well, the homebrew wedding fest was a success! Can't say I want brew for a
wedding again any time soon (I'm sure my wife will be happy about that :)
We had 6 cornies of homebrew on tap and drained roughly 4 (Oops, only 100
showed up). Strangely enough, the Scotch Ale was the big favorite! If you
want recipes, check out: http://www.i1.net/~wrust/recipe.htm BTW, for the
bachelor party we smoked 2 lbs of domestic 2-row on a backyard smoker and
left it overnight to dry. The next day we brewed an all grain Rauch Ale
(with WY #2565). Should be a winner!
On a more disturbing note, Scott Murman wrote:
> When discussing Oregon Brewing
>Co., and unit I have absolutely no love or respect for, lo and behold
>they are actually owned by Jim Koch and the Boston Brewing Co. Now if
>this isn't intentionally trying to mislead the consumer using false
>labeling than what is? (For those of you geographically challenged,
>Oregon Brew is a yuppie brew that is totally a marketing gimmic. The
>beer isn't even very good. Somewhat like a certain Boston Lager). If
>these quasi-investigative reporters had spent more time on the
>implications of that, they might have been more effective convincing
>people there's something fishy in Boston.
What *is* the point of this thread? How does it affect homebrewing? Come
on folks, is it time to rename this listserver
"Brewery-conspiracy/beer-snob@aob.org"? Maybe you ought to check out the
actively fermenting sorghum/corn brew thread for something a lot more
cutting edge and appropriate for this venue. (Cool thread, BTW!)
Well, gotta run. I'm going to be doing some quasi-investigative reporting
of my own. "The Beers of Cancun".
Skol.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
| Research has shown that good yeast growth
Bill Rust | depends on certain fats in the wort. These
Master Brewer | can be produced by yeast if well aerated,
Jack Pine Savage Brewery | but one alternative was to sling in the
http://www.i1.net/~wrust | occasional vermin. - KEITH THOMAS
---------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
From: Geza T Szenes/IPL <Geza_T_Szenes/IPL.IPL@notes.ipl.ca>
Date: 15 Oct 96 9:01:45
Subject: Sherry Yeast
I make wine as well as beer, and following is brief diatribe about wine yeasts:
Until a few years ago most yeast sold for winemaking purposes was equivalent
to the yeast bundled with the beer kits. In other words they were no-name,
general
purpose, generic wine yeast, with great variation in quality, and
characteristics.
A little later there was some choice, but again with rather generic qualities,
such as:
yeast for red wine, yeast for white wine, and if you were lucky "champagne"
yeast.
In the last 5 years there has been a tremendous improvement in terms of what is
available to the home winemaker. Companies like Lalvin market 10 or more
different yeast strains where the characteristics of the yeast are well known.
Even companies like Wyeast market liquid cultures specifically for wine.
Now, back to the original question:
Sherry yeast (If it is a pure culture) is a special yeast used for making
sherries only.
Sherry is different from most wines that it uses a special yeast, which
promotes the formation
of a film like covering on the wine, called the "Flor". This only grows in the
presence of
air, and under the right conditions, such as PH, alcohol level. The wine is
deliberately
exposed to air to encourage the formation of the "flor", but the "flor" itself
protects the wine
from oxidation, and it produces aldehydes. It is this yeast which gives sherry
it's
characteristic taste.
If conditions are not exact for the forming of the "flor" very often the result
is a large volume
of vinegar.
If your culture was a strain of flor producing yeast, but you used it to
ferment your wine
without the exposure to oxygen, it will probably be OK. It will certainly
explain the lighter
color. My recommendations would be to :
1. Make the wine into something that you can drink right away, (ie: lower in
acid , and
tannins, perhaps sweeten it a little) and drink it as fast as you can.
2. Stay away from generic yeasts called "yeast for wine", but rather invest the
95
cents or so to get pure varietal yeast specifically used for wines, such as the
ones made by Lalvin.
They have a home page on the web, where they explain the characteristics of all
their strains.
Good luck.
*************************** Previous Memo
*****************************************
EDWARD SPADONI <SL9YN@cc.usu.edu> Wrote:
The question is, what is the difference between Sherry yeast and wine yeast
if any at all? I used a packet of Sherry yeast to make a wine recipe I had made
before and it's taking longer to settle out and has a different color. When I
made the
recipe before I used a packet that said "For Wine"
------------------------------
From: bill-giffin@juno.com (Bill Giffin)
Date: Tue, 15 Oct 1996 11:09:34 cst
Subject: More on calcium
Bill Giffin writes:
Good morning all.
>>>Dave B says:
The simple answer is measure the mash pH and add calcium sulfate or
chloride or carbonate as needed.
<<<
Why not use an acid rest or add lactic acid? Is the key calcium or is it
having the pH be in the proper range? I tend to believe that having the
pH in the proper range is far more important then the amount of calcium
in the mash.
>>>Dave B:
These pH numbers and ppm numbers may be a result of the British
concern for producing sugars efficiently from a low protein malt.
<<<
I have taken British malt and acidified it with lactic acid and managed
to get good efficiency from this malt with only about 7 ppm of calcium.
My water is softer then Pilsen by about 5 ppm. So is it calcium or is it
pH that we have to have to have an efficient mash?
>>>Dave B:
Czech Pilsen is typically run at pH = 5.6 to 5.7 which contributes to
some extent some higher tannin content and slower saccharification rates.
The low calcium of Pilsen will not stabilize the alpha amylase as well as
50 ppm, but in a high enzyme pilzen malt this may not be necessary.
<<<<
Boy, I have had at least 15 different Czech pils and very few of them
have the degree of tannins that I can even notice.
My saccharification rate is no problem and when I brew a Czech style pils
I only add a bit of lactic acid to the sparge water to drop the pH of the
sparge water to 5.7.
>>>
50 ppm will do all of the above and seems to be a good number for most
brews,
<<<
Not for a Czech pils
Bill
Richmond, Maine
------------------------------
End of Homebrew Digest #2231
****************************
