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HOMEBREW Digest #2304
HOMEBREW Digest #2304 Thu 09 January 1997
FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Digest Janitor: janitor@brew.oeonline.com
Many thanks to the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers of
Livonia, Michigan for sponsoring the Homebrew Digest.
URL: http://www.oeonline.com
Contents:
5 litre mini-kegs
Labels
RE:trub
Re: Welding Metallurgy
EasyMasher Irish Moss Hop Plug Up
Effect of mash thickness on body
Re: Immersion chilling and hop filtering -- Jim Bentson
Agressive Water
Re:Husks, good or bad?
All grain equipment
Wanna sell a Stainless 15 Gal keg??
Hop Comparison by Dry Hopping in the Bottle/ Don Van Valkenburg
Clarity / Haze / Hot break
ph-meter elektrodes
ph-meter elektrodes
Re: Big Head
Re: Homebrew Digest V2 #23
Sorry
Re: Sources of Agar
Weyermann Malz (Bob McCowan)
immersion chiller/filtering wort, Dan Ritter
Re: sources of agar
Re: EasyMasher Clogging
mead/beer on an aircraft
Re: time fermenting
New Fermentation Chiller Plans Now On-Line
Re: Belgian carbonation, bulk grain
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 14:13:00 -0700 (MST)
From: Ian Smith <rela!isrs@netcom.com>
Subject: 5 litre mini-kegs
Does anyone know what the 5 l mini-kegs are made of ? I have seen
aluminum and also advertisements for steel. I would like to obtain a
stainless steel mini-keg. Also I was told that you can only pressurize
the kegs to 7-10 psi for dispensing. Forced carbonation pressure of 30
psi can cause bulging. I called the manufacturer's distributer in th U.S.
(they are made in Germany) and they are rated to 3 bar (45 psi). Does
anyone have any experience with these kegs to the contrary ?
Cheers
Ian Smith
isrs@rela.uucp.netcom.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 13:41:46 CST
From: "Bert H. Chew" <bchew@juno.com>
Subject: Labels
Hi everyone,
I am about ready to bottle my first batch. I would like to make labels
with my PC. I was wondering if anyone knew of some good label stock to
use with an inkjet printer that would be EASY to remove after the bottles
were empty?
Thanks
Bert H. Chew
bchew@juno.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 08 Jan 1997 16:26:58 -0600
From: Steve Potter <spotter@Meriter.com>
Subject: RE:trub
Dave writes:
> Is there any non-anecdotal information that says that leaving trub
>in the wort affects flavor adversely? My beers always settle and are
clear
>after fermentation so I curious if we need to care.
Last year our homebrew club (First Draft Brewclub- Madison, WI) did a
split batch of very light lager. We brewed 5 gals of very light (translation:
tasteless) lager and split it into two fermenters. We were extremely
careful about removing the trub from one 3 gal glass fermenter and did
what we could to include the trub in another. We followed our usual
areation routine which at the time consisted of 15 minutes with an
aquarium pump and 5 micron stone.
We noticed the following differences with the two batches:
1. The batch with the trub got off to a quicker ferment.
2. The color of the batch with trub was slightly darker.
3. There was a just noticable "fatty-soapy" taste to the batch with trub
that was absent in the batch without.
Just one data point.
Cheers!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 8 Jan 1997 13:35:13 U
From: "Palmer.John" <palmer@ssdgwy.mdc.com>
Subject: Re: Welding Metallurgy
George asked:
I had some free welding done to put nipples on my stainless steel
kettles (get your mind out of the gutter). The guy must have
overheated the metal on one of them because the area around the weld
rusted after just a few hours in contact with water!
Is there a way to make it stainless again, or am I now the proud owner
of a 15.5 gallon sort-of-stainless conversation piece?
There are a couple possiblities here:
1. The welder used the wrong weld rod. Cant fix that.
2. The weld did get too hot and carbided all the protective chromium. Cant fix
that.
3. The weld may have been okay, you just needed to clean it and let it
repassivate for a couple weeks before use.
To fix #3, take a scouring pad (not steel wool) and a cleanser such as
Revereware, Kleen King or Bar Keeper's Friend and scour the rust area around the
weld off. Rinse with clean water and dry. Let it sit indoors for 2 weeks and it
will be as good (ie. oxide protected) as it can get. You may have no further
problems. If it does rust, then you have either the first or second situation.
and you're hosed.
Good Luck,
John
John J. Palmer - Metallurgist for MDA-ISS M&P
johnj@primenet.com Huntington Beach, California
Palmer House Brewery and Smithy - www.primenet.com/~johnj/
PS. Next week (Monday) I start my new job. I will be working for 3M in Product
Development. The primenet address will still work of course, but the
palmer@ssdgwy.mdc.com will be inactive.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 17:56:20 -0500 (EST)
From: KennyEddy@aol.com
Subject: EasyMasher Irish Moss Hop Plug Up
Just thought I'd toss in my blah-blah on the EasyMasher clogging thread,
since my boiler is so outfitted (it's a fake but don't tell JS -- rolled the
screen cut from a small SS kitchen strainer around the valve fitting inside
the boiler, hose-clamped it in place, folded & crimped the open end).
Before I installed the ersatz EM, whole hops were clogging my valve (duh).
Prior to my whole-hop days, pellet hops worked great with the plain valve.
I added the counterfeit EM after a couple of stuck whole-hop boiler
drain-offs.
When I use whole hops with the phony EM, the Irish moss never causes any
trouble and I get fast runoff into the fermenter. I agree with Alex (I think
it was him) that the break is settling on the hops, since when I clean the
boiler out after transferring the wort to the fermenter, the hops are coated
with a slimy layer of goo.
Once since I installed the fraudulent EM I used pellet hops only. Clog city.
Pellets? Irish moss? Probably both.
The moral of the story is that success in using an EM (whether Genuine (tm)
or sham) in a boiler has more to do with the style of hops (pellets vs
plugs/whole) that you use. Attaching the imitation EM with a hose clamp
makes it removable should I again brew with pellets (which I surely will).
BTW I don't whirlpool my wort since the electric elements would quickly break
up a good whirlpool anyway. My immersion chiller is built into the boiler
lid and is therefore suspended in the top half to two-thirds of the wort
volume. This allows me to gently swing the chiller to enhance cooling,
without stirring up the muck too badly.
*****
Ken Schwartz
El Paso, TX
KennyEddy@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/kennyeddy
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 19:12:51 -0500
From: Jean-Sebastien Morisset <jsmoriss@qc.bell.ca>
Subject: Effect of mash thickness on body
I'm wondering what effect mash thickness (1qt/lbs vs 1.1qt/lbs) has on
body. I seem to remember that a thicker mash tends to promote enzyme
activity and lower extraction rates. Is this correct? If so, does a
0.1qt/lbs difference affect mouth feel at all, or is it simply a matter of
conversion speed/efficiency?
Thanks,
js.
- --
Jean-Sebastien Morisset, Sc. Unix Administrator <mailto:jsmoriss@qc.bell.ca>
Bell Canada, Routing and Trunking Asignments <http://www.bell.ca>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 08 Jan 1997 20:22:10 -0500
From: Jim Bentson <jbentson@htp.net>
Subject: Re: Immersion chilling and hop filtering -- Jim Bentson
In HBD V2 #21 Alex Santic picked up the thread on immersion chillers. I
agree with Alex but would like to add some additional info.
The immersion chiller that is left motionless is less efficient than
moving the chiller slowly in an up and down (or side to side ) motion.The
motion must be slow and it is obviously important not to set up splashing
and air entrainment to avoid HSA in the early stages of cooling. The motion
of the coil causes a flow over the coil (forced convection) rather than
relying on the motion of the fluid due to thermal buoyancy (free convection).
In addition,(and more important for mixing) , the slow motion is constantly
changing direction at the end of each cycle. This sheds what aerodynamicists
call a starting vortex off each coil as the coil accelerates during the
change in direction. These vortices are like little whirpools which are very
effective in mixing the cold layer of wort near the coil into the hotter
body of wort. The only down side of this method compared to Alex's
suggestion is that the pot is uncovered, but I have done this for 3 years
and never spoiled a batch.
On the practical side I use about 3 inches of motion (peak to peak) and
take about 2 sec to complete a full up and down cycle. I prefer the vertical
motion because the thermal currents are vertical and you want the most
effective mixing.
I also have a slight twist on the Easymasher idea for screening the wort
from the hops in the boiling kettle. Instead of drilling a hole in my
kettle, I simply made a racking cane out of 3/8 in stainless steel tubing
and then put an additional 90 deg bend at the bottom so the tube is parallel
to the pot bottom. To this I affix a stainless screen mesh tube ala the
Easymasher. The main advantage I find is that when used with hop pellets the
screens often clog. With the kettle fixed version, You have to unclog the
screen while it is under your wort. With the racking cane version I simply
lift it out, immerse it in a pot of boiling water I keep ready and scrub it
with a sterile brush. Granted I must restart the syphon but there are plenty
of techniques and devices to do that in a safe manner
.
Hope this helps someone to brew a quicker and better beer.
Jim Bentson
- --
Registered ICC User
check out http://www.usefulware.com/~jfoltz
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997 01:59:12 -0500
From: "A. J. deLange" <ajdel@mindspring.com>
Subject: Agressive Water
Mike Urseth asked about blue stains from well water. The stains, as have
been noted, are from copper dissolved from the pipes. The real question is
"What kind of water dissolves copper?" The answer is "aggressive water" and
so what we really want to know is what makes water aggressive. It is in
fact the relationship between the pH of the water and the pH at which the
particular water sample is saturated with respect to calcium carbonate. If
the pH of the water is greater than or equal to the saturation pH calcium
carbonate will precipitate onto the pipe wall coating and protecting it
from direct contact with the water. Corrosion (dissolution of copper) will
not occur. If, conversely, the pH of the water is less than the saturation
pH, any calcium carbonate coating will be dissolved and the pipe (copper or
otherwise) will be attacked by the water and dissolved. Note that this
doesn't happen overnight but eventually the pipes spring pin-prick leaks.
The saturation pH of a water sample is approximately
pHs = pK2 - pKs + p[Ca+2] + p[HCO3-] + 5 pfm
where pK2 is -log(second dissociation constant of carbonic acid) = 10.33
at 25C), pKs is -log(solubility product of calcium carbonate) = 8.48 for
calcite at 25C); p[Ca+2] is -log(calcium ion concentration) = -log(calcium
hardness as ppm CaCO3/50000); p[HCO3-] = -log(bicarbonate ion
concentration) = -log(alkalinity as ppm CaCO3/50000) for sample pH < 8.3
and pfm is an ionic activity factor which can be approximated by pfm =
0.023 + (Total Dissolved Soilds in ppm)*4.517E-5. Thus hard, alkaline
waters (waters with a lot of temporary hardness) will have low pHs values
and will not be corrosive. Very soft water (even if it is somewhat
alkaline!) or water with only permanent hardness will have high saturation
pHs values and will be very corrosive. The worst water in this regard is
deionized water such as distilled water or RO water. You will notice that
this stuff is always run through plastic pipe for this reason.
Thus one cannot do more than generalize as we have already done as to what
kind of water will cause corrosion. There are a couple of indices which are
supposed to predict the aggressiveness of water. The Langelier index
SI = pH - pHs
SI < 0 indicates corrosive water with the speed of corrosion increasing as
the magnitude of SI increases. Another is the Ryznar Index
RI = 2pHs - pH
whose interpretation ranges from "Occlusion of conduit" for values < 4
through "Little scale or corrosion" for 6 < RI < 7 to "Corrosion
intollerable to metal surfaces) for values > 9. As for the effect on beer
that depends on the particulars of what minerals are in the water.
Certainly copper in the beer to the level it can be tasted is not
desireable. This can be avoided by running the water through the pipes long
enough to flush the copper bearing water out (the rate of dissolution is
gradual enough that this usually works). You really need to get a water
analysis.
Note that interesting situations sometimes arise. Well water is often quite
acidic due to dissolved CO2 and hard enough that the water people can
convince the homeowner that he needs a softener to prevent scale formation
in his water heater and a neutralizer because the water is aggressive
enough to corrode his pipes (it isn't hard enough to lower the saturation
pH that far). The neutralizer dissolves limestone into the water helping
in two ways: the pH goes up and the saturation pH comes down because the
water is now harder. Then, thewater is run through a softener which knocks
the calcium ion concentration down to a couple of ppm raising pHs back up a
couple of pH units and the water is back to being aggressive. A
knowlegeable water system contractor should understand all this and
recommend, for example, an aerator rather than a neutralizer to drop the pH
and/or a KCl charge ion exchanger rather than a NaCl charged one.
A. J. deLange
- - Numquam in dubio, saepe in errore.
Please Note New e-mail Address
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 08 Jan 1997 18:26:05 -0800
From: Kelly Jones <kejones@ptdcs2.intel.com>
Subject: Re:Husks, good or bad?
Bill Giffin makes some interesting, but incomplete, statements about
malt components and balance:
> Lets take an extreme example. If you brew a beer with an original
> gravity of 1.050 and you use 10 pounds of grain to brew that beer, then
> you will have 36% more husk material then another brewer who can brew the
> same beer with 7.35 pounds of malt. I feel that this is a good reason to
> get your brewing efficiencies up to make better beer.
> Balance of all the ingredients is essential. The
> balance of the different malt fractions to each other.
What you haven't explained, is why the malt fractions are any different
in the first case than in the second case. Sure, you have more husks in
the first case. But you also have more of every other malt fraction.
How is the balance shifted? You used more malt in the first case
presumably because you were extracting less sugars, etc. Wouldn't you
also extract less tannin, silicates, husk fractions, or whatever? Why
or how would the balance be any different?
Kelly
Hillsboro, OR
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 22:18:03 -0500
From: "Dale T. Kelly" <DKelly7@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: All grain equipment
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
- ------=_NextPart_000_01BBFDB1.D0847140
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
I am trying to get into doing all grain brewing but I don't know what
equipment to purchase. If anyone is selling anything please let me know.
Also, Pico brewing systems in Michigan have an all grain system consisting
of three 20 qt. pots with all the fittings, a wort chiller, and other
things as well for $400. Does this sound like a good price. This specific
setup would allow for all of the brewing to be done on a typical stovetop
which is exactly what I am looking for due to the fact that I live in an
apartment. The setup is for 5-8 gallons. I recently received this fax and
there are also a lot of even bigger systems in the catalog for up to 100
gallons. There are nice kits for 15-25 gallon batches for about $1300. If
anyone is interested in this catalog send me an e-mail and I can get it to
you by fax. Thanks again.
- ------=_NextPart_000_01BBFDB1.D0847140
Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<html><head></head><BODY bgcolor=3D"#FFFFFF"><p><font size=3D2 =
color=3D"#0000FF" face=3D"Poster Bodoni ATT"><b>I am trying to get into =
doing all grain brewing but I don't know what equipment to purchase. If =
anyone is selling anything please let me know. Also, Pico brewing =
systems in Michigan have an all grain system consisting of three 20 qt. =
pots with all the fittings, a wort chiller, and other things as well for =
$400. Does this sound like a good price. This specific setup would allow =
for all of the brewing to be done on a typical stovetop which is exactly =
what I am looking for due to the fact that I live in an apartment. =
The setup is for 5-8 gallons. I recently received this fax and =
there are also a lot of even bigger systems in the catalog for up =
to 100 gallons. There are nice kits for 15-25 gallon batches for about =
$1300. If anyone is interested in this catalog send me an e-mail =
and I can get it to you by fax. Thanks again.</p>
</font></body></html>
- ------=_NextPart_000_01BBFDB1.D0847140--
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 16:42:47 -0800
From: "M. Arneson" <marnes@bigfoot.com>
Subject: Wanna sell a Stainless 15 Gal keg??
I wanna get my hands on a Stainless 15 Gal keg to make
a brewpot.
If you have one or know somebody who wants to get rid of one...
Please let me know!
Thanx!!!
***************************************
Mark Arneson
marnes@bigfoot.com
or
marnes@ix.netcom.com
***************************************
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 97 17:33:33 UT
From: Don Van Valkenburg <DONVANV@msn.com>
Subject: Hop Comparison by Dry Hopping in the Bottle/ Don Van Valkenburg
Here is the results of a recently conducted tasting of 23 different hops that
was done for our local club. The Idea has excited me for sometime now. But
the execution was a dilemma. How does one do a side by side taste comparison
of hops without actually brewing a different batch for each hop? ---- DRY
HOPPING! ---- True, dry hopping is not the same as late kettle additions, nor
is there the benefit boiling each hop. However, dry hopping does afford one
the ability to add in hops to a finished beer.
The brew: A grain mash with no specialty grains and a starting gravity of
1.042 and no hops added to kettle. The only bitterness was from a sachet of
iso-alpha extract, added to balance the sweetness of the wort. As it turned
out the finished beer was still on the sweet side; one control bottle was not
dry hopped. The other 23 bottles (the net from this batch was exactly 2
cases of 22 oz bottles) were each dry hopped with approximately 1/2 gram of
hop pellets put into the bottle at time of bottling. This amounted to
approximately two average size pellets per bottle. There were thus 23
different hops tasted.
First a few caveats: I will not attempt to describe each hop, as tastes are
very subjective. Instead, I simply want to simply convey some overall
impressions and observations about the entire experiment. Different people
had different reactions. And, the order of tasting definitely affects the
outcome. Above all I want to encourage brewers to experiment on their own
with different hops, and provide a guideline for doing your own dry-hopping in
the bottle.
Impressions: The first surprise was the difference in bitterness from one
hop to another. There was definitely bitterness contributed by dry hopping.
This goes against everything we know about extraction of bitterness from alpha
acids. It is a fact that alpha acids require heat to be isomerised and are
not suppose to contribute bitterness unless boiled. So then, where did this
bitterness come from? My guess is from the beta acids. My reference book
(Hop Variety Characteristics, HOPUNION) confirms that by-products of oxidized
beta acids do contribute bitterness. This would also explain why there was
no apparent relationship between alpha acid and the perception of bitterness
in this tasting.
Another variation we noticed from one hop to another aside from bitterness was
head retention. The control bottle(no hops) had no head retention, in sharp
contrast to those with hops.
The tasting was done in groups of hops with similar origins. English hops
together, Hallertauer triploids together, etc. We first tasted the Hallertauer
and then the Hallertauer triploids: Mt. Hood, Liberty, Crystal, and Ultra.
Of these the one that stood out for me was Crystal. It had a distinctive, but
nice, lingering aftertaste. I think liberty was the most bitter, followed by
Hallertauer. Also tasted in this group was Tettnanger, Spalt Select and
Saaz. ----- Saaz was a disappointment, guess one should use lots of Saaz when
dry hopping with this hop.
After tasting the European type hops we moved on to the British varieties
starting with Fuggle. This hop was a marked departure from the previous
flavors we were getting. The European type hops gave us descriptors like;
floral, spicy & pepper. Fuggle introduced a new descriptor; "earthy".
Next was Willamette which gave us similar flavors to Fuggle, but more
pronounced nose. We next tasted; E. Kent, W. G. V., Challenger and
Northdown. I think the last two were my favorites of the Brits with a good
aroma from Challanger and big spicy nose from Northdown.
The last grouping was the high alpha varieties starting with N. Brewer,
Brewers Gold and going through; Brambling Cross, Cluster, Nuggett, Galena,
Chinook and last but not least Columbus. The lesson learned from these is
don't write off high alpha hops as only a kettle, or bittering hop. Some had
very nice finish characteristics. A couple that stand out are Galena and
Columbus. Cluster is one however that I would definitely leave as a kettle
(bittering) hop.
Don Van Valkenburg
DONVANV@MSN.COM
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997 10:41:46 -0000
From: Graham Stone <gstone@dtuk.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Clarity / Haze / Hot break
I recently posted a question concerning 2 almost identical batches of Maris
Otter pale ale malt only beers which differed markedly in the way they
cleared. You may recall the one which cleared had 1% Chocolate malt whilst
the one which refused to clear didn't. I had this reply from Denis Barsalo
which, without his permission, I wanted to share with you because I've
noticed something else odd about addition of dark grains. Denis writes:
>I have got into the habit of always adding a handfull of finely
>crushed black malt to all my mashes just before mashing out. I remember
>reading about this technique in Papazian's second book as a way of
removing
>a lot of protein haze from your beer. Maybe that 1% addition of Chocolate
>Malt you added to your second batch was responsible for making the beer
>clearer!?
Now, I also noticed that even with the standard adddition of Irish Moss to
the last 15-20 mins of the boil, the wort made with a percentage of dark
malts produces a drastic hot break (clear wort and big flocculating lumps
etc.) while the pale ale malt only wort produces a much more modest hot
break. Coincidence? Is this a direct correlation between hot break and
yeast clearing during conditioning?
Finally, just to repeat a question posted earlier, does anybody know how
long the commercial breweries allow from the time they fill a cask for cask
conditioning to the time the beer is ready to drink in the pub?
Dr. Graham Stone
- ------------------------------------------------------
Dunstan Thomas (UK) Ltd
web: http://www.demon.co.uk/dtuk/
email: gstone@dtuk.demon.co.uk
phone: +44-1705-822254
fax: +44-1705-823999
- ------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 09 Jan 97 14:08:51 PST
From: Ronnie Baert <Ronald.Baert@hookon.be>
Subject: ph-meter elektrodes
homebrew@aob.org
Good meurning Ameirica! (sorry for the Flemisch accent)
Is there any chemist or scientific specialist who can tell us which metal=
s that can be used for
making elektrodes for a ph-meter? Electronics & measuring =3D no problem.=
For our purpose
(homebrewing) we measure only a few times per month. For a short measure=
ment, and, if
you clean after each measure the electrodes, it should be possible to mea=
sure acurate the ph
using a meter with naked elektrodes. (after calibrating the homemade inst=
rument of course).
Reason for this question is that commercial ph-meters are developped for =
daily use in lab
enviroment and that the wort is not the ideal stuf to put in an "osmose" =
capillar. The pocket
ph meters does not have temperature compensation. My target is making a =
simple, but
temperature compensated ph-meter that can be put in warm wort for a short=
measuring time
and after cleaning with a paper tissue, we can store the electrodeset dry=
. Best regards from
Ron in Bestbeercountry Belgium.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 09 Jan 97 14:19:43 PST
From: Ronnie Baert <Ronald.Baert@hookon.be>
Subject: ph-meter elektrodes
Good meurning Ameirica! (sorry for the Flemisch accent)
Is there any chemist or scientific specialist who can tell us which metal=
s that can be used for
making elektrodes for a ph-meter? Electronics & measuring =3D no problem.=
For our purpose
(homebrewing) we measure only a few times per month. For a short measure=
ment, and, if
you clean after each measure the electrodes, it should be possible to mea=
sure acurate the ph
using a meter with naked elektrodes. (after calibrating the homemade inst=
rument of course).
Reason for this question is that commercial ph-meters are developped for =
daily use in lab
enviroment and that the wort is not the ideal stuf to put in an "osmose" =
capillar. The pocket
ph meters does not have temperature compensation. My target is making a =
simple, but
temperature compensated ph-meter that can be put in warm wort for a short=
measuring time
and after cleaning with a paper tissue, we can store the electrodeset dry=
. Best regards from
Ron in Bestbeercountry Belgium.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997 08:45:42 -0500
From: Kit Anderson <kit@maine.com>
Subject: Re: Big Head
>From: smurman@best.com
>Subject: Big Head Beer
>I'm a fan of Belgian and wheat beers, and one characteristic these
>brews share is a big head. I've been unable to replicate the extreme
>carbonation that these types of bottle-conditioned brews achieve, even
>by adding somewhat excessive amount of corn sugar for priming (within
>safety limits). I'm wondering if anyone has
Head is not related to carbonation. Head is a function of protein.
Belgian wits have both high carbonation (`1 cup dextrose/5 gal) and
high protein. The protein come from using 50 % unmalted wheat in the
mash.
It would be impossible NOT to have a big head unless something in the
brewing process is killing it. Like detergents or oils.
- ------
Kit Anderson
kit@maine.com
Bath, Maine
The Maine Beer Page
http://www.maine.com/brew
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Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997 08:58:02 -0500
From: nerenner@umich.edu (Jeff Renner)
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest V2 #23
Dan
FYI from Homebrew Digest V2 #23
Jeff
>Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 08:40:05 -0600 (CST)
>From: Michael Fross <frosty@cstar.ac.com>
>Subject: Sources of Agar
>
>Happy New Years All!
>
>I have just decided to start yeast culturing and having been reading FAQs
>and HowTos.
>
>Does anyone know a realitively inexpensive place to get Agar?
>
>I looked at the Yeast Culture Kit Company's web page. Is this a good
>price? They are the only place I can seem to find that sells this kind of
>material.
>
>Cheers (and thanks)
>
>Frosty
>frosty@tp.ac.com
- -=-=-=-=-
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan c/o nerenner@umich.edu
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Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997 08:59:38 -0500
From: nerenner@umich.edu (Jeff Renner)
Subject: Sorry
Oops, sorry about that previous post. I forgot to readdress it. I'll be
glad for the recall option when Pat Babcock gets HBD.
- -=-=-=-=-
Jeff Renner in Ann Arbor, Michigan c/o nerenner@umich.edu
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Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997 08:57:59 +0500 (EST)
From: macher@telerama.lm.com
Subject: Re: Sources of Agar
On Wed, 8 Jan 1997, Michael Fross wrote:
> Does anyone know a realitively inexpensive place to get Agar?
>
In addition to finding agag-agar at a Chinese food shop, it is also
available at Japanese food stores, and is called Kanten in Japanese.
This is commonly available, and to my surprise, after describing what I
wanted, my wife who is Japanese, pulled a new pack of it out of a kitchen
drawer...two sticks about 3/4 by 1 by 8 inches long. Needless to say,
that pack now resides with my brewing stuff...She said it is rather
commonly used and is cheap to buy.
I had never seen the stuff before, and she knew it as Kanten, so we got
the Japanese/English dictionary out, and there it was: agar-agar.
Hopes this is of help to someone....now off to plan my new life as a yeast
rancher!
Bill
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Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997 09:28:49 -0500
From: Bob McCowan <bob.mccowan@bmd.cpii.com>
Subject: Weyermann Malz (Bob McCowan)
Jim writes:
>I have one good suggestion, allow for a *very* long brewday when
>using Weyermann malz! I would also be prepared to rake/knife the
>grain bed in the lauter tun. Also look to use a false bottom with
>the maximum open area, Id be interested to hear of any experiences
>of folks mashing Weyermann malz using a single infusion, a Easymasher
>tube screen filter, or in a system that does not utilize rakes.
Jim: Does this apply to all the Weyermann malts, or are you referring only
to the wheat malts?
Bob
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob McCowan
ATG/Receiver-Protector voice: (508)-922-6000 x208
CPI BMD fax: (508)-922-8914
Beverly, MA 01915 e-mail: bob.mccowan@bmd.cpii.com
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Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997 06:54:40 -0800
From: Sharon/Dan Ritter <ritter@web.camasnet.com>
Subject: immersion chiller/filtering wort, Dan Ritter
To continue the discussion of wort chilling and filtering...I have been
chilling with an immersion chiller that has the coils wired together so
that there is a fairly uniform space between the coils of about 1/2". I
agitate the coils (by grasping the inflow/outflow tubes) in a gentle
circular and up and down manner every two minutes for about 20-35 minutes
depending on the season (my tap water temp. varies significantly summer to
winter). I also use a prechilling set of coils that sit in a bath of
mostly ice to further lower the tap water temp. before it enters the wort
chiller. With this technique, I can chill 6 gallons of 195F wort down to
50-55F.
After chilling, I let the wort sit for 15 minutes or so and then rack with
a copper racking cane that has a Sure Screen attached to the end. A Sure
Screen is an Easy-Masher-type screen device that clamps on the end of a
3/8" racking tube. It filters as the wort siphons off the trub and hops
(I've been using whole hops since I added the Sure Sreen device to my
racking scheme).
Recently I've had trouble with the Sure Screen clogging within the first 5
minutes of racking the cooled wort. After reading Alex Santic's remarks in
Digest v2 #21, I may stop agitating the chiller and try suspending the
chiller and walking away for 30 or so minutes. I believe all the agitation
is smashing the whole hops into little bits which then plug the Sure Screen.
In the long run I'd like to have my Vollrath SS pot drilled for an Easy
Masher but I'm nervous about finding someone in my small town that will do
a quality drilling job on a pot I can't afford to replace!
Dan Ritter <ritter@camasnet.com>
Ritter's MAMMOTH Brewery
Grangeville, Idaho
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Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997 10:09:04 -0500
From: Dave Whitman <dwhitman@rohmhaas.com>
Subject: Re: sources of agar
In HBD #23, Frosty (frosty@tp.ac.com) asks about cheap sources of agar.
Try a chinese/oriental grocery. In my area, several such stores carry the
same package: two sticks, one natural off-white, one dyed lurid red. The
sticks are about 1 in square, maybe 11 inches long. They have the
appearance and texture of styrofoam. You can easily tear off chunks to use.
If memory serves, I paid $3 or so for the package of two sticks.
I'm pretty sure that the dyed stick would work just fine, but I haven't had
the nerve to try it yet. You use so little at a time that I've been working
with the undyed stick for over a year now and it's less than 1/2 used up.
- ---
Dave Whitman dwhitman@rohmhaas.com
"The opinions expressed are those of the author, and not Rohm and Haas Co."
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Date: Thu, 09 Jan 1997 15:12:44 GMT
From: "Michael A. Owings" <mikey@waste.com>
Subject: Re: EasyMasher Clogging
Just another data point: I use the EasyMasher regularly for the boil,
as well as Irish Moss, and have never had the EM clog up. Moreover, I
agitate the wort during chilling with my immersion chiller.
I also use whole or plug hops, however, so that may make the
difference. The trub does seem to settle nicely onto the hop bed,
under which lies the EasyMasher.
To Jim Busch: I used Weyermann Malz for my last batch : Vienna,
Munich, a dark munich (the DWC aromatic equivalent -- I forget the
name) and dark 35 L caramel. I had no problems with the EasyMasher.
This was my first experience with these malts, though..
***********************
Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
The courage to change the things I can. *** And the wisdom to
hide the bodies of the people I had to kill because they pissed
me off ***
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Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997 11:25:13 -0500
From: Dan Thompson <thompson@cotf.edu>
Subject: mead/beer on an aircraft
Hi homebrewers.
My question is specifically about mead but applies to homebrew in general.
I'm going on a ski trip in Colorado this February. I would like to take a
couple bottles of my spiced mead to keep warm during the trip. I have a
couple concerns about brining my brew on a comercial flight.
Has anyone on the list brought thier homebrew on a comercial aircraft flight?
If so, did you do anything special?
I'm concerned about:
1)my bottles exploding due to pressure changes
2)the FAA thinking that I'm bringing some type of explosives onboard
3)Am I going to get arrested for bringing a 6pack of my mead across states
Any advice would be appreciated.
TIA
Dan
thompson@cotf.edu
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Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997 11:31:49 -0500
From: "J. Matthew Saunders" <saunderm@vt.edu>
Subject: Re: time fermenting
Tim writes:
>...wondering if the amount of time that the wort ferments (bubbles) is an
>>indication of thealcohol content.
Nope, but the amount of sugars the yeast has to convert to alcohol can
affect time. Still, I've had high gravity worts (1.080+) that have all but
finished in a day or two and low gravity that have taken two weeks. Also,
typically, ales finish faster than lagers.
>I know that I should be using a hydrometer but everytime I do it comes out
>>1.02.
Try it in plain water to see if it still reads 1.02. If it does, your
problem could be one of two things. 1) The hydrometer is shot (buy a new
one) 2) Is the vessel your testing liquids in deep enough? I did this the
first time I used mine <blush>...the hydrometer was touching the bottom of
the vessel.
>Also will the alcohol content be greater if I use liquid yeast instead of
>dry >yeast?
No, but boy will your beer taste cleaner! I had been using dry yeasts
since the mid-eighties. My last 5 batches I've used liquid yeasts. My
beer was good before, now its even better.
Cheers!
Matthew
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Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1997 12:01:38 -0500 (EST)
From: KennyEddy@aol.com
Subject: New Fermentation Chiller Plans Now On-Line
I finally took the time to update and upgrade my Fermentation Chiller. It's
viewable on-line from my web page (see address below).
The Fermentation Chiller is a home-made "refrigerator" powered by jugs of ice
(actually a glorified icebox). It uses a thermostat/fan and a series of
internal baffles to dish out only as much cold air as is needed to regulate
the temperature of the fermenter. I've been able to maintain 68F ale
production in my 90F garage with ice changes every two days. Used indoors,
it will reach lager temperatures with similar maintainence.
I've added several enhancements to the design, based on feedback from
Original Chiller usuers over the last year and a half as well as my own
experiences. Even if you've already built one, you might find some useful
modifications inthe new version, so I encourage you to check it out.
Get started building yours now -- the warmer months are coming (slowly)!!
*****
Ken Schwartz
El Paso, TX
KennyEddy@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/kennyeddy
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Date: 09 Jan 97 12:16:32 EST
From: "David R. Burley" <103164.3202@CompuServe.COM>
Subject: Re: Belgian carbonation, bulk grain
Brewsters:
smurman asks about his Belgian beers:
> I'm wondering if anyone has
> any secrets for getting that "I'm so happy to see you" foamy head.
The secret - I krausen with 10 ounces of corn sugar and 1 tlb of malt with yeast
from the secondary. My Belgians look just like the pictures!
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Arneson wants to know where to get bulk grain.
Mark, I go to an animal feed store since I don't have to worry about the grain
having been treated with potentially harmful anti-fungals as may be the case in
seed quality grain.
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
Keep on brewin'
Dave Burley
Kinnelon, NJ 07405
103164.3202@compuserve.com
Voice e-mail OK
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End of HOMEBREW Digest #2304, 01/09/97
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